James S. Gray, 1943-2019

James S. Gray. photo by Rhoda Chodosh

Jim Gray, a former Clerk of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders and former Mayor of Manalapan, passed away unexpectedly on July 24 at the Ocean Medical Center in Brick.

Gray served as Clerk of the Board for eight years until 2010.  He was previously Director of Administration for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities from 1995 to 2002, according to NewJerseyGlobe.

Jim was a Manalapan Township Committeeman from 1984 to 1998. He served five terms as Mayor and four terms as Deputy Mayor. He served as police commissioner, planning board member and recreation liaison. He believed that by serving his town and preserving recreational space, he could make Manalapan a better place to live.

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Senator O’Scanlon discusses the storm and JCP&L’s response

By Senator Declan O’Scanlon

Senator Declan O’Scanlon

For those who didn’t lose power, or see the fury of Monday night’s storm, be thankful. Your lives went on like a normal summer day with a thunderstorm in the background.  For those who were in the micro-bursts…it was the scariest thing many have seen since Sandy..and more than many of us have ever seen. It lasted 20 minutes through the area…but left more immediate wind devastation than Sandy. Sandy spent hours piling water into our Bayshore and bays and oceanfront. This unnamed…moment…tore down trees and utility poles and the wires near, or attached to, them. And it was block-by-block, neighborhood by neighborhood.  Which made it even harder on those without power. Many neighbors had no inconvenience at all.  I can say now, it was a miracle no one was seriously injured or killed.  For those that didn’t see it, trust me, this isn’t hyperbole.

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Pallone Embraces Green New Deal

Congressman Frank Pallone, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has embraced the Green New Deal promoted by freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  Pallone’s “100% clean economy” with net-zero carbon emissions is “aggressively” targeted to be achieved by 2050, twenty years following the end of AOC’s world.

With a nod to The Squad, Pallone and six other Democrats on his committee held a press conference in Washington on Tuesday in an effort to convince the world that 2050 is the point of no return from climate change, not 2030, as AOC insists.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Middletown Withdraws from Unfair Affordable Housing Proceedings

MIDDLETOWN, NJ – Last week the Middletown Township Committee directed its attorneys to withdraw from court proceedings that commenced in July 2015 to address unrealistic affordable housing obligations imposed upon municipalities throughout New Jersey by the Supreme Court.  On Wednesday, July 17, 2019, the Township Attorney applied for an Order of Dismissal, which was entered by the Hon. Jamie S. Perri on July 19, 2019.

As a result of the demise of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (“COAH”), municipalities have been subjected to proceedings in Superior Court to address ongoing and ever-increasing demands by the Fair Share Housing Center (“FSHC”) to develop more high density affordable housing. Read the rest of this entry »

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Old Bridge Councilman Mark Razzoli, a Democrat, Speaks Powerfully Against Murphy’s Sanctuary Policies

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Chris Smith’s Lyme Disease Amendment Passes House, Tells DOD IG to Investigate ‘Weaponization’ of Ticks

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The full House of Representatives passed an amendment offered by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) which directs the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Defense to investigate the “possible involvement of DOD biowarfare labs in the weaponization of Lyme disease in ticks and other insects”  from 1950-1975.

According to Smith, he was “inspired to write the amendment”—now part of the House-passed 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)—by “a number of books and articles suggesting that significant research had been done at U.S. government facilities including Fort Detrick, Maryland and Plum Island, New York to turn ticks and other insects into bioweapons.”

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110 Teens Complete 27th Annual Sheriff Youth Week

110 Monmouth County teenagers—potential future law enforcement officers–completed the 27th Annual Monmouth County Sheriff Youth Week last Friday during a graduation ceremony at the Police Academy in Freehold.

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Governor Murphy’s Statement on Potential ICE Raids in New Jersey

Governor Phil Murphy issued the following statement on Thursday evening:

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Greg’s List: Things to Do in Monmouth County This Weekend, July 12-14, 2019

By Greg Kelly

Friday, July 12

• Summer Concert, Car Show & Fireworks (Manalapan) – MORE INFO
• Brookdale PAC: “The Merry Wives of Windsor” (Lincroft) – MORE INFO
• “Hello Dolly!” at Spring Lake Community Theatre – MORE INFO
• Voyager One by NJ Repertory Company (Long Branch) – MORE INFO
• Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Carnival of Curi-Oddities (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO
• “Bird Tales” Art Exhibit (Belmar) – MORE INFO
• “Woodstock at 50: Summer of Love” Exhibit (Lincroft) – MORE INFO
• Vincent DiMattio: DreamPaths & Napkin Drawings at Monmouth U. (WLB) – MORE INFO
• Atlantic Cinemas Movie Night (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO

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Golden Responds To AG’s ICE Letter

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden took a respectful tone in his response to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office strongly worded rebuke of his extending the County’s 287 (g) agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

In a letter dated July 9 to Veronica Allende, Director of the Division of Criminal Justice in the AG’s Office, Golden promised to provide the information demanded in Allende’s letter of July 8 and enlisted the support of ICE to also provide information to the Attorney General’s Office.

Golden touted the success of Monmouth County’s 287 (g) agreement with ICE, which he said has been in  place since 2010 and is only instituted at the jail:

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