What's hAPPening in Middletown: Crime (2024)

What's Happening is a column about Middletownthat isupdated throughout the week. It spotlights upcoming events, meetings or locals making news. Have tips or suggestions? Email Russ Zimmerat razimmer@app.com.​

•5/9/2017:Crime continued to trend downward in 2016, the seventh straight year of decline, according to an announcement from the township police department.

In 2016, a total of 453 index crimes were reported. That's 13 percent fewer than the previous year and nearly half as many as logged in 2010, the year when crime last peaked — for lack of a better word — in Middletown.

Index crimes are what the FBI collects to measure crime in a given jurisdiction. The offenses included are: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

MIDDLETOWN: Two locations test high for lead in township schools

•4/14/2017:The township committee meets on Monday and will consider a handful of measures on how to spend your taxdollars:

• There will be a minor adjustmentmade to the proposed township budget— $65,000 in expected surplus is being turned over to the township's first aid companies.
• Public defenders in municipal court would be paid by the day ($400) or half-day ($200). The township was having trouble securing enough public defenders under the old scale of $200 per case.
• The cost of joining the county's 911/dispatch center is going up by $17,200 this year for a total cost of$492,200. The added expense is to cover the cost of license fees on mobile data terminals at the 911 center.

What else is happening next week?

• Drivers beware: Cooper Road from Route 35 to Sleepy Hollow is scheduled to be milled and paved today and Monday, weather permitting. The road will be closed during the workday.

• Lincroft First Aid is hosting Easter Egg hunts at the station,59 Hurley's Lane, on Saturday morning, April 15. The Easter Bunny has set up hunts for9:30, 10:30, and 11:30.
• The planning board meeting set for April 19, during which testimony on the Village 35/"town center" project was scheduled to continue, has been canceled. The March meeting was also nixed. The next meeting is set forMay 17. Video of the board chairman challenging the audience to be better than what you might see on a Jerry Springer episode is above.

•3/31/2017: The plan to build a new, modern town hall is expected to geta another boost on Monday when the township committee takes up a proposal to request the planning board investigate whetherthe existing complex as an area in need of redevelopment. This is a necessary step that governments must take before engaging in a project like a new town hall.

Here's a review of what you may have missed in Middletown this week:

• A young woman was hospitalized last weekend after she was struck by an NJ Transit trainon Church Street.
• The American Littoral Society wants to reintroduce oysters into the Navesink River, which has been downgraded because of pollution problems in recent years, to improve the water quality.
• JCP&L again made its pitch for the Monmouth County Reliability Project tonews organizations during a press conference on Tuesday, but they stayed silent at a second public hearing on the proposed 10-mile long, 230-kilovolt transmission line the next night. Check out in the video above what one resident fears the project would mean for her.
• APP reporter Steve Edelson caught up with Ryan McCormick, 26, on the eve of the Middletown native's first PGA Tour appearance. McCormick shot a +2 in two rounds and didn't make the cut.
• Naval Weapons Station Earle will be the site of a new study to learn better ways to cope with sea level rise and climate change.
• Joseph Prioli, a former technology teacher atChristian Brothers Academy, pleaded guilty to molesting a child. The victim was not a student of his.
• Steven Van Zandt, who grew up in Middletown, talks to our Jean Mikle about five of his favorite songs.Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul areperforming at the Asbury Music and Film Festival on Saturday, April 22, in a show at the city’s Paramount Theatre.
• A couple found what appears to be ahuman leg boneduring a walk on the beach at Sandy Hook. They were looking for seashells.

•3/27/2017: The Middletown Board of Education meets at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the library at Middletown Town High School North, their first meeting since introducing a budget that would raise the typical homeowners taxes by $217 annually.

• A second hearing on a proposed 230-kilovolt transmission line that would run from Red Bank to Aberdeen is set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Collins Arena on the Brookdale Community College campus. Anyone who didn't get a chance to speak at the Jan. 25 meetingwill be allowed to address state Administrative Law Judge Gail Cookson on the merits of Jersey Central Power & Light's plan.

