The BERKELEY Times Vol. 26 - No. 38
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Frederick Drive Traffic Light Saved Lives Since Installation
In This Week’s Edition
BREAKING NEWS @
─Photo by Chris Lundy
(Left) The Frederick Drive traffic light was installed two and a half years ago. (Right) This memorial is at the traffic light for Denise Iesals, who died in 2015 after being struck by a vehicle at that intersection.
jerseyshoreonline.com
Community News Page 10-13
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16
Dear Joel Page 16
Inside The Law Page 19
By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – In the two and a half years since the light at Frederick Drive and Route 9 has been in existence, crashes have dramatically decreased, police said. The intersection had been a dangerous one for years before that. There had been three fatalities since 2009. T he tow nship petitioned the State Department of Transportation to build a traffic light
there in 2012 and it was fi nally completed in August of 2018. What a lot of drivers probably don’t realize is that there is a large neighborhood off Frederick, if you head west. There is an apartment complex not far from the intersection. There are other roads in and out of the area, but Frederick is the most convenient, at least for those who live in the apartments. These residents would
often walk to the shopping plaza, crossing Route 9 to do so. This shopping plaza, anchored by ShopRite, is extremely busy. The way the parking lot is designed, it appears that there was a plan to have a standalone building close to this intersection, such as a bank or a drive-through restaurant. There are entrances to this plaza to the north and south of Frederick Drive, and both of them get tight
with traffic and people riding the shoulders to get around drivers trying to make a left into the parking lot. When the town made its original request to the DOT in 2012 they provided statistics to prove it was dangerous. There had been 45 crashes in the few years before this request. Six of these crashes involved pedestrians; resulting in two fatalities. In the span of 2012 (School - See Page 4)
Is Ocean County A Hot Spot For Winning Lottery Tickets?
By Alyssa Riccardi OCEAN COUNTY – Over the past month, residents in Ocean County have been winning big when it comes to the New Jersey Lottery. Drawings for the Powerball and Mega Millions reached extreme highs: the Powerball reaching
$731.1 million on January 21 and the Mega Millions reaching $1 billion, being the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in history. Here at Jersey Shore Online, we’ve reported several winnings in the last month. Approximately 10 winners in the past
several weeks, totaling to almost $2.5 million. The luckiest winner was the recent Mega Millions Jackpot winner from the January 22 drawing. The winning ticket was purchased in Brick Township and won the second-tier prize of $1 million.
When asked ‘what would you do if you won the lottery?’, many Ocean County residents surprisingly had similar answers. Many said the first thing they would do is move out of Ocean County or use the money to go on vacation. “I play with the hopes
of winning. I will help people who need help, with all that money I don’t have a care in the world for myself it would be for everyone else. But I definitely would travel, see all the places I want to see, hopefully without COVID-19 restrictions,”
March 6, 2021
School Choice Program Continues Through Pandemic
By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – Central Regional School District’s School Choice program, where they take in students from other towns, has continued even through the COVID-19 restrictions, officials said. New Jersey’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program enables families to send their children to a school without any cost to the family. The state pays the tuition. Any New Jersey student can apply, and the application goes to the district, rather than the state. The district has to follow guidelines in order to remain in the program. “School Choice has been a tremendous success at Central Regional,” Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides said. “Once a student is accepted as a Choice Student they become a Central Regional student so they are in the same hybrid system we are using now.” (School - See Page 4)
Students Divided Over 2 Kinds Of Desk Barriers
By Chris Lundy PINE BEACH – As elementary students returned to in-person instruction, they found plastic dividers on their desks designed to slow the spread of COVID-19. However, through the internet and people talking, parents learned that some schools got fully clear barriers while some had barriers that were solid white on the sides. The ones that were white on the sides cut off the peripheral vision of students and are great for keeping kids from cheating, but are basically like “horse blinders,” said Rob Wunderlich of Pine Beach. His daughter’s school, Pine Beach Elementary, which is part of the Toms River Regional School District, received the white barriers that have a clear front. “They can’t even see the board,” he said. (Barriers - See Page 21)
(Lottery - See Page 4)
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