Category: Independent News

  • Local towns, police depts. organize charity drives

    MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Heidi Bialkowski, Keyport, donates a bag of nonperishable food items to Keyport Officer Matt Salvatore, outside the Stop & Shop supermarket, Routes 35 and 36, on Nov. 20. Looking for a fun way to make someone’s Christmas a little merrier? There are programs throughout the Bayshore looking for donations. On Friday afternoon,…

  • County donates $25,000 to state WWII memorial

    FREEHOLD – Recognizing the sacrifices made by World War II veterans, particularly those who lost their lives to preserve freedom, the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders has donated $25,000 toward the fundraising effort to build a memorial in New Jersey. “We have a Vietnam Veterans Memorial and a Korean War Memorial, but New Jersey still…

  • Mat-Ab troubled by bus aide’s arrest

    Man accused of giving Middletown teen drug also served district BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer BY KAREN E. BOWESStaff Writer The school bus aide who allegedly supplied a vial of methadone to a 15-year-old Middletown student last month also rode the bus with special needs students from the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District. The incident,…

  • Cheer team headed to Disney

    KAREN E. BOWES The Keyport Pop Warner cheerleaders hold up a sign reading “Keyport Indians: Simply the Best,” a gift from the mayor and councilmen for qualifying to compete in a national competition in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. KEYPORT – Cheerful young girls packed borough hall last week, showing off their trophies and…

  • Photo

    SCOTT PILLING staff Watoto, a children’s choir from Uganda, Africa, performs at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Hazlet on Nov. 22. The children, who danced and sang in traditional Uganda style, have all lost one or both parents to AIDS or war.

  • 16 graduate from fire academy

    MIDDLETOWN – Sixteen local residents graduated from the Middletown Fire Academy Nov. 18, and are now expected to provide firefighting services in five area municipalities, including the township. The initial training to become a firefighter requires about 150 hours over a four-month period. Since 1974, the Firefighter 1 course has been given at the academy,…

  • Residents propose ideas to ease Rt. 520 traffic

    BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer BY DAN NEWMANStaff Writer FILE PHOTO Residents of the Lincroft section of Middletown shared several ideas with the Township Committee for relieving traffic on Route 520 (above). One plan was to create a new exit from Route 18 to Laird Road in Colts Neck, which leads to Phalanx Road and…

  • Federal judge postpones O’Grady imprisonment

    ‘Bid Rig’ update: Merla trial moved to Dec. 12; Coughlin now serving BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer BY KAREN E. BOWESStaff Writer Raymond O’Grady NEWARK – Former Middletown Committeeman Raymond O’Grady was granted an emergency appeal last week, allowing him to stay out of jail for at least another week. On Nov. 21, O’Grady’s…

  • Town center developer plans to appeal ruling

    BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer BY DAN NEWMANStaff Writer MIDDLETOWN – After a recent ruling upholding the township’s decision to rezone an 87-acre tract on Route 35 from being primarily commercial to an active adult residential zone, Mountain Hill LLC’s attorney has said that his client still hopes to build the town center and will…