Asbury Park Press
Going behind the headlines of NJ’s EMT shortage
There is a shortage of EMTs and rescue personnel across New Jersey. Erik Larsen’s story shows what Ocean County is doing to address the problem and restore EMT numbers. A lot of towns and counties rely on volunteer EMTs, and as home prices and other...
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Paramount renovation work starts this month
ASBURY PARK – After having to wait on the boardwalk redeveloper Madison Marquette to find a new contractor, the city has approved $11.7 million in federal grants to repair the historic Paramount Theatre, with the work expected to begin later this...
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Families hit by fire trying to repair lives
SEASIDE HEIGHTS − Mary Schuck and her family fled their home on Sheridan Avenue shortly before 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, April 4, without shoes, cell phones or anything else but the scant clothing they were wearing. Moments before, she had been...
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11 late officers honored
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – Eleven law-enforcement officers who died as a result of their service over the years, one from as far back as 1905, were honored at the Diocese of Trenton’s Blue Mass, held at St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral here. This was the...
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SEVERE EROSION
SEA BRIGHT – Gene Costello spent the last 14 years enjoying about 100 yards of beach across Ocean Avenue from his Sea Bright home. But this April, his view of the beach looked quite different. Over the winter, the Atlantic Ocean carved away much of...
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Interfaith adding homes, museum
ASBURY PARK – For the better part of the last two decades, Interfaith Neighbors has played a big role in the revitalization of the historic Westside, from the Springwood Center to Kula Urban Farm to the Springwood Avenue Heritage Walk. Now, the...
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Boosting mental health for students
Gov. Mikie Sherrill has proposed a $33 million overhaul of the system that provides mental health services to troubled students in New Jersey. Not all therapists in the state are on board. Outlined in her March 10 budget address, the SPARK program...
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NJ’s big-screen boom
My brother-in-law works in the movie business. Whenever he’s on a set in public — big semi trucks with gobs of lighting equipment, trailers full of costumes — he gets a lot of curious onlookers. They’ll often ask: “What are you filming?” Because that...
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ELECTRIC RATES SPIKING
New Jersey ratepayers are well aware that utility costs continue to rise. Most households in the state experienced rate hikes of more than $20 per month in the summer of 2025 — and further hikes could still come. But what’s driving up...
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Sea Girt removes boat from beach
SEA GIRT – At 7 a.m. Wednesday, a crane operated by Kremer Marine lifted Lawrence Kaehler’s sailboat Alestorm off the Sea Girt beach and into the air. It spun, and as it did, the vessel’s keel, buried in sand, tore off and water flooded out of it, as...
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Insanity verdict in brother’s killing
TRENTON – A former Toms River North soccer star who stabbed and beat his younger brother to death and also killed his cat has been found not guilty of murder, animal cruelty and related weapons charges by a judge who said the defendant believed he was...
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BRACED FOR IMPACT
At the height of the Cold War, federal officials drew maps that told Americans where to go in case of a nuclear attack. In Passaic, one of those places was a library. Inside the Reid Memorial Library, a fallout shelter sign still lists a capacity of...
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Neighbors sue operator of landfill
TINTON FALLS – A class action lawsuit seeking over $5 million in relief has been filed against Waste Management of New Jersey Inc., blaming it for “widespread noxious odors” emanating from the landfill here, which it leases, operates and...
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Paying cost of chaos
Since Darryl Monticello of Hollston Realty Group began building Five Dimes next to the Point Pleasant Beach train station three years ago, the costs for the craft brewery of both construction material and beer have soared. So he returned to his...
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These details offer understanding of NJ’s affordable housing battle
Between property taxes and rising home prices, the idea of “affordable housing” seems more like a dream than a reality in New Jersey. Sure, there are parts of the state where housing costs have not exploded, but the Jersey Shore is certainly not one...
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Kids of cop, mom he killed settle lawsuit
The nine children of Tamara Wilson-Seidle, who was gunned down by her ex-husband, a Neptune police sergeant, in Asbury Park in June 2015, with police and the Seidles’ 7-year-old daughter watching, has settled a lawsuit against authorities for $4...
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Eyes in the sky
JACKSON – The crackle of fire and a haze of smoke filled the air near the Forest Resource Education Center in Jackson, as members of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service ignited the forest floor around a sign showing the iconic Smokey Bear. Firefighters...
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Apartments, retail rise in Long Branch
LONG BRANCH – The foundation of The Elbie, a new 78-unit rental community, is growing out of the ground on the vacant property across the street from Slocum Park, the public library and city hall on Broadway. By next summer, it should have its first...
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Brielle residents demand public vote on $15M loan for new borough hall
BRIELLE – The Borough Council president wants to convince skeptical residents that borrowing $15 million for a new borough hall and police department makes more sense than continuing to repair the current century-old building that was never designed to...
