Not educated at the Vatican, and having never worked there, Pope Francis is a bit of an outsider.

Heralded as a defender of the poor and committed to matters of social justice, newly elected Pope Francis stands for all the right things, said former New York Times religion editor and Easton resident Ken Briggs.

"I think that both says something and says nothing," Briggs said Wednesday.

That's because, Briggs said, being known for championing causes and actually implementing solutions while on the Catholic church's grandest stage are two separate things.

"There may be an interest but how that interest is expressed and carried out ... remains to be seen," said Briggs.

Given Francis' age at 76 and questions surrounding his background, Briggs said he's unsure the papal conclave got it right. But as a relative unknown prior to Wednesday's announcement, Francis might be able to turn some heads during his years as pontiff, Briggs said.

"He could be someone who surprises a lot of people," said Briggs.

Briggs said, however, that if Catholics are hoping for Francis to separate himself from the ideological stances of his predecessor, the former Pope Benedict XVI, they may be disappointed.

"I don't think his actual belief system will be much different from Benedict at all," he said. "He pretty much comes from the same frame of mind."

Still, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a bit of an outsider.

The Rev. Thomas F. Dailey, director of DeSales University’s Salesian Center for Faith & Culture, said in addition to being the first non-European pope, Francis wasn’t educated at and never worked at the Vatican.

“He’s not part of the traditional background,” Dailey said. “It reveals the minds of the Cardinals that are electing ... that they grasp that the Catholic church is a world entity and someone that can appeal to all the peoples of the world is what they wanted.”

The papal conclave appeared to want to continue former Pope Benedict XVI’s mission of evangelism with the selection of Francis, Dailey said, and the new pope showed his interest in spreading the teachings of the church by focusing his first remarks on prayer.

“He asked people to pray for him. What a beautiful thing to do,” Dailey said. “His purpose now is to be about prayer and matters of faith, and that I think is a very important message.”

While Argentinian, Francis is of Italian ancestry.

"How much Latin Americans regard him as a Latin American may be in question," said Briggs.

Joanne was a caregiver for the elderly, with Caring Connections.

Joanne Robinson Hess  

Joanne Robinson Hess, 52, of Palmer Township, formerly of Phillipsburg, passed away on Wednesday, March 13, at her home.

Joanne was a caregiver for the elderly, with Caring Connections.

Along with her husband, Jack, she was a foster parent for many years.

Read Joanne Robinson Hess' full obituary.

Visit her guest book.

See all of today's obituaries from The Express-Times.

Today's death notices:

• Armstrong, Mary J.
• Bukowski, William A.
• Cyphers, Louise C.
• Ehasz, Eleanor
• Hanlein, Anna
• Hockin, James W.
• James, Cordero Zion Ziaire
• Mack, Walter E. Skip
• Pyatt-VanHorn, Elizabeth M.
• Ruth, Mary L.
• Stanell, James R.
• Wanamaker, Ruby Snyder

On Friday, the department will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. in Trenton to discuss the proposal further.

View full size Gov. Chris Christie. Express-Times File Photo  

Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat whose 15th District covers parts of Hunterdon County, said in a statement Wednesday that the proposal doesn't consider that many New Jerseyans might not have access to the Internet.

"Here is yet another example of how out of touch this administration is with the realities facing impoverished residents in our urban communities," Watson Coleman said. "To those who are financially stable, requiring unemployed residents to search for jobs may seem like a no brainer. But not everyone can afford to buy a computer and not everyone can afford to pay for Internet access."

Mandating it as such would further the gap between rich and poor in the state, Watson Coleman said.

"Punishing residents for not having the same financial stability that the governor enjoys is callous," she said. "I hope the administration sees the light and dumps this proposal."

The proposal from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development would require that prior to collecting weekly unemployment benefits, the state's jobless must first perform regular searches for work on the state's jobs site, Jobs4Jersey.com, where they must also register.

Residents would then be required to report their findings to officials by phone, Internet, mail, or in-person.

"Reporting and participating in work-search-related activities as directed, including registering for work, is the very least that a claimant can do to demonstrate that he or she is actively seeking work," department officials wrote on the New Jersey Register. "Consequently, using the example cited earlier, if a claimant fails to simply register with Jobs4Jersey, then he or she is not actively seeking work and should not collect benefits."

