newjerseynewsroom.com

Gay partners cope with life and death situations in ‘Next Fall’

Weepy new Broadway comedy-drama mixes trite substance with suds

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BROADWAY REVIEW

"Next Fall" enjoyed favorable reviews and an extended off-Broadway run last summer at Playwrights Horizons. Now under the aegis of Elton John and David Furnish among others, Geoffrey Nauffts' new play has moved a few blocks to Broadway, where it opened Thursday at the Helen Hayes Th...

Poll: N.J. supports health care reform

Rutgers-Eagleton finds residents want Congress to start over with new legislation

Support for health care reform remains strong in New Jersey, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Thursday that finds 81 percent of residents say the health care system needs to be changed.

Only 17 percent believe the current system works well enough.

At the same time, given a choice between passing the current...

N.J. gets closer to allowing direct wine shipments with Senate approval

The state Senate Thursday approved legislation that would allow New Jersey consumers to receive direct shipments of wine from wineries.

The bill, S-766, would authorize the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission to issue direct-shipping licenses to holders of either a New Jersey plenary winery license with retail privileges or a farm winery license. Out-of-state shippers also would be allowed to recei...

N.J. Senate approves pro-developer bill opposed by local officials, environmentalists

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Despite strong opposition from local officials and environmentalists, the New Jersey state Senate Thursday approved legislation that allows developers to file an application to be exempted from changes in municipal building ordinances or zoning.

Under the current law, developers must have preliminary approval, which includes a public hearing, on an application ...

N.J. Privatization Task Force signals cuts to government

Gov. Christie's action viewed as intent to layoff union workers

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Gov. Chris Christie Thursday signed an executive order creating a task force to determine how to privatize the work of some state agencies or the jobs of state employees beginning in January.

The "New Jersey Privatization Task Force'' is directed to determine how to cut the size and cost of the stat...

222 New Jersey school districts could see ‘adjustment aid’ cut in FY2011

BY DAVID SCIARRA

COMMENTARY

The administration of Governor Christopher Christie has signaled it may propose cutting school funding in FY2011 to those districts currently receiving transition or "adjustment aid" under the new school funding formula.

In addition, the Christie administration has suggested that some portion of the cut in adjustment aid may be "redistributed" to give other districts a sma...

Sugarloaf in Maine: It’s ‘sweet’ skiing at its best

BY BOB WILLIAMS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING

KINGFIELD, Me. — A championship ski race, Olympic gold and six feet of fresh snow combined to give Sugarloaf Mountain its busiest weekend this season.

And what a weekend it was! For starters, Sugarloaf/USA, Maine's highest skiable peak at 4,237 feet, had received six feet of the white stuff during a major East Coast blizzard a few weeks ag...

DiVincenzo: We must work together to reduce the ‘cost of running government' in New Jersey

BY JOSEPH N. DiVINCENZO, JR.

COMMENTARY

Anyone involved in governing and administrating a town or county in New Jersey understands the economic problems outlined in The Star-Ledger editorials of February 28 and March 1. The costs of labor, pensions, health benefits and binding arbitration agreements are strangling residents and administrators. Everyone is suffering. We have been addressing these ...

Clinton’s Billy Murray returns to New Jersey with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

BY ANTHONY STOECKERT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Billy Murray spends lot of time clowning around — and getting paid for it.

For the past five months, the Clinton native has been touring the country as a clown in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' newest show, "Funundrum." His life on the road means sleeping on a train with circus folk, making audiences laugh, and helping the clown-ophobic overc...

PSEG rolling out renewable energy plan for New Jersey

Wind and solar incorporated into the traditional fossil fuel strategy

BY JOE TYRRELL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

New technologies, new policies and new media can pose challenges for even the largest corporations.

At a presentation aimed at "bloggers," officials of Public Service Enterprise Group gave upbeat, and at times impassioned, sales pitches for the company's alternative energy projects and proposals,...