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Businesses look to fill empty supermarkets
TOMS RIVER – The doors at Stop & Shop on Lakewood Road closed for the last time at the end of the day on March 19. The supermarket chain, which still has 10 stores in Monmouth and Ocean counties, decided to not renew the store’s lease, saying the...
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Former store gets Netflix makeover
MIDDLETOWN — The former Circus liquor store on Route 35 here has been turned into Jep’s Xpress, a fictional truck stop offering gasoline, a free shower and $1 hot dogs, to serve as the setting of a Netflix series starring Adam Driver. The convenience...
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Why has nothing been done? Shining new light on Kars4Kids.
When we started digging into Kars4Kids, the first thing we did was a simple Google search to see what had been written before. We found stories from across the country, many from years ago, that detailed lawsuits claiming the charity misled donors....
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Driven away by tensions
CAPE MAY – With the summer season only a few months away, officials are split on whether the southern Jersey Shore will see the return of the tourists who, until recently, had been the region’s most loyal visitors. Last year, the number of Canadian...
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Jersey Shore oyster farmers struggling
Few people are looking forward to spring more than Dale Parsons, a fifth-generation bayman and oyster farmer from Tuckerton. Parsons is trying to put his oyster farm back together after what was probably the most disastrous winter he’s endured as a...
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‘PRICE’ VICTORY
BARNEGAT – Stephanie Schleckser, 51, has loved “The Price is Right” her entire life, and her dream came true when she won a green Audi on the episode that aired on St. Patrick’s Day. Schleckser held a watch party for her appearance on the longtime CBS...
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Students push for financial literacy
TINTON FALLS – Three Monmouth County students hope a new bill in Trenton will help their classmates establish stronger financial futures. For three Ranney School students – high school juniors Ansh Patel, Noah Baretz and Avi Rao – learning about money...
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Jersey fossil found
When Matthew Gregg grabbed a large piece of beach debris from the mouth of his German shorthaired pointer in late January, he knew it was too heavy to be driftwood. What Gregg did not realize was that the dog — an energetic rescue named Charlie Brown...
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Sherrill says she can slow rising drug prices
EDISON – Fresh off her first budget address that focused on affordability, Gov. Mikie Sherrill on March 13 told the state’s pharmaceutical drug industry she would tackle rising drug prices by reining in pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who...
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What’s the true story of German U-Boat landings?
Rumors have spread for years regarding German U-Boats that have landed on East Coast beaches, crew members who have walked around, maybe food shopped, or scouted out places to conduct nefarious acts. Fishing families have passed down stories of seeing...
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Burned icon to be replaced
OCEAN GROVE – East Windsor developer TFE Properties has acquired 4 Boardwalk, the former site of the landmark North End Pavilion that was destroyed in a fire in April 2019, nearly seven years ago. TFE Properties said it hopes to build a pavilion “to...
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NJ’s Cold War missile sites
In the 1950s, the U.S. Army built a missile ring through New Jersey. Fourteen Nike batteries, along with radar stations, a regional command post and a maintenance hub, were positioned from Sandy Hook to Salem County, according to U.S. Army Air Defense...
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GUNMAN KILLS 3 RELATIVES, SELF
BERKELEY TOWNSHIP - A Maplewood man chased down the mother of his three children outside her Fairwood Drive home early Tuesday, March 10, and shot her dead, after killing her parents inside the house, but leaving his children unharmed, Ocean County...
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Wealth of demand
The Jersey Shore’s rental properties are booking at a faster rate for the summer than a year ago, fueled mainly by affluent visitors who appear to be snapping up expensive homes for their vacations, a report finds. Advanced reservations in Monmouth...
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A GREEN WEEKEND
Asbury Park turned green for its annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday, March 8. Stepping off at 1 p.m. on Ocean Avenue, marchers headed down Cookman Avenue and ended at Main Street. Former New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno served as grand marshal...
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Reading teachers hooked on phonics
ASBURY PARK - Since the school district implemented a phonics program in Bradley Elementary School, 80% of the kids are now reading above grade level. The results could be seen March 6, as high school students and volunteers from across the community...
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This Tabernacle has long history of farms, schools
A missionary church was formed in 1778 by missionary John Brainerd and given the name Tabernacle in the Wilderness. Originally inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans, this small area was named Inawendiwin, an Indian word for friendship. A small...
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FORTRESS GONE, ANOTHER RISING
FORT MONMOUTH – The demolition started a few minutes after 11 a.m., on May 13, 2025, when a wrecking ball slammed into Mallette Hall, an Army administrative building built in 1953. And it has not stopped. What was once acres of outdated, decaying Army...
