The BRICK Times Vol. 25 - No. 41
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Seniors Taught To Recognize AI And Disinformation
February 14, 2026
Hearings Begin On Asphalt Plant Project
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Government Page 8
Community News Page 10-13
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 15
Inside The Law Page 14
Photos by Sara Rafferty Local residents learned how to distinguish fake from Sarah Spellman volunteered on behalf real information. of AARP to teach the program. By Sara Rafferty BRICK – Seniors learned how to spot artificial intelligence and disinformation at a talk hosted by the local library. Sarah Spellman, a volunteer for AARP, said she introduces elderly communities to the world of technology and how to protect themselves from scams. The most important part of Spellman’s presentation was her advice on detecting AI and avoiding scams. For deepfakes (fake images), look out for things that look too airbrushed. For example, a person’s undereye often looks much brighter, their hair appears blurred, etc. Pay close attention to a person’s body - AI often struggles to create the correct number of fingers and toes. Their muscle lines may not look entirely connected. If
it’s an image of nature, pay attention to the lines on trees, the flower petals, or if the grass appears airbrushed. For voice cloning, fake voices are often much smoother than normal. A person’s natural accent may be distorted, there will be limited to no sounds of breathing, and they may sound more confident - they won’t hesitate or stumble on their words. She focused on the disinformation spread by AI and the ever-increasing risks. She also highlighted the important difference between misinfor mation - the accidental spread of untruths, and disinformation - the purposeful spread of untruths. AI is everywhere now, especially online. It’s (Disinformation - See Page 4)
Former Mayor Scarpelli Dies At 86 By Jason Allentoff BRICK – Joseph C. Scarpelli, a longtime public official whose decades of civic involvement helped shape Brick Township but whose tenure was later marred by a federal corruption conviction has died. He was 86. According to an obituary posted on the Asbury Park Press website, Scarpelli passed away on January 30. Born November 18, 1939, in New York City Photo courtesy Scarpelli to Joseph and Helen Masucci Scarpelli, he Family Via Obituary attended Cardinal Hayes High School and later studied at Fordham University. During Joseph Scarpelli
GOLD Exceeds $4,500 an Ounce! OVER 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS
HIGHEST RATED CASH FOR GOLD STORE IN OCEAN COUNTY
summers at the Jersey Shore, he worked as a lifeguard in Long Branch, where he met Dorothy Montulet. The couple married in 1960 and raised four children. A devout Catholic and fixture in the community, Scarpelli moved to Brick in the 1960s and soon immersed himself in public service. Over more than three decades, he served on the township’s school board, Township Council and as mayor, a role he held for 12 years. As mayor, he launched the township’s (Scarpelli - See Page 5)
SILVER Nears $70 an Ounce!
90% SILVER • MEDALLIONS FLATWARE • SCRAP • JEWELRY TEA SETS • TRAYS • PITCHERS CANDELABRAS
Photo by Judy Smestad-Nunn The Stavola asphalt plant on Chambers Bridge Road. By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK - Res judicata. If you didn’t know the meaning of this legal term, you knew it by the end of the most recent Board of Adjustment meeting. Attorneys spent nearly three hours discussing res judicata, which is Latin for “a matter judged,” - a legal doctrine preventing parties from relitigating claims or issues already decided by, in this case, a previous Planning Board. At stake is an application by Stavola Industries of Tinton Falls, an asphalt plant that has existed in Brick for some 70 years at 429 Chambers Bridge Road, adjacent to the Garden State Parkway. Stavola is seeking approval from the Board of Adjustment to modernize and redevelop the 17-acre plant with new structures, improved stormwater management, added storage bins, a truck scale, replacing gravel driveways with asphalt and more. Attorneys representing Brick Municipal Utilities Authority (BTMUA) and Earle Companies (an asphalt supplier competitor) argued that a similar application, filed in 2008 by Stavola Industries, was denied, citing res judicata dozens of times. Board of Adjustment Chair David Chadwick said that before the Board could hear testimony on the application, two issues had to be resolved. “First: has this already been decided?” he asked, referencing the plant’s 2008 denied (Plant Project - See Page 4)
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