ASBURY PARK PRESS

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TUESDAY 10.27.15

An Amazin time
Edelson on Mets fans
storybook ride. Page 1C

ROYALS

What to watch for when the

Series begins. Page 3C

METS

WORLD SERIES

Teams true believers face off

A WORLD
(SERIES)
APART

Judge is
suspended
from 9 town
court jobs
Richard Thompson to be
investigated by N.J. panel
KATHLEEN HOPKINS @KHOPKINSAPP

A Middletown attorney who was serving as municipal judge in nine Monmouth County municipalities has
been suspended without pay from his judgeships pending an investigation by New Jerseys Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct.
Richard B. Thompson, one of the areas more handsomely paid public officials, was temporarily suspended without pay Friday from serving as municipal court
judge in Bradley Beach, Colts Neck, Eatontown, Middletown, Neptune City, Oceanport, Rumson, Tinton
Falls and Union Beach. He earned $217,500 in 2014,
when he sat as judge in six municipalities.
Superior Court Judge Lisa P. Thornton, assignment
judge for Monmouth County, signed the suspension order after it was brought to her attention that Thompson
may have violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by
failing to follow the statutes, policies, and procedures
for sentencing penalties and fines, in violation of Canons 1 and 2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, Thornton
wrote in her order.
A message left on an answering machine at Thompsons office on Monday was not returned.
Thornton did not elaborate on the possible violations
in her order, and a call to her chambers referred questions to Winnie Comfort, a spokeswoman for the
See JUDGE, Page 12A

TOM SPADER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The board of trustees and donors on the Count Basie Theatre

stage to announce the plans for its $20 million expansion.

Count Basie
Theatre unveils
expansion plans
ALEX BIESE @ABIESEAPP

RED BANK - The future is looking large for the

Count Basie Theatre.
In news exclusively broken by the Asbury Park
Press on Sunday and announced at a Monday morning
news conference, the theater is looking to convert its
area of Monmouth Street into a full-city-block arts and
education complex. The expanded Basie will include an
outdoor arts plaza to the east of the theater, as well as a
two-story glass lobby and brick pavilion facade with an
elevator, new bathrooms, a bar, classrooms and displays celebrating artists from the region.
The current theater will receive stage and lighting
upgrades, as well as a new dressing room, an artists
lounge and an expansion of the load-in area as part of
the three-year, $20 million expansion project.
At the former Wawa lot to the west, the Basie will
become home to offices, classrooms and a new multiuse performance space with a capacity of between 500
and 600 standing or around 350 seated audience mem-

JAMES CONNOLLY/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

RUSS ZIMMER Press reporter, Royals fan since 1982

Press reporter, Mets fan since 1989 MIKE DAVIS

Sorry, Mets fans the citizens

of beleaguered Royals Nation
are ready to (finally) rejoice

Those who gave their loyalty

to perennial losers are hoping
for the big payoff this season

RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER

MIKE DAVIS @BYMIKEDAVIS

Its been a lonely existence for Kansas City

Royals refugees like me, having left my birthplace more than half a lifetime ago. I find Im the
only one in the stadium wearing Royals powder
blue when I have an opportunity to see them
close to my home.
But thats all in the past now and, oh boy, what
a time it is to be a citizen of Royals Nation.
I know fans of the New York Mets are feeling
it too, as they also have emerged from the proverbial desert to the doorstep of glory.
Led by Daniel Barry Bonds Murphy, the
Mets are bringing the World Series back to
Queens for the first time since Game 1 starter
Matt Harvey was a Yankees fan.
All that stands between Terry Collins young
squad and the organizations third Commissioners Trophy is the American League champion
Royals.
Let me, your local Royals fan, try to make
sense of one half of this upside-down world
where the Royals are playing the Mets to

When youre in love with a loser, you cry a lot.

And Im in love with the New York Mets.
I cried when some dude from Berkeley
named Al Leiter pitched them to the playoffs in
1999 (I was 10). I cried when Johan Santana
pitched the teams first no-hitter (I was 23).
And the last time the Mets were in the World
Series (I was 11), I wept with an impressive
amount of vigor. Nothing makes a kid lose his
wonder and innocence like watching his favorite team lose to the Yankees.
But here we are 15 years later, and my loser is
on the verge of becoming a winner. The New
York Mets are in the World Series, and I cant
reconcile it.
The Mets losing are all I know.
Its always been hard for me to understand
how some teams fans accepted nothing less
than a world title every year. But now that the
Mets are four wins away from it, I finally get it.
They are four wins away from forgiveness
for Aaron Heilman (2006 goat) and Armando

See ROYALS, Page 7A

See METS, Page 7A

FIGHTING N.J.S PROPERTY TAX CRISIS

APPs reform petition tops 12,000 signers. 4A

Feds undercount
deaths in chases
An investigation finds the number of police killed in highspeed car chases is 15 times what the FBI reports. Page 1B

See BASIE, Page 12A

Thats a place where anything could happen. You
could have anything from up-and-coming artists to
an Elvis Costello wanting to debut a new album,
maybe come down here.
STEVEN VAN ZANDT, E STREET BAND GUITARIST

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LOCAL

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VOLUME 136
NUMBER 257
SINCE 1879

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