46°F clear sky

RED BANK: HUNDREDS RALLY FOR WOMEN

About 1,000 women, men and children marched and rallied for women’s reproductive rights in downtown Red Bank Saturday.

In conjunction with hundreds of similar events nationwide, the Red Bank gathering, organized by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey and the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, focused on abortion rights as the Supreme Court begins a new term Monday with pivotal cases on the docket.

Chanting “Ruth sent us” and “my body, my choice,” participants marched from the train station to Broad Street and then gathered in Riverside Gardens Park, where speakers, including borough Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, called for the election of women’s rights supporters.

Check out redbankgreen’s photos, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

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RED BANK: STEIN PRESSES FOR DEBATE SPOT

stein-selfie-091716jill-stein-091716-2Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein made a campaign stop Saturday at Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank, where she addressed a rally for environmental justice and afterward, posed for group selfie with the 150 or so attendees, above.

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RED BANK: STEIN TO LEAD RALLY HERE

jill-stein-091516Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is scheduled to participate in a march and rally for environmental justice in Red Bank Saturday.

“Our objective is to bring people together who can lead a pivotal grassroots movement towards better environmental policy, preparation for climate change, and relief for those adversely affected by pollution, climate effects and other environmentally destructive scenarios,” Julie Saporito-Acuña, chair of the Green Party of New Jersey, said in a press release. 

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RED BANK: A VIGIL FOR VICTIMS, AND PEACE

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Children carried three bouquets of flowers — one for the five police officers slain in Dallas last week, one for victims of senseless violence, and one for “peace in our hearts and our country,” in the words of Mayor Pasquale Menna — at a vigil in Red Bank Sunday night.

About 40 residents, local clergy and a contingent of borough police officers participated in the brief ceremony, held at the Veterans Memorial on Monmouth Street at Drummond Place. 

Additional photos are below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge) More →

RED BANK: MENNA CALLS FOR TOWN VIGIL

rb vigil 061616 10HOT-TOPIC_03Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna is calling on area residents to participate in a silent vigil Sunday evening for the five law enforcement officers slain in Dallas Thursday “and for civilian victims of violence in our country,” he said in an alert distributed Saturday.

Participants are asked to gather at 7 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial, at the corner of Monmouth Street and Drummond Place. Three wreaths will be on display, Menna said: one for the officers killed, one for victims of senseless violence, and one for “peace in our hearts and our country.”

Attendees may leave flowers at the site. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

RED BANK: SECOND VIGIL HONORS VICTIMS

rb vigil 061616 2rb vigil 061616 1As participants present lit a candle from a single flame at a vigil in Red Bank Thursday night, Pastor Terrence K. Porter of Pilgrim Baptist Church urged each of them to think of a single victim of  Sunday’s Orlando nightclub attack, America’s bloodiest-ever mass shooting.

“The candle you light is a reflection of that image in your mind,” he said.

The memorial service, held at Johnny Jazz Park on Drs. Parker Boulevard, was the second such service in town in two nights, and was organized by the West Side Ministerial Alliance and other other religious groups. Additional photos are below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

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RED BANK: VIGIL CALLS FOR LOVE, GUN LAWS

rb vigil 061516 6rb vigil 061516 2Dozens of Red Bank area residents gathered for a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims the nightclub attack that took place in Orlando, Florida early Sunday morning, in which 49 were killed and 53 wounded in America’s bloodiest-ever mass shooting.

Several speakers, including Rabbi Marc Kline, of the Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, called for tighter gun laws. “We need to do more than mourn and grieve,” he told the gathering, held outside Red Bank’s borough hall on Monmouth Street. A later reference to a Senate filibuster then underway for gun-law reform drew strong applause.

Additional photos may be seen below.

A second vigil, organized by the West Side Ministerial Alliance and other other religious groups, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. today at Johnny Jazz Park, corner of Drs. Parker Boulevard and Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank. For further information, call 732-747-2343. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

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RED BANK: VIGIL FOR PULSE VICTIMS PLANNED

rb vigil 062415 16HOT-TOPIC_03As they did in response to the murders of nine churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina last year, Red Bank residents and others will gather again this week to mourn.

