The BRICK Times Vol. 25 - No. 32
In This Week’s Edition
BREAKING NEWS @
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Government Page 8
Community News Page 10-14
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16
Inside The Law Page 19
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New Play About Baseball, The Perfect Gift By Local Writer
December 13, 2025
Special Ed Hub Proposed
By Chris Lundy BRICK – The Christmas season is often filled with comedy and drama, and a debut play being performed locally is no different. “The Christmas Cardinal” explores relationships between friends and family, set against the backdrop of an epic baseball-themed pilgrimage. Corey Crawford, a Toms River native, has been acting, directing, and writing for Brick’s Guild Theatreworks for many years. He explained to The Brick Times where he got the idea for his new work. Photo courtesy Corey Crawford “It’s inspired by trips I take (Above) The costumes of the characters suggest the baseball theme. every year with friends to (Right) Cast memCooperstown,” New York bers rehearse a scene for the Baseball Hall of from “The ChristFame. The three characters mas Cardinal.” taking this trek are versions of Crawford and his two friends. The one based on him is also dealing with a loss in his family while also searching for the perfect gift for someone. Crawford hints that “He gets a little help from some Christmas spirit.” As you could imagine with a road trip with friends, there’s some good-natured ribbing among the buddies. This friendly banter makes up some of the humor of the piece. The two kids
By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – Every school day, hundreds of students are bused to private special education schools because their home schools don’t have the resources for them. Toms River, in the middle of the county, wants them to come there instead. Superintendent Michael Citta pitched the idea for a regional special education hub at Intermediate North during a meeting of the Senate Education Committee. He said that this plan, if it went through, would be at least a year out. There are eight counties in New Jersey that already have a county-based special education system. If you add up all the public schools in (Special Ed - See Page 4)
County Kicks Off Holiday Season With Tree Lighting
(Local Writer - See Page 4)
“The Last Secretary Of Education” Visits Local School By Andrew Rice COLTS NECK – Secretary of Education Linda McMahon made an appearance at Cedar Drive Middle School in Colts Neck as part of the nationwide “History Rocks!” tour, which aims to promote civics and American history education. The visit is tied to the America 250 Civics Education Coalition, a part-
nership involving the U.S. Department of Education and dozens of national organizations, including the America First Policy Institute, Turning Point USA, Hillsdale College, Moms for Liberty, and others. The Colts Neck Board of Education, and in particular, President Angelique Volpe, is credited with reaching out early, which helped bring
national recognition to the district. The tour will visit schools in all 50 states by the time it is finished. During her visit to the school, McMa hon a nd her team participated in a school-wide assembly, visited individual classrooms and toured several student showcases, and met with select district officials, (Secretary - See Page 5)
GOLD Exceeds $4,000 an Ounce! OVER 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS
HIGHEST RATED CASH FOR GOLD STORE IN OCEAN COUNTY
Photo by Stephanie Faughnan Ocean County’s 28-foot Norway spruce glows with 6,000 LED lights after the ceremonial countdown during the county’s annual Christmas tree lighting. Photo by Andrew Rice Secretary of Education Linda McMahon gives her History Rocks presentation to the students at Cedar Drive Middle School.
SILVER Nears $50 an Ounce!
90% SILVER • MEDALLIONS FLATWARE • SCRAP • JEWELRY TEA SETS • TRAYS • PITCHERS CANDELABRAS
By Stephanie Faughnan TOMS RIVER – The final numbers rang out in a joyful countdown: Ten. Nine. Eight, (Tree Lighting - See Page 9)
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