The BERKELEY Times Vol. 29 - No. 44
In This Week’s Edition
BREAKING NEWS @
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Government Page 7
Community News Pages 8-14
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16
Inside The Law Page 19
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Grass Planting To Give Marshland New Life
By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – An expanse of marsh bordering the Barnegat Bay at G o o d Lu ck Point has been in decline, but local ecologists are hoping to turn that trend around. “These marshes are in the worst condition,” said Joseph Smith, a wildlife biologist with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. He works out of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge and on one recent week his job site was the land near the old abandoned AT&T bu ild i ng. He a nd a crew were planting spartina, a grass the thrives in marshes and is cultivated to curb erosion. Due to how low the area is, it is more sensitive to environmental changes, whether it comes from tidal f low s o r s e a le vel r ise or other sit uations, he said.
Seaside Votes To Stay With Central
Photo by Chris Lundy The leaf waste compost was brought to locations in Good Luck Point and used as the base for spartina growing. “Thirty years ago, all this mud was grass,” he said, motioning to the muddy area. T he pla n is raise the ground a bit so that the vegetation can take hold, and thereby protect t he species that frequent the area. U.S. Fish and Wildlife wanted the higher elevation to support birds like the black rail and
salt marsh sparrow. Af ter Superstor m S a n d y, w a t e r w a y s needed to be dredged b e c a u s e of a l l t h e debris and sand that wound up in the water. Clean dredge spoils were used to build up the marsh. “Dredge material was a nice solution because people wanted to get rid of it,” he said.
April 20, 2024
They had attempted to grow spartina, but it didn’t grow as well in the dredge spoils. However, it grew well in leaf waste compost. Last year, they tested it with a small sample. It not only made it through the winter but it looks great. Therefore, the ecologists spent several (Marsh - See Page 4)
By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – Voters i n Seaside Heights declined to join the Toms River Regional School District during a special election. Seaside voters shot it down 231 to 167. If it had passed in all towns, Seaside still would have had its own school, but it would have had the Toms River Regiona l a d m i n i s t r at ion and curriculum. The Seaside kids currently go to the Hug h J. Boyd Jr. School for kindergarten through 6th, and then go to Central Regional for middle and high school. If it had passed, they would then go to Toms River Intermediate and Hig h School East when they graduated Boyd. Kids current-
ly in Central would have had the choice to change to East. Central Regional off icials had been challenging the idea of Seaside leaving. They said that they can provide better instruction than Toms River, listing factors such as Toms River not providing afterschool busing. They were also wor r ied about the financial impact of an entire town’s worth of tax revenue leaving. Seaside residents have spoken out at meetings and online against joining Toms River. They liked the home rule, low class sizes, and small town feel of having their own school. Residents have said that the staff know each child in the school – something
(Seaside - See Page 4)
AuTiSm FaIr CoNnEcTs FaMiLiEs To KeY ReSoUrCeS
Photo by Stephanie Faughnan Gianna Vazquez met a mermaid at the Autism Resources Fair.
By Stephanie Faughnan TOMS RIVER - Forget the stereotype of hushed whispers and dust y shelves – the Ocean County Library is proving libraries are more than just books. Mo s t r e c e nt ly, t he Toms R iver Branch held its seventh Autism Resources Fair - em-
powering families by offering them a wealth of resources and a supportive community. Imagine the overwhelming flood of information that washes over parents after receiving an autism diagnosis. While potentially vast, the internet can feel like an unnavigable ocean of
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conflicting advice and questionable sources. Wendi Smolowitz, a librarian who works for the Ocean County Library system, knows the struggle intimately. When her son, Joshua, was diagnosed with autism when he was 3, she experienced fi rsthand the tremendous sense of confusion and
uncertainty that many parents face. However, armed with her background in research, Wendi possessed a vital skill – the ability to navigate the labyrinth of information. “Joshua is f ifteen now, and I’ll always remember Ju ne 21, 2012, as the date we were given the diagno-
sis,” shared Smolowitz. “We were not given a path to follow, no roadmap, no places to go for therapies.” As Smolowitz reflected on her own “mom experience” as a parent of a child diagnosed with autism, she recognized a glaring disconnect between support (Autism - See Page 4)
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