On New Year's Day New Jersey's minimum wage will go up to match the rate of inflation. It's not much, but a liberal Garden State think tank says every little bit helps those struggling to make ends meet.

Indonesian officials coming off a helicopter on Borneo island say they have recovered  bodies floating in waters near where the missing AirAsia flight was last seen.  The bodies, swollen but intact, were brought to an Indonesian navy ship.  The corpses did not have life jackets on.

There's increasing public awareness about human trafficking and the plight of sex slaves in jersey and across the nation but many victims still aren't getting the help they desperately need.

The Gloucester County prosecutor's investigating  an accident in which a police cruiser struck and killed a 10-year-old boy walking to a friend's house for a sleepover.  An autopsy performed Monday on Matthew McCloskey determined that he died of multiple injuries. His death listed as accidental. The vehicle being driven by 23-year-old patrolman Nicholas Locilento was heading to a call.

Lawmakers want to know why Governors Christie and Cuomo vetoed a bill they say would have cleaned up the Port Authority.

Buying a home will still be more affordable than renting in 2015, according to a new analysis from Realtytrac.

The deaths of a shore couple are being investigated as a possible murder-suicide.  Christine Dzienisiewski and her husband, Richard, both 37, were found dead Saturday in a Hazlet home on Saturday.  The wife's death was ruled a homicide, while her husband died as a result of self-inflicted wounds.

Five Middlesex county residents are injured in a house fire.

With tensions high between the mayor of New York and rank and file police officers,  ABC's Aaron Katersky tells us how he was greeted at NYPD graduation on Monday.

A staffer at the federal correctional institution at Fort Dix has admitted providing two cell phones to an inmate. Elizabeth Quinones, of Willingboro, faces up to a year in prison after pleading guilty today. She's due to be sentenced in April.

There was an exciting historical find in an older section of the Toms River municipal building.

 

A Brick cop apparently saved a woman trying to commit suicide in the water.  A witness approached patrolman James Albanese Monday morning and told him the woman had entered the water near the t-dock at windward beach.  He ran into the water and was able to quickly bring her back to the beach.  She is expected to recover.

 

There is new concern about this year's flu season.

White supremacist leader David Duke says house majority whip Steve Scalise (r-la) addressed his organization back in 2002.   Some lawmakers are calling for an investigation.

WEATHER from chief meteorologist Dan Zarrow:

TODAY... Partly sunny... Chilly... Highs only around 40

TONIGHT... A few clouds... Lows In the Lower 20s... Teens in the coldest spots

Tomorrow (New Year's Eve)... Mostly sunny... Cold... Highs in the mid 30s

Thursday (New Year's Day)... Sunny and cold, with a brisk wind... Highs again only in the mid 30s... Wind chills 20s all day

Lottery:

Pick 3: 7-5-7

Straight pays $182. Box pays $60.50. Pair pays $18.

Pick 4: 0-3-8-0

Straight pays $3,238. Box pays $269.50.

Cash 5: 05-16-26-33-40

5 of 5 pays $0. 4 of 5 pays $535. 3 of 5 pays $16.

Pick 6: 08-14-21-26-31-45

There was one top prize winner in Monday night’s Pick 6 Lotto drawing, New Jersey Lottery officials said. The winning ticket is worth $9,100,000 cash option. The winning ticket was sold in .

Five out of six paid $2,587 to 12 winners; four out of six paid $56 to 604 winners; three out of six paid $3 to 11,284 winners.

Thursday’s top prize estimate is $2,000,000 annuity.

Here are the winning numbers selected Monday in the midday New Jersey State Lottery drawing:

Pick 3: 6-8-8

Straight pays $283. Box pays $94, Pair pays $28.

Pick 4: 6-3-8-8

Straight pays $1,947.50. Box pays $162.

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

 

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