FDU Poll: Obama's OK, Women Cool on Romney

About half of poll respondents approve of President Obama's job performance.

Our Republican governor gets good marks from the Garden State, but so does our Democratic president, according to the latest poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind . Barack Obama also has a solid lead over Mitt Romney in New Jersey, according to the poll—especially among women. Read the full statement from FDU below, then take our own poll to let us know what you think? According the latest poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind, 50 percent of New Jersey voters say they approve of the way the president is handling his job, while 42 percent disapprove. These numbers mirror the support expressed by New Jerseyans for their Republican governor, Chris Christie, as reported yesterday: 56 percent approve of the job …

•  29 Comments
• Photos (2)

Guide to Ocean City's BYOB Referendum

Everything you need to know about the May 8 municipal election.

It all began—in a 21st-century sorta way—with a Facebook page. It gathered steam when two restaurant owners (one now out of business) took the lead on starting a movement. They said they were inspired, in part, by a newspaper editorial (Jan. 19, 2011). And now, about 475 days and several thousand Ocean City Patch comments later, it will all come to an end on Tuesday: the Great BYOB Debate of 2011-12.  Voters go to the polls on Tuesday, May 8, to decide a binding public question on allowing "Bring Your Own Bottle" (BYOB) restaurants in Ocean City. Voters from each of the city's four wards will also pick representatives for City Council. Here's what you need to know:   WHERE TO VOTE AND FIND RESULTS   BYOB QUESTION  

• Photos (1)
• Documents (1)

Judge Rules Against Obama Objectors

An effort to have President Barack Obama's name removed from New Jersey's primary ballot was dealt a setback following an administrative judge's recent ruling.

In what attorney Mario Apuzzo is calling a "sham of justice," a state judge has ruled against objectors seeking to remove President Barack Obama's name from New Jersey's upcoming primary ballot . According to Apuzzo, the attorney representing New Jersey residents Nick Purpura and Ted Moran, Deputy Director and Administrative Law Judge Jeff Masin ruled against the ballot challenge following a more than three-hour hearing earlier this week. His decision, delivered to Apuzzo via email, was not based on the issues presented in the challenge, namely that Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States and that a birth certificate released by the White House last April is fraudulent, but rather on a technicality, Apuzzo said. The judge …

•  14 Comments
• Photos (1)

President Obama's Eligibility Challenged

Two men, including a Monmouth County resident, are challenging President Barack Obama's placement on the state's primary ballot.

Two New Jersey residents, including one from Monmouth County, are challenging President Barack Obama's place on the state's primary ballot, according to the Bayshore Tea Party Group. Nick Purpura, of Monmouth County, has filed a challenge along with Ocean County resident Ted Moran alleging that Obama has never shown adequate proof that he was born in the United States - despite the release of a longform birth certificate by the White House in April of 2011 - and that his father was never a citizen of the United States, meaning Obama is not a natural born citizen, at least according to their interpretation of the Constitution. The challenge will be heard by an administrative law judge Tuesday at the Administrative Law Offices in …

•  82 Comments
• Photos (1)

Camden County Freeholder Won't Run Again

Camden County Freeholder Rodney Greco, of Gloucester Township, decides not to seek reelection. “We will miss his intelligence and integrity on our board,” the freeholder director says.

Zoning Board Will Consider Variance for Goodwill Center on Tuesday

Goodwill hopes to establish a donation center at the site of the former Haddonfield Shellfish. The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Municipal Hall.

The borough zoning board is scheduled to consider a use variance request tonight from Goodwill to establish an attended, donation center at 170 Grove St., the site of the former Haddonfield Shellfish. The zoning meeting is at 7:30 p.m. tonight on the second floor of the Municipal Hall. The national nonprofit needs a variance of zoning regulations to proceed. The property is currently zoned for retail use. The Goodwill center will not sell items at the site. Goodwill officials have said they want to open the 1,600-square-foot facility by the fall. It has already purchased the site. Public reaction to the request before the meeting was mixed. Ed Borden, one of three borough commissioners who don't sit on the zoning board but are the highest …

•  6 Comments
• Photos (2)

Jeff H

4:26 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2012

And what would we have done with the property after we purchased it? It would have made a pretty useless public space. The borough purchased a house in the vicinity of the PATCO parking lot in 2008, 60 Stiles Ave. It is vacant, non-productive, and I am sure we got killed on the value during the bubble burst. Another borough owned asset wasting away and dollars wasted. That purchase could have …   more ›

Voters Say Yes to Sports Betting in NJ

But now officials will need to convince a judge to overturn a federal law barring gambling on athletics.

Voters appeared to be overwhelmingly approving a statewide referendum Tuesday that will change the state constitution to enable the legalization of gambling on professional and certain college sporting events—but only if a current federal ban is overturned. The Star-Ledger was reporting that with 84% of the ballots counted, the measure was winning, 61 percent to 31 percent. The amendment was supported by Oceanport Borough, home of Monmouth Park racetrack, as well as Gov. Chris Christie and State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), who argues that once the referendum is approved, it will only be a matter of months before the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is ruled unconstitutional. Lesniak has led the crusade for sports …

•  30 Comments
• Photos (1)

2011 Voter Guide: Legislative District 6

NJ Spotlight breaks down the people and issues—including sexy Tweets—in the 6th District races for the New Jersey Legislature.

Christie Won't Run for President

Governor says he will not be a candidate for GOP presidential nomination.

UPDATE, 2 P.M.: Saying that "Now is not my time," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Tuesday that he will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012.  Standing at a podium in the Statehouse in Trenton, Christie said he believed he owed it to the people of New Jersey to continue as governor. "It's never felt right... to me in my gut to leave here when the job is not finished," he said. But Christie did not rule out a run for the presidency in the future, telling an NBC News reporter that "I'm not going to preclude any job whether president or working at NBC." The governor had repeatedly said he would not join the GOP campaign, but reports continued to surface in recent weeks that he was re-considering, under pressure …

•  25 Comments
• Photos (1)