Ex-Birdsall exec gets jail time in $1M pay-to-play scheme

TRENTON — A top executive of the politically connected engineering firm toppled by an investigation into illegal campaign contributions will serve nine months in a county jail for his role in the scheme, authorities said. Former Birdsall Services Group senior vice president William Birdsall, 67, is also barred for 10 years from bidding on public contracts… Read the rest of this entry »

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Jazzy Punk Classics in Asbury Park Weds Night

The Jersey Shore and Monmouth County in particular is known throughout the world for its contributions to rock and roll and pop music.

Wednesday night a global talent… local artist Deborah Dutcher of Rumson, who is known in London as Christine in “Phantom of the Opera” will perform punk classics like the Ramones’ I Wanna Be Sedated and the Clash’s Lost in the Supermarket “re-imagined” as jazz standards in a show called Punk Standards at the new Asbury Hotel.

The show was conceived by Phil Kuntz, also of Rumson, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for Bloomberg News who has also worked for The Wall Street Journal.

Accompanying Dutcher on the piano will be Joe McGinty, an Atlantic City native who know owns the New York piano bar, Sid Gold’s Request Room.

McGinty will follow Dutcher’s performance with live piano karoke.

The show starts at 8pm and is free.  Seating is limited so get there early.

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Manalapan’s Robby Andrews uses killer kick to become an Olympian

New Jersey’s Robby Andrews used his trademark big kick over the finals 400 meters to come from behind and finish second in the men’s 1,500 at Sunday’s U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials to make his first U.S. Olympic Team. PLUS: NJ teen sensation Sydney McLaughlin makes the Olympic Team Sitting in 5th place at the… Read the rest of this entry »

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Candlelight Vigil To Honor Fallen Dallas Cops

Join Sheriff Shaun Golden, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the Monmouth County Chiefs of Police Association and PBA – Monmouth County Conference along with Law Enforcement and Clergy from Monmouth County to honor the fallen Dallas Law Enforcement officers during a Candlelight Vigil on Monmouth July 11, 7:30 p.m. at the Monmouth County Police Academy, 2000 Kozloski Rd, Freehold.

All those in Law Enforcement, EMS, Fire and the public are invited.

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Sheriff Golden’s Statement On Dallas Tragedy

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden

The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office is deeply saddened over the senseless tragedy in Dallas and prays for those brave officers who made the ultimate sacrifice, the officers who were severely wounded and their families.

These officers did what they were trained, and sworn to do, protect the public and preserve the peace, but five of them were gunned down by unspeakable violence.

We all must value human life, and by working together in establishing and promoting  police and public partnerships, bridges of trust and cooperation can be built.

Please remember all the victims of the Dallas massacre as well as the participants in the peaceful demonstration, for what they saw and experienced will change their lives forever.

God bless and watch over our first responders.

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THOUGHTS ON THE 4TH OF JULY

By Freeholder Lillian Burry (as prepared for delivery to the Borough of Avon’s July 4th ceremony)

Hello and thank you for having me here today. With the Fourth of July at hand, I thought it appropriate to reflect on the meaning of that day in American History and the cause of liberty that makes it special. The fourth is the celebration of the founding of our nation and the ideals on which that founding was based.

When we think of the American Revolution we do not think of any single place or person or act more than the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. And we recall those powerful words with which our founding fathers bound themselves together and we remember the great men who put their names to them. “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor”.

While that was a singular event, there were many other moments that led up to and followed along after it that also embodied the same spirit of American freedom. We must remember that this was a revolution that rose from the people of the thirteen colonies, each with its own leaders and prominent voices. All were inspired and united with a spirit best remembered in the work of Thomas Paine. Our second President, John Adams, wrote “Without the pen of the author of “Common Sense” the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.”

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Christie Issues List of Transportation Projects to Be Put on Hold

With cash for state transportation projects getting scarcer by the hour thanks to political gridlock in Trenton, Gov. Chris Christie’s administration yesterday released a list of dozens of road and rail upgrades that are slated to be put on hold later this week. The forced shutdown of the infrastructure work by late Friday night will affect…

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Tips for dealing with the heat

With temperatures expected to be in the 90’s for the next several days, Monmouth County’s Office of Emergency Management and the Health Department have issued  some reminders on how to avoid dehydration and other heat related ailments:

• Stay in the shade;
• If you head to the beach, be sure to bring an umbrella;
• Wear sunscreen and lightweight, light-colored clothing to reflect some of the sun’s energy;
• Drink plenty of water even if you do not feel thirsty. Limit alcohol, and sugary drinks which speed dehydration;
• Slow down. Avoid exertion during the hottest part of the day. If you must do strenuous activity, do it during the coolest part of the day – in the morning between 4 and 7 a.m., and
• Eat small meals and eat more often.

Deputy Freeholder Director Serena DiMaso, the freeholder who overseas OEM, asks that residents watch out for those most susceptible to getting beat by the heat; children under four years old, seniors over sixty-five, overweight people, and those with illnesses and on certain medications.

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AG Lynch closes Clinton email investigation; Sonnek-Schmelz blasts special rules for powerful insiders

Brent Sonnek-Schmelz

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced this afternoon that she is closing the Hillary Clinton email investigation based upon the recommendation of FBI Director James Comey. “Late this afternoon, I met with FBI Director James Comey and career prosecutors and agents who conducted the investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system during her time as Secretary of State,” Lynch said in a statement released on the Justice Department website.  “I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation that the thorough, year-long investigation be closed and that no charges be brought against any individuals within the scope of the investigation.”

Brent Sonnek-Schmelz, the business man running for Congress against 28 year incumbent Frank Pallone in the Monmouth/Middlesex 6th District, said that Clinton’s free pass is more than enough reason to clear out partisan political puppets, like Pallone, from both political parties.

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Sheriff Golden, Freeholders demand that Trenton fund 911 centers

Sheriff Shaun Golden points to the $.90 fee on his phone bill. Click photo for larger view

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden and all five Monmouth County Freeholders called for the State of New Jersey to stop diverting the $.90 per phone line surcharge New Jersey consumers pay with their cell and landline bills from it’s intended purpose…the funding of Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs)… at a press conference outside the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Center in Freehold this afternoon.

According to draft resolution that the New Jersey Association of Counties is urging all 21 New Jersey Freeholder Boards to adopt, New Jersey is in violation of federal law, the “NET 911 Act of 2008” (H.R 3403) for having diverted 89% of the $1.25 billion in 911 System and Emergency Response Fees collected since 2006.

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