Vol. 12 - No. 48
In This Week’s Edition
THE TOMS RIVER
TIMES
MICROMEDIAPUBS.COM
Your FREE Weekly Hometown Newspaper For Toms River, Island Heights, Ortley Beach & Lavallette
CURCIONE STRIVES FOR GRIFFINS WINS Community News! Don’t miss what’s happening in your town. Pages 10-15.
Letters To The Editor Page 8.
From Your Government Officials Page 9.
Doctor Izzy “Weight Loss And Hearing”
Page 18.
Dear Pharmacist “Here’s What Happens When You Cry”
Page 19.
Inside The Law “Workers’ Compensation Checklist”
Page 22.
Dear Joel “Should’ve Left Phone At Home ‘Cause This Is A Disaster”
Page 28.
Classified Ads Page 26.
Wolfgang Puck Page 31.
–Photo Courtesy Donovan Catholic High School Donovan High School coaches and team prepare for the 2017 season. By Chris Christopher TOMS RIVER – Dan Curcione has a simple goal as he heads into the 2017 season, his first as the head football coach at Donovan Catholic High School. “I want to field a competitive team,” the 1986 Brick Memorial High School graduate said. “It’s as simple as that. You will never get me to say, ‘We want to win this amount of games,’ or, ‘We will do that.’ We want to be competitive. I can’t even say how good we will be.” The Griffins were winless last season in their
lone season under former Jackson Memorial and Rutgers University quarterback Tom Tarver, who was not rehired by school officials. “I know Donovan was 0-10 last year,” Curcione said, “but we will judge this year on this year.” Donovan was outscored 329-112 last year when it was 0-7 for last place in Shore Conference Class B South. The Griffins have not had a winning season since 2012 when they went 6-4 and won Class B South under then-coach Dan Duddy. Their winless season in 2016 was their second in the last three (Wins - See Page 4)
Residents, Freeholders Discuss American Health Care Act
By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – A r e sid e nt ’s c o n c e r n about the American Health Care Act’s effects on older residents prompted a discussion during the Ocean County Freeholder’s meeting on March 15. Lynda Fote, Toms R iver, speak i ng on behalf of the Ocean County chapter of the
National Organization for Women, said one of their concerns was that Medicaid would eventually be phased out. Any additional Medicaid recipients would be the responsibility of the state. There were several other people there, but she was the only one who spoke. “It is important that our congressmen vote
no on the American Health Care Act until they can guarantee that those covered by Medicaid will not lose their coverage and no move to block grants will leave New Jersey without the funds to offer the health care our poorest and most disabled need,” she said, reading from a statement. The block
grants are the funding mechanism that states get reimbursed. The other concern was that there are plans to change the formula for seniors to buy care, she said. The new plan would give money based on age alone, rather than an amount that f luctuates based on age, income and (Health - See Page 5)
| March 25, 2017
Toms River Taxpayers Might See Small Increase
By Chris Lundy TOMS R I V ER – There will be a slight increase in the municipal taxes for Toms River residents, according to township officials, if the recently proposed budget is approved. The total budget would be $125,558,745.26. This would be an increase of $612,441.46 f r o m l a s t y e a r ’s total budget of $124,946,303.80. The amount to be raised by taxes would be $82,590,921.61. This
would be an increase of $2,198,149.29 from last year’s tax levy of $80,392,772.32. The local tax rate would increase by .86 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, from 63.3 cents to 64.16 cents. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 would pay approximately $22.81 more per year in municipal taxes. “The budget, as proposed, represents less t h a n a .05 p e r c e nt (Budgets - See Page 5)
COUNTY PRESERVES 42 ACRES IN MANCHESTER
By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – The Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Fund will be purchasing 42 acres in Manchester to keep it as open space, officials said at the March 15 meeting of the Ocean County Freeholders. The land is situated between property that has already been purchased by the trust, said Freeholder John Bartlett. Currently, the only things there are just some gravel and sand roads that are used for walkways for seniors in the area. Marked on a map as the Dover Forge-Giordano track, it juts out in two “wings” from a small central point. It does not have any frontage on any major road, but it is roughly between Lacey Road and Pinewald-Keswick Road. David McKeon, the county’s planning director, said that this land was scheduled for development (County - See Page 4)
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