Asbury Park Press
Housing at local inn available
TOMS RIVER -- A Red Bank-based group that provides supportive housing for the homeless has purchased a Toms River motel for $7 million to serve as emergency housing where people can also bring along their pets. HABcore Inc. announced it bought the...
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Towns tear into plan for Route 35 traffic
LAVALLETTE – An overflow crowd spilled out of the meeting room at town hall, crowding into the hallway, to let state officials know that they strongly oppose a proposal to allow two-way traffic on both sides of Route 35 here. And the idea of having...
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Seeking inner peace
Bhante Nipako grew up in a Roman Catholic family, but the faith never truly resonated with him. He was a troubled child who suffered from depression, he recalled. Although he searched for relief, traditional avenues such as therapy, medication and...
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Corruption saga ends
The “dazzling” Nadine Arslanian Menendez, who once wowed her future husband, then-Sen. Bob Menendez, at an IHOP, is now behind bars – the final chapter of a story that began three years ago with the indictment of the couple and three New Jersey...
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New leadership comes to Interfaith Neighbors
In addition, the organization’s co-executive director is also stepping down. Interfaith Neighbors announced the planned transition on July 9. After 28 years, Paul McEvily is stepping down from his position as Executive Director of Interfaith...
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Getting her wings
BERKELEY – Dr. Robert Newman — member, technical counselor and former president of Ocean County’s Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 898 — has contributed to building over 12 airplanes throughout his lifetime. His most recent feat, however,...
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Homes and heritage submerged for Round Valley Reservoir
Round Valley Reservoir was formed in 1960. Now part of the New Jersey Park System, it is used for recreational uses such as boating, fishing, swimming, camping and diving. Out of 22 reservoirs in New Jersey, Round Valley is considered one of the two...
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Training in Howell
HOWELL – Right off Route 9 in Howell, a newlyopened fitness space allows children to live out their “American Ninja Warrior” dreams, channeling their energy into jumping and climbing in lieu of staring at their screens. USA Ninja Challenge, an...
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Climate ‘fingerprint’ seen in heat wave
Early July brought historic extreme weather for the fourth year in a row, and scientists again see the “fingerprint” of climate change in a deadly Fourth of July. In 2023, it was a record-smashing heat wave. In 2024, history-making Hurricane Beryl...
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Storms and record heat disrupting commutes
The list of commuting problems for NJ Transit customers was relentless for the past week. NJ Transit commuters are accustomed to summers of hell because of aging, failing infrastructure, but the past week was particularly bad because of the...
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FLOODS SWAMP JERSEY SHORE
Floodwaters inundated parts of the Jersey Shore on Monday, as a sudden, heavy rainstorm stranded motorists on waterlogged streets, leaked through doorways and in the most dramatic incident, collapsed part of the roof at BJ’s Wholesale Club on Route 35...
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Brick mom feels love, needs help
For 14 months, Owen Clancy fought to live as he awaited a heart transplant at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The Brick 6-year-old finally received one June 10, but he never got to make that long-awaited trip home. Owen died of an infection June...
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‘Jersey guy’ to lead Naval Weapons Station Earle
COLTS NECK – There’s a new commanding officer at Naval Weapons Station Earle and he’s a Jersey guy. At a few minutes before 10 a.m., on a sweltering Thursday morning, Capt. Brian A. Forster read his official orders to assume command of the naval base...
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A ‘war of words’ just off the coast of Jersey Shore
Captain Frank C. Boyer was almost back in New York with a cargo of raw sugar from Fajardo, Puerto Rico, aboard the steam freighter Lillian, when a dense fog enveloped the area. On Feb. 27, 1939, this large (327’ long x 46’ wide x 25.5 in depth) ship...
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Nature has better solutions to algae
When the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool turned green with algae just days after a $15 million renovation, the U.S. government scrambled for chemicals and expensive technical solutions to fix the iconic landmark. Trying to kill algae with chemicals...
