Municipal Judge Accused of Judicial Misconduct

Atlantic Highlands Municipal Building

Judge Peter A. Locascio, the Municipal Court Judge in Atlantic Highlands and Highlands, has been accused of Judicial Misconduct by the Disciplinary Counsel of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct (ACJC). The complaint can be found here.

Locascio is accused of exhibiting “extreme and personal” hostility towards an attorney appearing before him starting in August of 2008 and extending through early 2013, for failing to rule on recusal motions by that attorney after he was ordered to do so by his Assignment Judge, of using the powers of his office to his personal benefit  and of conflicts of interest in allowing his personal attorney, a close personal friend, to appear before his court.

The attorney involved was not named in the complaint.  “It could be several people,” said one member of the Monmouth County legal community speaking off the record, “Locascio is known to be caustic and vindictive.”

A complaint by the ACJC disciplinary counsel is an indication that an investigation into the initial complaint produced enough evidence to warrant an hearing before the committee. If after the hearing the committee determines that the Judge did violate the Code of Judicial Conduct the matter is referred to the State Supreme Court for public reprimand, censure, suspension, or removal.   If the committee finds after its hearing that there is not clear and convincing evidence of Judicial Misconduct, it makes a recommendation to the Supreme Court to dismiss the complaint with or without private reprimand.

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Breaking: Indictment in the 4am robo call incident

UPDATE: DWAYNE HORNER, LEIGH-ANN BELLEW’S CAMPAIGN MANAGER IS NAMED IN THE INDICTMENT

MMM has learned that at least one individual was indicted by a Monmouth County Grand Jury today in the investigation into the 4am robocall that occurred on the morning of the 2013 Republican Primary in the 13th legislative district on June 4, 2013.  The 13th, represented by Senator Joe Kyrillos and Assembly Members Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon, is compromised of Middletown, Marlboro, the Bayshore and the Two Rivers area of Monmouth County.

The call, a recording of which can be heard here, was purported to be on behalf of the incumbents Kyrillos, Handlin and O’Scanlon. The caller said that he was reminding voters that they had four hours to get to the polls, as if the call was made at 4pm instead of 4am.  The callers voice sounds very much like the recorded voice of the person on the Leigh-Ann Bellew for Senate’s voice mail greeting.  That recording can be heard here.  Bellew was Kyrillos’s opponent in the primary.

MMM was told that fourth degree identity theft was the charged the grand jury delivered.  Fourth degree identity theft is punishable by up to 18 months in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Charles Webster said he had not yet received a copy of the indictment and that he would provide it promptly upon receiving it from the prosecutor.

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Booker goes negative against Bell

Cory Booker took a selfie at a Hindu Temple this weekend.

Back in May, Senator Cory Booker told The Record’s Herb Jackson that his reelection campaign would be “a campaign based on love.”

Confronted with independent polling data that shows him to be in a surprisingly tight 7-10 point race against Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Jeff Bell, Booker has labeled his opponent a “right-wing ideologue,” according to a report on PolitickerNJ.  Booker beat former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan for the job of filling the late Senator Frank Lautenberg’s term last October by only 11 percent.

I don’t think we need to send any more right-wing ideologues down to the U.S. Senate. I think we need to send bridge builders to get Congress moving again,” said Booker, the former Newark mayor, said.

In an unscientific poll of Star Ledger readers on NJ.com, Bell is beating Booker by over 22%.  Those right-wing ideological Star Ledger readers!!

Booker touted the work he has done with Republicans in Congress, including such bridge builders as Senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio to PolitickerNJ, as evidence that he will break the partisan gridlock in Washington.

On his website, Bell says he’s pro-life, pro-traditional marriage and pro-religious freedom. He’s against Internet gambling and drug legalization.  Some would say those positions  make him a right-wing radical.

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Two Smith Laws Signed Into Law On The Same Day

In Dec 2013, left-behind parents, Captain Paul Toland whose daughter was kidnapped in Japan; Bindu Philips of Plainsboro, N.J., whose two sons were abducted to India, and David Goldman whose son was abducted to Brazil and returned after a five year ordeal, joined Rep. Chris Smith in calling for passage of legislation, dubbed the Goldman Act (HR 3212) to help families who have been victimized by international abductions

It is rare for most congressmen to get one of there bills signed into law. Frank Pallone, for example, has only had 6 bills, two naming post offices, become law in his entire 26 year career in congress.

Congressman Chris Smith is #4 of all members of the 435 member House of Representatives in getting their bills through both houses and signed by the president.  On Friday, two more of Smith’s bills became the law of the land. Families and children are better off because of Smith’s new laws.

