The BERKELEY Times Vol. 31 - No. 33
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
The History And Mystery Of Crystal Lake And The Royal Pines Hotel
February 7, 2026
An Immigrant’s Path To Ocean County Government
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Photo by Stephanie Faughnan Ocean County Commissioner Director Frank Sadeghi brings an interesting history to board, together with business experience.
Government Page 7
Community News Pages 8-9
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 12
Inside The Law
Photos by Chris Lundy Originally the Royal Pines Hotel, it is now Crystal Lake Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center. By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – When you’re driving east from Central Regional down Veterans Boulevard, a stately nine-story white building peeks up over the trees. Non-locals coming off the Parkway might wonder “What is that?” Locals know what it is – but perhaps they don’t know the real story. The Berkeley Times sat down with Berkeley Township Historical Society President Gerry (History & Mystery - See Page 4)
Page 20
NJ Reentry Closes Ocean County Location
Photo courtesy NJ Reentry NJ Reentry Chairman former Governor Jim McGreevey (center) poses with NJ Reentry participants learning trades through hands on work.
By Andrew Rice OCEAN COUNTY - The NJ Reentry Corporation, a non-profit agency meant to assist those returning from addiction treatment, incarceration, or the theater of combat, has closed down its Toms River branch and will be consolidating its Ocean County operations into the Monmouth County branch, which is located in Neptune. This move leaves the corporation without a base of operations in all of Ocean County. Questions began to swirl as to the nature of this departure. The Mayor of Toms River, Daniel Rodrick, was an outspoken opponent of the center’s location in downtown Toms River. He cited safety concerns and location as the reasons why he disapproved of the center ever being established in Toms River.
By Stephanie Faughnan TOMS RIVER - The center seat of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners now belongs to Frank Sadeghi, who began 2026 as the board’s director. The position carries authority and visibility, but it does not fully explain how he arrived there. His path began nearly 50 years ago, when a teenage immigrant stepped off a plane at Kennedy Airport carrying little more than determination and a promise to his dying father. Sadeghi arrived in the United States from Iran in February 1976, just before his homeland was overtaken by revolution. He was 18 years old, spoke no English, and had no family waiting for him here. His decision to leave, he said, was driven by what he called the “whole notion of freedom” and the belief that hard work could lead to a good life. “My father said, ‘If you go to America, I know you’re going to make a life, and I know you’re going to bring the rest of your siblings,’” Sadeghi recalled. “That’s the commitment I need from you.” Within a few years, he kept that promise. He sponsored his younger brother, then his sister, and later his youngest sibling to join him in the United States. What began as a solitary leap became a family’s permanent relocation. Learning A Country From The Ground Up Sadeghi’s first lessons in America were practical ones. He worked at a Kansas Fried Chicken chain shortly after arriving and later took a job parking cars in a Manhattan garage. “I didn’t even know how to drive,” he said, laughing. (Immigrant’s Path - See Page 5)
(NJ Reentry - See Page 6)
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