Freehold Borough School Referendum December 9th

By Gianna Dell’Omo

Whether the Borough’s residents voted for or against the Board’s referendum, no one can deny that the overcrowding has been and remains an issue which requires  an acceptable solution.  The conflict arises as to whether the solution  should cost the Freehold Borough taxpayers close to $33 million.

A recent newspaper article read that 36 Borough pupils have been honored for earning a perfect score of 300 on the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge testing.  Despite the lack of proper classroom space, the teachers and students have managed to overcome and excel, which should be commended.  The dedication of the staff and the willingness of the students to learn is,  in fact,  the true essence of an education.  No matter where the lesson is held, whether in a classroom, a gymnasium, in the corridor or under a tree in the courtyard, the core of education is in the connection made between the teacher and his pupil, not the venue.

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Conservative Republicans Resist Boehner’s Plan to Avoid Budget Fight

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, holds a news conference in Washington September 9, 2014. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Conservative Republicans on Wednesday resisted a plan to avert a budget fight over President Barack Obama’s immigration order, raising the likelihood that the spending struggle in Congress could last right up to the Dec. 11 deadline for a government shutdown. Tea Party lawmakers stood firm against House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner’s plan… Read the rest of this entry »

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Sweeney coming to Red Bank to raise campaign cash for Murphy and Dupont

DiSomma says Dems fear losing control. Signals hard hitting campaign to come

Senate President Steve Sweeney. file photo by Art Gallagher

Senate President Steve Sweeney, a contender the 2017 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, is coming to Red Bank on December 17 as the headliner for a $175 per head fundraiser for Red Bank Councilmen Arthur Murphy’s and Michael Dupont’s reelection campaign.

The soiree is being hosted by Mayor Pat Menna and former Mayor Ed McKenna at Buona Sera.

The invitation includes a questionnaire to assure compliance with the borough’s “pay to play” ordinance.  Contractors that do business with the borough, developers and “Alcoholic Licensees” must disclose their attendance and in certain circumstances limit their campaign contributions to $400.

Who would have guessed that Red Bank issues licenses to alcoholics?

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Red Bank Dems rushing $2.2 million bond ordinance to detect leaking toilets

When Red Bank Councilwoman-elect Linda Schwabenbauer, a Republican, takes the oath of office in January, the Red Bank Democrats may no longer have enough votes on the council to borrow money at will.

Councilwoman Cindy Burnham, now the lone Republican on the six member council, told RedBankGreen  that the Democrats are rushing to pass a $2.2 million bond ordinance that has not been vetted before Schwabenbauer takes office.  The funds are to be used to replace water meters for the borough’s 4000 homes and buildings.

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Clinton And Romney On Top In Presidential Candidates Poll

A CNN/ORC International poll survey indicates Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney are the top picks for the 2016 Democratic and Republican presidential nominations, respectively. The poll found 65 percent of left-leaning American voters queried would support Clinton if she ran in the Democratic primaries for president while 20 percent of right-leaning voters said they would support… Read the rest of this entry »

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Former al-Qaida hostage recounts nightmare of dealing with FBI after his return

WASHINGTON — The only thing as bad as being tortured for months as a captive of jihadists in Syria was dealing with the U.S. government afterward, according to one former American hostage. Matt Schrier, 36, a freelance photographer held by extremists for seven months in 2013 until he escaped, has told McClatchy that the bureaucracy he… Read the rest of this entry »

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Brookdale Art Exhibit ‘100 Days of Silence’ Displayed in Washington, DC

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) hosted “100 Days of Silence,” a one-of-a-kind art exhibition on Tues. Dec. 2, 2014, coordinated by the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education (Chhange) at Brookdale Community College to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.

The collection brings together works created by over 450 New Jersey students and includes more than 60 life-size human forms which illustrate students’ artistic responses to learning about the genocide, the silence of the world, and the importance of becoming involved, concerned citizens.

“These are powerful expressions by young people who are concerned about a genocide that unfolded while the world watched,” said Smith, a longtime human rights advocate in Congress and chairman of the House Africa and global human rights subcommittee. “The pieces in this exhibition remind us that each of the hundreds of thousands of victims in Rwanda was an individual, worthy of dignity, whose precious life was cut short, who the world should have done more to save. If we cannot do more to prevent genocides in the future, ‘Never again’ will only be lip service. When so many innocent lives are at stake, we must do more. While remembering a genocide often invokes feelings of horror, this exhibition reminds us that hope is also crucial. We must have the hope that we can defeat the evil that is at the root of genocides and we must follow it with the will to act.”

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$1 Billion in UN Climate Funding Accidentally Went to Build Coal Power Plants

About $1 billion in United Nations funding meant to help developing countries take action against climate change went, unnoticed, towards Japanese companies for the construction of three coal-fired power plants, the Associated Press reported Monday. Coal-burning power plants are the world’s biggest source of atmospheric CO2, a key driver of global warming. U.N. climate chief Christiana… Read the rest of this entry »

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You Need to Create Buzz for Crowdfunding Efforts to Succeed, Speakers Tell NJEN Meeting

David Drake of LDJ Capital spoke at the Nov. 12 NJEN meeting.

| John Critelli If you want to guarantee a successful equity crowdfunding campaign, “you need to find 20 bloggers with a minimum [of] half a million readers in the business you’re in. Then you need to figure out how to convince them to release… Read the rest of this entry »

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New Defense Chief Will Have to Do More With Less

Ashton Carter, a former senior Pentagon official said to be the top choice to succeed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, is going to have a big and thankless job ahead of him if history—and a telling congressional hearing Tuesday about the war in Syria—are any guide. Administration officials told Newsweek that President Obama sees Carter as a… Read the rest of this entry »

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