TheTOMS RIVER Times Vol. 20 - No. 17
In This Week’s Edition
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Government Page 8
Community News Pages 9-15
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 18
Inside The Law Page 21
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Retiring Chief Thanked By Community
came out to support him – and the police department – over the years but this year in particular. “This is for you,” he said, “this is for the supporters of this agency. When we were in trouble, you came to our aid.” He thanked the 335 employees of the department. “Every single person who worked here conPhotos by Chris Lundy tributed to this agenRetiring Chief Mitch Little is greeted by a crowd as he leaves the cy,” he said. “Even department on his final day. though we’re going through this tr ying time, we will get through it.” By Chris Lundy He noted former chief Rick Clement also faced political TOMS RIVER – A huge crowd gathered outside the police sta- issues, noting that the important thing is to make sure tion to thank Chief Mitch Little (Chief Retiring - See Page 4) on his last day. When officers leave their last shift, they have a walkout and a final sign-off and that’s what Little did, but he didn’t do it alone. A few other officers had also retired recently, and he called them up to take the walk with him. He also brought up his father, Bob, who retired from the agency decades ago. He thanked the public who Chief Mitch Little gives his final sign off into the CB.
Deadline Pushed Back For School Board Rep
By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – The deadline to apply for the Beachwood representative on the Toms River Board of Education has been moved to 4 p.m. on September 10. This was announced at the most recent Board of Education meeting. An application packet is available at TRSchools.org. Beachwood’s representative on the Toms River Board of Education, Melissa Morrison, has resigned but did so after the deadline for her seat to be on the ballot in November. Whoever is chosen will fill the spot through
December of 2025. Those who applied already don’t need to apply again, officials said. However, if there was a deficiency in their original application, they can correct that when they re-apply. The Board has nine members. Toms River has six representatives. Beachwood, Pine Beach, and South Toms River each have one member. People didn’t have an adequate amount of time to apply, said Toms River representative Ashley Lamb. (Deadline - See Page 5)
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Veteran Housing Coming To Jersey Shore By Chris Lundy and Stephanie Faughnan JERSEY SHORE – Two new construction projects are being built that will provide housing for at-risk veterans. A “Veterans Village” made up of 124 homes is planned to be built on Route 9 in Berkeley. It would contain 99 apartments and 24 one-story houses. There would also be 24/7 onsite support services. The developer is Tunnel To Towers Foundation, a nonprofit that supports veterans and their families. “This is the f irst of its kind in the state of N e w J e r s e y,” M a yo r John Bacchione told The Berkeley Times. H owever, the organization has built similar neighborhoods in other states, said Gavin Naples, vice president of Tunnel To Towers’ Homeless Veterans Program. Many of the housing projects are in large cities, but Berkeley is thoroughly suburban. Naples said that Bayville came to their attention because of the new Veterans Administration hospital being built in Toms River. They knew they wanted to be close to that, and saw the numbers of veterans in Ocean County, so they sought land nearby. The organization acquired the property from developer Cardinale Enterprises. The land was
originally zoned for highway business but was recently approved to be changed to residential by Berkeley’s Zoning Board. The neighborhood will only be open to veterans, Naples said. There will also be services provided on site for them, such as case management, behavioral health and financial literacy. Anything that they might need that Tunnel To Towers doesn’t provide would be brought in by other nonprofits in the area. Tunnel To Towers is dedicated to firefighter Stephen Gerard Siller who lost both parents at a young age and was raised by older siblings. He was driving home after his shift as a Brooklyn firefighter when he heard on the police scanner that a plane had hit the first tower on September 11, 2001. He tried to get back to the station but the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was closed for security reasons. He took his gear out of his truck and ran with 60 pounds of gear on his back. He lost his life saving others from the Twin Towers. For more information, including how to donate or how to get help as a veteran, visit T2T.org. Meanwhile, in Little Egg Harbor, there was a groundbreaking ceremony held to mark the start of construction on Larry’s (Veterans Housing See Page 4)
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