Killed by a drunk driver at 23 years old, along with her unborn child, Kimberly Smith Ames was the face of a New Jersey-wide DWI awareness campaign years ago.
As state lawmakers wait on Gov. Phil Murphy to decide whether New Jersey will ban the sale of all flavored vaping products, a county in the throws of a "youth vaping epidemic" has created a special task force devoted to implementing a coordinated response to the issue.
Ocean County has a new prosecutor, Bradley Billhimer, a criminal defense attorney based in Toms River who is set to begin a five-year appointment this week.
From teens to an 82-year-old woman, there was plenty of interest in the first of at least two free self-defense classes sponsored by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.
Cold case investigations "are very personnel intensive, so you really need people who are dedicated to that," said acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino.