Announcement has been made of the engagement of Shannon Michelle Johnson to Stephen Justin Stromenger, both of Manville, NJ.

Shannon is the daughter of Theresa and John (Tim) Johnson Sr. of Audubon, NJ. A graduate of Ryder Unversity, she is a History Teacher at Lawrence High School, Lawrenceville, NJ.

Stephen is the son of Annice and Dennis Stromenger of Old Bridge, NJ. Stephen is a graduate of DeVry University with a B.S. in Technical Management. He is an Electronic Engineer at Anadigics, Warren, NJ.

Shannon and Stephen are planning a New Year\’s Eve wedding on December 31, 2007.

CLAYTON: On Friday the Gloucester High School Boys basketball team opened the season on a low note when they lost at Clayton 58 -47.

Clayton out shot the Lions 19 to 9 from the foul line.

Clayton was led by Ray Sanders 28 points while the Lions Brandon Keenan 12 points and Brett Darrow 11 points led the Lion\’s.

The Lion\’s face Kingsway on Saturday, December 22 at 1 PM in the Lion\’s Den.

Related: GHS web site

Courier Post Staff

Fire Breaks Out At Crowded Toy Store
MyFox Philadelphia – Philadelphia,PA,USA
\”We were just leaving south Philly getting ready to come over the Walt Whitman bridge and we saw heavy fire and smoke on top of the roof of the building. …

source media release

To guarantee delivery anywhere in the U.S. by regular mail, the deadline is Thursday, Dec. 20. Express Mail can be mailed as late as Dec. 22.

If sending items to members of the military, it\’s Tuesday, Dec. 18.

All international mail has to be sent by today. International mail can still reach its destination on time using Global Express Guaranteed by Wednesday, Dec. 19.

December is the busiest time of the year for the postal service, with 20 billion cards, letters and packages expected to be delivered this holiday season. Monday, Dec. 17, is expected to be the busiest mailing day as the Postal Service estimates it will handle 275 million cards and letters – more than three times the average daily volume of 82 million. Total mail volume (including packages) on Dec. 17 should approach 1 billion pieces. Wednesday, Dec. 19 is expected to be the busiest delivery day.

\”Our employees are working around the clock to make sure cards and presents arrive on time for the holidays,\” Deputy Postmaster General Pat Donahoe said. \”In fact, we\’re even delivering Express Mail on Christmas Day – excluding Santa, only the Postal Service will deliver on that day.\”

The USPS offers free, environmentally friendly Priority Mail and Express Mail boxes and envelopes. The Postal Service also offers pre-packaged shipping products, Ready Post, sold at local Post Offices for customers unable to find proper mailing boxes and envelopes.

Flat rate boxes and envelopes allows customers to pay a flat rate of $8.95 regardless of the weight of the package.

These supplies can be ordered at usps.com or picked up at a local Post Office and can be shipped anywhere in the world.

The USPS has a number of online options to calculate postage, print shipping labels and mail items from home.

When a package is ready to be shipped, log on to usps.com/pickup to schedule a free package pickup from home or office. Visit usps.com.

About 7,000 Post Offices offer extended hours, and most have an attendant assisting customers at the automated postal machines, during the holiday season.

Packages weighing more than 13 ounces bearing postage stamps cannot be dropped in blue collection boxes.

By Sam Carchidi December 14, 2007

Inquirer Columnist

Reviewing the scholastic football season, ABC-style:

A is for amazing race.

Hail, Tri-County Royal.

The Royal was remarkable. Most games were decided in the closing seconds. Many were decided by one, two or three points.

This best exemplifies the Royal: If Delsea had defeated Williamstown on Thanksgiving, four teams would have shared the Royal title: Delsea, Williamstown, Gloucester Catholic and Cumberland.

read more

December 15, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Men\’s College Basketball

WEST LONG BRANCH–Senior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocks to lead Rider to victory at Monmouth Saturday night. \”Monmouth is a rival of ours,\” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. \”Two New Jersey schools with similar missions, this is one we always look forward to. This is a solid road win.\”

Holding a 42-26 lead, Rider out-scored Monmouth 15-3, eight points by Jason Thompson, to take a 57-29 lead with 10 minutes left to play. \”When we get some stops, we like to get out and run,\” said Jason Thompson, who made seven of 12 field goal attempts. \”That is something we’ve worked hard on this year.\”

As a team, Rider shot 53 percent from the field, while Monmouth shot 33.9 percent. Rider out-rebounded Monmouth 39-29.

