• Is AIDS taking the back burner?
SALEM - In Salem County yesterday, World AIDS Day passed by with barely a whisper.

• State purchases Holly Hills; course to go back to nature
ALLOWAY TWP. - The state's Green Acres has officially purchased Holly Hills Golf Course for approximately $3.5 million, and will allow the grounds of the once heralded golf course to grow back into a natural state.

• Big charity boosts big courage
PITTSGROVE TWP. - While tough economic times have hampered charities across the country, the local Support The Troops NJ campaign is thriving and growing.

• Casinos struggle to fit this economy
ATLANTIC CITY - New Jersey's seaside gambling resorts will likely continue to take a beating through the rest of this year as the economy continues to struggle, experts said.

• P.M.H.S. may add extra period
PENNSVILLE TWP. - Pennsville Memorial High School may be making some changes to its school schedule in the near future. The new plan would allow for closed lunches - bringing the high school closer to its safety and security goals.

• Salem County schools look to the future
MANNINGTON TWP. - A transformation is on the horizon for Salem County schools, with ambitious aims to consolidate administrations while truly readying each child with a 21st-century education.

• Transfer of funds needed
SALEM - Freeholders looking to compensate for an election expense they say the county clerk overlooked have recently dipped into the county's Social Security fund to pay for it.

• P.M.H.S. may add extra period
PENNSVILLE TWP. - Pennsville Memorial High School may be making some changes to its school schedule in the near future. The new plan would allow for closed lunches - bringing the high school closer to its safety and security goals.

• Salem County schools look to the future
MANNINGTON TWP. - A transformation is on the horizon for Salem County schools, with ambitious aims to consolidate administrations while truly readying each child with a 21st-century education.

• Transfer of funds needed
SALEM - Freeholders looking to compensate for an election expense they say the county clerk overlooked have recently dipped into the county's Social Security fund to pay for it.

• 3 hurt in auto crash
WOODSTOWN - Three people were injured, including one who was airlifted to a Camden hospital, Friday afternoon after a serious accident between an SUV and sedan at the intersection of U.S. Route 40 and Elm Street here, police said.

• LNG terminal construction proposal not dead after all
LOGAN TWP. -ÊLess than two months after energy giant BP announced they were halting work on a $700 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the eastern shore of the Delaware River, officials are now asking for an extension on a construction deadline.

• Sewer contract finally awarded
ALLOWAY TWP. - A bid has been awarded for the Alloway sewerage project, more than a decade after the project After was initially proposed.

• Shopping rush begins
With Thanksgiving over, the holiday shopping season officially began Friday, and that meant an early morning filled with Black Friday deals. The national big-box department stores may get the frantic, pushy crowds, but many shoppers are finding Salem County businesses, too, have a lot to offer.

• Deadline looms for sending holiday cheer to troops
If you want your soldier, sailor or Marine to get some hometown cheer this holiday season, it'd probably be best to get moving double-time Ð the dates by which you need to send items abroad are quickly creeping up.

• Group illustrates options to distressed individuals
CHERRY HILL - Emotional distress hits hard this time of the year for many. And the state of economics this year may make things worse for those who need someone to listen.

• Residents weigh in on middle school plan
WOODSTOWN - Residents had plenty of concerns when the Woodstown-Pilesgrove Regional School District held a special public hearing this week to discuss the upcoming vote on a bond referendum which would allow the construction of a new middle school.

• Vo-Tech offers night courses
MANNINGTON TWP. - The Salem County Vocational Technical High School (SCVTS) plans to hold specialty night courses open to the public.

• Groups fill baskets for hungry families
Many families forming long lines at food pantries and donation drives this holiday season have realized in a stomach-churning way that one of the building blocks of a healthy, happy life is a full stomach.

• Police: 4 sought in Salem shooting
SALEM - Authorities Wednesday said they are searching for four suspects in connection with the shooting of an elderly city man at his Olive Street home here.

• Some heating oil customers frozen out of lower prices
The price of home heating oil has plummeted since the summer months - good news for those looking to buy oil right now, but bad news for anyone who locked in their price amid fears of rising oil prices earlier this year.

• Holiday traffic expected to drop
Once again, less people will take to New Jersey's roads over the Thanksgiving holiday, but this time gas prices are not to blame, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

• N.J. Safe Surrender program a success
CAMDEN - People began lining up at 6 a.m. the morning of Nov. 19 for New Jersey's first Fugitive Safe Surrender program, and four days later the lines hadn't stopped. Among them were Salem County residents there seeking to take care of their legal obligations and get on with their lives.

• Pittsgrove man named in $1.3M fraud
NEWARK - The New Jersey Bureau of Securities Tuesday revoked the registration of a Pittsgrove Township financial agent who authorities say defrauded at least 16 clients of approximately $1.3 million during a six-year period.

