redbankgreen was launched on June 1, 2006. Its mission: to capture as fully as possible the vitality of the people and events of the Red Bank, New Jersey area, both for immediate consumption and for posterity.

We refer to our coverage area, which includes Red Bank, Fair Haven and Little Silver, as ‘the Green.’

The name redbankgreen connotes the colonial-era concept of a village green or town square, a place where neighbors met to exchange news and opinions and do business. Hence, our slogan: “a town square for an unsquare town.” Only, this one’s online.

We honor the journalistic ideals of fairness and accuracy with neither fear nor favoritism. Sometimes we get a little cheeky.

Who’s behind redbankgreen?

Over four decades (yikes) in the news business, site founder John T. Ward has worked as a reporter at the Home News in his hometown of New Brunswick, the Asbury Park Press and the Star-Ledger, and as a freelance magazine writer. He serves as publisher, editor and sole reporter for redbankgreen.

Graphic artist Trish Russoniello is redbankgreen‘s self-styled “picture person,” responsible for site design, graphics and ad creation. A former staffer at Nickelodeon, she also takes most of the photos for the weekly Where Have I Seen This? feature in our email newsletter.

Ward and Russoniello, who are married, have lived in Red Bank since 1994.

Broadstreet Ads, a Red Bank-based online ad-server that spun out of redbankgreen in 2012, provides leading-edge ad formats.

Web Publisher Pro, based in Tinton Falls, handles our webmaster services.

Some legal business:

• Our content is copyrighted and may not be used without our permission. Doing so may incur bad karma or worse.

• If we make a mistake, we will correct or clarify it. Just let us know.

We strongly believe that once information is published, it should stay published as-is unless a correction or clarification is warranted.

We do not remove or materially alter stories or images once they have been published.

• We do not withhold or edit information in police blotters before or after they are published. If you have been acquitted or pleaded to a lesser charge after an arrest and would like our archive to reflect this, please send us the court record and we will gladly update the original story.

• In keeping with the concept of a village green, we don’t allow anonymous or pseudonymous comments. Please see our comments policy and registration form below.

• Our readers are our eyes and ears. If you have news to report, please contact us at: [email protected]

Thanks for reading, and please be sure to subscribe to our newsletter.

redbankgreen‘s commenting policy is designed to ensure, to the greatest degree possible, constructive dialogue, community building, civility and accountability.

Here are the commenting guidelines, forked from HackerNews’ policy.

Be kind. Don’t be snarky. Converse curiously; don’t cross-examine. Edit out swipes.

Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive.

When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. “That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3” can be shortened to “1 + 1 is 2, not 3.”

Please don’t fulminate. Please don’t sneer, including at the rest of the community.

Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that’s easier to criticize. Assume good faith.

Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents. Omit internet tropes.

Please don’t post shallow dismissals, especially of other people’s work. A good critical comment teaches us something.

Please don’t use redbankgreen for political or ideological battle. That tramples curiosity and prevents other people from commenting.

Please don’t comment on whether someone read an article. “Did you even read the article? It mentions that” can be shortened to “The article mentions that”.

redbankgreen employs the Disqus commenting app to provide a space beneath news and feature-story posts for readers to say whatever they wish. But commenting on redbankgreen is a privilege, not a right. To comment, you must agree to be accountable by using your real name as your user name in Disqus.

To ensure real-name usage and maintain the maximal opportunity for conversation, we grant commenting ability by default, but will block commenters who are not using their real names or are suspected of using a pseudonym. We maintain a “trusted” commenter registration process that is challenging by design, but applies equally to all users. No one who provides complete, accurate and verifiable registration information will be denied that status or the ability to comment as they wish.

Here’s how it works:

1. Comments may be blocked until the author is approved as “trusted.” Once a commenter has the “trusted” designation, future comments will appear instantly.

2. Getting approved as “trusted” requires you to go through BOTH of the following steps:

• Register with Disqus, using your real name AS YOUR USER NAME, or change your existing user name to your real name.
For example, if your name is Sally Smart, your user name MUST read “Sally Smart.”

• Register with redbankgreen.
The registration form is below. It asks for your name, home address, email address and phone number. Additional information may be requested. This information is used by redbankgreen to verify your identity and will not be shared with outside parties. This step is required even if you’re already posting using your real name. Failure to provide any of this information or fulfill requests for additional information will result in your request being rejected.

3. Once we have verified your identity and that you’re using your real name to comment, any pending comments and all future comments written under your real name will be allowed.

4. As in the past, you’ll be free to say whatever you like in comments, though other commenters can still flag your comments. redbankgreen does not actively moderate comments, but we will remove spam, commercial postings and anything we think is beyond the pale in terms of personal reputations or safety. Users are encouraged to report apparent violations of this policy to [email protected].

5. redbankgreen makes no guarantee of timely action on registration requests. If you don’t have anything to say at the moment but think you might like to comment in the future, consider registering now.

6. These terms are non-negotiable. All decisions are final.

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