Heading to River Fest

Looks like I'll be driving southbound along the Parkway this July. Once my daughters hear that Hilary Duff is performing at Toms River Fest, they'll be hounding me.

Maybe I'll try to catch Rick Springfield, too. I was never a big fan of his music, but I was devoted to "General Hospital" when he was the hunky Dr. Noah Drake. I really just want to go to his concert and call Debbie, my college roommate, and hold up my cell phone, like the wireless service commercial that aired recently.

Country music stars LeAnn Rimes and Martina McBride also are on the bill for the four-day event. All four are a coup for the organizers, who say more acts will be announced shortly.
Who would you like to see the organizers try and get for this, or next year? The "blast from the past" category is especially fun for me. Bring in a reunited or still-together 80's band, the B-52s, Devo, Huey Lewis and the News, the Human League, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran. I'm not sure who is still together or not, but something along those lines would be a trip.

Dodge, duck, dip, dive and ... dodge!

Anyone who caught the movie "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" must remember the Five D's of Dodgeball - Dodge, duck, dip, dive and ... dodge. The advice was offered by the legendary Patches O'Houlihan. From the looks of photos that ran with our story today on the Lake Riviera Middle School's fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society, http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060329/NEWS02/603290427/1070/NEWS02
it appears that Brick teacher Kevin Kidney missed all four. Or maybe even five.

You've got to hand it to the faculty, staff and students at the school - what a great fund-raiser. It looked to be a winner all around, raising $1,600 for the ACS's Relay for Life.

The kids got to watch their teachers square off in a dodgeball match that those teachers probably haven't played since, well, Middle School. I wonder if it aired on "The Ocho"? I'm also curious as to how the teams were chosen ... I hope the teachers had to stand awkwardly as the team captains got to pick their teams one by one ... a nightmare from days gone by for many.

Any other fund-raisers out there that go beyond the ordinary sales, auctions, dinners and car washes?

In Brick, with their specially made T-shirts that they sold, kids had their faces painted to cheer on their favorite teachers' teams. Tonight (March 30) the high school staff will play basketball against the township police officers. Game time is 7 p.m. in the high school gym, and more donations will be accepted at the door.

Teens and alcohol

In the last few weeks, the Press has run several stories about cops busting up teen drinking parties. The most recent story included the arrest of two parents who apparently tried to tell police there was no one inside the home and no party going on. But the police, obviously skeptical, found large quantities of empty beer cans and 23 underage kids - some as young as 14. What were these parents thinking? And even if they just got home and found the party going on, why try to hide it?

We will be writing an editorial in the days ahead on the broader issue of teenage drinking, and have been chatting about it here. We've received e-mails from people, some criticizing the front-page publication of such stories as overreaction to kids being kids, and others saying the police HAVE to get involved because the parents are not monitoring their children closely enough. We'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Is this a police matter or should it be left to the parents? How hard should authorities crack down on the teens - and their parents?

What about sleep-deprived moms?

The National Sleep Foundation this week issued a report saying our kids aren't getting enough sleep. That may be so, but not in my house. I'm pretty much the only sleep-deprived one there. But we've always insisted on "early to bed, kids." Our little ones are in bed by 8:30 to 9, and sleep until 6:30 or 7. Our teenager has from 9 to 10 to watch TV or go on the computer after his homework time. By 10, he's usually out, too. Mom, on the other hand, gets them all finished with schoolwork and the like, straightens up, reads or watches TV to settle down, falls asleep at midnight and gets up at 6. Now THAT'S sleep deprivation.

But I do hear of other teens who are up watching TV or on the computer until midnight on some school nights, and although my younger children don't have the earliest bedtime in their classes, they certainly don't have the latest. My teen gets 8 to 9 hours, the younger kids get close to 10. I remember a few years back, our nephew stayed with us when he was 18 and 19 years old ... I swear that kid could sleep 20 hours a day. How much sleep do kids need?

Lock them up for good

It felt like a rock hit the bottom of my stomach when I read the headline on Page 3 today: "Man, 59, accused of luring girls into van."

A registered sex offender - released from state prison in 1996 after serving 18 years - is charged with sexually assaulting two girls under 10 years old. He was convicted in the 1970s of aggravated sexual assault against two girls who were under 13.

He's a Tier 3, the most dangerous, and most likely to repeat the crime. What's it going to take to lock this guy up for good? In our "Tracking Sex Offenders" series earlier this month, one released sex offender said his 27-year-history of exposing himself to young girls was his way of socializing. These Tier 3 offenders should be put away, either in a psych ward or a prison, until their dying day.

Parking lot perpetrators

Day after day, I'm amazed by the increasing amount of selfishness I see in parking lots. How many times do you go to park at the grocery store, mall, office building, wherever, only to find two spots deliberately blocked by a single car? I'm not talking about someone parked off center, or even slightly over a spot because of a lousy turn or to avoid another poorly parked car. I'm talking about someone who angles across two spaces or parks directly in the middle to keep their precious car from being dinged by another car's door.

