Jeffrey Olander, 51 of Highlands, fled from two traffic stops on Thrusday afternoon, eluded the Atlantic Highlands, Highlands and Middletown Police Departments for 12 hours and threatened to shoot Highlands Police Officers before he was tasered and arrested in the hallway outside his apartment on the fourteenth floor of the East Pointe Condominiums shortly before 4 a.m. Friday morning, according to a statement by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramicconi.
Members of the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (MOCERT) and the Highlands Police Department made the arrest.
This was the first time a Monmouth County law enforcement officer has deployed a Conductive Energy Device (commonly called taser) to subdue a suspect since the tool was first authorized for use in New Jersey.
Monmouth County Freeholders Gary Rich, Lillian Burry, Director Tom Arnone, Deputy Director Serena DiMaso and John Curley
The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders introduced a budget on Thursday that reduces County spending by $18.2 million and reduces the property tax levy on County residents and businesses by $4.5 million. The tax decrease is the first in 21 years and maybe ever, according to County Finance Director Craig Marshall.
The budget for the next fiscal year rolls County taxes back to 2008 levels and reduces spending to less than the 2007 budget. The tax cut reverses an increase, the only one since 2007, that the County imposed in the current year.
“This is a real cut,” said Freeholder Director Tom Arnone. “There is no fiscal gimmickry or raiding of trust funds or utility balances in this budget.”
NEWARK — Before Valentine’s Day shoppers pick up that floral bouquet for their sweethearts, a small army of federal agents behind the scenes made sure that the gift was a beautiful gift of cut flowers, and nothing else. Particularly, no Tetranychus sp., Aphididae or Agromyzidae. In the vernacular, that’s mites, black so-called “leaf miner” flies and… Read the rest of this entry »
Governor Chris Christie publicly suspended his presidential campaign moments ago with the following statement posted on facebook:
I ran for president to say that the government needs to once again work for the people, not the people work for the government. And while running for president I tried to reinforce what I have always believed – that speaking your mind matters, that experience matters, that competence matters and that it will always matter in leading our nation. That message was heard by and stood for by a lot of people, but just not enough and that’s ok. I have both won elections that I was supposed to lose and I’ve lost elections I was supposed to win and what that means is you never know what will happen. That is both the magic and the mystery of politics – you never quite know when which is going to happen, even when you think you do. And so today, I leave the race without an ounce of regret. I’m so proud of the campaign we ran, the people that ran it with me and all those who gave us their support and confidence along the way. Mary Pat and I thank you for the extraordinary display of loyalty, friendship, understanding and love.
The State’s case against Maria Vaccarella was dismissed in Howell Municipal Court this morning.
Doris Lin, Esq., Vaccarella’s pro-bono defense counsel, argued that the statute that her client was charged under does not apply to rescuing abandoned baby squirrels, but rather to the possession of exotic pets and animals. Judge James M. Newman, the Presiding Judge of Monmouth County Municipal Courts, agreed and dismissed the charges.
Vaccarella came to the aid of a squirrel that had fallen out of a tree last year and then gave birth to two infants. Vaccarella left the babies outdoors in cage for a day and then took them in when the mother failed to return. She named the baby squirrels George and Lola and bottle nursed them for four months after a registered wildlife rehabilitators refused to take them, she said.
Vaccarella shared photos and videos of the growing a squirrels on her facebook feed, which led to a visit from Fish and Wildlife officials who took the babies and sent her a summons that indicated a $500 fine. During her first appearance in Freehold Township Municipal Court, the Judge told Vacarells that the fine could be $1000 and a six month jail sentence was possible.
Vaccarella rejected a plea deal with no fine and $35 in Court costs last month.
Governor Chris Christie has been called, by friend and foes alike, the best political communicator since Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton. Yet, after abandoning his post in New Jersey for the better part of two years in his quest for the presidency, the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire were unmoved by his talent.
As pundits and strategists dissect Christie’s failure, so far none have pointed to the obvious: Christie’s entitlement reform plan. Christie promised a harder future.
Donald Trump’s campaign in a variation of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. “Yes we can” has been replaced by “Make America Great Again.” Read the rest of this entry »
The Supreme Court halted the EPA’s major anti-global warming initiative late Tuesday evening, dealing a major blow to President Obama’s hopes of overseeing a green energy transition in his final year in office. The 5-4 decision by the court puts the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation on hold while a lower appeals court hears states’ challenge to… Read the rest of this entry »
A somber Governor Chris Christie congratulated Donald Trump on winning the New Hampshire GOP presidential primary, thanked his family and supporters and announced that he is returning to New Jersey to wait for the final results of the primary before determining whether to continue his quest for the presidency.
Christie said the decision would depend on whether he comes in fifth or sixth in New Hampshire when the final count is announced and on what is best for “my family, my state and for my country.”
NASHUA, N.H. — Businessman Donald Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primaries Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. Gov. Chris Christie, who had staked his campaign on doing well in the first 2016 presidential primary, was trailing other key Republican candidates in early returns. Trump, who has led opinion polls for months,… Read the rest of this entry »
