By Freeholder Lillian Burry (as prepared for delivery to the Borough of Avon’s July 4th ceremony)
Hello and thank you for having me here today. With the Fourth of July at hand, I thought it appropriate to reflect on the meaning of that day in American History and the cause of liberty that makes it special. The fourth is the celebration of the founding of our nation and the ideals on which that founding was based.
When we think of the American Revolution we do not think of any single place or person or act more than the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. And we recall those powerful words with which our founding fathers bound themselves together and we remember the great men who put their names to them. “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor”.
While that was a singular event, there were many other moments that led up to and followed along after it that also embodied the same spirit of American freedom. We must remember that this was a revolution that rose from the people of the thirteen colonies, each with its own leaders and prominent voices. All were inspired and united with a spirit best remembered in the work of Thomas Paine. Our second President, John Adams, wrote “Without the pen of the author of “Common Sense” the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.”
With cash for state transportation projects getting scarcer by the hour thanks to political gridlock in Trenton, Gov. Chris Christie’s administration yesterday released a list of dozens of road and rail upgrades that are slated to be put on hold later this week. The forced shutdown of the infrastructure work by late Friday night will affect…
HACKENSACK – Longtime Fox News host Gretchen Carlson has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes, the network’s CEO and chairman. In the suit, which was filed Wednesday morning in Bergen County Superior Court, Carlson claims Ailes, a Cresskill resident, made “sexual and/or sexist comments” and made “sexual advances by various means.” Carlson claims Ailes… Read the rest of this entry »
By Chris Christie For 61/2 years, I have been able to effectively ignore the liberal, fact-twisting rantings of The Star-Ledger editorial board. But the stakes of this debate on property taxes and urban education are too great to ignore the newspaper’s latest emotional screed against my Fairness Formula. On property taxes, our residents pay the highest… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday signed a $34.5 billion budget, but not before slicing into the $300 million Democrats added to the spending plan earlier in the week. Christie handed down his line-item vetoes Thursday evening amid a stalemate over transportation funding and hours before the start of the new fiscal year. The Legislature… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — New Jersey motorists may not have to worry about their gas taxes skyrocketing this weekend. The state Senate will not vote Thursday on Gov. Chris Christie’s offer to raise the gas tax in exchange for a 1-cent reduction in the sales tax, Sen. Raymond Lesniak said Thursday. The governor, in a news conference Wednesday,… Read the rest of this entry »
FREEHOLD — Asbury Park police officers could not have prevented an off-duty police sergeant from gunning down his ex-wife in broad daylight and then putting the police-issued handgun he used to his own head, according to a yearlong investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office released Thursday morning. The study also determined that the first officer… Read the rest of this entry »
DEAL – Beachgoers were frantically ushered out of the water at Deal Casino Beach Club on Thursday, after lifeguards spotting a gray, angular fin snaking its way through low tide. For about an hour on Thursday morning, the ocean near the beach club was devoid of visitors as lifeguards temporarily closed off the water to monitor… Read the rest of this entry »
HOWELL — A couple who housed 276 dogs in what officials called the worst hoarding case in Monmouth County history, appeared in municipal court in Howell on Wednesday to face more than 500 counts of animal cruelty. If Charlene and Joseph Handrick are each found guilty of a 552 counts of animal cruelty, they could face… Read the rest of this entry »
Hello and thank you for having me here today. With the Fourth of July at hand, I thought it appropriate to reflect on the meaning of that day in American History and the cause of liberty that makes it special. The fourth is the celebration of the founding of our nation and the ideals on which that founding was based.
