Help Fill The Red Kettle
To The Editor:
The Red Bank Corps of The Salvation Army has established an online red kettle site for those who would like to donate via the Internet during the holiday season.The address of the site is www.onlineredkettle.org/redbank. The goal of the 2011 online campaign is $20,000.The online kettle offers those who do much of their shopping on the Internet the opportunity to donate to the Salvation Army as easily as those who drop their contributions into the kettles traditionally found inside and outside stores.The online kettle also makes it easier for those who wish to contribute more than the nominal amounts that most shoppers place in our store kettles. And the Army’s need for financial support has risen as the economy has weakened. The Red Bank Corps, for example, is now providing assistance to about 50 families a month. Not long ago, the number was 30. We need more help.
Capt. Stewart Dalrymple
Corps Commander.
Salvation Army
Red Bank
Remember Pear Harbor
To The Editor:
Commander Will Purcell and President Carmen Peterson have announced the Middletown VFW and Ladies Auxiliary will conduct their annual Pearl Harbor Services on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. at the VFW Post Home, One Veterans Lane and Hwy 36 (Next to the Port Monmouth Foodtown shopping center). We cordially invite you to join us in our services as we pay tribute to the 2,403 men and women, all heroes, who perished 70 years ago on Dec. 7, 1941. All members of the VFW have seen firsthand the tremendous cost of freedom. Our young men and women deployed to areas around the world guaranteeing the freedom we enjoy today. Please never forget the famous quote of Admiral William J. Crowe Jr.: “Freedom is not free. That lesson must be passed on year after year, generation after generation. If our way of life is to survive.” So please join us on Sunday, Dec. 4 that we may pass on to future generations the history of our heroes from Dec. 7 and World War II.
Mary Weber
Middletown Township Veterans of Foreign Wars
Post 2179 and Ladies Auxiliary
Port Monmouth
Prepare Your Car for Winter Driving
To The Editor:
The Middletown Township Police Department would like to remind residents of our township to check their vehicles for the winter months.Be sure your brakes are balance and pull equally on all wheels which will avoid skids’ replace your windshield wiper blades and add proper anti-freeze solution to washer; have your battery tested to avoid breakdowns and check headlights and tail lights to be sure all are working. Carbon monoxide is deadly! Check mufflers and entire exhaust systems for leaks. You should have snow tires or matching Radial tires to ensure traction.All motorists should take note of a new addition to the motor vehicle laws of New Jersey. It provides for a summons for careless driving to be issued to the operator of any vehicle where an accumulation of ice or snow from their car or truck coming off while driving and striking the vehicle of another. We have all been on the receiving end of these sheets of snow and ice from the vehicles of careless motorists. Avoid a summons. Avoid causing damage or an accident by cleaning off accumulated snow and ice ***ITALSbefore**ENDALS driving.It is a good safety measure to have a shovel, bag of sand, rock salt, traction mat, booster cables, safety flares, etc. Check you car to make sure you and your loved ones have a safe winter.
Robert Oches
Chief of Police
Township of Middletown
Going Solar
To The Editor:
Monmouth County is going solar in a big way. Solar panels have been installed on rooftops of the Human Services building in Freehold Township and the Library Headquarters on Symmes Drive in Manalapan. In addition, parking lots adjacent to the Monmouth County Department of Human Services and the Agriculture Building off Kozloski Road are being covered with solar canopies. Solar panels also will be placed atop the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold. The county’s solar program, which is scheduled begin operation in January 2012, aims to save $1.7 million in electricity costs over the next 15 years. Last week in Tinton Falls, ground was broken on a large private “solar farm” that will feature 85,000 ground-mounted solar panels that will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 3,000 homes – about two-thirds of the total households in Tinton Falls. The $70 million project is being built by Tinton Falls Solar Farm LLC, a subsidiary of the Chinese-owned Zongyi Solar America Co. Ltd. It is estimated that this solar farm will offset carbon emissions equivalent to nearly 4,000 acres of trees.The solar farm replaces an original plan to build 243 single family units and 61 affordable units with more than 1,100 total bedrooms. The lot will now be subdivided between the solar farm and a scaled-down plan for 248 two-bedroom units. Workers were busy clearing 100 acres off Tormee Drive to make way for the panels. Together, these projects advance Gov. Christie’s commitment to develop renewable sources of energy that protect the environment, promote economic development and spur job creation.Creating jobs for Monmouth County workers is the No. 1 priority, and these solar projects are doing just that. The Tinton Falls project is generating between 200 and 300 construction jobs as well as long-term positions once the facility is running.New Jersey is second in the nation in both installed solar capacity and number of installations; only California has more. As of June 30, 2011, New Jersey has 10,086 solar energy array projects installed across the state providing over 380 megawatts of installed capacity, due in large part to the State’s Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC) Registration Program.The Tinton Falls project will generate 19.9 megawatts of electricity, while Monmouth County’s project will generate 1.5 megawatts. These projects will bring the state’s installed solar capacity to about 400 megawatts generated from more than 10,000 solar arrays statewide.New Jersey has had one of the strongest growth markets for solar energy installations in 2010 and 2011. One reason is the state’s strong SREC program. That, along with an accessibility for long-term SREC contracts, has made it easier to obtain financing for these kinds of projects.Under Monmouth County’s contract, a solar company is installing the system and will maintain it no cost to the county. In exchange, the county is providing the sites and has agreed to purchase the electricity generated. Solar companies can sell power at a discounted rate due to regulatory and tax incentives that are currently available in order to buoy alternative energy projects. The county’s solar initiative began in 2009, after the Board of Chosen Freeholders created a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Committee to conduct a feasibility study of county buildings that indicated where the solar panels should be installed.By completing these county solar projects, the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will be equivalent to 263 passenger vehicles per year or the annual electricity usage of 167 homes.
Thomas Arnone
Monmouth County Freeholder
Help Make Monmouth Better
To the Editor,
I came to the Board of Chosen Freeholders at a difficult moment. I did so with the belief that the good things about County government far outweighed the bad. I was determined to move the good things forward and build a stronger future on that foundation. I see this election as a clear vindication of the course I have chosen and deeply appreciate the support of the public that clearly share my point of view. While any problems that are found must be dealt with effectively, we must not be distracted from our dedication to making Monmouth County an even better place to live. That is my commitment to everyone for the next three years and I will welcome everyone who wants to join me in this effort.
Lillian G. Burry
Monmouth County Freeholder
Finding Pets Forever Homes
To The Editor:
This holiday season, the Monmouth County SPCA will celebrate a few of our favorite things. The PEACE that comes to the animals when they reach the safety of our doors.The LOVE we share with the animals while they wait to find their own true love. Being able to ADOPT a record breaking 3,000 animals into new loving families this year. The opportunity to SAVE lives of animals who have nowhere else to turn. And the JOY of knowing that so many of our alumni, like Mr. B, Buster, Nermal and McCuddles, bask in the warmth and comfort of their FOREVER HOME this holiday season. But of all these things, our very favorite is YOU. Your kindness and support make it all possible. Thank you for enriching the lives of thousands of animals and families through your generosity. We hope you will consider making another gift before the end of the year.We wish you a holiday season filled with peace, love and all of your favorite things.
Laurie Garrison
Executive Director
Jerry Rosenthal
Board of Trustees
Monmouth County SPCA
Eatontown
