The BERKELEY Times Vol. 29 - No. 32
In This Week’s Edition
BREAKING NEWS @
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Government Page 8
Community News Pages 7-11
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 12
Inside The Law Page 20
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JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
January 27, 2024
School District Sues Social Media Companies
Stolen Flag, Sign Replaced By Veteran Service Groups By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – When one soldier needs help, others come running. This was the case for Bayville resident Kyle Cyphers. The Army veteran served in South Korea (2010) and Afghanistan (2011-2012). He had a small Wounded Warrior flag at the front of his home as well as a garden sign that stated “property protected by a U.S. veteran,” said Holly Nitto, who works with local nonprofit the Redondo Foundation. Cyphers posted on the Facebook page, Bayville Chatter, that someone stole the sign and the flag. His mother also posted about it. Nitto knew his mother from the salon where she works. “W hen I saw Michelle’s post that someone stole from a veteran, I knew I needed to help, and therefore im-
Photo courtesy Redondo Foundation Volunteers pose with members of the Cyphers family and the new sign. mediately spoke with her about helping to get these items replaced,” Nitto said. Chris Hoff from the Wounded Warrior Project was able to replace the small flag with a standard size flag. Ke it h Pe t t e r s e n , one of the Redondo Foundation’s top volu nt e e r s , c o nt a c t e d seve r al people a nd
Cha rlot te Banasia k volunteered her time and materials to make the sign, she said. “We had also gifted Kyle some smaller American flags as well as a Redondo Foundation t-shirt.” D o n Re d o n d o, a Bayville resident who started the 501(c)3, said he helps local vets who have PTSD or traumatic
brain injury get away from their struggles for a little bit and bond with others who might be going through the same thing. It allows veterans to get away from it all and focus on themselves in a non-clinical approach. T he g roup had a fundraiser in the fall at Veterans Park. At that event, Redondo told
The Berkeley Times that a group recently came back from Moab, Utah. In national parks like this, a veteran can unplug and de-stress. “There’s no noise. They can really focus on themselves. They realize what’s really important,” he said. To help, or to be helped , v isit P ro jectAWOL.org.
By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – The Central Regional Board of Education will join a class action lawsuit agai n st f ive social media companies for profiting off the harm they cause to children, officials said. Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube are all named. T he suit was annou nced at a recent Board meeting with a statement read by Board President Susan Cowdrick. The statement began with acknowledging the tragic death of Adriana Kuch, a 14-year-old who committed suicide last year after a video of her being assaulted by (Lawsuit- See Page 4)
$78M Courtroom Annex Project Awarded By Bob Vosseller OCEAN COUNTY – Members of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners took another step toward building a new annex to the Ocean County Justice Complex on Hooper Avenue in Toms River. During the Board’s last meeting the panel awarded a conRendering courtesy Ocean County tract to the lowest qualified An artist rendering shows the northeast corner of the new justice bidder, Ernest Bock & Sons complex annex on Hooper Avenue in Toms River Township. in the amount of $78 million.
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Work on the project could begin in the spring and completion is estimated for 2026. Five bids were received by Ocean County for the project with the highest bidder totaling $97,857,000. Ocean County Commissioner John P. Kelly said, “our overall goal is to create a building that will function properly. We are building what we need. We are not building too much.” The annex will be four stories and
125,000 square feet. It includes a single secure entrance and screening location and separated circulation for the public, judges and prisoners. “This gives us the opportunity to solve one of our biggest problems and that is the movement of people in this facility,” Kelly added. “The new design gives us one single controlled location to move the public in and out of the (Court - See Page 4)
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