Now Direct Mailed to OVER 2,250 HOMES in LeisureTowne and 195 HOMES in Hampton Lakes
Mold Untold
Health Officials Were Not Notified About Problem at Seneca High
From Farm to Preserve PG 4
A Duet, Not a Trio
Environmental Group Purchases 442 Acres for Open Space PG 6
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October 6, 2018 – October 12, 2018
Youngkin Contrite But Unbowed in Interview Over Campaign Halt
By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer
Photo Submitted
EMERGENCY EXIT?
Status of Tabernacle Rescue Squad Jeopardized by Proposed Ordinance By Mark Hatoff
For the Pine Barrens Tribune
TABERNACLE—The prospect of the Tabernacle Rescue Squad (TRS) having to discontinue its services to Tabernacle Township residents and visitors is being raised after the introduction of a proposed ordinance that would repeal an existing one designating the TRS as the sole emergency medical-service provider for the municipality. The proposed measure was approved by a 3-2 vote following a Sept. 24 executive session of the Tabernacle Township Committee. Mayor Joseph Barton, Deputy Mayor Stephen Lee IV and Committeeman
Joseph Yates IV voted in support of the measure, while Committeewoman Kimberly Brown and Committeeman Richard Franzen opposed it. Founded in 1953, the TRS has served Tabernacle for over 50 years. The volunteer squad, on average, responds to over 700 EMS and rescue calls per year within the township and its neighboring communities. News of the proposed ordinance appeared to come as a shock to TRS President Jamie Wood and TRS Chief George Jackson III. “This has me very concerned,” Wood told the Pine Barrens Tribune in an interview four days after the meeting.
“We had no idea this vote was occurring. We only found out about it because one of our members was in the audience when the committee returned from executive session and the governing body announced its decision.” Wood added that as of Sept. 28, the TRS had still not been officially contacted by the committee in regard to the ordinance. Barton, when reached by phone a day earlier on Sept. 27, said that Lee, when he was mayor of Tabernacle in January 2016, tried to negotiate a contract with the TRS that he felt would be fair to residents. See EXIT/ Page 21
MEDFORD—For a man whose reputation has been impugned and now finds himself in the position of being pilloried by allies as well as adversaries, George Youngkin in an exclusive phone interview Tuesday with the Pine Barrens Tribune displayed an unexpected amount of equanimity when talking about the slings and arrows recently directed at him. The Democratic candidate for Burlington County freeholder, who has suspended his campaign amid revelations that he was once accused of physically abusing his ex-wife and harassing another, unnamed woman, was both forthright and forgiving toward condemnation from his own party, although he said he “wasn’t intent on making any comment” before being contacted by this newspaper. But, once having agreed to answer this reporter’s questions, Youngkin, who had already taken full responsibility for his actions and apologized for the pain he has caused his family, running mates and supporters, wasn’t about to let his political rivals off the hook, either. When asked whether he felt deliberately targeted by the Burlington County Times, in which the reports of those accusations first appeared, he replied that it was his belief the paper had simply run with a story that “got leaked to them”—one that was “dug up by the Republicans and dumped in their lap.” The allegations that have resulted in his current woes and the resulting muddle in which his party now finds itself just weeks before the election, Youngkin maintained, “weren’t 100 percent accurate” and have been “exaggerated.” He added that the article that brought them to public attention “only told one side of the story.” According to the newspaper account, Youngkin was arrested and charged with assault in November 2006 after an off-duty officer witnessed a dispute between him and his ex-wife, who also accused him of having tried to choke her six months earlier while they were still married. That charge was dropped when she obtained a court order barring him from contacting her. The paper also reported that an Evesham woman had complained on several occasions in 2004 and 2006 that Youngkin, whom she identified as a friend, persisted in calling and texting her after she asked him not to and showed up outside her children’s school and church. However, no charges were ever filed in the matter. When asked if he didn’t think all that might See HALT/ Page 12
INDEX Automotive................... 23 Business Directory....... 16 Community..................... 8 Dental Column.............. 11
Garden Column............ 14 Marketplace.................. 20 Health............................. 9 Opinion........................... 7 Hobbyist....................... 15 Worship Directory........... 8 Local News..................... 4
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