Sonnek-Schmelz challenges Pallone to two debates

Brent Sonnek-Schmelz

Brent Sonnek-Schmelz, the Republican candidate for congress in New Jersey’s 6th Congressional District (parts of Monmouth and Middlesex Counties) publicly challenged Congressman Frank Pallone to two debates today after not hearing back from the 28 year incumbent after extending a private invitation.

“Congressman Pallone should live up to his own words and debate me.  The people of the Sixth District deserve to hear him defend his failed policies and tell us why after 28 years in Congress, the loss of Fort Monmouth and the government corruption following Sandy, he deserves reelection,” said Sonnek-Schmelz.  “Pallone was chomping at the bit for debates when it would have benefited him politically during his failed U.S. Senate campaign. Failure by Mr. Pallone to agree to these debates would reveal him to not only be a hypocrite, but a brazen one at that.  I am hoping he exceeds my expectations and agrees to stand on a stage with me and contrast our competing visions for the country and our district face-to-face.”

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Talk of Christie’s impeachment is ridiculous

The media buzz about the possibility of Governor Chris Christie being impeached is nothing more than click bait.  It’s not going to happen. The people writing that it could or should happen either know it won’t happen, don’t know what they are talking about or are trying to ensure that Christie has no political future.

The buzz got started when both the prosecution and the defense attorneys in the Bridgegate trial claimed that Christie knew that the George Washington Bridge lane closures in September of 2013 were political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich while the lanes were closed and not a part of a traffic study.  Christie has already been convicted of that in the court of public opinion.

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Monmouth Democrats were invited to campaign at Middletown High School North during school hours

Second Middletown Teacher caught engaging in Democrat partisan activity during school hours this year

A photo of Monmouth County Democrat candidates for Surrogate and Freeholder speaking to a seminar of Middletown High School North freshmen and sophomore participants in the school’s honors Government, Law and Public Policy Program (GLP3) Pathway was posted on the campaign facebook page of Surrogate candidate Vincent Solomeno last Tuesday with the caption “Thrilled to join Matt Doherty and Sue Fulton for Monmouth County Freeholder 2016 and speak to students about county government at Middletown High School North.  Get involved!”

None of the three candidates have any experience in county government.

The seminar was supervised by Patti May, a teacher who is a Democrat candidate for Borough Council in Eatontown.  Monmouth County Democrat Chairman Vin Gopal held a fundraiser for the teacher at the Jumping Brook Country Club in June.

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Freeholders Launch “Grown in Monmouth” Marketing Campaign

Freeholder Director Tom Arnone and Freeholder Lillian Burry announced a boost to the Agribusiness sector of Monmouth County’s economy last week with the launch of a marketing campaign for farm products grown in the county.

Monmouth County farms and related business can sign up to use the new “Grown in Monmouth” logo which is the first part of county wide marketing strategy funded under a USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant the county received last year to evaluate current trends and future opportunities to expand the local farming industry, and to develop a marketing strategy to promote and market agricultural products.

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Authorities ID officers injured apprehending bomb suspect

LINDEN — Officials have identified the Linden police officers who were injured while apprehending Ahmad Khan Rahami, the Elizabeth man who was wanted in connection with weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. When the two officers approached Rahami at about 11:30 a.m. Monday on the steps of an East Elizabeth Street bar, Rahami allegedly… Read the rest of this entry »

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Ahmad Khan Rahami: A timeline of bombings in NYC & N.J. that led to his arrest

Ahmad Khan Rahami was taken into custody late Monday morning after a shootout with police in Linden, officials said. Rahami had been sought for his alleged involvement in bombings in Seaside Park and the New York City neighborhood of Chelsea. Earlier Monday, the FBI had released a security alert, naming Rahami. The bombings Saturday were followed… Read the rest of this entry »

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Belmar’s San Gennaro Festival Cancelled

Belmar Police Chief Andrew Huisman has cancelled the San Gennaro Festival which was scheduled in the borough on Sunday from 11 a.m. till 6 p.m.”in light of recent events,” according to a post late Saturday night on the Belmar Police Department facebook page.

The recent events are likely the pipe bomb explosion in Seaside Park along the route of a 5K race for a military charity on Saturday morning and an explosion on the streets on New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday night that injured more than 20 people.

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Explosive device goes off in Seaside along route of 5K run for military

SEASIDE PARK — Federal and state law enforcement agencies were deployed Saturday morning after an explosive device went off along the route of a 5K run and walk to benefit military soldiers. No one was injured in the blast, according to Al Dellafave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. Agents from the FBI, the Bureau… Read the rest of this entry »

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Marletta blames the victim of her hit and run

Pool photo by Tom Costello, Asbury Park Press

Toni Ann Marletta, 50, of Leonardo, said “I found that out,” when asked by Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle if she was aware that Marissa Procopio had died as a result of being stuck by the car Marletta was driving on Route 36 on July 7, 2015.

In her allocution, Marletta said that she fled the scene of the accident because she had let her insurance lapse two months earlier.  She admitted asking the children, her daughter and two others, who were passengers in the car not to talk about the accident until she figured out what she was going to do about it.

Marletta pleaded guilty to Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Accident that resulted in a Death and to two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child this morning before Superior Court Judge Ronald Reisner in Freehold.   Under a plea agreement, the prosecution is recommending a sentence of 7 years for Leaving the Scene and 4 years for Endangering—to be served concurrently.  Marletta will also face fines and a license suspension for motor vehicle infractions including having no insurance.

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Christie asks Supreme Court to revisit landmark Abbott ruling

file photo

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie is asking the state Supreme Court to reopen the landmark Abbott v. Burke case that redefined school funding and to give the state education chief power to bypass laws and bargaining agreements that protect veteran teachers, the governor’s office announced Thursday. In a legal filing by Attorney General Christopher Porrino, the… Read the rest of this entry »

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