By DAVID LEVINSKY, BCT STAFF WRITER - Hundreds of civilian workers on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst can expect a boost in pay before the end of the year thanks to the impending correction of a long-standing pay disparity issue. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management plans to publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register this week to designate the entire joint base in the higher-paying New York wage area, rather than split between New York and the lower-paying Philadelphia wage area, accord... Read more

By Jonathan Salant of the Star Ledger/NJ.com - The Library of Congress' veterans history project will include stories from Gold Star families under legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama. Under the measure sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), the Library of Congress, which now collects interviews with veterans, also would seek stories of from family members of those killed or missing in action while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. "The new law honors the men and women wh... Read more

By Alex Napoliello of the Star Ledger/NJ.com Nov. 27, 2016 - When the 73-acre Wreck Pond overflows, a decades-long problem, its surge prompts frequent beach closures and carries devastating impacts to the coastal environment and nearby homes. With the completion of a concrete culvert that is part of Gov. Chris Christie administration's $7.4 million lake restoration project, officials are a step closer to improving the health of the pond and the surrounding community. Nearly 16 months after the l... Read more

By Jonathan Salant of the Star Ledger/NJ.com The U.S. Senate has cleared legislation to add Gold Star families to the Library of Congress veterans history project, enabling them to tell stories of their loved ones killed while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), would have the Library of Congress, which now collects interviews with veterans, also seek stories from family members of those killed or missing in action. The bill passed the Senate Mo... Read more

By U.S. Rep. Chris Smith- During the 1980s, when a child went missing, the nation knew by the photos on the side of a milk carton. As a young father myself, like all parents at the time, the images of these missing children resonated with me: I deeply empathized with the parents and prayed for the safe return of their son or daughter. When a child goes missing today, we get an Amber Alert message on our phones and see the Facebook posts and tweets from the National Center for Missing and Exploit... Read more

At Georgian Court University in Lakewood, a new $1.9 million federal grant is helping students stay on track to timely graduation while improving overall retention rates. The U.S. Department of Education's Title III grant, payable over five years, is for GCU's Chart the Course program, which is designed to expand academic support services and bolster college completion. "We established Chart the Course to help students needing non-credit skills development courses get back on track to graduating... Read more

Nearly 100 people filled a NJ Transit boardroom this morning, to protest a proposed power line project in Monmouth County. JCP&L is asking NJ transit to grant it an easement along their right-of-way that borders the North Jersey Coast Line. On that small stretch of land, the utility company wants to put up more than 100 massive power poles, reaching up to 200-feet high, carrying high voltage transmission lines that would run alongside NJ Transit tracks from Matawan to Red Bank. Click here or on ... Read more

BY DAVID P. WILLIS, APP STAFF WRITER - For more than two hours Thursday, a large group of Monmouth County residents and elected officials opposed to Jersey Central Power & Light’s controversial $111 million transmission line took their fight to NJ Transit. “Please don’t sell us out,” said Middletown resident Bernice Curto, breaking into tears. “I am pleading with you to say 'no' to hosting this project on your narrow right-of-way and say 'no' soon in order to alleviate any more anguish and suffe... Read more

(JSN.org) A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation last week that seeks to bolster the U.S. government’s monitoring on anti-Semitic incidents in Europe and how European governments are combating the issue. <img src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5126bbb4e4b08c2e6d1cb6e4/t/57fbf760bebafb5b47ae89bb/1476130660189/" alt="An anti-Semitic protester in Berlin with a pro-Nazi tattoo on his arm. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. ... Read more

Motivated by what they described as rising anti-Semitism in Europe, members of a Congressional bipartisan task force introduced legislation Friday that aims to increase Washington’s monitoring of anti-Jewish incidents and the steps taken by European governments to combat them. While much of the nation’s focus was trained on Hurricane Matthew smashing into the southeastern seaboard, Democratic representatives Nita Lowey, Steve Israel, Eliot Engel and Ted Deutch joined Republicans Chris Smith, Il... Read more