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N.J. Gov.'s SUV Went 91 Mph Before Crash Apr 17 04:19 PM US/Eastern TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The SUV carrying Gov. Jon S. Corzine was traveling about 91 mph moments before it crashed, Superintendent of State Police Col. Rick Fuentes said Tuesday. The governor was critically injured when the vehicle crashed into a guardrail on the Garden State Parkway just north of Atlantic City last week. He apparently was not wearing his seat belt as he rode in the front passenger's seat. The speed limit along that stretch of the parkway is 65 mph. The state trooper-driven sport utility vehicle...

A growing shortfall in the public employee pension system is "one of the greatest challenges" facing New Jersey, Governor Corzine said last week. Here's a look at what's happening, how things got this way, who is affected, and possible solutions. What exactly is the shortfall? It's how much more money should be in the state-administered pension funds right now to pay the benefits promised to employees and retirees of state, county and local government agencies and schools. As of June 30, 2006, the market value of the pension funds was $77.7 billion, while the total liability, or the state's estimate...

A local paper reports that a drill at Burlington Township High School in New Jersey involved police portraying mock gunmen, described as "members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the 'New Crusaders' who don't believe in the separation of church and state." The fake gunmen were said to have been "seeking justice because the daughter of one [member] had been expelled for praying before class." Historian and constitutional expert David Barton is president of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that distributes historical, legal, and statistical information and helps citizens become

Instead of an arrow, a man named Cupid put a dagger straight through his former lover's heart - figuratively - stealing her money and identity while she was stationed in Iraq, authorities said. Malik Cupid, 31, of Harlem, was arraigned the day before Valentine's Day - which also happened to be his birthday - on charges he stole $1,400 from his sweetheart and impersonated her online. Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore said Cupid was charged with grand larceny, identity theft and eavesdropping. Between May and November, while his ex, Terra Melson, was serving in Iraq with the Army, Cupid assumed...

When Mark Polansky reaches space, he'll have brought a little piece of Jersey with him. The astronaut is scheduled to lift off tonight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. He is commanding the STS-116 mission to the International Space Station. But his journey began as a boy growing up by Roosevelt Park in North Edison, a pharmacist's son who devoured books on science, was glued to the television for all the early space launches and pretended a cardboard box was a spaceship. "I loved geography. I loved the idea of exploring," Polansky said. "I figured...

Happy Simbang Gabi to all. OK, be honest -- how many are scratching their heads? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but those who fail today's Wide World of Catholicism pop quiz. However, fret not. It's a big church, it happens -- and while it's no easy task serving as the cheat sheet, somebody's gotta do it. In that vein, today's the fifth day of the traditional novena of pre-dawn Masses that are a revered (not to mention numerically huge) tradition in the Philippines. And where the Filipino community goes, the tradition comes along, packing parishes and...

Menendez Seeks to Bury Image of a Shady DealerBy Michael Powell Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 3, 2006; Page A02 ATLANTIC CITY -- A balding labor chieftain explains why his hard-hats should vote for the plump candidate who stands here in a muddy construction site dressed in a white knit cotton shirt, a pinstriped suit, loafers and a perfectly knotted tie. "Bobby Menendez is a fighter !" Billy Mullen bellows at his guys on this balmy autumnal day. "He's been in the gutter , he's rolled around down there his whole life . . ." The hard-hats do much...

<p>Supreme Court of New Jersey's holding: "Denying committed same-sex couples the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose. The Court holds that under the equal protection guarantee of Article I, Paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, committed samesex couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes. The name to be given to the statutory scheme that provides full rights and benefits to samesex couples, whether marriage or some other term, is a matter left to the democratic process."</p>

For pure entertainment value, not much can compete with the blood sport of New Jersey politics. Last week federal investigators launched a probe into whether U.S. Senator Robert Menendez illegally benefited to the tune of more than $300,000 from a rental-income deal he had with a nonprofit agency that received millions of dollars in federal contracts. Even liberal good government groups agree that the relationship may have violated congressional conflict-of-interest rules. The allegations have sparked a mini-panic among state Democratic operatives, who not so long ago thought Mr. Menendez -- who was appointed by Jon Corzine ... had the November...

OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone announced Monday that the school will retire the late Chucky Mullins' No. 38 football jersey during pregame ceremonies Sept. 3, when the Rebels open the 2006 season against the University of Memphis. "There are only a few people in this world that have the courage and competitive spirit to overcome the unbelievable obstacles Chucky faced," Boone said in announcing the decision to retire No. 38. "His legacy reaches beyond the football field and deserves to be memorialized as such. "It was decided that the ultimate way to honor Chucky Mullins and...

