Vol. 12 - No. 47
In This Week’s Edition
THE TOMS RIVER
TIMES
MICROMEDIAPUBS.COM
Your FREE Weekly Hometown Newspaper For Toms River, Island Heights, Ortley Beach & Lavallette
Community News! Don’t miss what’s happening in your town. Pages 8-12.
Dear Joel Riding Along In My Automobile Page 24.
Wolfgang Puck Transition From Winter To Spring With An Easy Recipe Featuring Fava Beans Page 27.
Dear Pharmacist 11 Essential Oils For Your Thyroid Page 17.
Inside The Law Why Do I Need A Power Of Attorney? Page 20.
Doctor Izzy’s Sound News Page 16.
From Your Government Officials Page 7.
Classified Ads Page 21.
A Frosty But Fun St. Patrick’s Day Parade
By Sara Grillo SEASIDE HEIGHTS – T he an nual Ocean County St. Patrick’s Day Parade marched t h r ou g h Se a sid e’s Boulevard for the 33rd time on March 11. People came from every corner of Ocean County—wrapped up in scarves, gloves and hats in every shade of green—proving that not even 25 degrees and 30 mile per hour wind gusts can keep people away from a good party. A Seaside-bound mot o r ve h icle a c cident just past the bridge on Route 37 delayed the parade for half an hour, with police sirens, bagpipers and marching bands kicking things off at 12:30 p.m. The crowds became larger and livelier as
–Photos by Sara Grillo
(Parade - See Page 5)
March 24 Important Milestone For Toms River
By J. Mark Mutter TOMS RIVER – As the countdown to Toms River’s historic 250th anniversary of its founding continues (June 24), let us not forget another milestone in our history – March 24. It was on March 24, 1782 – 15 years after our township was created – that the battle of Toms River occurred.
Toms River’s
It was on that date that in the sleepy colonial town of Toms River, located within Dover Township, that a British expedition attacked the Toms River patriot Blockhouse, burned the village, and captured its defender Captain Joshua Huddy. The Blockhouse fight did not happen by accident. It was the culmination of a series of events,
| March 18, 2017
Walmart Abandons Plans For New Route 37 Store
By Catherine Galioto TOMS RIVER – The sign promising a new Walmart on Route 37 near the Manchester border has faded with years of sun and graffiti. And now, the retail giant confirmed March 8 t h at long- st al le d plans to build at the 21acre site are officially abandoned. Walmart officials said in an emailed statement that “after consideration of several business factors, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with building another Walmart store in Toms River.” In 2016 the existing Walmart on Route 37 west was remodeled, and a corporate spokesperson confirmed the company is focusing on new in-store and online options, remodels and associate training across its 11,695 stores. But for more than a decade Jaylin Holdi n g s h a d pl a n s t o build an approximate
200,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter on the border between the towns, on the eastbound side of Route 37. From when the project was fi rst heard in 2004, environmentalists from the Pinelands Preservation Alliance and New Jersey Sierra Club were among those in opposition, pointing to what they said was environmentally sensitive land that is pineland snake habitat. O pposit ion also came from Perlmutter Shoprite, while others favored the idea of a new, larger supermarket such as Walmart a nd t he r at able s it could bring. Still, over more than a decade, the plans snaked through several layers of government approvals and court proceedings. An issue with how the parking lot versus the store would meet land use laws for the two towns, and how taxes would (Store - See Page 5)
Anniversary 250th
(Attack - See Page 4)
–Photo By Catherine Galioto The aging sign on Rt. 37 once announced plans for a Walmart there.
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