Category: Independent Opinion

  • The KBA has done great work promoting business in Keyport and should be supported by all Carol Cerase Guest Column After reading your article titled “Keyport merchants want tax abolished” and editorial “Time to BID [Business Improvement District] farewell?,” I felt compelled to express my opinion on your biased reporting. I owned a business in…

  • Evaluation of Keyport BID is both timely and relevant

    Gary L inderoth Guest Column The current evaluation of the continuation of the Business Improvement District (BID) is both timely and relevant. At its beginning in 1999, the BID was proposed as a way to revitalize the business area in the vicinity of West Front Street by directing that funds taken from the businesses themselves…

  • ‘Gift Trees’ project a success

    The members of the Woman’s Club of Middletown would like to sincerely thank all the residents of Middletown Township and the surrounding areas for their participation in the club’s 2004 annual “Holiday Gift Trees” project held this past December. More than 175 wrapped gifts were donated, collected and delivered to the Visiting Nurses Association at…

  • MOM line station better off in Matawan or Red Bank

    In response to Assemblyman Joseph Azzolina’s letter last week, the proposed Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex rail line should be built — but not through South Brunswick. While he espouses the virtues of the Lakehurst to Monmouth Junction alignment, he does not reveal the reason why the 1996 study opted for enhanced bus service on Route 9. According to…

  • Time to BID farewell?

    Keyport’s latest business improvement district (BID) tax was recently passed without much fanfare, but that may not be the case if it survives another year. Discontent has mounted toward the BID assessment, which is mandatory for commercial businesses in the borough. Begun in 1999, the BID tax is collected by the municipality on behalf of…

  • ‘Twisted writing’ by teen offends reader

    For many years I’ve looked forward to my weekly Independent to get an update on our local events. In your Dec. 29 issue, I was deeply distressed to read your article on page 12 expounding on a “raunchy humor magazine” written by a Middletown teen. I could hardly believe what I was reading. Please explain…

  • Obituaries

    Marie M. Fritz Ontl Mrs. Ontl, 86, of North Bergen, died Jan. 8 at McCarrick Care Center, Somerset. Born in Jersey City, she resided in North Bergen most of her life. Mrs. Ontl was a homemaker. She was predeceased by her first husband, Peter Fritz, in 1969; and a son-in-law, Russell Gutter, in 1990. She…