Category: Independent News

  • Monk, twp. try to reach compromise over sign

    BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer Archimandrite Ephraem Bertolette MIDDLETOWN – The self-described monk who calls his suburban home a monastery is cooperating with authorities regarding the large sign on his front lawn. On June 18, Archimandrite Ephraem Bertolette, 63, received notice from the township giving him 14 days to remove the sign or face…

  • Pay-to-play ban rejected narrowly in Holmdel

    BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer voted 3-2 on Thursday to reject a zerodollar ban on pay-to-play, the practice of accepting campaign donations from firms on the town’s payroll. “These firms aren’t evil if they give people money. But as for me, as a candidate, it’s just one more thing you don’t have to worry…

  • Audubon meeting, bird walk during September

    The Monmouth County Audubon Society will hold its next meeting Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, White Street, Red Bank. Michael Hogan, photographer and documentarian, will present “Natural Wonders of the Jersey Pines and Shore” at the meeting which is free and open to the public. He has canoed, camped and taken…

  • Beauty on the inside and out

    ERIC SUCAR staff Admirers check out a 1959 Cadillac during a fundraiser for 180, Turning Lives Around held at Middletown Plaza, Route 35, Saturday.

  • Local art teacher’s works on display at town hall

    Nessa Neilson Morse’s “Not Quite Spring,” which depicts a scene from Middletown’s Poricy Park, is one of several of her paintings on display in Holmdel this month. HOLMDEL – Brush-stroked scenes of New Jersey landscapes and elsewhere will grace the Holmdel Township Gallery this month as local painter Nessa Neilson Morse displays her latest exhibit.…

  • Keyport enjoys tastes and sounds of Latin America

    BY LAUREN PIRO Correspondent BY LAUREN PIROCorrespondent PHOTOSBY CHRIS KELLY staff Armando Rentas, of Highlands, dances to the sounds of Grupo Caribe at the Spanish-American Festival in Keyport on Saturday. KEYPORT – Latino culture embraced the Keyport waterfront Saturday, as the Spanish American Club celebrated its annual festival. The aroma of Peruvian chicken, empanadas and…

  • Keyport passes budget with 6-cent tax increase

    Sheridan says more could have been done to keep taxes down BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer BY KAREN E. BOWESStaff Writer Joe Sheridan KEYPORT – Unlike most towns in Monmouth County, Keyport received an extraordinary state aid package last week. Still, the extra cash isn’t nearly enough to keep taxes from rising, officials say.…

  • Two indicted on robbery, attempted murder charges

    Men allegedly stabbed Middletown bike shop owner on Christmas Eve BY JOHN SUTTON Correspondent BY JOHN SUTTONCorrespondent FREEHOLD – A Monmouth County grand jury returned an indictment charging two men with the first-degree crimes of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery, and attempted murder, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Keith D. Simmonds,…

  • Twp. hires 3 new officers

    MIDDLETOWN – Three new police officers received ceremonial oaths of office during the Aug. 6 Township Committee meeting. Keith R. Hirschbein, 31, is a lifelong resident of Middletown and a Middletown High School North graduate. Hirschbein, who is married and has two children, had been employed as an NJ Transit police officer since 2004. Hirschbein…