LAKEWOOD–Looking for something to do this weekend for dad on Father’s Day? The Ocean Signal has some exciting ideas including breakfast, dinner and a cruise along the historic Toms River waterfront.

TOMS RIVER – One hundred twenty-four students from the Ocean County College Nursing Class received their nursing pins at the Annual Nurses Pinning Ceremony on Tuesday, May 21st at in the Arts & Community Center Theatre at the OCC Main Campus in Toms River.

During the ceremony, special awards in Nursing were presented. The following Nursing graduates received awards:

• St. Barnabas Behavioral Health Award – Recipient: Kateri Norton (Howell)
• Community Medical Center Awards – Recipients: Kimberly Coleman (Forked River) and Alexa Rae Yabut (Manahawkin)
• New Jersey League for Nursing Award – Recipient: Lizbeth Santibanez (Brick)

The graduates completed the two-year course of study leading to an associate degree in applied science in nursing. Sixty-one students completed the degree requirements this May and 63 students completed the degree requirements last December. The Ocean County College nursing graduates from Ocean County include:

Barnegat: Michele Guido, Erin Little, Laura-Beth McKeown, and Donna Pierce, Jessica Hernandez and Jennifer Severin; Bayville: Lori Stewart; Beachwood: Jeffrey Huntley and April Fischer; Brick: Augusto Cespedes, Elizabeth Gannon, Lindsay Goretski, Valerie Klim, Lisa Romanow, Laura Rudorfer, Anthony Scrofine, Lynn Tedeschi, Wendy Westphal , Danielle Ann Bagley, Samantha Bernard, Maxine Hall, Jennifer Katzmann, Amy Keefe, Karl Rex, Lizbeth Santibanez, and Jaclyn Yanovsky; Forked River: William LaBruna , Danielle Androcy, Jennifer Christ, Kimberly Coleman, and Lisa Hatrak; Island Heights: Rebecca Constantine; Jackson: Druclair Flynn, Jennifer Hruschka, Caryn Keeley, Laura Spata, and Jessyca Thompson, Veronica Busch, Jason Byrne, Stephanie Christen, Aurora Cleary, Susan Fuchs, Kristie Goelz, and Ashley Siegle; Lakewood: Sashalee Coke, Chaya Freedman, Ann Friedman, Pesha Konovitch, and Shulamit Navaro, Batsheva Eisen, Stephan Gymnich, Fraidy Karmel, and John Keene; Lanoka Harbor: Christy Neill (McDonald); Little Egg Harbor: Ashley Acierno , Melissa Evans and Kathleen Friedlander; Manahawkin: Andrea Cline, Robyn Gray, Caitlin Michels, Liana Schmidt, and Dena Smith, Frances Farnung, Renee Petitt, Suzann Thoman, and Alexa Rae Yabut; Manchester: Kim Hart and Amanda Peterson; Point Pleasant: JoAnna Fabiano and Christopher Griffin, Christina Devito and Tara Rostron-Lorenz; Toms River: Mark Amiscosa, Christine Coltenback, Jadwiga Corapi, Jonathan Dacpano, Amanda Erli, Margaret Myhre, Karolina Piwnica, Darlene Rodriquez, Jennifer Rosa, Nicole VanHouten, Mary Albuquerque, Stacy Calicchio, Linda Cioppa, Elizabeth Cogan, Maria Ditommaso, Fernan Dungca, Salwa Elbyadi, Denise Gillman, Sabina Gjonbalaj, Patrick Hurler, Irving Lukas, Brittany McCabe, Donna McCurdy, Jennifer Muraglia, Melissa Naphier, Daniel Ostie, JohnPaul Tinio, Colleen Tompkins, and Erin Wiggins; Tuckerton: Valerie Mills , Katharyn Gunn; Waretown: Jacqueline Keen; West Creek: Patrick Topping and Sybil Schriever; Whiting: Cathy Ippolito.

