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CHESTERFIELD, N.J.—A dump truck collided with a bus carrying elementary schoolchildren on Thursday, killing an 11-year-old daughter of a state trooper and critically injuring three other students -- two of them the triplet sisters of the dead girl, authorities said. The accident occurred just after 8 a.m. at a four-way intersection in Chesterfield, a town south of Trenton. It sent the bus, which was carrying 25 students, crashing sideways into a traffic signal pole, crumpling the side. Police said 17 students received injuries, most of them minor.

Flags will be lowered in New Jersey Saturday, the day of Whitney Houston’s funeral. But a Marine mom in Arlington says it’s an honor Houston doesn’t deserve. When Phyllis McGeath heard Gov. Chris Christie had ordered flags lowered to half-staff for Houston, she said she felt a pain deep inside her. “I was hurt and offended. Disappointed. Saddened,” she said. “I felt like the honor that was given to my son was tarnished.” McGeath had three sons who were active duty Marines. Her oldest, Philip, was killed by a suicide bomber just four weeks ago in Afghanistan. He was 25....

New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie will reportedly plan a public tribute for famed performer Whitney Houston, who died Saturday at the age of 48. “Obviously, Whitney Houston was an important part of the fabric – the cultural fabric of this state,” Mr. Christie said at a press conference Tuesday, adding that Houston, a Newark native, is in the “pantheon of great New Jersey musical talents” like Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and Bruce Springsteen. “Her terribly premature death is an awful loss for her family and the incredible New Jersey musical family,” he said. “Our prayers are with her family,”...

n his New York Times bestselling book, Throw Them All Out, Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer revealed how members of Congress enrich themselves and their relatives using earmarks and insider information. Now, the Washington Post, following in Schweizer’s footsteps, has conducted a study that found 16 members of Congress have used their power of the purse to benefit companies, colleges, and community groups tied to their relatives. *snip* Among those cited in the Washington Post report were the following (below):

Manasquan, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- The New Jersey Appellate Division decided two cases this week in support of fair treatment for those who received mental health care, but who no longer suffer from such disabilities in such a manner that would handicap them in the safe handling of firearms. The law firm of Evan F. Nappen, Attorney at Law PC of Eatontown, New Jersey, (www.evannappen.com) represented both of these appellants. Both cases were partially funded by the NRA’s Civil Rights Defense Fund. IN RE M.L., PETITIONER FOR EXPUNGEMENT Two years ago, M.L., a retired law enforcement officer with over 25 years of...

In an address recently delivered to an AIPAC audience in New York, New Jersey governor Chris Christie articulated a responsible view of America’s role in the world, stressing the importance of us standing by our friends and taking action against our adversaries. “America should stand by its friends and its democratic allies, even, and sometimes especially, when it’s unpopular to do so,” Christie said, outlining his foreign policy vision. “And you know I know, that it may not be fashionable in some of the chancelleries, the foreign ministries, and salons around the world to talk about why America stands with...

The hypocrisy of opponents of school choice schemes has never been a big secret. But rarely has that quality been so brazenly exhibited as by Vincent Giordano, the head of the New Jersey Education Association, in a recent interview on New Jersey public television. When asked why he opposes giving poor parents the same opportunity to take their kids out of failing public schools and into successful private or religious institutions the wealthy have, the teachers union boss, who makes more than half a million in salary and other compensation, replied: "Life's not always fair." Giordano, who has been a major antagonist of New...

A Newark man died after a tussle with a former high school wrestler he tried to rob early Saturday, NBC New York has learned. Law-enforcement sources told NBC New York that 30-year-old Gian Davis approached two men near Bloomfield Avenue at about 1:15 a.m. and asked for change. When the men said "no," he then asked to borrow a cell phone, grabbed it and tried to run off with it, sources said. One of the men lunged to get the phone back and Davis put him in a headlock, according to sources. Then, sources say the other man, a former...

BERNARDSVILLE, N.J. – A northern New Jersey educator accused of secretly videotaping teenage boys in the shower at a Catholic high school for nearly three years has quit his administrative job with a public school district. Somerset Hills Regional School District Superintendent Peter Miller said Patrick Lott's resignation was accepted Thursday during a special board of education meeting. The 54-year-old Lott was an assistant principal at the Bernardsville Middle School. But he had been placed on an unpaid leave of absence after being arrested last December. His resignation took effect on Jan. 27. Somerset County prosecutors say Lott videotaped students...