•3/10/2017:Next week's township planning board meeting, during which the debate on the Village 35 project was to continue, has been canceled, according to the township.

The proposed shopping center will is scheduled to come back tothe board on April 19.

A Saturday demonstration, which wasorganized by a group of residents,meant to rally sentiment against the project has been canceled as well.

•3/7/2017: The Rumson-Sea Bright bridge will be closed for maintenance work between 8 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday.

Drivers on Rumson Road in Rumson should head west to Bingham Avenue and go over the Oceanic Bridge in Middletown and then throughHighlands to reach Sea Bright.

• Hundreds of people were shut out of the first public hearing in Middletown on a contentious transmission line project. Space shouldn't be a problem for the second.Jersey Central Power & Lighthas reserved the 2,000-seat Collins Arena at Brookdale Community College for the hearing, which starts at 5:30 p.m. on March 29.
• Monmouth County politics reporterSusanne Cervenka has an update on who is and out for the various races this year, including District 13 covering Middletown. Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger has abandoned his candidacy to replace fellow Republican Declan O'Scanlon in the state Assembly. O'Scanlon is running to take the retiring Joe Kyrillos's state Senate seat. Assemblywoman Amy Handlin had announced her intention to run, but backed out last week. Former Middletown Township Committeeman Sean Byrnes appears likely to be the Democratic nominee for Kyrillos's seat.

•3/2/2017: Two Middletown police officers were recognized at last week's township committee meeting for helping to deliver a baby in a parking lot in January.

Axl Erickson was born in the passenger seat of the family car on January 28, as it sat parked in the Comfort Inn parking lot on Route 35. His parents pulled over and called for help when they realized they were not going to make it to the hospital.

Patrolman Nicholas Manochio and Corporal Ryan Riffert responded, helped with the delivery and both mother and child later arrived at Riverview Medical Centerin good health.

•2/13/2017: APP reporter Erik Larsen talked to some of the self-described"Deplorables" of the Jersey Shore during a pro-President Trump rally at the ShopRite on Route 35 on Saturday. See the video above.

"The opposition is the Democrat(ic) Party and the anarchists," said Lois Pongo, 72, of Highlands. "All of these people, when they show up, it's anarchy. For them, it's perfectly OK to smash things and break faces and so forth. Now are we going to just let that happen? Because it's happening every single day, every place that the Democrats go, everywhere where the opposition shows up and so forth. It's not law and order, it's violence. ... We are letting the world know we support the president, we are the silent majority and we are silent no more."

• Apparently neither the Office of Administrative Law nor Jersey Central Power & Light conferred with the township school district before announcing details on the second public hearing on the controversial transmission line proposal.
• The school district spoke with the APP about their plans for the Middletown Township Early College Academy.
• We've reviewed the plans for a new town hall. Designs are looking up— as in three stories high.
• Mack-Cali Realty Corp. has purchased a complex of three office buildings near Garden State Parkway's Exit 109 for $23 million.

•2/2/2017: People of all faiths are expected to rally outside the mosque atIslamic Society of Monmouth County Friday afternoon as a show of support, following a controversial executive action by President Trump that restricts immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries (see the video above for more).

"The America that I know and love, and that I've defended, is a melting pot of cultures, ethnicities, religions, and colors," said Jeff Cantor, a colonel in Army Reserves and Marlboro councilman who organized the event. "We are here to support all Americans and to protect those that are concerned and fear retribution over the religion they observe."

People participating in the rally are asked to show up between noon and 12:30 p.m.

• There's been no shortage of criticism directed toward President Trump during the first two weeks of his term, and his supporters are gathering across the country to show that they are still behind him. "The Day of the Deplorables," as it's being called, will include a rally that meets at the parking lot of ShopRite, 1361 NJ 35, at noon on Saturday, Feb.11.

• 1/31/2017: Township policecharged five adults and two juveniles in connection with three township robberies, two in Leonardo and one on the Henry Hudson Trail. A full list of charges and names of the adults can be read here.

