Greg’s List: Things to Do in Monmouth County This Weekend, February 22-24, 2019:

By Greg Kelly

Friday, February 22

• Men’s College Basketball: Monmouth U. vs. Canisius (WLB) – MORE INFO
• Minority Male Initiative Conference: “Charting Your Career Course” at BCC (Lincroft) – MORE INFO
• Pier Village Restaurant Week (Long Branch) – MORE INFO
• An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein at BCC (Lincroft) – MORE INFO
• “Legally Blonde” The Musical (Spring Lake) – MORE INFO
• Butterflies Are Free by Center Players (Freehold) – MORE INFO

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Congressman Chris Smith Urges Fire Departments to Apply for SAFER grants

Congressman Chris Smith today urged all fire departments, career and volunteer, to apply for federal SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response) grants that are available from FEMA.  The grants are for the recruitment and retention of “front-line” firefighters.  The application period is February 15, 2019 through March 22, 2019 at 5 p.m. ET.

“All eligible career and volunteer fire departments in the Fourth District are encouraged to apply for these Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants, which help increase the number of firefighters and first responders to provide our communities with more security,” Smith said. “As we have already seen, this grant program has strengthened our district’s local fire departments and volunteer organizations in the past.”

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O’Scanlon’s bill will require full restitution for stealing from taxpayers

Pay up or get locked up

Senator Declan O’Scanlon today announced his plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit State entities from entering into civil settlements for less than the amount that has been stolen from social safety net programs and offering immunity from criminal prosecution.  The legislation comes as a direct result of recent investigations into Medicaid fraud settlements in Lakewood.

“The notion that people who have knowingly received benefits they were not entitled to would only be required to pay back half of that amount of money is completely ludicrous. It’s basically like letting someone get away with stealing from taxpayers. That’s unacceptable.”

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Rep Smith, fathers, meet with NIH researchers fighting for cure to deadly muscle disorder

Congressman Chris Smith hosted a meeting last week with top doctors and researchers from the National Institute of Health and two fathers from his New Jersey district who are fighting to saves their sons from a devastating disease.

James and  Karen Raffone of Manalapan and David and Maria Schultz of Hamilton are parents of sons with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Both families have dedicated their lives to finding a cure for their sons and the hundreds of thousands of boys who until recently faced certain paralysis in their teens and death in their early twenties.  The Schultz family founded Ryan’s Quest, the Raffones founded JAR of Hope.

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Greg’s List: Things to Do in Monmouth County This Weekend, February 8-10, 2019

By Greg Kelly

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Friday, February 8

• An Evening with The Celebrity Housewives at Count Basie Theatre (Red Bank) – MORE INFO
• Sylvia by South Street Players (Spring Lake) – MORE INFO
• “Apple Season” at NJ Repertory Theatre (Long Branch) – MORE INFO
• Beyond #MeToo Exhibit Opening at Monmouth U. (WLB) – MORE INFO
• “Wet as the Atlantic Ocean: Prohibition in NJ” exhibit (Ocean Twp.) – MORE INFO
• School Italian Dinner (Eatontown) – MORE INFO
• Hunt for the Hearts Festival (Ocean Grove) – MORE INFO
• AARP Tax-Aid Program (Monmouth County Libraries) – MORE INFO

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The Arnone Report: Progress at the dump and other good news

By Monmouth County Freeholder Director Tom Arnone

Happy February! I hope everyone has been staying safe and warm this past week with the extremely cold weather. I’m excited that our friend Punxsutawney Phil did not see is shadow signaling that an early spring will be upon us.

Many exciting things have taken place last couple weeks.

On January 28, I participated in a Town Hall style meeting in Tinton Falls with Senator Vin Gopal as well as County and State employees to address the community’s concerns about the recent increase in odor coming from the reclamation center.  The several hundred people who showed up at the meeting, and many who didn’t, are justifiably concerned about the environmental impact of the dump on the health of our residents as well as property values.

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Civil War Hero’s Medal Returned To His Family

The Medal of Honor earned by a Civil War hero from Monmouth County was returned to the possession of his descendant family on Monday by Congressman Chris Smith, in a ceremony in Freehold Borough.

Thomas T. Fallon emigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1859, settling in Freehold.  He entered the service of the U.S. Army at Freehold during the Civil War and became a private in Company K of 37th New York Infantry, the 4th  U.S. Artillery Regiment and served as a sergeant in the 35th New Jersey Infantry until July 1985, three months after the conclusion of the war.

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Scharfenberger to run for Assembly

Gerry Scharfenberger

MMM has learned that Monmouth County Freeholder Gerry Scharfenberger will seek the Republican nomination for State Assembly in the 13th legislative district for the seat currently held by Assemblywoman Amy Handlin.  Handlin announced last fall that she will not seek reelection.

Scharfenberger is expected to join Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso on the top the the ballot in LD 13 in the June 4 primary and the November 5 general election.  DiMaso filed her petition for the nomination last week.

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Accused Colts Neck Rapist Charged With Leading Identity Theft Ring

Terry Y. Kuo, 27, of Colts Neck, also known as Victor Lee, the Colts Neck tennis instructor who was indicted for kidnapping, rape and child pornography last month, was charged on Friday with being the ring leader of an Identify Theft operation that stole over $400,000 from retailer and financial institutions through the use of fraudulently obtained credit cards, according to an announcement by Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Sixteen people were arrested during “Operation Plastic Army,” a investigation that extended from November, 2017 through Janurary 2019,  including Barbara Cirillo, an employee at a Colts Neck bank who was charged with opening fraudulent bank accounts for the scheme, according to the announcement.

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Congressman Smith’s Remarks on Human Trafficking and Addictions

Excerpts as prepared for delivery to NJ’s Ninth Annual Human Trafficking and Awareness Event

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)
War Memorial, Trenton, NJ
January 25, 2019

Thank you Attorney General Gurbir Gewal, Assistant AG Annmarie Taggart Director Veronica Allende and Program Coordinator Kathy Friess for your extraordinary personal and professional commitments to ending modern-day slavery—in all its horrific manifestations.

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