Hurricane Sandy

PICTURE: Light Traffic at Mantoloking Road Checkpoint

Access to the barrier island was announced late yesterday and traffic was light early today.

Contractors and residents were able to return to the barrier island on Thursday, Dec. 6, but traffic was light at the Mantoloking Road checkpoint at the foot of the Mantoloking Bridge in Brick.   A Brick Township police officer at the scene said the late afternoon announcement yesterday may have made scheduling contractors and other home repair crews difficult to do on such short notice today.  The officer said he expects the checkpoint tomorrow to be much busier. Brick Township residents and contractors are able to return to their homes south of the Mantoloking Bridge but have to be off the barrier island by 4 p.m.

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Suspect in Cop Death Charged With Murder

Jahmell Crockam, 19, is accused of killing a Lakewood officer who graduated from Howell High School and lived in Manchester.

Police have filed murder and weapons charges against the suspect in the Friday shooting death of a Lakewood police officer. Jahmell Crockam, 19, is accused of killing Chris Matlosz, a 27-year-old Lakewood police officer from Manchester who was a Howell High School alumnus, authorities said. The charges were announced at a Saturday afternoon press conference in Lakewood by Ocean County prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford. The charges were filed after a police investigation established probable cause, Ford said. Bail will be set at $5 million cash. Crockham goes by the street name of "Sav," short for savage, Ford said. He's considered dangerous and should not be approached. "What was a routine stop suddenly turned deadly," she said. "That …

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Shoreview

The Slow, Sad Song of Snow

Is this the best time of year?

Is the snow season really the happiest season of all? "Sara C." said she didn't get a Brick plow until 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. The snow fell on Sunday. Her husband missed three days of work because he was too busy clearing it all out. "What do we pay taxes for?" she wrote. "No one cares about the people who live behind the 7-Eleven off of Chambersbridge Road in Brick." "Kelly," another Brick resident, said she had to walk through four feet of snow drifts to be picked up for work on Midstreams Road. "I saw a plow on the next street over on a plowed road - I begged him to go one street over and plow my road," she said. Did it work? "His plow would not be able to move the snow since it's so high!!!!!!" And it's not just in Brick, where a litany …

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Catherine Galioto

2:16 am on Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Hi Kevin, definitely check out our video and photos from that very intersection among the storm coverage on Toms River Patch. Some stories to check out are here: http://patch.com/A-cS2K | http://patch.com/A-cPlw | http://patch.com/A-cNQH The last one in particular has some great shots of Route 37 and Vaughn.   more ›

Ocean County Judge Halts Prayer in Point Beach

ACLU Says Order Shows Government Cannot Show Religious Preference

An Ocean County judge ordered Point Pleasant Beach officials on Friday to stop holding prayer at municipal council meetings, according to an ACLU press release. The American Civil Liberties Union's New Jersey chapter said the judge's order "clearly violated the New Jersey constitution, which obligates the government to not show a preference for one religion over another." "We support the right of government officials to pray on their own time, but when they act as the voice of government, they cannot promote their own religious beliefs," said Jeanne LoCicero, ACLU-NJ Deputy Legal Director, who argued the motion. The policy allowed its municipal council members to lead meetings with prayers that reflect their personal religious beliefs, …

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Parkway Interchange 83 Slated for Changes

Officials to take public comment on plans in session Tuesday.

The Garden State Parkway near interchange 83 could change to include new shoulder and travel lane configurations, and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority is holding a public comment session Tuesday to find out what drivers think. The turnpike authority will hold a Public Information Center on Dec. 14 in Brick to take comments and answer questions about its plan to restore and improve the shoulders on the Garden State Parkway between mileposts 83 and 100.  The project is currently in final design with construction expected to begin in 2012. The event, which is open to the public, will run from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 14, at the Brick Township Municipal Building, 401 Chambers Bridge Rd. The project team will be on hand to answer …

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Shoreview

Shoreview: A Brick Story

It's Good to Be Back in Brick Township

Beyond the tree-lined roads and horse farms, and far away from the traffic that routinely packed the Laurelton Circle, my father made his living, one day at a time. It wasn't always easy getting out of bed at 5 a.m. every day, for 20 years, and facing a few hundred chatty kids who packed the small classrooms of the aging Herbertsville Elementary School. Stan Davis was a teacher, then principal of a school that was so crowded, there wasn't enough room for an all-purpose room. Gym class and lunch were always held in the classrooms, right at the students' desks. But my father got up every day, anyway, for 20 years, and he didn't really ever want to let go of the old-fashioned simplicity that long defined the Herbertsville section of Brick. "…

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