Polar Bear Plunge in Asbury Park chills and thrills for charity

ASBURY PARK — It wouldn’t be New Year’s Day in Asbury Park without the annual Sons of Ireland Polar Bear Plunge, where those who don’t mind braving the elements take a dip in the ocean for charity. The 13 th annual event this year drew more than 600 plungers whose donations to three Monmouth County charities… Read the rest of this entry »

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Year in review: November 2015

Jonelle Melton

Three Asbury Park Men were charged with the 2009 murder of Jonelle Melton, a 33 year old Red Bank Middle School teacher.

Democrats Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey defeated Republican Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande in the 11th Legislative District.  A Democratic SuperPac funded largely by the NJEA spent $1.5 million in the race, including television commercials implying that Angelini is inappropriately profiting from the drug abuse prevention non-profit that she leads.

For all the special interest money spent on behalf of the Democrats, Angelini lost to Downey by only 253 votes and the top vote getter, Houghtaling had only 713 votes more than the low vote getter, Casagrande.  Low voter turnout in Republican strongholds Freehold Township and Colts Neck was the difference in the election.

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Year in review: October 2015

Stacey Weathers. photo via facebook

Stacey Weathers, 46, of Tinton Falls, was killed on Saturday afternoon, October 3 when a tree fell onto her Mustang Convertible while she was driving southbound on Rt 34 in Colts Neck.  Weathers was the executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, where she helped raise $7 million to support patients and fund cancer research.

Matthew Kleinstein, 20, of Marlboro Township pleaded guilty to Cyber Harrassment and Endangering the Welfare of a Minor. Kleinstein admitted to “sexting” photos of his genitals via text message and SnapChat to four females, ages 11-13, while he was a camp counselor for the Marlboro Recreation Department during the summer of 2014.  Kleinstein was sentenced to PTI for a minimum of one year.  His criminal record will be expunged if he sucessfully complete’s the program.

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Year in review: September 2015

Freeholder John Curley

Freeholder John P. Curley released an anonymous letter that alleged improprieties in the County’s pilot Tax Assessment Demonstration Program.  Curley called for the suspension of the program and referred the letter to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Three weeks later, the Asbury Park Press published an expose into potential ethical conflicts that occurred in the implementation of the program.  In December, the Monmouth County Tax Board announced that municipalities could opt-out of the program for the 2017 tax year. APP has claimed credit, which arguably should go to Curley, for all actions taken regarding the ADP program since they published the expose.

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Year in review: August 2015

Dylan Gowan, a 19 year old Highlands man, spent the the night of August 11 and early morning hours of August 12 on a buoy 4 miles off the coast of Sandy Hook after the wave runner he was riding from Brooklyn failed and while the U.S. Coast Guard and the NYPD Marine Unit searched New York Harbor for him via helicopter and boat.

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Year in review: July 2015

Toni Marletta
photo via facebook

Marissa Procopio, 15, of Atlantic Highlands was struck and killed on July 7 by a hit and run driver on Rt 36 in the Leonardo section of Middletown. Toni Ann Marletta, 49, of Leonardo was arrested and charged with Leaving the Scene of a Fatal Accident, No Insurance, and other Motor Vehicle offenses on July 15.  Marletta was released from the custody of the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on August 4 after Judge Francis Vernoia allowed her to post 10% of her 150,000 bail. She remains free on bail pending trial.

The Procopio family filed a wrongful death suit against Marletta in December.

Leo Cervantes, the owner of Chilango’s Mexican Restaurant in Highlands and LaPlaya in Keansburg, was surprised to see himself featured in Governor Chris Christie’s first television commercial of the 2016 GOP presidential race.  Cervantes was part of Christie’s Hispanic outreach in the 2013 gubernatorial campaign, but said he never heard from the presidential campaign and that he has not decided who to support for president.

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Galaxy Gymnastics Owner Charged With Kiddie Porn

The owner of a Freehold gymnastics facility that caters to teen and pre-teen girls was arrested on Monday and charged with two counts of third degree possession of child pornography, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Ronald L. Charles, 51, of Love Lane in Freehold Township attempted to send multiple images on child pornography from his personal email address, according a tip CyberTip received by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit and the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Regional Task Force from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

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N.J. Senate, Assembly leaders negotiating on road funding

TRENTON — With an important deadline for New Jersey transportation funding looming, Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he and the Democratic Assembly speaker are “getting closer” on a plan to raise money for roads and bridges. Midway through 2016, the Transportation Trust Fund will run out of money for new projects. Senate Democrats want a $2… Read the rest of this entry »

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Year in review: June 2015

Tamara Wilson-Seidle  was shot and killed in Asbury Park by her ex-husband, Neptune Township Police Sgt Philip Seidle.  Philip is awaiting trial on the murder and faces life in prison.  Tami’s Legacies is a facebook community set up to look after the nine Seidle children.

Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni announced that his office would conduct an internal affairs inquiry into the Seidle shooting and the the response of the Asbury Park and Neptune Township police departments.

The United States Supreme Court ruled that same sex couples can marry in all 50 states.

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Owner of iconic Jersey Shore hot dog stand will rebuild destroyed blades

LONG BRANCH — The owner of a chain of iconic hot dog restaurants along the Jersey Shore pledged on Tuesday to rebuild a replica windmill destroyed Monday evening. The blades perched atop Windmill restaurant on Ocean Boulevard were just replaced in October after Hurricane Sandy destroyed the originals. But on Monday night, those new blades suffered… Read the rest of this entry »

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