Category: Independent Opinion

  • Super Bowl halftime show ‘despicable’ to viewer

    Super Bowl halftime show ‘despicable’ to viewer Has the world gone crazy, or is it me? We have to "press 1" for English. We need warning labels on hot coffee. We pay a plumber to fix our toilet, but won’t pay a doctor to fix our body because he’s not in our plan. These days,…

  • District may enclose school pod classrooms

    BY JOSH DAVIDSONStaff Writer BY JOSH DAVIDSON Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN — The Board of Education is considering changes to Ocean Avenue Elementary School. Board members reviewed the school’s pod area, which consists of six open classrooms, and discussed their findings at the board’s Feb. 18 workshop. Board member N. Britt Raynor said the classes in…

  • Obituaries

    Bernice Ramsdale Rifenburg Obituaries Bernice Ramsdale Rifenburg Mrs. Rifenburg, 79, of Matawan died Feb. 5 at Bayshore Community Hospital, Holmdel. Born in Toronto, she resided in Jersey City and Keansburg prior to moving to Matawan 35 years ago. She was an office manager at Sayreville Medical Group, retiring in 1990. Mrs. Rifenburg was predeceased by…

  • Your Turn

    Carole BalmerGuest Column Your Turn Carole Balmer Guest Column Carole Balmer Guest Column (Open letter to Rep. Frank Pallone D-N.J.) Pallone asked to help stop Hook privatization The New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club has joined the grassroots group Save Sandy Hook (Svsndyhk@aol. com) efforts to oppose the National Park Service (NPS) plans to…

  • Coalition member: Pray for Americans, people in Iraq

    I am a member of the Middletown Elks Lodge No. 2179. Last week, I told the members at a meeting of hearing from our brother, William Nicholl, Hazlet, a past exalted ruler. He has obtained a position in Iraq, and we wanted to know if we could do anything to help make it easier for…

  • Town has ‘head in sand’ on affordable housing

    The proposed Aberdeen Forge/Mirror Lake developments are supposed to satisfy the Aberdeen Township affordable housing problems but the development itself could cause even more problems for the town and residents under the new proposed round three affordable housing regulations that could be in effect in June. Under these proposed new regulations, every development that has…

  • Teacher of the Year extends thanks to MTEF

    Teacher of the Year extends thanks to MTEF I would like to recognize the work of the Middletown Township Education Foundation (MTEF). On Feb. 9, the New Jersey Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance will honor me as its middle school Teacher of the Year. I would not be receiving this award if…

  • Left in place, tax will be as ‘big and onerous as ever’

    Left in place, tax will be as ‘big and onerous as ever’ Recently, a local daily newspaper ran two front-page articles along with a few editorials on the need for New Jersey to address the property tax dilemma. In one editorial, the governor was reamed for offering "half measures on tax relief." Unfortunately, the newspaper’s,…

  • Schools trying to keep up with changing job market ‘Outsourcing’ is new business model that

    Schools trying to keep up with changing job market ‘Outsourcing’ is new business model that moves jobs from U.S. BY LINDA DeNICOLA Staff Writer Students from across Monmouth County recently took the test for admission into one of the Monmouth County Vocational School District’s highly regarded career path schools. One of those schools is the…