• On a completely different note, two Middletown officers helped deliver a baby in a car over the weekend. Both baby and mom are doing fine.
• Next door in Red Bank, a former council president is suing the borough over a redevelopment plan that includeshundreds of apartments, retail space and restaurants.

• 1/26/2017:The most burdensome property taxes in the nation got $700 million worse last year, our Bob Jordan reports. Monmouth County was up 1.6 percent over 2015, which was actually below the state average. What did your bill look like?

• We're trying to get more information on a fatal crash on the Parkway near mile marker 111.9 this morning. Here's what we know so far.
• Of course, we have a lot of coverage of last night's JCP&L transmission line hearing. The latest story reports that there may be a second hearing to accommodate the hundreds of people who couldn't get in and/or speak last night.

• 1/18/2017: Local and state officials are trying to stop a plan to open up housing at Navy Weapons Station Earle to the general public. About 30 percent of the homes in Earle, whose pier complex juts off the coast of Leonardo, are empty.

"The decision is a boon to working-class individuals who will see their housing options expand, and a blow to wealthier towns and boroughs that have been resisting the expansion of affordable housing within their borders."

• 1/17/2017:At tonight's township committee meeting, the matter of compensation will be up for public discussion. Specifically, how much should non-union officers and employees make? You can see a list of the salary proposals here.

•1/10/2017:Columnist Steve Edelson flashes us back toJanuary 19, 1990, when an upstart Mater Dei boys basketball team would defeat No. 1 St. Anthony in an overtime classic.

• 1/9/2017: Traffic on the Oceanic Bridge will be down to one lane — alternating betweenboth directions of traffic —every night (beginning tonight) from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.for nearly the rest of the month. This is being done so that scientists can perform borings on the soil and rock around the bridge. That data will help inform the bridge's future redesign or repair project.

"In New Jersey,tens of thousands of children and families- in both private and government-subsidized housing -livein crumbling apartments infestedwithco*ckroaches,rats, mold,or worse. These conditions have deteriorated in recent years as lax oversight and billions of dollars ofgovernment rent subsidies have allowed negligent landlords to skirt accountability -essentially running ahousing scheme that treats renters as a permanent underclass -with little or nopunishment from the government, an Asbury Park Press investigation found."

Read each of the fiveincredible, shocking parts here.

• 1/3/2017: The Earth has begunanother orbitaround the sun, but I'm still trying to get my brain into 2017 so let's revisit some recent news fromthe long weekend...

• 12/20/2016: Before you know it, the Christmas season will be gone. Residents who need to dispose of their trees haveone of three options: drop it off for free at theKanes Lane Recycling Center at any time;those who live within the garbage district can put their trees out on the curb on bulk disposal days starting on January 19; and people who live outside the garbage district can look at this schedule on the town website to see when they can put their trees by the street for pick-up.

• 12/19/2016: Middletown property owners paid a total of$137,004,630 to township public schools for the 2015-2016 school year, according to a new audit. Check out the highlights here.

• 12/15/2016: The township police department will bea hosting a free car seat safety checkpoint from 2 to 6 p.m. tomorrowat theOld Village Fire Company, 1340 Route 35. Car seatsare required in some form for kids up to age 8 in New Jersey.

• 12/12/2016: Hook, Line & Sinker reporter Dan Radel and photographer Pete Ackerman joined some crabbers from the Belford Seafood Co-op for an early morning pursuit of blue crabs, which are at their fattest (and most lucrative) this time of year. It's a great story with some equally impressive photos.

Check out the video above.

• 12/9/2016: Middletown'sMelissa Mersmann will come on down to contestant's row on Monday's airing of the popular daytime game show "The Price is Right."

The anesthesia technician at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch describes the experience (although you'll have to tune in to see how she did) to the APP's entertainment reporter Chris Jordan.

• 12/6/2016: The developer proposing to build 350 homes, including 70 units for low- and moderate-income renters, will be before the township planning board for the first time Wednesday night.

Toll Brothers' development application for "The Oaks at Middletown" is the only item on the agenda for tomorrow night's meeting. These homes represent the second phase of what had been known for years as "the town center" project.

The planning board has twice delayed the commercial side of the project so that the residential half can catch up.