Mayor Pasquale Menna has called for a community-wide candlelight vigil “in remembrance of the victims in the senseless nightclub attack” that took place in Orlando, Florida early Sunday morning, in which 49 were killed and 53 wounded in America’s bloodiest-ever mass shooting.

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RED BANK: SANDERS BACKERS BERN TRACKS

rb sanders march 040216 1rb sanders march 040216 5Chanting “feel the Bern” and “this is what democracy looks like,” about 300 Bernie Sanders supporters marched in a drizzling ran through downtown Red Bank at noontime Saturday. Among several petitions circulated was one to get the presidential candidate on the New Jersey primary ballot, for which voting is to be held on June 7. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
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RED BANK: SANDERS BACKERS PLAN MARCH

Sanders march route 033116The march is slated to proceed on sidewalks from the train station to Riverside Gardens Park via Monmouth and Broad streets.  (Map courtesy of Google Maps. Click to enlarge)

Election_2016_PlainRed Bank merchants, visitors and residents should be prepared for possible traffic delays as hundreds of supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders are expected to march through the downtown enroute to a rally at lunchtime Saturday.

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RED BANK: LIGHTING THE NIGHT AGAINST HATE

rb vigil 062415 13 rb vigil 062415 5Several hundred participants gathered on Red Bank’s West Side Wednesday night for a vigil in response to the murders of nine churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina last week.

Beginning with a march from Pilgrim Baptist Church to Ralph ‘Johnny Jazz’ Park, participants sang and heard calls for an end to violence from a handful of local church leaders. And in the final moments, they shared the flame of a “unity candle.”

Click “read more” below for full photo coverage. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

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RED BANK: ANTIHATE MARCH & VIGIL PLANNED

PILGRIM baptistIn response to the murders of nine churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina last week, Red Bank’s Pilgrim Baptist Church is organizing an anti-hate, anti-violence march and candlelight vigil Tuesday night.

The march will begin at 8 p.m. at the church, at 172 Shrewsbury Avenue, and head to Ralph ‘Johnny Jazz’ Park at the corner of Drs. James Parker Boulevard for the vigil. In the event of rain, the vigil will be held in the church sanctuary.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

RED BANK: WEST SIDERS MARCH IN PROTEST

rb march 102514 4rb march 102514 2About three dozen protesters marched through Red Bank Saturday morning to object to rising property taxes, a proposed spray park at Bellhaven Nature Area, borough hiring practices and what they termed police “aggressiveness.”

Organizer Freddie Boynton said the event, spotlighting concerns of West Siders, was not meant to be partisan, though it called for “new leadership” at borough hall.  “There’s a lot of frustration on this side of town,” said Boynton, a retired DPW employee. “We’re not being treated like the rest of the town is.”  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

RED BANK: A PARISH CELEBRATES

With temperatures in the low 20s, several hundred parishoners of Red Bank’s St. Anthony of Padua Church celebrated the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe with their largest procession in years Thursday night. Starting at the pocket park at Shrewsbury Avenue and Doctors James Parker Boulevard, the procession headed east and then up Bridge Avenue, where marchers joined hundreds of other gathered in the parish auditorium for a Mass. (Photos by John T. Ward.)

PRO-LIFERS MARCH THROUGH RED BANK

The Diocese of Trenton and St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church held their annual pro-life march through Red Bank Saturday morning, ending with a prayer vigil at the Planned Parenthood facility on Newman Springs Road in Shrewsbury.

Council members Juanita Lewis and Ed Zipprich opposed a permit application for the event last month, with Zipprich citing a Virginia law that would require most women seeking abortions to undergo an invasive ultrasound procedure. “I believe religious organizations have funded this attack on women’s rights,” Zipprich said. The permit was approved by a 3-to-2 vote. (Click to enlarge)