Free Republic

Trenton, New Jersey (My9NJ) - Lately, Governor Christie has been looking slimmer during his town hall meetings and some reports say he lost about 100-pounds from the lap band surgery he underwent a year ago. Dr. Charles Simone formerly worked with President Reagan and he took the time to discuss Christie’s weight loss and health. “It’s very gratifying to see that he lost so much weight and given all the priorities he’s gone through recently and emotionally,” he said.

“First of all, he’s a Texas meat-eating cowboy, I’m a Jersey boy, vegetarian, so choosing the restaurant alone,” Booker joked Thursday when asked about the meeting on “Good Day New York” on the local Fox affiliate.Booker and the Texas Republican were spotted dining together at Capitol Hill restaurant Bistro Bis last week.(Also on POLITICO: Booker shuns spotlight)“We went to a place close to the Capitol and we sat, what was going to probably be an hour meeting, we sat for three hours,” Booker said. “He and I sat for three hours looking for common ground. We found some good areas...

Updated 4:37 p.m. | New Jersey Republicans avoided a nightmare scenario Wednesday night in the highly competitive, open-seat race for the 3rd District. Ocean County Republicans endorsed former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur as their preferred nominee. The endorsement comes five days after the Burlington County GOP also backed MacArthur.

More people are moving out of New Jersey than are moving in. The same is true for Illinois and New York. Those three states top the "outbound" list compiled by United Van Lines, the big St. Louis-based moving company that has put together an annual survey of where Americans are moving for the last 37 years. The company analyzed a total of 125,000 moves across the 48 continental states and the District of Columbia in 2013 and came up with a picture of migration patterns across the U.S. According to Professor Michael Stoll, chair of the Department of Public Policy...

MEDFORD, Mass. — Colleges are paying students to take a year off after high school to travel, volunteer or do internships so that students of all income brackets can benefit from “gap years.” A new program at Tufts University and existing ones at a handful of other schools aim to remove the financial barriers that can keep cash-strapped students from exploring different communities and challenge their comfort zones before jumping right into college. The gap year program starting this fall at Tufts will pay for housing, airfare and even visa fees, which can often add up to $30,000 or more....

My friend and long-time business associate Rich Pezzullo is running for the GOP nomination for the US Senate from New Jersey. He is a conservative, constitutionalist republican, in line with Tea Party ideals, and will continue to hammer home the same message started by Steve Lonegan in last year's special election. It is VERY important to highlight our candidates, even (and perhaps ESPECIALLY) in deep blue states. Even if their position may be relatively unpopular, they chip away at the leviathan. Steve Lonegan had started the game in the special election last year, and Rich is the best person to...

Speaking before the New Jersey Law and Public Safety Committee in Trenton, N.J., on Thursday, 9-year-old competition shooter Shyanne Roberts spoke in opposition to a proposed bill that would further limit magazine capacity to 10 rounds. In her speech, which earned thunderous applause from the audience, she presented the simplicity and common sense nature of the pro-gun argument in a way only a kid can.

The 9-year-old girl explained that she is a 4th-grade honor roll student and competitive shooter in multiple styles with numerous local, state and national sponsors. “I have worked and trained very hard to get to the level I am at and if A2006 becomes law, I will be forced to choose between giving up on a very great and promising future in a sport that I love or asking my dad to move to another state. I will not be giving up my sport.” She said many of the firearms she hopes to use in the next level of her...

Jeffrey Corzine, the youngest son of former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, has died of an apparent suicide. He was 31 years old. The former governor's son was found dead in a Mexico City hotel room a few days ago; he was reportedly found after failing to respond to messages from friends. Corzine, who lived in California and worked as a drug counselor, had a history of substance abuse and depression. "The sad fact is that Jeffrey Corzine had been suffering from severe depression for several years and recently had been receiving treatment for what is a very painful and...

TRENTON — Despite the protests of dozens of New Jersey gun-rights supporters — including a 9-year-old girl — a state Assembly panel today approved a bill that would reduce the number of bullets an ammunition magazine could hold from 15 to 10.

The 18-year-old high school senior has finally reunited with her family. The Lincoln Park teen had tried suing her parents after they refused to put up with her wayward lifestyle. The Cannings are now asking for privacy.Rachel Canning’s going to her room. The New Jersey teen who tried to force her parents to pay her bills has finally returned home, her parents’ lawyer announced. Although her lawsuit hasn't officially been withdrawn, the 18-year-old honor student has “reunited with her parents and siblings,” attorney Angelo Sarno said in a statement. Sarno said that the notoriety surrounding the suit created a "reality...

The son of former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has died, The Post has learned. Jeffrey Corzine, who friends said worked as a drug counselor in California, was just 31. Details of his death were not immediately known.

Support is mounting for a lawsuit that challenges New Jersey's tight restrictions on handgun ownership and its high standard of "justifiable need" for carrying a weapon outside the home. Nineteen states as well as the powerful National Rifle Association have joined the case's plaintiff John Drake, who in his lawsuit claims he was denied a permit following a thwarted robbery attempt on his Sussex County business. Drake lost his appeal before a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year and now a growing number of states, led by Wyoming, are asking the U.S. Supreme Court...

NEWARK — The faculty at Rutgers-Newark's voted today to call for the university to rescind an invitation to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to serve as the university's commencement speaker.

While the Obama Justice Department mounts a legal challenge against Florida for purging ineligible voters from its rolls, a television news station broadcasts an unbelievable segment that proves non U.S. citizens living in the Sunshine State vote regularly in elections. The investigative piece was aired this week by an NBC affiliate in southwest Florida that actually tracked down and interviewed non U.S. citizens who are registered to vote and have cast ballots in numerous elections. The segment focused on Lee County, which has a population of about 620,000 and Collier County with a population of around 322,000. The reporter spent...

Rachel Canning, the Morris County teenager who sued her parents to force them to pay her bills, has returned to her parents’ house in Lincoln Park, her parents’ attorney announced today. Rachel, 18, “has returned home and reunited with her parents and siblings. Her return home is not contingent on any financial and/or other considerations,” her parents' attorney Angelo Sarno, said in a statement.

... The Environmental Protection Agency is set to issue regulations that farmers like Mr. Lemeke say may require them to get permits for work for which they have long been exempt. The E.P.A. says the new rules are needed to clarify which bodies of water it must oversee under the federal Clean Water Act, an issue of jurisdiction that the agency says has been muddled by recent court rulings. Opponents say the rules are a power grab that could stifle economic growth and intrude on property owners’ rights. There is no timetable for when the rules will be released. But...

If Tesla is your choice, you might have a hard time finding one after the state Motor Vehicle Commission today unanimously passed new rules that will limit Tesla's direct sales business model. The new rules made more stringent the need for a franchised dealer, a model that the electric carmaker says is "anti-Tesla" as the carmaker operates through storefronts that allow for buyers to purchase directly from the manufacturer.

Should New Jersey lawmakers pass a bill that would allow adopted people to obtain their original birth certificates, revealing their biological parents' identity? On Monday, a state Assembly panel approved the measure, which would allow an adopted adult or an adoptive parent on a child's behalf to request his or her birth certificate from the state Health Department. It's the latest bill to tackle the issue. Similar measures have failed for more than three decades. Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed a version in 2011, saying he would support a compromise that allowed a confidential intermediary to search for natural parents....

NRA, 19 States, 34 Congressmen Sue New Jersey Over Gun Law 11 March 2014 Last month, the NRA, 19 states, and 34 U.S. Representatives asked the Supreme Court to review a New Jersey gun law....