The corner of Kuser and Klockner roads could soon become home to a 339,500-square-foot warehouse

HAMILTON -- The corner of Kuser and Klockner roads could soon become home to a 339,500-square-foot warehouse.

File photo of Hamilton Municipal Building.Kerry DeVaul 

Representatives of IPT 7A DC LLC will go before the planning board on Thursday. The parent company, Industrial Property Trust, is a real estate investment trust that acquires and runs distribution warehouses for corporate customers.

Mike Angarone, the township's director of economic development, said a client has not been lined up yet.

MORE: Fortune 500 warehouse proposed across from Shoppes at Hamilton

The application comes on the heels of another major warehouse being proposed across from the Shoppes of Hamilton on Route 130. There, SunCap Property Group has filed plans to build a 340,000-square-foot FedEx distribution warehouse. The hearing for that application was pushed back to Dec. 10.

Angarone said the two projects, if approved, would bring both jobs and ratables to the township.

"People are looking at Hamilton as a good place to do business, but more importantly to taxpayers, it represents a pretty sizable increase in their ratables which go toward our budget," he said.

He added that ratables more than doubled from a year ago, jumping from $12 million to $30.5 million.

Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

The woman told officers that two unknown people, one a male wearing a black hoodie and the other a female wearing a yellow hoodie, broke into her home and shot her.

HAMILTON -- A 24-year-old Hamilton woman shot in the arm at her home on East State Street was later charged with dealing marijuana along with her roommate, police said.

File photo 

Hamilton patrol officers were dispatched to the victim's home in the 3200 block of East State Street in the Bromley section at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for a reported shooting.

The officers found the woman suffering from a gunshot wound to the arm, a Hamilton police spokesman said. The wound was not life-threatening.

The woman told officers that two unknown people, one a male wearing a black hoodie and the other a female wearing a yellow hoodie, broke into her home through a rear sliding-glass door and shot her, police said.

The victim was unable to provide any additional information about the intruders, and Hamilton patrol officers searched the immediate area, but were unable to locate any suspects.

An ambulance took the woman to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton for treatment.

MORE: Police file over 200 charges against 4 burglary suspects

Hamilton police said Thursday that investigating Detective Matt Donovan charged the woman with possession of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana in a school zone.

The woman's roommate, a 26-year-old man, was also charged with marijuana possession and distribution charges, police said.

Hamilton police did not identify either suspect, nor elaborate or exactly what led to the subsequent marijuana charges.

The shooting remains under investigation by Donovan. Anyone with information about the shooting can contact Donovan at 609-689-5824 or the Hamilton police  tipline 609-581-4008. 

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

 

The first crash was reported at the Quakerbridge Road and Sloan Avenue at about 4 p.m. and involved multiple reported injuries.

HAMILTON -- Two crashes, one reportedly serious, have caused police to shut down roads around the intersection of Quakerbridge Road and Sloan Avenue, as well as a nearby Interstate 295 interchange.

The first crash was reported at the Quakerbridge Road and Sloan Avenue at about 4 p.m. and involved multiple reported injuries.

A crash on Interstate 295 about an hour later at the Sloan Avenue / Exit 65 interchange also caused closures. The website 511nj.org was reporting 15 to 20 minute delays at the interchange as of 5:45 p.m. Thursday.

Hamilton police, firefighters and EMS officials were still on scene at the first crash at 5:30 p.m.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

 

St. Francis Medical Center's longtime hospice care provider is checking out

TRENTON -- St. Francis Medical Center's longtime hospice care provider is checking out.

A file photo of St. Francis Medical Center in TrentonFrank Jacobs | The Times 

Compassionate Care Hospice announced in a legal notice that as of Dec. 17, it will relocate its in-patient hospice unit to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton in a move that will allow it to serve a broader spectrum of the population.

Program director Tony Bolden could not be reached for comment.

St. Francis spokeswoman Christine Walley said the hospital and Compassionate Care have had a "wonderful partnership" for the past 16 years.

She said they are in the process of evaluating new firms and expect to have a nationally recognized company in place by early next year.

"We should be able to turn it over to a new provider quickly and easily," Walley said.

Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

 

The officers will test three different models of body cameras to determine which one is the best Watch video

HAMILTON -- Hamilton's police department has begun testing body cameras on six officers, with plans for a force-wide rollout set for early next year, officials said on Thursday.