If your car is that important to you, park it at the far end of the lot and walk a little further. And another thing . . . if you're not pregnant, DON'T park in the "stork" spot some stores provide. I rarely used them when I could have, but I recall on one particular day when I was pretty far along with my third child and going to the grocery store with the two others, I went toward that spot, only to be "beaten" by someone who was definitely not expecting, and had no children in tow. I know it's not illegal, but it's pretty rotten.

Bickering in Barnegat

Town meetings can become contentious from time to time, but it's apparently reached a new level in Barnegat, where outbursts and insults have become the norm. Chaos reigned at the March 6 meeting, with audience members shouting at will, and committee members shouting back. Mayor Thomas Hartman said he was pleased to see new faces, and that a resident told him the meetings were "better than Monday night TV." I assume that includes WWE's Monday Night Raw professional wrestling.

Sounds to me like they need a lesson in Roberts Rules of Order, or an Officer of the Day at meetings to tell those who behave in an unruly manner to sit in the corner with dunce caps on until they learn to behave themselves.

What's the best use for Fort Monmouth?

The Fort Monmouth re-use committees, the towns, legislators and the military are all mulling the best use of the fort site when it closes down. Should it be housing? Retail? A business park? Open space? Or a combination of those? We've heard from readers who'd like to see it become a new campus for one of the state universities, or a stem-cell research facility or other medical/scientific foundation. What do you think would be best for the fort, the local towns and the county?

The Meadowlands roof ruckus

Gov. Corzine says a roof over the planned new Giants/Jets stadium would extend its use. Sure would, but at what price? Estimates have ranged from $175 million to $300 million for a retractable roof, and the Giants and Jets say they don't want to pay for it. The taxpayers have enough to deal with, and the events allowed by the roof likely wouldn't make it financially worthwhile for the state to take on that expense. Any suggestions on this one?

Their backs rubbed, our pockets picked

So three Department of Taxation directors have been suspended -- with pay -- for allegedly accepting massages, vacations, liquor and other gifts from a company that collected back taxes for the state, then somehow failing to notice that about $1 million had been padded onto that company's bills.

Why suspend them with pay? And why did it take this long? And where are the others? The State Commission of Investigation report that picked up on this came out in December and said some 20 state employees were involved. And we're all paying for it. Is it any wonder people mistrust government?

NJ's mantra: Borrow! Spend! Tax!

The state Senate budget committee this week approved two major borrowing plans, one to set up facilities for stem-cell research and the second to restore the Transportation Trust Fund. At the same time, Gov. Corzine is starting a series of budget summits, saying what poor financial shape the state is in and how taxes will likely be raised to dig us out.

Does this make you want to bang your head against the wall?

Dribbling away our tax dollars

Rutgers men's basketball coach Gary Waters, under pressure to leave for having too many "L's" and not enough "Ws," has agreed to resign - for a buyout of almost $800,000. Only two years ago, Athletic Director Robert Mulcahy extended Waters' contract and gave him a raise.

As a matter of fact, since Mulcahy took over in 1998, he's extended three coaches' contracts, then fired them. Waters' predecessor, Kevin Bannon, had a contract that was extended through the end of this current season just before being fired in 2001, with a settlement of $1.1 million. The school also agreed to pay the final year's salary for a football coach fired in 2000, a year before his contract ended.

That's not private money. It comes from taxpayers. And I'm not happy to be one of those contributing nearly $2 million to shell out to two disappointing basketball coaches in five years. Wasn't there some type of performance requirement in the contract?

Instead of just firing them, why not demote them until their contract expires. Make them clean the locker rooms, fill the water bottles, do the laundry, carry the towels or whatever. Just don't hand them our money for nothing.

Life sentences for Cullen may be preferable

Charles Cullen, the twisted monster who decided to play God and end the lives of at least 29 patients who were in his care, got 11 life sentences Thursday for 22 murders. That works out to 397 years in prison - life instead of a death penalty in exchange for identifying his victims.

Was it wrong for the state not to seek the death penalty on this one? Maybe not. The endless appeals would have dragged the families back into court, over and over again. And the death penalty has never been used since it was reinstated in 1982.

With Cullen, maybe it's better not to waste taxpayer money on letting this creep appeal and re-appeal, ad nauseum. His case is over. Put him in jail - with the general population. Like Jeffrey Dahmer was.

Does helmet law go too far?

I'm glad to hear there's a new law extending the bicycle/skateboard/in-line skating helmet requirement up to 17 years old. Having a child in that "tween" group, I know how "uncool" wearing a helmet is considered, but when it's a law, they can't argue too much and their friends can't bust their chops.

For me, it will help me make my children follow safety procedures and make them less likely to remove the helmet down the block. There are a lot more cars on the roads than when I was a kid, and they're going a lot faster. Too many of the drivers are talking on cell phones, putting on makeup, drinking coffee, finding CDs to play and not paying 100 percent attention to the roads.

Some parents argue it should be up to them to decide whether their kids wear helmets, and the government should butt out.

Do you think this law goes too far?