Proponents of a change of government to a ward system with direct election of the mayor have filed suit to overturn the ruling of city attorney Frederick Raffetto [above] that their petition to force a referendum on the issue is invalid. The appeal was filed by attorney Christopher Iavarone of Toms River, according to political […]

Vintage car buffs may soon have a place to store their automobiles in downtown Asbury Park. The planning board recently recommended approval for a storage garage for classic cars to occupy a long-vacant warehouse [above in foreground] stretching between Bangs and Summerfield Avenues. The garage may soon be home to an ancillary social club, as well. The city council […]

The last empty building on the boardwalk will soon be back in business. Boadwalk redeveloper Madison Marquette is renovating the shuttered Sunset Avenue Pavilion to reopen it for May’s Bamboozle festival. The boardwalk redeveloper seeks to “make the building active again instead of it laying there boarded up,” city redevelopment and planning director Donald Sammet said at Wednesday’s […]

Required to introduce the budget in February without final state aid figures, the city council held a hearing Wednesday night on the spending plan, which currently bears a 17-percent tax increase. The state aid amounts should be available within the next week, city manager Terence Reidy [above] said at the hearing. With those aid figures, the budget […]

The green-tinged decorative copper panels that went missing from Convention Hall recently are largely considered to be gone for good, but an official from Madison Marquette announced at last night’s council meeting the boardwalk redeveloper will replace them. “It is a tragedy,” said Keith Ortner, Madison Marquette’s vice president of development. “We as a company […]

A downtown restaurant that seemed to have made it through the recession will close its doors on April 14. “I am sending this email with a heavy heart,” said Plan B owner Jeffrey Haveson in an email blast. “We have lost our lease and need to close our doors.” Haveson, a vocal presence among downtown […]

Led by Councilman John Loffredo and Mayor Ed Johnson, both shown above, the city council introduced an ordinance last night to establish an elected commission to review the city’s form of government — with the power to submit changes to voters that would scuttle a system believed to date back to the 1920s. “It’s time,” Loffredo immediately stated when the matter was brought […]

Asbury Park Housing Authority counsel Kevin Wigenton was censured by the New Jersey Supreme Court Tuesday, ending a decade-old disciplinary case that could have led to his disbarment as a lawyer. According to a report on the Red Bank Green website, the court ruled 5-1 to censure Wigenton for faulty bookkeeping practices. The Office of Attorney […]

The no-man’s land of vacant lots and dilapidated buildings on Cookman Avenue dividing the downtown and beachfront will get a facelift before July 4th. A streetscape program of new sidewalks, curbing, lighting and landscaping will be installed by waterfront redeveloper Asbury Partners on the stretch of Cookman (shown above) between Grand Avenue and Kingsley Street. […]

When the annual spring herring run soon begins in Deal Lake, larger fish and waterfowl will enjoy a feast on this forage fish. But there’s one species that won’t be so lucky. Humans. The state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife has banned the harvesting of herring this year, following other states that are trying […]