Three bottle nose dolphins have been found dead along the Jersey Shore in recent days, an official with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center said. One that had been dead for “many days” was discovered Monday in Sea Bright, center director Bob Schoelkopf said Tuesday morning. Another was located Sunday in Sea Isle City, while someone noticed… Read the rest of this entry »
After getting a brief taste of cool autumn temperatures during the first few days of October, New Jersey has been stuck in a warming trend that has made it feel more like late summer the past few days. Thanks to warm air flowing in from the southwest, much of the state was 10 to 15 degrees… Read the rest of this entry »
New Jersey’s gubernatorial contenders will face off in the first of two broadcast debates tonight at 7 PM.
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, the Republican nominee, and former Goldman Sachs banker Phil Murphy, the Democrat, will take stage at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark for the debate which is scheduled preempt Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune on ABC affiliates in New York and Philadelphia. NJSpotlight will be livestreaming the event. Read the rest of this entry »
LONG BRANCH — A 30-year-old man remained in critical but stable condition Sunday night after he was injured in a shooting earlier in the day, authorities said. City police responded to the shooting at 1:50 a.m. inside a home on West Columbus Place, where officers found the injured man. He was taken to a local hospital,… Read the rest of this entry »
Art Gallagher met with Middletown Deputy Mayor Stephanie Murray and Committeeman Tony Fiore for an interview last week. Both up for reelection to the Township Committee next month, Murray is seeking her third term, Fiore his fourth.
In the first two segments of the interview we hope to give Middletown voters a sense of who Fiore and Murray are personally. In the final segment we cover what they have accomplished for Middletown through their years of service and what they intend to accomplish in the next three years if they are reelected. Read the rest of this entry »
Like Kevin Asadi and other residents, I recently received the letter from Senate candidate Vin Gopal which denounces the Assessment Demonstration Program (the “ADP”), implemented in 2013, as the source of high property taxes.
Since I have run in four state elections in Monmouth County, I have been in Mr. Gopal’s shoes. Political operatives refer to the weeks before an election as the “silly season”, since candidates will say almost anything about their opponents to generate a headline.
However, there is a line which should never be crossed – candidates should not issue false or misleading information, since it not only subjects them to legal liability, but most importantly, it does a disservice to taxpayers. Read the rest of this entry »
Former Vice President Al Gore is coming to Monmouth County to support Democrat candidates up and down the ballot, according to an announcement of the Monmouth Dems’ website.
Gore is scheduled to appear at the Ocean Township Community Gym on Sunday, October 15 from 3 P.M till 5 P.M.
When last we heard of the inventor of the Internet and Global Warming campaigning in Monmouth County, he was embroiled in the “Crazed Sex Poodle” scandal. Six years before NBC leaked the Access Hollywood tapes featuring Donald Trump and Billy Bush joking about grabbing pussies, Portland Oregon massage therapist Molly Hagerty accused Gore of groping her and painfully squeezing her nipples over her clothes after she declined to rub his adductor magnus. Read the rest of this entry »
Monmouth County residents: I received this letter in the mail today from Vin Gopal. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but a letter like this shows such a gross and shocking misunderstanding of how property taxes work, that I fear what damage he might do to all of us, should he win.
I handle property tax appeals as part of my law practice. Here is how it works, basically: the property you own is given an assessed value by the local tax assessor or by a revaluation company. In most counties, that assessment will remain the same year after year, until the town decides to perform a revaluation or a reassessment.
Whether your assessed value is $100,000 or $1,000,000, either way, your town needs a certain number of dollars in the kitty each year in order to operate. Take the amount of money the town needs divided by their total assessments, and the quotient is called the “general tax rate.” The property tax dollars you pay is the product of your assessed value times the general tax rate. Read the rest of this entry »
