DAIRY PRINCESS -- The new State Dairy Princess is 17-year-old Katie Elbert of Raritan Township (right). She's with Erin Posbergh of Branchburg Township, the past year's princess.

The 2008-2009 New Jersey State Dairy Princess is 17-year-old Katie Elbert of Raritan Township.

Reigning princess Erin Posbergh crowned her at the culmination of the state pageant, held Nov. 8 at the Somerset County 4-H Center. The contest included a: skit for young children, speech for adults, knowledge test, and random question during the dinner. Dairy princesses from New York and Pennsylvania also attended the pageant.

Upper-level county supervisors and division heads could soon have a union negotiating their employment contract. Of 27 county employees who could by law join the group, 22 have signed cards indicating they would do so, according to Frank Herrick, council representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME.)

Lanie Thompson

The University of Oregon-bound senior will defend her Meet of Champions cross country title this Saturday at Holmdel Park, having repeated as Group 3 champion on Sunday.

A student at North Hunterdon High School faces multiple charges after she and two classmates attacked a fourth teen in a dispute over a boy, according to police.

Authorities said the three attackers assaulted the victim in a school locker room around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The 16-year-old charged in the beating allegedly threatened to stab the victim with a nail file, and then tried to discard the weapon, Lt. Ryan Melsky, a police spokesman.

Seventeen towns in the Highlands have approved resolutions stating they plan to follow the regional master plan, a set of policies that would restrict new development in their communities, the executive director of the Highlands Council said today.

Those towns, under an agreement between the Highlands Council and state Council on Affordable Housing, will likely see affordable housing numbers adjusted downward, and get an additional year to show how they will meet those affordable housing obligations.

None of the towns are bound by the resolution; they can pull out of the process at any time.

County employees could be shifted among departments and asked to do work not defined under their current job titles if the Freeholders can win approval for the cost- and job-saving option from the state. The board will meet with county Director of Human Resources Cheryl Weider and Administrator Cynthia Yard within the next two weeks to be briefed on what could be a six-month state Department of Personnel process.

RARITAN TWP. -- Detectives continue searching for clues in the murder of an 86-year-old man in his Flemington South condo. It's the first murder in the county this year.

Police won't reveal how Arthur E. Seiple was killed, but "we don't believe that the public is in any imminent danger." county Prosecutor's Office Chief of Detectives Dan Hurley said Tuesday.

Ten Hunterdon municipalities will get a total of $1,686,000 in state aid for road projects.

The state Department of Transportation said it will distribute $78.75 million statewide to fund street improvement, rehabilitation and safety projects in 372 New Jersey towns.