• Responses show far-reaching impact of drug addiction

    A fter I lost my 21-year-old cousin Courtney to a heroin overdose in September, Greater Media Newspapers ran a column that I wrote about her life and the grief that overtook my family. I received numerous responses from readers, most of whom knew well the wreckage and heartbreak that heroin addiction spawns. Some lost children,…

  • YMCAs team up for Passport Program

    Beginning in January, five Middlesex County YMCAs will join together to offer its members the ability to use participating YMCAs without an additional fee. YMCAs participating in the Passport Program include the YMCAs of Metuchen, Edison, South Amboy; Raritan Bay Area YMCA in Perth Amboy; and Raritan Valley YMCA in East Brunswick. “Our members are…

  • Top Stories of 2013

    A year after superstorm Sandy, a barricade blocks motorists from entering Fisher Street at MacArthur Avenue in Sayrevllle. Many of the flooddamaged homes in the neighborhood, which includes Weber Avenue, are now being purchased by the state government. 1. Buyouts begin The last 14 moths have been dominated by the beginning of the recovery process…

  • Auto dealer staff charged with selling Sandy vehicles

    A cting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that the operator of a used car dealership in Old Bridge was charged on Dec. 20 with using fraudulent vehicle titles to sell cars that were damaged in superstorm Sandy to unsuspecting customers. A state Motor Vehicle Commission technician and two employees of the car dealership previously…

  • Changing times challenge retailers

    By THOMAS CASTLES Staff Writer A sign advertises available space in the Epicentre shopping plaza on Route 9 in Manalapan. The vacancy rate for retail space in central New Jersey climbed to 9.8 percent in the second quarter of 2013. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR Storefront vacancies have blemished many of New Jersey’s busiest retail corridors…

  • Reader roundup

    Q&A with Sharon Peters Q: I heard part of a report that seemed to be indicating that Great Britain is banning all non-hybrids sometime in the future. Can this be true? A: No. One party in England proposed a bill that would, in effect, essentially ban all non-hybrid cars by 2040. No one is suggesting…

  • Fanciful features

    By Jim Gorzelany CTW Features From a built-in vacuum cleaner to seats that give a hot stone massage while en route, automakers are luring shoppers into showrooms with an engaging array of the latest high-tech systems. There’s no such thing as a “stripped down” new car any more. Even some of the smallest and least…

  • When parents become lenders

    Family-financed down payment loans are increasingly common. Follow these guidelines to make the process smoother. With tightening credit markets, low savings rates and stagnant wages, many first-time homebuyers find themselves struggling to amass a down payment. The solution? Parents. Twenty-seven percent of first-time homebuyers received a down payment as a gift from “the good ol’…

  • SPORT SHORTS

    Monmouth University men’s soccer players Matt Jeffery (Freehold Township) and Joseph Schmid (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) were named All-ECAC, the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference recently announced. Schmid earned First Team honors, while Jeffery was named to the Second Team. Both players were instrumental in the Hawks’ march to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Regular…

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