Assemblyman John DiMaio, R-Hunterdon/Warren, said he understands that not everyone might have Internet access but argues that's exactly what libraries are for.

"Libraries are there to give folks access who can't afford to have their own access," he said.

DiMaio said mandating the use of Jobs4Jersey.com is important as it provides a valuable tool for job seekers.

"A lot of people don't know where to go to look for that," he said.

The state labor department will hold a public hearing 10 a.m. Friday in Trenton to further discuss the proposal.

Follow @AndrGeorge

Average price of homes also rises, Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors says.

View full size A for-sale sign promotes this home in 2011 in Forks Township. Express-Times File Photo  

Sales of homes in the Lehigh Valley jumped 18.5 percent in February compared to the same month last year, according to a report released today by the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors.

The average sales price of homes in the region also rose 1.4 percent, and the average number of days a home was on the market dropped 14.4 percent compared to last February, the association reported.

The positive numbers mirror national trends that have shown a steadily improving housing market. Builders started work on the most homes last year since 2008. The latest national data shows new-home sales jumped 16 percent in January to the highest level since July 2008. And home prices rose by the most in more than six years in the 12 months that ended in January, according to real estate data provider CoreLogic.

The data provided in the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors report also shows:

Sales closed on 352 homes in February.

There were 3,196 homes on the market with 838 new listings for the month; both figures mark a decrease compared to February 2012.

The average sales price of a home was $168,288.

The average number of days a home remained on the market was 83 days.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Liz Nixon and Kerry Darragh are studying this semester in Rome.

View full size Liz Nixon, left, and Kerry Darragh are shown at St. Peter's Square as white smoke comes from the Sistine Chapel in the background. Photo Courtesy Liz Nixon  

They were in the right place at the right time.

Two Lehigh Valley college students studying this semester in Rome were among the thousands who packed St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday night as white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney, signaling the election of a new pope.

For Liz Nixon, 21, of Forks Township, and Kerry Darragh, 20, of Bethlehem Township, Pa., it was a moving experience.

“As soon as the white smoke came out of the chimney, I was speechless,” said Nixon, who with Darragh attends the University of Maryland. “It was feelings of excitement and disbelief at the same time — disbelief that I was there and disbelief that (the Roman Catholic cardinals) made a decision.”

Nixon, a junior at Maryland and a 2010 graduate of Easton Area High School, and Darragh tried making their way with thousands of others toward the front of the square for a better view of what was about to happen, Nixon said.

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio took the name Pope Francis and was revealed to the world from a balcony at St. Peter’s Basilica.

“I feel like as soon as he came out to address the crowd, everyone was very happy, and at the same time, put at ease,” Nixon, who is Catholic, said in an email today. “His humble presence assured the crowd that he was the right choice.

“I am extremely thankful to have witnessed this historical event.”

Darragh, a sophomore at Maryland and a 2011 Freedom High School graduate, said she and Nixon arrived at St. Peter's Square about two hours before the smoke emanated. Despite the cold and rain, they decided to stick around.

They were glad they did.

"The whole thing was a very surreal experience," Darragh said in an email. "I just felt really lucky to be there. That's something I will remember for the rest of my life."

SEPTA riders face big changes starting July 1.

How whistleblowers uncovered a "pay-to-play" culture in the Pennsylvania Turnpike [pennlive.com]

Child advocacy centers should get money from the NCAA's fine on Penn State, commissioner says [pennlive.com]

Rainforest advocates blast Avon boardwalk reconstruction, report says [nj.com]

N.J. man sells car on Craigslist, steals it back, tries to sell it again, police say [nj.com]

Assembly panel seeks to prosecute leaders of dog-fighting rings under anti-racketeering law [nj.com]

SEPTA riders face big changes starting July 1 [philly.com]

The move would reduce the size of the board from 32 to 30 voting members, and a quorum would require 16 members.

View full size Penn State board of trustees is considering taking trustee votes away from the state governor and the university's president. AP File Photo  

The Pennsylvania governor and the president of Penn State would no longer be voting members of the university board of trustees under a recommendation made to the trustees today.

The board’s governance committee voted unanimously to recommend the change, which could be voted by the trustees in May.

It would reduce the size of the board from 32 to 30 voting members, and a quorum would require 16 members instead of the current 13. Penn State’s lawyers said the board has the authority to make the change, and it would not require legislative approval.

Committee chairman James Broadhurst said members feel strongly that the board should not shrink more dramatically.

“We need all the members that we have on this board to transact business at this time,” he said.

Messages seeking comment from Gov. Tom Corbett’s office were not immediately returned.

Another recommendation would cut the time required for notice before the board meets, from 10 to three days. Some trustees said that would eliminate much of the need for the smaller executive committee to meet and make decisions.

The rewrite also would clean up antiquated language, dealing with such subjects as the type of labor Penn State students are required to perform on the school’s behalf.

Still ahead is a presentation by trustee Ken Frazier about the school’s report into how the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal was handled.

Penn State commissioned the examination of the scandal by a group led by former FBI director Louis Freeh. It’s been a target for critics since its release last summer, and the family of former football coach Joe Paterno recently issued its own response.

On Tuesday, the university released a document long sought by the board’s critics that detailed the agreement made with Freeh to investigate the Sandusky scandal.

The letter from Freeh was signed Dec. 2, 2011, by then-board chair Steve Garban and trustee Kenneth Frazier, who headed the trustees committee to which Freeh reported.

Freeh concluded that Paterno and three school administrators acted to conceal allegations against Sandusky to protect the school’s image. The administrators have vehemently denied the findings.

Paterno died in January 2012. Last month, an exhaustive critique commissioned by his family called Freeh’s findings inaccurate and unfounded, and resulted in a “rush to injustice.”

That review raised new questions about the report and the university’s handling of the findings from the alumni critics, some ex-players and a handful of trustees, including the outspoken Anthony Lubrano. In particular, Lubrano has said the school should ask for a refund from Freeh because the investigation was not full or complete.

Sandusky, a former assistant under Paterno, is serving prison time after being convicted of child molestation charges.

The bill was co-sponsored by state Sen. Steven Oroho, R-Warren/Sussex. Vote in the NEWS POLL.

View full size N.J. Gov. Chris Christie AP Photo from the N.J. Governor's Office  

The bill, co-sponsored by state Sen. Steven Oroho, R-Warren/Sussex, will also give government entities like counties, municipalities, school districts and county colleges the ability to mandate that their employees also switch over to direct deposit, a measure Oroho supports.

"Governments must get the most out of every public dollar," Oroho said today in a statement. "All local government entities should join in this overdue initiative to save New Jersey taxpayers millions of dollars a year in unnecessary costs."

The law also requires that public employers make information on net pay and W-2 forms available to employees only online, a change that the state Office of Legislative Services predicts will save the state about $250,000 per year.

The bill received wide bipartisan support both in the state Assembly and Senate, and the only legislator to vote against it was state Sen. Michael Doherty, R-Warren/Hunterdon.

View full size State Sen. Steve Oroho Submitted Photo  

"I just don't like government mandates like that that are all-encompassing," Doherty said.

Regardless of what the state thinks, Doherty said there's nothing wrong with people who still prefer to receive their checks in-hand. He noted that some people might not have bank accounts set up to receive direct deposit.

"People should have the option of receiving a check," he said.

Though he disagrees with the assertion that the law will cut costs, Doherty said he doesn't think Oroho had any ulterior motives for sponsoring it.

"I think Sen. Oroho has the best intentions of saving money but I just don't really see it being a big cost-saver," Doherty said.

Follow @AndrGeorge

But Lehigh, Northampton, Warren and Hunterdon counties aren't part of the trend.

A record number of U.S. counties — more than one in three — are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere.

New 2012 census estimates released Thursday highlight the population shifts as the U.S. encounters its most sluggish growth levels since the Great Depression.

With a slowly improving U.S. economy, young adults are now back on the move, departing traditional big cities to test the job market mostly in the South and West, which had sustained the biggest hits in the housing bust.

Also seeing big declines now are rural and exurban areas, along with industrial sections of the Rust Belt.

