Despite the governor’s statements that “every boardwalk up and down the Jersey Shore” would be open in time for this weekend, at least several inland boardwalk areas, including Ocean Gate and the marina boardwalk section in Beachwood, both on the Toms River, remained under partial reconstruction at press time.

Area officials describe difficulties following Hurricane Sandy

POINT PLEASANT—“The future of the Republican Party is in this room,” said New Jersey Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno to a gathering of New Jersey Young Republicans at the Whites Sands Hotel here on May 18^th for the annual New Jersey Young Republicans Convention.

It was the first time the group has hosted their annual conference at the Jersey Shore and the theme of the meeting was governing during a crisis and recovery. It was the first time the annual convention was held in Ocean County in nearly twenty years.

In addition to Lt. Governor Guadagno the Young Republicans were joined by Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher, Brick Township Mayor Steve Acropolis, Point Pleasant Beach Councilman Stephen Reid and Stafford Township Council President Henry Mancini.

The delegates at the conference were given face time with a panel of Ocean County’s mayors and municipal council members who shared their recent experiences with governing during and after Hurricane Sandy to the group.

Mayor Acropolis, when asked by the young republicans what was one of the biggest challenges he faced as Mayor in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, he replied, “Trying to get people back in their homes. The biggest problem is that once our town once took federal dollars, it seems like we’re no longer in charge of our town. The federal government came in and put in regulations and requirements.”

The Brick mayor has been an outspoken opponent to the way federal agencies performed during and after the storm.

On a more political note, Acropolis gave advice to those in the audience with future political aspirations. “If you have any interest in getting into politics or running for elected office, start now, don’t start two years before your election,” he said. “Just lead a good life because you can’t build your resume two years before you run for office. Be a good citizen, so when you decide to run, you already have your resume.”
 

by Kathleen Koch and Phil Stilton

SEASIDE HEIGHTS – What do three Democrats from the “Deep South” have in common with a Republican mayor from the Jersey Shore? They all know what it’s like to have a hurricane devastate their communities, and on Friday, May 17th, they all came together in here.

Seaside Heights Mayor Bill Akers hosted the delegation from Mississippi who came to meet with local mayors and officials and discuss the long term effects of Hurricane Katrina on their cities, including former United States Congressman Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), Mayor Brent Warr (D-Gulfport, Miss.) and Mayor Eddie Favre (D-Bay St. Louis, Miss.). All were elected officials when Hurricane Katrina struck their state in 2005.

Rep. Taylor, who lost his home in that Category 3 storm, tried to introduce legislation to reform the insurance industry to give homeowners more security after national disasters, but his bill never made it to the Senate floor for vote. The divide was between congressmen who represented coastal communities and those who did not. With Taylor’s 2010 election loss, supporters of reform were certain the legislation would die without his support, and it did. Today, New Jersey towns face the same insurance and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) problems his state was confronted with eight years earlier.

Seven weeks before Hurricane Katrina made landfall…Continue Reading

FREEHOLD–A Manchester Township man is charged with the Robbery and Felony Murder of a Point Pleasant man found in the backyard of a Long Branch home, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Alan Bienkowski, 54, of Pinecrest Manor, Manchester Township, is charged with first degree Felony Murder, first degree Robbery, second degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon and second degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose in connection with the April 10, 2013 death of Michael Wells, 56, of Point Pleasant.

Mr. Wells, an employee of Dutch Prime Foods on West Avenue in Long Branch, was the focus of a missing person investigation that same day. At approximately 5 a.m. a co-worker reported him missing when some of his personal effects were found at the work location but Mr. Wells was not there. Wells was later found dead from a gunshot wound after Long Branch police responded to an 8 a.m. call reporting a man lying on the ground in the backyard of a nearby Cleveland Avenue home.

An investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes and Forensic and Technical Services Bureaus and the Long Branch Police Department revealed Mr. Wells arrived at Dutch Prime Foods for work around 4:30 a.m. on April 10, where he was confronted and robbed at gun-point by Bienkowski. During the course of the robbery Bienkowski shot and killed Mr. Wells.

If convicted of Murder, Bienkowski faces a sentence ranging from the minimum mandatory sentence of 30 years in state prison with a 30 year period of parole ineligibility to a potential maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. If convicted of Robbery, Bienkowski faces 10 to 20 years in state prison, subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA) which requires him to serve 85 percent of any sentence imposed for the commission of that crime.

If convicted of the weapons offenses, Bienkowski faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three to five years in prison, pursuant to the Graves Act, with a maximum sentence of ten years on each charge.

Bienkowski is currently being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $1,450,000 bail, cash only with no ten percent cash option, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen, J.S.C.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the whereabouts of Bienkowski around the date and time of the murder to contact the two lead detectives on the case, Det. Kevin Condon of the Prosecutor’s Office and Det. Brendan Cahill of the Long Branch Police Department. Det. Condon can be reached at 1-800-533-7443. Det. Cahill can be reached at 732-222-1000.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, the Manchester Police Department and the Jackson Township Police Department, all contributed to the investigation culminating in the arrest of Bienkowski.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.

This case is being prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Huth, director of the Major Crimes Bureau, and Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Bogner of the Major Crimes Bureau. No attorney has yet entered an appearance on behalf of Bienkowski

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.”

