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SANDY HOOK: PROPOSED FEE HIKE RETURNS

The per-car fee would jump to $20, from $15, under the proposed hike. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03Four years after a planned entry fee increase was scrapped, Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook will try again.

Under a proposed fee hike announced Wednesday, visitors would pay $20 per day per vehicle, or $100 per season, starting in the summer of 2021.

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RED BANK: BALLOONS, TRAFFIC ON AGENDA

The study is to examine traffic and on-street parking downtown. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Expect the Red Bank council to initiate a proposed ban on mass balloon releases at its next regular meeting Wednesday night.

Also on deck: the award of a contract for a traffic study.

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RED BANK: COUNCIL TAKES AIM AT BALLOONS

red bank balloonsCampaign balloons given out at the 2014 Halloween Parade prompted complaints that the event was being politicized. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njThe Red Bank council may soon take up a proposed ban on mass balloon releases, its members agreed at their workshop meeting Wednesday night.

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RED BANK: NICE PLACE YOU GOT HERE…

red bank nj turkey vulturered bank nj turkey vultureAffecting the air of a thuggish gang, a group of vultures loitered outside Les Gertrude apartments on Broad Street in Red Bank Thursday morning. One enjoyed a sidewalk breakfast of fresh kill. 

Any ornithologists out there who can identify these gray-headed birds? (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)

SANDY HOOK: BOOZE BANNED

SANDY HOOK, nj, beachThe first year of the ban will focus on educating the public about the change, though repeat offenders will face fines, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njSuntanning beachgoers and devotees of the summertime concerts at Sandy Hook can kiss their favorite alcoholic beverages goodbye.

Citing 328 alcohol-related incidents between 2016 and 2018, officials have banned all forms of booze from the waterfront park, the last public beach in New Jersey where it was still allowed.

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FAIR HAVEN: TOWN RALLIES FOR INJURED COP

Patrolman Dwayne Reevey, below, with his wife, Christine, and their young son in a recent photo. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Fair Haven residents have rallied for a borough police officer who is reported to have broken his neck in an swimming accident on the Fourth of July.

Patrolman Dwayne Reevey suffered the injury while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, according to a Go Fund Me campaign launched Friday.

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RED BANK: MILD WEATHER FORECAST

After three snowfalls in a week, autumn 2017 winds down on the Greater Red Bank Green with unexceptional weather.

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RED BANK: THIRD SNOWFALL FORECAST

A third late-autumn snowfall in the span of a week could lay up to three inches on the Greater Red Bank Green starting late Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service(Click to enlarge.)

Click ‘read more’ for dull details on the weekend and beyond, weatherwise.

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RED BANK: GUSTY CONDITIONS FORECAST

A pair of gulls at Marine Park in Red Bank Monday. They’ll have more wind beneath their wings starting Tuesday evening, according to the Weather Channel(Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)

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RED BANK: EATERIES SPOTLIGHT STRAWS

Kitch Organic on Leighton Avenue, above, is one of eight Red Bank restaurants participating in a monthlong effort to reduce the number of plastic drinking straws that don’t make it into the recycling stream.

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RED BANK: A BREAK IN THE HUMIDITY

Another warm day is expected Tuesday, with temperatures on the Greater Red Bank Green peaking at about 80 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. But drier air should make it more comfortable than its been the last two days, and sunshine will be back, for a day at least. (Click to enlarge.)

Here’s the extended forecast:
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RUMSON: MARINE SCIENCE CENTER PLANNED

A concept drawing of the proposed Monmouth Marine and Environmental Field Station, which would be built atop the existing sanitary sewer pump station in the background. The red star on the satellite photo below indicates the location. (Photo by John T. Ward, map by Google Maps. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A sewage pump station on the Navesink River in Rumson would serve as the foundation, literally, for an ambitious new marine science center announced in Rumson Tuesday.

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SANDY HOOK: GIRL DIES DAY AFTER RESCUE

sandy hook 061712Sandy Hook as seen from the Route 36 Captain Joe Azzolina Bridge. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

A 12-year-old Union County girl died Monday morning, less than a day after being pulled out of water at Sandy Hook, National Park Service spokeswoman Daphne Yun tells redbankgreen.

