Towns must preserve what woods remain       My father grew up in a borough of New York while most of my childhood was spent in Hazlet. Maybe it was because he was from Brooklyn that my father - when gazing out of our kitchen window on Gibson Drive - took pleasure in seeing the trees swaying in the breeze above the houses across the s... More ... Parking ticket leaves train rider cold       On Feb. 15, the day after the Valentine's Day ice storm, my husband dropped me off at the Aberdeen train station at 8:50 a.m. to make the 9:10 train to Penn Station. I was very anxious to make the train because my mother was scheduled for an open-heart operation at NYU Medical Center. There w... More ... Keyport commended for efforts in storm       I would like to express my gratitude to Councilman George Walling, Superintendent George Sappah and the men of the Public Works Department for their diligence in the handling of the terrible ice storm recently. This was the worst storm of its kind in many years. More ... Middletown town center would ease urban-suburban sprawl       Middletown residents read with both personal and community interest Mayor Gerald Scharfenberger's announcement of the soon-to-be-created economic development task force. The mayor cited Middletown's need to create active commercial and industrial properties, expand the tax base, generate new ... More ... N.J. takes autism diagnosis, treatment seriously       In response to the Feb. 28 letter written by Anne McElroy Dachel ("We'll pay a terrible price for failure to address autism"), while I wholeheartedly agree that we should be concerned with the latest New Jersey autism rates coming in at 1 in 94, I would like to disagree on several points in y... More ... Holmdel chair, not CILU, engaging in scare tactics       In his recent letter arguing that "Holmdel must accept some residential units at Lucent [site]," Holmdel Republican Chairman Tom Scarano asks us to believe that his party's majority on the Township Committee will bring "responsible leadership" in addressing this issue, yet he ignores a track ... More ... Short is a new, honest, fresh face on the block       I applaud Committeeman Patrick Short for questioning the price of a new TV for the Crossroads at Croydon program ("Committeeman gives TV buy a bad reception," Feb. 28). As I understand the issue, he did not question the need for one but the need to shop for the best price. More ...