At the time, it was declared the world’s tallest. Not satisfied, in 2007, Jarrett broke his own record in Casco, Maine. Standing 31 feet, six inches tall, the Guinness World Record-holding structure was sculpted in an event known as the “Castle to the Sun” and designed to raise money for Camp Sunshine. Over a period of two months, more than 1,000 people volunteered to help build the castle, which required 40 dump truck loads of sand. In the spring of 2011, Ed Jarrett broke his own record at Winding Trails in Farmington, Connecticut. The project raised money for charity, with Save Walton Pond at Winding Trails and Special Olympics Connecticut as its marquee beneficiary.

Now, World Renowned Sculptor Ed Jarrett has joined with longtime college friend and New Jersey resident and business owner Alan Fumo to build the Sandy Castle on Jenkinson’s Beach in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. Stay tuned as we attempt to reach 50 feet tall, breaking Ed’s current world record with 100 percent of all proceeds and donations from admission directly going to provide “need based charitable assistance” to local residents and businesses struggling to recover from Superstorm Sandy. This fundraiser is unlike any other. We’ll need an estimated 5,000 volunteers to assist as the “Bucket Brigade” to fill and pack the sandcastle forms over a period of weeks – schools, businesses, clubs, social groups and organizations, this is your chance to get involved. Ed will then sculpt the sand by hand from the top down, revealing his vision and dedication to the Jersey Shore and its surrounding area affected by the fury of Sandy. Don’t miss out on a chance to be a part of this historic event! It’s time to get your feet back in the sand, so put on your flip flops and grab a bucket!

“Last week at Sandy Castle was incredible!  With the help of more than 200 volunteers, we completed the first level and added and filled the forms for the second level. We’re officially four feet up, well on our way to 50,” Jarrett said.  ”Special thanks to Antrim School, Bradley Beach Elementary School, Girl Scout Troop 181, Lanes Mills School, and dozens of individuals and family members!  This week, we welcome Ocean Road School, the Brick Girl Scout Troop, Lanes Mills School, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, and dozens more individuals and families.”

Visit http://jarrettscastle.com/ for more information and check out the next issue of the Ocean Signal for a full feature on Jarrett and his volunteers.

Missing Juvenile – Point Boro. Konnor F. Pratt has been entered missing by his mother. Konnor is a 17 YOWM, 5’11″, 170lbs. He has blue eyes, short sandy hair, and a goatee. There is no picture available yet. We will post one as soon as we get it. Konnor was last seen at his home in Point Boro. If you know where he is, or have seen him in the last few minutes, please call the Point Boro Police at 732-892-0060, the Barnegat Twp Police at 609-698-5000, or call 911.

In particular, the new School Performance Reports seek to:

• Focus attention on metrics that are indicative of college and career readiness.
• Benchmark a school’s performance against other peer schools that are educating similar students, against statewide outcomes, and against state targets to illuminate and build upon a school’s strengths and identify areas for improvement.
• Improve educational outcomes for students by providing both longitudinal and growth data so that progress can be measured as part of an individual school’s efforts to engage in continuous improvement.

TOMS RIVER REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

BEACHWOOD ELEM
CEDAR GROVE ELEM
EAST DOVER ELEM
HOOPER AVE ELEM
JOSEPH A CITTA ELEM
NORTH DOVER ELEM
PINE BEACH ELEM
SILVER BAY ELEMENTARY
SOUTH TOMS RIVER ELEM
TOMS RIVER HIGH EAST
TOMS RIVER HIGH NORTH
TOMS RIVER HIGH SOUTH
TOMS RIVER INTERMEDIATE E
TOMS RIVER INTERMEDIATE N
TOMS RIVER INTERMEDIATE S
WALNUT STREET ELEM
WASHINGTON ST ELEM
WEST DOVER ELEM

JACKSON TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT

CARL W GOETZ MIDDLE SCH
CHRISTA MCAULIFFE MID SCH
CRAWFORD RODRIGUEZ ELEM
ELMS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
HOWARD C JOHNSON ELEM
JACKSON LIBERTY HIGH
JACKSON MEMORIAL HIGH
LUCY N HOLMAN ELEM
SWITLIK ELEM
SYLVIA ROSENAUER ELEM

BRICK TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT

BRICK COMM PRIM LEARN CTR
BRICK TWP HIGH
BRICK TWP MEMORIAL HIGH
DRUM POINT ROAD ELEM
EMMA HAVENS YOUNG ELEM
HERBERTSVILLE ELEM
LAKE RIVIERA MIDDLE
LANES MILL ELEM
MIDSTREAMS ELEM
OSBORNVILLE ELEM
VETERANS MEM ELEM
VETERANS MEM MIDDLE SCH

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT

BAYVILLE ELEM
BERKELEY TOWNSHIP ES
CLARA B WORTH ELEM
H & M POTTER ELEM

CENTRAL REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

CENTRAL REGIONAL HIGH
CENTRAL REGIONAL MIDDLE

LAKEWOOD–The Lakewood Piners defeated Manasquan 62-49 to win the Central Jersey Group II title.

Photo by www.thelakewoodscoop.com