Letters
Middletown police, fire depts. praised for ‘truly outstanding job’

(Copy of a letter to Middletown Mayor Thomas Hall)

I would like to bring to your attention the truly outstanding job that was performed by your police and fire departments June 19.

My family was celebrating Father’s Day with a cookout at my home on Martel Court. At approximately, 2 p.m., it was discovered my wife’s Aunt Teresina was missing. Teresina Novembrino, a 63-year-old resident of Bayonne, is a mentally challenged woman with nearly no command of the English language. Teresina — or Sina as she is known by our family — wandered around the corner from my home, became disoriented, and began traveling in an easterly direction. Several family members immediately set out on foot and by automobile but failed to locate her. After approximately one hour, I advised my wife to contact the Middletown Police Department to enlist their assistance.

Patrol Officer Janine Hawthorne arrived at my home immediately. She collected all relevant information, calmed my family’s fears, and began making all necessary contacts and notifications.

Officer Hawthorne’s supervisor and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit quickly arrived and began tracking Sina. Though the K-9 unit unfortunately lost Sina’s trail, the police department then reached out for additional resources. It is my understanding as many as 300 volunteers from Middletown and its neighboring communities were assembled to assist in the effort.

At approximately 8 p.m., we were elated to learn form Officer Hawthorne Sina was found several miles from my home by Patrol Officer Lisa Vreeland. After six hours of traveling on foot, and in an unfamiliar surrounding, Sina was brought back to my home in excellent condition to the emotional exuberance of the entire family.

My in-laws — who all hail from Bayonne — were all truly overwhelmed at the combined efforts of the police, fire and rescue squads, and expressed their envy that we have chosen Middletown to live in and raise our children.

Again, I would like to extend my most heartfelt gratitude for the outstanding job performed by everyone in this emotionally trying time, and especially to Patrol Officer Hawthorne and her supervising lieutenant who had provided frequent updates and had shown such great concern for us. We cannot say thank you enough to Patrol Officer Vreeland, with whom we had not met, but had learned of her identity, for finding Sina and bringing her home to us. Thank you.

Paul A. Marks

Middletown

‘Oasis in midst of suburban sprawl’ is threatened

As part of the planning process for smart growth in the borough of Keyport, I have taken part in what was called a visioning process in which four committees — alone with a steering or oversight committee — were formed to brainstorm ideas for the redevelopment of the borough. The idea — or so we were told — was to create a vision of Keyport that was integrated with the needs, the desires and the dreams of the community.

Throughout that process — which was complicated and time consuming — many of the 60 odd participants voiced the concern that our ideas would be ignored and politics and high finance would eventually hijack the process. Nonetheless, we persevered. We were assured our ideas, not developers and politicians, would control the planning process with regard to waterfront development here. Now we find, in spite of many months of work on the part of the five committees created for the so-called visioning process, the actual redevelopment plan for the aeromarine property will likely consist primarily of high-density housing.

At the Planning Board meeting July 14, the public was invited to question the borough planner with regard to the borough’s redevelopment plan for the area. A private developer for the property — speaking as a member of the public, mind you — also presented a plan for the site. While the borough’s plan appears to contain a smaller number of proposed units and greater percentage of open space than the private developers, neither considers the alternative of commercial development — which would impact the rest of us already here less negatively — or stressed marine uses — unless waterfront views from fabulous terraces are a marine use.

Those of us who moved to Keyport because it was an oasis in the midst of suburban sprawl should feel seriously threatened. Imagine what 300 or 500 more residential units in town would mean to your daily life. And we are just getting started with development in Keyport. In the end, how many more people will live hers? A thousand? Could there be even more? The answer to the questions is we don’t really know because no one has studied this.

Before we embark on this risky venture, the residents of the town are entitled to real date to show the proposition will provide a real measurable benefit to the town, outweighing the known quality of life, infrastructure and environmental problems it will surely bring. The only date I have seen have been provided by the developers and one concerned resident, apparently at his own expense. The disasters of Long Branch and Marlboro are two examples of what is achieved when development moves too quickly and the voice of the people is ignored.

Most of us who are skeptical about the direction that planning is moving here are not against development. But development has real measurable costs to the community in terms of infrastructure — schools, fire, police, roads and so on — and some less easy to gauge but no less important — the preservation of this town in all its imperfect glory — a small, friendly, diverse community with a glorious waterfront that, so far we’ve all be able to share. If you care about preserving the Keyport we all love, come to the special Planning Board meeting July 20 at 7 p.m. at the Senior Citizens Center, Second Street, and let the planner and the members of the Planning Board know how you feel.

Jennifer Henning

Keyport

Group has bone to pick over natural foods article

Although People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) applauds Whole Foods Market for animal-friendly policies and for offering a wide variety of vegetarian foods and cruelty-free cosmetics, it is entirely inaccurate to suggest we give our “stamp of approval” to the meat sold there or anywhere (“Store wholeheartedly embraces natural foods,” July 7).

Pigs, chickens, and other farmed animals are made of flesh, blood and bone, just like human beings. They have the same five senses and the same range of emotions. Chickens and pigs are actually smarter than dogs or cats, animals most Americans would not think of eating. But there’s no moral difference between eating a chicken as opposed to a cat or a pig as opposed to a dog.

PETA wholeheartedly encourages everyone to adopt a vegetarian diet. Humans simply don’t need to eat animal products — and we’re much healthier if we don’t. We have so many vegetarian choices there’s absolutely no reason to continue raising and slaughtering animals for food.

Readers can call 1-888-VEG FOOD for a free DVD, information, and recipes. Can’t wait? Then visit GoVeg.com for a free online video, great-tasting recipes, cooking and shopping tips, nutritional information and more.

Bruce Friedrich

director

Vegan Campaigns, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Norfolk, Va.

Train is not fitting memorial for lives lost in battle

I just discovered Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Manalapan, not too long ago. When seeing it for the first time, I actually thought it was one of the nicest places I’d seen in New Jersey. In this time of growth, it was such a pleasure not to see a corporate complex, housing or any building machinery and materials for as far as the eye could see — to just see nature as it should be. It made me happy to live in an area supporting this type of place. Add to this the fact that it is a historic battle site to help remind our children and us why we should love it here, and why this place in which we live was so important that men and women gave their lives for us.

Now I am angered to hear that they may put a commuter rail line going through the park. The freeholders say they are thinking of commuters. People don’t move to this area for an easy commute — they already had that in New York. They move here for peace and quiet.

Experience has shown me that trains do not relieve traffic on local roads. Trains make traffic. Metro Park, Edison — the entire area was farms until the train station came. Now it takes 20 minutes to go two lights. Trains only attract out-of-area people to your town to use the train and to use the local roads to get to the train and to its parking garages.

If you must build rail lines, at all costs avoid the park, existing lines or not. If you need more of a reason, go to a battle re-enactment, and see if a commuter train is an appropriate memorial for the lives given there.

Elizabeth Fagan

Monroe