The HOWELL Times
Vol. 21 - No. 12
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
New Coast Guard Cutter Named For Local Hero
In This Week’s Edition
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Community News Pages 6-7
Inside The Law Page 10
Dear Pharmacist Page 11
Classifieds Page 13
Photo courtesy Sharon Patterson Bobbie Lou Saker, Sharon Patterson, Alan Patterson, Cindy Sculthorpe, Kaylin Sculthorpe, and Thomas Sculthorpe, descendants of John C. Patterson, stand before the Coast Guard cutter that bears his name following the ceremony. By Mark Bator HOWELL ˗ While many families have moved to the Monmouth and Ocean County areas because of their location and desirability, some families in the region stretch back for hundreds of years. But for one local
family, not only will an honored ancestor be remembered but his name will live on for future generations. The Patterson family can trace their roots back in their hometown of Howell for hundreds of years. The (Cutter - See Page 3)
New Bill Restores Courtesy Busing
By Alyssa Riccardi FREEHOLD – Governor Phil Murphy recently signed a bill that will restore “courtesy busing” to the Freehold Regional High School District. The district consists of more than 10,000 students in six high schools: Howell High School, Manalapan High School, Marlboro High School, Colts Neck High School, Freehold
Township High School, and Freehold High School. The new law, which is returning nearly $6.7 million in state school aid to the district, will bring back busing for high school students that live within a 2.5-mile radius from their schools. State law only requires schools to provide free buses for high school students who live 2.5 miles or more away from school.
Back in April, Freehold Regional Board of Education adopted the 2023-2024 school year budget which involved cutting courtesy busing in order to save $3.5 million. This was a result of a decrease in state aid, going from $30.5 million to $23.7 million. The cut affected about 3,000 students in the district who lived in that 2.5-mile radius. “This was not an easy budget
to design due to the continued devastation we face through the Senate Bill 2 (S-2) funding cuts… We did not make this decision lightly. The financial situation that S-2 has caused the Freehold Regional High School District to enter a phase where there are no easy decisions on what to cut or reduce,” Freehold Regional (Busing - See Page 5)
August 26, 2023
Federal Grants Paying For Local Improvements
By Stephanie Faughnan HOWELL - Township officials are again gearing up for their annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) initiative, a vital federal government-funded program administered through Monmouth County. Matthew Howard, the Director of Community Development and Land Use Officer, revealed during the Township Council’s most recent meeting that Howell anticipates approximately $160,000 from the grant program. The funds are specifically earmarked for certain eligibility areas, primarily determined by census data, focusing on low to moderate income communities. “We are given the grant money to do improvements,” shared Howard. “We like to use it for road paving and sidewalk construction. When we don’t have projects in the eligibility area, we are permitted to go outside of those areas if we are doing (Americans with Disabilities Act) improvements or improvements to blighted areas on township property only.” The federal grant funds were allocated towards the Fort Plains Road Paving Project in the previous year. In 2021, township officials applied the money to ADA enhancements within the community. Twenty years ago, a significant portion of Howell met the eligibility criteria for the federal grant. The area qualifying under the guidelines shrunk substantially between 2016 and 2018 and became even smaller in 2019. Local authorities are in communication with Monmouth County officials to assess the census data, aiming to identify any additional areas that might align with the eligibility criteria. Only two relatively compact zones currently meet the requirements set by the federal government. One area is (Grants - See Page 2)
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