‘It’s been a rough 50 years,’ says sister of cold case victim

FREEHOLD — It’s been a rough 50 years for Frances Klinksky, not knowing who killed her younger sister, Mary. Frances, 71, was only 20 years old when Mary Agnes Klinksky was killed on Sept. 15, 1965. “Even after 50 years, its like it just happened yesterday,” Frances Klinksy said by phone Wednesday evening, having just read… Read the rest of this entry »

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Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, February 19-21, 2016

By Greg Kelly

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Friday, February 19

• College Men’s Basketball: Monmouth U. vs. Iona (WLB) – MORE INFO
• Chapter Two at Center Playhouse (Freehold) – MORE INFO
• Chris Botti at Count Basie Theatre (Red Bank) –MORE INFO
• Bad Seed by Monmouth Players (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO
• Homeschool Now USA Information Meeting (Hazlet) – MORE INFO
• Minority Male Initiative Conference at BCC (Lincroft) – MORE INFO
• The Dictators NYC: Battery Electric (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO
• Words on Main: Poetry Reading (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO

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A Pussy Riot in Asbury Park

By Tom DeSeno

A friend once told me that he snot-chuckles like a 14 year old boy whenever he hears the name of the Russian female protest collective Pussy Riot.   That’s culturally understandable.

Don’t mistake though the seriousness of these women and the issues that surround them.  They are making a fascinating imprint on modern politics, power and protest.

On February 24 the House of Independents, Asbury Park’s new venue that is giving that City the artistic aesthetic it always pretended to have, is presenting “A Conversation with Pussy Riot:  Hosted by John Cameron Mitchell.”

To get a proper perspective of Pussy Riot, you have to realign your point of view from American to Russian when dealing with political terms.  It also helps to look at what they aren’t as much as what they are.

They aren’t a band, at least not in the traditional sense.   There’s music, but it’s not their focus.  It’s not even good music, probably by their own intention.  The music is beside the point of their varied socio-political messages.

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Christie’s back home, Sandy victims are not | Di Ionno

When we first met Joseph Ready, his Sandy-wrecked home in Union Beach was jacked 20 feet in the air, uninhabitable for his family, but open to feral cats and vandals. The cats left bird carcasses on his floors and the vandals clogged the toilet. He was living in a FEMA trailer, paying $850 a month in… Read the rest of this entry »

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Highlands Man Tasered and Arrested After Eluding Cops for 12 hours After Routine Traffic Stop

Jeffrey Olander. photo via facebook

Jeffrey Olander, 51 of Highlands, fled from two traffic stops on Thrusday afternoon, eluded the Atlantic Highlands, Highlands and Middletown Police Departments for 12 hours and threatened to shoot Highlands Police Officers before he was tasered and arrested in the hallway outside his apartment on the fourteenth floor of the East Pointe Condominiums shortly before 4 a.m. Friday morning, according to a statement by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramicconi.

Members of the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (MOCERT) and the Highlands Police Department made the arrest.

This was the first time a Monmouth County law enforcement officer has deployed a Conductive Energy Device (commonly called taser) to subdue a suspect since the tool was first authorized for use in New Jersey.

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Monmouth Freeholders Cut Spending and Taxes

Monmouth County Freeholders Gary Rich, Lillian Burry, Director Tom Arnone, Deputy Director Serena DiMaso and John Curley

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders introduced a budget on Thursday that reduces County spending by $18.2 million and reduces the property tax levy on County residents and businesses by $4.5 million.  The tax decrease is the first in 21 years and maybe ever, according to County Finance Director Craig Marshall.

The budget for the next fiscal year rolls County taxes back to 2008 levels and reduces spending to less than the 2007 budget. The tax cut reverses an increase, the only one since 2007, that the County imposed in the current year.

“This is a real cut,” said Freeholder Director Tom Arnone. “There is no fiscal gimmickry or raiding of trust funds or utility balances in this budget.”

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Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, February 12-14, 2016

By Greg Kelly

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Friday, February 12

• Valentine’s Day with Megan Hilty at Count Basie Theatre (Red Bank) –MORE INFO
• Chapter Two at Center Playhouse (Freehold) –MORE INFO
• Substance of Bliss by NJ Repertory Company (Long Branch) –MORE INFO
• Bad Seed by Monmouth Players (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO
• Rumors by South Street Players (Spring Lake) – MORE INFO
• NJ State Council on the Arts Fellowship Exhibit (WLB) – MORE INFO
• 19th Century New Jersey Chairmaking Exhibit (Freehold) – MORE INFO
• Radio Technology Museum Open at InfoAge (Wall Twp.) – MORE INFO
• Beautiful Childhood: Permanent Collection Portraits (Freehold) – MORE INFO

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Case dismissed against squirrel rescuer

The State’s case against Maria Vaccarella was dismissed in Howell Municipal Court this morning.

Doris Lin, Esq., Vaccarella’s pro-bono defense counsel, argued that the statute that her client was charged under does not apply to rescuing abandoned baby squirrels, but rather to the possession of exotic pets and animals.  Judge James M. Newman, the Presiding Judge of Monmouth County Municipal Courts, agreed and dismissed the charges.

Vaccarella came to the aid of a squirrel that had fallen out of a tree last year and then gave birth to two infants.  Vaccarella left the babies outdoors in cage for a day and then took them in when the mother failed to return.  She named the baby squirrels George and Lola and bottle nursed them for four months after a registered wildlife rehabilitators refused to take them, she said.

Vaccarella shared photos and videos of the growing a squirrels on her facebook feed, which led to a visit from Fish and Wildlife officials who took the babies and sent her a summons that indicated a $500 fine.  During her first appearance in Freehold Township Municipal Court, the Judge told Vacarells that the fine could be $1000 and a six month jail sentence was possible.

Vaccarella rejected a plea deal with no fine and $35 in Court costs last month.

What are you doing this weekend?

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Success strikes impossibly fast for Keansburg/Middletown rockers

KEANSBURG — In terms of a band’s life cycle, Can’t Swim is an embryo. The raucous Keansburg four-piece recorded its first EP over the summer, and has yet to rock a single gig. The band released its first single — the first bit of music anyone has ever heard from them — in December. But nevertheless,… Read the rest of this entry »

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Obama signs International Megan’s Law

Congressman Chris Smith was the sponsor of the International Megan’s Law

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Monday signed legislation named for a Hamilton girl that’s designed to alert foreign governments when registered sex offenders travel abroad. The International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and cleared by… Read the rest of this entry »

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