For the rest of the year, the officers will test three different models of body cameras to determine which one is the best.

"I believe this technology will help to protect our officers and our residents, build upon the high level of cooperation that already exists between our law-abiding citizens and our police and further enhance our community's confidence in our dedicated law enforcement personnel," Mayor Kelly Yaede said.

In the 2015 budget, $143,000 was earmarked for the cameras. The different options vary in cost of a few hundred dollars each, excluding any support equipment that may be necessary, officials said.

PLUS: Trenton officials pledge to move forward with police body cameras

The department has also applied to the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office for a share of the state money set aside for cameras.

"We look forward to outfitting our street officers with body worn cameras during the first half of 2016," Police Chief James Collins said.

In neighboring Trenton, Mayor Eric Jackson said in his "State of the City" address that body cameras would be coming next year.

Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

A supermarket brawl, pricey real estate and New Jersey's top predator all made this week's quiz.

Take your best shot at this week's NJ.com new quiz. The questions below are based on the top stories of the week gone by here on NJ.com, all stories you've seen if you're a regular user. Once your done, share your score in comments to see how you stack up with other NJ.com users. And remember, absolutely no Googling allowed.

Today's letters: Family Caregivers Month is upon us & Sue Ferrara thanks voters

Each year, the President provides a proclamation for Family Caregivers Month in November.  In N.J., we again also have a Governor's proclamation honoring family caregivers this month-please see attached.  Family caregiving is a lifespan issue, not just eldercare.  Caregivers range from "well-spouses" to parents of children with special needs who may need lifelong care.  Family caregivers provide the stability needed for people with serious health conditions or severe disabilities who are unable to be independent, to remain in their communities.  Support services for caregivers, such as respite, are crucial.  Indeed, more people enter institutional care due to caregiver burnout rather than deterioration of their condition. 

According to the Family Caregiver Alliance study, there are 67 million caregivers in the U.S.; it is estimated that there are 1.1 million caregivers in N.J.   During the Thanksgiving season, this is a time for recognition and support for the work of family caregivers. 

This year, the AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons) was instrumental in getting the CARE (Caregiver, Advise, Record, Enable) Act passed.  This Act allows hospital patients to designate a family caregiver who would be notified of discharge and trained in medical tasks, including medication administration, that would be needed at home.  Nationally, the AARP is hosting a virtual family caregiving fair webinar from 2-4 p.m. on 11/19.  This will also be archived for caregivers who cannot attend live online.  For more information see today's AARP blog at http://blog.aarp.org/2015/11/09/are-you-a-family-caregiver-find-help-here/. 

Lauren Agoratus

Mercerville

Thank you for your collective trust in me to serve the students, residents and the employees who make up the Hamilton Township School District.

Over the next three years of my term, the selection of a new superintendent will become one of the most important tasks for the board of education. Until a new superintendent is found, I believe our district is in excellent hands under the direction of Dr. Thomas Ficarra.

Going forward, I ask the community for its patience and support as the board tries to prioritize and address all the various challenges currently facing our district. There's much to be done and I am ready to get to work with those who will remain on the board in January 2016. 

Thank you again for giving me this opportunity to improve teaching and learning for our community.

Sue Ferrara, PhD

Hamilton

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On November 2, Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and former Republican Congressman from Florida, lamented the so-called "liberal media bias." He claimed that there had not been one Republican host of a Sunday morning political talk show or anchor of a nightly news program on ABC, NBC or CBS in the last 50 years.

By Dave Schraeger

On November 2, Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and former Republican Congressman from Florida, lamented the so-called "liberal media bias."  He claimed that there had not been one Republican host of a Sunday morning political talk show or anchor of a nightly news program on ABC, NBC or CBS in the last 50 years.  He said:

"Outside of Brit Hume, who has been a conservative in the mainstream media in the past 30 years who you've worked for? Outside of Brit Hume, who has held a powerful position at ABC, NBC or CBS News on the air? [...] Name the single Republican that has hosted a Sunday show, that has been an anchor of a news network for the big three networks over the past 50 years. You cannot do it."

He said nothing of the 24/7 conservative Republican Fox or Rupert Murdoch who owns not only Fox, but also The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in addition to numerous other newspapers in the USA, Great Britain and Australia.  Given the popularity of Fox, which is now mainstream, and the extensiveness of Murdoch's media empire, Scarborough's failure to mention them is not only dishonest, but also inexcusable.

