Oceanic Bridge to close overnight Sunday-Monday, Lanes narrowed Tuesday-Friday

The Oceanic Bridge, the span that connects Middletown and Rumson over the Navesink River, will be closed overnight starting at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday August 9 through Monday morning August 10 at 6:30 a.m.

The bridge will be closed for needed work on the bascule span, according to a release from Freeholder Tom Arnone.

“Unfortunately, the work on the moveable section of the bridge must be performed while the bridge is closed to public use,” said Freeholder Thomas A. Arnone. “We are closing the bridge at the tail end of the weekend to reduce the impact on businesses and local commuters.”

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Bush Makes Bank In Middletown

State Senator Joe Kyrillos and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush at the Navesink County Club, July 23, 2015. photo via facebook

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush held a fundraiser for his 2016 Presidential Campaign at the Navesink Country Club in Middletown yesterday evening.

The Middletown Police were not called upon to provide security at the tax payers expense.

Bush raised “a lot more” than the $500,000 his campaign told the media was raised in Middletown and at a private dinner in Short Hills following the event.  A source familiar with the candidate’s New Jersey operation told MMM that the take in Middletown was $600,000 in “hard money” donated directly to his campaign plus “big money” to the Bush SuperPAC.

In a show of support to State Senator Joe Kyrillos, the first prominent New Jersey Republican to publicly break from Governor Chris Christie’s presidential quest and a Co-Chair of the Bush fundraising effort, Monmouth County’s Republican leadership, which helped Governor Chris Christie get elected twice and some of whom have publicly endorsed Christie for president were well represented, if camera shy, at the Middletown event, according to PolitickerNJ.

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Fossil hunt 72 million years in the making

MIDDLETOWN-72 million years is a long time to be buried but it only took a few minutes to find. Finlay Reid, 8, from Collegeville, PA. dug in the cold stream with a small trowel and dug up a fossilized oyster. Poricy Brook has history washed down its banks after every storm unearthing fossils that were alive… Read the rest of this entry »

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Hit and Run Driver Arrested

Toni Marletta
photo via facebook

Middletown Police have charged Toni Ann Marletta, 49 of the Leonardo section of the Township, in the hit and run motor vehicle crash that resulted in the death in Marissa Procopia, 15 of Atlantic Highlands.

Marletta was charged with Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Accident, Failing to Report a Motor Vehicle Accident, No Insurance, Unsafe Tires and Leaving the Scene of a Fatal Motor Vehicle Accident. She is being held on $150,000.00 bail with no 10% option set by Judge Honora O’Brien-Kilgallen of the Monmouth County Superior Court.

Marletta is not listed yet as an inmate on the Monmouth County Sheriff’s website, as of 1 p.m.

Charles Webster, spokesperson for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, told MMM that Marletta was being held in Middletown where she was unable to post bail.  Webster said she in custody and being transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution.

Cynthia Scott, spokesperson for the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, told MMM that Marletta was booked into the Correctional Institution at about 1:30 p.m.

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Hit and Run Victim, 15, Is On Life Support

Marissa Procopio photo via facebook

Marissa Procopio, the 15 year old Atlantic Highlands girl who was struck by a hit and run driver in Middletown on Tuesday, is on life support at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune.  Previous published reports said she had died of her injuries on Wednesday afternoon at 3:46.

An official of the Henry Hudson Regional High School District who asked not to be named for this story told MoreMonmouthMusings that Marissa’s family was informed by her doctor that there was no blood flowing to her brain and that there was no hope of recovery. The family has chosen to keep Marissa on a life sustaining ventilator for two days in order that family members can travel to say good-bye, according to the school official.  The official said that the high school principal visited Marissa at the hospital on Wednesday at 5:45 pm, two hours after the reported death.

Robert Cavanaugh, spokesperson for Jersey Shore Medical Center, declined to confirm Marissa’s condition, citing HIPAA regulations that the hospital’s policy against commenting on the condition of minors.   An telephone operator a Jersey Shore said that Marissa is patient in the Intensive Care Unit.

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In Middletown, Presidential campaigns have to pay police overtime or go without protection

Democratic and Republican candidates for President of the United States will have to reimburse Middletown taxpayers for police overtime if they want the Township’s finest to control traffic and provide security for their fundraisers, according to Township Committeeman Tony Fiore.

The Township was left with an overtime bill of about $14,000 in 2008 when Barack Obama held a fundraiser at Jon Bon Jovi’s Navesink home, according to Fiore.  That won’t happen again.  “The Township Committee will not approve the expense.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is coming to Bon Jovi’s house today for a $1000 per head soiree, according to Star Ledger columnist Mark Di Ionno.

In 2008, the township requested reimbursement from the rocker, but didn’t have a prayer to collect.  Today, Fiore says the Police Department will not be present for the event unless Bon Jovi agrees upfront to cover the costs.

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The Oceanic Bridge Is Open

Right on schedule, the Oceanic Bridge opened to traffic between Rumson and Middletown this morning.

Working around the clock, in 12-hour shifts, Harms Construction Co. Inc. of Howell has performed repair and restoration work on all four of the bridge’s main bearings that are used to support the bascule and flanking spans on the bridge approaches.

The bridge was closed on May 26 due to the needed repairs that were discovered during an overhaul that was to have been completed in April.  The construction of the emergency repairs was scheduled to allow the bridge to open during the last two weekends.

“We appreciate the patience of the local residents, business owners and visitors while we conducted this necessary repair,” said Freeholder Tom Arnone who “The Oceanic Bridge is an important connector in the Two River area. We need to keep the bridge open and operational as we plan for its eventual replacement.”

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Police officer, public works employee nabbed in massive drug sting

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June Is a Great Month for Art Openings to the Shore—Not Just Weddings!

April W. Klimley

By April W. Klimley, Art Critic

June isn’t just for weddings, beach time or boating. The month has also brings with it a rebirth of creative energy and a potpourri of fine art openings, exhibitions, street art and murals. In fact, there’s so much to see—and so many exhibition openings— that it may be hard to decide what to see each weekend or even during the week. Let me help you decide by giving you a preview of what’s going on during the first half of the month.

This coming weekend there are two key openings taking place on the central part of the Shore. One takes place in Red Bank (June 6), the other in Shrewsbury (June 7).

Saturday June 6 head for the Art Alliance in Red Bank which is holding its final exhibit of the season—The Ebba Osborne Memorial Award Exhibition. A reception runs from 6 pmto 8 pm opening night with music and refreshments in the back room. The exhibit focuses on two themes—“Dreamy” and “Interior”—and a $100 prize will be awarded to the Best in Show. Asbury Park photographic artists Tom and Lois White are judging the exhibit. Their work will be on display in the Alliance windows.

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Father shot dead in hostage standoff had domestic violence arrests, records show

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