Category: Independent News

  • Ferry service awaiting thaw

    BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDEStaff Writer BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE Staff Writer Ice has frozen commuters out of ferry service in the Belford section of Middletown. But yesterday’s anticipated rising temperatures promised to resume the flow of commuters at the docks. The Bayshore Ferry Terminal, which runs NY Waterway ferries out of the end of Main…

  • Hazlet police going to the dogs

    BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDEStaff Writer BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE Staff Writer HAZLET — There is now at least one public servant in the township who honestly works like a dog. That’s because he is a dog. He is K-9 cop Memphis. The one-year-old male German shepherd came to Hazlet in the summer and started a…

  • Leonardo parents push for smaller class sizes

    BY JOSH DAVIDSONStaff Writer BY JOSH DAVIDSON Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN — The introduction of the township school budget is imminent and parents are pressuring the Board of Education to reduce class sizes. A group of Leonardo Elementary School parents attended the Jan. 27 board meeting and informed the board members of crowding problems at the…

  • Town center developer looking to compromise

    Township officials wary of yet another lawsuit BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDEStaff Writer BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE Staff Writer Having received an order by a state Superior Court judge to halt all further applications for the much argued over proposed town center, the developer’s lawyer is pushing to meet with Middletown officials once again. Gary Fox, attorney for developer The…

  • Era ends as Phillips prepares to step down

    BY VINCE ECHAVARIAStaff Writer BY VINCE ECHAVARIA Staff Writer CHRIS KELLY staff Police Capt. Raymond Wilson will become the next chief of police of the Holmdel Police Department on Feb. 1. HOLMDEL — After more than half a century of having a Phillips serve as the township’s top cop, police Capt. Raymond Wilson will take…

  • Mentoring program makes a ‘Big’ difference

    BY CHRISTINE VARNOStaff Writer BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer Sam and Roseanne Wike got more than they bargained for. The Long Branch couple signed up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monmouth County as a way to make someone else’s life a little better. They just didn’t know how much it would add to their own. "It…

  • Police arrest 16 in Keyport drug raid

    BY VINCE ECHAVARIAStaff Writer BY VINCE ECHAVARIA Staff Writer KEYPORT — Sixteen area residents were arrested in the borough Jan. 23 and charged with various drug violations in a drug raid led by the Bayshore Narcotic Task Force. Brian Theodoreopolos, 24, of Arlington Court, Holmdel, was arrested after a motor vehicle stop Jan. 23 and…

  • Township to install flashing speed signs

    BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDEStaff Writer BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN — The township is taking a first step in slowing down speeding drivers. It plans to post three signs designed to notify drivers of their speeds. "This is a big township, and I know that traffic and speeding problems have come up consistently…

  • Grand jury to hear details of attempted sexual attack

    Incident took place in Easter Seals home on Medford Boulevard BY MARK ROSMANStaff Writer Grand jury to hear details of attempted sexual attack BY MARK ROSMAN Staff Writer FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office is getting ready to present information to a grand jury about an attempted sexual assault that occurred in December…