By Lindy Washburn, Asbury Park Press Staff Writer - New Jersey's rate of autism among children has always been high, but some of the largest school districts — including Toms River, Newark, Jersey City and Elizabeth — have rates even higher than the state average. And in Toms River, the state's largest suburban school district, the autism rate is more than twice the state average, with one in 14 8-year-olds in the district on the autism spectrum, according to the first study to compare a cross-s... Read more

Heavily traveled bridges on Route 33 and Route 35 and improvement projects for Freehold Borough and Middletown recently cleared their first hurdle as they were approved by the U.S. House of Representatives House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) on the way to a likely floor vote, said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who sponsored each of the four projects. Smith worked with state and local officials to propose and insert prioritized local transportation projects into the Invest in Am... Read more

The following are excerpts of the opening remarks of Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, at a congressional hearing he chaired entitled "Establishing a War Crimes and Economic Crimes Court for Liberia," on Monday, June 21, 2021: Today’s hearing is on the compelling and long overdue need to establish an Extraordinary Criminal Tribunal for Liberia—an unmet need for justice in a country that suffered through two civil wars from 1989 through 2003, which has y... Read more

By Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff — Middletown is currently making plans to open a new park/parking area, to be located at the corner of Navesink River Road and Hubbard Avenue, and next door to River Plaza Elementary School. That is currently a vacant lot. It is owned by Middletown Township. The park will tentatively be called Koleda Park, but the Township is still working on the name, said Middletown Business Administrator Anthony Mercantante. "The primary benefit of this park is to provide safe p... Read more

The winners of the 2021 Congressional Art Competition have been announced by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), who sponsors the annual competition and art show for high school students in the Fourth Congressional District as part of the nationwide competition organized by the Congressional Institute to help recognize and foster artistic talent in each congressional district. View slide show of Red Bank winners, above left. Several students from Red Bank Regional High School, Little Silver, have be... Read more

Two projects for Mercer County advocated by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)—including new buses for the county’s Transportation Resources To Aid The Disadvantaged And Elderly (TRADE) services—cleared their first hurdle Thursday, after the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) adopted Smith’s proposals and added it to a major transportation bill. Smith worked tirelessly with county and state officials to propose and insert their prioritized local transportation projects into the INVE... Read more

Two heavily-traveled bridges on Route 33 and Route 35—both nearly a century old—and improvement projects for Freehold Borough and Middletown Township, cleared their first hurdle Thursday as they were approved by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) on the way to a likely floor vote, announced Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who sponsored each of the projects. Smith worked extensively with state and local officials to propose and insert prioritized local transportation projects... Read more

Two key projects for Ocean County—including the much-needed overpass for County Road 539 which goes through the center of Joint Base McGuire-Dix Lakehurst—championed by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), cleared their first hurdle Thursday, after the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) adopted Smith’s proposals and added them to a major transportation bill. Smith worked tirelessly with Ocean county and JB-MDL officials to propose and insert the prioritized local transportation proje... Read more

Timeline regarding Bitkovs legal case in Guatemala A Russian woman who fled Vladimir Putin with her family and who was unjustly jailed in Guatemala along with her husband and daughter, testified June 9th at a U.S. congressional human rights commission hearing and said that she and her family suffered “unthinkable abuses committed openly by the Guatemalan Judicial System.” Testifying virtually while still under house arrest in Guatemala City, Irina Bitkova appealed to the U.S. government to work ... Read more

The following are excerpts of opening remarks by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, at today's congressional hearing entitled "Judicial Independence in Central America": The topic of today’s hearing is one which should garner support on both sides of the aisle – the importance of judicial independence. Indeed, as a matter of general principle, embedded among larger principles – namely, respect for constitutionalism and the separation of power – support i... Read more