Union Beach Joins Middletown in Supporting Law Enforcement With Blue Light

The Borough of Union Beach is joining Middletown Township in showing their support of all law enforcement personnel by light their town blue between now and January 1st.

MMM has received an advanced copy of the following statement that the Borough will release on Tuesday:

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One Woman Protest Declares ‘Blue Lives Matter’

By Jeremy Baratta

Amanda Bolvito

“Black Lives Matter” has become a popular protest slogan, from Union Square to the Mall of America. Today, after the unprovoked shooting of two NYPD officers sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn over the weekend, one woman started a protest movement of her own closer to home.

Amanda Bolvito, a married 24 year-old waitress with 2 small children, went to office depot, bought about $19 worth of supplies, and emblazoned a sign with the message “Blue Lives Matter.”

She took her sign to the corner of Route 27 and Main Street, outside of the Metuchen Borough Hall and Police Station. First spotted at around noon and interviewed at 1:30 pm, she reported being there since around 11 this morning. She plans to be out there until “[she] can’t take the cold.”

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West Front Street Bridge Will Close On January 5th

photo via visitmonmouth.com

The West Front Street Bridge (S-17) that connects Red Bank and Middletown will close to vehicular  traffic on or about  Monday, January 5, 2015 and remained closed through Sunday May 17, according to a statement from the Monmouth County Department of Public Information and Tourism.

Also known as Hubbard’s Bridge, the structure which was built in 1921 is being replaced with a modern bridge that will compliment the look an function of the nearby Coopers Bridge which connects Red Bank and Middletown on Route 35.  The project started in August of 2013 while keeping the bridge open to cars and trucks.  The closure announced today signals that the 16 month project is entering its final phase.

Pedestrians will continue to be allowed to use the bridge during this period and bicyclists will be allowed to walk their bikes over the structure.

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O’Scanlon: There’s no silver bullet to resolve New Jersey’s budget issues

By Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon

Politicians like to talk about budgetary issues and challenges in pieces -ignoring the big-picture, and inconvenient,  collateral effects of their proposed solutions. Even the public, and well-meaning editorial boards, fall prey to this segmentation mentality hoping there is an answer that doesn’t eviscerate their particular sacred cow.  Throw in the fact that there is a general belief in a magic bullet that will fix our budget problems and you have a dangerous mix of ignorance and irrational expectation.  It is time to clear that up.  Governor Christie is right when he says our budget problems are serious. The solutions are going to be painful.

First, let’s understand that the causes of the problem are rooted in the actions, over the last 20 years, of legislators and governors – Republicans and Democrats – who were either well-meaning, but ultimately ill-informed, or those who consciously opted for political expediency knowing their actions would ultimately bankrupt the state.  The former motivation is sad, the latter reprehensible.

Making certain assumptions about things we can and can’t fund, our structural deficit is around $6.75 billion – inclusive of $1.6 billion in transportation investment per year but exclusive of things we’d love to do like cut property taxes.

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N.J. police union warns officers to ‘take extra caution’ after NYPD killings

The killing of two New York City police officers in an ambush attack this weekend prompted New Jersey’s largest police union to issue a warning today, urging its members to “take extra caution and use increased safety in the coming weeks.” The advisory from the state’s Police Benevolent Association comes a day after a 28-year-old man… Read the rest of this entry »

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Christie Demands Chesimard’s Extradition

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has written to President Barack Obama demanding that fugitive Joanne Chesimard be extradited from Cuba as a condition of the United States normalizing relations with the communist island nation 90 miles from our border, according to a report on FoxNews Sunday.

A video of the FoxNews report was posted on Christie’s Youtube channel and was promoted by twitter by the Governor.  Christie posted his letter to the President on twitter two minutes prior to the FoxNews report.

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After NYPD deaths, Newark pulls one-officer units off the streets, union says

NEWARK — Owing to safety concerns, the Newark Police Department is pulling one-officer units off of the streets, according to the president of the police officer’s union there. “The Newark Fraternal Order of Police is primarily concerned with the safety of the officers in the street,” James Stewart, the president of the union, said late Saturday.… Read the rest of this entry »

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N.J.’s income gap has widened significantly since 2000, report shows

TRENTON — The income gap between New Jersey’s wealthiest residents and all other groups has widened significantly since the turn of the century, and grew worse after the recent Great Recession lifted, according to a new report. Only the top 20 percent of households in the state has seen their average income increase since the recession… Read the rest of this entry »

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Staples’ Middletown Location Was Hacked

The Staples store at 1515 Route 35 in Middletown is one of 115 of the company’s stores that were hacked during the summer, according to a statement released by the company yesterday, December 19, 2014.

The company said that the point-of-sale software at 115 of its 1400 stores was infected by malware which exposed customers’ payment card information including card holder names, account numbers, expiration dates and card verification codes.  Staples believes that 1.16 million customers’ cards were affected.

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Water privatization bill removing public vote requirement moves to Christie’s desk

A bill fast-tracking sale of public water systems into private hands was approved by the state Senate Thursday, and will now head to the governor’s desk. About an hour of debate preceded the vote on the Water Infrastructure Protection Act, which was approved 21-16 and would allow local governments to sell public water systems without a… Read the rest of this entry »

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