Constitutional Work Around: New Jersey Legislators Move To Ban Ammunition Mac Slavo January 30th, 2012 While the second amendment protects our right to bear arms, some anti-gun advocates think they may have found a loophole. This afternoon the New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee is set to consider two bills (Assembly Bill 588 and Assembly Bill 1013) that would essentially ban all handgun ammunition in the state, as well as some (or potentially all) rifle ammunition.Sponsored by Assemblyman L. Grace Spencer (D-29), A588 is cleverly disguised as police safety legislation aimed at armor piercing ammunition (which is already...

Stressing the importance of maintaining diversity at the highest levels of New Jersey’s judiciary, Gov. Chris Christie Monday nominated an openly gay African-American mayor and a Korean-American assistant attorney general to the Supreme Court. If confirmed by the state Senate, Harris would be the ............... first openly gay justice named to the state Supreme Court

A New Jersey school teacher accused of writing anti-gay comments on Facebook is stirring a new pot on free speech rights versus her possible termination. Tenure charges were formally filed against high school English teacher Viki Knox, 50, last month after she was placed on leave in September for words her school board argues to be potentially harmful to their students. 'Why parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us?' a Facebook user with her name wrote calling homosexuality 'a perverted spirit,' 'sin,' and which 'breeds like cancer,' according to NJ.com.

A New Jersey Judge has ruled that a Christian organization engaged in wrongdoing and violated the state’s discrimination laws when it prevented a gay couple from holding a civil union ceremony on its property. (snip) Administrative Law Judge Solomon Metzger made the ruling Thursday in a case involving the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. In 2007 the group stopped a lesbian couple from using its boardwalk pavilion. “Respondent opposes same-sex unions as a matter of religious belief, and in 2007 found itself on the wrong side of recent changes in the law,” Judge Metzger wrote in his ruling.

Explanation: Named for a forgotten constellation, the Quadrantid Meteor Shower is an annual event for planet Earth's northern hemisphere skygazers. It usually peaks briefly in the cold, early morning hours of January 4. The shower's radiant point on the sky lies within the old, astronomically obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis. That position is situated near the boundaries of the modern constellations Hercules, Bootes, and Draco. Many of this year's Quadrantid meteors were dim, but the one captured in this north-looking view is bright and easy to spot. In the foreground is the Maurice River's East Point Lighthouse located near the southern...

A federal magistrate judge nominated to the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals is being blocked by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), in a little-known use of senatorial courtesy that could kill the appointment. The move, which has effectively derailed the nomination of U.S. Magistrate Patty Shwartz to the Third Circuit, marks the first time a judicial appointee of President Obama has been held up by a senator from his own party.

In an exclusive Human Events interview, the senior Republican on the Senate’s Agriculture Committee's Jobs, Rural Economic Growth and Energy Innovation subcommittee discusses his take on the MF Global bankruptcy scandal. “I have heard from several South Dakotans who were affected by the apparent fraud that occurred in the final days of MF Global before its collapse,” said Sen. John R. Thune (R-S.D.), who worked in the Small Business Administration​ under President Ronald W. Reagan. [Video of Thune's December 13 questioning Corzine is at the bottom of the article.] The firm’s Halloween bankruptcy was followed by the November 4 resignation...

A Toms River woman, who was on her way home with her husband after a minor car accident, was killed when their pickup truck was hit head-on by a van, which police say was driven by a drunk driver. Ed McCarthy, 74, was driving his wife Jean, 71, west on Route 70 when they were hit by a van making a left turn onto Massachusetts Avenue from Route 70 East, according to Police Chief Michael Mastronardy. Abel Hernandez, 28, of Lake wood, allegedly fled the scene and was apprehended within the hour, Mastronardy said. Hernandez is charged with being an...

