Middlesex County News

Local coverage of New Brunswick and more from The Star-Ledger

• 7th District race is up for grabs, poll shows
With an estimated 14 percent of voters in the 7th Congressional District still undecided between Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) and Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union), neither candidate has a clear lead going into the final four weeks of the campaign, according to the latest poll.

• Jurors hear tale of boy's slaying
It took a Union County jury just 1 1/2 hours to decide yesterday that Nicholas Sorrentino is responsible for the car crash that killed former state Sen. Joseph Suliga outside a Linden go-go bar more than three years ago.

• Students who relish course work
After working in the airline in dustry for 20 years, Carolyn Dahl was laid off following the 9/11 terror attacks. She spent the next five years trying to find a career. Now she is returning to her passion: cooking.

• Council presence sought by GOP
Two incumbents and two newcomers are vying for a pair of open seats on the North Brunswick Township Council in the November election.

• Democrats try to regain power in S. Plainfield
Less than a year after Republicans gained control of the South Plainfield Borough Council, a pair of GOP council members are facing a re-election challenge from two Democratic newcomers seeking to shift the majority back to their party.

• County's towns exploring ABCs of all-day kindergarten
Schanze Syed believes her daughter will benefit from being in kindergarten all day.

• After finding his way, now leader keeps city on track
CARLOS SANCHEZ

• Diocese plans 'Blue Mass'
BRIDGEWATER:The Diocese of Metuchen is holding a "blue Mass" honoring active, retired and deceased law enforcement officials from Somerset, Middlesex, Hunterdon and Warren, the four counties served by the diocese.

• Sayreville told to prepare to sell bonds
Middlesex County took an extreme step yesterday by serving no tice on Sayreville that it must be ready to sell $9 million in taxpayer- guaranteed bonds before the end of the year to repay part of an old debt to the county.

• Woodbridge voters deny fire district purchase
Voters in Woodbridge's Fire District No. 1 rejected a plan yesterday to borrow $925,000 to buy and possibly demolish an abandoned building on Brook Street to provide more storage and parking space.

• Benefits, pensions blamed for tax hike
Woodbridge officials have introduced a $108.3 million budget that calls for a $136 tax increase for homeowners assessed at the township average of $75,000.

• Handyman accused of break-ins at house
EDISON: A township resident is being held on charges he broke into the same Gaskill Road house twice in five days.

• Perth Amboy weighs which jobs to cut
After Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz introduced a budget last week that calls for layoffs of more than a dozen municipal workers, administration officials have not revealed yet which positions are targeted.

• Group files new petition to vote on ward system
A grassroots organization seek ing to change New Brunswick's form of government yesterday filed a new petition, this time seeking a single question on the November 2009 ballot about a ward system.

• Vandals burn tarp at school's field
WOODBRIDGE: Vandals set fire to and destroyed a $3,000 tarp used to cover the baseball field at Colonia Middle School, police said yesterday.

• Carteret realty trio causes concern
A real estate partnership between Carteret's mayor, a freeholder and a longtime demolition contractor for the borough has become the subject of criticism by residents concerned the deal presents a conflict of interest.

• His bright idea: Distribute efficient bulbs
Matthew Erickson admits he didn't know much about global warming until he saw Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" last year.

• Dump truck accident snarls Rt. 35 south
OLD BRIDGE:A dump truck with its bed raised snagged a utility line on Route 35 south yesterday, causing traffic delays through the evening rush hour, police said.

• Edison mayor in line for raise
Edison Mayor Jun Choi may be getting a raise -- not as much as proposed last spring -- but still a hefty 35 percent hike.

• Democrats seek power shift in Milltown elections
Democrats in Milltown are hop ing to reverse some of the damage from last November, when voters took away their control of the six- member borough council.

• Teacher admits fondling student
A 31-year-old North Brunswick High School teacher and girls soccer coach is facing five years in prison after admitting he engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old female student last year.

• 2 men plead guilty in graffiti incidents
SAYREVILLE:Two borough men were fined more than $7,000 each for spray-painting graffiti on buildings and other struc tures across the municipality during a 16-month span, authorities said yesterday.

• Candidate's issue: Rye toast or white?
Dean Greco loves breakfast. He really, really loves breakfast -- so much so that breakfast is the cornerstone of his campaign for Congress from the 7th District.

• Ambition: Give eBay a run for its money
Middlesex County is delving further into using internet tools to raise money this week with its first online auction of surplus cars and merchandise.

• The science of teaching for the real world
PETER GANGE

• Indian festival features food, more
EDISON:The 10th Dushahra Festival, an Indian festival celebrated throughout the country, will be held on Saturday from 1 to 9 p.m. at Lake Papaianni Park by the municipal complex.

• Legionnaires infects 7th hospital patient
A seventh patient at Saint Pet er's University Hospital in New Brunswick has tested positive for Legionnaires' disease in an outbreak investigators have linked to the hospital's water supply, a hospital spokeswoman said yesterday.

• Teenage driver receives probation in two deaths
An Old Bridge teenager was placed on three years' probation yesterday for causing a high-speed, two-vehicle crash that killed a 19-year-old man and his 20-year-old girlfriend in January.

• New Brunswick to get Mexican consulate
Mexican President Felipe de Jesus Calderón Hinojosa last night announced his country is going to provide emigrants better services by building a consulate -- in New Brunswick.

• Old Bridge gives track a $600K head start
With construction to convert the Old Bridge High School football field to synthetic turf already under way, the township has committed to giving the board of education $600,000 toward revamping the running track.

• RU picks bookseller to anchor development
Rutgers University is expected to announce today it has an agreement with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers to be an anchor tenant in a $145 million campus development project.

• Bat carcass in home is positive for rabies
NORTH BRUNSWICK: A dead bat found in a Nassau Street home earlier this week has tested positives for rabies, Middlesex County Health officials said yesterday.

• S. River man guilty of murdering live-in mate
A jury in Middlesex County needed only two hours yesterday to reject a self-defense claim and convict a 55-year-old South River man of fatally shooting his live-in companion nearly 10 years ago.

• A stark budget of layoffs, tax hikes
Perth Amboy homeowners could see an average $532 increase in taxes and municipal worker layoffs under a stark budget Mayor Wilda Diaz introduced to the city council last night.

• SIX-ALARM FIRE IN OLD BRIDGE
A fire that started in a mulch pile outside an Old Bridge apart ment building early yesterday quickly spread and destroyed four units, leaving dozens of people displaced, officials said.

• Man, 68, injured when hit by car
PISCATAWAY:A 68-year-old township man was critically in jured when he was struck yesterday by a car as he tried to walk across Rivercrest Drive.

• Judge's ruling delays vote in New Brunswick
New Brunswick residents will not have a chance to vote Nov. 4 on whether they want to change the city's form of government.

• Edison firefighters assail mayor
Fifty Edison firefighters, their spouses and supporters rallied outside town hall last night in a prelude to new battle brewing between the fire union and Mayor Jun Choi.

• Accused tells jury he shot companion in self-defense
Without any tears or remorse, a 55-year-old South River man calmly told a jury in Middlesex County yesterday he grabbed a handgun and fatally shot his live-in companion when she threatened him with a rifle.

• Trial starts for man accused of killing tot
NORTH BRUNSWICK:The trial began yesterday in Middlesex County for a 32-year-old cab driver accused of fatally beating his fiancée's 3-year-old son in 2005.