Census data show that 1,135 of the nation’s 3,143 counties are now experiencing “natural decrease,” where deaths exceed births. That’s up from roughly 880 U.S. counties, or 1 in 4, in 2009. Already apparent in Japan and many European nations, natural decrease is now increasingly evident in large swaths of the U.S.

But the trend hasn’t hit this region. Lehigh, Northampton, Warren and Hunterdon counties all saw a “natural increase.” Lehigh had 2,445 more births than deaths between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2012, the reporting period highlighted in the latest data. The natural increases in the other counties were 484 in Northampton, 278 in Warren and 193 in Hunterdon.

Despite increasing deaths, the U.S. population as a whole continues to grow, boosted by immigration from abroad and relatively higher births among the mostly younger migrants from Mexico, Latin America and Asia.

“These counties are in a pretty steep downward spiral,” said Kenneth Johnson, a senior demographer and sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire, who researched the findings. “The young people leave and the older adults stay in place and age. Unless something dramatic changes — for instance, new development such as a meatpacking plant to attract young Hispanics — these areas are likely to have more and more natural decrease.”

The areas of natural decrease stretch from industrial areas near Pittsburgh and Cleveland to the vineyards outside San Francisco to the rural areas of east Texas and the Great Plains. A common theme is a waning local economy, such as farming, mining or industrial areas.

They also include some retirement communities in Florida, although many are cushioned by a steady flow of new retirees each year.

Christie referred to the first black female leader of the state Assembly by race and gender, not by name, when speaking Tuesday at a church.

View full size New Jersey Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, right, and Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver, left, listen as Gov. Chris Christie delivers his State Of The State address at the Statehouse back in January. Christie is being called on to apologize for referring to Oliver by her gender and race, but not her name, when addressing a church on Tuesday. AP Photo | MEL EVANS  

Republican Gov. Chris Christie has been asked to apologize for referring to the first black female leader of the state Assembly by race and gender, not by name, during a church-hosted meeting.

Christie, who’s white, told an audience Tuesday that an “African-American female speaker of the Assembly” is blocking a vote on a school voucher bill that would let children in failing districts attend classes elsewhere.

Democratic Speaker Sheila Oliver later said she was “appalled” that Christie injected race into the discussion on education. Oliver, who represents a district with some failing schools, has said she believes the state should make a larger investment in public education.

Today the pastor whose church hosted the meeting asked Christie to apologize. He said the governor was disrespectful to the speaker and missed a chance to unite the community.

“I was and am saddened by the governor’s blatant attack (on the speaker),” said Kenneth Clayton, pastor of St. Luke Baptist Church in Paterson. “The words that the governor chose to use in speaking of Oliver, while not even respecting her enough to call her by name, defy his earlier assertion that political leaders, himself included, need to learn to respect all views and work together.”

A Christie spokesman said the governor’s comments were misinterpreted.

The flap comes at an inopportune time for Christie, who has been courting the black and Latino vote for his re-election bid in November.

And a crucial part of Christie’s narrative for 2016, should he decide to seek the Republican nomination for president, will be his willingness to reach across party lines to get things done — witness his embrace of President Barack Obama six days before the presidential election after a tour of the state’s Superstorm Sandy-ravaged coastline, for which he was renounced by some members of his own party.

Political science professor Peter Woolley, of Fairleigh Dickinson University, said Christie’s success at making inroads among black and Latino voters this year will be gauged by analysts sizing up his presidential prospects. His urban policy proposals have helped distinguish him among Republican candidates, Woolley said, while “giving him entree to be taken seriously” in minority communities.

Christie traveled to South Jersey on Wednesday to pick up the endorsement of a black Democrat in rural Chesilhurst, a mostly minority community of 1,600 people. The mayor’s endorsement may not mean much to the overall vote total — Christie beat Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine by 87,000 votes without Chesilhurst’s support in 2009 — but garnering public support from a member of the Democratic base is important symbolically.

For Christie, winning in Chesilhurst would be especially sweet: It’s one of the three towns former Republican Gov. Tom Kean didn’t carry in his 1985 re-election victory. Christie credits Kean for getting him into politics.

