Free Republic

TRENTON, N.J. - A Democratic leader in the New Jersey Assembly has been charged with public corruption for allegedly abusing his former position as Perth Amboy's mayor by using city money for personal expenses such as his son's basketball camps and refreshments served after his father's funeral. Prosecutors also accuse Joseph Vas of rigging a lottery so his driver would win. In an 11-count indictment, Vas, 54, is charged with conspiracy, official misconduct, bid-rigging and records tampering. Attorney General Anne Milgram announced the charges at a news conference Wednesday. "Joseph Vas took an oath as mayor to honestly and faithfully...

WASHINGTON (AP) - New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is leading an effort to stop the Department of Veterans Affairs from closing underused and outdated hospitals, including one in her state. Clinton and a group of both other Democratic and Republican senators want to slow down a VA plan to shift the agency's health care focus to outpatient facilities and shutter seven hospitals, including one in Canandaigua, N.Y. The senators, calling for more hearings, say VA planners have not spent enough time studying veterans' long-term care and mental health needs or weighing the impact on rural veterans. ``Veterans' health care is...