Hurricane Sandy victims make do in trailers as they wait to rebuild

Hurricane Sandy victims make do in trailers as they wait to rebuild (via NJ.com)

Tina Napalo lived in a bungalow-style house on Fourth Street in Union Beach for more than 20 years. “I didn’t have everything,” said the 40-year-old mother of four, but, “it took me a long time to get what I had.” Then Hurricane Sandy hit.…

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Maintenance Work Will Delay Travel Between Middletown and Rumson

The Oceanic Bridge which connects Middletown and Rumson over the Navesink River will be raised intermittently for up to 10 minutes at a time today and tomorrow as the Monmouth County Division of Bridges completes regular repairs on the bascule.  The work is being performed between 9:30 am and 3pm, in an effort to minimize the inconvenience to commuters.

Motor vehicle traffic on Bingham Avenue between Rumson and Middletown (CR-8) can either travel west through Fair Haven and Red Bank to Middletown or travel east through Sea Bright and Highlands to Middletown.

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Middletown Resident Opposes Trinity Hall School Development

By Christopher R. Whalen, CPA

I am writing to express my many concerns regarding the Trinity Hall Development.

Trinity Hall is a commercial enterprise and will bring to our neighborhood all of the communal, societal and environmental harm that such enterprises do.

Let’s project out some of the many terrible impacts this will have on our neighborhood.

The Trinity Hall Development will increase the volume of:

School buses and other school vehicles

Student cars and

Parent drop off vehicles

Evening noise and light pollution.

Daily noise and pollution from the school’s physical plant.

and

Possibly necessitate:

1. the widening of parts of Chapel Hill to install shoulders, the land for which will be taken from existing landowners on Chapel Hill Road using Eminent Domain Laws.
2. the installation of traffic lights at the intersections of  Chapel Hill and Kings Highway, and Sleepy Hollow and Chapel Hill AND
   1. Definitely at the school’s main entrance on Chapel Hill itself.

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8.57% Turnout for Middletown School Borrow and Spend Referendum

4,109 of 47,906 registered voters in Middletown Township went to the polls yesterday to vote on a $32.2 million spending measure for repairs to the township’s schools.  The referendum passed 2,951 to 1,158 with 43,797 abstentions.   Mail-in and provisional ballots are not included in these unofficial figures provided by Monmouth County Clerk M. Claire French’s office.

The Middletown Board of Education is now authorized to borrow $19.3  million for school maintenance and repairs.  $12.9 million for the project is expected to come from 20 Regular Operating District (ROD) grants from the New Jersey Department of Education.

In an OpEd posted on Middletown Patch, School Board Member Vinnie Brand made the case for the referendum, arguing that the grants are a rare opportunity which give the board an opportunity to make the “critical need” repairs for 60% of cost while passing 40% off to statewide taxpayers.  Brand noted that interest rates are low and that labor rates are “more reasonable.”

Middletown resident Chris Fotache countered Brand’s argument in an OpEd on MMM submitted yesterday as the polls opened.  Fotache argued that the Board of Ed did not publicize the referendum in order to assure a low voter turnout that would favor the referendum.  He alleged fiscal mismanagement and duplicate spending on repairs and planning fees.

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Why I am voting NO on the Middletown Board of Education Election March 11 (Today)

By Chris Fotache

The Middletown Board of Education is attempting to borrow $32 million through a voter referendum on Tuesday March 11, 2014. You have probably not even heard of this because they are doing their best to keep it a secret so that only the school PTA’s and PFA’s (their cheerleaders) are the only ones who come out to vote. They have them brainwashed that this is such a great idea. What many people fail to realize is that the BOE spent $8 million over the last 2 years replacing roofs that needed to be fixed. This was done with extra money left over in the budget. And it was done with only 1% tax increases over the last 3 years. Why now does this new BOE need to pay an architect $1.3 million to do this work all over again? They paid this very same architect over $200K over the last year to do this same exact work. Why are they paying them again???

The answer is they can’t explain it. They refuse to answer any questions. They say vote for it because it’s for the kids. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE HEARD THAT BEFORE?

While it’s important to have the schools safe and running in a functional manner, the new Board’s level of mismanagement, misinformation, and incompetence is staggering. These repairs will get done whether the referendum passes or not as it’s the Boards’ obligation to do especially since the repairs are now public.

The board owns 11 properties in town worth millions that they could sell to fund these fixtures. Why are they not selling them and asking the tax payer to fund this. If the referendum fails, they will be forced to sell some and use that money to fix the schools AT NO COST TO THE TAXPAYER.

Don’t forget that not so long ago, a $78 million referendum was passed to upgrade schools. So if they were mismanaged in the past, what guarantee do we have that these $32 mil won’t go to waste?

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Scharfenberger ‘officially’ welcomes “The Situation” to Middletown

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino of MTV’s Jersey Shore fame, and his family opened a tanning salon in Middletown yesterday.

MMM is not in the habit of giving free advertising to people who drive Lamborghinis, and the company did not respond to our ad pitch, so we did not cover the ribbon cutting.

But NJ.com and USA Today-Monmouth/Ocean edition couldn’t resist the spectacle.

Gerry Scharfenberger is the only member of Middletown’s Township Committee of non-Italian American descent.  Gerry did the honors at the ribbon cutting and said the right things.