When have conservatives not been able to have their concerns aired over the last 50 years or more?  Why did the so-called "liberal media" not call out the Johnson Administration over the phony case for war in Vietnam with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in August, 1964?  Why did it not challenge the Bush administration's claims of WMD in Iraq in the build-up to that disastrous war?  When have the news media reported sympathetically on striking workers and their unions, other than Poland's Solidarity union in the 1980's?  

In 1981, during Ronald Reagan's first year in office, "Top 40" AM radio stations changed their format to talk radio.  More specifically, the format was changed to conservative talk radio with 99% or more of the radio talk show hosts being conservative and 1% or less of the radio talk show hosts being liberals.  This is where conservative Republican Rush Limbaugh started to build a career with his mysogynist, racist bluster.  Limbaugh continues to spew his right-wing bluster on the radio as does Dr. Laura Ingraham who reportedly supports Donald Trump for President. 

Where did this idea of a supposed "liberal media bias" come from?  It appears to have come from what was supposedly Richard Nixon's last press conference in 1962 after losing the gubernatorial election in California to Pat Brown.  Nixon ranted for 15 minutes attacking the news media, accusing them of being biased against him "since the (Alger) Hiss case" and declared: "You don't have Nixon to kick around any more because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." 

It would be easy to dismiss Republican complaints about "liberal media bias" in the aftermath of the third televised Republican debate on CNBC on October 28 as "reactionary whining," but the truth is even more sinister than that.  It is important to understand that the news media have historically been referred to as "The Fourth Estate."  We have the three separate but equal branches of government: the executive (President), the legislative (US Senate and Congress) and the judiciary (the courts).  The purpose of having the separate branches of government enjoying equal status is for checks and balances to make sure that none of them is abusing its legitimate authority.  The news media exist as "The Fourth Estate" as a check on the power of the three branches of government, to keep the citizenry informed and to insure that we remain a democracy.  It is the job of the news media to challenge questionable assertions and outright lies made by politicians and to make sure that government is acting in our best interests.  The news media are supposed to do this on behalf of all us, not on behalf of themselves, politicians or elected officials.  

Marco Rubio gave the biggest applause line of the night at the third Republican debate and got a significant boost in his standing in the primaries for the nomination as the Republican candidate for President when he declared: "The Democrats have the ultimate super PAC.  It is called the mainstream media."  This is a slap in the face to all of us and a bald-faced attempt to intimidate the news media from fulfilling their role as "The Fourth Estate" on behalf of all of us.  In the end, it is an attack on democracy itself.  

Dave Schraeger is a longtime labor, peace and immigrant-rights activist.

Follow The Times of Trenton on Twitter @TimesofTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

State transportation crews have picked up 4,249 dead deer from state roads and interstate highways this year as of Oct. 31.

It's a common sight in New Jersey this time of year: dead deer, usually on the shoulder or the median, victims of collisions with vehicles.

While the state cautions motorists every fall to be vigilant as mating season begins - sending deer literally leaping across roads - the animals have another thing on their minds.

"They're not really slowing down or cautioning themselves," said Dan Roberts, acting deer project leader for the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife. "They're focused on the mating season."

Roberts said Thursday that New Jersey is currently at the height of the mating season, or the rut, so deer might appear out of nowhere, and sometimes into the path of motorists.

One deer hunting prediction website charts today, Nov. 13, as the average peak of white-tail deer mating season in the country. Whether it's today or tomorrow, "The peak period is right now," Roberts said.

The total number of deer killed on New Jersey roads every year is estimated and usually clocks in around 25,000. And they have to be removed.

The state Department of Transportation (DOT) records every deer carcass they remove from state roads and interstate highways.

In all, DOT work crews have picked up 4,249 dead deer this year as of Oct. 31, which is behind last year's pace.

As of Oct. 31, 2014, the DOT had logged 5,061 carcasses and by year's end 2014 they tallied 6,993.

So far this year, Monmouth County is leading the way with 642 as of Oct. 31.

Hunterdon County is close behind, with 613 carcasses. Somerset County ranks third with 558.

The numbers do not include county and local roads, as counties and municipalities are responsible for those removals, the DOT says.

But the numbers show how varied the deer hits are across New Jersey.

