The BERKELEY Times Vol. 29 - No. 36
In This Week’s Edition
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
County Leaders Challenged
Mayor Bacchione Sets Pace For First Term
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Government Page 7
Community News Pages 9-18
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16
Inside The Law Page 19
Mayor John Bacchione is adjusting well to leading the town. By Chris Lundy BER K ELEY – Mayor John Bacchione sat down with The Berkeley Times to discuss his first term as mayor and what he expects those four years to look like. “Being on the council for 12 years prepared me for this job,” he said. Sometimes a new mayor will change everything when they come into office. Bacchione had worked closely with former Mayor Carmen Amato, so residents won’t notice the transition.
In this case, it wasn’t broke, so there wasn’t anything to fix. It’s more like a change in style rather than a change of direction. Bacchione compared it like this: “If you ask me to drive your car, I might have to adjust the seat.” One big change he has been discussing is the need for certain recreation in town. Central Regional has a hockey team with no rink, and a swim team with no pool. At neighboring Veterans
February 24, 2024
Photo by Chris Lundy
Park, just south of the turf field, there’s room to possibly build a facility that could answer both needs. There could be an indoor pool and an indoor ice rink. There’s ample parking already, he noted. Being centrally located in the county, it’s possible that the town could even rent it out to other districts. “That’s something that could be my legacy in four years,” he said. Of course, this is nothing (Mayor - See Page 4)
By Bob Vosseller and Chris Lundy OCEAN COUNTY – A political upset happened when the Ocean County Republican screening committee endorsed Manchester Mayor Robert Arace and Berkeley Township Board of Education president Jennifer Bacchione rather than the incumbent commissioners. This means that current Commissioners Gary Quinn and Director Bobbi Jo Crea will be facing a challenge during at the upcoming Ocean County GOP convention. Arace and Bacchione are both closely allied with County GOP Chair man George Gilmore, who reclaimed his position as Ocean County GOP chairman in 2023. Arace is 30 years old and is currently serving the second month of his second year as mayor. He is the youngest candidate for such a county position. Arace told The Manchester Times, “I was surprised. It
all came about very quickly. It was only about a week or two ago when I was first asked if I had interest. I had some reservations about it because I actually love Manchester (ser ving as mayor) and there is a lot of work to be done here.” Arace added, “what I have learned and learned rather quickly is that when you have a population of retirees that need critical services like EMS, fire and police, that is something I am extremely passionate about.” He said he wants to see those services continue to be delivered “at extremely high quality for our residents however, on the flip side of that is to ensure the township is affordable for our retirees.” “It has always been this balance of how to continue to provide critical services that are necessary, keep the township quality insomuch as open space but also keep the township affordable. What I have found in the (Challenge - See Page 4)
sacrifice of the four chaplains commemorated in manchester
Photo by Mark Bator The imposing stone exterior of the Cathedral of the Air, set in the pine trees adjacent to the military base.
By Mark Bator MANCHESTER - On a near-perfect winter day, the an nual ceremony commemorating the Four Chaplains was held at the historic Cathedral of the Air. With the assistance of American Legion Post 129 in Toms River, the Cathe-
Quinn Hopping Funeral Home BURIALS | ENTOMBMENTS | CREMATIONS PRE-PLANNING without OBLIGATION Sara A. Giustino, Manager • N.J. Lic. No. 4906
26 Mule Road, Toms River | 732-240-3800 | Quinn-HoppingFH.com
dral of the Air Committee held their annual commemorative event, honoring the four Army chaplains of various faiths who selflessly assisted their fellow servicemen in the early morning hours of February 3, 1943. The story was recounted by the National Director of the Four Chaplains Foundation,
William Kaemmer, who gave the memorial address to the crowd in attendance. Setting sail from New York on January 23, 1943, the S.S. Dorchester with 902 servicemen, merchant seamen, and civilians onboard, was passing the coast of Newfoundland at about 12:55 a.m. when it encountered a
German submarine patrolling the North Atlantic. Converted into an Army transport carrier, the 5,649-ton vessel was targeted by submarine U223, which torpedoed the ship as it ferried soldiers bound for service in the European Theater. The transport (Four Chaplains See Page 5)
DIRECT CREMATION $2,095 Includes: arrangement conference, removal from place of death, alternative container Batesville ccbmdfc, transfer to crematory, crematory fee
“We are dedicated to exceeding expectations and delivering a standard of service that is 100% guaranteed.”