New Jersey politicians have reached an agreement that will end the state budget crisis. The deal will be announced later this afternoon by Gov. Jon Corzine at a news conference. That conference is tentatively scheduled at 4:30 p.m. NBC 10 News and NBC10.com will live video coverage. Corzine hammered out a deal with his fellow Democrats, who were fighting him over a proposed sales tax hike, according to sources. The deal was reached six days after state government shut down, a high-ranking Statehouse official said. "They'll be announcing the final elements later this afternoon," said the official, who spoke on...

TRENTON, N.J. -- An agreement has been worked out that will result in a new budget for the state of New Jersey, sources told NewsChannel 4 on Thursday. Gov. Jon Corzine and lawmakers are still hammering out details on how to spend the penny sales tax increase. Indications are at least half the revenue will go for property tax relief this year with larger amounts going for property tax relief in later years. If lawmakers can begin acting on this deal, Atlantic City casinos could be open sometime this weekend and full state services would resume as early as Monday.

N.J. Gov. tells lawmakers to end shutdownBy TOM HESTER Jr., Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine speaks to the media at the New Jersey Statehouse Monday, July 3, 2006, in Trenton, N.J. about the state's ongoing budget impasse. Corzine said state lawmakers must report to the Statehouse on the July Fourth holiday and stay there until they adopt a budget.(AP Photo/Mel Evans) TRENTON, N.J. - Gov. Jon S. Corzine hauled lawmakers in to work on the July Fourth holiday, imploring them to end a budget standoff that has shut down many government services, while...

“Due to the State budget impasse, the New Jersey Lottery has ceased normal operations. The Lottery has directed all agents to cease all ticket sales, effective 7:55 pm, Saturday, July 1, 2006. All lottery terminals will be shut down after the July 1 drawing at 7:55 pm. There will be no ticket sales (including instant tickets), winning ticket validation, claim payments or any activity on the “Green Machine” terminals after 7:55 pm Saturday. “Due to advanced ticket sales, the Lottery will direct essential staff to conduct the regularly scheduled drawings for these tickets at Lottery headquarters under the observation of...

TRENTON, N.J. -- Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said he was arrested and roughed up by police over the weekend for intervening in an argument between a couple outside a Bradley Beach bar. Healy said he had just left Barry's Tavern _ owned by his sister, Kathleen Barry _ around 2 a.m. on Saturday when he saw a couple arguing in the parking lot of a nearby auto shop. He said the man was jumping on the hood of his girlfriend's car. After calmly talking the man down, Barry said, police arrived and began roughing up him and his wife....

Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) blasted the Department of Corrections for not immediately informing Newark residents that Carlos Moore, an inmate from Northern State Prison, escaped the facility on Thursday.

What a moron. Ann Coulter, that is. After calling a group of 9/11 widows "harpies" who seem to be "enjoying their husbands' deaths" in her new book, the conservative pundit has gone too far. She even added: "And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they'd better hurry up and appear in Playboy..." Huh? Ugly is the only way I can describe what Coulter has written. Now I understand why Time magazine put her on the cover a few years ago and made her look...

May 9, 2006 -- A New Jersey man was charged with assault yesterday for beating an opponent on a Newark golf course - with his No. 5 and No. 6 irons. "Apparently things became a little heated on the 12th hole," Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said of the Sunday morning foursome that turned fearsome. He said Therlow Roberts, 48, of West Orange and frequent golfing buddy Dwayne McCray, 40, of Orange got into an angry dispute over whether a shot had landed in or out of bounds.

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (March 10, 2006) -- Giving up the fame of the football field at 29 years old, one Company B recruit looked for a glory that was more permanent than any trophy. At age 13, Pfc. Jeremy Staat was 75 inches tall and weighed 230 pounds. It seemed as if he was built for football, according to Staat. “I really didn’t have to work hard at it,” said Staat. Starting as an offensive lineman, Staat grew as a football player and saw his first glimpse of the Marine Corps not long after starting at Arizona...

Who's laughing now? New Jersey, the state that spawned a thousand wise-guy bumper stickers and became the butt of a million late-night jokes, is actually a nice place to live. The research group Morgan Quitno crunched the numbers this year and yesterday ranked New Jersey the fifth-most-livable state. As for its neighbors? Pennsylvania finished 30th, New York 32d. "The people we talk to say they wouldn't live anywhere else, and I have to go along with that," said Mark Moran, a Bloomfield resident and one of the editors of Weird New Jersey magazine. "Whether it grows on you or people...