The MANCHESTER Times Vol. 27 - No. 47
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Police Study Cause Of Colonial Drive Crashes
In This Week’s Edition
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Community News Page 10-12
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 20
Inside The Law Page 23
Dear Joel Page 26
–Photo By Bob Vosseller A crash near the intersection of Route 37 and Colonial Drive destroyed this electronic sign.
T
By Bob Vosseller he township has seen a number of crashes in the area of Colonial Drive lately. One crash closed the road and delayed a Township Council meeting, and wrecked an electronic sign. Colonial is a relatively short road, but it gets busy when it connects with Route 37, near town hall, the library, and the high school. Local officers did their own study of the area, Lt. Antonio Ellis told The Manchester Times. The data showed that while it seemed like there were frequent crashes at that intersection, the information shows that it is not that high historically. Traffic Safety Officer I Patrolman Michael O’Hara said he looked at the past three years of crash data from January 1, 2019 to January 10, 2022. During
that time period, Manchester Township Police investigated approximately 2,900 crashes. Only eight of those crashes involved a vehicle travelling west on Route 37 with the traffic signal acting as a traffic control device. “Only two crashes occurred within the last year,” O’Hara added. He noted that two recent crashes were caused by drivers, “following too closely and driver inattention.” He added, those reasons “were the primary contributing factors for all of the eight crashes. Five of the eight crashes involved injuries which were predominantly minor in nature. There were no fatalities and only one of the eight crashes caused property damage.” (Police - See Page 5)
March 5, 2022
Superintendent Focuses On Communication
By Bob Vosseller MANCHESTER – During John Berenato’s first Board of Education meeting as superintendent of schools, he highlighted communication in the district and he had a lot to report to the public. “I’m excited for us to work as a team to meet ‘excellence by example’ and to really move this district forward in every way that we can for our students,” he said. Meet and greet sessions were held during the month and concluded on February 24. “I want to be visible and available to parents, teachers and everyone in the district. “We are trying to improve communication with the community and we hope you will fill out the survey located on our website. We want to get an idea of what is the best mode of communication for you, and we want to make sure that the information that’s coming out to you is timely and also that you know where to find it,” he told parents. He announced those retiring from the school district and thanked them for their service. Those retiring included Timothy HingerROTC at Manchester High School after 13 years of service; Michelle (Shelby) York who served as a bus driver for 22 years. “Substitutes, we need them,” he noted in his report adding that teachers make $120 a day while school nurses make $200 a day which is at an increased rate which the Board of Education approved that evening. Bus drivers (Communication - See Page 4)
Local American Lithuanian Tests Show Students Hurt By Pandemic Group Rallies To Support Ukraine
By Stephanie Faughnan TOMS RIVER – More than a dozen members of the Central New Jersey Chapter of American Lithuanian Community gathered at the Ocean County Admin-
istration building on Saturday to show solidarity with Ukraine. Loreta Garettson, a Manahawkin resident, joined the gathering w it h h e r hu s b a n d , mother and two young d aug hter s. She ex-
plained why she and other Lithuanian immigrants felt such passion about supporting Ukraine from attacks. “We know Russian aggression,” said Garettson. “We were occupied for (Rallies - See Page 4)
By Bob Vosseller MANCHESTER – Like many school districts across the state, township educators reviewed the results of their Start Strong testing which revealed areas in need of improvement from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as most school districts move from mandatory to optional masking –Photo By Bob Vosseller in schools, the impact over the last Manchester School District Director of Curriculum two and a half years on students has Diane Pedroza, standing at podium, joins members of (Tests - See Page 8) her curriculum team to present Start Strong results.
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