“It is with great glee that I will depart Chesilhurst and call Governor Kean today and tell him, ‘Now we’ll see, maybe I’ll be able to win one of those towns you couldn’t win,’“ Christie said Wednesday. “I think I have a better chance now that I have the mayor’s support.”

The mayor, Michael Blunt, would not weigh in on Christie’s dust-up with Oliver. When pressed, though, he said he would not be bothered if Christie referred to him as “the African-American mayor” of his town, rather than by name.

Christie left the event without taking questions.

Today Christie's spokesman, Michael Drewniak, noted that the head of the Black Ministers Council, Bishop Reginald Jackson, said in 2010 that the fate of the stalled voucher bill was in the hands of the Legislature’s Democratic majority, especially Oliver.

Jackson, an advocate of the bill, known as the Opportunity Scholarship Act, said then, “The Democratic Party must stop taking us for granted and failing to act for our children.”

Christie recently was endorsed by the Latino Leadership Alliance, a coalition of 500 church groups, police and firefighter locals and civic organizations, whose chair, like Blunt, complimented him for taking the time to build a relationship with their respective communities and listen to their concerns. That audience cheered when Christie mentioned $2 million he had proposed for a pilot voucher program in his upcoming budget.

However, this is not the first time Christie has made a gaffe before a black audience.

In speaking about gay marriage in 2011, he compared the fight for marriage equality to the civil rights struggle of the 1960s and offended black leaders by insinuating that equal rights for minorities could have been gained through referendum rather than bloodshed. He later apologized, but not before Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a hero of the struggle, appeared in the capital city on behalf of gay couples’ right to marry.

The Washington Post is reporting that Menendez is being investigated by a Miami federal grand jury for his role in advocating for the business interests of a wealthy donor and friend.

View full size Sen. Robert Menendez AP File Photo | SUSAN WALSH  

Sen. Robert Menendez is being investigated by a Miami federal grand jury for his role in advocating for the business interests of a wealthy donor and friend, The Washington Post reported today.

A story on the newspaper’s website said that as part of the probe federal agents have questioned witnesses about the interactions between Menendez, D-N.J., and Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen. The newspaper said the grand jury also issued subpoenas for Melgen’s business and financial records. The newspaper cited unidentified people it said were familiar with the probe.

Federal agents have not contacted Menendez, one person told the newspaper.

The Post said Melgen declined to say today whether he knew anything about the investigation, but he said any probe would find no wrongdoing.

Melgen attorney Kirk Ogrosky said the eye doctor is proud of his relationship with the senator and had no worries about any federal investigation.

Menendez and Melgen’s overlapping interests have repeatedly raised questions in recent months. Menendez was compelled to reimburse $58,000 for two flights to the Dominican Republic aboard Melgen’s private jet for personal trips in 2010 that he previously had failed to report, prompting scrutiny by the Senate Ethics Committee.

Menendez also has acknowledged contacting U.S. health agencies to question their billing practices and policies amid a dispute between Melgen and federal authorities. And Menendez was a key sponsor of a natural gas bill that could have aided a Melgen investment in a Florida company that markets a conversion system for natural gas truck engines.

Melgen has given more than $14,000 directly to Menendez’s political campaigns since the late 1990s and, through his eye clinic, donated $700,000 last year to a “super” political committee that supported Democratic Senate candidates. The committee, in turn, spent $582,000 to back Menendez’s re-election effort.

The investigation began with two disparate issues, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke with the Post. First, auditors had been reviewing allegations that Melgen was fraudulently overbilling Medicare for treating his patients. Melgen’s attorney has said the doctor’s billing was completely appropriate.

Then, in the fall, the FBI began looking into an anonymous tipster’s allegations that Melgen had arranged prostitutes for Menendez in the Dominican Republic. Such an arrangement could constitute providing a favor or gift under the bribery statute that investigators have been reviewing, the Post said.

Lawyers for Menendez and Melgen have said the allegations involving prostitutes, which also were made by the conservative website the Daily Caller, were absurd. Menendez has said the allegations, which first surfaced during his re-election campaign last year, were part of a Republican smear campaign.

Roughly $630 million was spent on Sandy recovery, the company says. The proposed 4.5 percent rate increase would raise the average customer's bill by more than $50 per year.

