Category: Examiner Opinion

IN THE NEWS Mark Rosman Chuck Welsh has spent a lifetime in education. He was a teacher and football coach at Freehold Township High School and later went on to become a principal in the Howell K-8 School District. Welsh currently serves as a member of the Howell Board of Education. During a meeting on…

I t is long past time for cable television rates to be regulated and customers afforded à la carte pricing, rather than paying for 100-plus channels that no one watches. Pressure must be placed on the Federal Communications Comission as well as on federal and state legislators. The problem has become extreme as prices go…

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR Snowmen are on display at Gasko’s Family Farm & Greenhouses, Monroe Township.

ARE WE THERE YET Lori Clinch When our sons were little, I liked to follow them around with an oversized VHS camera on my shoulder and film each and every breathtaking moment. These days, on the rare occasions our Clinch clan is together, we like to sit and watch those old family movies. Our all-but-grown…

ARE WE THERE YET Lori Clinch Phone books. Back in the day, I never used them. Why, I would simply dial 411, state a name and city and wait patiently for the nice person on the other end of the line to look the phone number up for me. The small fee they began to…

The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders has gutted funding to Brookdale Community College three years in a row. It’s plain and simple — what was once the educational pearl of Monmouth is now in jeopardy. A recommendation made last week by the college’s Board of Trustees (most of whom are selected by the all-Republican Monmouth…

Some problems have no simple solutions. Brookdale Community College is facing declining enrollments, and the end of that trend is not in sight. Since 2005, public school enrollments in Monmouth County have fallen by almost 9,000 students with additional declines likely. At the same time, costs have risen. These facts have been further compounded by…

YOUR TURN MICHELE S. BYERS GUEST COLUMN I t has been two years since superstorm Sandy. Up and down the coast, ceremonies recently marked the state’s progress in rebuilding homes, businesses and infrastructure destroyed by Sandy — and increasing our capacity to weather future storms. But one ill-advised proposal in particular is being advanced in…

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR Christmas trees are on display at Matawan World of Gardening, Old Bridge, on Dec. 4.