BY AMY Z. QUINN Officials from the Miss New Jersey Pageant have received a second package of photos from a blackmailer apparently trying to see 22-year-old Amy Polumbo stripped of her recently-won crown. Somebody call Sam Waterston — we’ve got the makings of a totally Jerz-tastic episode of “Law & Order” goin’ on. On Sunday, just as speculation began to heat up that maybe this wasn’t all a publicity stunt by Miss NJ herself, pageant officials said they got the second batch, planning to meet to discuss their next move at 2 p.m. Thursday. The spokesman for Miss NJ, the […]

The judge handling the case — U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler — says he wants to make unprecedented use of the Internet and other technologies during the trial. The highlight of his endeavor: a public Web site on which all of the evidence would be posted as soon as it’s introduced in court. In this case, that could include video surveillance and audio wiretaps, as well as conversations secretly recorded by FBI informants. Legal and journalism experts say nothing similar has ever been attempted in the federal judiciary, and they said these moves could be the first step in bringing […]

HARRISBURG – The furlough of thousands of state workers and the curtailment of many state services went into effect at 12:01 a.m. today. However, the Commonwealth Court quickly issued a preliminary injunction to keep casinos open until a hearing could be held tomorrow morning. Gov. Rendell announced the action at literally the eleventh hour — 11:20 last night — ending a day of speculation about what today would bring in Pennsylvania. While apologizing to state workers and residents for the action, the first furloughs in recent history, Rendell said he hoped that it was only a one-day situation. He said […]

[courtesy of MARRIED TO THE SEA]

Editorial The Road Home It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit. Like many Americans, we have put off that conclusion, waiting for a sign that President Bush was seriously trying to dig the United States out of the disaster he created by invading Iraq without sufficient cause, in the face of global opposition, and without a plan to stabilize the country afterward. At first, we believed that after destroying Iraq’s government, army, police and economic structures, the United States was obliged to try to […]

[Fox] is searching for the Springfield with the most “Simpson spirit,” and plans to award the winner the premiere of The Simpsons Movie, due in theaters July 27. Unfortunately, there’s no need for local Springfieldians to rush out and rent tuxedos, because none of the 14 contenders is ours. Not the one in Montgomery or Bucks or Delaware County, or in Bradford, Erie, Fayette, Huntingdon, Mercer or York. D’oh! It turns out the Springfields in places like Massachusetts and Ohio outfoxed us: They asked to be considered. Donald Berger Jr., township manager of Springfield, Montgomery County, said the idea of […]