Senator Menendez Severely Admonished By Ethics Committee

The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics issued a four page letter today, signed by all six committee members, three Democrats and three Republicans, that “several admonished” New Jersey’s senior senator for his violations of Senate ethics rules, federal law and his conduct which reflected discredit on the Senate.

The committee found that Menendez accepted valuable gifts from Dr. Salomon Melgen including travel on private jets and commercial airlines, luxury hotel stays and vacations at Melgen’s luxurious villa in the Dominican Republic without Committee approval and without disclosing the gifts as required by law.

They found that Menendez used his office to advance Melgan’s personal and business interests. Read the rest of this entry »

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GSP, Middletown-Lincroft Road closures will impact traffic this weekend

Repairs on a Garden State Parkway bridge that was damaged in a traffic accident last November are expected to cause traffic delays in Middletown starting tomorrow morning, April 27 at 10 a.m. through 5 a.m. on Monday morning, April 30.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority will be closing two northbound lanes on the GSP between exit 109 and exit 114 to make repairs on the bridge over Middletown-Lincroft Road in order to make permanent repairs to the structure.

Monmouth County will close Middletown-Lincroft Road (CR-50) between West Front Street and Nutswamp/Dwight Road starting at 10 a.m. on Friday.  One-way traffic for school only vehicles will be permitted on Friday afternoon from 2p.m.-4p.m.

Weather and progress permitting, Middletown-Lincroft Road will reopen on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. Read the rest of this entry »

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William F. Dowd, Longtime Monmouth GOP Chair, Dies at 74

William F. Dowd, 1943-2018

Bill Dowd, the longtime Monmouth Republican Chairman and a former State Assemblyman passed away on Saturday night.  He was 74 years old.

NewJerseyGlobe was the first to report Dowd’s passing.

Born on November 11, 1943 in Long Branch, Dowd graduated from Seton Hall University in 1966 and earned his law degree from Rutgers in 1970. Read the rest of this entry »

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Gopal wants Freeholders to be called County Commissioners

State Senator and honorary volunteer firefighter Vin Gopal finds the term “freeholder” offensive and, for Monmouth County voters in particular, confusing.

Gopal co-sponsored a last minute change–a substitution– in legislation that passed in the Senate last week which, if passed in the Assembly and signed by Governor Murphy, will mandate that the name of the office of Freeholder be changed to County Commissioner. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chris Christie’s official portrait will cost $85K

Graphic by Phil Stilton @ShoreNewsNetwork

Former Gov. Chris Christie’s official portrait will cost $85,000, which is more than taxpayers shelled out for paintings of his three predecessors combined. The Record reports that Australian artist Paul Newton will paint the portrait of the Republican who left office after eight years in January. The cost detail was obtained through an open records request.… Read the rest of this entry »

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“Weight” before you take the latest Monmouth University poll too seriously

Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray released a poll yesterday that, he says, indicates New Jersey’s Congressional Republicans are “facing hurricane force winds” and that all five New Jersey Republicans in the House of Representatives have a good chance of losing this year.

“This is pretty astounding. Not only are New Jersey Democrats doing better on the generic House ballot statewide, but the shift is coming almost entirely from districts currently held by the GOP. If these results hold, we could be down to just one or two — or maybe even zero — Republican members in the state congressional delegation after November.”

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Accused Child Sex Trafficker, An Ex Middletown Cop, Released To His Mother’s Custody

James Keenan and his mother, Katherine Fowlie, December 2015. social media photo

James J. Keenan, 47, the retired Middletown Police Officer arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges last week, was released to the custody of his mother, Katherine Fowlie, by U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovani on Monday afternoon during a bond hearing in Trenton Federal Court.

Fowlie is the widow of former Middletown Police Chief William Fowlie, Keenan’s step-father.

Keenan and Fowlie co-signed a $50,000 unsecured bond as a condition of the release.  Additionally, Keenan is subject to 24 hour per day home confinement with electronic monitoring, is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with minor children, must refrain from using alcohol or drugs, be tested for substance abuse, and must restrict his travel–as approved by pre-trail services– to the State of New Jersey and the District of Oregon for Court Purposes. His computer usage is restricted and he surrendered his passport. Read the rest of this entry »

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Retired Middletown Cop Fled After Being Questioned About Child Sex Trafficking Activity

James Keenan

James Keenan, 47, the retired Middletown Police Officer arrested on a Child Sex Trafficking indictment last week,fled his Vancouver, WA home and returned to the New York area after authorities interviewed him regarding his relationship with a 17 year old Beaverton, Oregon girl.

In a motion to unseal Keenan’s indictment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott M. Kerin told the Court that the defendant was interviewed about the allegations against him approximately two weeks prior to his April 5, 2018 indictment. When attempting to serve an arrest warrant, the case agent found that Keenan showed up at his place of employment on March 30 and announced, without notice, that he was leaving and returning to New York.  Keenan’s Vancouver home was found vacant and his car could not be located. Read the rest of this entry »

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Former Middletown Cop Arrested For Child Sex Trafficking

James J. Keenan

A retired Middletown Police Officer was arrested in Hazlet on Wednesday, April 11, following an April 5 federal indictment for Sex Trafficking of a Child, Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child and Attempted Enticement.

James J. Keenan, 47, formerly of Hazlet and currently a resident of Vancouver, WA, was indicted by a Portland, Oregon federal grand jury following a month long investigation by detectives of Beaverton, Oregon Police Department and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force.

His alleged victim is a Beaverton female child, according to Officer Jeremy Shaw, spokesman for the Beaverton PD.  Officer Shaw confirmed that Keenan is a former Middletown Police Officer. Read the rest of this entry »

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Pezzullo Blasts Pallone For Taking Money From Facebook

Rich Pezzullo

Rich Pezzullo, the Republican candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s 6th Congressional District, blasted Congressman Frank Pallone today for accepting $7000 in campaign contributions from facebook.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Pallone has received $7000 from facebook since 2010, including  $2,500 for this year’s election.

“Frank Pallone has taken $7,000 from Facebook since 2010,” Pezzullo marveled. “Seven thousand dollars,” he repeated, to a group of voters in Middlesex County. “And he has the gall to sit up there and claim he’s an unbiased observer, to claim he’s representing his district?” Read the rest of this entry »

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