Rider scored the first seven points of the second half, five by junior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham), to take a 42-20 lead. Mansell finished with 13 points. \”We really came out strong in the second half,\” Dempsey said. \”We really played good basketball.\”

Sophomore Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) finished with nine points, eight rebounds and six assists.

With the score tied at 8-8, Rider went on an 18-3 run, four points each by the Thompson brothers, to take a 26-11 lead, and Rider led 35-20 at the end of the first half. Rider never trailed in the contest.

The Broncs compiled 21 assists. \”That’s the most this season, so I am very happy with that number,\” Dempsey said.

With the victory Rider (7-4) has now won two in a row and four out of the last five games.

Rider is now 2-2 on the road.

Thompson entered the game ranked third in the nation in rebounds (11.9), 13^th in blocked shots (3.2) and 30^th in scoring (20.7).

Thompson’s 1,572 career points is eighth highest ever at Rider and 18 points shy of seventh.

The victory is just the third for Rider in the last nine games in West Long Branch, the other two coming in 2005-06 and 1997-98. \”To win handily here is quite an accomplishment,\” Dempsey said. \”we’ve had some real battles with Monmouth over the years.\”

This was the 33^rd meeting between the former NEC rivals, with Rider holding a slight 18-15 advantage in the series that began in 1974-75.

For Monmouth (2-8) R. J. Rutledge scored 13 points and Jhamar Youngblood scored 11 points.

Rider is now 3-0 against New Jersey teams, having already defeated NJIT and FDU.

The Broncs stay in New Jersey to play at Rutgers December 21. \”Rutgers is a game our guys have been looking forward to,\” Dempsey said. \”We haven’t had a lot of big wins over the years against the major conferences. This year we got a Big Ten win against Penn State and now we have a chance to get a Big East win and we’re looking forward to that opportunity.\”

-RU-

• Source The Retrospect

Also nominated for the Superior Court bench was Robert Becker, the solicitor for the Haddon Heights Board of Education, and John Kelley, a Haddonfield attorney.
Rumors about Pugliese’s nomination have been circulating for months but the mayor has been mum about it, as were borough officials.
For Audubon, the judgeship will mean that Pugliese will have to resign as mayor if his nomination is confirmed by the NJ State Senate. The remaining commissioners, Chris Tassi and Bob Howard, could be left to appoint another person to fill Pugliese’s unexpired term. story continues

source media release

Ewing, NJ…The College of New Jersey men’s basketball team hosted the Cavaliers of Cabrini College in a non-conference match-up on Saturday in Packer Hall. TCNJ led 45-24 at the break and rolled to an 83-62 win to improve to 2-4, while Cabrini drops to 3-6 having lost three in a row. The victory was the first home win for TCNJ’s interim head coach Matt Hunter as his Lions are now 1-1 in Packer Hall.

TCNJ’s junior guard Jeff Molinelli (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) finished with 12 points after leading all scorers with 10 first half points. He had seven of his career-high 10 rebounds in the first stanza as well as TCNJ held a 26-11 margin on the boards. The double-double was a career-first for Molinelli as he paced the Lions. TCNJ had 10 different players score in the first half as both senior co-captain, forward Mark Aziz (Hackettstown, NJ/West Morris Central) and sophomore guard William Jett (Browns Mills, NJ/Pemberton) added six points a piece in the first half.

Aziz led all players with his 17 points, but was held to a season-low one rebound despite hitting an impressive 7-11 from the floor. As a team, the Lions shot a blistering 50.8% (31-61) from the floor.

By game’s end, TCNJ had also gotten a season-high 10 points from sophomore Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial), who returned to the Lions’ lineup a week ago after missing the team’s first four games with illness.

Cabrini’s junior guard Corey White (Philadelphia, PA/George Washington) had seven first half points, including a 2-2 from three-point range, while junior guard Ryan Oxley (Germansville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) had six points on a 2-6 effort from three-point range. By game’s end, senior forward Randy Reid (Philadelphia, PA/Monsignor Bonner) would lead the Cavaliers with 11 points and nine rebounds with five blocks on the day.

Cabrini had three players add nine points in the loss, White, Oxley, and sophomore guard Matt Walsh (Wantagh, NY/Trinity).

TCNJ’s 83 points was a season-high for the Lions, while they also held a 50-29 edge on the boards, despite TCNJ’s Aziz being held to a season-low one rebound on the day.
TCNJ returns to action on Wednesday, December 19 hosting Buena Vista University in a 6 p.m. non-league contest in Packer Hall. Two days earlier, BVU will visit Cabrini for a 7:30 p.m. contest on December 17 in Radnor, PA.

Strong second half sparks Coates, Clearview
Gloucester County Times – NJ.com – Woodbury,NJ,USA