The Highlands Business Partnership was joined by the Mayor and Council, Senators Joe Kyrillos and Jennifer Beck, Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Amy Handlin, Freeholders John Curly and Amy Mallet and about 200 members of the community to celebrate the completion of the new bridge that spans the Shrewsbury River between Highlands and Sea Bright with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
During the ceremony, the Bayshore Marine Task Force, a cooperative of Bayshore area first responders who provide marine emergency services, provided a water display with their equipment.
The ceremony was followed by a two hour cruise on the river and Sandy Hook Bay hosted by SeaStreak and catered by Highlands restaurants.
Mayor Frank Nolan declared, “Highlands is open for business!” Nolan noted that business in Highlands, home to 22 restaurants within one square mile, was off 40% during the three summer seasons that were impacted by the demolition of the 75 year old drawbridge and the construction of the new 65 foot high fixed-span structure.
Old Highlands-Sea Bright Bridge. Photo Courtesy NJDOT.
Senator Joe Kyrillos read a letter from Governor Chris Christie which said in part, “today’s event effectively kicks off the first summer season at the Jersey Shore that vacationers and day trippers will be able to use it (the new bridge). I join with the legislators and community leaders present today in applauding the New Jersey Department of Transportation for completing this project on-time and under-budget. The bridge has made it easier for people to experience what Sandy Hook has to offer, including all of its small businesses that make vital contributions to our State’s rich economy.”
Jay Cosgrove, Vice President of the Business Partnership and an owner of Bahrs Landing expressed the gratitude of the business owners to their loyal customers who battled difficult traffic conditions to quick the establishments afloat during the bridge construction.
New Highlands Bridge. Photo Credit Jay Cosgrove, Bahrs Landing
Kyrillos said, “This bridge is of incredible importance to the residents of Monmouth County, as well as the many tourists and visitors from which our regional economy benefits,” Senator Kyrillos said. “The old, moveable bridge spanning the Shrewsbury River was in the poorest condition of all moveable bridges in New Jersey. We are fortunate to replace this critical infrastructure. It is a beautiful bridge and more important it is safe and secure and will be of service for generations to come.”
Senator Jennifer Beck said, “We’ve been watching the progress of the construction of the new Highlands Bridge over more than two years,” said Beck, “and it is exciting to see it concluded just in time for the summer beach season, when thousands of people, from New Jersey and beyond, come to visit the shore. Also, as a sponsor of legislation that would name this span in honor of my friend and mentor Captain Joseph Azzolina, which has already passed the State Senate, I have a personal connection to this bridge, and I look forward to seeing the legislation pass the Assembly.”
Beck asked those present to call Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and ask her to post the bill naming the bridge for Azzolina for a vote.
The potty mouth pundit says he supports incumbent Mary Pat Angelini, in large measure due to her pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage positions and that he is considering a challenge to Caroline Casagrande.
In his publisher’s message last week Jacobson said he supported Angelini because she was pro-choice and pro-gay marriage.
MMM has learned that Angelini is pro-life and that she voted against restoring Planned Parenthood’s funding that was cut from the state budget last year. We regret the error and promise to fact check the triCityNews in the future.
triCityNews publisher Dan Jacobson told MoreMonmouthMusings that he will not be a candidate for Assembly in 11th district Republican primary because, “it just doesn’t feel right.” “I like both incumbents,” Jacobson said of Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Cassagrande, “it wouldn’t be like challenging Sean Kean.”
Jacobson of Asbury Park, a former Democratic member of the Assembly, registered as a Republican last month in preparation of challenging Kean in the Senate primary. The new legislative map moved Kean, of Wall, into the 30th legislative district. Kean will be running for Assembly in the 30th, as Republican Senator Robert Singer, Lakewood, also resides in the new 30th.
Jacobson is angry with Kean over his vote against gay marriage.
Republican publisher and former Democratic Assemblyman Dan Jacobson says he is mulling running for Assembly in the 11th legislative district GOP primary.
The potty mouth pundit says he supports incumbent Mary Pat Angelini, in large measure due to her pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage positions and that he is considering a challenge to Caroline Casagrande. It’s not that Dan has a problem with Casagrande, like he does with Sean Kean. It’s that he thinks he can cause a transformational change in Trenton if he heads to the Assembly beholden to no one. Free of party ties, donor expectations or special interest loyalty, Dan thinks he can go to Trenton and make government more responsive to the people and less responsive to the special interests. Dan’s goal is laudable. His proposed method is fool hardy, unless he can recruit many many other candidates of a similar mind set and get all of their petitions signed between now and Monday at 4PM. Not going to happen.
But Dan knows that already. He’s lived it already the last time he was in the Assembly 20 years ago. The fun he had driving the leadership crazy is probably more on his mind now than the frustration he experienced. That memory of the fun could be what is driving his consideration of a bid.
