Patti Sapone / Star-Ledger File Photo

Older generations of military veterans will be joining forces with a younger generation of students to commemorate Veterans Day in Morristown and Morris Township next week.

For two hours Tuesday morning, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., veterans from American Legion Post 59, Post 213 and Post 312 will be visiting seven military monuments throughout the area to pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of American soldiers.

Wreaths will be placed at each monument, a firing squad from the American Legion will fire three shots and "Taps" will be played by Casey Carroll, a bugler from the Morristown High School Marching Band, said Tony Romano, chairman of the Morristown and Morris Township Veterans Day Association.

In a sign the bad economy is taking a toll on Morris County residents, the Salvation Army in Morristown announced yesterday that this year a record number of residents have requested holiday assistance.

More than 500 families lined up outside the charity's Spring Street office during the annual drive last week to ask for help with this year's Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas gifts and winter clothing.

That represents a 25 percent increase over last year and an all-time high in the charity's 120-year history in Morristown, the organization said.

JOHN O'BOYLE / THE STAR-LEDGERThe Abbett Avenue Apartments in Morristown, a 12-apartment building with one-, two-, and three-bedroom, energy efficient rental units, will house low-, and moderate-income families.

Joe Meccia felt his chances of finding an apartment he could afford in Morris County, one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, were as good as picking the winning numbers in Lotto.

This week, No. 184 became Meccia's winning number.

It was the number he was given when he entered a lottery for selecting low-income families to move into an affordable apartment complex that opened today in Morristown.

A pair of Morristown men mugged a Cluck-U Chicken food deliveryman after calling in a bogus order Thursday night, police said.

They thought they'd take his money, but his wallet was empty and all they got were five wings, 10 chicken tenders, an order of fries, a Sierra Mist soda and -- hours later -- police handcuffs, police said.

Police arrested two men in connection with the theft of $500 from the Madison Gas Mart in Morris Township, authorities said today.

Detective Sgt. Martin Tessmer charged Eric Scotland, 19, of Morris Township with theft after speaking with witnesses and reviewing surveillance recordings of the Madison Avenue gas station, police said. The theft occurred Sept. 7.

Zachary Ginsberg, 18, of Morris Township, was charged with receiving stolen property and hindering apprehension. Both men were released pending a court appearance.

On Sunday evening, Morris County remembered all who were lost in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

For nearly five hours this afternoon, the price of gas for more than 300 drivers in Morristown dropped to 99 cents per gallon.

The gas giveaway was hosted by the Liquid Church of Morristown at an Exxon gas station on Morris and Pine streets.

Sarah Simonis / For The Star-LedgerLandscapers Roman A. Jimenez, left, and Will Taylor, center, prepare the Morris County 9/11 memorial for the installation of nearly 3,000 bricks printed with the names of the victims of the terrorist attacks.

Gordon M. Aamoth Jr. Edelmiro Abad. Maria Rose Abad. Andrew Anthony Abate. Heinrich Bernhard Ackermann.

They didn't live in Morris County. It's unknown if they ever passed through. But their names, along with more than 2,968 others, are etched in the bricks of a special walkway being created in Parsippany, at the county's 9/11 memorial.

The memorial, dedicated in 2003, has a railing embedded with 64 plaques to commemorate each county resident who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But some of those residents' survivors wanted to incorporate a remembrance of all who were killed on 9/11.

PHOTOS BY NOAH ADDIS / THE STAR-LEDGERCharles Auriemma, 10, of Hopatcong, left, and Jordana Blodgett, 13, of Jackson, run around on a new field during a park dedication ceremony on Greystone property that borders Morris Plains and Morris Township.

Patricia Fogarty stood on the pitcher's mound, zeroed in on catcher Steve Balboni and fired away. The one-time Yankee player nabbed the ball and gave the Whippany woman a big smile.

"Way to go," he said, amidst a sea of onlookers on hand yesterday to dedicate the new Central Park of Morris County, on the former Greystone campus in Parsippany.

Balboni and former New York Jets star Bruce Harper joined a host of political dignitaries, including former governor Donald DiFrancesco, who turned out on a humid and very overcast day to herald the opening of the newest county park on 306 surplus acres at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital.

For three decades, environmentalists and residents of Washington Valley in Morris County have fought to keep major development away from their community of Colonial-era homes and genteel woods where George Washington's army once camped.

Among the proposals they've beaten back were a reservoir, an extension of Route 24, a county jail and, most recently, a $100 million retirement community.

Yesterday, the battle ended when the nonprofit Trust for Public Land announced a deal to buy one of the last large undeveloped tracts of land in Morris County from the Delbarton School monks, paving the way for an expansion of neighboring Lewis Morris County Park.

Get those umbrellas ready, and check on your sump pumps too.

Heavy rain is expected tonight and tomorrow morning throughout Morris County, and the National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for the region, meaning there's a possibility local streams and rivers could overflow quickly during the downpours.

A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for Morris County until 10 p.m. today, and some storms could produce torrential rain, large hail, damaging winds and frequent lightning.

For the full local forecast, check this National Weather Service link.

A top ranking officer in the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, who ran the agency's Homeland Security Division, has resigned for "personal reasons," officials said today.

Capt. Joseph Cannatella, 60, of Wayne, left his $106,171-a-year job in the department on Friday, more than four years after being hired by then-prosecutor Michael Rubbinaccio as a captain and counter-terrorism coordinator.

At one point in 2007, under new Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, Cannatella had been named as acting chief of investigations.

A 40-year-old Morristown man was jailed this morning after police said they found him sitting behind the wheel of a stolen car.

Edward McBryde, who was arrested shortly after 5 a.m., is being held in the Morris County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. Police said he is charged with receiving stolen property and resisting arrest.

Morristown: Cheryl Ogden told a police officer on patrol at the train station Wednesday night that she was the victim of a crime, police said.

The 40-year-old woman told them that she was engaged in an act of prostitution for $40, in a wooded area off Spring Place shortly before 11 p.m. The unidentified man punched her in the face, then fled, she told police.

Ogden wanted police to find him and charge him with a crime. But police charged her with engaging in prostitution and were unsuccessful in finding her attacker.

Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello has not always seen eye to eye with area bicyclists. In fact, some of them plan a humorous ride next month (in business suits) to tweak the Mayor for some dismissive comments about bicycle commuting.

But cyclists soon may be embracing the Mayor, who is embracing a plan to bring the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame to town.