Search continues for teen reported missing in N.J. inlet

AVON-BY-THE-SEA — The search continues Sunday for a 17-year-old boy reported missing in the Shark River Inlet, officials said. The Coast Guard searched the inlet throughout the evening and deployed a small boat and helicopter Sunday morning, Petty Officer Seth Johnson, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, said. Coast Guard divers will continue the search Sunday… Read the rest of this entry »

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Christie Conditionally Vetos Smoking Ban At Public Parks And Beaches

Belmar Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty and Governor Chris Christie walk the Belmar boardwalk in August 2011. Photo Credit: Tim Larson, Governor’s Office

Governor Chris Christie conditionally vetoed (CV) legislation that would have banned smoking at all public parks and beaches.  Instead, he recommended that the legislature amend the bill to prohibit smoking at State parks and beaches, but not those governed by local governments.

The bill, which was Co-Sponsored by rookie Democrat Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling of Monmouth County’s 11th legislative district, passed in the Senate 25-6 with 9 Senators not voting and in the Assembly by 52-6 with 19 Assembly Members not voting.

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Secret chapter of 9/11 inquiry released after 13-year wait

WASHINGTON — Under wraps for 13 years, the U.S. on Friday released once-top secret pages from a congressional report into 9/11 that questioned whether Saudis who were in contact with the hijackers after they arrived in the U.S. knew what they were planning. The newly declassified document , with light redactions, names people the hijackers associated… Read the rest of this entry »

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Garden State Equality to move its headquarters to Asbury Park

Garden State Equality, the powerful LGBTG advocacy group, announced today that it is moving its headquarters to Asbury Park in a fundraising email by Executive Director Christian Fuscarino.

Fuscarino said the move was prompted by his desire to have a headquarters that is ADA compliant and by Asbury Park’s history as a LGBT gathering place.

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It’s Official: Trump Chooses Pence as VP nominee

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee announce moments ago via twitter that Indiana Governor Mike Pence will be his vice presidential running mate.

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Gramiccioni’s nomination clears Senate committee

Christopher J. Gramiccioni will soon drop the “Acting” from his title as Monmouth County Prosecutor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Gramiccioni’s nomination yesterday despite opposition for the state PBA who made an issue of his hiring practices.  The Senate is expected to confirm the prosecutor on August 1st.

A veteran of Chris Christie’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gramiccioni was the governor’s first choice to replace former prosecutor Luis Valentin. But he did not meet the constitutional residency requirements for the job and was hired as First Assistant Prosecutor in 2011.  Once the residency requirements were met, Peter Warshaw, Valentin’s replacement on an acting basis, was nominated for a Superior Court judgeship and Gramiccioni took over the top law enforcement job in Monmouth County July 1, 2012.

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Mosquito Spraying Scheduled for Lake Como and West Belmar Friday Morning

Deputy Freeholder Director Serena DiMaso

Monmouth County’s Mosquito Control will be conducting ground spraying in Lake Como and the West Belmar section of Wall Township on Friday morning between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. according to a statement by Deputy Freeholder Director Serena DiMaso. Evidence of West Nile Virus in the area prompted the scheduled spraying.

Weather permitting, the Mosquito Control staff will conduct a ground spray operation on residential streets south of 17th Avenue between Highway 35 and Route 71 in Lake Como and Wall Township, on residential streets north of Wall Road between Highway 35 and Route 71 in Spring Lake Heights and in Marucci Park in Spring Lake.

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Former NJ DOT Commissioner Jamie Fox Charged in Samson’s United Airlines Bribery Scheme

Former New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox was charged by federal officials for his role in the bribery scheme that former Port Authority Chairman David Samson pleaded guilty to today, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

Additionally, United Airlines has agreed to a pay a $2.5 million penalty and to make compliance reforms for its role in the scheme in which it established a non-stop route between Newark-Liberty Airport and Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina for Samson to fly to his vacation home in Aiken, SC.  In exchange Samson allowed the Port Authority Commission to approve a lease of three acres at the airport for United to build a maintenance hanger.

Fox, in his role as a $7,500 per month consultant to United, is accused of shaking down United employees, on Samson’s behalf, to get the route to South Carolina established.

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David Samson, close confidant of Christie, pleads guilty in airline shakedown

NEWARK–David Samson–the embattled former chairman of the powerful Port Authority of New York and New Jersey–pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to using his considerable clout to coerce one of the nation’s largest airlines to accommodate his desire for a regularly scheduled, non-stop flight to a South Carolina summer home. Samson, 76, a well-connected lawyer and one-time New… Read the rest of this entry »

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Congressman Chris Smith’s Bill Would Allow Sandy SBA Loans To Be Paid Off By HUD Grants

Congressman Chris Smith and Monmouth County Shaun Golden prepare to survey Hurricane Sandy damage. November, 2012

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ4) introduced legislation yesterday that, if enacted, would allow Superstorm Sandy victims who borrowed from the Small Business Administration to fund the rebuilding to their homes and businesses to repay those loans with the proceeds of grants from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Equity for Disaster Victims Act, co-sponsored by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY),  would correct a con perpetrated by the government on Sandy victims in the aftermath of the strom and reform the federal government’s disaster relief programs to ensure fairness and flexibility.

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