• 12/5/2016: Like a Hollywood screenplay, Mater Dei — two years after raising $1.5 million to stave off the private school's closure — capped off a thrilling victorywith a 50-yard hook-and-lateral touchdown in the closing seconds ofSaturday's NJSIAA Non-Public Group II final.

The APP's jack-of-all-tradesJerry Carino breaks down the deciding play here.

• 12/2/2016:Toni Ann Marletta was sentenced to 11 years in prison this morning for fatally striking 15-year-oldMarissa Procopio with her car on Route 36 bythe Avenue D intersection and then fleeing the scene in July 2015.

Read and see more from the courtroom here.

•11/29/2016: The Mater Dei football team, as our Steve Edelson notes, is in position to both win a state championship and go unbeaten for the first time ever. That's a remarkable achievement under any circ*mstances, but especially so considering the private school almost closed 18 months ago.

Read how it happened here.

•11/28/2016:Municipal courts across Monmouth and Ocean counties raked in $26.2 million in fines and court costs last year— up $3.2 million, or 14 percent, from in 2010, according to an investigation by the Asbury Park Press.

Press reporter Kala Kachmar found that some cash-strapped towns have been leaning more and more on citations to prop up their budgets, sometimes going as far as to choosejudges who have a track record of assessing big fines. This is a must-read.

A quick check on Middletown's last two budgets shows there was an increase in revenue from the municipal court: $787,665 in 2015 vs. $723,013 in 2014, or 9 percent. However, court costs and fines are a relatively tiny part of the overall budget, accounting for about $1 out of every$100 raised by the town.

•11/25/2016: You've probably driven by the William Sandlass House dozens of times on your way into Sandy Hook. Nowadays, it looks like most any other abandoned property— boarded-up windows, peeling paints, overgrown vegetation— but this home was once the nerve center of the area's most popular tourist attraction.

Is it worth saving?

•11/22/2016: Tickets are now onsale for Middletown North's championship matchup versus Sayreville at Rutgers' High Point Solutions Stadium on Dec. 3.

North controlled Summit in the semi-finals and will now face the team that defeated Middletown South in the tournament's other bracket.

Tickets for the 1 p.m. game, which can be purchased here, are $9 for adults and $3 for students. They will also be sold on gameday at the stadium.

Parking costs $10.

•11/22/2016: In what was a bizarre and troubling court case, a Middletown man wore the label of "pedophile" like a badge of honor.

Gary Wolchesky, 28, was found guilty of 21 sex crimes against four children. During the trial, Wolchesky represented himself and told the jury that he was "merely acting out of civil disobedience to advance the cause of pedophilia," according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

He faces up to 61 years inprison.

• 11/21/2016: It's Monday— the 1st and 10 of the work week. Here's a few football stories to get you going:

• Tomorrow is the township's final free flu shot clinic of the season. Federal data shows that flu shots can reduce the risk of hospitalization from the influenza virus anywhere from 50 to 75 percent, depending on your age.

You have to call ahead,732-615-2000 ext.2171, to schedule an appointment at the Health Department Bayshore Annex, 180 Main St. in Port Monmouth. They are not taking walk-ins during the 1 to 3 p.m. window.

• Heads up for drivers: The township is closing Chapel Hill Road from Whipporwill Valley Road to Comache Drive for milling and paving work during the day time on Wednesday and Thursday.

• Today is Veteran's Day, a time to consider the sacrifices made by military servicemembers, and one of the longest-standing monuments to that sacrifice— the bronze Doughboy in Belford —will be restored next year.

The township announced that it is partnering with the American Legion Post 338 on a repair project that will begin in 2017. The life-sized statue stands atop a granite slab with a plaque that lists the names ofseveral dozen World War I veterans from Belford, Port Monmouth andNew Monmouth.

Talk of repairing the crumbling, 1930s-era monument ramped up last year, but it looks like the $1,000 check from the local Legion post finally got things moving.

•The (unofficial) results are in and Donald Trump cleaned up in Middletown, improving on Mitt Romney's performance against President Barack Obama in 2012.

