Locked Out Of Your Car In Carteret? Call The Fire Department

CARTERET – Borough residents who find themselves locked out of their vehicles have a new option – calling the Carteret Fire Department.

The fire department has expanded a pilot program to help residents with automotive lockouts, Fire Commissioner Randy Krum said Friday. The Carteret Business Partnership donated auto industry tools to the fire department that enable them to gain entry to locked vehicles quickly and without causing damage.

“The inspiration for starting this program came about because of the interest and concern of one of our firefighters,” Fire Chief Brian O’Connor stated, “who had witnessed several incidents involving people being locked out of their personal vehicles and his observations of what limited options they had to gain access to them.”

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MS Society Announces Town Hall Meeting

CLARK—The New Jersey Metro Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society will host a town hall meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 13, to discuss the impact of multiple sclerosis on those living locally. The 7 p.m. meeting will be held at the Clark Municipal Building, 430 Westfield Avenue.

The meeting will give area residents the chance to find out more about the society and the programs and services that are available to them.  “This meeting will provide an opportunity for our friends who have MS and their families to meet with chapter leadership to let us know what we are doing well and to inform us of other ways that may need our assistance” says Michael Elkow, New Jersey Metro Chapter president.

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Rivals Roselle & Hillside Square Off Twice In January

By Jim Whelan

Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight coined the phrase, “Players are made in the off-season.”  Mountain Valley coaches ran open gyms had and had their players hit the weights and participate in summer camps. The final year of the Mountain Valley Conference is up for grabs. Two coaches are looking to their younger players to step up.

Roselle head boys basketball coach Michael Smith returned the storied Roselle Rams Basketball program to top Union County basketball perch.  After missing the state playoffs the previous four years, the Rams won the Group II section II state championship in 2008 and finished with a 21-6 record. This year, after losing four of five starters, Smith will look to some inexperienced players to help Roselle climb up the Mountain Valley conference once again.

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Utility Urges Residents To See If They Qualify For Help With Heating Bills

STATE—PSE&G is urging residents who may have recently lost their jobs, or are now working fewer hours because of the economic downturn, to see if they now qualify for assistance in paying their utility bills.

The federal Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is being funded at dramatically increased levels over last year, and money is available to help thousands of people pay their heating bills this winter. During this period of major economic uncertainty and with a $77 million increase in funding available, existing LIHEAP households will receive a larger benefit and many more households will be able to participate in the program for the first time.

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America’s DTV Transition Beset With Problems

By Steve Macek and Mitchell Szczepanczyk

On Feb. 17, 2009, all full-power analog television broadcasts in the United States will cease and existing TV stations will begin broadcasting exclusively in a digital format. The switch to digital television (DTV) will free up frequencies for emergency uses and allow broadcasters to provide more programming for their viewers through “multicasting.”

As a practical matter, people will need to subscribe to a cable or satellite television service, use a digital-ready TV set, or hook up a digital converter box to an analog TV set, in order to continue watching broadcast television.

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