The following was compiled from releases provided by the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

Sandy Volunteers Honored at Luncheon

More than 140 senior citizens who devote much of their time volunteering to help others were honored at a special luncheon in Toms River on May 22nd.

For the past 31 years, the Ocean County Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) has teamed older adults with members of the community in need of assistance.

Freeholder Gerry P. Little and Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari presented a proclamation to Alisa MacCrate, RSVP program director, thanking her, her staff and the more than 500 volunteers who participate in the program.

“Ocean County has the highest concentration of senior citizens in the nation and many of them are 85, 90 or even older,” Mr. Vicari said. “They need your help more than ever before.”

Freeholder Vicari is chairman of the Ocean County Department of Senior Services, while Freeholder Little is liaison to the Ocean County Board of Social Services.

In 2012, volunteers provided nearly 37,000 hours of service which, if paid for by the county, would cost nearly $950,000, noted Freeholder Little.
Dates Announced for 2013 Hazardous Waste Collection Program

Ocean County announced the additional dates, times and locations for the county’s household hazardous waste collection program, which runs until October.

“This year we started a new approach to scheduling the collection of this material,” said Freeholder James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Department of Solid Waste Management. “Instead of grouping all the dates in one month in the fall and one month in the spring, we are holding the collection one day on a weekend each month through October.”

The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders is expected to award a contract to Radiac Research Corp. of Brooklyn, N.Y. at almost 40 cents a pound to conduct the program.

Dates, times, and locations for the upcoming monthly collections are: Lakewood Township Public Works Yard, 1 America Ave., on Sunday June 23; Berkeley Township Public Works Garage, Pinewald-Keswick Road, on Saturday July 27; Jackson Township Public Works Garage, 10 Don Connor Blvd., Saturday Aug. 24; Long Beach Township Public Works Garage, 7910 Long Beach Blvd., Saturday Sept. 28 and Point Pleasant Beach Municipal Parking Lot, Arnold and Ocean avenues, Saturday Oct. 5. Collection times are from 9 am to 3 pm on all collection dates.

Last year, 306,951 pounds of household hazardous waste was collected and safely disposed of.

Freeholder Lacey also noted that municipal recycling centers and the county’s recycling centers allow for drop off of a host of materials including used paint, motor oil and car batteries.

“Our residents should check with us or their local recycling center to determine what is accepted so items do not have to take up space in their garage or basements,” he said.

While Ocean County’s Household Hazardous Waste Collection program is free, citizens must register with the County. Residents can drop off a maximum of 200 pounds of dry material and 20 gallons of liquid. No containers over five gallons will be accepted.

The county is using funds from the State Recycling Enhancement Act Tax Fund to operate the program.

Materials accepted at the household hazardous waste collection sites are: paints, thinners, boat paints, solvents, pool chemicals, pesticides and herbicides, aerosol cans, auto products, toilet and drain cleaners, silver polishes, oven cleaners, photographic chemicals, rug and upholstery cleaners, polishes and bleaches, waste oil and used gasoline.

Additional information can be found on the county website at www.co.ocean.nj.us or by calling 1-800-55-RECYCLE.

Ocean County 911 Operations Getting New Home

Ocean County’s emergency dispatching 911 operations is getting a new home with room to meet future needs of the county and state-of-the-art equipment.

The current 911 dispatching center has been moved to an existing warehouse on Chestnut Street in Toms River, which the county had used in the past to store its voting machines. Those machines were moved to a warehouse in Lakewood. Work began on the expansion project in late 2012.

“This will provide over 16,000 square feet for a new enlarged 911 center,” Freeholder James Kelly said.

The expanded call center has the capacity to include 18 state-of-the-art police and fire dispatch stations and eight call taker stations for a total of 26 stations, an increase from the 12 dispatch consoles and six call taker stations currently there.

Ocean County has answered more than 82,000 911 calls so far this year, not including officer dispatched and department calls.