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‘A lot of worry off my shoulders’
FAIR HAVEN – Lindsay McCue stood on the front porch of her new house Wednesday morning, microphone in hand, and explained just how unattainable home ownership once seemed. “I felt like I did everything right,” the Little Silver native said. “I went to...
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Can mission heal a troubled world?
Back to the moon! And — maybe — just in the nick of time. The Artemis II mission to circle our next-door neighbor — the first human visit in 54 years — will soon be poised to blast off from a stressed, squabbling Earth. The launch, which could have...
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MonmouthNJ 250 features Little Steven
This one is shaping up to be the biggest spectacle in Freehold since the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul; the Jake Clemons Band; Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers with Gary U.S. Bonds; Low Cut Connie; and the...
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HUNDREDS JOIN ANTI-ICE RALLY
RED BANK – They waved signs — “ICE is not welcome here,” “End detention and deportation,” “Arrest gangs, not legal neighbors” — and chanted: “No justice, no peace, no ICE in our streets.” Hundreds of people gathered at Red Bank’s train station to call...
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Monmouth Square rising out of rubble
EATONTOWN — Out of the dust and debris of the demolition of the old Monmouth Mall, the new Monmouth Square is slowly but surely rising. h Kushner Cos.’ overhaul and rebranding of the mall has been over a decade in the making, but by the end of 2026,...
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ATTACK ON IRAN
Find more coverage at usatoday.com and in the Nation & World Extra section, a subscriber-only feature in your eNewspaper.
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You can help teen fighting leukemia
After recovering from COVID in January, Lacey High School senior Alex Pastore had a cough he couldn’t shake. His parents thought he might have come down with pneumonia. An X-ray revealed something more alarming. “It looked like he had two hearts,”...
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POLLUTION SOLUTION
A Middletown woman is on a mission. And she is taking it international. Marta Young is a waste specialist with the environmental organization Clean Water Action and its program called ReThink Disposable. The program’s mission is to reduce single-use...
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Storm tilts steeple
BAY HEAD – The steeple of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church will be removed after it was found leaning following the blizzard. At 10:31 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, an Ocean County Fire Marshal working in the area noticed the steeple of the church on...
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Another light snow possible next week
The great meltdown begins! That’s the forecast from National Weather Service meteorologist Ray Martin, who says the piles of snow dumped on New Jersey during the Feb. 22-23 blizzard will slowly start to disappear, despite predictions of more wintry...
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WALLOPED
Shore towns are digging out from under the worst blizzard in decades as more than two feet of snow fell in parts of Monmouth County and Ocean County totals were nearing 18 inches in some spots as of mid-day Monday, according to the National Weather...
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Homeless couple faces cold in woods
It’s been one rough winter. Especially if you are living in a tent in the northern Ocean County woods. Below-zero wind chills and heavy snow have kept Rob Zahn and his girlfriend, Jen, isolated at times. During the recent bitter cold spell, Jen, 48,...
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THE PARRY HOUSE: 1874 – 1881
Charles Parry built the Parry House on the northeast corner of Centre and Beach avenues in Beach Haven in 1874. It opened on June 25 and had been relatively easy to build: no heat, no electricity and very limited plumbing. Doesn’t sound like fun to...
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Kim takes on ICE
ASBURY PARK – During a town hall at St. Stephen AME Zion Church on Springwood Avenue, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim pointed to the challenges faced by students just a little more than a mile away at Asbury Park High School. Something, he said, needs to be done...
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Dead birds seen across NJ
Hundreds of dead birds are being reported across New Jersey, including at the Jersey Shore, according to officials. Between Feb. 14 and Feb. 16, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection received more than 1,100 reports of dead or sick...
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Sacred seasons
New Jersey adherents of the world’s two largest religions — Christianity and Islam — have begun to observe sacred seasons that will unfold at the same time this year. Muslims began Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam, on the evening of Feb. 17. The...
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Breaking barriers over a long career
JACKSON TOWNSHIP – Mary Nelson is no stranger to being first. In 2004, after 14 years with the Jackson Police Department, she became the first female lieutenant in township history. Six years later, she became Jackson’s first woman to be a...
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Mother shares her lymphoma battle
As a professional hairstylist, Aleksandra Smith looked the part, sporting long, lustrous, curly blonde hair. “My identity,” she said. “I’m known for my hair.” Last summer, after being diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma and embarking on an...
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Slice of history
What’s the all-American pie? Apple, or cherry? h Most of us would — likely — say apple. The phrase, after all, is “American as apple pie.” h Except when it isn’t. h “Violence is as American as cherry pie,” said the revolutionary H. Rap Brown in 1967....