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WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
On June 9, 1779, a raiding party of British volunteers left Sandy Hook and traveled 10 miles inland, as far as “Tenton Falls,” stealing 300 rebel sheep and horses, before the “rebels” organized and gave chase. Such was the account from the June 15,...
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The Intelligencers
It was July 1781, and Gen. George Washington had a dilemma. With Britain now at war with France and Spain, British support back home for the war against the colonies was ebbing. Washington knew that a decisive victory by his forces could bring an end...
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Marlboro board denies mosque application
MARLBORO – The township zoning board unanimously denied a proposal to build a mosque at 449 Tennent Road on Tuesday, June 23. The decision immediately drew rebuke from the developer’s attorneys, who said the process contained “an atmosphere of...
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Affordable homes needed
With home prices continuing to surge beyond the paychecks of the middle class, Trenton lawmakers are rolling out dozens of proposals to clear the way to build homes in abandoned office parks and malls, on state land and even in backyards. The ideas...
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HISTORY VS. WAREHOUSES
CHESTERFIELD – On June 23, 1778, the British army under General Henry Clinton was marching from its evacuation of Philadelphia to the Redcoats’ stronghold at Sandy Hook when Patriot forces attacked. Three American cannonballs were fired at the...
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The Lena M. Cottingham just could not be saved
Built in Seaford, Delaware, in 1875, the Schooner Lena M. Cottingham grounded 1 ½ miles south/southwest of the Harvey Cedars Life Saving Station. She was on her way from Suffolk, Virgina, her departure port, to her home port of New York full of wood....
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Making a statement
ASBURY PARK – Since 1999, Georgies on Fifth Avenue has been a classic neighborhood dive affectionately known as “the gay Cheers.” It has always been a safe and welcoming place for everyone, especially members of the LGBTQ+ community. The bar is...
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A LOOK AT LIFE IN 1776
The Jersey Shore in 1776 was a markedly different world than the Shore we know today. It wasn’t just that a war was taking place right outside their front door. Or that their neighbor — if they were on the opposite side politically — might raid their...
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Netflix soundstages reach new milestone
OCEANPORT — Like four tall gray elephants, the first four of Netflix’s 12 sound studios at Fort Monmouth now stand in the heart of the former U.S. Army base. General contractor JT Magen stayed on schedule despite one of the worst winters in recent...
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New leadership, new culture
ASBURY PARK - Now that Rev. Jason Jennings of the Rebirth Church is the new executive director of the Asbury Park Housing Authority, there is hope that the city might break ground on the long-awaited new Lincoln Village later this year. Jennings...
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History comes alive at park
MANALAPAN – It was a hot Saturday for the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Monmouth, but not quite as hot as the sweltering 100-degree heat the American and British soldiers faced on June 28, 1778, the historic date of the battle. This year marks...
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Vance: Talks coming
Vice President JD Vance said on June 20 that he expected to go to Switzerland soon for talks with Iran, even as Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the Strait of Hormuz closed, alleging U.S. and Israeli truce violations. The move by the...
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NJ was home to many lighthouses lost to history
If you are a maritime history buff, you know that slowly but surely our state’s lighthouses and Life Saving Stations are disappearing. How and why are frequently asked questions. The first thing to remember is that these structures were built by the...
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No apologies from LGBTQ+ leader
ASBURY PARK – An unapologetic 35-year-old Black woman with facial hair is showing up to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights across New Jersey. Brielle Winslow-Majette, the acting executive director of Garden State Equality, a statewide advocacy organization...
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‘SAY OUR NAMES’
ALLENTOWN – For many, Black history is the stories that their grandparents, parents, uncles, aunties and church communities tell. It’s stories of war, families and overcoming hardship. But with each generation, memories fade. The names of those who...
