• E. Greenwich forced to impose extra water restrictions
EAST GREENWICH TWP. Residents can expect even more water restrictions, while township officials say they are working fervently to solve the recent water crisis.

• McCain's VP choice stuns local GOP
New Jersey Republicans, though many initially shocked, welcomed presidential candidate John McCain's pick of the relatively unknown, first-term Alaska governor as his running mate Friday, saying she would balance the ticket and possibly draw supporters of Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

• Watchdog: FAA plan is reasonable
The Federal Aviation Administration acted within reason when developing its controversial plan to reroute flight paths in and out of regional airports, said a report from the Government Accountability Office released Friday.

• DRPA hikes get go-ahead
TRENTON The Delaware River Port Authority's plan to raise tolls $2 in two years passed its final hurdle Thursday as Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced he will not veto the plan.

• Not yet, Teen PEP revision panel told
HARRISON TWP. The Teen PEP ad hoc committee did not present its recommendations for the sexual education program to the Clearview Regional Board of Education Thursday night after Superintendent John Horchak decided that further meetings were warranted.

• Walnut St. School faces delay
WOODBURY District officials said it's unlikely students at the Walnut Street School will head back to class on Thursday as expected, as construction on the building may not be completed in time.

• Animal cruelty case delayed
EAST GREENWICH TWP. ÊIt will be another month until Deborah Bailey has her date in court Ð the hearing for the Logan Township woman facing more than 50 counts of animal cruelty has been postponed.

• As one ATV park closes, Monroe site proceeds
Plans to develop an off-road ATV park in southern Gloucester County are moving ahead as the state's only other park, in Burlington County, prepares to close its doors for good on Sunday.

• Program seeks to keep 'em in Glassboro
GLASSBORO People who work in Glassboro may soon be able to apply for low-interest mortgage loans to buy homes here Ð part of a state program that is being adopted by other communities throughout New Jersey.

• Bishop: Merger timeline still open
CAMDEN Bishop Joseph Galante said on Tuesday that there is no definite timeline for parish mergers within the Camden Diocese and that he will rely on newly named "priest conveners" to indicate when individual parishes are ready.

• ÔBig J' rolls with financial punches
CAMDEN ÊAmid rough financial seas in a sinking economy, the Battleship New Jersey has cut some of her crew among other belt-tightening measures to keep afloat.

• School bus fleet prepare for another year
The first thing many children will see when they head back to school next week is the yellow school bus heading up the street to pick them up for the first day.

• Beating suspect requests to join National Guard unit
A Mantua Township man involved in the 2007 beating of a fellow township resident in Philadelphia wants a lesser sentence so he can join his National Guard unit in Iraq.

• Family, friends welcome soldier home
HARRISON TWP. Close to 100 people chatted excitedly as they waited on Edward Leonard's flag-dotted front lawn.

• Hillary speech may bring surprises
By John Farmer

• School chief contract template pushed
TRENTON Public school superintendents would be hired with a standardized contract under legislation proposed Monday to eliminate widely varying salaries and perks for school chiefs statewide.

• Corzine voice of N.J. Dems at convention
By Josh Margolin

• Lawn ornaments lead to court charges
PAULSBORO A pair of brothers whose lawn ornaments have aroused neighbors' ire now face municipal court charges and construction citations.

• Unsigned pension bill causes questions
TRENTON In the final days before the Legislature recessed, lawmakers fought for the passage of three heavyweight bills, all of which were approved after tough negotiations between legislators - and even then by slim margins.

• Districts note what's different this fall
School districts throughout Gloucester County have been busy preparing for their students' return. When students arrive for the start of the 2008-2009 school year, they can expect a few changes in the various districts.

• Incentives part of school chiefs' deals
Ed Wasilewski had an incentive to further his education.

• Reaction: Biden's the right pick
While the official announcement came in the wee small hours of the morning, many local Democrats spent much of the day reveling in the tabbing of Delaware's Joe Biden as Sen. Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate.

• Century-old site may go
HARRISON TWP. ÊThe Cope Building on the campus of the Friends School in Mullica Hill has seen a world of change in the nearly 100 years it has sat beside state Route 45.

• Economy hangs over Labor Day observance
COLLINGSWOOD As labor leaders and union members from across the region took time to remember the man who started it all, they were reminded of the grim reality working-class men and women face.

• Andrews may land new job
WASHINGTON After 18 years in Congress, retiring U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews is considering leaving public service for a job at investment banking firm Goldman Sachs.

• GOP hopeful: End Camden neglect
CAMDEN Walking the streets of Camden on Thursday, Republican candidate for Congress Dale Glading saw firsthand some of the hardships in his district's poorest community.

• Green report lauds Rowan efforts
Rowan University, along with seven other colleges in New Jersey, has been recognized for its sustainability efforts in a nationwide Campus Environment report card released Thursday.

• DRPA gives final OK to toll increases
CAMDEN It has been bandied about for weeks and decried by commuters, but a measure to increase the cost of crossing the Delaware took another step closer to becoming a reality Wednesday.