The president-elect did it by connecting with voters along the Bayshore— people who had voted for Obama in 2012 and even those who voted for Congressman Frank Pallone, a Democrat, this year.

Want to see how many people at your polling place went for Trump or Clinton? Check out the table at the bottom of this story.

• The APP caught up with some voters outside a couple Middletown polling places —Port Monmouth and Nut Swamp schools — to ask them who they voted for and why.

Check outsome of the answers below and be sure to follow along right now withof our live coverageand make sure to join the conversation onFacebookandTwitterby using the hashtag#APPElections!

Gerry Yourgel, who lives in the working-class Port Monmouth neighborhood, said that while Trump had his warts, the businessman and TV personality was a better choice for the presidency.

His wife, Elaine Russo, said their votes for Trump were “50/50” – half reflecting a belief that the Republican candidate was the right person for the job and half to show how little they trusted Clinton.

“Well, there’s Benghazi,” said Yourgel, 66, alluding to the embassy attack in Libya that occurred while Clinton was U.S. Secretary of State. “I still feel that there’s a lot that’s been covered up. Like how’d they read 600,000 emails in a day?”

“Wow,” said Stefan Haas, 53, when the Middletown man was asked what about Donald Trump turned him off. “Psychologically, he’s not the most stable person.”

“(Clinton) is not my ideal candidate but I think overall she’s more trustworthy and more experienced certainly. I definitely trust her more in a crisis.”

Some people were single-issue voters, like Danielle Bardell, 22, of Middletown,

“I voted for Trump,” she said. “I’m a Christian and I think Hillary is against everything we stand for.”

Bardell said neither candidate was particularly appealing, but she trusted Trump to install a conservative U.S. Supreme Court justice, who would take on social issues, such as abortion.

For some people, like Middletown’s Ann Jacobs, 54, there was no joy in the Democratic process this year.

“It was a tortuous decision and I don’t know if I even made the right choice,” she said, walking to her after casting her vote – for whom she would not say. “I don’t know how I’m going to feel about it when I wake up in the morning.”

• #BreakingNews: The Asbury Park Press can confirm that there will be local and national elections tomorrow.

If you live in the part of Middletown that is in New Jersey's4th Congressional District, here's what your ballot looks like. For those of you in the 6th district, this is your sample ballot.

And here's three questions the APP asked of the township committee candidates.

Tune into APP.com on Election night to watch all of our live coverage for free starting at 7:30 p.m., and make sure to join the conversation on Facebook and Twitterby using the hashtag #APPElections!

• Phase II of a massivecoastal flood protection project officially launched Thursday in Port Monmouth.

Deemed "theHurricane and Storm Damage Reduction Project in Port Monmouth," the $105-million project began last year withdune restoration, beach replenishment, groin work, extension of the fishing pier, and construction of protective dunes, according to Congressman Frank Pallone's office.

This particular contract covers the construction ofa flood wall and a road closure gate east of the existing Keansburg levee at a cost $13.7 million.

The entire project is expected to wrap up in 2019, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

• Do you know who you're picking for Middletown Township Committee on Nov. 8?

The APP asked the five candidates about three big issues: the JCP&L transmission line project, the Village 35/Shoppes at Middletown/town center plan and, of course, the municipal tax burden.Here's how they answered.

• The Oceanic Bridge still has a few years of life left, but the designers of the replacement bridge are holding two public meetings on Tuesday, Oct. 25 to give an update on the plansand hear what characteristics people want to see in the new structure.

We wrote about the end of the road for the bridge that links Middletown and Rumson in June, after the county asked residents to respond to a survey that sought information on how the Oceanic Bridge was currently being used.

For those interested in learning more about the bridge replacement, which won't beginuntil after the county replaces the Sea Bright-Rumson bridge starting in 2020, there are two information sessions on Tuesday: 2 to 4 p.m. at Bingham Hall,40 Bingham Avenue, Rumson, and 6 to 8 p.m. at the community room in theMiddletown Public Library,55 New Monmouth Road.

