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Melissa M. Festa to represent Highlands at the Mrs. New Jersey Pageant

Details: Category: News; Published: 24 January 2013

mrs_highlands_melissa_marie_festa Mrs. Highlands, Melissa M. Festa

PHOTO by Carl Maiorino

Highlands, NJ – Melissa M. Festa has garnered the title of Mrs. Highlands United States 2013 and will go on to compete at the Mrs. New Jersey United States Pageant in May, where she will join married women from across NJ to promote her personal platform, fundraise for charities, and compete for a cash award, evening gown, year of image consulting, jewelry, and an all-expense paid trip to the national pageant in Las Vegas, among other prizes.

Melissa is representing Highlands in Monmouth County, where she is happily married to her husband, Bryan. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a concentration of Television and Radio Broadcasting from Monmouth University.

She is compassionate about her platform, “Restoring The Shore: Hope For Highlands”. Along with many other surrounding towns, Melissa's hometown was hit extremely hard by Hurricane Sandy. As a representative of Highlands, NJ Melissa hopes to bring much needed attention to this area.

Historic Kings Highway - Backbone of Early Middletown

Details: Category: News; Published: 18 January 2013

Throughout history, transportation networks have always been the cornerstone of any successful settlement. Middletown was no different, as the colonial road known as the “King’s Highway” was the baseline around which the town was laid out. The town of Middletown, first settled in 1664, consisted of 36 “lotts” bifurcated by the Kings Highway, which was actually an old American Indian path known as the Minisink Path. In fact, many of the first New Jersey towns were laid out more or less within the loose frameworks of surviving American Indian features. Routes traversed by American Indians were favored by the colonists because of their proximity to higher ground surfaces away from ravines, steep slopes, bogs, streams, and marshy ground. One of the consequences however, of a sparse indigenous population was that many of these roads fell into disuse, as exemplified by stretches of trees and brush that had grown over the pathways by the time of colonial settlement. As a result, one of the first tasks of the new settlers was to clear and upgrade the path to meet the demands of the 17^th-century colonists. Kings Highway upon completion was six rods, or 99 feet in width.

Union Beach Fire Equipment to Get Free Detailing

Details: Category: News; Published: 17 January 2013

ROCHELLE PARK, NJ — With help from fellow detailing industry professionals, former Jersey City police officer Harry Sandwith of Dirty Harry’s Detailing will be refurbishing 11 damaged emergency vehicles and equipment from three of the four fire stations in the Union Beach, NJ community hit hard during Hurricane Sandy. The restoration project begins on Tuesday, January 22 and is expected to be completed by Friday, January 25.

Featured in the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief, Union Beach is getting help from the detailing industry countrywide, including the Dirty Harry staff’s James Viola and Harry and Joseph Sandwith; active duty Long Branch police officer, Bob Wiener of Finer Details in West Long Branch, NJ; Darryl Kimmis of Mirror Image Detailing in Rowlett, TX; Michael Pena of Mobile Auto Detail in Houston; and Andrew Swenson of Wolfeboro Carwash and Detailing of New Hampshire — all whom are donating their time and skill. Generous cash donations are pouring in from detailing trainer Renny Doyle of Attention to Details ($500); Bill Quinn of Bill the Buff Man Washington State Detailing ($400); the Long Branch Police Department PBA ($500) and SOA ($500); Robert Eichelberg of Flex North America ($500); and $100 donations from Dave Bayless and Doug Parfitt. Jim Stavrinides of Aerolon Performance Coating’s in San Francisco has donated a large supply of Aerolon Tech Shine product; Robert Regan of Towel Pros California is sending 100 high-end detail towels; and Joe Sabo of DRC 1000 is donating buffing pads and $250 cash — all with hopes of giving the badly crippled emergency management team a fresh look.

Closure of Bray Avenue in Port Monmouth

Details: Category: News; Published: 15 January 2013

County to advance work to replace Pews Creek bridge

MIDDLETOWN, NJ – The bridge on Bray Avenue over Pews Creek in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown is closed in the interest of public safety.

While only the bridge is closed, traffic between Main Street and Thompson Avenue is being detoured. Bray Avenue will be open to local traffic only. The bridge is closed to vehicle traffic until further notice. Pedestrian access will continue. Detour signs have been posted.

Prior to the closure, Monmouth County had been in the process of preparing plans and specification for the replacement of the 60-year old bridge.

Several Passengers Injured in Seastreak Ferry Accident

Details: Category: News; Published: 09 January 2013

seastreak_wall_street ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ - Several passengers were injured Wednesday morning when the Seastreak Wall Street crashed into the South Street Seaport Pier 11.

At least 58 people sustained injuries when the ferry, heading up the East River, took a left turn into the dock and sustained a large gash in the right front hull when it came to a hard landing.

The injured were transported to area hospitals including: Lenox Hill, NY Downtown, Roosevelt and Cornell.

Many passengers were standing, ready to disembark, when the boat slammed into the pier and they were flung around the cabin. Witnesses described shoulder, back, leg and head injuries.

In a news conference, officials said there were two passengers in critical condition at Weill-Cornell Medical Center.

The ferry departed Highlands at 8:00 a.m. and was approaching Pier 11 in New York City when it hit Slip D and then Slip B on the south side of the pier at about 8:45 this morning. The northern side of the pier will reopen at noon.

The Seastreak Wall Street, sometimes called the "big boat" by passengers, was retrofitted last year with lighter propellers which make travel smoother according to some passengers. One person, speaking to local CBS News affiliate, WCBS, said since the retrofitting there were sometimes docking issues, with the ferry maneuvering back and forth to dock. There is no indication if that was the case during this docking.

"A lot of head injuries. A lot of people were bleeding from their head," said Kim Nelson, who witnessed several passengers being removed from the boat.

NTSB investigators are en route to the scene.