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Fans share their love of soccer
EAST RUTHERFORD – “Africa in the house!” shouted Chioma Anyanwu, as she headed toward MetLife Stadium before Senegal faced France in the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 16. Though Anyanwu is from Nigeria, she was firmly on the side of Senegal, because,...
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ICE stop prompts online firestorm
STAFFORD – A violent confrontation during an ICE operation on Route 72 has triggered a heated online debate over immigration enforcement, the constitutionality of sanctuary state policies, and the fraying solidarity between local and federal law...
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THE NATIVE AMERICAN ROOTS of the SHORE
bout 100 feet deep into the green marshlands, where Tuckerton Creek empties into Tuckerton Bay on the east and the Great Bay to the southwest, is one of the largest Native American archeological sites on the East Coast. The site is a centuries-old...
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Farm
staffed, and every animal will remain fed, cared for and looked after, every single day. Nothing about that changes. The property will also continue to be maintained in the best interest of the animals.” He wrote that the improvements had focused on...
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Charter fishing boats have seen change over the years
New Jersey charter fishing boats were once a thing of beauty. With a sail or two billowing and a few lines hanging off wide transoms of these catboat and schooner classics, fish were caught in bays such as Delaware Bay, Great Egg Harbor, Great Bay,...
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Red Bank restaurant owner seized by ICE
On the morning of June 4, Lisa Atenco finished up breakfast and exited her Freehold Borough home to join her husband, Silvano Atenco Primor, as he packed their car with supplies for their workday at Harvest Moon Hut, the take-out restaurant they own...
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Pride, once filled with joy, changes
Montclair’s Pride festival, kneecapped by a $100,000 loss of corporate funds, has had to be postponed from June 13 to Aug. 1, organizers have announced. Princeton’s Pride Parade will go on June 13 — but with the loss of 60% to 75% of its corporate...
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Boss dedicates new music center
A ribbon was cut and a few tears were shed, too. Bruce Springsteen shared a heartfelt remembrance of his parents, and professed his love for wife Patti Scialfa, at the Saturday, June 6 dedication of the new Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music...
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Edison man guilty of woman’s murder
FREEHOLD – A Monmouth County jury on June 5 found a 32-year-old Edison man guilty of the murder of his ex-girlfriend, whose badly battered and maimed body was found stuffed in garbage bags in the back seat of a car in Atlantic Highlands in 2022. The...
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If it’s local you want, we’ve got it.
Our Sunday refresh offers more local news and sports, as well as “Weekend Exclusive” content to help you navigate your lives. So enjoy your Sunday reading filled with stories that will inspire, educate, inform and entertain you.
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Monmouth County unveils its USA 250 monument
MIDDLETOWN – Two hundred and fifty years ago, Monmouth County was a dangerous, fractured borderland caught between the British military headquarters in New York and the American capital in Philadelphia. On Thursday, June 4, 2026, against the scenic...
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Murder suspect: ‘Wife’ admitted to infidelity
FREEHOLD – Jordan Vilcatoma-Correjo said he couldn’t understand why Sonia Gonzales, his girlfriend of six years, had moved out on him. He showed up at her gym in the early morning of June 10, 2022, hoping to talk to her and share a “special moment,”...
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9 Ocean County eateries cited for health violations
Nine restaurants, cafes and other food establishments were dinged for health violations in Ocean County since April. After an inspection, food establishments would receive either a satisfactory rating, a conditionally satisfactory rating or an...
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Pluckemin’s place in history
The United States Military Academy at West Point is widely known as the nation’s premier military academy and is often described as its first. But is it? More than two decades before West Point’s founding in 1802, Gen. Henry Knox established what some...
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NEWARK UNREST SPURS CURFEW
Newark enacted a mandatory curfew for the halfmile surrounding the federal immigration detention center Delaney Hall starting Sunday, May 31, at midnight, after a night of unrest when three people were arrested. The curfew will remain in effect from 9...
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CHECKS IN THE MAIL?