Report: Questions raised about judicial nomination for Schumer's brother-in-law By Jonathan Easley - 12/26/11 12:28 PM ET The White House's nomination of Kevin McNulty for a federal judgeship did not garner much attention, but now some anonymous voices are griping about McNulty's connection to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). McNulty is married to Schumer’s sister, Fran, although the White House's announcement of his nomination for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on December 16 did not say so. A New York Post report suggests that McNulty was chosen because of his relationship to Schumer, saying he...

Court: New Jersey Nurses Don't Have to Assist in Abortions Newark, NJ -- A federal court late Thursday gave pro-life advocates a huge victory in the case of 12 nurses being forced to assist with abortions at a New Jersey hospital. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/court-new-jersey-nurses-dont-have-to-assist-in-abortions/

HOPATCONG, N.J. (AP) — A cable TV repairman got quite a surprise when he walked into the basement of a New Jersey home. There was a 500-pound bear sound asleep on the floor.

Jim Morin was a former Air Force air traffic controller when he joined the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1977 and was assigned to one of the busiest airports in the nation, New York’s LaGuardia, where he became secretary-treasurer of the PATCO local.But even as air traffic was growing and the air traffic control system was working at near capacity, the FAA was cutting staffing numbers and forcing controllers to work longer hours, especially in the spring and summer when thunderstorms would back planes up across the country. We’d get hammered. So many planes and so few places to put them....

Regulators now have a more complete picture of money transfers in the final days of bankrupt brokerage MF Global, but must sort out which transactions were legitimate before more money can be released to customers, a top official told Reuters on Wednesday. Jill Sommers, who is heading the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's review of MF Global, said regulators "are far enough along the trail" that they know where the money went. "Now it's just finding out which ones of those transactions are legitimate and which ones of them are illegitimate," Sommers said.

In a softball interview with Sen. Debbie Stabenow on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough on Tuesday asked the Michigan Democrat if it was difficult for her to grill a friend and colleague, the former New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine, on the MF Global scandal. At one point, Scarborough enthused, "Senator Corzine. I like him a lot. We like him." Co-host Mika Brzezinski started out the interview by asking Stabenow on how they would be taking on the MF Global investigation. The Michigan senator essentially rattled off the hearing's witness list. Scarborough then interrupted, not to press Stabenow about what...

This must be a difficult time for New Jersey. You see, in addition to finding out that they’re harboring the second most dangerous city in America (for the second year in a row), they’ve now got a traitor in their midst. His name is Joe Steinfield, and he is hilarious. Well, I guess that depends on whether or not you live in one of his satirical regions of New Jersey and/or take offense to being lumped in with “Canadians and Philly Trash” (aka Wildwood according to Steinfield’s map).

A New Jersey high school admits that it “inadvertently” censored Christmas songs that include the words God, Jesus, Santa, Christmas and Chanukah – in place of music that would not be “belief-specific.” Colin Curran, a student at West Windsor – Plainsboro High School South, wrote about the incident in a Huffington Post blog titled, “Christmas, I mean Holiday, Music.” Curran wrote that he was in charge of creating a playlist for a holiday breakfast hosted by the student council for young children. He said the student council adviser told him to avoid any holiday music that included the words God...

A New Jersey man in his mid to late 50s has been arrested in connection with the smashing of windows in Highland Park Tuesday night. Richard Green of New Brunswick was charged with five counts of criminal mischief, with a maximum penalty of up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. However, if officials file hate crime charges against him, he could face at least 10 years in prison. In a statement, police said that the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office was notified of the circumstances of the incidents, and they will decide on whether to...

...The Telecommunications-Cable Television Deregulation Ensuring Consumer Protection Act (S. 3062) contains little in the way of deregulation at all, instead reaffirming and expanding the role of the Board of Public Utilities. The Board would continue to set rates, tariffs, and terms and conditions for services, in addition to creating higher regulatory barriers to entry for new competitors in the market. S. 3062 will also force “carrier of last resort” obligations onto providers, meaning some companies will be forced to maintain costly phone and video networks in areas with other, stronger competition and potentially no customers – costs that will be...

WESTAMPTON, N.J. (AP) — Children on a school bus in New Jersey called their parents to say the driver was swerving and falling asleep behind the wheel. The parents called Westampton Middle School, which alerted police.

