Times
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS, INC.
T H E JAC K S O N
Vol. 17 - No. 5
Your FREE Weekly Hometown Newspaper | Serving All of Jackson Township
Jax Mem. Alum Signs With LA Angels, $2.15M Bonus
Inside This Week’s Edition
Business Directory........................21 Classifieds ....................................22 Community News......................9-12 Dear Joel.......................................20 Dr. Izzy’s Sound News .................16 Government ...................................8 Inside The Law .............................19 Letters to the Editor .........................7 Wolfgang .....................................27 WWW.MICROMEDIAPUBS.COM
July 2, 2016
Spray Park Now Open Daily
By Catherine Galioto JACKSON – The new township spray park has already switched its hours, and will be open daily, weather permitting. Before the township held its grand opening June 18, the park was scheduled to only be open weekends. Officials said they wanted to gauge interest and demand before committing to a seven-day schedule. Starting July 1, the Spray Park has kept daily hours. Weather permitting, the spray park at the Justice Complex will be open Sunday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The township announced on June 22 that the demand and community response lead to the change in hours to a seven-day schedule starting July. There was a brief outage on June 25 as the pump house underwent repairs that day but the spray park reopened later. (Park - See Page 5)
–Photos courtesy University of Virginia Athletics Dept. Jackson Memorial Alumnus Matt Thaiss, who previously played at the University of Virginia, has signed with the Los Angeles Angels with a $2.15 million signing bonus. By Chris Christopher It didn’t take Matt Thaiss long to become a multi-millionaire. The former Jackson Memorial High School standout has accepted a $2.15 million signing bonus from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Thaiss, who concluded his junior season as a catcher at the University of Virginia, was drafted 16th on the first round by the American League club. The slot was valued at $2,660,800. The Angels assigned Thaiss to the Orem Owlz (Utah) of the Pioneer League, a rookie
level circuit. “Officially a member of the Angels organization,” Thaiss, 21, said on Twitter. “Excited to start the journey!” Now a first baseman, Thaiss said he was happy to be selected by the American (Alum - See Page 4)
Funny In 90 Seconds
By Jennifer Peacock WHITING – Before she even asked if Julia Scotti wanted a table or booth, the waitress at Heritage Restaurant in Whiting told Scotti she killed it. “You were hysterical,” she said. “I don’t watch that show, but I turned it on because you were on there.” Scotti settled at a table in the quiet section, where 60s ballads were blasting overhead. While waiting for her grilled chicken Caesar salad and wheat toast, another patron leaving stopped by the table, touched Scot-
ti’s shoulder and wished her luck. “Oh, wow,” Scotti said. Scotti, who lives in Manchester, appeared on the June 21 episode of America’s Got Talent, hosted by Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Howie Mandel. She had 90 seconds—not including waiting for the laughter to die down—to impress the judges and pass the audition. She mentions that her Twitter feed went from 600 followers to more than 3,000 almost overnight, and her Facebook feed is clogged with well wishes. She wants to
answer each person, but even her agent said she can’t possibly do that. Scotti wishes she could. But she is hardly an overnight success. A jazz drummer turned stand-up comedian, Scotti worked the clubs with names you know: Piscopo. Murphy. Seinfeld. “I always wanted to do stand-up. In 1980, I did it for the first time in Paramus in a Chinese restaurant,” Scotti said. She was “Rick Scotti” then, and while very open about being transgender, does not want that (Funny - See Page 5)
Putting The Brakes On An Issue
By Jennifer Peacock JACKSON – One resident wants noisy “Jake braking” prohibited in Jackson Township. “Any time of the day, early in the morning, during rush hour, late afternoon, all you hear are these trucks going down the road,” said Donald Walker of Evergreen Court at the recent Jackson Council meeting. He mimicked the loud noise the brakes make, a sound he hears regularly as the trucks brake for a traffic light. “Can we get an ordinance passed or something to get that to stop? I know they use these engine brakes to slow down because they’re going too fast,” he said. Evergreen Court lies between two busy county roads, Routes 527 and 528, that turn into East and West Veterans Highway, Cedar Swamp Road and Bennetts Mills Road. (Brakes - See Page 4)
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