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RUMSON: STADIUM SECURITY BOOSTED

RFHNew security measures will go into effect at Borden Stadium beginning with tonight’s football game, school officials said. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

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Rumson-Fair Haven Regional football fans, stripped of their signs and giant heads for the first home game of the season, won’t be able to bring backpacks and bottles to the second and future games, school officials announced Thursday.

Citing last weekend’s bombing spree in Seaside Heights, New York City and Elizabeth, school officials have imposed new restrictions at Borden Stadium, officials said in a letter sent to community members Thursday.

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‘YARN BOMBING’ BRIGHTENS SEA BRIGHT LOT

Megan Heath Gilhool, right, with Frances Rooney, whose hot dog stand was given some decorative touches in yarn last week. (Photo by Wil Fulton. Click to enlarge)

By WIL FULTON

Mixed in among the many Memorial Day celebrations and reopenings in recovering Sea Bright over the weekend, a rogue group of vandals struck one of the town’s most beloved landmarks.

During the chilly, rain-soaked early hours of Friday morning, a dozen women swarmed an Ocean Avenue lot with one mission in mind: to leave their mark on the town. They diligently went to work, covering the fence that encloses Frances Rooney’s hot dog stand with their own personal ‘tags.’

After they politely asked her permission, of course.

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FOR A RED BANK BUNKER, IT’S DOOMSDAY

“I’d almost rather be incinerated than have to live down here,” says Suellen Sims, below inspecting her new home’s fallout shelter, built beneath an earthen berm alongside Harris Park. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

It survived the Cold War without so much as a scratch, but a Red Bank fallout shelter is about to prove no match for the great wave of American home renovation.

Sometime in the next few weeks, a backhoe is expected to demolish the underground bunker beside a River Road house recently acquired by Suellen and Jamie Sims, who plan an addition to accommodate her mother.

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DETAILS ABOUT ROBBERY STILL UNDER WRAPS

rumson-bank1A stretch of West River Road was blocked off nearly four hours Tuesday after a bomb threat at the Bank of America. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Two suspects are in police custody after allegedly threatening to blow up the Bank of America on River Road in Rumson Tuesday afternoon, Mayor John Ekdahl said.

The unidentified men, who are from Monmouth County, are being held at Rumson police headquarters until they are charged by the Prosecutor’s Office.

After a near four-hour lockdown of part of Rumson’s busy main road, a sweep conducted by the FBI showed there was no bomb in the building, Ekdahl said.

“The building is clear,” he said. “There’s no bombs in the bank.”

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M’TOWN POLICE NAB MAN WITH EXPLOSIVES

zachary-sullivan-arrestBy DUSTIN RACIOPPI

A 28-year-old man was arrested last night after police found him hiding outside a Port Monmouth home with an explosive device, Middletown police said.

Zachary Sullivan, who last lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was charged with attempted arson, aggravated assault, possession of a destructive device and causing or risking widespread injury or damage.

Police found him hiding behind a car in the driveway of a Willow Drive residence after receiving a call of a possible prowler in the neighborhood. Sullivan’s clothes were covered in a black substance he told police was motor oil and was going to pour it on the home’s porch as a Halloween prank.

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M’TOWN MAN CHARGED IN EXPLOSION

mtown-explosionThe home at 56 Twin Brooks Ave., where three people were injured in an explosion Tuesday night. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to include information from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Middletown police.]

A Middletown man has been charged in connection with an explosion at his Twin Brooks Avenue home that injured two members of the State Police, the Asbury Park Press reports.

Frank Szmaja, 64, was charged with one count of third-degree possession of a destructive device, one count of second-degree causing or risking widespread injury or damage, plus the disorderly persons offenses of persons possessing explosives or destructive devices to notify police, maintaining a nuisance and violation of a law intended to protect public health and safety, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said in a release.

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