HUMANISTS FIRE BACK IN ‘WAR ON WOMEN’

Jun 11, 2012

Pat Barr, a self-described “anti-demonstration demonstrator,” tells fellow humanists about her experiences as pro-choice picketer. (Click to enlarge)

By STACIE FANELLI

In a presentation heavy on how labels are deployed in political battles, Irma Lester wondered aloud whether the term “war” correctly describes what she sees as a recent stripping of reproductive and economic rights from women.

Despite the harsh connotation of a battlefield, she said it “does catch the sense of danger that we’re in today.”

Lester, a professor emeritus of women’s studies at Brookdale Community College women’s, appeared before the Red Bank Humanists on Sunday at the Red Bank Charter School as the special guest speaker for its June forum: “The War on Women: Myth or Reality?”

Whatever terminology backers of women’s rights use to describe themselves and their causes, their conservative opponents are “going to demonize” them, Lester said. “Stick with ‘feminist.’ Stick with ‘abortion.'”

June 11, 2012 - 3:32 pm |

DUPRÉ PLUGS FEMME IN POST SWAN SONG

May 29, 2012

A screen grab of Ashley Dupré’s final sex-and-relationship advice column, which ran Saturday. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Moving on to what she calls “the next chapter in my life,” Ashley Dupré the high-priced escort in New York’s 2008 ‘Luv Guv’ scandal has pulled the plug on her career as a New York Post sex-and-relationship advice columnist in order to focus on her new Red Bank lingerie and swimwear store, she says.

In her swan-song column, published on Saturday, Dupré thanked readers “for helping me find my path in life” while at the same time plugging her Broad Street boutique, Femme by Ashley.

May 29, 2012 - 7:03 am |

DOWNTOWN RED BANK COMES OFF THE ROPES

Apr 10, 2012

The recent opening of Lucki Clover, above, in a Broad Street space vacated last September, is seen as one of many indicators of a strengthening comeback. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Without question, the losses have been significant.

Over the past six months, as the global, national and regional economies have struggled to emerge from the wreckage of the 2008 credit meltdown, Red Bank’s retail market has continued to absorb hard-to-shake-off business departures.

Primas Home Cafe. Willy’s Cheesesteaks. Soapmarket. Later this month, Surray Luggage, a Broad Street fixture, will hold a liquidation sale.

But more so than in the recent past, the downtown real estate market has been marked by two noteworthy trends: faster refilling of storefronts, and the end of several key, longtime vacancies.

What’s it all add up to? In a word, recovery, says at least one downtown Churn watcher.

April 10, 2012 - 10:00 am |

HOODED IN MEMORY

Apr 3, 2012

Dozens of people gathered at the pocket park on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank Monday night for a vigil in memory of Trayvon Martin, the hoodie-wearing Florida teen whose death in a confrontation with a gun-carrying neighborhood watch member has sparked widespread controversy. (Click to enlarge)

April 3, 2012 - 4:28 am |

RED BANK: TRAYVON MARTIN VIGIL SLATED

Mar 29, 2012

Councilwoman Sharon Lee, wearing a hoodie in memory of Trayvon Martin, talks with Mayor Pasquale Menna before Wednesday night’s council meeting. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Three Red Bank council members wore hooded garments to Wednesday night’s bimonthly meeting as a local group put out word of a silent vigil next week in memory of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

A poster for the event, called “We Are Trayvon Martin,” encourages attendees to wear hoodies, the type of sweatshirt that Martin was wearing when he was killed in an encounter with a gun-toting resident of Sanford, Florida a month ago.

March 29, 2012 - 8:57 am |

MORE RED BANK COPS SOUGHT ON CRIME RISE

Nov 22, 2011

Chief Steve McCarthy is expected to request authorization to hire three officers to combat rising crime rates. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s top cop is hoping to do some force rebuilding following the recent release of data showing a spike in crime in 2010 and unreleased figures showing that it’s gotten worse this year.

