MIDDLETOWN: RIVERFRONT PARK TO OPEN
In the works for more than eight years, Swimming River Park in the River Plaza section of Middletown is set to make its official debut Monday.
RED BANK: INDOOR CANNABIS FARM APPROVED
The facility would operate in three buildings now used for warehousing at 15 East Leonard Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank moved closer to scoring a wholesale cannabis growing facility Monday night.
Before granting approval, however, planning board members had to overcome misgivings about an all-cash operation – and an electrified security fence meant to give intruders a “kick in the chest” without killing them.
RED BANK: $10K CANNABIS BIZ FEE ON TABLE
Map indicates areas of town that are off-limits for cannabis operations and sales with cross-hatching outlined in red. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed $10,000 fee for licenses to grow, store or sell cannabis was flagged as possibly problematic by Red Bank’s borough attorney last week.
RED BANK: BOARD OKS CANNABIS SITING PLAN
Map indicates areas of town that would be off-limits for cannabis operations and sales with cross-hatching outlined in red. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan to accommodate all levels of cannabis businesses – from growth to retailing – advanced in Red Bank Monday night.
The borough planning board, meeting in person for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, gave the plan its seal of approval, finding no conflicts with the town’s Master Plan.
RED BANK: TOWN TO ZONE FOR CANNABIS
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank will move quickly to set zoning rules on the growth, distribution and retail sale of cannabis, the council informally agreed Wednesday night.
The decision will enable the borough to dictate where cannabis commerce can occur, and eventually generate some tax revenue.
RED BANK: DALPRA TO HEAD PARKS & REC
Louis ‘Del’ DalPra at Red Bank Regional in 2009. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Former Red Bank Regional High athletic director and coach Louis ‘Del’ DalPra was named director of the borough’s parks and recreation department Wednesday night.
RED BANK: MARIJUANA GROW SITE PROPOSED
The operation would be housed in a warehouse on East Leonard Street, indicated by a star above. (Image from Google Maps. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Jumping in on New Jersey’s legalization of adult-use marijuana, a local homebuilder hopes to win approval for a growing facility in Red Bank, redbankgreen has learned.
RED BANK: HOFFMANN LEAVING REC JOB
Charlie Hoffmann with parks attendant Celestine Woods at Riverside Gardens Park in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Charlie Hoffmann, who has directed Red Bank’s parks and recreation department for the past five years, is leaving town.
The announcement of his departure at the council’s semimonthly meeting Wednesday sparked a “pile-on” of praise for Hoffmann’s work, which included organizing everything from sports and cultural offerings to this weekend’s Spring Egg Hunt.
RED BANK: BON JOVI SPOTLIGHTS PORTER
Jon Bon Jovi chatted with Pastor Terrence Porter of Red Bank’s Pilgrim Baptist Church for a ‘Season of Giving’ segment on the Christmas Eve edition of NBC’s Today Show last Thursday.
RED BANK: CLUB OFFERS LEARNING SPACE
The Boys & Girls Club on Drs. James Parker Boulevard in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
With area school districts offering partial- and full-remote schedules this fall, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County (BGCM) has opened Remote Learning Centers during the school day at its Asbury Park and Red Bank locations to assist children with their remote education.
RED BANK: BON JOVI WARMS UP CENTER
Jon Bon Jovi at the ribbon cutting for the Hope & Comfort Warming Center, at 166 Shrewsbury Avenue, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With a surprise snowstorm hinting at the need, a new ‘warming center’ for homeless men opened in Red Bank Thursday.
The warmup act for the ribbon cutting? None other than pop superstar Jon Bon Jovi.
RED BANK: HRAC TO LAUNCH ANTI-HATE DRIVE
Marchers heading along Shrewsbury Avenue to an anti-hatred rally in Red Bank in August, 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The recent discovery of Ku Klux Klan recruiting fliers in two Red Bank locations has inspired a drive to eliminate hate and tone down divisive rhetoric in town.
RUMSON: ‘RIVAL’ TEENS UNITE TO SAVE LIVES
The student leaders behind the Ridge Road Run 5K, as seen on Ridge Road, are (left to right): RBR senior Michael Eulner, Shrewsbury; sophomore Claudia Kelly, Little Silver; senior Thomas Lloyd, Shrewsbury; RFH senior Ellie Gibney, Fair Haven; RBC senior Lily Salcedo; RFH senior Teddy Sourlis, Rumson; and RBC senior Courtney Carroll, Middletown.
