News Updates as of 5 December 2009

• Salsa Latina, located in the Park Plaza Mall on Route 34 in Matawan, is featured in a review at NJ.com. The place is operated by a Matawan couple interviewed in the article. See also the hopeful discussion at Chowhound and a rather negative review at The Average Cook. I couldn't get the restaurant's website to work, but I was able to link to its dinner menu for some reason. Here's a map.
• According to University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)'s athletic blog, a Matawan native is one of eight candidates to ascend to the UMBC Athletic Hall of Fame in February 2010. "Deanna Vecchio, softball, (1999-2002) — A shortstop for the softball team and a catalyst at the top of the lineup from 1999-2002, Vecchio was a career .353 hitter, a four-time All-Northeast Conference First-Team selection and the 2002 Northeast Conference Player of the Year. Vecchio holds UMBC’s all-time records in runs scored (179) and stolen bases (135) and ranks among UMBC’s career leaders in nearly every statistical category, including second in hits (258), fourth in triples (9) and at-bats (731), fifth in total bases (338), sixth in walks (61), on-base percentage (.404) and games played and started (215), seventh in average (.353), 10th in doubles (29) and extra-base hits (49) and 15th in home runs (11). Her 88 hits in 2002 are the second-most ever in a single season in UMBC history, and she batted .402 that season, ranking fourth all-time. The native of Matawan, N.J., also holds UMBC’s single-season record with 68 runs scored as a senior, and she is one of three players ever to steal 40 bases in a season. Vecchio put together a 26-game hitting streak in 2002, second-longest in UMBC history. She also earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association First-Team All-Region honors as a senior." After leaving UMBC, she was a co-founder of URASTAR Softball, which helped high schools in Maryland to get students into softball camps and clinics. She worked as assistant varsity softball coach at Metuchen High School in 2005 - 2006 and as assistant softball coach at Drew University in 2007. She joined Lady Tigers Fastpitch Softball in 2008. According to The Sentinel, Vecchio is a graduate of Old Bridge High School.
  
• Matawan PBA is collecting toys and food at designated locations through 20 December, according to The Independent.
• The Matawan Aberdeen School Board puts its spin on Matawan Regional High School's test results on the 2009 High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) in The Independent. The article contains no comments, criticisms, or recommendations from independent experts or elements of the community, so be forewarned of the article's extreme bias on a complicated story. Maybe the local teacher's union representative or a Rutgers University education specialist could have provided some balance?
• Tuesday 8 December, the organization Parents of Autistic Children (POAC) is hosting its third speaker in a series facilitated by the Matawan Aberdeen Regional School District, according to The Independent. "Managing Problem Behaviors in the Home and Community" will begin at 7 pm at the MARSD Central Office at 1 Crest Way in Aberdeen.