Asbury Park Press

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FRIDAY 01.02.15

$50M MISSING IN CHILD PROTECTION FUND

Press investigation, COMING SUNDAY

1,899 Monmouth County homes entering

foreclosure in 2014 (through Oct. 31)

2,554 Ocean County homes

entering foreclosure in 2014 (through Oct. 31)

$1,500 The maximum fine that towns can

impose upon banks per day for maintenance
violations

60

Towns that require mortgage

companies to notify them of foreclosed properties.

Should banks have to pay?

Shore student has

big dream for 2015
Monmouth Regional H.S.
junior earns grant to
combat human trafficking
JERRY CARINO CARINOS CORNER
Whats your New Years resolution?
Lose weight? Save money? Get more
sleep?
Christian Boujaoude, a junior at
Monmouth Regional High School, has a
much more ambitious goal for 2015: Put
a dent in human trafficking.
The 16-year-old humanitarian from
Eatontown is not just thinking about it.
Hes doing it, one bar of soap at a time.
I knew I wanted to make a difference, Boujaoude
said last week. I just had to figure out how to do so.
He did. Thanks to a $1,000 grant from Youth Service America, Boujaoude coordinated the labeling
and shipping of 2,000 bars of soap to Arizona hotels
ahead of the upcoming Super Bowl there. The small
stickers on the soap display a hotline number for

Towns push creditors

to claim, maintain
their foreclosures
RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS A quick glance at 82
Avenue D tells passersby that this house is not a
home.
Windows on the side of the house are
boarded, the lawn is messy, and notices on the
front door and windows proclaim that the twostory house with light blue siding is vacant,
though not abandoned, according to the mortgage company that owns the property.
Borough Administrator Adam Hubeny said
this house is one of three in the borough that
drew complaints from neighbors, and led to the
adoption of a new town ordinance last month
meant to hold creditors accountable for the condition of properties that are no longer occupied.
Avenue D neighbor Danielle Patrick says
that the yard can get out of control.

See BANKS, Page A7

There were 30 foreclosure notices

in Atlantic Highlands through
October, a total that already was
greater than all of 2013.
BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Christian Boujaoude (left), a Monmouth Regional High

School student, stands with history teacher Joe Nappi.

See CARINO, Page A4

Babies bring new year, new happiness

AMANDA OGLESBY
@OGLESBYAPP

At 2:01 a.m. Thursday, Melina Sophia Esparza took

her first breaths in a delivery room at Community Medical Center in Toms River. At that moment, the 7-pound,
3-ounce baby girl named for a song and a Disney
princess became the first baby born in 2015 at a hospital in Ocean County.
Melina is the third baby for Jaritza Lopez, 21, of Lakewood and the first child of Lopezs husband, Martin Esparza.
Im feeling grateful, said 27-year-old Martin Esparza hours after Melinas birth. I dont know. I cant
explain it.
About 100,000 babies are born in New Jersey each
year, but only a lucky few claim the title of being the
first born in the new year.

Ocean County had the second highest birth rate in

the state in 2011, the last year for which the state Department of Health has released data. More than 8,000
babies were born that year in the county of only 579,000
residents: about 14 babies are born each year per 1,000
people. Though more babies are born in more populous
counties, Ocean County is surpassed in its high birth
rate only by Passaic County.
Lopez, a stay-at-home mother to her two children
and the new baby, said she was excited that Melina is
the first baby born in the county in 2015.
Im feeling good, Lopez said. I think my family is
complete.
Twenty-nine minutes after Melina was born at Community Medical Center, Jeanne Populaire gave birth at
Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune to
See BABIES, Page A4

Melina Sophia Esparza, daughter of Jaritza Lopez and Martin Esparza of Lakewood, was the first Ocean County baby born in
2015. The 7-pound, 3-ounce baby girl was born at 2:01 a.m. TOM SPADER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

USA TODAY

EX-N.Y. GOVERNOR
MARIO CUOMO DIES
STORY, 3B
ADVICE
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VOLUME 136
NUMBER 2
SINCE 1879

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