The HOWELL Times
Vol. 18 - No. 3
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Farmers Market Starts Second Season
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Community News Pages 8-9
Inside The Law Page 8
Dear Joel Page 13
Dear Pharmacist Page 14
─Photo by Bob Vosseller Kauffman Farm Market co-owner Debbie Kauffman holds up a fresh bag of spinach at the end of the day of the most recent Howell Farmers Market held in front of the Howell Township Municipal Building on Route 9. By Bob Vosseller HOWELL – Fresh air, sunny skies and a bit of a breeze made for a perfect Sunday afternoon for the second weekend in a row for the Township’s Farmers Market. The market is overseen by a town organization and in cooperation with the Township, its Environmental Commission and its Green team members. It re-
turned on May 31 and is continuing through the summer into the fall each Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. “Several groups and people made this all happen and it is going well. We are looking for more vendors to be a part of it,” said Joan Osborne, who heads the township’s Environmental Commission and is also the presi-
dent of the organization overseeing the market. It also has another benefit for the township in that having a homegrown farmers market featuring Jersey Fresh produce helps toward earning the township state certification for the Sustainable Jersey program. She said the market prov ided veget able and plants and local-
ly grown flowers. “As more produce becomes available during the season we’ll have more items.” “We are providing a nice safe place to shop,” Osborne said sporting her protective mask. While all shoppers had masks, some sported those made by Caryn Wilder and her husband Joe of Caryn’s Custom (Market - See Page 2)
Parents Of Autistic Children Face Challenges Of Pandemic Lockdown By Bob Vosseller NEW JERSEY – The closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic have created new challenges for parents who have had to juggle being part-time educators as well. For those parents with children who are au-
tistic, that challenge is even more daunting. “Times are tough for everyone but can be particularly hard for people with autism and parents of children on the spectrum. Parents are serving as teacher, aide, behavioral therapist, occupational ther-
apist, speech therapist and many other roles crucial for their child’s progress and development,” said Donna S. Murray, PhD. She is vice president of clinical programs and head of the Autism Treatment Network (ATN) at Autism Speaks. She
also serves as an adjunct associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital within the University of Cincinnati’s Department of Pediatrics.
She added, “people on the spectrum who live in group homes or fulltime care facilities may be separated from their families, and adults living independently are coping with changes to their work environments and typical sup-
(Autism - See Page 11)
June 13, 2020
Argument Erupts Over Land Mayor Selling For Open Space
By Bob Vosseller HOWELL – Calling it personal, Mayor Theresa Berger questioned why Deputy Mayor Evelyn O’Donnell called for an appraisal of property that Berger and her husband were planning to sell to the township for open space use. The issue came up during a May 19 council meeting where officials were slated to vote on the purchase of the 13-acre property. The land would be sold to the township for a little over $46,000 according to the deputy mayor. The property would be added to Howell’s open space program and the mayor has had to recuse herself from handling any aspect of the sale. The mayor said the land belonged to her husband’s family estate. She noted at the meeting that her family was not making a profit off the sale of the property and felt it would do the most good in being added to the township’s open space. O’Donnell said that she had been approached by residents who asked her whether a sitting public off icial could profit over the sale of land and if she would bring up the matter at the council meeting as they did not wish to do that themselves. No one can be present at town hall where officials meet for video telecast meetings although a chat feature allows for questions to be e-mailed to the governing body. The deputy mayor noted that the land in question had not been appraised in three years and that it could be worth less the current price or more and told the mayor it was not personal and that depending on what an appraiser said, could provide her a better price. O’Donnell called for a motion to have the appraisal performed. This supported by fellow Republican Councilwoman Pamela Richmond and Thomas Russo. Democrat John Bonevich expressed some frustration with the change in plan to vote on the sale but abstained (Property - See Page 4)
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