Chief Steve McCarthy has asked the borough council to OK the hiring of three patrol officers in an effort to get the number of uniformed officers back to 40, the number it began the year with.

The request, coming as officials brace for what is expected to be the tightest municipal budget in years, follows the release of the State Police annual Uniform Crime Reports data earlier this month showing that both violent and nonviolent crime in town shot up in 2010.

And if the trends of the first ten months of 2011 hold, “we’re looking at another 8- to 10-percent increase” for 2011, McCarthy tells redbankgreen.

November 22, 2011 - 10:30 am |

BIG RETURN HOME FOR LITTLE SILVER MARINE

Oct 31, 2011

After six months of intense fighting in Afghanistan, Lance Corporal Brian Dilger of the U.S. Marines was welcomed home on leave in Little Silver Sunday.

The 22-year-old Red Bank Catholic grad was treated to an impromptu fire-and-first aider’s parade through town led by the Warriors Watch Riders, who drove up from Camden County for the occasion.

“I’m pretty embarrassed, but it’s definitely awesome to be back,” Dilger told redbankgreen, seen above right with his sister, Grace. (Click to enlarge)

October 31, 2011 - 7:53 am |

Q FOR GOP: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

Oct 20, 2011

Westside Community Group president Amy Goldsmith, right, discusses the debate format with candidates Juanita Lewis, Joe Mizzi, Grace Cangemi and Ed Zipprich. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s Republican contenders for borough council were on the defensive Wednesday night as their opponents, and some voters, pressed them on their perceived sudden re-emergence as election day looms.

Resident David Prown asked GOP candidates Grace Cangemi and Joe Mizzi how confident taxpayers should feel in their representation, given what he characterized as their low profile between last spring’s candidacy announcement and now. Several questioners pressed them on the point of view that the pair say is missing from the current all-Democrat council.

In the evening’s most heated moment, incumbent Ed Zipprich called his opponent’s criticisms of the current council “absolutely ridiculous,” and said Cangemi, a former council member, hadn’t appeared at a session of the governing body since she lost a re-election bid in 2008, though she had pledged to serve as a watchdog.

“What have you done for the town in the three years since you walked out the door?” he asked.

October 20, 2011 - 8:58 am |

OCCUPIERS OCCUPIED WITH ORGANIZING

Oct 17, 2011

About three dozen people turned out for Saturday’s initial meeting of Occupy Red Bank at Marine Park, an event led by Connor Walby, center below. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Any expectations that a gathering dubbed Occupy Red Bank would attract throngs of longterm visitors similar to those protesting near Wall Street in Manhattan and elsewhere around the world proved mistaken Saturday.

Instead, a brief, low-key assemblage of about three-dozen people lived up, or down, to billing, as nothing more than an opportunity for participants to air concerns about economic and political trends, and to agree to meet again.

“The strength of this is what we agree on,” Connor Walby, who in his word “facilitated” the discussion, told the attendees arrayed in a loose circle on a concrete pad in Marine Park. “We agree that this is a broken system.”

October 17, 2011 - 10:37 am |

YOUNG SHOPPERS PRIME DOWNTOWN PUMP

Sep 2, 2011

Is it just us, or are more young people shopping in downtown Red Bank than in recent years? Below, Leanne Navarette of Backward Glances. (Click to enlarge)

By MOLLY MULSHINE

Autumn Byrd, 14, may not have a driver’s license, but the Colts Neck resident still finds a way to shop, eat and hang out in Red Bank whenever she can.

“My daughter is always like, ‘Let’s go to Red Bank, let’s go to Urban Outfitters, let’s go to Funk & Standard,'” Autumn’s dad, Avery Byrd, said as he paid for a purchase at Backward Glances recently.

Autumn eschews the mall in favor of Red Bank because of the town’s artsy feel, she said. “A lot of the styles I’m into, I can find here,” she said. “And I feel safe in this town.”

