Reason for phone cutoff clarified MANALAPAN — A Verizon executive has clarified why telephone service to the Manalapan Police Department was cut off for parts of July 19-20. When the News Transcript was contacted by Verizon spokesman Rich Young on the afternoon of July 21 in order to explain the second shutdown of service in as many months, Young said the problem appeared to be the same as the first time the service had been terminated in May; attributing the problem to work crews performing system upgrades in the area. However, that evening (July 21), after the News Transcript article that appeared in the July 23 edition had gone to press, John Szeliga, a Verizon executive, reached out to the newspaper to say Young’s explanation for the cause of the service cutoff had been incorrect and that the service cutoff had actually been due to a “burnt cable.”