• Salem man is shot at home
SALEM - Authorities are investigating the shooting of a city man at his home here on Olive Street Tuesday evening.

• SCC celebrates holiday
CARNEYS POINT - Tables were filled with satisfied students as Salem Community College faculty members sponsored and served a Thanksgiving meal on Tuesday to help celebrate the upcoming holiday.

• $2.5M bond OK'd by city
SALEM - City council unanimously adopted a $2.5 million bond ordinance Monday night to aid the non-profit Stand Up for Salem, as the group's builders reach the final stages of the Finlaw Building reconstruction project.

• Empowering families
SALEM - The Tri-County Community Action Partnership's Johnson Outreach Center has a new tool in the fight to help families in need here.

• Local businessman faces weapons, assault charges
UPPER DEERFIELD TWP. - A Salem County businessman was arrested earlier this month and charged with allegedly firing a handgun at the owner of a local bowling alley here, authorities said.

• P.G. man indicted in assault on child
SALEM - A Penns Grove man accused of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's daughter around her seventh birthday and for months thereafter has been indicted by a Salem County grand jury here.

• Parking meters will return to Salem City
SALEM - Drivers getting used to being pinched less at the pump will soon have to dole out some of that spare change for parking here.

• Spirit undeterred by budget cuts
It takes a lot more than just "O Dem Golden Slippers" to be a Mummer nowadays.

• Farmers enjoy annual dinner
PENNSVILLE TWP.Ê- For most of the farmers who kicked up their heels at the Salem County Board of Agriculture's Annual Dinner Dance here Friday evening, they could finally feel at ease watching the snow fall.

• Obama may fund stem cell research
WASHINGTON - In one of his first moves in the White House, President-elect Barack Obama could free up federal money for studying stem cells taken from human embryos.

• Puppet show an extraordinary treat
LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TWP. - It was a love story, a tragedy, a comedy, and a thriller all wrapped up in one. It had a prince, a princess and a 10-armed ogre - but only one actor.

• Report: DuPont among most dangerous sites
PENNSVILLE TWP. - Five New Jersey chemical plants were listed among the nation's 101 most dangerous facilities, according to a report released last week.

• Bond to aid Finlaw project
SALEM - On Monday night, the city council here will vote on a crucial $2.5 million bond needed to aid the Finlaw Building reconstruction project which has seen costs rise over original estimates.

• Boscov's returned to executives by bankruptcy judge
WILMINGTON, Del. - A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Friday approved the sale of the Boscov's department store chain to two former executives.

• Caregivers thanked for work
PITTSGROVE TWP. - It's not too often that people in the area who provide day-to-day care for a loved one who's disabled or has Alzheimer's have an evening to get out and enjoy themselves.

• Gov offers pension deferral plan
ATLANTIC CITY - Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Thursday told local officials they could put off paying their full contribution to the pension system due in April of next year, as a way to hold down property taxes during the economic slump.

• Hospital joins with others in offering smoke-free premises
MANNINGTON TWP. - Taking a page from the Great American Smokeout, a national movement helping smokers snuff out their habit, hospital officials here announced on Thursday that their campus will now be completely tobacco free.

• Libya settles Pan Am bombing
WASHINGTON - Two decades after a terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103 killed Rick Monetti and 269 others, Monetti's family came to Washington to mark Libya's final settlement with the victims families.

• Science labs featured at SCC's open house
CARNETS POINT TWP. - Salem Community College held a special open house here Thursday to highlight the college's new state-of-the-art science labs.

• County resident praises Safe Surrender program
SALEM - Not only did James Spencer become the first Salem County resident to turn himself in during Day One of the Fugitive Safe Surrender program in Camden Wednesday, he was home by the afternoon to talk about it.

• Crescenzi leaves borough council
PENNS GROVE - Borough Council President Anthony "A.J." Crescenzi has resigned from the governing body here, allowing his successor to get an early start on the council.

• Parents voice rumor concerns
ELMER - Parents came out Tuesday night to confront the board of education after hearing rumors of the school closing.

• Bryant guilty of fraud, bribery
TRENTON - Former Sen. Wayne Bryant, who over a quarter century rose to become one of the most influential legislators in New Jersey, was found guilty Tuesday of using his power for personal gain.

• More charges for 3 in dog case
PENNS GROVE - Additional charges have been filed against three people who allegedly operated a pit bull fighting ring at a house on Lanning Avenue here, authorities said.

• Rev. Dorn sworn in for DRBA commissioner post
NEW CASTLE, Del. - The Rev. Edward Dorn of Pedricktown was sworn in Tuesday morning for a new term as a commissioner on the Delaware River and Bay Authority.