If any trend is apparent in downtown Red Bank this summer, it’s the return of teens and young adults, lured to modest-priced clothing stores and eateries, including relative newcomers Urban Outfitters, women’s clothing boutique Dor L’Dor and Mexi-Cali chow purveyor Surf Taco, as well as staples like Funk and Standard.

Merchants see the influx of teens as a rebuke to the idea that the town is becoming too upmarket and squeezing out younger shoppers and others with moderate incomes.

September 2, 2011 - 10:09 am |

O’HERN, AZZOLINA GET NAME HONORS

Aug 23, 2011

The Red Bank train station and the Route 36 Highlands-Sea Bright bridge, below, have new names. (Click to enlarge)

Two prominent pieces of public infrastructure one, some 140 years old, the other brand-new have officially been renamed for Red Bank-area leaders.

Governor Chris Christie has signed bills naming the century-old Red Bank rail station for the late borough mayor and state Supreme Court Justice Daniel OHern and dubbing a new bridge across the Shrewsbury River for the late Joe Azzolina, the longtime state Assemblyman from Middletown.

State Senator Jennifer Beck, who pushed for both, announced the changes Monday.

August 23, 2011 - 8:00 am |

MONMOUTH STREET: COCOON EMPTIES OUT

Aug 9, 2011

Rema Joseph closed her Monmouth Street women’s clothing and gift store on Sunday. (Click to enlarge)

Rema Joseph had hoped to hang on until the end of the year.

Then it became a matter of making it at least until the end of month.

But a paucity of customers willing to open their purses spelled an expedited end of her Red Bank clothing and accessories store, Cocoon.

Joseph shut out the lights one last time on Sunday, ending an eight-year run and joining the continual churn of businesses downtown.

August 9, 2011 - 10:01 am |

OFFICIALS TOUT BAMM HOLLOW OPEN SPACE

Jul 27, 2011

A view of Bamm Hollow from the Garden State Parkway. Middetown officials say the view won’t change. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

If and when developers ever get to work on building 190 homes on the sprawling property of Bamm Hollow Country Club, its impact on the Lincroft area of Middletown, would be minimal, says township Attorney Brian Nelson.

Traffic would increase from present levels, and the local school system would take on new students. But when driving by the property, it’d be hard to notice any major impact, Nelson said.

That would not be the case had the township pursued, and lost, a two-year-old lawsuit opposing plans for up to 1,200 units on the site, Nelson maintains. Instead, the municipality reached a deal with the property owners.

“You can drive down West Front Street, and you won’t even know this development is there,” Nelson said in an interview shortly after the township committee announced an end to the lawsuit. “You won’t even see it from the Parkway. It’ll look the same as it is now.”

July 27, 2011 - 7:08 am |

DRUG ALLIANCE SPEAKS HARSH TRUTH

May 19, 2011

Children and adults packed the auditorium at the Middletown Arts Center for the eighth annual Reaching Out To Prevent Substance Abuse symposium. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Weed’s days as the gateway drug might be numbered.

“Most kids who abuse drugs now, they take their first hit of whatever it is from their parent’s medicine cabinet,” said Middletown police Lieutenant John McGuire.

McGuire, sitting on a panel of law enforcement, government and school officials at Middletown Arts Center Wednesday, said the trend in town over the last decade is children and he meant children getting their first exposure to drugs through prescriptions.

Along with the other panelists, McGuire was charged with exposing an auditorium overflowing with middle school-aged children, and some parents, to the dangers of drugs and alcohol, in what former mayor Tom Hall said was a forum meant to be as honest and uncomfortable as possible: Middletown drug alliance‘s eighth annual Reaching Out To Prevent Substance Abuse symposium.