During the time span from October 28th to November 3rd, 2012, dispatchers handled more than 17,000 calls before, during and after Hurricane Sandy.

The county will also upgrade its radio communications to 700 MHz from 500, meeting Homeland Security requirements.

The expanded facility also includes training rooms for staff and dispatchers. In addition, the roof and other parts of the structure have been upgraded to withstand hurricane force winds.

There will also be back-up generators on the site in order to assure residents emergency calls will continue to be answered during hurricanes or natural disasters of any kind.

County Projects Repair Sandy Damaged Roads

The Ocean County Road Department recently completed the rebuilding of some Ocean County roads damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

“Prior to Memorial Day weekend work crews from the county road department finished rebuilding a portion of Ocean Terrace in Seaside Heights and Long Beach Boulevard leading into Holgate in Long Beach Township,” said Freeholder Lacey, also liaison to the Ocean County Road Department. “It was imperative for public safety and to accommodate our citizens and the increase in visitors to the county over the Memorial Day weekend that these projects got done.”
The Ocean County Road Department completed work on 3/4ths of a mile of Ocean Terrace from the border of Seaside Park to Hiering Avenue in Seaside Heights on May 20th. As part of the work, the Ocean County road crew rebuilt four intersections that had been washed out by the October storm, in addition to milling and paving the roadway.

The freeholder noted that work on repairing the bridge that leads from Bay Boulevard in Lavallette to the West Point Island section of the borough was near completion.

As part of the repairs, the county installed new sheathing and capped the area under the span with concrete in order to reinforce the structure from future washouts.

The repairs also included replacing the rip rap on both sides of the bridge.

“The work at the bridge is expected to be completed soon,” Freeholder Lacey added. “The span has been open to traffic while most of the repair work has taken place below it.”

Doggy Yappy Hour at Ocean County Park

A Doggy Yappy Hour will be held on Friday, June 14th at the Ocean County Park in Lakewood. The Ocean County Parks and Recreation Department is conducting an evening out to enjoy the company of county residents’ pet canines. Frisbee, obedience, agility demonstrations, and doggy games will be held.

All dogs must be vaccinated and on a leash.

The demonstrations will be conducted by area businesses. Music will be provided by WOBM radio. The event will run rain or shine and will be held from 6 to 8. There is no charge for this event.

More than 30 vendors will be available for information, displays, shopping, and food. For additional information call toll free 1-877-OCPARKS.

This year, Kimball Medical Center celebrates its 100^th year of providing medical services to residents of Ocean County.

Named after local physician Dr. Paul Kimball, Paul Kimball Hospital, as it was originally known, was built by the Lakewood community to aid the sick close to home and to contain contagious diseases. It opened its doors on May 1st, 1913.

During the first year in operation, this first and only hospital within Ocean County admitted 259 patients. Over time, the 16-bed community hospital was in need of expansion.

In 1923, Kimball added an additional 40 patient beds, a new dining room, and an operating suite. Soon after, the American College of Surgeons awarded Paul Kimball Hospital with a Class “A” designation.

In the early 1930s, with the Great Depression roiling through American society, budgetary shortfalls nearly shuttered the institution, but advertising campaigns and citizen-fueled fundraising helped save it.

Later in that decade, the hospital took in some of the casualties related to the Hindenburg airship inferno and crash at Naval Air Station Lakehurst.

In the economic boom that followed the end of World War II, Paul Kimball Hospital grew and advanced along with medical technologies and techniques that carried it through the remainder of the 20th century.

Today, Kimball Medical Center is a 350-bed, fully accredited, acute care hospital providing medical and healthcare services to the residents of Ocean County and southern Monmouth County.

On May 1^st, the hospital hosted a Centennial Celebration with community leaders, including Lakewood Mayor Albert Akerman. The Lakewood High School marching band performed and a time capsule, to be opened in 100 years, was on display.

by Erik Weber

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP – It may have been several decades since they put down their social studies notebooks and picked up their badges, but for five of the seven current police chiefs serving in Ocean County, coming back to the halls of Central Regional High School here to reminisce about their early years in front of  the cameras of contemporary television students was a bit like coming home again.

