Category: Independent News

  • From the Vault

    In the early 1990s, Keyport business owners proposed a Special Improvement District (SID), which would collect a special assessment from local merchants to help promote business in the area. Above, Paul Richards, owner of the Deli Boy, was among those who opposed the measure. In 1999, a similar proposal for the creation of a Business…

  • Photo

    ERIC SUCAR staff Bob Frisch, of Middlesex, tells visitors about some of the flight jackets soldiers wore as part of the 102nd Cavalry Squadron World War II Reenactment Unit’s exhibit at Heath Farm, Middletown, on Saturday. See page 13 for story.

  • Holmdel zeros in on pay-to-play reform

    Ordinance would bar contractors from giving any contributions at all BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer BY KAREN E. BOWESStaff Writer Tighter restrictions on Holmdel’s current pay-to-play ordinance were introduced during a special Township Committee meeting Thursday morning. Pay-to-play, the practice of politicians awarding public contracts and jobs to firms that contribute to their political…

  • He’s not Shakespeare

    Bukovec is the Bard’s best friend on a midsummer’s night BY TOM CHESEK Correspondent BY TOM CHESEKCorrespondent John Bukovec MIDDLETOWN – Like Richard III and other vivid characters from the pen of William Shakespeare, John Bukovec has a well-laid plan, and he’s not at all shy in telling us about it. For the past six…

  • Weekly ‘Jazz & Blues’ series begins in Keyport Thursday

    FILE PHOTO Keyport’s own Jonny B and the Blue Blazers will play at the Mini-Park gazebo, West Front Street, at 7 p.m. Thursday. KEYPORT – The Keyport Business Alliance will begin its free summer concert series, “Jazz & Blues on Front Street,” tomorrow evening. Set to start at 7 p.m., this week’s show will feature…

  • Iron Man

    CHRIS KELLY staff Howell’s Marshall Bienstock works in the blacksmith area at Longstreet Farm, Holmdel, on Sunday.

  • A day at the beach … what’s the cost?

    Public advocate looks at price of accessing shore BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer BY CHRISTINE VARNOStaff Writer CHRIS KELLY staff Beachgoers in New Jersey can pay anywhere from $5 per day to upward of $17,000 per year to soak up the sun’s rays and take a dip in the ocean. A handful of beaches, such…

  • Aberdeen: Inflatable pools must be emptied or fenced

    BY JOHN SUTTON Correspondent BY JOHN SUTTONCorrespondent ABERDEEN – The township Building Department has notified residents with inflatable swimming pools that can hold at least 2 feet of water that these pools require barriers around them in accordance with state laws. These regulations are the same that apply to in-ground and above-ground pools, where owners…

  • Uncooperative weather

    Top: Partygoers pack up their belongings and volunteers cover up their equipment before they get caught in the inclement weather in the distance during a beach party at Ideal Beach in North Middletown on Thursday, June 28. Right: Three-year-old Jada Simon attempts to bury her 5-year-old brother, Dean, in the sand.