Big Gun Comes to Hartshorne Park

Click photo for larger view. Photo by Paul Scharff Photography

The Monmouth County Park System is pleased to announce that a historic World War II naval gun from the Battleship New Jersey was transported yesterday to Battery Lewis at Hartshorne Woods Park for permanent display as part of the Battery Lewis restoration.   The gun barrel, which is 68 feet long and weighs 120 tons, is almost identical to the 16-inch guns on Battery Lewis during World War II.

Originally on the USS New Jersey and donated by the U.S. Navy to the Monmouth County Park System, the gun barrel has travelled by rail from Norfolk, Virginia to Red Bank, where it will be offloaded onto a tractor trailer for transport to Hartshorne Woods Park.

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Middletown Reduces Spending By Almost $1 Million

Middletown Mayor Stephanie Murray

The Middletown Township Committee is slated to introduce their 2015 budget tonight with a spending decrease of $959,463. The total budget as introduced will be $69,437,466 compared to 2014 spending of $70,396,929.

Decreased non-tax revenues, including parking permits and court fees, of $2.8 million and increases in snow removal costs of $1.3 million and insurance costs of $600,000, were off set by savings from shared services agreements with other municipalities and the Middletown Board of Education, as well as utility cost savings for $223,000.

The tax levy on Township property owners will increase $428,484 to $46,964,220, not including the Township Library.  With the library budget of $3,445,649, the overall tax levy increases by $486,502.

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Monmouth Dems have not filed Assembly candidates petitions

Trenton, we have a problem

The Monmouth County Democrats held their nominating convention last Monday night at the IBEW Local 400 union hall in Wall Township. However, as of Saturday March 28, no Democratic candidates for Assembly from the four districts that include Monmouth County have filed their nominating petitions with the New Jersey Division of Elections.

The nominating petitions are due with the Divisions of Elections by Monday, March 30th at 4 p.m.  Should no candidates file petitions with 100 valid signatures, the Democratic nominations for Assembly will be up for grabs to write-in candidates in the June 2 primary.

There has been radio silence from Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal’s  office and on his blog since the convention on Monday. Even MMM’s spies at the convention have been mum.  The silence has lead many Republicans to speculate that Vin has a problem.

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Prosecutor: Be on alert for online and phone scams targeting Monmouth County residents

(FREEHOLD) Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni is asking residents to remain on guard for three common phone scams that continue to work their way across the country and within Monmouth County.

“The criminals associated with telephone and online scams are getting more sophisticated and approach consumers with enough legitimate-sounding information to seem credible, even to a savvy consumer. It’s important for the public to be aware of these newest ploys so that they can be on guard to protect their identity and their bank accounts,” Gramiccioni said.

IRS SCAM

It is tax season and one of the most common scams involves a caller posing as an Internal Revenue Service agent claiming that back taxes are owed.  If you are concerned you may owe the IRS back taxes, never provide any information to anyone over the phone.  First, call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040 to ask about your current tax status. The IRS will send you a letter in the mail, if you owe back taxes. They never make cold calls, and certainly never demand cash or threaten immediate police actions.

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Hornik’s Republican Administration in Marlboro is Gopal’s top 2015 priority

Updated: Former Marlboro GOP Chairman Christopher Dean wants the world to know that Councilman Scalea was never a Republican and that he has proof from the Board of Elections. Dean says that MMM is spreading Mayor Hornik’s lies and that facts don’t matter on this site. He said he’s going to spread the word at some meetings he has coming up.

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik

Desperate to be a player and for a victory of any kind, Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal told a gathering of statewide Democrats in Freehold on Wednesday evening that Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik’s reelection race is his top priority this year, according to report on PolitickerNJ.

Marlboro is a Republican town. Year after year the Township’s voters break for Republicans for Freeholder, County Constitutional offices, State Legislature, Governor, Congress, Senate and President.

Yet Hornik leads a municipal government that on paper is Democratic.  The reality is that Hornik’s administration is dominated by former Republicans who left a dysfunctional local GOP at the mayor’s urging.

Hornik, whose father Saul was mayor of the community from 1980-1991, was first elected in 2007 in a race remembered for incumbent Republican Robert Kleinberg distributing flyers implying that he had been endorsed by NJ 101.5’s morning host Jim Gearhart.  Gearhart and Gannett columnist Bob Ingle , then media leaders of the GRIP (Get Rid of Incumbent Politicians) movement, went ballistic on Kleinberg.  Kleinberg imploded during a live radio interview wherein he explained the flyers were not meant to imply an endorsement, but as a way to show his kids that people were saying nice things about him.

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Flu still hitting N.J. hard, Monmouth County has the most cases

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Demand pushing Jersey Shore rental prices higher as peak weeks sell out

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Hazlet contractor indicted for allegedy bilking Sandy victim out of $120K

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Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, March 27-29, 2015

By Greg Kelly

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Friday, March 27

• Monmouth County Job Fair at BCC (Lincroft) – MORE INFO
• Jesus Christ Superstar at Count Basie Theatre (Red Bank) – MORE INFO
• Atlantic Cinemas Movie Night (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO
• The M Spot at NJ Repertory Theater (Long Branch) – MORE INFO
• Jesus Christ Superstar at Spring Lake Theatre – MORE INFO
• Linkedin Workshop at BCC (Lincroft) – MORE INFO
• Crooks & Cupcakes at First Ave Playhouse (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO
• Spring Book Sale (Wall Twp) – MORE INFO
• Monmouth University Track & Field Season Opening (WLB) – MORE INFO

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Monmouth Freeholders Vote To Privatize Nursing Homes

By a vote of 4-1, the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders officially started the process of privatizing the John L. Montgomery and Geraldine L. Thompson Care Centers, the nursing homes that have been run by the county government since the early 1900’s.

Freeholder Director Gary Rich and Deputy Director Serena DiMaso joined Freeholders John Curley and Tom Arnone in voting to move the nursing homes to the private sector.  Curley and Arnone have long advocated the privatization, while Rich and DiMaso have sought additional study of the issue.  Freeholder Lillian Burry voted no on privatization, steadfastly maintaining her position that county government has an obligation to care for its most vulnerable residents.  Burry favored a plan to merge the operations of the two care centers.

Monmouth County property taxpayers have borne deficits of $45 million in the nursing homes since 2007. With cutbacks in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements under ObamaCare, the deficits have grown to almost $7 million per year.

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