[Press release from Red Bank Regional]
The sports rivalries among three Two River schools are legendary. It is always a super sweet victory when the Red Bank Regional (RBR) Buccaneers can defeat Red Bank Catholic (RBC) Caseys or Rumson Fair Haven’s (RFH) Bulldawgs, and vice versa for all three teams, two of which are located on Ridge Road, and the other not too far away.
However, seven students from all three schools have recently collaborated to use that rivalry to generate a very positive event.
RED BANK: FOOD, CLOTHES & MORE IN CHURN
JJ’s Delicasies, at 21 West Front Street, features a swirling logo on the sidewalk out front, thanks to a projector. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, one of Red Bank’s hot vegan restaurants is building a separate takeout place, while a 24-hour gym, a barber shop and a cryotherapy spa all have plans to set up shop downtown.
Meantime, two businesses — a restaurant and a women’s clothing shop — have opened in recent days.
RED BANK: SUNSET PARK CONCEPT TO DEBUT
The so-called Sunset Park concept plan includes a soccer field, riverfront boardwalk, kayak launch and other amenities. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank residents will get their first look Monday night at a concept plan for a new park on the town’s long-closed landfill site overlooking the Swimming River.
SHREWSBURY: SQUAD SEEKS EMR VOLUNTEERS
The Shrewsbury First Aid Squad is based on Haddon Avenue.
Press release from the Shrewsbury First Aid Squad
The Shrewsbury First Aid Squad is looking for volunteers, and hoping to make signing up more attractive.
RED BANK: FREE COFFEE AND CONVERSATION
“We are talking at and about each other a lot these days,” says Rabbi Marc Kline (right), a member of the Red Bank Human Relations Committee and rabbi at Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls. He hopes to encourage better connections with a weekly free “coffee and conversation” event that starts Tuesday in downtown Red Bank.
SHREWSBURY: SEABROOK ZONE ISSUE CITED
The opening of the Seabrook House facility drew protesters last Thursday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Shrewsbury officials have notified representatives of a new addiction-counseling center that a key aspect of the operation appears to conflict with local zoning law, redbankgreen has learned.
Five days after Governor Chris Christie got into a shouting match with protesters at the opening of the Seabrook House outpatient facility on White Street, borough Attorney Martin Barger confirmed the nonprofit has been told by letter that its plan for group counseling sessions is not permitted in the zone.
RED BANK: RESIDENTS RESIST DUMP-SITE PARK
The audience at the Celestial Lodge Friday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank residents delivered a message to borough officials Friday night about a new park proposed at the town’s long-closed landfill site: not everyone wants it.
At a town-hall-style meeting held at the Celestial Lodge #36 on Drs. James Parker Boulevard, area residents expressed concerns that the dump might never be made safe for public use.
SHREWSBURY: CHRISTIE IN CLASH OVER REHAB
Protesters attempted to shout down Governor Chris Christie at the opening of the Seabrook House facility. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Governor Chris Christie clashed with protesters at the opening of an addiction-counseling center in Shrewsbury Thursday, taunting them as “ignorant” NIMBYs whose children would someday need the facility.
SHREWSBURY: CHRISTIE TO OPEN REHAB UNIT
The new Seabrook House facility on White Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Governor Chris Christie is scheduled to cut ribbon Thursday to open a Shrewsbury addiction-treatment center.
RED BANK: PLANTING SEEDS FOR FUTURE PARK
A map showing the extended former landfill site outlined in green. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
We need a skatepark. We need a playgrounds for West Side kids. We need to remember that this is a neighborhood that can’t handle throngs of out-of-town visitors.
Red Bank residents offered those and other suggestions as the process of shaping a new waterfront park out of the former town dump got underway with a community brainstorming session last Thursday night.
RED BANK: BRAINSTORMING A NEW PARK PLAN
With planning underway to transform the former Red Bank landfill at West Sunset Avenue into an 8.6-acre park, the borough Parks & Rec Committee has scheduled a “concept design kickoff” to solicit public input on the project.
RED BANK: PLAN FOR NEW PARK IN THE WORKS
The former landfill at West Sunset Avenue, as seen in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials took another step toward the creation of a long-anticipated new park on the site of the former landfill and incinerator this week.
They also got some promises of help.
RED BANK: A THIRD CAREER, IN HEALTHCARE
Sal Cannizzaro outside the latest addition to his newest Immediate Care walk-in health center chain in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The new Immediate Care urgent-care center in Red Bank has all the markings of a healthcare industry play, suggesting teams of doctors pooling their resources to exploit an opening in the era of Obamacare.
But the brains behind the operation is actually a former print-shop owner who’s now on his third career, none of which required studying cadavers or using stethoscopes.