The BERKELEY Times Vol. 30 - No. 24
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Neighbors Worry About Deadly Intersection
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Photos courtesy John Capaldi (Left) People drive carelessly despite signs in the area. (Right) Residents are concerned about the dangerous intersection of Bimini Drive and Jamaica Boulevard.
Government Page 7
Community News Pages 8-13
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 18
Inside The Law Page 14
By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – People living near the intersection of Bimini Drive and Jamaica Boulevard came out to a recent Township Council meeting to urge officials to make the crossroads less dangerous. Bimini leads off Route 37 into hundreds of homes. Jamaica snakes its way through several senior communities and serves as a way to travel between them. They meet in a highly active
intersection that neighbors said causes lots of accidents. John Capaldi lives nearby and said there were three recent accidents, and one of them was fatal. He told the story of someone making a U-turn in the middle of the road. There’s a pedestrian crossing sign…but people have run it over. Police Chief Kevin Santucci said he spoke to some of the residents in the area about this issue. Prior to the meeting, he
spoke to the Traffic Safety Department in the police. He said they looked into six crashes at the intersection. In one of them, the driver didn’t see a motorcycle. In one of them, glare from the sun was to blame. In the other four, the driver didn’t see the stop sign at Jamaica. One audience member shouted out that there have been many near-misses. In other words, it’s not just the number of crashes. (Intersection - See Page 4)
December 7, 2024
Flooding, Other Water Issues Cause Concern
By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – Water management issues have been the topic of conversation at many Township Council meetings this year as officials address flooding and other concerns. Much of the bayfront communities were built on low-lying land, or lagoons that were built jutting out into the water. These don’t have staying power against the forces of nature. Berkeley is not alone in this. Brick recently accepted a $401,859 grant from the State Department of Transportation to elevate areas of Normandy Beach. Michael Heisemer became the latest Berkeley resident to ask the governing body for help with flooding, in particular on Island Drive and Bal-
sam Drive. The area has been flooding frequently, even prior to when he moved here a few years ago. Councilman James Byrnes said that the county engineers have been working on a plan to mitigate flooding in many areas of Berkeley. The town’s own professionals and the volunteers at the Waterways Advisory Committee provided a lot of important information for them. It’s going to be an enormous undertaking, so they are looking for federal funding. “A lot of times we can’t raise the road because it’ll drown houses,” he said. The water will follow gravity into people’s yards, basements (if there are any) and homes. (Flooding See Page 4)
Students Prepare Thousands Of Meals For Those In Need
By Alyssa Riccardi The program back then just relied on donations; people BRICK – The Ocean County Vocational Technical dropping of turkeys, etc.” School’s Brick Center was buzzing with activity during The program now partners up with Fulfill, who provided the week before Thanksgiving, where students worked over 400 turkeys this year, as well as RWJ Barnabas tirelessly to provide a holiday meal for those in need. Community Medical Center, who supply the grocery There were 182 culinary students who prepared over products for the side dishes. OCVTS then provides the 3,500 Thanksgiving dinners for “Feed the Need,” an packaging and containers needed for distributing these initiative that began more than 25 years ago. meals. “Feed the Need started with us just providing 25 So, what’s on the menu? Corn bread, stuffing, green meals to a local church,” Culinary 1 instructor Chef bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potato soufflé, Gary Lesniak said. “Every year it seemed to build. (Students - See Page 5)
VETERAN &
FIRST RESPONDER
DISCOUNTS OFFERED
Carmona ~ Bolen Home for Funerals, LLC Michael J. Defonzo Jr., Manager • NJ Lic #4075
Photos courtesy OCVTS Thousands of meals were prepared by culinary students.
Cremation with Memorial Package $1900
Package includes: 2-Hr Memorial Visitation (during regular business hours: M-F ONLY, 9am-4pm) a complimentary Urn, removal from Hospital or Facility with-in 25 miles of Funeral Home, all Funeral Home service fees, required cremation container MCDDT-01.
Package excludes residential removal fee and Crematory charges.
TOMS RIVER • 732-349-1922 Traditional Funerals • Cremations • Memorials • Pre-Planning | www.carmonabolenfh.com WHITING • 732-350-0003