FReepers / Cain Supporters, Question for you. Like I said last week, I figured out the identity of the NJ Accuser (she hasn't come forward yet). I have said before and will continue to refrain from revealing her identity on a public forum until she decides to come forward or another media link outs her. However, since it was easy for me to find her, I thought about emailing her and letting her know that both Politico/Google Search has compromised her anonymity and show her how I was able to identify her without being a journalist, hacker, investigator, etc. I...

Until a few months ago, same-day surgery nurses at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey never had to be present at or assist with abortion procedures. But in September, the hospital implemented a new policy that allegedly requires nurses to aid abortions — or potentially lose their jobs.Now, a group of 12 nurses have filed a lawsuit against the hospital, saying the policy violates federal and state laws that make it illegal for the management of publicly-funded facilities to require employees to perform or participate in any way in abortion procedures.The nurses also say the hospital’s new...

Lorna Jose Mendoza has been given a choice. She can either assist in an abortion this week at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, or she could refuse and risk losing her job. Mendoza is one of a dozen nurses who filed suit today against the hospital – accusing them of violating federal and state law by forcing them to assist in abortions against their religious and moral objections. “The hospital told the nurses they have no regard for their religious beliefs,” said Matthew Bowman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund. “They were going to be assigned...

Republican candidates for president have been busy for weeks now, laboring strenuously to give the 2012 nomination to Mitt Romney. And he keeps trying to give it back. The former Massachusetts governor could walk to next year's GOP convention without touching the ground, treading exclusively on the bodies of rivals who have fallen on their faces. He's the equivalent of the Alabama Crimson Tide, playing a schedule heavy on Southeastern Louisiana and Middle Tennessee State. He should be running up the score every week. Instead, he keeps finding ways to keep his opponents in the game. Look at the opposition....

Who can say "gay" isn't okay in New Jersey? Judging by Gov. Chris Christie's actions, teachers can't. Christie told CNN's Piers Morgan on June 15 that he doesn't think homosexuality is a sin even though his religion does. To be sure that the citizens of New Jersey are aware of Christie's beliefs, the interview and transcript are posted on the official New Jersey website. Okay, that's his opinion. But read on. New Jersey high school teacher Viki Knox may have been inspired by Christie's comments to think that it was okay for a New Jersey public employee to express an...

Please go to the link to see a video interview of Steve Forbes' endorsement of Rick Perry for POTUS and hear a glimpse of what The Perry Plan offers and what that will mean to America.

"Rick Perry -- now coming out with, really embracing Steve Forbes' flat tax idea -- that's going to gain momentum. I look forward to hearing more of the details," she said. "In fact, when I heard that Rick Perry was embracing of Steve Forbes' idea, I went into my garage and dug out an old book from 1999 that Steve Forbes had written. ......Many aspects of it make so much sense - - about the freedom to choose - taxpayer how to file your taxes …..choose a simpler, fairer flat tax…..many of the aspects of it make so much sense."....

To say Ann Coulter had a political crush on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie might be putting it mildly. So when Christie announced he wasn’t running for president, and then endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the natural thing for her to do would have been to push for a Romney-Christie ticket. Not so fast. On Thursday night’s “Hannity,” the author of “Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America” elaborated on her endorsement of Romney last week, but also endorsed Cain for his signature “9-9-9” tax plan. “I am so glad you asked about Herman Cain,” Coulter said. “I...

For those of you who keep track of the State by State polling in respect to Obama's approval and odds against any GOP candidate {let's take Romney for example}, We all know what States Obama is in serious trouble in. Can we all agree that these are the five easiest States that the GOP Nominee needs to flip from the 2008 election to show Obama and McMichelle the door in 2013? 1) Indiana 2) Ohio 3) Pennsylvania 4) Virginia 5) Florida Now that's not even including Iowa,NH,NC,Michigan,New Jersey,Colorado and Nevada which are all States that Obama could lose easily. If...

New Jersey Republican governor Chris Christie said Tuesday that he understands the growing Occupy Wall Street movement, adding that demonstrators have a right to be upset with the economy. “What they’re saying is ‘The government’s not working for me anymore, the government is not being fair, the government is not helping me the way that they should,’” Mr. Christie told a crowd of supporters. “I understand why they’re angry. Because you look down at what’s happening in Washington, D.C., it should disgust all of us,” the New Jersey Republican added. “You have a president who’s unwilling to drag people to...

