Long Branch sex slave case, Six Flags T-shirt dispute and more: First News with Podcast

New Jersey's First News, hosted by Eric Scott, written and produced by Matthew White and Patrick Lavery. Full podcast available below. Digital support, with additional links, by Dan Alexander.

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All in the Family - More details are emerging about the man charged with the murder of a Long Branch woman and her 10-year old foster daughter. He had served 13-years in prison for for keeping a woman and her teenaged daughter hostage as sex slaves. And it was when Joan Colbert came in and found him taking pornographic photos of her 10-year old daughter that police say he killed them both.

• Cousin charged with Long Branch murders, child pornography / NJ1015.com
• Did the system let a predator walk free? / Asbury Park Press

Champs Return Home - The champions of the Little League Softball World Series are back in the Garden State. The team of 12 and 13 year old girls arrived in Robbinsville late yesterday after beating a team from Louisiana 4-1 to capture the title.

• Championship softball team returns to NJ / NJ1015.com

T-Shirt Banned - Six Flags says they are reviewing in incident in the park where a Marine combat veteran claims he was denied entry because of his shirt. It was a black shirt with a red, white, and blue machine gun that read: "Keep Calm and Return Fire. The shirts are sold by a group that raises money for recon Marines and their families. Mario Alejandro says a security guard told him the shirt was offensive.

• N.J. veteran says Six Flags denied him admission over shirt supporting Marines / NJ.com

Driver Search - Police need your help to find the driver who hit a 24-year old in Mamilton, Mercer County, then sped off and left him laying in the street. We have dramtic video for you on our website. You can see the victim trapped beneath the car and the driver backing up then driving off.

• Search for driver who hit man, 24, in Hamilton / 6 ABC
• Hamilton police release new details in search for 3 hit-and-run suspects / Times of Trenton

Hiring Slows - July was a good month for hiring in New Jersey, although the pace of that hiring is still slower...

•  NJ’s unemployment rate falls in July / NJ1015.com

Improvement in Ferguson - Protests in Ferguson, Missouri have a much lighter atmosphere since Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday placed the Missouri State Highway Patrol in charge. Late Wednesday, some protesters angered over the fatal shooting of a black teen by a white police officer threw Molotov cocktails and other items at local officers, and demonstrators were met with flash grenades and tear gas. On Thursday, several protesters stopped to shake hands with state police officers who walked among the crowd.

• Turmoil, tear gas give way to hope in Ferguson / NJ1015.com (AP)
• Ferguson Police Chief: ‘We Have To Respond To Deadly Force’ / CBS St. Louis

Caught on Video - The man who attacked a motorist who had just run down his sister had been charged with aggravated assault. This happened in Lakewood as the woman was crossing Route 88 last Saturday. After the 26-year old River stopped the brother beat the driver nearly to death. The driver remains unconscious in the hospital. Video of the attack has now surfaced.

• Chilling Footage which Shows Assault on Driver that Fatally Struck Pedestrian Surfaces / Lakewood Scoop
• Beating of Lakewood driver caught on video / NJ1015.com

Robin Williams Tragedy - His widow says Robin Williams was not back into booze and drugs but was in the early stages of Parkinson's Disease making his battle with depression that much worse. Toxicology tests are still pending. Parkinson's is an incurable disorder that effects the brain cells controlling movement. But recent studies have also linked it to worsening depression and dementia.

• Robin Williams was in early stages of Parkinson's disease, wife reveals / CNN

Property Tax Solution - Have you noticed? It seems no matter what anybody says or does, New Jersey's highest-in-the-nation property taxes keep going up. One state lawmaker is announcing a new effort to get the problem under control …

•  Is it possible to lower NJ’s property taxes? / NJ1015.com

Making a Decision - Governor Christie says he will decide by the end of this year or early next if he will run for president. He was asked the question at his latest town hall meeting, this one in Ocean City. At the same time, Christie launched a flurry of criticisms against President Obama on immigration, health care, and taxes.

• Christie 'thinking' about presidential run / PolitickerNJ

No pain, no gain" is still the main message at governor christie's town hall events, as he continues to rail against the state's underfunded pension and health benefits systems

• Christie continues push for benefit changes / NJ1015.com

And then there were 6 - A leading investment bank says the casino closures are not over in Atlantic City. Deutsche Bank says the plunge in casino revenues will continue and five more gaming halls will close by 2017.

• Deutsche Bank predicts AC will have six, not 11, casinos by 2017 / Press of Atlantic City

Divided State Part 5 - It's the fifth and final day of our weeklong series on north, central and south Jersey. To top it off, we ask the experts why these "border wars" exist in the first place.

• How NJ’s ‘border wars’ started / NJ1015.com

SCORES:

MLB:

• Washington 4, Mets 1
  

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