Top Stories of December on Marlboro-Colts Neck Patch

10. Farm Animals on a Morning Stroll are Corralled by Owners Near Tennent Road.  If there was a question whether or not Marlboro Township had any farmland left, a handful of horses and goats answered that Thursday morning as they attempted a morning stroll near Tennent Road and Brown Road.

Police Captain Steve Mennona said officers were called to the scene, but the wandering livestock was picked up by owners quickly.

Mennona assured Patch no police chase ensued.

9. Matawan PD: Man Stole Copper Wire from JCP&L Substation During Outages. A Cliffwood Beach man was arrested Dec. 3 on charges that he stole copper wire from the JCP&L substation on Wilson Avenue in Matawan on four separate occasions. Two of the alleged incidents occurred during the power outages following Sandy.

8. Commercial Gas Leak Shuts Down Route 79 Corridor in Morganville. A construction mishap at the site of the new CVS shut down the corridor on Dec. 5 and resulted in temporary evacuations of nearby homes. 

7. Colts Neck PD Investigates Friday Night Burglary. The Colts Neck Police are investigating a home burglary which occurred on Dec. 14 on Shady Tree Lane. According to a department Swift 911 release, entry was gained through the front door 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. while the homeowner was out, and it is unknown if anything was taken.

6. 'It Wasn't Me' Hoboken Man Named as Shooter Writes. The man identified in media reports on Dec. 14 as the shooter in the second deadliest school shooting in American history has told friends that he thinks his developmentally disabled brother may have committed the crime, Patch has learned. 

A close friend of Ryan Lanza who requested to not be identified told Patch that he spoke to Lanza as he was making his way home from work to Hoboken. Lanza also took to his Facebook page to rail against CNN naming him as the suspect in the shooting in Newtown, Conn. 

5. Colts Neck Inn Recently Listed for Sale. The Colts Neck Inn was listed for sale in December, and headlined one of our real estate articles this month.

4. House Hunt: The Most Expensive in Marlboro and Colts Neck. OnWeichert.com, the most epensive house in Marlboro is listed at $2.39 million. The most expensive in Colts Neck? $12.5 million. That home at 45 Cross Road in Colts Neck has been previously listed for $19 million, then dropped to $15 million before hitting today's price. The Cross Road home made our list of the most expensive homes on the market back in April.

3. . Patch offered expert opinions and tips that you should read before raising your house due to new flood guidelines after Hurricane Sandy. 

2. Power Outages Sweep Morganville into Old Bridge. Widespread power outages swept Monmouth County on Dec. 19 during a small wind storm, leaving customers without power for a few hours at night.

1. All Marlboro Schools Will Have Armed Officers By January. Marlboro Township has become the topic of discussion around the country after the decision to place armed officers in each school come 2013.

The decision came to fruition in the wake of the Newtown, CT school shooting which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults on Dec. 14.

While the township has digital security measures in place, including a Visitor Management System which scans drivers licenses of any school visitors and checks names against local, state and national databases; the Board of Education is now teaming up with the Marlboro Police Department to add bodies with guns to school front doors.