What Dan apparently doesn’t realize is that if he files to run for Assembly in the 11th district GOP primary he doesn’t get to choose who he is challenging. He says he is considering a challenge to Casagrande and not Angelini, but the balloting doesn’t work that way.
Assuming Mary Pat, Caroline and Dan are the only candidates in the primary, the election would be a 3 way race for 2 nominations. Dan can say he’s only challenging Caroline all he wants. The truth is that it would be a 3 way race for 2 nominations and Dan could end up knocking off Mary Pat instead of Caroline.
From my point of view Jacobson is a bigger threat in a 3 way to Angelini than he is to Casagrande. Take it from me, the powerful Republican blogger as Dan calls me, if Jacobson runs he is more of a threat to Angelini than he is to Casagrande.
By both perception and reality, Angelini is more liberal than Casagrande. While the very popular Angelini will likely be the top vote getter in the general election, she has some problems with the conservative Republican base. Hardcore conservative voters can be fickle. Many will vote for Casagrande and no one else. Many will vote for Casagrande and Jacobson, just to send a message to Angelini. They won’t mind if Jacobson beats Angelini, figuring they can knock Jacobson off in two years with a real conservative.
Angelini and Casagrande will be bracketed together on the ballot. Assuming Dan is the only primary challenger, his name would be appear in the column immediately to the right of Angelini and Casagrande on the ballot. If the party organization positions Mary Pat and Caroline alphabetically, which would make sense since they have the same seniority, Angelini’s name would appear above Casagrande’s. Jacobson’s name would appear on the ballot right next to Angelini, making it appear on the ballot that Dan is running against Angelini. Even though the instructions will say “Vote for Two,” many uninformed voters will think they have to choose between Angelini and Jacobson before voting for Casagrande who will appear to be unchallenged. Some will chose Jacobson and then vote for Casagrande.
Just some food for thought for Dan to include in his mulling this weekend.
Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini is encouraging her friends and supporters to take part in a blood drive for injured Asbury Park firefigher Jason Fazio who was severely burned in a fire last month. Fazio is undergoing a series of skin grafts at Saint Barnabas Burn Center.
The blood drive is being held tomorrow, February 5th, from 9am to 2pm at the Asbury Park Fire Department on Main Street and Asbury Avenue. All blood types are needed
Prompted by our post this morning, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini (R-Monmouth) is looking into the DYFS case of the Jackson family. Angelini’s office called this afternoon seeking contact information for the Jackson’s, which MMM tracked down.
Angelini serves on the Assembly Human Services Committee which overseas DYFS.
While I have not heard the DYFS side of this story, the more I hear of the Jacksons’ story the more disturbing this becomes. Major and Mrs. Jackson have been separated from their children, and their children separated from each other, since April of last year without the benefit of due process, if what I am hearing is accurate.
The Jackson’s took one of their children to an emergency room last April. The child was dehydrated and had elevated sodium levels. DYFS says the child was poisoned and removed all five of the Jackson’s children from their custody the following day. The Jackson’s doctors say the elevated sodium level is medically normal for the condition the child was suffering from.
At an administrative hearing yesterday, DYFS objected to the Jacksons’ doctors tesitfying. The hearing has been adjourned until February.
That’s what I’ve heard so far. MMM will stay on top of this story. We are pleased that Angelini is looking into it.
I wish it wasn’t necessary to keep bashing the Asbury Park Press. The Neptune Nudniks are just that bad lately. I wish Gannett would put some competent people over there. We need a good newspaper in the region. In the meantime I’ll just take my chances that Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini won’t accuse me of cyberbullying.
I’ll give the nudniks this much. Today’s paper must have been printed on recycled material. Recycled birdcage liner to be more precise. The editorial pages are full of bird bleep.
The two items I take issue with are the editorial board’s grossly inaccurate editorial, Constitutional? Not a prayer and Angelini’s OpEd touting her anti-bullying legislation.
The nudniks first. Apparently they fancy themselves experts on the Constitution and prayer. In their nudniktorial today the APP editorial board argues that prayer at public meetings violates the U.S and New Jersey Constitutions and that the ACLU should pursue their suit against the Borough of Point Pleasant Beach “vigorously” because the borough’s council has been opening meetings with a prayer with the blessing of the borough attorney.
I know I’m not an expert on the Constitution or on prayer (the APP even has the gall to say what “most religions” consider appropriate prayer). I was taught constitutional law at a Jesuit university. This much I do know. If the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the NJ Senate and the NJ Assembly all start their sessions with a prayer, which they all do, then prayer at public meetings is either not unconstitutional or the ACLU lawyers are bullies that don’t have the balls to take on the U.S. Justice Department and/or the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. They would rather take on tiny Point Pleasant Beach and other small governmental agencies who’s leaders are more likely to cave to the ACLU’s litigious bullybleep than to inflict the pain of legal fees on their already overburdened property taxpayers.
