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Timothy Frederiks wants to go back to college.

Before the ink was barely dry on his new five-year contract, Frederiks resigned from his post tonight as the shared superintendent of the Great Meadows Regional and Allamuchy Township school districts.

He accepted the position in late June.

Frederiks - whose resignation is effective Sept. 30 - said an opportunity to become a full-time faculty member at Centenary College presented itself in the middle of July.

"And it was too good to pass up," he said.

He will be teaching in Centenary's education department and head the college's graduate education program.

"It's something that I wanted to do post my public school life," he said, "And you've got to take the opportunity when it comes around because you don't know when it will come around again."

Frederiks made the decision to leave Great Meadows and Allamuchy with students scheduled to return to classes in three weeks.

"Even though it wasn't good timing for Great Meadows or Allamuchy, it was an offer I couldn't refuse," he said. "And I did think about it for almost a week before I finally said, 'You know what? I have to do it.'"

Joe Mailloux, vice president of the Great Meadows Regional School Board, said the board will explore options when it comes to choosing a new superintendent.

He said officials will consider another shared services agreement with Allamuchy or Hackettstown or interview an interim superintendent for either half a school year or for the entire year.

"We're not in the position at this point to find our own superintendent other than a potentially shared service," Mailloux said.

It would be difficult for Great Meadows to find the superintendent it wants because it's so close to the school year, Malloux said, adding Allamuchy is looking to hire from within at this point. Despite the short time-frame, he said a new superintendent should be in place by Oct. 1.

"We're just not exactly sure where they're coming from at this point," Mailloux said.

While the superintendent in Allamuchy, Fredericks' services were shared with Green Township School District in Sussex County for about two years starting in 2007. Frederiks served as the shared superintendent in Great Meadows and Allamuchy from 2009 to 2011.

In regards to Centenary posting the position just after he had inked the new contract with Great Meadows and Allamuchy, Frederiks said it was a difference in schedules.

"They operate on a little different clock than we do," he said. "What's important in the public schools might not necessarily be important to them, timing-wise, anyway."

First day for staff to report to Great Meadows is Sept. 4. First day for students is Sept. 5.

DALLAS, Pa. — For Heather N. Beleno of Great Meadows, her semester-long internship at Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Pennsylvania and Southern West Virginia in Scranton, Pa., was more than the front door to her future career in marketing. It was the culmination of a months-long experience that brought about a wide range of emotions for the 2011 Misericordia University graduate.

It was the beginning of her senior year at Misericordia University and the Hackettstown High School graduate was looking forward to her last year as a collegian and the experience she would gain during her spring-semester internship. As she personally researched the positions available in her field, the daughter of Tom and Wendy Beleno could see that her options were plentiful. But in what direction did she want to take her career, she would ask herself during the process? The importance of an internship cannot be understated as employers oftentimes seek new college graduates who have applied their classroom lessons in a real-world setting.

“The current economic environment combined with the heightened level of competition demands that new potential employees be able to contribute right away,’’ says Robert Williams, assistant director of the Center for Economic and Entrepreneurship Education at Misericordia University. “The only way for current college students, graduates, to be able to compete is by completing internships.’’

The picture came into focus when she learned her second cousin, Jack Culbertson, 8, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, the most common childhood cancer in the United States. Beleno acted on her own instincts and reached out to comfort the family member. “When I saw that he wrote something on his mom’s Facebook wall about his girlfriends Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert, I reached out to many different organizations to try and get anything from them that I could,’’ Beleno says. “I ended up getting him an autographed picture and all of Carrie Underwood’s CDs.’’

Today, Culbertson is successfully fighting the disease and enjoying the many generous gifts his cousin presented him shortly after his diagnosis. The experience also made Beleno’s choice for an internship become crystal clear.

