Monday, April 29, 2013
Volunteers gathered at 65 sites around the state, including Cliffwood Beach, to help participate in an annual beach sweep.
Environmental stewardship and conservation group Clean Ocean Action has hosted Spring Beach Sweeps for nearly three decades, dispatching waves of volunteers on an April day each year to dozens of coastal sites throughout New Jersey to do a bit of clean up in preparation of the summer season. This spring's cleanup took on some extra meaning. With the state still recovering following Hurricane Sandy, volunteers came out to not only collect debris, but to participate in a comprehensive study that will analyze both the quantity of debris pulled from waterways and its impact on the marine environment. Beach sweeps were held at 65 sites throughout New Jersey on Saturday, with Sandy Hook serving as the effort's showcase location. Though the …
Friday, April 5, 2013
The US Postal worker was arrested in Englishtown on drug possession and theft charges, police said.
A two and a half month federal investigation by the United States Postal Service came to a close on Thursday, April 4 when United States Postal Employee Monica Mettrock was arrested in Englishtown on drug and theft charges. Corporal Michael MacInnes arrested Mettrock, 46, of Cliffwood Beach, on Tennent Avenue at around 11 a.m. Thursday as she exited her postal vehicle to begin her mail route. Englishtown police charged Mettrock with possession of six wax folds of heroin, possession of hypodermic syringes, possession of a controlled dangerous substance while in a motor vehicle, and possession of stolen mail items. According to Englishtown police, Mettrock was found to be in possession 19 Netflix DVD’s, three personal digital assistants, two…
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday's flooding left sand blocking the roadway, police said.
A section of Lakeshore Drive in Cliffwood Beach is now open, according to Police Chief John Powers. Lakeshore Drive between the Whale Creek Bridge and Ridge Road was closed Wednesday as the township's Department of Works cleared the roadway. See photos of the flooding Wednesday morning here.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Water flooded past the beach and up local streets Wednesday morning.
Heavy rains and the approaching high tide resulted in severe flooding in Cliffwood Beach along the Raritan Bay this morning. Photos posted on the Aberdeen-Matawan Joint Community Emergency Response Team Facebook are reminiscent of Hurricane Sandy, minus the pounding waves that destroyed over ten homes in the beachfront section of Aberdeen Township. The photos were shared with Patch by the photographer, who is a member of CERT. He noted that they were taken Wednesday morning before high tide. As of 9 a.m., the rain and high tide flooded Route 35 between Cliffwood Avenue and County Road. Local police have shut down the section of highway in both directions and are diverting traffic locally while they wait for the water to recede, according …
Friday, February 1, 2013
Old Bridge and Aberdeen Police responded to the scene last night, involving two cars.
Update, 10 a.m. Feb. 1: An Asbury Park man was charged with driving while intoxicated, driving while suspended, unlicensed driver and reckless driving after a two vehicle accident on Route 35 in Cliffwood Beach at about 6 p.m. on Thursday. According to Aberdeen Police Chief John Powers, John Ashenbrener, 37, was driving a 2006 Hyundai on Route 35 South when he rear-ended a 1999 Infiniti stopped at a red light on the highway at the intersection of County Road. The Hyundai overturned and came to rest across the intersection on the median of Route 35. Ashenbrener was ejected from the car and was transported to Robert Wood Johnson by MONOC ambulance. The driver of the Infiniti, identified as Edward Thompson of Matawan Road in Old Bridge, was…
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Piles of garbage remain infront of homes weeks after storm while residents try to rebuild on the quiet bay-front street.
Update: On Friday, Nov. 30 Aberdeen Township officials reached out to Patch to let the community know that dumpsters would be arriving at Beach Drive. More details here. Beach Drive is a tight-knit community within the Cliffwood Beach section of Aberdeen Township. It's a neighborhood where everyone smiles and waves and celebrates milestones at each other's backyard barbeques. The quiet street is nestled along the Raritan Bay and offers the waterfront properties a view of Keyport, Union Beach, and even Staten Island on clear days. Thirty days after Sandy's raging tidal surge caused severe flood damage to the Bayshore, however, life on Beach Drive is still nowhere near normal. Mounds of soggy construction materials, old TVs, photos, …
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Raging waters overcame the seawall, flooding homes and damaging property.
Fred McPeek is no stranger to high tides and hurricanes. Since he moved to Beach Drive in 1985, his family has weathered about five strong storms in Cliffwood Beach on the Raritan Bay. McPeek went through the motions before Sandy just as he had done with Irene. He boarded up the windows, moved the car to higher ground, and lined his garage door with a tarp and sandbags. Sandy, however, proved to be the worst storm McPeek had ever seen. "The water came all the way up to here," he said, motioning to a water mark about six feet above ground level. Everything on their first floor was destroyed. A sixty-inch TV, a laptop, office furniture and a bathroom were all submerged when the storm rolled through Monday night. Their backyard was lined with…
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Hurricane Sandy barreled through the bayshore, leaving a path of destruction in her wake.
Share your photos and videos by clicking the 'Upload Photos and Videos' button. Wide eyes took in the scene on West Front Street in Keyport Tuesday morning, as bayshore residents crunched over the carnage of their beloved local businesses and marinas. The windows of Ye Cottage Inn were blown out and the building was left barely standing. Keyport Fishery still stood, but only as a flooded shell. Bob's Hot Dogs was crumpled to the ground, and the boats in Pedersen's Marina were toppled over. A little closer to the normally calm Keyport Harbor is a pile of shingles, wood, and historic artifacts where the Keyport Historical Society's Steamboat Museum once stood. The public art project installed last summer, which consisted of large mosaics, …
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Police said the cause of the accident is still under investigation.
A head-on collision on Route 34 in Marlboro claimed the life of Michael Myers, 29 of Cliffwood Beach on Wednesday night, according to Marlboro Police Captain Steve Mennona. Myers was pronounced dead on the scene. Police said the collision, between a Honda Accord and a Buick LeSabre, also resulted in serious injuries to another driver who remains in critical condition at Robertwood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick. Marlboro and Holmdel Police closed the roadway going both directions in the area, and detours were set up by the Department of Transportation to divert traffic away from the scene of the crash. The road was re-opened at 1:45 a.m. Responding to the scene was Marlboro Police and Morganville First Aid, The Holmdel Police Department…
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Bronawyn O'Leary of Cliffwood Beach is working toward clocking a 3-hour marathon.
Bronawyn O'Leary, of Cliffwood Beach, has one goal: to run a marathon in under three hours. The feat is surely easier said than done, and the 36-year-old runner has come painfully close more than once. She missed the mark by two minutes in both the NYC Marathon and the NJ Marathon. "It's a little frustrating, but I'll get there. It's just a matter of when," O'Leary said. Although O'Leary ran cross country and track throughout her time at Keansburg High School and Rowan University, she never really considered running a marathon. Her sister, Bethany, thought running would be fun and approached O'Leary about it. Around the same time, their mother was diagnosed with cancer. They chose a marathon sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and…
John Shea
10:05 am on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Nope, didn't know about it being at Cliffwood Beach. more ›