Hurricane Sandy

UPDATE: OCC Closing Mon. and Tues.

Monmouth U., Brookdale and Georgian Court also closed

Due to weather conditions, Ocean County College in Toms River is closed Monday and Tuesday. Also, Georgian Court University, in Lakewood, and Brookdale Community College, in Middletown, will be closed on Monday and Tuesday. "If possible, residents should vacate on Sunday," Georgian Court states on its website. Monmouth University is also closed Monday and Tuesday. Ocean County College officials said they will decide tomorrow whether to close. The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and Atlantic Cape Community College are closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Rowan University, and Rider University are also closing Monday and Tuesday. An open house at Rider on Sunday is canceled. Rutgers University is still open; its website does not …

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Point Boro Couple's Struggle with Ocean County in Documentary Showing Tonight

"Freeheld" will be shown at Toms River branch of Ocean County library

  The Ocean County Chapter of the National Organization for Women invites the public to a free screening of the Academy Award-winning documentary film "Freeheld" at 6:45 p.m. tonight in Mancini Hall in the Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library. The 2007 short documentary, directed by Cynthia Wade, details the struggle of County Detective Lt. Laurel Hester, diagnosed with terminal cancer, to leave her pension to Stacie Andree, her registered domestic partner of five years. Hester had worked for the county for 25 years and was 49 when she died in February 2006. Although the freeholders had the option all along to allow county employees to leave their pension benefits to domestic partners, it was only after public protests and a long …

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UPDATE: Giant Crab Sunk, But Not as Planned

Strap supporting concrete crab snaps; outcome uncertain

A 47-foot-long horseshoe crab replica is now sunk at an artificial reef off the coast of Mantoloking, but not as planned. After Point Borough sculptor Chris Wojcik invested more than a year of time building and readying a concrete crab replica for its place at the Axel Carlson reef, it was finally sunk today. But the sinking turned out to be far more dramatic than anyone expected or wanted. Two hours were spent methodically preparing for the sinking, with the crew of the ocean crane Columbia New York filling the twin, 50-foot barges that support the structure with water, then strapping it to a crane to ensure the crab, which is welded to the barges, remained upright when it reached the ocean floor. But just before noon, the strap …

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Denise Di Stephan

11:00 am on Friday, August 31, 2012

To Joseph Ghabour: Sadly it broke into pieces. Please see Karen Wall's latest story which we posted last evening: http://patch.com/A-xycB There is also video capturing what happened. Thank you for reading Patch.   more ›

Thanks to El Nino, Tropics Tamer in 2012

Less chance of a hurricane impacting the Shore this year

While the number of named tropical weather systems this year is, thus far, about equal to 2011, most of the storms that formed fizzled out or were swept to sea before having had a chance to impact land. One potential reason: a weather pattern known as El Nino. El Nino, Spanish for "the little boy" because it often is identified near Christmas, is a warm phase characterized by high pressure over the Pacific Ocean. It occurs about every five years, and has been identified as happening this year. The phenomenon is powerful enough to affect weather patterns here and around the globe. Last year, El Nino's opposite pattern – La Nina – was in effect, which brought low pressure to the Pacific. "Upper level winds over the tropics are strong," said …

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Driving Your Car Through Six Flags Safari Ending Soon

Early closure for the safari park this season

Six Flags Great Adventure will not allow visitors to drive their own vehicles through the Wild Safari attraction after Sept. 30, the company announced on Monday.  For many years guests of the safari have followed the path through the 350-acre sanctuary seeing all different animals they might have only seen on TV. After Sept. 30, they will no longer be able to do that. "Six Flags Wild Safari has been an institution for many families whose first glimpse of exotic animals was with their faces pressed up against the car window," said Safari Director and Chief Veterinarian Bill Rives. "That chapter of our history is now drawing to a close." The area has been described as the world's largest drive through safari outside of Africa according to …

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Four NJ Women Help Lead U.S. Soccer Team to Olympic Gold

Christie Rampone and Carli Lloyd play big roles in U.S. win

Four Jersey girls helped make it happen. Four New Jersey women on the U.S. Women's Soccer team — including Point Pleasant Borough High School graduate Christie Rampone, East Brunswick's Heather O'Reilly, Basking Ridge's Tobin Heath, and Delran's Carli Lloyd — helped their teammates get the gold on Thursday in an Olympic re-match of last year's World Cup final with Japan. The game, aired on NBC Sports, ended with team members pulling on white T-shirts that say "Greatness Has Been Found" and posing for photos with the American flag. Rampone, clutching a corner of a flag, ran across the field, with a teammate holding the other side of the country's banner. Lloyd who hails from Delran — next to Cinnaminson in South Jersey — was pivotal in the …

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Obama Campaign Asks NJ Residents to 'Tell the Truth' About Christie

The New Jersey arm of the president's campaign has set up a website asking residents for feedback on Christie.

An email circulated to New Jersey supporters of President Barack Obama is asking residents to "tell the truth" about Gov. Christie, in anticipation of presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's possible VP nod to the governor. The email, sent Wednesday morning by Jackie Cornell-Bechelli, New Jersey State Director of Obama for America, points its recipients to a website, where supporters can fill out a form detailing "what you think people need to know about Chris Christie." Christie has repeatedly waved off rumors that he would accept a vice-presidential nomination from Romney. On July 16 in Manasquan, Christie said he does not expect to be Romney's pick for vice president. "Hopefully (Romney) picks a smart, well-qualified person who's ready to be…

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Searchable Databases

New Jersey 2012 Presidential Campaign Contributions

Search our interactive database to see how much your neighbors gave to Obama and Romney.

Patch has created an interactive database so you can see how much your neighbors are donating to the presidential campaign—and to which candidate they’re writing their checks. We’ve included communities across New Jersey, so if you want to see what the campaign contributions in nearby towns are like, go right ahead. The information in the database was downloaded from the Federal Election Commission’s website. The data is based on quarterly reports, and is current through July. The data will be updated in mid-October.

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Point Boro Taxes to Increase $66 on Average Home

Budget adopted Tuesday night with one no vote

A municipal budget that will increase local taxes by about $66 per average home was adopted at a brief Point Borough Council meeting on Tuesday night at Borough Hall. Point Borough Councilmember Christopher Leitner was the only no vote on the budget which is expected to increase municipal taxes by $66 on a home assessed at $300,000 if it is  approved by Ocean County and the state. Councilmember John Wisniewski was absent. The municipal tax bill on a home assessed at $300,000, which is the average Borough assessment for a home, is increasing from $1,146 to $1,212. The total municipal budget is decreasing from $18.4 million to $18.3 million. The amount to be raised by local taxes is increasing from $12.5 million to nearly $13.2 million. The …

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Ocean County Fair - Day 5

Last full day of the 2012 country fair packed with events

The last full day of the 2012 Ocean County Fair has an almost around-the-clock schedule of events slated, in addition to the standard country fair items. The fair will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Here's what's on the itinerary for today: • Bow Benders Archery Shoot - 11 a.m., horse show tent • Zuzu African Acrobats – As seen on America’s Got Talent - noon, main stage • Horse Costume Contest - 12:30 p.m., horse show ring • 4-H Cat Show - 1 p.m., 4-H show tent • Clover Buds Horse Show - 1 p.m., horse show tent • Zuzu African Acrobats – 1:30 p.m., main stage • Rooster crowing contest - open to all fairgoers -1:30 p.m., 4-H show tent. • Dirt Devils ATV Classes - 2-4:30, horse show ring. • Chicken Dance - open to all fairgoers - 2 p.m., 4-H …

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