Category: Independent Opinion
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Supporters of all-star jazz benefit concert thanked
Supporters of all-star jazz benefit concert thanked I want to thank everyone who attended and/or supported our all-star jazz benefit concert May 27 at the Matawan Regional High School. We raised $4,000 for the band department and I know it will be put to good use. But, more importantly, this event was an inspiration to…
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Zoning, planning boards are to blame for sickness
Hazlet Township Committee has put two parcels of land up for sale to help keep the taxes down. The two parcels are a total of 19 acres. I have a question for the Township Committee: What happens when you run out of land? With open space being a rare thing in Hazlet, they are trying…
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Day recalls sacrifices on beaches of France
Day recalls sacrifices on beaches of France Having just completed the Memorial Day holiday — an especially poignant remembrance given the fact that America finds itself at war in Iraq and Afghanistan today — we turn our attention to Sunday, June 6. On that day, Americans will mark the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion…
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Obituaries
Margaret C. Blum Obituaries Margaret C. Blum Mrs. Blum, 68, of the Port Monmouth section of Middletown died May 31 at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank. Born in Jersey City, she resided there prior to moving to Port Monmouth in 1976. She was a retired supply clerk at Riverview Medical Center, where she was employed…
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Hunt only serves special interests of hunters
I attended the May 27 meeting of the Monmouth County Freeholders and presented them with petitions signed by 300 Monmouth County residents opposed to the hunting of deer in nine locations in Monmouth County parks this year. The vast majority of these residents were completely unaware of this plan and 95 percent were greatly opposed…
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Country needs to relearn principles of decency
I am ashamed you could find even two Americans to approve, even grudgingly, the atrocities committed in our name at Abu Ghraib. You quoted one (in the May 26 Independent) as saying, "I don’t think it’s so terrible. They beheaded that poor man [Nick Berg]. I think they’re all terrorists, and I have no sympathy…
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Resident implores freeholders to call off hunt
The May 28 article in a local daily newspaper "Deer Hunt Foes Want Decision Overruled: Petition Handed to Freeholders," glosses over the most salient point made at the May 27 meeting of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The many concerned residents who took time from their work schedules to attend the meeting and…
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Hazlet shouldn’t be defending rent control
Hazlet shouldn’t be defending rent control As a resident and taxpayer of Hazlet, I am curious to know why the township is involved in a lawsuit, spending tens of thousands of dollars, defending rent control in mobile home parks. Mobile homes in Hazlet are not senior housing, they now are considered family parks. School buses…
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Fiscal year 2005 increase will shortchange veterans
The fiscal year’s 2005 budget set forth by the Bush White House allows a 1.5-percent increase in new funding for Veterans Administration (VA) health care. This is the worst increase ever given. The reason is simple. Back in January, President Bush asked Congress for help in decreasing discretionary spending. This is because the largest tax…
