Middletown Police Chief Gets $249K “Boat Check”

Middletown Police Chief Robert Oches. Photo courtesy of Middletown Patch

Middletown Police Chief Robert Oches is getting $249,338 for unused sick and vacation time accumulated over his 40 year career upon his retirement at the end of this month.  The payout is at Oches current pay scale, despite the fact that the time accumulated over a 40 year period.

The Township Committee approved the payment, reluctantly because it is required by State Law, at Monday night’s meeting.

Committeeman Tony Fiore said that most Oches’ unused time was accumulated prior to 1996 when the Township Committee passed a 150 day cap on retirement awards.

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Middletown Officials Suspect “The Situation” Staging Publicity Stunts

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino was in custody for over 2 hours on simple assault charges

Fiore wants the Monmouth County Prosecutor to investigate

Middletown Committeeman Gerry Scharfenberger cuts the ribbon at Sorrentino’s tanning salon last March. photo via facebook

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino was arrested in Middletown this afternoon after Township Police broke up a fight between the reality TV star schmuck and his brother Frank.

Detective Lt. Steve Dollinger told MMM that a call came into to the Middletown PD shortly after 2PM reporting a fight at the tanning salon owned by Sorrentino. The actor was arrested, charged with simple assault and released on $500 bail at around 5:15.   Dollinger declined to comment further, but other sources told MMM that Frank Sorrentino had a black eye and that Mike’s hand was bandaged as a result of the fisticuffs.

The story of Sorrentino’s arrest was first reported by TMZ, the entertainment gossip website.  Last week TMZ, which is located in Marina del Rey, California, broke the story that employees of the tanning salon filed complaints with the Middletown Police that their $100-$200 paychecks had bounced.

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Middletown Planning Board Rejects Trinity Hall Application

All Girls School Says It Will Appeal

Trinity Hall, the all girls private school currently operating from Croydon Hall in the Leonardo section of Middletown Township, had its plans to develop a campus in the Chapel Hill neighborhood of the Township rejected by the Planning Board at 1am this morning, according to a report in The Asbury Park Press.

The board of trustees of Trinity Hall plans to appeal this decision, according to a press release posted on the school’s website.  They are confident in the merits of their case and anticipate this decision will be reversed. The Middletown Planning Board had directed the application be submitted without variance from the ordinance and that Trinity Hall accept reasonable additional conditions or amendments, which the application did follow.

“As a Middletown resident and Trinity Hall board of trustees member I am disappointed in the decision of the Middletown Planning Board, which seems arbitrary and contrary to Township ordinance,” said Donna Winchell. “The school is committed to being a good neighbor and has given back to the community through almost 500 hours of community service in just nine months.”

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Wall Elected Officials Back Golden

Shaun Golden

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden has picked up the endorsements of the elected officials from a third large municipality in his quest to replace John O. Bennett III as the Chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Organization.

Mayor Clint Hoffman, Deputy Mayor George Newberry and Township Committee Members Ann Marie Conte, Jeff Foster and Todd Luttman, the entire governing body of Wall Township, signed a letter on Wall Township Republican Organization letterhead and addressed to Monmouth County Republicans today, strongly endorsing Golden for Chairman.  Their letter can be found here.

The Wall governing body joins the elected officials of Middletown and Howell in supporting Golden.

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Rabies Alert in Middletown

Photo credit: Noel Westerland, Sr

The Middletown Township Health Department has received confirmation of a sixth raccoon testing positive for Rabies. The raccoon was captured and tested after a resident noticed the animal was acting sickly. The raccoon was found on Highway 35 between Kanes Lane and Kings Hwy East.

Previous cases have been found over the last two months at the following locations:

• Red Hill Road between Dwight Road and Deepdale Drive,
• Michael Drive off of Nutswamp Road,
• Ueland Road off Nutswamp Road,
• Essex Street off of Bray Avenue, and
• Clay Court off of Hartshorne Road,

The Middletown Township Health Department would like to remind residents to be aware of your pets when they are outside. Wildlife will be attracted to areas where residents put food out for their animals.  Any dog or cat found to be in direct contact with a known rabid animal that is not properly immunized could be at risk. The domestic animal would be placed under either a strict 6 month confinement in a cage with no human contact or would be humanely euthanized to protect the family and the public from the Rabies virus.

