The BERKELEY Times Vol. 28 - No. 36
In This Week’s Edition
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SADNESS AND ANGER AT VIGIL HELD FOR ADRIANA KUCH
February 18, 2023
Superintendent Apologizes, Resigns
BREAKING NEWS @
─Photo courtesy OC Scanner News Students held several walk-outs in protest of how the district handles bullying.
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By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – Central Regional Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides apologized to the Kuch family and resigned from his position. “I want to apologize to the Kuch family. I can’t imagine what Mr. Kuch is going through,” he said in an interview w it h T he Be rk ele y Times.
Government Page 6
Community News Pages 9-16
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 14
Inside The Law Page 17
By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – A vigil in memory of Adriana Kuch was attended by dozens of people who want to make sure what happened to her never happens to anyone else. Adriana, 14, committed suicide after being attacked in school and then bullied on social media because her attackers shared the video of it online. (Adriana - See Page 4)
─Photo courtesy Kuch family and Chris Lundy (Top): Adriana Kuch passed away February 3. (Center): Loved ones burned candles in memory of Adriana.
Council Sees 6-Figure Costs For Public Records By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – The Tow n s h i p C o u n c i l again spoke about the cost of the Open Public Records Act to taxpayers. The township spent $112,602 on OPRA last year, and that doesn’t include the amount it paid to staff for them to respond to these requests instead of
doing other work for residents, Councilman John Bacchione said. “I’m not against the law. I’m not against giving the infor mation,” he said. What needs to change is that there is a cost to this that needs to be taken into account. He said New Jersey’s law was based on Florida’s law. In the years
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since it passed, there hasn’t been any changes made. The Open Public Records Act was made into law in 2001. The gist of it is that residents should have access to any public record. There is no charge for some of these records, because the State didn’t want there to be any hurdles for people
to get these records. However, if they want print outs or something physical, they have to pay for copies. One of the first statements in the act is “government records shall be readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination by the citizens of this State, with cer tain exceptions, for the protection
of the public interest…” However, townships like Berkeley have been seeing people abusing this free service. They contacted the state last year to try to get some changes made but have not heard back, Bacchione said. Other towns have also expressed concerns. Township clerks, who (Council - See Page 8)
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He said he’s lost his parents, and he’s lost friends to suicide, but he couldn’t begin to think about what it’s like to lose a child to suicide. “I wish him well. I pray for him ever y night. God gives us strength,” he said. “I want to let Central heal. There’s a lot of good people here. I want the (Resigns - See Page 8)
Local Mayors Demand More From Ciba Settlement
By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – The Ocean County Mayors’ Association said that a settlement between the state and the owners of the Ciba Geigy property doesn’t go far enough to help with the health, economic, or environmental impacts of the site. Toms River officials said that the current owner, BASF, escaped
from paying any monetary penalties because the State Department of Environmental Protection surrendered any claims for statutory natural resource damages. The mayors are asking for a number of concessions, including the creation of a depository at the Ocean County library system (hard (Ciba - See Page 10)
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