From January to May, Beleno worked to get Make-A-Wish established in its new Scranton office so they could make dreams come true for other children afflicted with life-threatening illnesses. She coordinated outreach efforts with guidance counselors in 11 regional school districts to refer children in-need to the foundation. “The letter campaign was to inform counselors on how to refer a child to the foundation,’’ explains Beleno, who received her Bachelor of Science degree in marketing during Misericordia University’s 85th annual Commencement ceremony in May. “The letter was very successful, as I received responses back from counselors letting me know that they will refer anyone they know of to Make-A-Wish and we also received five referrals.’’

Beleno also assisted the regional branch with fundraising activities, media relations and cultivating new sponsors and benefactors in Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne and Wyoming counties. The overall internship in marketing was important for Beleno because it provided her with the hands-on experience she was seeking and other valuable lessons she will be able to apply in her career.

“Patience was the most valuable lesson I learned from my internship,’’ says Beleno, who gained professional skills, enhanced her communication skills and started to network for future employment during her internship. “I made so many phone calls and sent out so many e-mails. With families having such busy lives, it was hard to get in touch with them.’’

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HACKETTSTOWN, NJ — If you’ve noticed gasoline prices have been going up in the Garden State, you’re not alone.

Average gas prices, on the week and the month, have increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia as of Monday. The national average, at $2.72 per gallon, is a 30-cent increase from a month ago and 28 cents more than this time last year, according to a AAA report. It’s the most expensive daily average since August 2019.

In New Jersey, the average price for regular gas is $2.85 per gallon, while midgrade gas is going for a $3.17 average and premium gas for $3.35.

California has the highest average gas price, at $3.68 per gallon as of Monday, while Hawaii, Washington and Nevada are now above a $3-per-gallon average now as well.

Part of the reason for the gas price increase is the winter storm that crippled Texas and much of the American South in February. Twenty-six U.S. refineries were pushed offline, as refinery utilization went from the average 83 percent to 68 percent, AAA reported, citing information from the Energy Information Administration.

The closest cheap fill up in Warren County is the Jersey Gas on Route 46 in Great Meadows offering $2.69 a gallon. Next up is the 76 on Water Street in Belvedere selling at $2.69 and Shell in Columbia are selling at $2.63 a gallon.

For those traveling in the closest cheap fill up in Morris County is the BP at 5569 Berkshire Valley Road in Oak Ridge. They are selling gas at $2.59 a gallon, according to Gas Buddy.com. That price is matched by the Delta on Knoll Road in Boonton. Next up the BP and Enrite in Dover are selling at $2.63 a gallon.

Sussex County has Circle K on Route 23 in Stockholm selling gas at $2.67 followed by the Delta in Stanhope on 183 selling at $2.69 and the 7-11 on Newton Avenue in Branchville selling at $2.67.

“Barring hurricane season, March may bring the most expensive pump prices of 2021,” said Jeanette Casselano McGee, a AAA spokesperson. “While the month is roaring in like a lion, by the end of it we could see some relief at the pump as refineries resume normal operations.”

But it’s not likely to come right away.

The average national gas price could hit $2.80 by the end of March, a AAA projection shows. That could mean an increase of 5 to 10 cents per gallon locally.

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Megan Barrett started having suspicions about the yellow chick when it was 3 weeks old.

While the others she’d purchased for her first flock of egg-laying hens were docile, this one was inquisitive and bold, and soon it developed a gorgeous, swooshing tail. Barrett’s three kids loved the bird, but she had a feeling local officials and maybe neighbors would not. Roosters, as the chick was destined to become, are banned in her Maryland county.

“Now that she’s a he, she’s got to go,” Barrett said, before quickly correcting herself. “He’s got to go.”

The unexpected rooster is a conundrum many backyard chicken owners confront because of a simple fact: It is nearly impossible to tell a chicken’s sex until it is weeks, even months old. Hatcheries employ professional “sexers” who make the call after scrutinizing newborns’ downy wings and nether regions, but most companies guarantee that they’ll be right only 90 percent of the time. That means some owners who believe they bought hens end up with roosters. And problems.