View full size A lineman with Jersey Central Power & Light works to restore power along Route 519 in the Phillipsburg area after a storm. Express-Times File Photo | STEPHEN FLOOD  

But for the company's Warren and Hunterdon customers wishing to attend, Morristown in Morris County will be the nearest of three options.

That's at least 30 miles from most points in adjacent Warren County.

The other two are in Ocean and Monmouth counties, both more than 50 miles for most locals.

"Hearings are scattered throughout our service territory," JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano said, noting the company covers a wide portion of the state.

The company announced the intended increase last month when it filed with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The measure is intended to recoup some of the recovery costs of Superstorm Sandy and other storms in recent years, the company says.

Roughly $630 million was spent on Sandy recovery, the company says. A 4.5 percent rate increase would raise the average customer's bill by more than $50 per year.

Morano said hearings are scheduled in accordance with the Board of Public Utilities and are subject to state regulations.

Board spokesman Greg Reinart provided The Express-Times a copy of an order from a Newark judge with the state Office of Administrative Law establishing the public hearings. He said he could not immediately say what statutes are used to determine the meeting dates and locations.

"This is a matter before the administrative law judge," Reinart said.

Morano said he understands the scheduled meetings are out of the way for Hunterdon and Warren customers. The state accepts mailed comments, but Morano said attending the hearings is the most effective way for their voices to be heard.

"The public hearings are the place to provide input," said Morano. "There might be other ways for them to express their points of view but the best way to do that is to come to the public hearings."

He served with the 9th Infantry Division in Normandy, France.

Michael Albert Habermann, 90, of Allamuchy Township, died Wednesday, March 13.

He served with the 9th Infantry Division in Normandy, France. He earned a EAME Campaign Ribbon during his time of service.

Read Michael Albert Habermann's full obituary.

Visit his guest book.

See all of today's obituaries from the Express-Times.

Today's death notices:

• Axtt, Raymond H.
• Handelong, Robert S.
• Lister, George L. G-Man
• Padgett, Gale
• Shaffer, Edward R.

Kathleen Kane said she wouldn't approve Camelot's 20- to 30-year contract because Pennsylvania law doesn't allow the governor to privatize the management of the lottery.

View full size Gov. Tom Corbett said he will revise a contract for the state lottery after the state attorney general said she wouldn't sign off on the deal. AP Photo File  

Gov. Tom Corbett will revise the contract with a British company to manage the $3.5 billion Pennsylvania Lottery after Attorney General Kathleen Kane rejected the initial plan.

Corbett’s office, in a statement released today, says that by revising the vendor contract with Camelot Global Services, it will provide clarification to Kane and her office and was “the next step” in the governor’s oft-stated intent to secure "predictable Lottery funding for senior programs” in the state.

The state Department of Revenue will submit a revised contract to Kane’s office in the “upcoming months.”

Kane said last month she wouldn’t approve Camelot’s 20- to 30-year contract because state law doesn’t allow the governor to privatize the management of the lottery nor does it allow the expansion of gambling that the contract would permit.

Miguel Torres had been among the U.S. Marshals' 15 most wanted fugitives since 2011.

An eastern Pennsylvania man who spent years on the lam after allegedly killing his estranged wife has been captured in Italy.

The U.S. Marshals Service says new information led to the arrest of longtime fugitive Miguel Torres at his home in Bologna.

Torres had been charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Barbara Torres in 2005. Authorities say she was gunned down in a Reading parking lot four days after obtaining a protective order against her husband.

Torres allegedly fled the scene in his wife's car, later switching to a rented van. The van was recovered a year later at LaGuardia Airport.

Torres had been among the marshals' 15 most wanted fugitives since 2011. The marshals said the 42-year-old had been living in Italy under the name Rene Rondon.

A passenger on a Manhattan-bound bus from Atlantic City said roaches started coming out of the vents inside the bus just 15 minutes into the Friday afternoon journey

Riders on a New York City-bound Greyhound bus from New Jersey are reporting an invasion of cockroaches.

A passenger on a Manhattan-bound bus from Atlantic City tells WABC-TV that roaches started coming out of the vents inside the bus just 15 minutes into the Friday afternoon journey.