Companies began receiving their refunds in May from President Donald Trump’s now-invalid tariffs – but consumers should not expect to see any of the money return to their own pockets right away, if ever. The refunds stem from the tariffs Trump imposed...
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The ways of Joe Mulliner: an outlaw or a Robin Hood?
Who was Joe Mulliner? A Tory outlaw? A Robin Hood-type of robber who stole from the rich and gave to the poor? And his grave? I have seen a few different markers over the years in the Pleasant Mills and Sweetwater areas. Doubt any were real, just...
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Driven by a smile
Carissa Schwartzberg couldn’t use her arms or legs, couldn’t eat on her own, couldn’t talk. But she could smile. “She smiled all the time,” stepfather Jay BowmanTorres recalled. “The only time she wasn’t smiling, that’s when we knew she wasn’t...
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Husband accused in his wife’s death
OCEAN TOWNSHIP – A husband has been charged with murder, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Court records show that Michael A. Kless, 67, of Seward Drive, was charged with murder and multiple weapons offenses in Ocean Township on...
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THE LIMITS OF LOCKDOWNS
There have been 63 school shootings – meaning any time there is gunfire on a school campus – so far in 2026. They happen so often that preparing for one has become normal. Students as young as 4 years old routinely practice for the possibility of a...
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Kim pepper-sprayed outside Delaney Hall
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim was pepper-sprayed outside Delaney Hall on Monday afternoon, he told NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network by phone Monday evening after the incident. New Jersey’s junior senator was visiting the facility on May 25 in support of...
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FOLLOWthe FOOTSTEPS HISTORY of
America turns 250 this summer, and if you are standing in New Jersey, you are standing on the most contested soil of the War for Independence. Situated as a vital corridor between the British stronghold of New York City and the rebel capital in...
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Rural hospitals close in increasing numbers
Some Pennsylvania hospitals are being pushed beyond the brink of closure. Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park closed in April 2025, Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland closed in May 2025, and Heritage Valley Kennedy Hospital, formerly the Ohio Valley...
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Summer of celebrations starts on somber note
Memorial Day weekend has arrived, and after the kind of winter we experienced I couldn’t be happier to mark the unofficial start of summer in New Jersey. Snow, cold, rainy weekends. I can’t be the only one looking forward to warmer weather, bright...
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What makes a good summer at Shore?
Betty’s Icebox in Convention Hall in Asbury Park has emerged from a frigid, snowy winter, ready to make up for lost ground thanks to what’s anticipated to be tens of thousands of visitors heading for the beach and the boardwalk this summer. But as...
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Brick vigil honors ‘just a chill kid’
BRICK – Amid rain and occasional flashes of lightning, hundreds of people attended a vigil Wednesday night for a ninth-grader who was killed in a hit-andrun crash the day before. Jackson Daniel Mueller, 15, a freshman at Brick Memorial High School,...
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Summer travel reconsidered
On a quick trip to Florida recently for a family matter, Donna Skettini of Butler and her husband opted to go the cheaper route. They drove the entire distance and took a lower-price hotel. “As long as they’re clean, I’m good,” she said of the hotel....
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4 LIFE SENTENCES
FREEHOLD – As his victims’ survivors called him a “monster” and “Satan,” Paul Caneiro sat stone-faced and remained silent before he was sentenced May 19 to four life terms with no possibility for parole for murdering his brother, sister-in-law and the...
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Goats put to work
SEA GIRT – A herd of goats are munching invasive species and nuisance plants near Wreck Pond, where the animals are tasked with eliminating poison ivy, Japanese knotweed and other plants so New Jersey native greens can thrive. This “targeted” goat...
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Judge: Kars4Kids ads are deceptive
Kars4Kids, the Lakewood-based car donation charity, has been found guilty of deception by a California judge and barred from running its popular jingle ads in that state for the foreseeable future. In addition, the court ordered Kars4Kids to reimburse...
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If it’s local you want, we’ve got it.
