ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION

WEDNESDAY 08.05.15

APP.COM $1.00

Concert shooter sought

$5G offered for leads
as pair remain critical
ANDREW FORD @ANDREWFORDNEWS
AND STEPH SOLIS @STEPHMSOLIS
HOLMDEL The New Jersey State Police offered a
$5,000 reward Tuesday for information leading to the
arrest of the gunman who shot and critically wounded
two people near a hip-hop concert at the PNC Bank
Arts Center the night before.
The victims, identified as Neptune men ages 23 and
24, were each struck multiple times. They were listed
in critical but stable condition at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, State Police Sgt. First
Class Gregory Williams said. He declined to release
their names.

See SHOOTING, Page 13A

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Authorities attend to a victim following a shooting outside

PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel late Monday.

Lakewood
busing
deal
reached
Last-minute pact preserves
rides for nearly 11,000 kids
SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP
LAKEWOOD Leaders of the townships private reli-

gious schools have agreed to a cost-savings plan that

would preserve courtesy busing for thousands of
schoolchildren in the coming school year, according to
participants in the talks.
The tentative agreement, reached Monday night,
came as the school district was poised to send notices to
parents informing them that courtesy, or non-mandatory, busing was being scrapped, starting in September.
The district said the cancellation was necessary due
to a $8.3 million budget shortfall.
Details of the plan have not been released.
The move would have affected nearly 11,000 public

and private schoolchildren and likely would have created major traffic problems on Lakewoods already
congested roads.
Talks aimed at resolving the budget gap have focused on staggering, or tiering, the start and dismissal times of the scores of private Orthodox Jewish
schools. The change would allow fewer buses to transport the same number of students, resulting in millions of dollars in savings.
Private school leaders agreed in April to shift their
schedules by 15 minutes, then reconsidered, saying it
would unduly disrupt their operations and create a
hardship for parents.
The reversal would have cost the district $2 milSee PACT, Page 4A

11,000

Public and private schoolchildren who would have been

impacted by the loss of busing

$8.3 million
School district budget shortfall

$2 million

Extra aid from the New Jersey Department of Education that

would have been lost, and another $500,000 or more from
the Township Committee

Christie makes Fox News debate cut

BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP

INSIDE

ASBURY PARK Its good news for the underperforming presidential campaign of Chris Christie: The
New Jersey governor has made the cut for the crucial
first televised debate among candidates for the 2016
Republican nomination.
Debate sponsor Fox News announced Tuesday night
that Christie will be in the field of 10 for the debate in
Cleveland on Thursday. But it was a close call. Christie
is in ninth place in Foxs average of recent polls used to
determine who gets in.
The news came just before doors opened at Asbury
Park Convention Hall for a previously scheduled campaign fundraiser, with Christie defending his turf
against rivals who have been aggressively courting
New Jersey residents for support.
Tickets for the reception cost $250. Those who paid
$2,700, or $5,400 per couple, also received an opportuni-

Christie: Im Catholic, but Ive used birth control. STORY, 17A

Meet the rest of the field in Fox News debate. STORY, 1B

ty to have a photo taken with the guest of honor.

When Christie addressed supporters, he didnt mask
his elation over securing a place in the debate.
Were going to bring a little Jersey to the White
House, he said. And I think you all know this, its going
to start Thursday night in Ohio.
A new Rutgers-Eagleton presidential primary poll
shows Christie has been overtaken by business tycoon
Donald Trump as the No. 1 choice among New Jersey
Republicans.
See DEBATE, Page 17A

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Republican presidential candidate New Jersey Gov. Chris

Christie speaks during a forum Monday in Manchester, N.H.

DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT SLOWLY BUILDS FOR IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL PAGE 1B

Countdown
starts now

Fire claims
dozen units

Restaurants to visit before

summers end. TABLE, 1D

Many left homeless after

Ocean building is razed. 3A

ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL
OBITUARIES

5D
1E
4D
3A
15A

OPINION
SPORTS
TABLE
WEATHER
YOUR MONEY

18A
1C
1D
8C
14A

VOLUME 136
NUMBER 186
SINCE 1879