 |
|
  |
|
 Legislators get lay of Middlesex farmland By: Ryan Hutchins/For the Star-Ledger Assemblyman Peter J. Barnes III was well dressed yesterday, as one would expect a politician to be on a Monday morning. His tie was straight and his pin-striped suit looked brand new, but it was clear the Middlesex County Democrat wasn't in Trenton. The giveaway: the pair of yellow and brown work boots covering his feet and the bale of hay he was using as a chair. Barnes was among a few dozen politicos -- from a state budget analyst to Assembly Speaker Joseph R. Roberts -- who yesterday toured farms dotting southeastern Middlesex County. They heard talks on a wide range of topics, notably about farming technology, how farmers are surviving today and the importance of land preservation -- an issue at the heart of a $400 million bond referendum scheduled for November. The tour highlighted a Middlesex County industry forgotten by many. The county is often associated with the strip malls and car dealers of Edison, the industrial sectors in Woodbridge and Carteret, or Rutgers University in New Brunswick. "Middlesex really is a very unusual county in that in the northern part, it's really all industrial," Barnes said as he addressed the tour group at the Von Thun Farm in Monmouth Junction, where members were given a hayride through the multi-crop property. But when travelers head south past North Brunswick, toward Cranbury, Plainsboro and South Brunswick -- where Barnes was speaking to the crowd -- agriculture stands out among suburban homes and neighborhood-size warehouses. "It's very different in a rather dramatic way," Barnes said. The key to all that, legislators and agricultural experts say, is land preservation. The Von Thun Farm on Ridg... |
 New Jersey's corruption arrests and 'due diligence' By: Paul Mulshine/For the Star Ledger When I have a question about cars, I talk to my old high-school buddy Zeke, who is a mechanic. But when... Edison breaks ground on Towne Square By: Brent Johnson/For the Star Ledger Officials broke ground today on Edison Towne Square, the expansive retail complex being built on the fo... Officials Supported Environmental Issues The following letter to the editor was printed in the Edison/Metuchen Sentinel on October 10, 2007. Honesty, integrity and the... New law would keep health-care companies from losing funding in closures, appeals By Mark Spivey Staff Writer for the Home News Tribune Health-care companies that earn state Department of Health approval to close... |
