TheTOMS RIVER Times Vol. 16 - No. 23
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Watchfire Ceremony Remembers Those Missing In Action
Toms River In Talks With Feds On Religious Development
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16
Dear Pharmacist Page 17
Inside The Law Page 23
Dear Joel Page 27
─Photo by Bob Vosseller A young son of the American Legion gets a lift on the shoulders of an American Legion member during a POW/MIA Watchfire on the bayfront of Seaside Heights. By Bob Vosseller SEASIDE HEIGHTS – A rou nd 82,000 American servicemen a n d s e r v ic e wo m e n remain missing in action since World War II to the present time. M e m b e r s of t h e A mer ican Legion, Sons of the America n Leg ion , Ocea n Cou nt y Boa rd of Chosen Freeholders and guests recently observed POW-MIA Day and recognized a
local resident whose status was unknown for mor e t h a n t wo decades. T h e S o n s of t h e A mer ican Legion Detachment of New Jersey hosted the 30th A n n u a l Wa t c h f i r e which drew a large c r owd o n t h e b o rough’s bayfront. Chuck Robbins, the Nat ional Execut ive Committeeman from the American Legion D e p a r t m e n t of N J
made a posthumous night, you are sending med al present at ion three messages - that to the family of Air being a message to Force Major George MIA families that we J. Pollin of Lavallette. ca re, a me ssage t o Pollin’s aircraft was our elected officials shot down on April t o s up p or t leg isla29, 1967. He was list- tion and policies that ed as “declared dead will make available while missing in ac- use of all necessary t ion .” H i s r e m a i n s resources to achieve we r e r e c ove r e d on the f ullest possible September 30, 1990 a c c o u n t i n g of o u r and were identified on nation’s missing no December 17, 1990. matter what the cost, “By conducting the and a message to our wa t ch f i r e h e r e t o - (Ceremony - See Page 4)
Drop Boxes Are Ready For Your Ballot By Bob Vosseller TOMS R I V ER – There are 17 drop boxes available in Ocean County to bring your completed ballot to. Officials of the state recently released a complete list of locations of where secure d rop boxes a re for use during this year’s mail-in general elec-
tion on November 3. The 17 drop boxes are spread out throughout the county and several are already available for depositing completed ballots, which are collected by the Ocean County Board of Elections on a daily basis. Cameras have been installed to monitor
the boxes on 24 hour/ seven day a week basis. Once you return your ballot, a voter will have the ability to track their ballot online through the state Division of Elections. Considering the ongoing COVID -19 pandemic, Governor Phil Mur phy signed P.L. 2020, c. 72 which re-
quires County Clerks to send all active registered voters a vote by mail ballot for the Nove mb e r 3, 2020 General Election. Ocean County Clerk Scott Colabella said mail-in ballots are being sent to active registered voters. Those who have not yet registered to vote
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have until October 13 to do so and can register in person at the Ocean County Clerk’s office located at the Ocean County Courthouse at 118 Washington St. According to the state Division of Elections drop boxes are already available at the following (Ballot - See Page 9)
By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – Facing the possibility of a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, the township entered into pre-litigation negotiation. This is designed to prevent the federal government from deciding local land use laws in the courts. The issue revolves around zoning for development. The Attorney General alleges that Toms River’s zoning violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The simplified version of this law is that a town can’t create ordinances to make it difficult for certain people to move into town. Toms River had already retained attorney and author Marci Hamilton to help navigate this law. She has been speaking on behalf of the township to the federal government. According to the Justice Department’s letter: “The complaint will allege that the Township’s zoning laws unreasonably limit religious exercise, treat religious assemblies or institutions on less than equal terms with nonreligious assemblies or institutions, and substantially burden religious exercise, which burden does not further a compelling governmental interest and is not the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling interest.” The goal of the negotiation, according to the federal government, would be to change the town’s ordinances and to train staff on following the law. Specifically, it notes: “We are willing to discuss the precise nature of revisions to the Township’s zoning ordinance, but they must, at a minimum, involve significant changes that address the religious needs of Orthodox Jews, and other religious groups, who worship in small settings, travel on foot to attend houses of worship because of sincerely held religious beliefs, and have minimal need for parcels with large acreage.” Township officials said that the Justice Department had been investigating the township’s ordinances since 2018. In 2019, the township put forward some proposals to remedy the situation, and never heard back from the feds. (Land - See Page 9)
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