The MANCHESTER Times Vol. 29 - No. 43
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
National Guard Opens School District Mourns Pat Ford New Armory
By Bob Vosseller MANCHESTER Members of the Township School District are mourning the loss of another beloved staff member who passed away recently. “It is with great sadness that the Photo courtesy Manchester TownManchester Schools ship School DisThe Manchester Twp. School trict comes togethDistrict and members of the er to mourn the loss community are mourning of staff member Pat Ford. Ms. Ford was the loss of Pat Ford. new to Whiting School but not to the Whiting community or the Manchester Township School District family,” the district said in a statement. “She was a long-time resident of Whiting with deep roots in this area through her residency and years of work with local preschool children. She was proud of the work she did with Manchester’s
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January 27, 2024
(Pat Ford - See Page 4)
Photo courtesy NJ National Guard - Mark C. Olsen The new armory will house operations for the 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. By Bob Vosseller MANCHESTER – The ribbon was cut for the Lakehurst Readiness Center (armory) during a recent ceremony at the new facility. The nearly $16 mil-
lion, 40,762-squarefoot ar mor y will provide the soldiers of Bravo Company, 250th Brigade Support Battalion, 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, New Jersey
Army National Guard with a modern, stateof-the-art facility with classroom t raining, administration, maintenance operations, and equipment storage. “I am grateful for
the support of the federal legislat ure and Governor (Phil) Murphy in prioritizing the funding for this project, and for the many teams that have guided (Armory - See Page 7)
$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 contract to the lowest qualified bidder, Ernest Bock & Sons in the amount of $78 million. 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.” (Project - See Page 5)
Rendering courtesy Ocean County An artist rendering shows the northeast corner of the new justice complex annex on Hooper Avenue in Toms River Township.
By Bob Vosseller MANCHESTER – Snow days, the school district budget preparation, and state testing were just some of the subjects on the mind of interim Superintendent Diane Pedroza who recently spoke with The Manchester Times about the new year for the school district. “One good day would be great,” she said concerning students and even staff enjoying a snow day off, some-
thing that was experienced last week during a snow storm that area residents hadn’t experienced in at least two to three years. “We want them to build, have fun and be outside, there is nothing like missing a day of school,” she said with a laugh. She noted that her transition to this position “has been going rather well.” Pedroza added, “the challenge is that I am currently doing both (Future - See Page 4)
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