“The goal is always to fill vacant storefronts, so whenever that happens it is a positive thing,” he said. “And if the star power they have is able to help them and the other businesses here, that’s even better.”

But the expressions on Gerry’s face in the pictures at NJ.com tell another story, which prompted MMM to look further into the situation.

Why wasn’t Mayor Stephanie Murray presiding on the high profile ribbon cutting?  She finds the situation offensive.

“While I wish the business  success for the sake of the existing businesses in the shopping center, I don’t personally support Mr. Sorrentino as his insensitivity and disrespect toward women (calling women “grenades” for example), is appalling and offensive, Murray said, “Additionally, as an Italian-American who loves and lives at the Jersey shore, the image Mr. Sorrentino projects is equally offensive.”

Committeeman Tony Fiore is also not happy with the situation.

“While Mr. Sorrentino has the right to open a business anywhere he chooses, Mr. Sorrentino has done nothing to help promote a positive image of the Jersey shore or Italians who live or visit the Jersey shore,” Fiore said,  “In my view no self respecting Italian who grew up in NJ, lives at or loves the Jersey shore would help promote his business. While I wish him like any other business in Middletown success, he shouldn’t expect Middletown to embrace the circus that he is bringing to the Middletown.”

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Christie Town Hall tomorrow expected to be “A cross between the Jerry Springer and Maury Povich shows”

Photo by Paul Scharff

Governor Chris Christie will likely be tan and relaxed after a holiday weekend in Puerto Rico when he arrives in Middletown for his first Town Hall Meeting since last June tomorrow.

He should be ready for bear.

Christie could get RREM’d tomorrow.

Bayshore residents who overwhelmingly voted for Christie in 2009 and again last November are ready to give up on giving Christie the benefit of the doubt. The politically connected feel he’s taken Republican Monmouth and Ocean Counties for granted.  Those still suffering from the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy feel like Christie has ridden their suffering to national prominence while neglecting his self professed “mission” to rebuild the shore.

The powder keg of frustration with Christie was building before the election and certainly before Bridgegate.   Sandy victims brutalized by the storm feel further violated by the red tape and false starts peddled by all levels of government, banks and insurance companies.

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Super Bowl 2014: Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno looking to join exclusive New Jersey club

Super Bowl 2014: Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno looking to join exclusive New Jersey club (via NJ.com)

MIDDLETOWN — The heavyweight college coaches rarely make it to the Jersey Shore, unless maybe it’s for a vacation. So when Urban Meyer, who was coaching at Florida at the time, Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer and several other of the top college coaches…

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Middletown Library Will Consider Part Time Executive Director

Susan O’Neal. Photo courtesy of Middletown Patch.

The Middletown Library Board of Trustees will consider hiring a part time executive director to replace Susan O’Neal.

O’Neal submitted her resignation to the board last evening as part of a negotiated termination. Board President Brock Siebert declined to comment on O’Neal resignation, citing a confidentiality agreement.   The termination won’t be official until approved by the Middletown Township Committee.  Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger also declined to comment.

O’Neal’s salary is $119,816, according to Data Universe.

O’Neal’s continued employment became untenable when her emails with Linda Baum, a Democratic candidate for Township Committee revealed that she was colluding with the Middletown Democratic Party to undermine the authority of the Board of Trustees.    The emails were released as a result of an Open Public Records Act request on the part of Committeeman Tony Fiore.  Fiore became suspicious that O’Neal and Baum were colluding when Baum shared confidential information she should not have been privy to at a public meeting.  Baum unsuccessfully sued to block the release of the emails.

Brock said the board’s personnel committee will meet next week to discuss a search for O’Neal’s replacement.  Hiring a part time executive director is one option he wants to committee to consider.

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Middletown Woman Is Off To Germany In Pursuit Of Hoops Stardom

Jennifer Mocanu, 23, of the Belford section of Middletown, departs for Germany on Sunday to embark on her new career as a professional basketball player. She is slated to be the starting shooting guard of TSV Krofdorf-Gleiberg of the FIBA when their season starts next weekend.

A 2008 graduate of Middletown High School North where she was a 4 year letter winner, senior MVP and leading scorer, Mocanu’s hoops magic continued in college where she was an NCAA Division 3 star at the College of Mount. St. Vincent in Riverdale, NY for two seasons and two seasons with Mount St. Mary College Knights in Newburgh, NY.  She led the Knights to two NCAA Division 3 tournament appearances.

In her senior year at Mount Saint Mary’s, Jen led her team to the regular season championship and was named Player of the Year of the Skyline Conference where she was the league’s top scorer.   She scored 1501 points in her collegiate career.

After graduation with a degree in Psychology, Mocanu enrolled at Monmouth University to pursue a Masters in Sociology.  But she soon realized that sociology wasn’t what she thought it was, more importantly, that she wasn’t done with basketball.

Rebuffed by a players’ agent because she hadn’t played competitively in over six months, Jen was undeterred.  She enrolled in a FIBA professional scouting tournament in Germany last spring where she was offered a one year contract by Coach Viktor Kramer on the second day of the three day tournament.

Contract in hand, Mocanu returned to New Jersey for the summer where she kept in shape working out at the Community YMCA and working as a bartender at Chilangos in Highlands.

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