The passenger reports roaches could be seen crawling on seats, windows, side panels and even on people.

An assignment editor at WABC says people could be heard screaming and yelling about roaches in their hair and on their backs while the person was on the phone with the station.

Greyhound says the 48 passengers on board had been moved to a new bus.

The company says the bus the passengers had been riding is being examined to determine the origin of the bugs.

Prosecutors in Hunterdon, Northampton and Warren counties are looking for these fugitives.

View full size From left, Nicholas D. MacPhail, Robert Earl Graham and Christian Bertone. Courtesy Photos  

Hunterdon County Authorities seek Nicholas D. MacPhail

Northampton County authorities seek Robert Earl Graham

Warren County authorities seek Christian Bertone

The National Weather Service predicts rain and snow until this evening.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a soggy and slushy afternoon.

There is a 70 percent chance of rain and snow before 5 p.m. with temperatures around 40. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Then a chance of rain and snow before 7 p.m. Temperatures are expected to drop, with the low of 24.

But for St. Paddy’s Day, the service said Sunday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 40 and winds between 7 to 11 mph.

For Monday the service has issued a hazardous weather warning of snow changing to rain and a possible period of freezing rain for the Lehigh Valley and northwestern New Jersey.

Also, track work could cause 15-minute delays on NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line.

View full size Rutgers University sign on the College Ave campus in New Brunswick. A freshman was found dead Friday in a university dorm. The Star-Ledger | AMANDA BROWN  

Rutgers student dies in New Brunswick dorm [nj.com]

Boy survives plunge into South Dakota river; 2 who tried to save him do not [cnn.com]

Amendments proposed for liquor privatization bill as it heads to committee for a vote [pennlive.com]

Suspect shot by police in Lower Paxton Township pronounced dead, K-9 dog also wounded [pennlive.com]

Potential prosecution of Menendez faces a tough path forward, experts say [nj.com]

Track work could cause 15-minute delays on NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line [nj.com]

Saying it's time the state had 'new leadership' and 'new priorities,' the union cited Buono's longtime support for public education.

View full size N.J. state Sen. Barbara Buono, pictured here at her campaign kickoff in February, has won the endorsement of the state's largest teachers union. The Star-Ledger | PATTI SAPONE  

New Jersey’s largest teachers union has endorsed Democrat Barbara Buono’s bid to unseat Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

The vow of support for Buono, a state senator from Metuchen, was announced today.

The NJEA’s political action committee, representing members in every county, voted unanimously Friday night to endorse Buono. That came shortly after Buono and Christie were interviewed by a 15-member screening committee.

Saying it’s time the state had “new leadership” and “new priorities,” the union cited Buono’s longtime support for public education as a key component of its decision.

“She is a proud graduate of New Jersey’s public schools, and understands the vital role they play in the aspirations of middle class citizens,” said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian.

“Unfortunately, over the past three years, teachers and school employees have seen their budgets slashed, their colleagues laid off, their class sizes increased, and their programs cut,” Keshishian added. “Barbara Buono will be a governor who will believe in public education and the men and women who work in our public schools.”

Buono said Saturday she was “proud” to have the support of the union, which represents about 195,000 current and retired teachers and other school staff members.

The union’s endorsement of Buono came as no surprise, as Christie and the NJEA have clashed consistently since before he took office in January 2010. The union’s political action committee had endorsed former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine four years ago, when he was defeated by Christie.

“We are obviously not surprised about the endorsement,” Mike DuHaime, the governor’s chief political adviser, said Saturday. “While there have been areas of disagreement, there have also been examples of working together for the benefit of our state’s kids, such as the new tenure reform law signed last year.”

Some of Christie’s biggest policy accomplishments have had a big effect on teachers. Thousands of them were laid off when he cut about $1 billion in 2010 from the state’s subsidy for local schools. At the time, he lambasted unions, saying it was their fault for not taking contract concessions, and he told a teacher who complained to him about her lack of compensation that she didn’t have to teach..

He also imposed a cap on property tax growth and forced teachers and other public employees to make bigger contributions to their retirement and health insurance plans. He also has advocated for school vouchers, which would allow students in failing districts to attend school elsewhere. The Legislature has not gone along with that proposal.