The five – Toms River Chief Michael G. Mastronardy, Class of 1971; Tuckerton Chief Michael Caputo, Class of 1976; Ocean Gate Chief Reece J. Fisher, Class of 1985; Pine Beach Chief John M. Sgro, Class of 1987; and Berkeley Chief Karin T. DiMichele, nee Kane, Class of 1989 – arrived one by one to the parking lot of the school, once just a grass field when they all had attended, and entered a main entrance facing Forest Hills Parkway that was built years after they graduated. After photo opportunities and initial video interviews conducted by student Avery Jackson in another newer hallway honoring successful alumni, the five walked through an older part of the school – trading old stories as they passed the rows of lockers – and entered the current location of the student television studio, which once held Industrial Arts classes.

The two other Central Regional graduates currently serving as police chiefs – Seaside Heights Chief Thomas Boyd and Seaside Park Chief Francis Larkin – were unable to attend. Lt. Kevin C. Arnold, head of the Island Heights Police Department but not yet formally promoted to chief, is also an alumni.

Settling into a row of chairs before bright lights and a group of digital videocameras, the five opened up to student and host Angela Roberts for the station’s Community Spotlight program about their reaction to the changes around the school, how they learned they had all graduated from the same school, what they remembered most about their time here, and what they could offer as advice for contemporary students.

“So, pulling up into the parking lot and walking through those same hallways again, what felt different?” asked Ms. Roberts. “What has changed since how you remember it?”

Read More of this Story: http://issuu.com/oceansignal/docs/20130524_ocean_signal/7

The team, consisting of  Emily Golembiski of Little Egg Harbor, Jillian Hubbard of Toms River, Gillian Schriever of West Creek, Michael Signorelli of Toms River and Megan Tumpey of  Brick, will represent New Jersey in the 2013 North American Envirothon at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana in August.

The Ocean County students competed against 33 other teams on knowledge of natural resources-related topics, including soils, forestry, aquatics, wildlife ecology and a current environmental issue. This year’s theme was “Sustainable Rangeland Management: Achieving a Balance Between Traditional Agricultural Uses with Non-Agricultural Uses on Montana Rangelands.”

“For 20 years, New Jersey high school students have had the opportunity to participate in this valuable competition and learn more about the environment, natural resources and science,” said Secretary Fisher. “We hope they take advantage of the skills they learned and consider careers in agriculture and natural resources-related fields.”

Each of the MATES team members received $1,000 scholarships from the New Jersey Association of Conservation Districts, $2,000 scholarships from Richard Stockton State College and $1,000 scholarships from Applied and Health Sciences at Kean University.

Two 5-member teams of MATES students competed in last year’s Envirothon with all but one of those students graduating. The two MATES teams placed first and second in 2012. An almost entirely new set of 10 students made up this year’s two teams.

“I am very proud of the hard work and dedication put forth by our members,” said MATES Advisor Adam Sprague.  “It was quite an accomplishment considering it was the first year competing for nine out of the 10 team members. We now turn our attention to Montana which offers an exciting variety of challenges in terms of preparation for our students.”

The second-place team in this year’s Envirothon was West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North and third place was taken by High Tech High School, North Bergen.

The Envirothon is sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, State Soil Conservation Committee; New Jersey Association of Conservation Districts; the 15 Soil Conservation Districts; United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; and Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

The 15 Soil Conservation Districts in New Jersey follow county boundaries and implement the New Jersey Soil and Sediment Control Act, which governs certain aspects of new development.  These semi-autonomous bodies are locally governed and play a strong role in the protection of New Jersey’s natural resources.

“As part of our annual overlay program, we will be starting work shortly on safety improvements including stormwater drainage work, new paving and reconstruction on several roads throughout Ocean County,” said Ocean County Freeholder Director John P. Kelly, Director of Law and Public Safety. “All totaled we will be repairing more than 13 miles of roadway starting in the next few weeks.”