In urban Hudson County this year, DOT work crews have picked up just one dead deer. For all of last year, also just one deer body in Hudson.

In Cape May County, crews picked up just 10 deer in 2014 and this year just three as of Oct. 31.

MORE: Drivers in Hunterdon 4.5 times as likely to hit a deer in October 

In the past four fiscal years, the state has removed an average of 6,300 deer carcasses from roads they maintain, said DOT spokesman Steve Schapiro.

While the state picks up over 6,000 a year, estimates on how many deer actually meet their end with a bumper or the undercarriage of a vehicle varies.

Roberts, from the Fish & Wildlife division, said State Farm insurance company studies deer hits annually their latest estimate for New Jersey's car versus deer strikes at 25,976.

Roberts said the state believes the estimate is conservative, and could be as high as 50,000, due to some vehicle owners taking care of repairs on their own due to high insurance deductibles, or motorists not reporting the hits at all.

"The numbers are fairly astonishing, with the amount of people and roadways we have in New Jersey," Roberts said.

The deer population in New Jersey is estimated anywhere from 110,000 to 200,000. Roberts said.

Schapiro, from the DOT, said the state makes every effort to respond within 48 to 72 hours to remove reported dead deer.

"We do our best to maintain the safety and beauty of our state highways but we also rely on help from the general motoring public to alert us directly to locations where they see dead deer, trash, potholes, or other maintenance issues," Schapiro said.

Motorists can report dead deer locations to the state on the NJDOT website.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

A 25-year-old woman from Browns Mills was driving east on Sloan Avenue near Stevenson Avenue around 3:30 p.m. when she crossed over into the westbound lanes

HAMILTON - A 4-year-old child was among five people hospitalized after a head-on collision on Sloan Avenue that closed access to I-295 in the area for more than four hours Thursday, police said.

 

A 25-year-old woman from the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township was driving a 1998 Acura Integra east on Sloan Avenue near Stevenson Avenue around 3:30 p.m. when she crossed over into the westbound lanes, hitting a 2008 Lexus head-on, police said.

The 25-year-old woman and her 19-year-old passenger were removed from the car by Hamilton fire personnel. A 4-year-old child also was in the car at the time of the crash. All were taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton in critical condition, police said.

The driver of the Lexus, a 64-year-old man from Hamilton and a 64-year-old woman passenger also were taken to Capital Health Regional, police said. 

Police did not name any of those involved in the crash.

The Sloan Avenue entry and exit ramps to I-295 were closed until 8:30 p.m., police said.

Officer Devin Hendricksen is investigating the crash with the assistance of the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office.  Any witnesses are asked to contact the Hamilton Police Traffic Unit at 609-581-4024.

Information may also be left anonymously on the Hamilton Police Crime Tip Hotline at 609-581-4008.

Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

 

One of the top choices in American cuisine.

THE AMERICAN RESTAURANT, like America itself, is ever-changing.

In New Jersey, a number of restaurants in this category deserve mention, even though they didn't make our list this year. Some are newly opened, with big-name chefs -- Greene Hook in Jersey City by David Drake and a re-imagined elements in Princeton by Scott Anderson. Other significant restaurants have a new chef at the helm, including Washington House in Basking Ridge, with Kevin Takafuji.

Over the next two weeks, we'll be presenting the best choices in American, Asian and Italian cuisine. We begin with the best American restaurants in New Jersey. Today, we offer ...

AGRICOLA

Crawford Koeniger is the first chef we've met who insists on giving credit to his team.

Chef Crawford Koeniger, of Agricola Eatery in PrincetonAndrew Miller  

That tomato jam doesn't make itself. It's what? Five or six generations of steps from the farm to your table? You need an entire group of people to make that happen -- with the quality of the tomato being the first step, and farmer Steve Tomlinson deserving of the most credit.

Koeniger is new to Agricola, although the restaurant, in the space formerly occupied by Lahiere's, maintains its strict farm-fresh philosophy. But suddenly, thanks to a different approach in the kitchen, the food feels far less about being pious and wholesome, and far more about being seductive.

Koeniger came here via Eno Terra, which explains much. Eno Terra -- along with Bent Spoon and its crazy-popular, ingredient-driven ice creams and sorbets -- deserves much of the pioneering credit for the culinary renaissance that is Princeton today. (Remember when a Jersey restaurant that grew its own vegetables was a radical notion?)

