BY JERRY CARINO, APP STAFF WRITER - Summer ends in a month, but tick season does not. It’s a mistake, potentially a costly one, to believe ticks disappear when the nights get cooler in September and October. “You can get bitten by a tick year-round,” said Patricia Smith, president of the Wall-based Lyme Disease Association. “Unfortunately, now we know the ticks can be active when it’s above freezing.” The debate surrounding the most infamous tick-borne illness also doesn’t seem to be ending. Lym... Read more

A necessary delay for easing of Sudan sanctions Obama-era benchmarks for human rights progress are still missing By Chris Smith - - Monday, July 24, 2017 ANALYSIS/OPINION: The announcement last week by the Trump administration that it is delaying the Obama administration’s order to ease sanctions on Sudan was a welcome decision. The three-month delay is not long enough to give the Sudanese the impression that we are not serious about this matter, but will be long enough to complete the needed a... Read more

By Jay Cook - Go ahead and enjoy that sigh of relief, New Jersey fishermen. After months of back and forth over what regulations would be placed on New Jersey summer flounder fishing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross approved New Jersey’s self-designed regulations. That means the summer flounder season will stay open after fears arose last month of a federal shutdown. “We are very pleased that NOAA worked with us to understand our p... Read more

By Dan Radel, APP Staff Writer - There will be no moratorium on New Jersey fluke's season after U.S. commerce secretary sided with the state on its fluke regulation battle with a regional fishery commission. As the news made the rounds on the docks and VHF radios there was a sigh of relief from boat captains. "There was a concern, yeah, that it might be shut down. I hoped not," said Captain Bob Bogan, of the Gambler party boat in Point Pleasant Beach. The Gambler fishes daily for fluke, also kno... Read more

By Associated Press - July 14 at 11:29 AM BEIJING — The Latest on the death of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo (all times local): 10:30 p.m. Members of the U.S. Congress have held a hearing on the life of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo following his death in Chinese custody. Rep. Christopher Smith, chairman of the House panel on global human rights, said Liu’s death Thursday from liver cancer was a catastrophic loss for China and the entire world, and that his contri... Read more

By Times of Trenton Editorial Board - In 2004, acknowledging an alarming increase in activities targeting Jews worldwide, the U.S. Congress passed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) co-wrote the bill. In addition to reviewing acts of anti-Semitism, and the response by governments, the measure also established a State Department office to monitor and combat these acts, to be headed by a special envoy. Since the administration of President George W. Bush, the... Read more

(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP) By Emma Kinery , USA Today The House on Wednesday approved a sweeping reauthorization of the nation's most comprehensive law to combat human trafficking, in a rare bipartisan vote. The bill allocates $520 million over four years toward programs that aim to identify and aid victims of trafficking and prevent it from occurring. The bill — called the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act — was introduced by Rep. Chris ... Read more

Mr. Watson was born on Aug. 10, 1920 in Wildwood, to Jack and Anna Watson. He played football for Lakewood High School and was recently inducted into its football hall of fame. In 1942, just weeks after high school, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps. He was sent to Tuskegee to help form the 332nd Fighter Group and the 96th Air Service Group, where he served as a supply sergeant and support personnel. In a talk at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst two years ago, Tech Sgt. Watson said he joined ... Read more

By JOSH LEDERMAN and MATTHEW LEE of the Associated Press - The Trump administration is poised to declare China among the world's worst offenders on human trafficking, U.S. officials said Monday, putting the world's most populous country in the same category as North Korea, Zimbabwe and Syria, China's downgrade is to be announced Tuesday at the State Department when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson unveils the annual Trafficking in Persons Report to Congress, said the officials, who weren't autho... Read more

BY BRANDON SCALEA ROBBINSVILLE -- Township firefighters will receive federal funding to update their medical equipment, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith recently announced. Smith said the Robbinsville Fire Department will be awarded a $22,740 grant from the Department of Homeland Security, through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program. Smith said in a statement the grant will be used to purchase four defibrillators and one CPR device. The money will cover about 95 percent of the total cost, r... Read more