Category: Sentinel-NBS Opinion

  • Skate park is not an appropriate use of tax dollars

    Property taxes are too high in South Brunswick. The latest proposal to increase our property taxes has been presented by people advocating a skate park (“Wheels in motion on South Brunswick skate park,” Sept. 8). Those people who signed a petition to have the township build a skate park should be the ones paying for…

  • Your Turn

    Fragmented system a model of inefficiency Cy Thannikary Guest Column Cy ThannikaryGuest Column New Jersey’s heavy reliance on property tax to fund public education and municipal services is one of the principal reasons why the state’s property tax is high. On average, 55 percent, but in some towns 75 percent, of property taxes goes to…

  • Coda

    Counting the days until the Merla Show premiere Greg Bean If you’re marking off the days on your calendar as we are, you know it’s now less than a month before Keyport Mayor and all-around wacky guy John Merla is scheduled to go on trial for corruption. The ever-optimistic mayor was caught up in the…

  • Are We There Yet?

    Kids think she’s living life in the slow lane Lori Clinch I let my 17-year-old son Vernon drive our children to school on a regular basis.Crazy, isn’t it? I load the kids into his truck, buckle them in and then have a nervous breakdown as they back out of the driveway. Although I fear for…

  • Obituaries

    Raymond Lawrence Gatarz Mr. Gatarz, 53, of East Brunswick, died Sept. 8 at home following a battle with cancer. Born in New Brunswick, he resided in North Brunswick, prior to relocating to East Brunswick in 1998. He was a landscape architect for the City of New Brunswick. He enjoyed fishing, golf, and cycling, and had…

  • More students, funding boost school’s chances

    Our Lady of Lourdes sees lots of hope, support as school year begins BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer BY JESSICA SMITHStaff Writer PHOTOSBY JEFF GRANIT staff Students at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Milltown arrive for the first day of school Tuesday as Sister Maria looks on. MILLTOWN – Community and parish members at…

  • School faculty in ‘awe’ of improved NBTHS

    BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer BY JENNIFER AMATOStaff Writer Top, the walkway from the new wing of the North Brunswick Township High School to the existing structure overlooks the front courtyard and flag pole, which was coincidentally being raised during a tour of the renovations on Wednesday. Below, high school Principal Sal Mistretta and acting…

  • Teachers excited about bigger, better schools

    Improvements complete at Constable, Cambridge and Monmouth Junction BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer BY CHRIS GAETANOStaff Writer MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Monmouth Junction librarian Sharon Ottaviana checks the inventory before relocating the books in the newly renovated facility. SOUTH BRUNSWICK – Students and staff at three township schools returned to newly renovated facilities this week. Monmouth…

  • Van Dyke exhibit at library ‘awesome’ to family members

    My Piscataway daughters returned from a recent visit to the Van Dyke exhibit at the South Brunswick Township Library in Monmouth Junction with the exclamation, “That exhibit is awesome. It is all about us!” It truly is. More importantly the exhibit is about a very large tract of open land, adjacent to the Pigeon Swamp…