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Photos: More than 2,000 graduate from Brookdale Community College

Photos: More than 2,000 graduate from Brookdale Community College (via NJ.com)

MIDDLETOWN – Brookdale Community College celebrated the commencement of its latest graduating class on Friday. The more than 2,000 graduates hailed from 16 different countries and accounted for 203 distinguished scholars and 42 perfect 4.0 GPAs. “…

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Bennett’s Undetered By Golden’s Endorsements

John Bennett

Monmouth County Republican Chairman John Bennett told MMM that he continues to be upbeat and positive about his chances for reelection on June 10, despite the endorsements of the municipal elected officials in Middletown and Howell going to his opponent in the GOP Chairman’s race, Sheriff Shaun Golden.

“Those were elected officials, not county committee members or municipal chairmen,” Bennett said, “I expect to get quite a few county committee votes from those towns. Those endorsements were not surprising to me.”

The chairman said he expected a similar endorsement for Golden to come out of Wall Township. “Its not over until its over,”he said,  “I am remaining upbeat and positive. I’m keeping the campaign positive and I hope the other side does as well.”

Wall Township Municipal Chairwomen Mary DeSarno declined to comment.

Bennett said one of the elected officials who endorsed Golden told him that he/she was unaware Bennett was running for reelection when the Golden endorsement was made.

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Middletown Military Shout Out

Middletown – The three Middletown Middle Schools, in conjunction with ‘Middletown 350‘, will be honoring World War II veterans at “MIDDLETOWN MILITARY SHOUT OUT”, beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 24, 2014.  The theme of this multi-faceted event is to “Remember, Educate, and Entertain,” culminating in an authentic World War II U.S.O. Show performed by students from the Thorne, Bayshore, and Thompson Middle Schools.

Thorne Middle School, home of the WWII Battle of the Bulge Monument, will host the event.  Special guests will include survivors of that battle, and other World War II Veterans.  The school is named for Corporal Horace Thorne, Middletown’s only Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.  The Medal was awarded posthumously for Corporal Thorne’s heroism during the Battle of the Bulge.  The “MIDDLETOWN MILITARY SHOUT OUT” event is part of a series commemorating Middletown’s 350th Anniversary.

“MIDDLETOWN MILITARY SHOUT OUT” will feature three events, beginning with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Battle of the Bulge Monument in front of the school.  This Monument, previously housed at Fort Monmouth, was relocated to Thorne in May of 2011, with a re-dedication ceremony that included over 90 survivors of the Battle.  Next, attendees will be welcome to visit inside the school to see a “WALL OF HEROES” and showcases of World War II gear and uniforms.  There will be a special presentation by Mr. Frank McGinley, an artist who captures history through painting.  Several of Mr. McGinley’s original paintings depicting the Battle will be on display.  The program will conclude with the U.S.O. Show, which will take place outside, behind the school.

Veterans who wish to attend “MIDDLETOWN MILITARY SHOUT OUT” should contact the school at (732) 787-1220.  Families and the general public are welcome to attend any part of the program, and need not contact the school.  For the U.S.O. Show, seating will be available for veterans and their families.  Other attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating.  Thorne Middle School is located at 70 Murphy Road, in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown.     For more information Middletown 350 and planned events, please visit http://www.middletownnj.org/content/middletown 350.

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Middletown residents continue to voice concerns over controversial all-girls school

Middletown residents continue to voice concerns over controversial all-girls school (via NJ.com)

MIDDLETOWN – The township’s Planning Board took no action during its meeting Wednesday night controversial proposal to build an all-girls high school in a residential neighborhood in the township . Trinity Hall, a private all-girls high school that…

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Middletown Calls On Christie, Legislature To Allow Affordable Housing Funds To Assist Sandy Impacted Homeowners

Citing the shortage of federal and state funds available to assist Superstorm Sandy impacted homeowners in rebuilding their homes, the Middletown Township Committtee this week joined Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon in calling on the state legislature and Governor Chris Christie to put the more than $100 million in Affordable Housing Funds that are sitting dormant to work.

With a unanimous 5-0 vote, the committee passed a resolution on Monday, April 21, calling for legislation that would reinstate Regional Contribution Agreements (RCAs) “for the limited purpose of getting victims of Superstorm Sandy back in their homes during this time of need.”

RCAs were created in the original 1985 Fair Housing Act whereby towns with funds raised from developer fees or through bonding could transfer up to half of those funds to another community for the purpose of building affordable housing as required by the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Mt. Laurel decision.

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