News Updates as of 26 September 2009

• A Matawan woman was sexually assaulted in Colts Neck while stopped with car trouble, per APP. Police are looking for a light colored, older model Chevy Silverado pickup truck. APP added: The attacker is described as a white or Hispanic man who was in his late 20s or early 30s. He was between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed about 180 pounds, and wore dark-colored jeans, work boots and a baseball cap that had a sticker on the underside of the bill, police said.
  
• Matawan Huskies' Jared Allison and MacArthur Underwood made the Newark Star-Ledger's NJ Football Heroes of the Weekend. Jared Allison, Matawan: The QB ran eight times for 86 yards and two TDs and scored on a 53-yard punt return. MacArthur Underwood, Matawan: The RB returned a punt 43 yards for a TD, had a 62-yard interception return for a TD and caught a 47-yard pass for a TD. NJ.com was also talking up Matawan football this past week in glowing terms.
• Did we have some fighter jets buzzing Aberdeen on 21 September?
  
• A Cliffwood man won a bail reduction at a hearing on 21 September, per APP. Charges are related to some alleged gunplay at a Lloyd Road residence in Marlboro earlier this year. (See NJ.com for a March 2009 article about the incident and associated charges.) An alleged accomplice remains in the county jail in Freehold on $1.25 million cash-only bail.
• Maybe this Cliffwood street fight reported in APP was somehow related to the above story?
• Stumpy's Blog provides some good coverage of Shore Conference high school sports. You might want to follow it if you're a sports hound.
• Aberdeen Township passed its budget, according to The Independent. The Dems are pleased not to raise taxes too much, and they've sheepishly tried to put some of the library's funds back into the cookie jar, but it is all smoke and mirrors. The Reps are rightly concerned that the Dems are only deferring tax hikes to a future administration. It was nice to see Rep mayoral candidate Aljian point out
  
  that the Dems took the library's building fund monies just to keep the deficit hounds at bay for another year. Sooner or later -- likely sooner -- we'll have to pay the piper. (I met some of the Reps this afternoon at Aberdeen Day and frankly liked what I was hearing. I hope we vote in a balanced council this year. The Dems, left to their own devices, haven't been very good stewards of our community. They will be lucky to keep a representation on the Council. A swing one way or the other isn't good for the Township, so I hope voters will avoid a single party Council this Nov.)
• 
  MARSD Board of Education is outsourcing its substitute teacher management system. According to The Independent, an agreement was reached on 21 September to use Source4teachers starting 1 October. The Matawan Regional Teachers Association reps at Aberdeen Day seemed to be surprised at how quickly and quietly this matter was handled this summer. There's not been much discussion of this company in the blogosphere. Aberdeener remarked on Source4teachers back in August and solicited comments. In July, Parsippany seemed to think outsourcing was a good idea, as long as local substitutes didn't have trouble getting jobs. A search of Google showed countless NJ school systems have been approving lists of Source4teachers substitute teachers for inclusion in their programs for the past five years or so, based on a review of over 15 pages of Google hits this evening. Some negative rumors I've heard so far that need a response from a board member: Source4teachers will resurrect the old SubFinder system, which never worked very well in the MARSD school system; teachers won't be able to designate a favorite sub to replace them; subs have not been informed of this organizational change and might be out of work in a week if they've not already applied and been approved to work.
  
• B Green Innovations continues to move forward with its VibeAway promotions. They periodically make public announcements about their company. Recently they mentioned their participation in trade shows and the addition of resellers.
• Vincent Verdiglione of Matawan announces engagement to Red Bank Regional High School math teacher, per SILive.
  
• You may recall that I promoted the Fresh Air Fund a couple of times this summer. They got back to me recently to say thank you and to share a video montage (below) of how the Summer 2009 program went. If you weren't able to participate or donate this summer, consider doing so next year. It's quite a worthy cause.