• Moody's, a credit-ratings firm whose designations can affect a municipality's ability to cheaply borrow money, assigned a "Aa2" rating to Middletown's $23.1 million in Series 2016 General Obligation bonds. This is unchanged from the rating thatthe township's outstanding debt was given.

The township's bonds, which are expected to go on sale next week, are being used to pay off short-term debt and $5 million in capital projects. You can read more about the township's budget plan here.

Aa2 means Moody's believes that Middletown is "a low credit risk" and it'sthe third-highest rating that the agency gives, below Aa1 and Aaa. Generally speaking, the higher the rating, the lower the interest rate a township has to pay for borrowing money.

•We've got more on the big game below, but before kickoff on Friday night Middletown Police want to tackle a national issue: Whyprofessional athletes are choosing to sit during"The Star Spangled Banner."

The township police department has organized a "Salute to the USA" rally to take place before Middletown South hostsToms River in the game of the week. Deputy police chief Stephen Dollinger told the APP that he and others see the silent protest during the anthem as a sign of disrespect to the country,

“It's OK to stand up for social justice, inequality and reform," he said. "It's another thing to not stand up for the national anthem."

• It's a no-brainer for high school football game of the week:Middletown South, top-ranked in the Asbury Park Press Top 10, hosts second-ranked Toms River North in a battle of undefeated teams. APP writer Steve Edelson previews the game and takes a look at the biggest all-time "1 vs. 2" match-ups at the Shore.

•Brent Sonnek-Schmelz,a Republican businessman and political neophyte, is trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat who has been part of New Jersey's congressional delegation for 28 years. Here's an primer on the race.

• For Courtney McManus, it's not just whatDonald Trump was caught saying on a hot mic in 2005, but how people are responding to and defending what the campaign has termed "locker room talk."

McManus, a 36-year-old from Middletown, was raped on a date in 2000.

“This society seems to blame victims very easily, victims of sexual assault and rape,” McManus told the Press. “The normalization of male violence against women is now considered locker-room talk. For anybody like me who has lived through rape and violent sexual crime, that’s appalling.”

This is what McManus says is the real problem with brushing off a presidential candidate's words on sexual assault.

• A flash of red, white and blue might have caught your eye on Tindall Road this weekend. That was the Westminster Presbyterian Church's annual'Field of Flags' tribute to the fallen soldiers of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The display will stay in place until after Veteran's Day. Here's how one local veteran reacted to the experience.

•An unidentified bag caused a scare at Harmony Elementary School last week, according to a letter posted online by district superintendent William George.

George said the bag, which he describedas similar to a large briefcase, was found outside the school on Thursday morning.

Students were "kept at a safe distance" while the police and fire marshal investigated, George said. The bag was determined not to be a threat.

•The township is looking for public input on what thePort of Belford Redevelopment Plan, which you can read more about here.

Forty-nine parcels in Belford, a total of 390-acres, have been designated for redevelopment and the township had expected to have a the basics of plan for moving forward ready by this fall.

The "community visioning session," as they call it, is set for 7 to 9 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24 at the Middletown Arts Center, 36 Church St.

MORE ON MIDDLETOWN

• • We're trying to get more information on a fatal crash on the Parkway near mile marker 111.9this morning. Here's what we know.

  • Of course, we've got a lot of coverage of last night's JCP&Ltransmission line hearing. The newest story reports that there may be a second public hearing.Avideo from the event is above.