• Jury indicts mother in son's death
WOODBURY The Deptford woman accused of using a kitchen knife to slit her 6-year-old son's throat was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury on murder and other charges related to the December attack.

• WT budget draws more debate
WASHINGTON TWP. Residents questioned the financial planning of the mayor and township council during Wednesday night's budget hearing and voiced their concerns about one of the largest proposed tax increases in recent history.

• Monroe district gives 30 new educators an education
MONROE TWP. Heather New is hoping she won't bore her students when school starts in two weeks.

• National Park police switch kicks in
NATIONAL PARK Westville police officers officially took over responsibility for patrolling National Park at 12:01 a.m. this morning, but officials say residents shouldn't notice any difference in service.

• NYPD staffer in sex sting
A 56-year-old New York Police Department dispatcher, who went by "Dirty old Ira" in Internet chat rooms, thought he was going to meet a 14-year-old girl at the Deptford Mall for a sexual tryst.

• Charity's Pitman shop to sell discount goods
PITMAN Looking for a ceiling fan?

• College chiefs: Drop drinking age to 18
By Justin Pope

• Harrison to vote on liquor sales
HARRISON TWP. Voters here will be asked in November whether alcohol should be sold for consumption in Harrison Township.

• Keys locals unfazed by Fay
By Brian Skoloff

• Meeting to focus on tax sale idea
WASHINGTON TWP. Though Mayor Paul Moriarty is still trying to convince township council that an accelerated tax sale is a good idea, as of Monday a majority of the elected officials don't agree.

• Fire co. marks 40th anniversary of man's death
PITMAN Forty years ago Sunday, firefighter George W. Kelly Jr. entered Cobbins Jewelry to battle a fire in the basement of the store.

• Man touts artist's book for schools
When glass artist Paul Stankard spoke at the West Deptford Public Library last October, attendee Jim Wood asked Stankard's permission to film his appearance and edit the segment to eight minutes to run on YouTube.

• Russia: Pullout to start today
By Christopher Torchia

• Soldier offers a look at Iraq aid
In the 115-degree heat of the deserts of Iraq, U.S. Army Spc. F. Matthew Duras' mind wanders back to the things he misses the most about living in Gloucester County.

• Visitors urged to leave Keys ahead of Fay
By Brian Skoloff

• County trend is taxes up
It is the case for nearly every homeowner in Gloucester County Ð higher taxes mostly due to ever-rising energy costs.

• Districts cut travel to save on costs
With the start of a new school year just a few weeks away, several districts in Gloucester County are trying to find ways to put the brakes on one of their biggest expenses Ð transportation.

• Model patient: W. Deptford man is subject for TV and magazines
Bill Bondar had just come home from a band audition in Woodbury, where he jammed on his Gibson bass guitar with two other retirees.

• DRPA eases senior hikes
CAMDEN Responding to criticism from the region's senior citizens, the Delaware River Port Authority expects to remove restrictions that would have limited their senior discount program to off-peak hours.

• Immigration at issue in crash
WOODBURY An illegal immigrant locked up on a death-by-auto charge out of Franklin Township had been living and working in New Jersey for four months before last month's deadly crash.

• Local child center on world mission
WASHINGTON TWP. A bully is a bully. It doesn't matter if he's in Las Vegas, Virginia, Nova Scotia or even Croatia.

• Last course for city landmark
WOODBURY Weber's Restaurant will serve its last lunch and dinner services today, as the city mainstay succumbs to rising costs and falling profits.

• Neighbors come through in rescue
GLOUCESTER TWP. It was neighbor Mark Wray's pleas pouring out the second-story window of his burning house that woke Andrea Makovec early Thursday morning.

• With site remediation, Franklin Public Works coming clean
FRANKLIN TWP. The township is moving forward with efforts to remediate petrochemical contamination recently discovered at the Department of Public Works grounds.

• Delsea Regional busing plan called unfair
FRANKLIN TWP. Parents continued to protest preliminary plans put forth by the Delsea Regional school district to institute group bus stops for some nonpublic school students.

• Eminent domain curbs blocked in Westville
WESTVILLE In a surprise move, Democratic council members blocked the introduction of an ordinance that would have outlawed the use of eminent domain for economic development purposes.

• Financial logjam on dam repairs
Gloucester County officials say they refuse to give in to a lawsuit filed by the state's environmental agency that would require them to foot the bill for repairing dozens of dams.

• At farms, all hail breaks loose
Joseph Nicolosi stood in his farm field staring at rows of ruined crops Ð tomato plants shredded and withered beyond recognition, eggplants peppered with hundreds of hail strikes and cubanelle peppers covering the ground Ð all victims of Sunday's severe summer storms that destroyed countless acres of produce in Gloucester and Salem counties.

• Drug testing to expand in W. Deptford
WEST DEPTFORD TWP. More township high school students would be randomly tested for drugs under a new policy set to be enacted in time for the beginning of the new school year.

• How was $800G spent in Franklin?
FRANKLIN TWP. Elected officials plan to get to the bottom of how $800,000 was apparently spent without anyone on the township committee knowing about it.

