Editors, assignment editors, photo editors:
Samantha Henry is the state supervisor for New Jersey.
If you have stories of statewide interest, breaking news or questions about the report, please send them to aptrenton(at)ap.org or call the control bureau for New Jersey, in Trenton, at 800-645-0091 or 609-392-3622.
Repeats of state and national stories, along with the photos that accompany them, can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com and reruns are also available from the Service Desk at 800-838-4616.
TOP STORIES:
CONNECTICUT SCHOOL SHOOTING
NEWTOWN — A man killed his mother at home and then opened fire Friday inside the elementary school where she taught, massacring 26 people, including 20 children, as youngsters cowered in fear to the sound of gunshots echoing through the building and screams coming over the intercom. By John Christoffersen.
SUPERSTORM-FLOOD MAPS
TRENTON — Owners of property on the New Jersey shore will soon learn how high the federal government believes they should raise their homes and businesses after Superstorm Sandy. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it will release base flood elevation maps on Saturday.
SUPERSTORM-STATES AID
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says New York has helped out other states after disasters so it's time for the federal government to step up and help New York following Superstorm Sandy. Friday's push comes a day after a public plea from the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. They say members of Congress shouldn't leave for the holidays until they decide on aid for states battered by Sandy. By Jennifer Peltz.
SUPERSTORM SANDY-CASINOS
ALBANY, N.Y. — Anti-gambling forces fear that the economic losses from Superstorm Sandy could help efforts to expand casino gambling in New York. State lawmakers were already expected to consider a gambling amendment to the state constitution next year before Sandy walloped New York City and Long Island in late October. If the measure clears the Legislature for a second time in 2013, voters could make a final decision on whether to OK Las Vegas-style casinos beyond Indian land as early as November. By Michael Hill.
SUPERSTORM-BELMAR BOARDWALK
BELMAR — Environmentalists are trying to convince a Jersey shore town racing to rebuild its storm-wrecked boardwalk not to use wood from tropical rain forests.
By Wayne Parry. AP Photos.
SUPERSTORM-FLOODED ART
NEW YORK — Superstorm Sandy was not kind to the arts community. It not only upended paintings, equipment, tools and paper, turning them into tangled and soggy heaps, but also the livelihoods of hundreds of artists who have helped make the New York area a dynamic art capital. Six weeks after Sandy, Pier Glass, a studio of four glass blowers on an old pier in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, remains without power. Corrosive salt water destroyed its furnace, scattered grinding and polishing tools, shattered glass, and destroyed historic prints. By Ula Ilnytzky.
AP Photos NYR201, NYR202, NYR203, NYBM201, NYBM202, NYBM203.
SENATE INTERN ARRESTED
WASHINGTON — A Republican congressman is asking the Obama administration to explain delays in its arrest of a registered sex offender who was living in the U.S. illegally and working as an unpaid intern for a Democratic senator. The Associated Press reported this week that the Homeland Security Department had instructed federal agents not to arrest 18-year-old Luis Abrahan Sanchez Zavaletahim, who was working in the office of Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey. Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah called the situation "disturbing" in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. By Eileen Sullivan.
ANIMAL RESEARCH-DEATHS
RENO, Nev. — An animal rights group is urging federal inspectors to fine Charles River Laboratories nearly $200,000 after the firm reported four more monkeys and other research animals died at its testing labs in Nevada and elsewhere since 2009. Leaders of Stop Animal Exploitation Now say the most recent deaths demonstrate a continuing trend of negligence that has resulted in painful deaths of research animals. The group stepped up its scrutiny of Charles River in 2008 after a heating malfunction killed 32 monkeys in Sparks and another was boiled alive a year later in Reno when it was left in a cage in a washer. By Scott Sonner.
BUSINESS:
REVEL-UNION
ATLANTIC CITY — A casino workers union that has been locked in a bitter struggle with Atlantic City's newest casino is warning investors against pumping any more money into the struggling casino resort. Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union, which is trying to unionize Revel, sent a report to Revel's main investors this week estimating it will need another $300 million to stay afloat in 2013. By Wayne Parry.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
CONNECTICUT SCHOOL SHOOTING-CHRISTIE
SEA BRIGHT — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is calling Friday's elementary school massacre in Connecticut "an unspeakable tragedy."
NJ CRIME REPORT
TRENTON — New Jersey's attorney general says the state's overall crime rate increased three percent in 2011 compared to the previous year.
SUPERSTORM SANDY-LAVALLETTE
LAVALLETTE — A New Jersey town will be the first to permanently welcome back residents to the northern barrier island nearly two months after Superstorm Sandy.
PHARMACY ROBBERY
LEONIA — Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli says he'll announce the findings of an investigation into the fatal shooting by police of a man suspected of robbing a northern New Jersey pharmacy.
GIRL ON BIKE SLAIN
WOODBURY — A judge has denied news organizations access to court hearings in the case of two teenage brothers accused of killing a 12-year-old southern New Jersey girl.
GIRL ON BIKE SLAIN
WOODBURY — A New Jersey judge may rule on whether court hearings for two teen brothers accused of killing a 12-year-old New Jersey girl can be open to the media.
DOCTOR-PAINKILLERS ARREST
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A doctor from Upper Saddle River is accused in a federal indictment of illegally distributing tens of thousands of prescription painkillers.
COCAINE SMUGGLING
NEWARK — A British citizen has been extradited to the U.S. to face charges of conspiring to traffic cocaine from the West Indies to England.
ROLLING STONES
NEWARK — New Jerseyans recovering from Superstorm Sandy can add another song to their soundtrack.
SPORTS:
FBN--GIANTS
EAST RUTHERFORD — The first-place New York Giants get back to work after a day off, and resume preparations for the Atlanta Falcons. New York, at 8-5, is one game ahead of Dallas and Washington in the NFC East.
FBN--JETS-MONSTROUS MO
FLORHAM PARK — Muhammad Wilkerson is a quiet guy, appearing almost shy during most interviews and deflecting praise. But the New York Jets defensive lineman is anything but timid on the field, developing into a dominating force in his second NFL season. His breakout season has flown mostly under the radar, but he's a big reason the Jets' once-struggling defense is ranked eighth in the league — and Rex Ryan is calling for Wilkerson to be selected to the Pro Bowl. By Dennis Waszak Jr.
JETS-TEBOW-WILDCAT
FLORHAM PARK — Tim Tebow might not be done in the wildcat after all. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan reversed his decision Friday, saying the backup quarterback could actually participate in the wildcat-style offense and on special teams as the personal punt protector at Tennessee on Monday night. On Thursday, Ryan said Tebow would be the backup to Mark Sanchez, but only in the conventional offense. By Sports Writer Dennis Waszak Jr..
AP Photo WX106.
