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World War II veteran Vincent DiGaetano passed away this morning on Long Island, New York. He was 82 years old.Vinny served in the 16th Infantry, 1st Division, from Normandy to Czechoslovakia. On D-Day, Vinny was a private and it was his first day in combat. He landed in the first wave on Omaha Beach. His story was included in Stephen Ambrose's D-Day and in Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day. His squad (led by Sgt. Phil Streczyk) was the first to make a breakthrough off the beach in the Easy Red section of Omaha beach.Rest in peace.

Quinnipiac: DEAD HEAT The race for the GOP nomination for New Jersey Governor is too close to call, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning showing Doug Forrester at 35% and Bret Schundler at 33%. Four days ago, a Quinnipiac poll had Forrester ahead by eleven points, 40%-29%. The second horserace is for third place, with John Murphy, Paul DiGaetano and Steve Lonegan all within 2% of each other. Three out of ten voters (31%) say they could still change their minds, while 69% say their decision is final. “No candidate in this race has generated great...

In January, shock jock Craig Carton caused an uproar by insulting the acting governor's wife. More recently, he took aim at Asian-Americans. On Thursday afternoon, the NJ 101.5 WKXW-FM radio personality switched off his irreverent persona and turned on his serious, public-service side to host a live, two-hour debate among five of the Republicans running for governor of New Jersey. "Hopefully people know that at times we have the ability to be serious and straight and at other times, when it warrants it, to have a good time and not be so straight," Carton said during a commercial break at...

Back in 1994, Christie Whitman came to power as the standard-bearer of what we were led to believe was a new and more enlightened form of Republican governance in this state. New Jersey then ranked 11th in the nation in bonded indebtedness. Now we're No. 3 -- with a bullet. The bullet comes in the form of a request that the state borrow perhaps $10 billion more for construction of schools in urban areas. The urban districts already got $6 billion, but they blew through that in record time. Now they're back for more. I'd love to be able to...

SCHUNDLER, DiGAETANO AND MURPHY CALL ON FORRESTER TO MAKE PUBLIC GOP CONTRIBUTIONS AND PLEDGES GOP gubernatorial candidates Bret Schundler, Paul DiGaetano and John Murphy today called on Doug Forrester to make public by Friday, April 1 all contributions he has given or promised to New Jersey Republican committees, candidate committees or individuals since January 1, 2005. “We call on Doug Forrester to publish all contributions he has personally made or promised to Republican county or municipal political committees or individuals or individual GOP candidate committees. We ask Mr. Forrester to detail all contributions and promises of financial support from him,...

DiGaetano sets sights on higher office Thursday, November 18, 2004 State Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano, R-Nutley, formally declared his candidacy Wednesday in the 2005 governor's race.Standing on the front steps of the Statehouse in Trenton, the legislator said he offers a pragmatic Republican political philosophy that will appeal broadly to New Jersey's voters."They want a conservative who can win," DiGaetano said at an afternoon press conference. "That's what's important about my being here today."The GOP legislator has served in the Assembly since 1992, and was its majority leader for six years.He represents the 36th Legislative District that includes the city of...

For months New Jersey Republicans had smelled blood in the water and were lining up to take on Gov. James E. McGreevey. A state assemblyman, a state senator, a businessman, a small town mayor and perhaps a federal prosecutor were all considering the prospect of challenging the Democratic incumbent. Mr. McGreevey had been viewed as vulnerable because of a series of investigations involving top aides, a major fund-raiser and his leading campaign contributor. And it seemed that a state that had turned to the Democratic column - with two Democratic United States senators, and both houses of the State Legislature...