At Agricola, you'll fall for the gentle, lofty texture of house-made duck sausage, the melt-away richness of Koeniger's soppressata flatbread, the milky Lancaster chicken.

Koeniger professes a true love of Princeton, which is a good thing, because you won't want him to leave. Agricola is reaching its promise.

• Agricola | 11 Witherspoon St., Princeton | (609) 921-2798 | agricolaeatery.com

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Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert plans to begin campaigning for reelection in 2016

PRINCETON - Four more years may be in store for current Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert after she announced Thursday that she was running for reelection.

File photo of Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert.Courtesy photo 

The mayor, who first took office in Jan., 2013, said that she would begin campaigning early next year and that she was still working on getting her campaign team together.

Lempert is the first candidate to announce her running for the 2016 election - but the decision was not a snap one.

"It's something I've been thinking about.... Lots of people have been encouraging me to run again," Lempert said.  

Prior to taking the mayoral position almost three years ago Lempert worked as deputy mayor of Princeton Township and served on the Township Committee.

Lempert has seen a lot of changes in the town in the three years since she took the position.

ALSO: Mayor talks future of town-gown relations at Princeton Univ.

 Most prominently, Lempert worked closely with town officials following the town and township merger in early 2013.

She also noted matters like bettering transportation, community policing and fostering a better relationship between town officials and community members as points of pride throughout her time as mayor.

"We've made a lot of strides in creating a better communication with residents," Lempert said.

Still, she added, there are many aspects of the town that she hopes to work on if she is reelected.

"The major areas are issues of affordability and sustainability," Lempert said.

The next steps for the mayor are putting out an official announcement - which she hopes to do Monday -, getting a campaign team together and meeting with the Princeton Community Democratic Organization in March in hopes of an endorsement. 

Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

West Windsor urgent care medical director and the township health officer received awards Thursday for swift response to a public health emergency.

It was a Friday a few weeks ago when Dr. Seeta Arjun received a phone call with some disturbing news from the state -- a nurse providing flu shots to employees at a local company potentially exposed them to communicable diseases by reusing syringes.

Be ready for some additional patients, she was told.

"It was very surprising," said Arjun, medical director at InFocus Urgent Care in West Windsor, where the employees' company is based. "it was a breach of infection control protocol."

Reusing just two syringes to administer the shots put the 67 patients potentially at-risk for communicable diseases such as hepatitis B and C and HIV, according to the state health department.

Dr. Seeta Arjun of InFocus Urgent Care in West Windsor was called on to help when dozens of people were put at-risk for communicable diseases when a nurse reused a syringe to give flu vaccines over and over. Tim Darragh | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com 

So Arjun got to work. That weekend, she held a conference call with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New Jersey Department of Health, among others, and worked out a plan going forward.

"I'm an emergency room physician," she said. "Someone has to ... take control."

The following Monday and Tuesday, Arjun and her small staff at the urgent care center saw 50 of the 67 people who had been vaccinated by the nurse. 

For their speedy response to a potentially dangerous situation, Arjun and Jill Swanson, health officer for West Windsor, received public health awards at the 2015 New Jersey Immunization Conference in Woodbridge. 

"It's a partnership award," said Dr. Barbara Montana, medical director with the Department of Health's Communicable Disease Service. The health care providers, she said, were "very responsive."

Swanson said she worked with the state, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, whose employees were vaccinated; TotalWellness, the provider; counseling firms and InFocus Urgent Care. 

"We worked as partners," she said.

Arjun said she doesn't know who noticed that the nurse, Mary Roback of Ewing, was inserting new needles into the same syringes. Why she was doing that also is unknown to Arjun.

"I think that's a question that we're all trying to figure out," she said. 

Some of the patients that came to InFocus, Arjun said, took the news of the syringe reuse calmly, while others were anxious. "There were a lot of 'what-ifs'," she said. 

The staff drew patients' blood for testing and provided counseling to ease their fears, Arjun said. After addressing their emotional needs, she said, the patients felt much better. Their physical health so far has been good too, she said.

Patients will need to return in about three months for followup, she said. 

Meantime, Roback, an LPN, voluntarily turned in her license last month, according to the state Division of Consumer Affairs.

Swanson called the event "an isolated incident," and added that she hopes it won't discourage the public from getting flu shots.