The arrogance of the editorial board is appalling. Not only do they presume to be more expert on the First Amendment than Point Pleasant Beach’s attorney, they have the audacity to judge the sincerity of the Point officials’ prayers and to use the name of the Lord to condemn the prayer. I won’t even get into their questioning whether or not the Lord really authored the Lord’s Prayer. This from the nudniks who know so much about Jesus and prayer that they invoked the Sacred Heart to praise Asbury Park’s Upstage Club, Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny.
As a service to the nudniks, I publish the text of the 1st amendment to the U.S. Constitution, for what I suspect will be their first reading:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
I hope they can find someone other than ACLU bullies to explain it to them.
Regarding the nudniks’ infuriating habit of writing about religion as if they know what they are talking about, the reprobates on the editorial board should leave such writing, if they must write about it at all, to Pastor Michael Riley who is on their staff. At least Riley has a relationship with the Big Guy. If they can’t do that, they should start using Islamic rather than Christian references in their editorials. That could solve the problem permanently.
Now, about Mary Pat Angelini’s Anti-Bullying Bill; Angelini is not a nudnik nor is she a reprobate. However, her bill, as well intended as it may be, is a bad idea. Its not that bullying is not a problem, it is. It is a problem that all of us have had to deal with as part of growing up and that all children will have to learn to deal with in the future. Legislation will not change human nature and government can not solve all of our problems. Nor should it.
I’m not an expert on child development. However the lessons my father taught me about dealing with bullies, both physical and psychological lessons, prepared me for the rough and tumble of the business world and Monmouth County politics. The lesson I taught to the bully who was picking on my sister endures to this day. His nose was never the same. Growing up in the 70’s that made me a hero and gave my sister a confident sense of security throughout her adolescent years. No one ever picked on her again. Today, it would probably land an older brother a stay in the Middlesex County Youth Detention Center.
Schools administrators and faculty should not tolerate bullying. We need legislation for that? The red tape and additional personnel Angelini’s bill calls will be a waste and a burden on property taxpayers. The kids who have been victimized should be trained to be “anti-bully specialists”, like my father trained me. If parents won’t teach kids how to defend themselves, or brothers how to defend their sisters, the schools can teach the kids the art of a kick in the cogliones and how to break a nose right after the class where they learn to put a condom on a cucumber.
Another problem with the bill…how long will it take for the evil manipulative adolescents to figure out that they can cause a whole lot a grief to both their school administration and to an unfriendly teen rival by falsely claiming they’re being bullied. Ever know or hear of a kid threatening their parents with a call to DYFS?
Legislation is never going to control adolescents’ uncontrollable and natural behavior. Making school personnel responsible for managing that behavior is ludicrous. Outlawing teen suicide would be just as effective. Cheaper to enforce too.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and state that I don’t believe bullying causes teen suicide. I was bullied and I didn’t kill myself.
I don’t mean to minimize the problem of teen suicide. I’m not an expert and I don’t know the answer. I do know that legislation that is a knee jerk reaction to a tragic and highly publicized suicide is not the answer. The answer lies in things that can’t be legislated. In families, churches, with health care professionals and even in schools. I don’t have any statistics to back this up, but I bet there was less teen suicide when there was prayer in schools. But that’s not likely to happen because no one has the cogliones to stand up to the ACLU.
October is national Domestic Violence Awareness Month and I encourage everyone to stop the silence and stop the violence. We must fight to end domestic abuse and the best way to do that is to bring it to into the light, whether we want to see it or not.
Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior, but it is not just physical abuse. The National Domestic Violence Hotline states that domestic violence can be physical, emotional, sexual, economic or psychological actions that frighten, intimidate, manipulate, hurt, humiliate or injure someone.
According to statistics released by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), one in four women in the United States will be a victim of domestic violence. Women represent the majority of domestic violence victims, but men can be victims as well.
Has anyone told Frank Pallone that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month? He has yet to comment about his campaign operative slugging a 68 year old woman over campaign sign placement.
This Saturday, September 25th between 10a.m. and 2 p.m. the New Jersey Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is launching Operation Take Back New Jersey. The purpose of this initiative is to provide a safe and legal method for the citizens of New Jersey to dispose of their unwanted, unused, and expired medicines.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2008, 1.9 million youth age 12 to 17 abused prescription drugs. In fact, each day an average of 2,000 teenagers age 12 to 17 used a prescription drug without a doctor’s guidance for the first time. Unfortunately, most teenagers gain access of prescription pain medication from friends and relatives. That is why it is so important to dispose of any unwanted or unused medicines that you may have.
Operation Take Back New Jersey is an anonymous program. Prescription and over the counter solid dosage medications, i.e. tablets and capsules will be accepted.
By Art Gallagher