Middletown Board of Education Member Branded Unethical

Joan Minnuies

Middletown, NJ- Board of Education Member Vincent Brand has accused his fellow Board Member, Joan Minnuies, of using her official capacity on the Board for the benefit of her daughter’s employment at Middletown High School North and of using her position to recruit Middletown North students to volunteer at her granddaughter’s birthday party in exchange for a letter stating that they performed volunteer hours.

Minnuies says that Brand’s accusations, which were lodged as an Ethics Complaint with New Jersey’s School Ethics Commission, are “bogus” and “political motivated.”   Minnuies is standing for reelection next Tuesday.

According to Brand’s complaint, Minnuies opposed efforts by Dr. William George, Schools Superintendent, to hire a new business instruction teacher, Miss Devan Crimi, at MHSN because Crimi is also an “elite” lacrosse and field hockey coach who was an Academic and Athletic All-American in lacrosse while a college student at Adelphi University.  Minnuies daughter, Jenna Minnuies Jackson, is employed by the school district as a coach of field hockey, bowling and lacrosse.

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Zombie pub crawl, parade draws hundreds to Highlands

HIGHLANDS – When organizations decide to hold an event for the first time, they often don’t know what kind of turnout to expect. Fortunately for the Highlands Business Partnership, an inaugural event it held on Saturday was not dead at all. In fact, it was “undead.” The inaugural Highlands Zombie Parade & Pub Crawl drew hundreds… Read the rest of this entry »

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Long Branch Roommates Busted For Drugs, Weapons

Robert Stohlin, facebook photo

4,000 bags of heroin, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, marijuana, drug distribution paraphernalia, $8,000 in cash,a .22 caliber handgun, 9mm replica handgun and several knives were seized on Thursday when the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office’s Gang Bureau and the Long Branch Police Street Crimes Unit arrested Robert Strohlin, 46, of 177 West End Ave,  and his roommate Syr Berry, 47, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Strohlin and Berry’s arrests was part of a months-long investigation into illegal drug distribution in Long Branch.

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Gopal: Marlboro is in play

With only $3,000 cash on hand, as of September 30, Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal seems to be abandoning his strategy of concentrating on LD 11, and now appears to be focused on protecting his turf in Marlboro.

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Larry “The Lunger” Luttrell Resurfaces, Attempting To Thwart News Of Marder’s Ethics Violations

When we last heard from Lawrence “The Lunger” Luttrell, the three time election loser, was scurrying into obscurity while threatening to sue the Monmouth County Republican Committee for a radio ad that claimed his law license was “suspended” when in fact he had been ruled ineligible to practice law.

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To our knowledge, no one has actually investigated whether or not Luttrell actually practiced law during his ineligibility.  He claimed he was unaware that he had been ruled ineligible, so maybe he did perform legal work when he was not legally authorized to do so. That would be a problem.

Now, nearly a year later, Luttrell has resurfaced in an apparent attempt to keep the voters of Marlboro in the dark about Councilwoman Randi Marder’s ethics violations and worse, the waste of $16,000 of Marlboro tax dollars that Mayor Jon Hornik and the Marlboro Township Council authorized to be spent in legal fees to appeal the New Jersey Local Finance Board’s findings that Marder committed eight ethical violations associated with the Township doing business with her husband’s companies.

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Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, October 23-25,2015

By Greg Kelly

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Friday, Oct 23

• The Capitol Steps at Count Basie Theatre (Red Bank) – MORE INFO
• Haunted Literature Lantern Tour (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO
• The Rainmaker by Center Players (Freehold) – MORE INFO
• The Seedbed at NJ Repertory Theatre (Long Branch) – MORE INFO
• Sinatra Our Way (Middletown) – MORE INFO
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at Duncan Smith Theater (Holmdel) – MORE INFO
• The Importance of Being Earnest at Spring Lake Community Theatre – MORE INFO
• “Redefining Stage Fright” Haunted Theater at BCC (Lincroft) – MORE INFO
• Bruce Springsteen: A Photographic Journey at Monmouth U (WLB) – MORE INFO
• Jersey Shore Ghost Tours (Red Bank) – MORE INFO
• Camp Evans Base of Terror (Wall Twp.) – MORE INFO

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Latino Coalition CPC Endorses Christine Hanlon for Monmouth County Clerk

Oh boy.  Things just went from bad to worse for Vin Gopal and the Monmouth County Democrats:

Frank Argote-Freyre, Chairman of the Latino Coalition Continuing Political Committee. photo via facebook

The Latino Coalition Continuing Political Committee (LC-CPC) announced today its support for incumbent Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon because of her forward thinking pledge to modernize the clerk’s office.

“Many of the clerk’s staff are still using typewriters to conduct business on a daily basis,” said Frank Argote-Freyre, Chair of the LC-CPC. “The Latino Coalition believes she is the right person to bring the office into the 21st Century.”

At a meeting with the Coalition, Hanlon pledged to provide more information in Spanish on the county’s website. Hanlon also said she plans to improve the Clerk’s office by adding e-filing, providing more information online, and creating a more mobile friendly office, including a forms portal for online submission of many county forms.

In contrast, her opponent, Democrat Kevin Kane never responded to a request for a meeting with the Latino Coalition.

“Kane has served for many years as a Councilman in Freehold Borough and has done absolutely nothing to improve relations between the immigrant community and the more established residents,” said Argote-Freyre. “When former Mayor Michael Wilson tried to force Latino immigrants from the borough through a series of unethical actions, Kane sat silently and did nothing to foster a climate of understanding.”

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Asbury Park Press Endorses Angelini and Casagrande in LD 11

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal is having a bad day year.

The Dems have put their eggs in the LD 11 basket this year, hoping to pick off one or two of New Jersey’s only all female legislative delegation in Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande.

Vin made sure that his county candidates for Clerk and Freeholder are residents of the 11th, in hopes that a hometown turnout boost for the county candidates, who are hardly campaigning elsewhere in the county, might help Eric Houghtaling of Neptune and Joann Downey of Freehold over the finish line.

Only in the 11th will you find a typical election year showing of road and lawn signs. Houghtaling and Downey are advertising on ESPN and even FoxNews.

Gopal has historically been able to count on an assist from the Asbury Park Press. Not this year and not where he needs it most.

In endorsing Angelini and Casagrande, APP called them “among the strongest legislators in New Jersey.”

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Sample Ballots Available on MonmouthCountyVotes.com

Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon

Freehold, NJ- Monmouth County voters can prepare to vote earlier than usual this year, thanks to a new website, MonmouthCountyVotes, launched by Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon.

Sample ballots for every Monmouth County town are now available on the site.  Scroll over the word “Elections” on the top menu bar and then click on “Sample Ballots” from the drop down menu. When the new webpage appears, click on name of the town in which you are seeking the sample ballot.

The names of all candidates currently running for elected office in the New Jersey Assembly, County Freeholder Board, County Clerk, Mayor, Town Council or Committee and local school boards are all listed on sample ballots by voting district.

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Middletown Terminates Contract with Realty Data Services

Middletown, NJ- The Middletown Township Committee voted unanimously Monday night to terminate its contract with Realty Data Services, LLC,  the Shrewsbury based company which performs inspections and data collection for most Monmouth County towns under the pilot Assessment Demonstration Program (ADP).

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