Our Sunday refresh offers more local news and sports, as well as “Weekend Exclusive” content to help you navigate your lives. So enjoy your Sunday reading filled with stories that will inspire, educate, inform and entertain you.
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Liquor license upsets ex-mayor
TOMS RIVER – Approved by the Planning Board without fanfare nearly two years ago, a sports complex under construction at Hooper Avenue and Fischer Boulevard has come under scrutiny recently because both a bar and shooting range will be located on the...
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Residents will get to voice concerns
MARLBORO – Residents will get a chance to voice their concerns about a controversial township proposal to build a mosque that has drawn large crowds with strong opinions at previous meetings. At one point in the meeting on Tuesday, May 12, the...
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A FAMILY AFFAIR
A few years back, Michael Simon was attending a church service with his family in Holmdel when an elderly woman in the congregation passed out. “You heard a thud,” Michael’s youngest son, Christian Simon, recalled. Michael, who is an internal...
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SURGING FUEL COSTS LIFT PRICES IN APRIL
Americans already struggling with affordability saw prices rise again in April as surging oil costs stemming from the Iran war kept driving up prices at the gas pump and affected supply chains for other goods. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer...
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NJ targets custom grocery pricing
With grocery prices creeping higher, proposed legislation moving through Trenton would keep food markets from setting or changing prices based on customers’ personal information. The proposed Fair Pricing Act looks to stop a practice called...
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Take a peek inside Springsteen Center
You won’t find Bruce Springsteen’s name in garish neon lights on the new Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University. The name, placed vertically, is almost hard to read at a distance on the new $50 million, 30,000-squarefoot...
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Find a hidden gem in Waretown
A surprise awaits anyone who drives through a Waretown residential area and ends up at a gravel road with an old metal gate. Follow from 7th Street and Navajo Drive to 140 Camp Lighthouse Road, drive slowly to the end, where a stunning view of...
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’25 shore tourism revenue hit $9.17B
TRENTON – Visitors and tourists to Monmouth and Ocean counties fueled the Jersey Shore economy in 2025, bringing $9.17 billion to restaurants, hotels and stores. More visitors came in 2025 and they spent more too, according to Tourism Economics, which...
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Keyport residents raise concerns over landfill
KEYPORT – A community is calling for answers after members raised concerns about a possible cancer cluster located near an old manufacturing site and landfill. They want to know: Is the Keyport Sanitary Landfill at the Aeromarine Industrial Park...
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Help in large doses
One day recently, staff members at the Ritesh Shah Charitable Pharmacy in Red Bank were discussing a client who had stopped picking up the refills of her heart medication. They wondered why. A volunteer at the pharmacy, a student at Brookdale...
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PAIN PUMP
The Iran war has been joined by a number of other factors – including the switch to a pricier summer gasoline formula – to send gas price to the highest level since 2022, and some analysts say that increases could continue well into the summer travel...
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Going to ‘the max’
From Mumbai to Monmouth County, a couple of Jersey Shore medical professionals got married and shut down Manhattan’s iconic Fifth Avenue with a ceremony that culminated at Radio City Music Hall. Pankti Doshi and Avish Jain, a proud South Asian power...
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Aid helps people put food on their tables
Millie Morales believes in hard work. “I feel that as an American citizen, we all have a great opportunity to be able to improve our life,” the 58-year-old woman explained in an interview I conducted with her in 2025. “Are you willing to put in the...
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If it’s local you want, we’ve got it.
Our Sunday refresh offers more local news and sports, as well as “Weekend Exclusive” content to help you navigate your lives. So enjoy your Sunday reading filled with stories that will inspire, educate, inform and entertain you.
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Return of a raider
MIDDLETOWN – You’re on a colonial-era farmstead in Monmouth County. Leaves are falling and a woodpile fire is burning in front of you. The sound of birdsong fills the air. There’s a rumble of thunder in the distance. The year is 1775, and you are a...
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