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MONDAY 08.10.15

5 things
to do before
summer
ends
@Play, 1C

Her Powerful Portrait: Womans tale of rape and healing. 3A

New path off

the Parkway?
Southbound Exit 83 proposed
to untangle traffic in Toms River

Bucket Brigade founder Cassandra Vitale, 29,

died July 31 in Florida of a heroin overdose.
Her group worked to supply food and other
help to superstorm Sandy flooding victims.
COURTESY OF VITALE FAMILY

Aid groups
founder is
victim of
heroin OD
JEAN MIKLE @JEANMIKLE
TOMS RIVER Bucket Brigade founder Cassandra
Vitale was able to help hundreds of storm victims, but
in the end, she was unable to help herself.
Vitale, 29, who died in Florida on July 31 of a heroin
overdose, had started using the drug while she was still
living in Ocean County, according to her family. Her
brother, Brick resident J.R. Vitale, said that as her work
distributing supplies and helping clean out homes began to dwindle, his sister faced a void that she filled
with the deadly drug.
Its just so available, J.R. Vitale, 36, said of heroin,
and its so much cheaper than when I was a teenager.
Much of the heroin being sold today is also laced with
fentanyl, an opiate that is 100 times more powerful than
morphine, according to Al Della Fave, a spokesman for
the Ocean County Prosecutors Office.
I cant say enough how important it is to get the
word out on the tragedies heroin addiction breeds,
Della Fave said. Because of the purity of the product
and because now dealers are lacing their product
with fentanyl, its just a matter of time before it kills
you.

See HEROIN, Page 5A

JEAN MIKLE @JEANMIKLE

Realistically, ...

TOMS RIVER A new Exit 83 could be coming to the

southbound Garden State Parkway.
But before you get too excited about the prospect,
just know this: Construction is still several years
away.
Its in what we call the concept development
phase, Ocean County Engineer Frank S. Scarantino
said. We will end this phase in December. The proposal is an Ocean County project, with assistance
from the state Department of Transportation and the
North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority.
If the new exit plan is deemed to be beneficial to the
traffic situation in the area, it will move into the design phase, which will likely take about three years.
Scarantino said a new exit could help alleviate congestion issues on Route 9 and New Hampshire and
Hooper avenues, where drivers head after leaving the
Parkway at Exit 89 or Exit 82. There is no exit on the
southbound highway between 89 and 82, a seven-mile
stretch that includes some of the fastest-growing sec-

the vast majority

See EXIT, Page 5A

OCEAN COUNTY ENGINEER

of people are in
favor of the
project. Clearly
there are a couple
of skeptics, and
clearly there are
two property
owners who are
not happy.
FRANK S. SCARANTINO

Book by book,
Howell teenager
makes difference
JERRY CARINO CARINOS CORNER
A little advice for high school grads
packing for college over the next
month: Dont forget to bring ideas along
with your stuff.
Ideas can inspire people to move
mountains. With a good one, and some
drive, you can make a difference.
Shaye DiPasquale doesnt need the
reminder. The 17-year-old from Howell
recently received a national honor from Youth Service America for her tireless work to empower women.
At Freehold Township High School she founded a
chapter of Girl Up, the United Nations initiative that
helps underprivileged girls around the globe. Since
January, the chapter has collected more than 600
donated books for distribution to local womens aid
organizations.
Shaye dubbed the drive Books of Hope. She used
See CARINO, Page 6A

ONE YEAR AFTER FERGUSON: POLICE ARE STILL KILLING US PAGE 1B

Sports

Football legend
Gifford dies
Frank Gifford was a star and a winner, from the football field
where he won an NFL championship in 1956 with the New York
Giants to the broadcast booth, where he won an Emmy
award as televisions outstanding sports personality for his
work as Monday Night Football co-announcer. Gifford died
Sunday at age 84. Page 1D

ADVICE
BUSINESS
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL

4C
8A
6C
5C
3A

LOTTERIES
OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
WEATHER

2A
9A
11A
1D
8D

VOLUME 136
NUMBER 190
SINCE 1879