The Board of Freeholders is scheduled to award a contract to Earle Asphalt Company, Farmingdale, in the amount of $2 million to reconstruct portions of seven roadways.

“This work will get under way in the next few weeks and while there may be some inconvenience to motorists during the work surely the completed repairs will make for better and safer traveling around OceanCounty,” said Freeholder Deputy Director James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Road Department.

The roadways to be improved under the contract are 1.05 miles of Herbertsville Road in Brick Township from the Monmouth County line to Lanes Mills Road; 1.24 miles of Farraday Avenue in Lakewood; one mile of Long Beach Boulevard from 31^st to 59^th street in Long Beach Township; almost one mile of James Street, from Main Street to Hooper Avenue in Toms River; 6/10ths of a mile of Massachusetts Avenue, from Cox Cro Road to Route 70 in Toms River; 1.12 miles of Vermont Avenue, in Toms River, from Cox Cro Road to the Lakewood border and Buckwald Drive at Ocean County College in Toms River.

In addition, the Board is scheduled to go out to bid to provide safety improvements to four additional roads with work expected to begin in July.

Those roads include 2.16 miles of Church Road in Toms River, from Hooper Avenue to North Bay Avenue; 1.39 miles of Lanes Mills Road in Lakewood and Brick Townships, from Route 88 to limits of Garden State Parkway Interchange 91; 1.11 miles of Lighthouse Drive in Ocean Township from Route 9 east to Barnegat Bay and 2.34 miles of West Bay Avenue in Barnegat Township from Pine Street to Route 72.

“We maintain more than 620 county road miles so it is imperative we have a program in place to maintain our infrastructure,” said Kelly, who serves as liaison for the Ocean County Engineering Department. “Each year we perform improvements to a number of roadways. Well maintained roads certainly are safer for our motorists and pedestrians.”

LAKEWOOD–On Friday night, Philadelphia Phillies’  first baseman Ryan Howard hit a home run at the request of a blind 9 year old named AJ.    It was the slugger’s 5th home run of the season for the major league club, but at this point in the first half of the season in the single-A South Atlantic League, Howard’s magic probably wouldn’t be powerful enough to turn his former team’s season around.

East of Philadelphia, about an hour and a half drive down Route 70, the BlueClaws lost their 18th game of the season, a 6-0 shutout by the Charleston Riverdogs, a New York Yankees affiliate, ensuring their sole possession of the bottom of the SAL Northern Division.   On Saturday, the BlueClaws came back out on the field with more of the same, with an 8-0 loss to the Lexington Legends (KC).

The BlueClaws have not scored a run since the fourth inning on Thursday night against Charleston, a span of 22 innings.

The BlueClaws are now 9-19 in the first half of the season.

The team is lacking offensive power this season with a team batting average of .236 and just 8 home runs and 91 rbi through 28 games.  While they are average 3.25 runs per game,  their pitching staff has given up 167 runs, nearly doubling the BlueClaws run output.  The team also boasts the highest team ERA in the league at 5.20.

Photo courtesy of the Lakewood Scoop.

TOMS RIVER–Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato today announced the sentencing of Jaime Gonzalez, 43, of Lakewood for the 2009 shooting of Lakewood Police Officers. The Honorable Francis R. Hodgson, Jr., J.S.C. sentenced Gonzalez to 45 years, with no chance of parole until 29 ½ years of his sentence is served. The case investigated by the Lakewood Police Department, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, and Federal Department of ATF was prosecuted by Ocean County Executive Assistant Prosecutor Michel A. Paulhus. “Today’s sentencing rids society of a truly callous individual. Who in his actions, showed no regard for the lives of the Lakewood Offices,” said Prosecutor Coronato. “I commend these dedicated officers for their heroic response under fire and their selfless service to the citizens of Ocean County”

The case dates back to September 24, 2009, when shortly after 2:00 a.m., the Lakewood Police Department Entry Team executed a court-authorized no-knock search warrant of defendant Jaime Gonzalez’s residence at 1154 Mackenzie Court, Lakewood, New Jersey.