Between ordering airstrikes in Iraq and flying off to vacation in Martha’s Vineyard on Friday, President Obama signed two separate bills sponsored by Smith. One to help prevent international child abduction and return American children now held overseas, and the other targeting $1.3 billion in federal funds to assist families touched by autism.

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Casa Freehold Director: There is no influx of Central American Youth in Freehold

Rita Dentino, Executive Director of Casa Freehold

Rita Dentino, Executive Director of Casa Freehold said her comments reported in the Sentinel and other Greater Media newspapers regarding a steady stream of unaccompanied Central American Youth arriving in Freehold Borough were not reported accurately.  MMM relied on those reports earlier this week when reporting on the situation and  State Senator Jennifer Beck’s response.

During an interview in her Freehold office, Dentino said that to her knowledge there has been only one refugee child, a 16 year old boy, that has arrived in Freehold from Central America since the first of the year and that there is no parade of children arriving at a rate of one per day.  The Sentinel reported that Dentino said there were 5-10 young refugees in the Borough and that more were arriving daily.  Denton told MMM that the 5-10 figure represents all young Central American youth that have come to Freehold over the last 11 years that she has worked at Casa Freehold, not a recent influx due to the situation on the United States’ southern border.

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Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, August 8-10, 2014

SPONSORED BY SEASTREAK

By Greg Kelly

Friday, August 8

• Ocean Township Italian Festival – MORE INFO

• Navesink Firemen’s Fair (Middletown) – MORE INFO

• The King and I at Spring Lake Community Theatre – MORE INFO

• Lucky Me at NJ Repertory Theatre (Long Branch) – MORE INFO

• Royal Preparatory at Algonquin Arts Theatre (Manasquan) – MORE INFO

• Highlands Gets Jazzed – MORE INFO

• Heart at Count Basie Theatre (Red Bank) – MORE INFO

• Enviro-Quest (Lincroft) – MORE INFO

• Seining at the Bayshore (Port Monmouth) – MORE INFO

• Andrew McMahon at The Stone Pony (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO

• Lend Me A Tenor at Algonquin Arts Theatre (Manasquan) – MORE INFO

• Butterflies in the Garden (Howell) – MORE INFO

• Computer Skills for Job Hunters (Shrewsbury) – MORE INFO

Don’t miss the fun at the Italian Amerian Festival in Ocean Twp!

• Choose Your Adventure Boat Ride (Howell) – MORE INFO

• Family Gym Time (Tinton Falls) – MORE INFO

• A Few Good Men at Duncan Smith Theatre (Holmdel) – MORE INFO

• The Wizard of Oz by Spotlight Players (Matawan) – MORE INFO

• tick, Tick…Boom! at ReVision Theatre (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO

• Martha’s Vineyard Weekend Trip via Seastreak (Highlands) – MORE INFO

• Bus Stop at First Ave Playhouse (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO

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Helicopter goes for $421K in online auction

Freeholder Director Lillian Burry

A surplus helicopter previously deployed by the Monmouth County Mosquito Commission was sold via online auction on June 17 for $421,000, according to a statement issued yesterday by the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

All told, the County netted $2,686,208 through the online sale of 38 surplus items from the County Fleet, the Sheriff’s Office, Buildings and Grounds, the Reclamation Center and property seized by the Prosecutor’s Office during the spring auction.

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Guadagno travels to Hope for Land of Make Believe Celebration

Photo via Guardlife, The Official Magazine of the NJ National Guard

Acting Governor Kim Guadagno will travel to Hope, NJ tomorrow afternoon for the Land of Make Believe 60th Anniversary Celebration.

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Monmouth County seeking employers for September 19 job fair

Companies must register to participate; jobseekers do not

Spring Job Fair at Brookdale Community College, April 2014

LINCROFT, NJ – Monmouth County will again offer employers and jobseekers the opportunity to connect at the Monmouth County Fall Job Fair scheduled for Friday, Sept. 19 at Brookdale Community College.

“Employers who have immediate job openings are invited to participate in Monmouth County’s Fall Job Fair,” said Freeholder Serena DiMaso, liaison to the Monmouth County Division of Workforce Development. “This will improve the probability that jobseekers will find employment by attending.”

The event is free for employers to reserve a table and for jobseekers to attend.

The 2014 Monmouth County Job Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 at the Collins Arena at Brookdale Community College, 765 Newman Springs Rd., Lincroft.

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39th Annual NJ Friends of Clearwater’s CLEARWATER FESTIVAL

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