ASBURY PARK PRESS

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TUESDAY 07.05.16

Lively
Long
Branch
Oceanfest packs
em in. Page 10A

Experts say
Trumps plan
wont work in
New Jersey
ANDREW J. GOUDSWARD @AGOUDSWARD

FRIED IN
ORTLEY
BEACH

Donald Trump is hoping to turn New Jersey red this

November as part of an overall strategy to redraw the
battleground map. But can he?
Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, has vowed to
make several states won by President Obama in 2012, including New Jersey, competitive this November
through his appeal to working-class voters.
He (Trump) put it in play. Its been a long time since
weve been a targeted state by a Republican candidate,
and thats a good thing for New Jersey that Trump is focusing here, Christie a top Trump surrogate said
last month. Hes got a lot of history here, and hed like to
win New Jersey.
In a May interview on Fox News, Trump said the state
was like a second home.
I love New Jersey. I am New Jersey, Trump told host
Sean Hannity. I have property there. I have a lot of employees there. And frankly, I think were going to do
well.
But while local GOP officials said Trump could run a
See TRUMP, Page 8A

A power surge zapped appliances in some 140 homes. The

homeowners want to be reimbursed, but JCP&L says its not at fault.
MARK LENNIHAN/AP

JEAN MIKLE @JEANMIKLE

Despite a report that showed a shrinking homeless population

in New Jersey, the problem may actually be getting worse.

TOMS RIVER - Gail DAmico was inside the house

when she heard the first loud bang. It was quickly followed by another one.
Her across-the-street neighbor on Harding Avenue, Sue Yowhas, heard it too.
There was this loud explosion, and I thought,
What was that? Yowhas said on a recent afternoon,
sitting at the dining room table in DAmicos home in
the townships Ortley Beach section. Then there was
a second explosion. Thats how it started.
The power outage that happened on parts of Harding and Coolidge avenues on the afternoon of Feb. 29
was no ordinary blackout. It came with a strong surge
that fried computers, damaged hot water heaters and
destroyed furnaces.
For four months since, about 140 homeowners
have been fighting with Jersey Central Power &
Light Co. in a so-far futile attempt to get the utility to
reimburse them for the damage. Its difficult to determine how much damage was caused by the inci-

Fewer homeless
counted; advocates
showing skepticism
PAYTON GUION @PAYTONGUION

DOUG HOOD/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Power lines along Harding Avenue

in Ortley Beach.

See ORTLEY, Page 8A

A dispatch from Philadelphia in Freehold

KATHLEEN HOPKINS @KHOPKINSAPP

Its part of being with a united

FREEHOLD BOROUGH - Hundreds of people

lined Main Street as the thunderous roar of motorcycles approached.
Then, silence.
Pete Zaleski dismounted his bike. Clutching a
piece of paper, he bellowed, I have a dispatch from
Philadelphia.
The crowd watched in anticipation as Zaleski
made his way up the steps of borough hall. At the top,
he handed the dispatch to Thomas Jefferson.
Behind him, 111 people followed to read a portion
of The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.
Borough resident Lillie Ham Hendry, 87, was first
in line.
When in the course of human events, it becomes
necessary for one people to dissolve the political

community that recognizes the

ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
HEALTHY LIVING
LOCAL

7D
8D
6D
1D
3A

OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
TECH TUESDAY
WEATHER

importance of being united and the

importance of retelling history.
LILLIE HAM HENDRY
87-YEAR-OLD FREEHOLD RESIDENT

bands which have connected them with another, and

to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of nature and
of Natures God entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they should deSee DECLARATION, Page 7A

6A
9A
1C
5A
8C

VOLUME 137
NUMBER 160
SINCE 1879

On the night of Jan. 26, hundreds of people statewide

were out counting the homeless population, trekking
through the snow left by a recent blizzard.
The results of that count came out this week, showing that the number of homeless across the state had
fallen from 2015.
But, despite a 12.4 percent drop in homeless people
in New Jersey, one of the states top homeless advocacy
groups says that the 2016 report is misleading and that
New Jerseys homeless situation is actually deteriorating.
The report shows that homelessness is getting
worse and not better, said Jeff Wild, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness.
Large segments of the homeless population went up
and this years count was depressed because of a blizzard.
The report, released by the nonprofit Monarch
See HOMELESS, Page 8A