  • The affordable housing requirements on municipalities like MIddletown are likely to go up after a ruling by the state Supreme Court this morning.
  • A motorist struck a pedestrian in the Belford section of town Tuesday evening. The victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
  • ICYMI: A proposed subdivision could be the end for the 58-year-old Monmouth Day Camp on Taylor Lane. Here's more detailsonthe project and the summer camp.
  • Here's a story about Lincroft's Christian Brothers Academy and the spread of fencing programs in New Jersey high schools. Check out the video above.
  • A home in the River Plaza section went up in flames early Monday morning. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
  • Middletown schools is appealing a state court ruling that the district owes a teachers' pension fund $3.8 million for an unauthorized early-retirement program from 2007.
  • Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger, who just won reelection, is throwing his hat into the political ring again. This time for one of the District 13 State Assembly seats. He's not alone.
  • My colleagues Payton Guion and Shannon Mullen pulled back the curtains on the sorry state of rental property oversight in New Jersey.
  • Middletown Township Public Schools owe a pension fund $3.8 million for an early-retirement incentive that they implemented without approval nearly 10 years ago, according to a court. The district has yet to publicly explain how they'll respond to this ruling, or where the money will come from.
  • A pedestrian was struck and injured by a motorist while walking on Route 35 early New Year's Day. If you have any information on the incident, call Middletown Police at732-615-2100.
  • Middletown South crushed Brick on the iceto win the Holiday Tournament title on Friday. Watch the video above for more on the hometown team's dominance.
  • Lynn Spence has been appointed to T&M Associates board of directors, making her the first woman to sit on the consulting, environmental, engineering and construction management company's board. Spence is senior vice president and director of human resources for T&M, which is based on Tindall Road.
  • The Middletown school board has hired a law firm— at the rate of $250 per hour— to represent five board members who have filed ethics complaints against another board member. Watch the contentious meeting where the legal bill was "debated" here.
  • Just a reminder that there will be no trash pickup on Monday, December 26 or Monday, January 2.
  • Police renewed their call for help in locatingJohn Fernandez, 22, a township man who disappeared a year ago. You can find more info on Fernandez here.
  • ICYMI:The IRS has placed a lienfor more than$78,000 in unpaid federal income taxes on Middletown Committeewoman Stephanie Murray's and her husband's home. Read more here.
  • APP education reporter Amanda Oglesby reports that "less than 3 percent of teachers across the Garden State received poor ratings of partially effective or ineffective."None in Monmouth or Ocean counties were rated as "ineffective."
  • We reported last week that Assemblywoman Amy Handlin would be running for the Senate seat that Joe Kyrillos is leaving next year. Now, the Press can confirm that she will be facing off against Declan O'Scanlon, her fellow Republican and running mate.
  • Assemblywoman Amy Handlinconfirmed that she will be running for Joe Kyrillos'District 13 Senate seat. Kyrillos is not seeking reelection.
  • ICYMI: Attorneys for developers looking to build up a shopping center and rental homes, colloquially known as the "town center" project,came to Wednesday's planning board meeting unprepared to give testimony, which angered members of the board.
  • Middletown North didn't come away with a victory in the state finals, but the school and its fanbase have to be pleased with the direction of the program, says APP sportswriter Kevin Steimle.
  • A woman was struck and seriously injured on Bray Avenue on Saturday night. The driver remained on the scene and is cooperating, according to Middletown Township Police, which has not yednamedeither party.
  • The look of the Route 36 corridor is going to be changing, and the township will be soliciting comment from the public on how this key businesses and travel artery should be revitalized. A visioning session, as the town is calling it, is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Middletown Arts Center, 36 Church St. The township, along with its project consultants, will take ideas from the session as they shape new standards along Route 36 in order to encourage businesses and property owners to reinvest in the area.
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth is set to open in a couple weeks. The APP took a look around the new high-tech cancer care facility that took over the abandoned Lucent building. Check out the video and story here.
  • An 82-year-old man sufferedsecond- and third-degree burns and smoke inhalation during a Saturday afternoonfire atShadow Lake Village. Three units were destroyed in the blaze. The Press is checking on the victim's condition ( police have declined to release his name) as well as the cause of the fire.
  • Hartshorne Woods Park will be closed periodically for deer hunting over the next few weeks.The purpose of the hunt is to reduce the white tail deer population, and thus improve the health of the forest and promote wildlife diversity, according to the park system's 2015-16 deer management report. Click here for the dates.
  1. Middletown North defeatedSummit in the North II Group IV semi-finals—shutting out their opponents, 20-0.
  2. Sayreville defeated Middletown South,42-28, setting up a showdown against Middletown North for thechampionship.
  3. Middletown South alum Rick Lovato, 24, will continue his pro football career in Washington. His new team beat the Green Bay Packers last night.