This is a poll being conducted by the Newark Star Ledger wanting to know if readers think a Union Township High School teacher should be fired for condemning homosexual behavior on her facebook page.

A nugget from the Times story on Chris Christie's decision against a 2012 campaign — he had an hourlong policy briefing from Henry Kissinger. The former secretary of state had personally urged Christie to run, and sitting down for a briefing — even one that wasn't sought out — would be an extension of that. But it is another scrap in how the pleas from Republican players had finally softened his resistance, however briefly, to running. "If Henry Kissinger is basically begging you to run, how do you not reconsider?" said one Republican insider. Meanwhile, for whatever disappointment the donors...

Chris Christie's departure has left most of the Republican Party resigned to a choice between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, but there are holdouts, and some of those holdouts are, I'm told, carrying a torch for a new figure: Eric Cantor. The House Majority Leader, subject of a big New York Magazine profile this week, has given no indication at all that he'd run for president, and this seems extremely unlikely to change. Nonetheless: "You’ve got a lot of the same guys who were looking at Christie who still thinks there’s an opening," said a prominent Republican operative. "A lot...

With Governor Chris Christie confirming today that he won't seek the presidency, some big-name donors are finally ready to commit themselves to Mitt Romney. "A lot of us who normally would have been in this presidential race a long time ago, have been waiting for Christie to make a decision," said Georgette Mosbacher, a Republican uber-fund-raiser and finance co-chair of the Republican National Committee who was among a group of Republican bundlers hoping to convince Christie to enter the race. "I think tomorrow, we’ll be contacting one another and probably put something together with Romney." [...] At a meeting with...

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - At least one well-heeled backer of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie shifted support to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on Tuesday after Christie declined to join the Republican U.S. presidential race, and others are expected to follow. After Christie's announcement, Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone signed up with the Romney camp, according to the campaign. Langone, industrialist David Koch and hedge fund giant Paul Singer were among the elite fund-raisers who implored the Christie to seek the Republican nomination to run against President Barack Obama in 2012.

The media has been consumed for the past week with speculation over whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will jump into the presidential race. The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, apparently having trouble coming up with anything of value to write about, penned a laugable column in last Friday's Washington Post alleging that Christie's weight made him unfit for the Oval Office (Flashback: remember when calling Obama skinny was considered racist by folks at Slate.) As ATR's Patrick Gleason recently responded in the Daily Caller: If the best Obama supporters can come up with against Chris Christie is “bu bu but,...

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With speculation mounting over a possible presidential run for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a reliable source emails me this: Big potential donors to Christie have been told to prepare to go to Trenton this Thursday to stand on stage with him for the announcement if he decides to run. He has not decided yet. Regardless of his decision, this announcement will be big news …

<p>Amid continued speculation that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is seriously considering a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, John McCain, 2008's GOP presidential nominee, said he thinks Christie would make a "viable" candidate - but he warned that "the swimming pool looks a lot better until you jump right in."</p>

As Chris Christie continues to play footsie with a presidential run, we should be aware that the New Jersey governor is yet another example of the politician as scientific know-nothing, warning of the dangers of anthropogenic global warming. Christie — a graduate of the University of Delaware in political science [sic] with a law degree from Seton Hall — has decided global warming is real. How does he know? Says Christie: “I’m certainly not a scientist, which is the first problem. So I can’t claim to fully understand all of this, certainly not after just a few months of...

Gov. Chris Christie is seriously rethinking his months of denials and may launch a campaign for the White House after all, a source close to the governor said tonight. In the last week, Christie has been swayed away from his earlier refusals to run by an aggressive draft effort from a cadre of Republicans and donors unhappy with the GOP field, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

Chris Christie’s political advisers are working to determine whether they could move fast enough to set up effective political operations in Iowa and New Hampshire in the wake of a relentless courtship aimed at persuading Mr. Christie, the governor of New Jersey, to plunge into the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to operatives briefed on the preparations. Mr. Christie has not yet decided whether to run and has not authorized the start of a full-fledged campaign operation. But with the governor now seriously considering getting in, his strategists — many of them veterans of Rudolph W. Giuliani’s 2008...