Category: Independent News

  • Keyport cites state aid cuts for 12.8-cent tax increase

    Council calls for borough hiring freeze BY DENNIS JORDAN Correspondent KEYPORT – The Keyport Borough Council unveiled its 2008 budget, which calls for a tax rate increase of 12.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation due, according to officials, to the elimination of state aid depended on in previous years. Atotal of $468,000 in municipal…

  • Helping hands

    CHRIS KELLY staff Joan Raine and Pat Frank, both of Hazlet, entertain Daniel Juarez, 5, who visited the Keyport Senior Center, along with a group of preschoolers, on March 13.

  • Keyport BOE budget would hike tax rate by 2 cents

    BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer KEYPORT – The Board of Education held its public hearing on the 2008-09 budget calling for a tax rate increase of 2 cents per every $100 of property value. Keyport Board of Education Business Administrator Jo Ann Podracky presented the $17,999,781 budget on March 19. Last year’s budget proposed a…

  • That Hot Dog Place … have soup, will travel

    Gary Sable RED BANK – If your recurring weekend fantasy is that Gary Sable will show up at your door with a steaming bowl of his homemade soup just in time for lunch, your dream has come true. Red Bank’s lunchtime guru is taking That Hot Dog Place on the road and is providing home…

  • Photo

    ERIC SUCAR staff Harlem Globetrotter “Hi Rise Brown” soars toward the basket before the sold-out crowd gathered at the Robert Collins Arena at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft March 18.

  • Photo

    CHRIS KELLY staff Aberdeen’s Ellis McCoy sings “The Wheels On the Bus” with Christopher Espinal, 5, Alex Esteban, 3, and Arianna Fuentes, 4, along with a group of youngsters at the Keyport Senior Center on March 13.

  • Matawan Fire Dept. has gone to the dogs

    BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer Matawan Deputy Clerk Karen Wynne issues “dog licenses” to the fire department’s new mascots. MATAWAN- The borough’s fallen firefighters have been memorialized through the fire department’s new mascots, who are already spreading goodwill and awareness in the community. Sparky the Fire Dog and Nozzle the Dog, the two new…

  • Scouts vie for victory in Pinewood Derby

    BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer A crowd watches scouts from Cub Scout Pack 66 in Matawan compete in the Pinewood Derby on March 14. MATAWAN- It was the fast and the furious of Pinewood cars at the Matawan MunicipalCommunityCenterwhenmembers of Cub Scout Pack 66 raced their handmade cars for a shot at a trophy.…

  • Turnout light for forum on zoning amendment

    Township committee members say they remain undecided BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer HAZLET – The Township Committee expected a large crowd in the auditorium at Raritan High School last week for a public forum on a controversial zoning issue. However, according to Committeeman Joseph Belasco’s count, just a little over 50 people showed up. “During…