The search warrant was obtained because Gonzalez was the subject of an investigation involving his sale of illegal controlled dangerous substances. The entry team consisted of Lakewood Township Police Officers: Leroy Marshall, Leonard Nieves, Sr., John Wilson, Robert Lopez, Jason Diffoot, Sergeant Louis Sasso, Sergeant Glenn Clayton, Robert Desimone, Eric Mench, Leonard Nieves, Jr., and Lieutenant Greg Myer. When Gonzalez heard the sound of the entry team’s battering ram, he pulled a stolen five-shot 357 caliber revolver from his waistband, opened fire, and emptied it in the direction of the officers.

In response, members of the team fired back. A firefight between Gonzalez and the police ensued, during which time officers were yelling, “Police, police, stop shooting, put down the gun.” When the shooting ended Gonzalez was taken into custody, but his actions resulted in Lieutenant Myer suffering a bullet wound to his foot, Sergeant Sasso being struck by a bullet in his upper chest, which was fortunately stopped his bullet proof vest, and a not so fortunate Officer Wilson suffering a bullet wound to the head resulting in permanent loss of vision in his left eye.

On February 15, 2013, an Ocean County Jury found Gonzalez guilty of the following: Aggravated Assault by Attempting to Cause Bodily Injury to Leroy Marshall; Attempted Murder of Leonard Nieves, Sr.; Attempted Murder of John Wilson; Aggravated Assault by Causing Bodily Injury to John Wilson; Attempted Murder of Robert Lopez; Aggravated Assault by Attempting to Cause Bodily Injury to Robert Lopez; Attempted Murder of Jason Diffoot; Aggravated Assault by Attempting to Cause Bodily Injury to Jason Diffoot; Attempted Murder of Louis Sasso; Aggravated Assault by Causing Bodily Injury to Louis Sasso; Aggravated Assault by Causing Bodily Injury to Glenn Clayton; Aggravated Assault by Attempting to Cause Bodily Injury to Robert DeSimone; Attempted Murder of Erick Menck; Aggravated Assault by Attempting to Cause Bodily Injury to Erick Menck; Aggravated Assault by Attempting to Cause Bodily Injury to Greg Myer; Aggravated Assault by Pointing a Firearm at John Wilson, Robert Lopez, Louis Sasso, Glenn Clayton and Greg Myer; Fortifying 1154 Mackenzie Court for the Purpose of Illegal Drug Activity; Possessing a Firearm While Engaged in Certain Drug Activity; Possession of a Firearm for an Unlawful Purpose; Receiving Stolen Property; Possession of 5 Ounces or More of Cocaine with Intent to Distribute; Possession of Cocaine; Possession of 3-4 Methylenedioxymethamphetamine; Possession of Alprazolam; Possession of 50 Grams or More of Marijuana; Possession With Intent to Distribute 1 Ounce or More, But Less Than 5 Pounds of Marijuana; and Possession of a Prohibited Weapon.

Memorial’s Spencer Young hit a base hit in the bottom of the 7th inning with no outs to score Kyle Johnson with the walk off game winning run. Johnson led the inning off with a walk, Ed Guippone then moved Johnson to second with a  sacrifice bunt.  Catcher, Matt Thaiss was intentionally walked to set the stage for Young’s heroics.

Young finished the game 3-4 with a double, 2 singles and 2 RBI. Jordan Burst was 2-3 with 2 runs scored, including the game tying run on a passed ball that he scored all the way from second base with 2 outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Young started the game on the mound throwing for 3 innings and 4 Memorial pitchers combined for a 6 hitter with no earned runs. Anthony Rocco picked up the win by throwing a 1-2-3 top of the 7th.