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Nostalgia remains for Chester-Bridgeport Ferry
Running for 44 years, and the quickest, most popular way to get from Pennsylvania to South Jersey, the ChesterBridgeport Ferry started with two ferries. The Chester held 60 cars and the Bridgeport 48. The crossing took only six minutes across a...
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This friendship spans 9 decades
MIDDLETOWN – The smoke alarm started beeping in Helen Holland’s apartment. Dinner was cooking in the oven for too long. It didn’t faze Holland and her guest, Joyce Bernarducci. They were too busy needling each other with one-liners. After 80-plus...
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Attorneys sum up Caneiro murder case
FREEHOLD – Paul Caneiro’s defense attorney for the first time on Feb. 11 floated the idea that two people may have been involved in the quadruple murders her client is accused of. Detectives “never considered a two-person theory because they focused...
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NJ proposes stricter water testing rules
As North Jersey utilities work to identify and replace aging lead service lines ahead of a 2031 state deadline, regulators are proposing stricter rules for how drinking water is tested and monitored. The state Department of Environmental Protection in...
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Residents say to be prepared for ICE
Recent sweeps by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Morristown, Palisades Park and other North Jersey towns have growing numbers of anxious residents – including African Americans and those of Asian descent – choosing to carry passport cards...
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Caneiro juror notes ‘sadness’ at photos
FREEHOLD — “It was a heavy day.” That’s what one juror on the Caneiro quadruple murder trial told his wife Feb. 4, after sitting through graphic testimony of two medical examiners describing autopsies they performed on Keith and Jennifer Caneiro and...
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Persephone reminds how close U-Boats came to Shore
During World War II Nazi threats came closer to Long Beach Island than the distance the island is from the mainland. Casualties from the German attack on the Persephone met their fates well within sight of Barnegat Light. The 488foot-long x...
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‘We will rebuild’
KEANSBURG – This is supposed to be a downtime for Keansburg Amusement Park owner Hank Gehlhaus, but his phone has been buzzing since Tuesday, when another of his iconic properties — the 2,500-foot long Keansburg Fishing Pier — suffered a partial...
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‘Amazing’ journey
Bryan Sosoo’s introduction to bobsledding was harrowing. He was attending USA Bobsled’s rookie camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., and didn’t make it all the way down the run on his first attempt. “My pilot had a little trouble, and we actually crashed coming...
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Expert: Caneiro’s gun fired bullets at scene
FREEHOLD – Bullets found at the Colts Neck crime scene of the Caneiro family murders were fired from a gun recovered from Paul Caneiro’s home in Ocean Township the next day, a state police firearms expert testified on Feb. 3. The expert, Detective...
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Cocaine probe nets 4 Ocean County arrests
Streets Task Force and the Beachwood Police Department. The investigation, which began in October 2025, identified Ibn Moye, 34, of Beachwood, as a primary suspect in a local cocaine distribution network. The takedown On Jan. 29, detectives tracking...
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BELOW ZERO
While the weekend freezing temperatures are keeping many indoors, the icy conditions created a playground for ice boaters to take their gliding machines to local rivers in Red Bank, Oceanport and Toms River. Members of the Long Branch Ice Boat & Yacht...
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‘A real blessing to be invited in’
For eight years, Paul Aronsohn served as New Jersey’s first ombudsman for people with developmental disabilities. He built the office from scratch, took calls at all hours, drove thousands of miles to meet families in crisis and often found himself at...
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FORKED RIVER STATE MARINA
The Forked River State Marina is located at 311 S. Main St. (Route 9). At the end of the day, it is filled with power and sail boats. There are slips for 125 boats, lengths for 50’ yachts, and the marina is dredged to 6 feet. Amenities include TV,...
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CAN CASINO BE SAVED FROM DEMOLITION?
ASBURY PARK – Once again, the city will issue notices of default to its waterfront developer for allowing the nearly-century old Casino building along the boardwalk to deteriorate. But whether that will force any action by the developer, which has...
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Detective tells of body bags, bullets
FREEHOLD – A detective took jurors on a photographic tour of the crime scene at 15 Willow Brook Road in Colts Neck during his testimony on Jan. 28, showing the panel everything from body bag labels to bullets, cartridge casings and a chef ’s knife...
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CITY TO FIGHT TEARDOWN PLAN
ASBURY PARK — The city does not want its waterfront developer to demolish the nearly century-old Casino building along the boardwalk and is vowing it will take steps to keep that from happening. The potential demolition came to light this week, when a...
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A day remembered
On Jan. 28, 1986, the world watched in horror as the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven aboard. Forty years will have passed on Wednesday,...
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Jersey Shore plows roads after storm
The snow may be over but the Jersey Shore remains under a cold weather advisory at least until Wednesday evening, with dangerous subzero wind chills in the forecast, according to the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly station. Extensions to the...
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