The discovery can set up a clash between urban and suburban flock-keepers’ bucolic ideals — a touch of rural charm, the promise of fresh eggs — and the hard realities of local ordinances. It also can set off a hard scramble to find the rooster alternative accommodations.

Many jurisdictions and homeowners’ associations prohibit roosters because of their crowing, despite defenders’ counter-argument that the sound is no more disruptive than a dog barking. Those restrictions, unhappy neighbors and complex flock dynamics can make an unintended rooster a tough problem to solve. Animal shelters and sanctuaries, which are regularly at capacity for roosters, say the birds are often abandoned.

Laura Hall of Derwood, Md., hatched some chicks and bought two others from a petting zoo. She ended up with five roosters in a jurisdiction where only one is allowed, so she found special collars online that promised to stifle the cock-a-doodle-doo-ing. (Rusty, a silkie, had a particularly “ear-throttling crow.”)

The collars performed as advertised, and the birds roamed fairly quietly on what Hall’s children call their “Happyland Farm.” Even so, animal control officers showed up in April and informed her there’d been a noise complaint. They didn’t notice Hall had excess roosters and left after she assured them she was dealing with the volume.

Then a string from one collar wound up wrapped around Rusty’s tongue, so Hall ditched the collars. Then a neighbor contacted her directly.

“I think his words were, ‘Your rooster’s a pain in the a–,’ ” she said.

Realizing she needed to give away the birds, Hall quickly posted ads on online chicken forums. Only after several offers from people who wanted to butcher the birds did she find nearby farm owners who agreed to keep them as pets.

“I never knew there would be so much drama with owning chickens. I mean, goodness me,” she said.

Rooster re-homing, as it is known, is the subject of many desperate pleas on Facebook chicken group pages and backyard poultry websites. Only a few dedicated rooster rescues exist nationwide.

“I could go on and on and tell you so many stories about roosters, and how amazing they are, and their personalities,” said Sarah Forstner, whose rural Central California rescue, Save the Cocks, once sheltered as many as 30 roosters before an injury forced her to scale back. She now considers herself more of a rooster matchmaker and adviser, linking some owners with adopters and counseling others on how to manage crowing or keep multiple roosters — something she says is eminently possible given the right space and personalities.

But she and other advocates say the rooster shuffle reflects a dark side of the seemingly pure backyard chicken trend. Unbeknown to many people, hatcheries typically kill male chicks the day they hatch, usually by grinding them alive, because they do not grow into egg-laying hens and are not the breeds used for meat. Critics say that backyard flock owners’ demand for day-old pullets, or female chicks, leads to more male chicks, being culled or slipping through to eventually wind up in need of homes or dumped.

“It’s really tough, because most of the roosters out there are going to be put down,” Forstner said.

Some suppliers offer free returns for chicks that turn out to be roosters. Crystal Cahill of Great Meadows, N.J., twice took advantage of that sort of deal after buying what she was told were four 7-week-old pullets in November.

One morning in January, Cahill went out to feed her brood, and “I hear, ‘Er-er-er-er-er!’ ” she recalled, doing an admirable impression of the crowing that came from the beak of a lavender Orpington she had named Mary Jane. Cahill was legally allowed to have roosters but did not want them, so she called the chicken farm where she’d bought her birds, and the owner gave her two pullets in exchange for the rooster.

A month later, Cahill’s favorite pullet — Repecca, the one that followed her everywhere and sat on her lap — also began to crow. The farm owner again offered her two pullets in exchange, but Cahill couldn’t part with the bird. Instead, she took one free pullet, bought another as its companion and changed Repecca’s name to Roopecca.

“So I have gone from having four to now having seven,” said Cahill, a retired nurse. “And it was all because of roosters that were not supposed to be roosters.”

Those who want to keep their roosters but cannot risk angering the neighbors or alerting authorities might turn to a collar. The most prominent is the $17.95 No Crow collar, which Michigan resident Jim Kusmierski and his wife invented after acquiring a rooster and fearing the folks next door might not approve. It’s made of nylon and mesh — bow tie accessory optional — and it restrains crowing by preventing a rooster from filling a sac in its throat with the air it expels to call out. Kusmierski said they’ve sold more than 50,000 in about five years.