May 19, 2011 - 8:17 am |

MENNA LOOSENS HIS TIE, SORT OF

May 17, 2011

Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna Saturday. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

He didn’t share any secret recipes or crack too many jokes, and didn’t even loosen his bright pink tie. But Mayor Pasquale Menna got about as informal as he was going to Saturday.

For Menna, the opening meetup in what’s billed as a series of weekend chats was a chance to let his hair down in the metaphorical sense, at least an opportunity he took to pat the borough’s employees on the back, recommend a shred job to the state constitution and ponder his daily reading habits.

May 17, 2011 - 10:12 am |

THE WEEK IN REARVIEW: MAY 8-14, 2011

May 16, 2011

A painter finishes off a welcome sign in the window of Broadway Diner. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

A roundup of articles appearing last week here on redbankgreen is below.

May 16, 2011 - 6:20 am |

KEEPING IT REAL BY KEEPING IT LOCAL

May 13, 2011

And now, an important message from the home office. Literally.

redbankgreen has joined with some 30 hyperlocal news sites across America in an effort to remind readers and advertisers of the community-enhancing role that independent news sites play.

Dubbed Authentically Local and including sites from Seattle to Tucson to New Haven, the group’s aim is “to remind readers and advertisers of the value that local ownership and local perspective brings to coverage,” says redbankgreen publisher John T. Ward.

May 13, 2011 - 9:14 am |

LOCALS MOURN BIN LADEN’S VICTIMS

May 2, 2011

Toms River resident and Jersey City firefighter Mark Lee visited the memorial stone of his lifelong friend Paul Nimbley at Middletown’s September 11 memorial garden Monday, fresh off the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. armed forces. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Paul Nimbley and Mark Lee were like brothers. They grew up together, went to school together in Jersey City. Lee was Nimbley’s best man at his wedding.

Nearly 10 years ago, Nimbley was one of nearly 3,000 killed at the World Trade Center and two other locations in attacks orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, the elusive-yet-ubiquitous face of 21st century terror who finally met his demise at the hands of U.S. special forces Sunday.

On the heels of that bittersweet news, Lee, a Jersey City firefighter, made a reflective, heart-wrenching trip to pay respects at his friend’s memorial stone at Middletown’s September 11 memorial garden Monday morning.

While there is no true closure in knowing that bin Laden’s reign as a mastermind of terror is over, it lifts a weight of uncertainty that bin Laden would ever face retribution for his horrors against humanity, Lee said.

“It still hurts. I lost my best friend,” Lee, of Toms River, said. “The world’s been changed by this, and now I think it’s better off.”

May 2, 2011 - 11:36 am |

T&M TOPS CONTRACTOR DONOR LIST

Apr 7, 2011

Middletown-based civil engineering firm T&M Associates was the state’s biggest contributor to political campaigns among businesses that contract with local and state government in New Jersey, according to a report issued Wednesday.

The state Election Law Enforcement Commission reported that for the fifth straight year, T&M which holds contracts with both Middletown and Red Bank topped the list of donor/contractor firms disclosing contributions under so-called ‘pay-to-play’ laws.

April 7, 2011 - 7:23 am |

BOROUGH, SCHOOL BUDGET Q&As SLATED

Apr 5, 2011

Red Bank property owners with a yen to understand what’s going into this year’s tax bills will get two chances to ask in person this week assuming they can be in two places at once.

April 5, 2011 - 3:15 pm |

LIBRARY OKS $500K TO TOWNSHIP

Mar 17, 2011

The library approved transferring nearly $500,000 to the township committee Wednesday. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

In order to help the township balance its budget and avoid further layoffs, the Middletown Library Board of Trustees swallowed a “bitter pill” Wednesday night and agreed to release nearly $500,000 in surplus funds over to the municipal budget.

The resolution, by a vote of 5 to 2, also includes stipulations that the library will be part of the township’s alternative energy initiative, will get its much-needed parking lot expansion and won’t be considered for transfer to the county library system an option that was never possible anyway, said board president Randall Gabrielan, who voted against the agreement that stemmed from weeks’ worth of negotiations, which he called “dictatoral.”

