The Star-Ledger News

Local NJ politics, crime & Statehouse coverage from The Star-Ledger

• To face foreclosure fear, Jersey offers counseling
Sometimes a homeowner's first response to the dreaded foreclosure notice is to ignore it.

• Trenton
The state Supreme Court next month will hear oral arguments over whether information about a racial slur an officer used to describe Jayson Williams should become part of the former New Jersey Net's pending retrial for reckless manslaughter.

• In Iraq, Corzine finds N.J. troops fear recession
Gov. Jon Corzine traded a budget crisis for a war zone yesterday, making a surprise visit to Iraq to visit New Jersey troops who are part of the state's largest mobiliza tion since World War II.

• NEW FACES, SAME CRISIS
WASHINGTON -- The 111th Congress convened yesterday amid a cresting tide of political change and with a single-minded focus on fixing the economy as its "first, second and third priority."

• Governor seeks extra $812M in cutbacks
From a budget he once described as cutting spending "cold turkey," Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday proposed slicing $812 million more to keep pace with the economic crisis.

• Princeton team IDs gene that makes breast cancer such a killer
Princeton University scientists working with the Cancer Institute of New Jersey say they have identified a gene that causes breast cancer tumors to spread and makes them resistant to chemotherapy.

• A marked drop in road deaths across Jersey
Deaths on New Jersey roads and highways last year plummeted to their lowest level in more than three decades.

• NEW FLOWER POWER
HERAT, Afghanistan -- Haji Abdul Ghayoum squats over a plant that pushes a magnificent rainbow of color up from cracked soil.

• As seen on TV! Pitchmen reign during hard times
Repeating the mantra "CALL NOW," television pitchmen have emerged like saviors in the recession, offering consumers succor in the form of $19.95 miracle gadgets.

• Financial thrashing to continue
Reading about the economy these days is a lot like flipping through an old Batman comic book. You don't have to go far before somebody takes a beating.

• Sounding the alarm in Bayonne
Bayonne's new fire engine is a big red beauty.

• Still want to go to the inaugural? Yes, you can
BY J. SCOTT ORRWASHINGTON -- So, you've absolutely got to be here for the inauguration. But three weeks out, you've got no hotel room, no transportation plans, no inaugural tickets, just the audacity of hope.

• Corzine plans wage freeze to close gap in budget
The national economic meltdown has opened a $2.1 billion hole in the current state budget that will have to be closed with emergency cuts and fiscal maneuvers -- and the elimination of planned pay raises for state workers, Gov. Jon Corzine said yesterday.

• Fire truck kills Elizabeth firefighter in 'terrible tragedy'
An Elizabeth firefighter died yesterday after being run over by a fire truck at the scene of a blaze authorities say was set inside a vacant house by a homeless man trying to keep warm.

• First-time buyers make hay in housing drought
In a wooded neighborhood of Raritan Township, Sarah Nojiri walks through an empty colonial with a dining room big enough to fit the large furniture her grandmother gave her.

• Rail bridges will double N.J.-N.Y. capacity
A long-range transit plan to de crease commuter rail delays and increase train capacity between New Jersey and Manhattan cleared an important hurdle this week when a federal agency approved a $1.3 billion project to replace an old train bridge over the Hackensack River.

• Attorney admits stealing $4 million
Michael Rumore has a bad gambling problem that cost him his legal career and could put him behind bars for up to 15 years.

• Police nab last of bank robbery suspects
A third man wanted in connection with the robbery of a PNC Bank in Somerset County earlier this week was arrested yesterday, authorities said.

• Investigation of car burglaries yields arrest of two
Two Hillsborough men have been charged in connection with a string of car burglaries and vandalism at golf courses, authorities said yesterday. One of the suspects re mains at large.

• Man pleads guilty in accident that killed three on Route 80
A former Roxbury resident pleaded guilty yesterday to death-by-auto and drunken driving charges in connection with a 2006 crash on Route 80 that killed three people and injured two others.

• Whether it's a boy or a girl, it's a tax break
Andrew Ochojski arrived Wednesday at 10:19 p.m. Baby Sejra (no first name yet) made his way into the world at 11. Not to be outdone, Nylah Malcolm was born at 11:12.

• For green consumers, it's the fiscal blues
In a speedy recognition of the anvil-like drop in hybrid car sales, Toyota postpones the opening of a Prius factory.

• HAPPIER NEW YEAR
Americans had no problem say ing goodbye to 2008 last night, al though the nation's economic troubles made many of them less interested in an expensive send-off.

• Expect to see tumbleweeds at City Hall in the coming year
The grass may be greener on the other side, but it probably won't get cut much at local parks this year.

• Passings
They entertained us on screen and in print, pioneered new technologies and made headlines for deeds good and bad.