Jersey Shore Headlines

A 26-year old Freehold man dies after being struck by multiple vehicles. That story and more in today's Monmouth and Ocean County News from Townsquare Media.

A 26-year old Freehold man is dead after being struck on Rt. 9 South in the township around 11:30 last night across from the Wedgewood Gardens Nursing Home. Police say the unidentified victim was struck by additional vehicles who didn't stop. They're seeking those drivers for information.

The motorcyclist killed in Jackson Saturday is identified as Christopher Hoffman of Brick, a Watchung cop. Hoffman would have turned 29 this week. He was a former member of the Seaside Heights police department and an active air force member.

Union Beach mourns the death of one of their own. 54-year old Robert Meyer was a life-long firefighter who many called a hero. He once pulled a man from a burning tractor trailer. He and his wife lost their home in Superstorm Sandy, yet Meyer still helped others affected by the storm. A broken electrical wire may have sparked Sunday's fire that claimed Meyer's life after he fought the fire and then suffered a heart attack.

A bicyclist was seriously injured in Lakewood after being struck by a hit-and-run driver shortly before 10 last night on County Line Road near Somerset Avenue. The woman suffered a severe head injury. Police are looking for the driver of the vehicle that left the scene.

A man showed up at a dance recital heavily armed and acting weird. Police arrested the man near Jackson Memorial High School. He had a two foot machete, a stun gun, pepper spray, and other weapons. He never made a threat and they have no idea why he was there. He's been taken for a mental check.

An Englishtown man is accused of putting a man in a choke-hold, punching him and biting his ear outside a Florida hotel. Mark Augello told police he thought the guy was going to hit his wife or two daughters after the woman got into an argument with the man's wife in the bathroom.

A Toms River man lost the tip of his finger trying to get his mother's attention. After an argument over the 43-year old man's excessive drinking, police say he put a shotgun shell into a hollow metal pipe and slammed it with a hammer, causing an explosion and injuring himself in the process.

The protest over courtesy busing in Lakewood is being delayed at least by one day while discussions over the issue continue with state education officials. Parents of private school children were being urged to drive their children to class today and tomorrow to create massive traffic jams.

A Brick Township contractor is accused of taking more than $75,000 in deposits to elevate Sandy-damaged homes but never doing the work. Todd Erickson of T&G General Contractors is charged with theft for allegedly taking money from homeowners in Lavalette, Mantoloking, Seaside Heights, Stafford and Toms River.

The Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties welcomes an additional $25,000 in funds redistributed from an allegedly bogus Superstorm charity. The Foodbank executive director says every dollar counts in helping to meet the needs of additional families that have come to them since Sandy. This makes $75,000 redistributed to the Foodbank by the state attorney General's office since April It was collected by the now-shuttered hurricane Sandy Relief Fund. The Foodbank says the money comes just in time as children are getting out of school for the summer and families have to provide extra meals.

NJ is not the most stressed state in the nation but we're close.  A new survey ranks us number three behind Florida and Georgia. They looked at things like income, commute times, work hours, and unemployment. They say our state is known for two things: the most people per square mile, and ridiculously expensive property taxes.

Mayors of Coastal communities are being urged to send resolutions to Trenton demanding an increase in shore protection funding. The Coastal Front is an economic boom for our state and the Jersey Shore Partnership says the existing $25 million isn't enough to meet the anticipated needs of the future. Rivers, streams and back bay waterways that flooded also need to be addressed in the face of a rising sea level, the changing climate and the increasing development along the coast.