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SEA BRIGHT: BACK TO THE BEACH @ DONOVAN’S

One of three bars at Donovan’s Reef is a thatched roof tiki bar.  (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

By SUSAN ERICSON

Flip-flop wearing beachgoers can now drink their beverage of choice at any of three separate bars within the confines of the newly re-built Donovan’s Reef in Sea Bright. PieHole recently paid its first visit to the sprawling party palace since its resurrection from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

And is this the Jersey Shore? Swaying palm trees and ocean views could easily have your thinking you’re on a tropical vacation.
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SANDY HOOK: A FREE FUNDAY ON THE HOOK

The historic lighthouse at Sandy Hook is one of the man-made and natural highlights of Sunday’s Ocean Family Fun Day.

Closing in on Memorial Day weekend, which marks the return of entry fees at Sandy Hook, the folks at the Hook-based local chapter of the American Littoral​ Society are offering sightseers of all ages one last pre-season opportunity to enjoy the peninsula’s many natural and man-made wonders this Sunday.

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WHAT’S FOR LUNCH? ‘ALL IN’ IN SEA BRIGHT

Shrimp, arugula and capellini pasta at the newly opened GiGi’s New York Style Pizza and Restaurant. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

By SUSAN ERICSON

Admiring the new street lights installed as part of a streetscape makeover on Ocean Avenue in Sea Bright earlier this week, PieHole spied the equally new GiGi’s New York Style Pizza and Restaurant.

Located next door to Melonhead in a space that most recently housed the Black Swine restaurant, which moved to a larger spot a block away, Gigi’s turns out to be owned by familiar faces: chef Kenny Gambella and his wife, Kelly, who also own Sonny’s Sandwich Shop just down the street.

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RED BANK: A BRUSH WITH A BLIZZARD

Another blizzard that wasn’t dumped up to two feet of snow in northern New Jersey but skirted the Greater Red Bank Green Tuesday, bringing lots of rain atop an early coating of about three inches of snow. NJ.com talked to forecasters about the bad call.

Meanwhile, a state of emergency declaration by Governor Chris Christie kept would-be motorists off the roads, making traffic control easy easy for Red Bank and Shrewsbury police when traffic lights at the intersection of Broad Street and Newman Springs Road malfunctioned in early evening, above.

 Anticipating icy roads, area schools scheduled late starts Wednesday. The National Weather Service forecast showed daytime temperatures peaking at about 29 degrees, with a wind advisory warning of possible gusts of 45 miles per hour until 8 p.m.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

RED BANK: BLIZZARD ARRIVES, WETLY

About two inches of snow lay on the streets of downtown Red Bank at around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday during the early part of what forecasters said would become a daylong blizzard. 

Over the course of an hour’s slog on foot, redbankgreen encountered sleet that changed to moderately heavy rain.

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RED BANK: STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED

Road brining at Cross Street and Woodbine Avenue in Little Silver signaled widespread storm preparation underway as towns on the Greater Red Bank Green girded for a blizzard Monday. 

Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency Monday evening, meaning that government offices would be closed Tuesday and motorist are urged to stay off the roads for the duration of the storm and immediately afterward.

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RED BANK: BLIZZARD IN FORECAST

The likeliest snow total for the Greater Red Bank Green: 10 to 14 inches, according to the National Weather Service. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Entering the final week of winter 2017, the Greater Red Bank Green is in for a strong blast of winter, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a blizzard warning Monday morning.

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RED BANK: HALF A STORM?

A snowstorm, or half of one, blew into the Greater Green Friday, coating one side of the firefighter’s memorial at Red Bank’s borough hall in heavy white snow.

The snowfall was expected to taper off by mid-afternoon, possibly followed by occasional snow showers Friday night leaving an additional half-inch or less, according to the National Weather Service. The outlook for Saturday: sunny and blustery, with a high in the low 30s. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)