Reporter Jacqueline Hlavenka Leaves the Beat

Jacqueline Hlavenka, the reliable reporter for the weekly Independent reporting on Holmdel and Bayshore news, is leaving the paper after nearly two years, for a new job in New York. 

During her time in Holmdel, the 23-year old Hofstra University graduate took a walk through the empty Lucent headquarters with the head of Somerset Development, trudged through the snow to write about the 12-acre nature preserve  adjacent to Allocco Park, and interviewed people on all sides of the contentious Union Beach wind turbine project -- while covering many other stories in and around town.

As coverage waxed and waned from other media outlets during this tumultuous time for local newspapers, Hlavenka was often alone on a story, sitting in the front row, with her white tape recorder in hand, taking copious notes. "We strive to be, kind of, the paper of record," she said. 

A confessed land-use issues junkie, Hlavenka will be covering daily news for GlobeStreet.com in downtown New York, focusing on commercial real estate, mergers, business and architecture. Studious and enthusiastic by nature, she lights up when she talks about one of her favorite books, Jane Jacobs' "The Death and Life of Great American Cities."

"I always like the planning, zoning and land use issues. I know that it sounds crazy, and that the meetings could be lengthy, but I always found those issues interesting,"  she said, at the end of her last Holmdel Board of Education meeting on March 29.  

After commendations and a round of applause from the board for her service, Hlavenka got into her car to head home to Manalapan Tuesday night. It was the stroke of midnight, so the parking lot lights had just flashed off.

A family of deer came out of the woods and ambled down Crawfords Corner Road -- an accident waiting to happen. "Oh! We should get a photo of this!" she said, but they slipped into the shadows. 

Jackie Hlavenka (that's a Slovakian name, if you were wondering, and pronounced "Lavenka") can be reached at jhlave1@gmail.com.