Category: Independent Opinion

  • Discovering family history, one creased letter at a time

    Coda Coda • GREG BEAN It seems like when the kids move out, they’re never really gone because they leave so much junk behind.   But at our house, it isn’t the kids who are responsible for all the accumulated archeological detritus. My wife and I save things as well. Boxes and boxes of photographs.…

  • Registration under way for pre-K classes

    District may institute full-day kindergarten BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN — Full-day preschool will be another step closer to reality in Middletown since the school district has begun registration for the 2009-10 school year. Registration for free preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds whose families meet income eligibility requirements was to be held at the…

  • Joseph F. Brady

    Mr. Brady, 65, of Tinton Falls, died Jan. 2, 2009, at home. He was born in the Leonardo section of Middletown. He was employed at the U.S. Postal service for 42 years, retiring in 2008. He is survived by his wife, Ann; two sons and daughters-in-law, Christopher and Diana of Colts Neck, and Jason and…

  • Using property taxes to fund schools is wrong

    If there is injustice anywhere in the property tax system, it is not in the pricing or valuation of our homes. The tax rate will only be changed to reflect the dollar amount needed to fund future budgets anyway. The way education is funded is by far the biggest fallacy of the system. There is…

  • Grandparents go back to school for a day

    Lois Hewitt visited with grandson Zachary Daukshus during Grandparents Day at Keyport High School. KEYPORT — Keyport High School hosted 30 grandparents of students on Dec. 18 for the school’s Grandparents Day festivities. Grandparents ate breakfast with their grandchildren in the school cafeteria. Afterward, 12-graders gave their grandparents a tour of the school and took…

  • Dominica Ann “Mickey” Warnock

    Mrs. Warnock, 74, of Hazlet, died Dec. 14, 2008, at Bayshore Community Hospital, Holmdel. She was predeceased by two brothers, Charles and Leonard Banzaca. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Leon Warnock of Hazlet; four daughters and son-in-laws, Kathleen and Robert Moccio of Union Beach, Donna and Robert Morris of Freehold, and…

  • Eliza J. Pattison Miller

    Mrs. Miller, 87, of Hazlet, died Dec. 16, 2008, at Victoria Health Care Center, Matawan. She was an office worker at Mechanics Finance Co., Jersey City, for 40 years, retiring in 1986. She was predeceased by her husband, William, in 1961; and a son, Allan, in 1998. She is survived by a daughter and son-in-law,…

  • Maria del Carmen Serra

    Mrs. Serra, 102, of Hazlet, died Dec. 16, 2008, at home. Born in Spain, she was a nurse during the Spanish Civil War. She was predeceased by her husband, Constantino Serra, in 1970. She is survived by a son and daughter-inlaw, Andres and Antonia Serra; two granddaughters; and two great-grandchildren. A Mass of Christian Burial…

  • St. Benedict students leave their mark

    Students’ artwork decorate classroom ceiling tiles BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer HOLMDEL — Students at St. Benedict School can get a lesson in art during their Spanish classes, thanks to a cross-curriculum project. “Last year, our seventh-grade art and Spanish classes were involved with a joint project that had the students in the Spanish…