The message of the event, Arjun said, is that patients should not blindly accept that their health provider never makes mistakes. Patients should ask to see a fresh syringe removed from a sterile wrapping before being vaccinated, she said. They also should ask to make sure the vaccine has not passed its expiration date, she said. 

"I think educating the public is key," Arjun said. "Nothing is 100 percent."

Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

More Than Just Wine, Laurita Food Trucks and Jersey Shore Restaurant Week highlight the weekend menu

MORE THEN JUST WINE

Wine will take top billing on Saturday and Sunday when Terhune Orchards and Winery join wineries statewide on the Vintage North Jersey More Than Just Wine Wine Trail Weekend. Visitors will get into the holiday spirit by enjoying a cup of hot mulled wine and sample award-winning red, white and fruit wines crafted from the location's vineyards and orchards. Samplings are $5. The wines will be paired with delicious treats from local gourmet food purveyors. Former Star-Ledger columnist Rachel Weston, author of "New Jersey Fresh: Four Seasons from Farm to Table," is also confirmed for the weekend. She will be doing a book signing and will talk to visitors about creating a holiday menu featuring farm-fresh vegetables and fruits. Top off the visit with a little pie sampling from more than 20 selections, including freshly baked apple pie. Terhune staff will be on hand to take holiday orders and suggest wine pairings for the Thanksgiving meal. 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton, (609) 924-2310.

LAURITA FOOD TRUCKS 

It's getting chilly outside, but the food truck festival season isn't over yet. The Late Fall Laurita Food Trucks event will feature favorites including the Empanada Guy, Oink and Moo, Red Hook Lobster Pound, the Taco Truck and many more. The hours are 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. Attendees will experience the trending gourmet offerings while sipping on wine and enjoying a seat to watch the fireworks. Live music and kids activities, including a special visit by Mr. and Mrs. Claus, paired with scenic views will make this one an enjoyable-for-all-ages affair. Event admission is $8 per person. Kids 12 and under are free. 35 Archertown Road, New Egypt, (609) 752-0200.

JERSEY SHORE RESTAURANT WEEK 

How does a three-course lunch for $20.15 or dinner for $30.15 sound? The delicious deal is part of the fall Jersey Shore Restaurant Week, where there are a variety of different cuisines available. We are talking American, French, Spanish and Portuguese, Mexican, German, Italian, and more. There are several first-time participants, too: The Bonney Read and Redemption in Asbury Park; Waypoint 622 in Brielle; Porcini in Highlands; Reef & Barrel in Manasquan; Yvonne's in Neptune; Capriccio by the Sea in Ortley Beach; Sicilia Cafe in Red Bank; and The River Market in Point Pleasant Beach. Do not waste too much time pondering the where and when, as the promotion is only good through Sunday. Various locations.

FORKS AND CORKS

Who said the fun has to end on Sunday night? Sure, Monday is a work day, but there is always time for a little beginning of the work week fun. At the third annual Forks and Corks, you can sample food, wine and beer from a host of Jersey Shore restaurants, bars and wine stores, including the Boathouse Bar and Grille and Brandl in Belmar, the Chocolate Bar and the Committed Pig in Manasquan, Fins in Bradley Beach, My French Chef in Howell and Scarborough Fair in Sea Girt among many others. It's 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday at The Mill in Spring Lake Heights. All attendees must be 21 years of age or older. Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased here. 101 Old Mill Road. 

Contact Bill Gelman at bkgelman@hotmail.com.  

Around 6:20 p.m. Thursday several women and some men were fighting on the 600 block of West State Street when the 18-year-old woman was hit in the head

TRENTON - Police are asking for help identifying the person who hospitalized a Trenton woman by hitting her in the head with a bottle of booze, authorities said Friday.

File photo of a Trenton Police vehicle (Michael Mancuso | The Times of Trenton) 

Around 1:50 a.m. Thursday several women and some men were fighting on the 600 block of West State Street when the 18-year-old woman was hit in the head with a bottle of Hennessy Cognac, Lt. James Slack said.

A friend took the woman to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton with minor injuries, Slack said. 

No arrests were made, Slack said.

Detective Gregory Hollo is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call 609-989-4155.

Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

 

The county on Friday was set to close on the purchase of one house, but is still in the settlement process with the other

FLORENCE -- Seven months after a landslide opened up a massive hole in the backyards of two Florence homes and forced the homeowners to evacuate, Burlington County is nearing deals with both.