• Govs push bridge repairs
ATLANTIC CITY Governors from five northeastern states on Monday said the feds need to increase support for repairs to the country's aging roads and bridges, a tab estimated at $1.6 trillion over the next five years.

• Harrison growth draws medical groups
HARRISON TWP. As the population of Harrison Township has grown over the past decade, so has the number of medical facilities.

• WT grad shot by police
PHILADELPHIA A recent Washington Township High School grad was shot by Philadelphia police early Monday morning after allegedly threatening the officers with a knife.

• Clayton police on lookout for good deeds
CLAYTON Next time you get a ticket in Clayton, it may be a good thing.

• Community Garden on the grow
WOODBURY Only three years since it first began, the Woodbury Community Garden is in full bloom.

• Plan allows liquor in some eateries
HARRISON TWP. The township planning board has adopted a revised master plan that permits full-service restaurants to sell alcohol in the Richwood section of town.

• As National Park police merge with Westville, others in blue will be watching
In an effort to prod towns into sharing municipal services, Gov. Jon S. Corzine cut a major portion of municipal aid by 25 percent for towns with fewer than 10,000 residents.

• They're on the bully pulpit
Stephen Hart, a junior at Gateway High School, knows something about bullying.

• Westville alters redevelopment approach
WESTVILLE When Bob Evans bought his Timber Avenue home five years ago, he paid a pretty penny for Big Timber Creek waterfront and a spectacular view from his back yard.

• And baby makes TV: Marine in Iraq able to watch birth at UMH
Like any expecting father, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jovan Rodriguez coached his wife, Cara, through the delivery of the couple's first baby, a girl, Thursday.

• Clayton to stop busing for 50 students
CLAYTON Fifty elementary school students who mistakenly received courtesy busing in the past will not receive transportation from the Clayton school district this year.

• Mayor admits guilt in DWI
PILESGROVE TWP. Swedesboro Mayor Thomas Fromm has lost his driver's license for seven months after admitting to driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to take a breath test.

• Cruelty suspect arrested
EAST GREENWICH TWP. ÊThe Logan Township woman facing more than 50 charges of cruelty to animals was arrested early Thursday evening at the farm where dozens of animals she owned were found malnourished or dead.

• Eight is not just a number to local man
John Echtermeyer III was born in South Philadelphia at the family homestead, 1802 S. 17th St.

• Eminent domain foes claim another win
An appeals court decision giving homeowners in Long Branch a shot at saving their homes from eminent domain is being hailed by the state's public advocate as a victory for all New Jersey residents.

• Logan woman sought for abuse of rabbits, horses
EAST GREENWICH TWP. ÊAlmost a month after more than 30 rabbits were found dead, locked inside cages in a dilapidated barn, the stench of death still hangs in the air here.

• National Park tax bill to rise by $285
NATIONAL PARK The average homeowner can expect to pay an additional $285.99 in taxes under the proposed 2008 budget.

• Rural towns rally behind ticket tax
BUENA VISTA TWP. South Jersey legislators and elected officials across the state are pushing back against charges for state police coverage imposed on rural municipalities with part-time or no police forces.

• Slaying is latest jolt to Camden
CAMDEN ÊU.S. marshals found Donald Lindsay, a 20-year-old Camden man accused of killing a 4-year-old boy, hiding in a South Philadelphia row home early Tuesday morning.

• Westville may limit eminent domain
WESTVILLE Eminent domain could soon be out of the waterfront development equation here, if the council adopts a proposed ordinance to outlaw the measure's use for economic development purposes.

• WT town center firm picked
WASHINGTON TWP. On Tuesday night the planning board unanimously approved Washington Square Partners LLC as the designated redevelopers of a 37-acre property that falls within the Washington Square redevelopment zone.

• Boscov's files for Chapter 11
Struggling from the nation's economic downturn, Boscov's Inc. announced Monday that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and closing 10 of its "underperforming" stores.

• Cherry Hill officials defend sex offender rules
Cherry Hill officials have appealed to the state Supreme Court to preserve an ordinance restricting where sex offenders can live, a move that could impact more than 100 towns with similar laws.

• Players call foul on 76ers camp
CLAYTON More than 80 children and their parents were disappointed Monday morning when representatives from the Philadelphia 76ers failed to show up for a planned visit on their Summer Hoops Tour.

• Residents hot over AC thefts
GLASSBORO The remains of 10 air conditioning units sat strewn across a narrow strip of grass running between two sections of the Beau Rivage townhouse community Monday morning.

• Bill would strip corrupt officials of benefits
By Angela Delli Santi

• Energy

• Historic Commission hosts native gathering
WASHINGTON TWP. Long before planned communities and strip malls dominated the landscape, a handful of families emigrated to the area and settled portions of Washington Township, making it the thriving community it is today.

• Library: More are flocking to shelves
With gas prices as high as they've ever been and more people feeling the crunch of a faltering economy, employees of the Gloucester County Library System are seeing more and more new faces among the stacks of books, periodicals and electronic media.

• Migrant workers joining homeless
By Samantha Henry