“Hide in plain sight,” the No Crow website reads. “No one will know.”

These days, Gillespie owns a company, Marker 99, that supplies heritage breeds for backyard flocks, and he takes back customers’ unplanned roosters when asked. He said he can usually find new homes for them.

Barrett, who lives in Maryland, bought her chicks from Gillespie. But local law aside, she’s not eager to return her rooster. Her children — ages 2, 3 and 13 — “all love that silly yellow bird,” which they alternately call Boneless or Apple. And the stay-at-home mom doesn’t want him to end up slaughtered or in a cockfighting ring.”He’s our responsibility now, and I’m not about to trade him,” Barrett said. “I just ask him politely when I feed him every morning to please be quiet.”

In today’s fast-paced society, it’s hard to find the time to look up from our screens. And even if you’ve found yourself with a bit of time to breathe, the skies are usually clouded by New York City’s perpetual light. And this is true for most places in and around major cities. Nearly 80 percent of North America is covered in artificial light. But finding time to slow down and contemplate more than the minute details of our daily lives is surprisingly beneficial, crucial even, to our well being. And just because the city lights cast shadows on the sky, doesn’t mean the stars are impossible to see. It is easy to find the best places to stargaze in New Jersey if you’re up for a drive.

According to research led by the University of Exeter and published in Scientific Reports, only two hours a week spent in nature could improve your mental health. Stargazing in night’s sky will make you feel small, in the greatest possible way. It will afford you a new perspective. One where you don’t need to consistently be tethered to screens or your level of productivity. You might even get to make a few memories. We’re all on this giant rock floating through space for a finite period of time. Try not to miss out on the experience.

5 Best Places to Stargaze in New Jersey

If you ever find yourself curious enough to peer into our Universe, this list includes the clearest parts of the Garden State sky. I’ve included the light pollution map that I used to find these parks (the lower the value below the park name, the clearer the sky) so that you can look for some of your own spots as well. Here are the five best places to stargaze in New Jersey, based on light pollution:

Hammonton, NJ Light Pollution: .22

Wharton State Forest is the largest state forest in New Jersey, with over 100,000 acres of land divided between Burlington, Camden, and Atlantic counties. Throughout Wharton are gorgeous views of its lakes, ponds, and fields that give stargazers in New Jersey access to the clean, open sky. In addition, the park also offers tent camping and cabins, for $20 a night and $25 a night for non-residents.

Sussex, NJLight Pollution: .23

Favored among many stargazers, High Point Monument is elevated 1,803 feet above sea level and offers a stunning panorama of the skies in the tri-state area. High Point State Park, in addition to its vast views of forestry and rolling hills, also offers quiet camping grounds for $20 a night, $25 for non-residents.

Tuckerton, NJLight Pollution: .27

Photo courtesy of Kody Dahl

Located in Ocean Township, Bass River State Forest offers several trails bordering its 67-acre Lake Absegami. However, you don’t need to travel down any trails to get to the beach area, which provides an ideal spot to catch a shooting star or two.

Frenchtown, NJ Light pollution: .39

Located in Kingwood Township, adjacent to the Delaware River, this 736-acre park provides several ideal spots to look up into the night sky. If you’re feeling adventurous, there are 11 miles of trails that take hikers through the rolling hills and high meadows of Horseshoe Bend. If you don’t want to travel that far, near the North entrance of the park extends a 7-acre dog run. Horseshoe Bend also preserves multiple fields perfect for setting up a telescope or a blanket. Even the wide parking lots provide a low-polluted view of the stars.

Hewitt, NJLight Pollution: .47

Within Wawayanda State Park, there are multiple trails of all skill levels, leading to extraordinary landscapes within Sussex County. Also located inside the park are lush green fields and small beach areas surrounding Lake Wawayanda. Both are great locations to ponder the vast cosmos.