The county on Friday was set to close on the purchase of Chris and Lynne O'Dell's East Front Street house, but is still in the settlement process with their neighbor, Gene Woodlee, county spokesman Eric Arpert said.

On Thursday, the county freeholders agreed to buy the O'Dells' house for $282,000.

MORE: Burlington County offers to purchase landslide-damaged properties

Lynne O'Dell described the sale as bittersweet.

"This was our home and not just a house and leaving it is very tough," she said.

O'Dell said though the house brought them many good memories, they are eager to move past the ordeal of the past seven months.

"Living out of boxes and with friends and staying here and staying there has been a terrible ordeal," she said.

She said they plan on moving to Pennsylvania.

The O'Dells knew erosion had been a problem for years, but rainy days in April triggered a landslide that created a cavernous, semicircle hole in their yard and sent a large tree 70 feet below into the Delaware River.

The couple have suspected an old sewer system that runs from the street and into the river between their house and their neighbor's house is to blame, but officials have yet to determine a cause.

Arpert said the county became involved because the houses sit on a county road and there were concerns that continued erosion would threaten the road.

The houses themselves will likely be demolished and the embankment stabilized in an effort to prevent erosion from further threatening Front Street, Arpert said.

Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

A driver was hospitalized after crashing into another car and going off the road. She had to be extricated from her car.

LAWRENCE - A driver was hospitalized after she crashed her car into a vehicle in front of her on Route 206 and then drove off the road and struck a tree, according to police. 

Police did not immediately identify the woman, saying only she was 56-years-old. 

The woman was driving southbound on Route 206 toward the intersection with Province Line Road where another driver was already stopped. The 56-year-old woman crashed into the stopped car and pushed it into the intersection, police said. She then veered right and went off the road and into a tree. 

ALSO: 4-year-old injured in head-on collision near I-295

Police and firefighters were able to extricate the injured driver and she was taken to a local hospital with head and leg injuries.

The other driver was uninjured and was not taken to the hospital, police said.

Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

Police were called to Banbury Court just before 7 a.m. on a report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

ROBBINSVILLE - A man shot himself to death inside a Robbinsville residence when the FBI knocked on his door early Friday, two law enforcement sources said.

Township police were called to a Banbury Court residence just before 7 a.m. on a report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities pronounced the man dead a short time later, the sources said.

Robbinsville police and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment Friday, referring questions to the FBI.

An FBI spokeswoman said only that the agency was at the Banbury Court address on official business.

MORE: Hamilton and Robbinsville police blotter for Nov. 2-9

A phalanx of officers, most in plain clothes, stood outside the house Friday morning, but declined to comment.

The man's identity was not immediately known.

No other information was immediately available from authorities.

Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

 

The private university announced the agreement Friday, just two weeks after new President Gregory Dell'Omo told students he planned to cut 13 majors.

LAWRENCE -- Rider University's faculty union has agreed to a two-year wage freeze and other concessions that will spare the college from slashing more than a dozen majors and laying off professors. 

The private university announced the agreement Friday, just two weeks after new President Gregory Dell'Omo told the school's 3,712 undergraduate students he planned to cut 13 majors, which would have forced 123 freshman and sophomore students to transfer or change majors. 

The wage freeze alone will cover the more than $2 million Rider would have saved through the budget cuts, Dell'Omo said. The university will also extend its early retirement incentives to more full-time faculty members and have more flexibility in replacing them with adjunct professors, he said. 

In exchange, the union saves the jobs of 14 full-time faculty members and an undetermined number of adjunct positions that would have been eliminated. 

RELATED: Why is enrollment falling at Rider and other N.J. private colleges?

"We really wanted to eliminate these cuts or pull back these cuts to the programs, and that's why we, as the union, yesterday came to the decision that we did," said Bryan Spiegelberg, Rider's union president. 

However, the compromise does not mean that the union agrees the planned budget cuts were necessary, he said. The faculty still disagrees with Dell'Omo over the severity of Rider's financial challenges, Spiegelberg said. 

Dell'Omo said he appreciated the union engaging in a collaborative, problem-solving approach.

The majors that are saved from elimination are art and art history, advertising, American studies, business education, French, geosciences, German, marine science, philosophy, piano and web design. The bachelor of arts program in economics and the graduate program in organizational leadership are also spared from being cut.  