“I’m sad to say the result of the negotiations was extremely disappointing,” he said.

Yet, after more discussion among the board, and some tweaking to the agreement, Gabrielan, who earlier made a failed proposal to transfer just $250,000 to the town, was joined by only one other board member, vice president Greg Milne, in opposition to transferring $499,974 from the library’s $1.2 million surplus to the township.

March 17, 2011 - 9:36 am |

BECK CHATS IT UP WITH WESTSIDE GROUP

Mar 10, 2011

State Senator Jen Beck talked with residents at the West Side Community Group Wednesday night. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

For months, Patrick Hussey has looked out from his Catherine Street home and wished for pavement. The asphalt was torn up as part of the Cedar Crossing construction project, he said, and he’s been told by contractors that there’s no plan to repave the section of road until later this year.

“I’m ready to plant a garden right there in the street in front of my house,” Hussey said.

He hasn’t been able to get a straight answer from local officials about when his street will be repaved, he said, so he took his grievance a couple steps higher up the chain Wednesday night, when State Senator Jen Beck visited the Westside Community Group for her first time since serving on the borough council.

March 10, 2011 - 1:54 pm |

M’TOWN: ANOTHER TENSE ONE OVER SURPLUS

Feb 23, 2011

Library officials will meet with the town today to try and hammer out an agreement to help balance Middletown’s budget. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Officials from both sides of Middletown’s Great Library Debate will get going on discussions today aimed at possibly allowing the township to balance its budget with a chunk of the library’s $1.2 million surplus.

Elected officials and library representatives, in somewhat clenched-teeth fashion, said Tuesday night they hope to come to an amicable solution to an impasse that last week descended into personal attacks.

Just a week removed from a painstaking public meeting at the library last week, where lines were drawn between the two entities with accusations and factual disputes, the topic was still bubbling Tuesday night, as residents took their turns at a township committee meeting to get their comments on the record and ask more questions about the committee’s request for the library board to hand over nearly $900,000 of its surplus to avert another wave of layoffs.

February 23, 2011 - 10:20 am |

ANOTHER FAIR HAVEN TAX DROP EXPECTED

Feb 23, 2011

Fair Haven is expected to reduce taxes for the fourth straight year. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

While Governor Chris Christie laid out a state’s budget Tuesday that included a plan to keep state aid to cities and towns flat, Fair Haven, in anticipation of such a move, outlined its own spending plan for the year.

As it’s become custom under Mayor Mike Halfacre, local taxes are going down.

But don’t make dinner reservations just yet. The savings might only get you a half-tank of gas.

February 23, 2011 - 6:17 am |

M’TOWN LIBRARY DEBATE GETS PERSONAL

Feb 17, 2011

Kevin Settembrino, left, and Randall Gabrielan, far right, got into a tiff within the open minutes of Wednesday night’s library board meeting. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

The line of cars backing up in both directions on New Monmouth Road Wednesday night was the first sign that the Middletown library board meeting starting in a few minutes was going to be a departure from the humdrum of the trustees’ typical monthly session.

“Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the combat zone,” board president Randall Gabrielan quipped at the opening, and he wasn’t far off. Before it was over, one citizen had invoked invoked the name of the world’s foremost terrorist in challenging an elected official’s suitability to even sit on the board, and Garbrielan himself had been accused of lying.

But after more than three hours of heated debate, finger-pointing, name-calling and innuendo, the issue of whether the library board would grant a request by the township committee for $898,000 of the library’s $1.2 million surplus to help balance the town budget moved toward a possible resolution.

February 17, 2011 - 9:45 am |

< 1 2 3 4 5 >»

redbankgreen.com

PO Box 8683
Red Bank NJ 07701

© 2024 redbankgreen.com. No portion of this website or its content can be used without permission. All rights reserved.