Three majors -- business economics, entrepreneurial studies and sociology -- would have been reduced to minors, and the school's minor in Italian would have been be eliminated. 

Rider, which projects a $7.6 million deficit in this year's budget, had been in talks with its faculty union for months about its financial challenges, Dell'Omo said. With talks about concessions at a standstill, the school announced the cuts on Oct. 29, two days before the contractual Oct. 31 deadline to notify the union of layoffs, he said. 

That kicked off a 21-day window for the union to come back with its own proposal for cutting costs, according to the university. The two sides agreed to the deal Thursday and the board of trustees approved it on Friday. 

"This is a great step forward for Rider," Dell'Omo said. 

In addition to laying off the 14 full-time professors, Rider would have cut two clerical jobs and five vacant faculty position. Part-time faculty who teach in eliminated academic programs would not have been re-hired for those positions next school year.

Dell'Omo said his original decision to cut majors and layoff professors was not a ploy to get concessions from the union. 

"It would be way too risky to employ a strategy just out of gamesmanship," he said. "This was a serious issue that we had to address." 

Rider's budget challenges come at a time when many small and mid-size private colleges across America are struggling to stay out of the red.

While elite colleges are attracting record numbers of applications and large donations, many smaller schools are losing students. The number of college-age students is declining and the stagnant economy has prompted many families to shy away from schools with high tuition.

The deal with the union gives Rider time to consider whether it wants to combine or eliminate any academic offerings in the future, Dell'Omo said. It also hopes to design new programs for high-demand majors, he said. 

"This gives us more time now and more awareness on everybody's part that the world is changing," Dell'Omo said. "We owe it to ourselves to really look for that continued improvement."

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

Albert V. Louis was sentenced to an aggregate 60 years behind bars in 1985 and the judge imposed an aggregate 30 years of parole ineligibility – which recently ended.

TRENTON -- A state appeals court has affirmed the State Parole Board's decision to deny parole eligibility for another 15 years to a Trenton man serving time for attempting to kill a mother and daughter and setting their apartment on fire in 1984.

Albert V. Louis was sentenced to an aggregate 60 years behind bars in 1985 and the judge imposed an aggregate 30 years of parole ineligibility - which recently ended.

Albert V. Louis 

Despite the recent ruling on the parole term, though, Louis could be free in 2018. 

Louis  - with the aid of a female accomplice - beat, stabbed, bound and gagged a 27-year-old woman and her 11-year-old daughter in their Passaic Street rowhome.

Louis, who knew the victims, sexually assaulted the mother during the attack, in which he also robbed the mother of cash and food stamps. Then he set the place on fire and left.

Trenton police and firefighters rescued the victims, and other residents in the rowhome, news archives describe.

The then 19-year-old was convicted of attempted murder, kidnapping, arson, robbery, and aggravated sexual assault.

Louis was rejected for parole in 2014 for several reasons, the appellate decision said. They included his prior criminal record and the violent nature of his multiple crimes, the 28 disciplinary infractions he's had while in prison and his lack of insight into his criminal behavior and that he continues to attribute his wrongdoing to his victims.

Plus, the parole board said Louis had an substance abuse problem "that has not been sufficiently addressed," the appellate decision quoted the board.

In addition to the denial of parole, the parole board imposed an additional 15 years of parole ineligibility, called a Future Eligibility, or FET, for Louis.

MORE: Obama pushes for change to give ex-inmates 'a second chance'

Louis, representing himself, challenged the parole board's decisions in an appeal.

He argued that decisions were arbitrary and capricious, that he has sufficiently completed the punitive aspects of his criminal sentence and that the 15 years of FET is excessive.

Specifically, Louis said his maximum release date from the state prison system is currently calculated as occurring in 2018, due to jail credits.

The appeals court said the parole board is quite experienced in parole matters and they deferred to their handling of Louis' parole, finding there was "abundant support" in the case in which the parole board found a "reasonable expectation that (Louis) will violate conditions of parole . . . if released on parole"

And the 15 years of FET, while lengthy, is neither arbitrary or capricious, the appeals court said.

While it technically exceeds Louis' current maximum release date, "we discern no abuse of discretion by the board in declining to set an FET that would expire earlier than his anticipated release date," the court wrote in the ruling.

Louis, now 50, is currently incarcerated in South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton and is eligible for parole on Aug. 27, 2015.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.