By Fred W. Baker III American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 14, 2008 – There were about the same number of sexual assaults reported across the military this past year as there were the year before, according to Defense Department report released today. Kaye Whitley, director of the Defense Department\’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, answers a question during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., March 14, 2008. Defense Dept. photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Adam M. Stump  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Officials released today 2007 report on sexual assault along with the 2006 gender relations survey. Both are congressionally mandated reports Because of reporting changes, this year\’s data cannot be directly compared to last year\’s. In this report the DoD changed its reporting window from calendar year to fiscal year. As a result, one quarter\’s worth of data from calendar year 2006 is also recorded in this report. Officials said they made the change in reporting to align with changes in the Uniform Code of Military Justice definitions for sexual assault crimes. Still, officials said it appears the number of reports remain \”relatively constant\” with last year\’s, according to the report. For fiscal year 2007 there were 2,688 reports of sexual assault among the services. Of those, just over 2,000 were unrestricted reports, meaning it is sent to the command for investigation. There were 705 restricted, or confidential, reports of sexual assault. Those allow the victim to receive medical care and other services without an investigation being initiated. The restricted option is a change to the military reporting system, and one that officials said affords many victims access to care who would not have reported the crime otherwise. \”We felt that the investigation and the notification of the command may possibly be a barrier to report. So we removed that,\” said Kaye Whitley, director of the the Defense Department\’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. The command is notified only that an assault was reported. The victim can later change the report type. In this reporting period, 102 switched their report from restricted to unrestricted. \”When I see that number [of restricted reports] I truly believe that is 705 victims that would not have come forward and would not have gotten the help and assistance they needed,\” Whitley said. Nearly 70 percent of the restricted reports were for rape. According to the report, just more than 1,500 of those reports investigated involved servicemembers as victims. About 60 percent were reports of rape. The services finished about 2,000 investigations in fiscal year 2007. About 1,300 of those were reported in the fiscal year. The rest were carried over from the previous year. Of the investigations finished, commanders were able to take action against about half of those accused of the crimes. There were 181 courts martial, 201 non-judicial punishments and 218 administrative actions and discharges. Of those reports that the commanders could not take action against, more than three-quarters were found unsubstantiated or unfounded, lacked sufficient evidence or the victim recanted. There were 174 reports of sexual assault in U.S. Central Command. One hundred and five were made in Iraq and 43 in Afghanistan. The others were at other sites within the command. The term sexual assault for the purposes of DoD reporting includes a wide variety of offenses ranging from rape to indecent assault and attempts at those crimes. The DoD is required to report to Congress annually the number of sexual assaults in the military.

Related Sites: DoD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office

What began 14 years ago as a small band of Garden City, Mich., Legionnaires riding their motorcycles for fun has developed into a national American Legion program. Today, Legion Riders boast about 800 chapters across the country. Connecticut Rider Bill Anderson (left) is one of more than 40,000 Riders at the post, district or department levels. READ MORE

source http://www.cityofgloucester.org

 Gloucester City is now posting their monthly bill list on the web. It should be posted by the last Monday of every month.

Click here for November – December 2007 Bill List.

Click here for December – January 2008 Bill List.

Click here for January – February 2008 Bill List.

Rutgers Baseball Opens Spring Break Trip With Double-Header Split of Iowa

source Media Release

3/15/2008 6:48:54 PM

DeLAND, Fla. – Rutgers scored three runs in the ninth inning to break a 5-5 tie and held on to defeat Iowa, 8-6 in the series opener Saturday afternoon at Conrad Park, near the campus of Stetson University. Iowa posted a 9-2 victory in the nightcap to earn the split. The Scarlet Knights (5-7) and Hawkeyes (4-7) will meet in the rubber game Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Tied at 5-5, entering the ninth inning of game one, Rutgers plated three runs, head-lined up senior Donny Callahan\’s (Sparta, N.J.) RBI double down the right-field line that produced the game-deciding run for RU.

Sophomore Dan Betteridge (Sewell, N.J.) opened the ninth with a single and moved into scoring position on a Hawkeye passed ball. He came within 90 feet of the go-ahead run after being sacrificed over. Sophomore Brett Garlick (Livingston, N.J.) scored Betteridge with a single to center field to put the Scarlet Knights on top, 6-5. Garlick stole second to move into scoring position and senior Callahan\’s double drove him home. A third run scored when freshman Jaren Matthews (Teaneck, N.J.) hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center field. The Scarlet Knights left the bases loaded in the frame, but not before platting three runs to build an 8-5 advantage.

Iowa loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth and got a run across on a single against newly-inserted Jason Downey (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) before the closer registered a pair of strikeouts. Second baseman Joey Ianiero (Bloomsburg, Pa.) ended the threat with a great stop on a hard-hit grounder to get the game-ending put out at second base.

Early on, Rutgers erased a 2-0 deficit with a three-run second inning thanks to RBI singles from Vic Cegles (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Callahan.

A well-executed double-steal with runners on the corners plated a run with two outs in the third, but Iowa countered with a score of their own in the bottom half of the frame. The Scarlet Knights used an RBI double to right field off the bat of Tom Edwards (West Caldwell, N.J.) to plate a run in the fourth as the Scarlet Knights took a 5-3 lead.

The Hawkeyes came right back, however, scoring a pair of runs in their side of the fourth to tie it up at 5-5 and four scoreless frames ensued, setting up the ninth-inning dramatics.

Rutgers starter Steve Holt (Toms River, N.J.) had his third no-decision of the season with five runs on nine hits and a strikeout in 3.2 innings of work. The duo of Kyle Bradley (Howell, N.J.) and Kevin Lillis (Fair Haven, N.J.) combined for 4.1 innings of scoreless middle relief. Lillis picked up the win to move to 2-0 on the season, while Downey earned his second save of the year.

The Hawkeyes banged out 15 hits and scored nine runs to down the Scarlet Knights, 9-2, in the nightcap of Saturday\’s double-header. After allowing seven runs combined in three previous appearances, starter Casey Gaynor (Toms River, N.J.) surrendered six on Saturday in six innings of work to fall to 1-3. The sophomore struck out six to improve his BIG EAST-leading strikeout total to 32 on the season.

Rutgers scored both of its runs on a two-out, two-run single from Betteridge in the fourth to plate.

Iowa standout Caleb Curry lead the Hawkeyes with a 3-for-5 game in the nightcap, driving in three runs and scoring another, while Iowa starter Michael Jacobs gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits in seven innings for the win to improve to 2-2.

Rutgers and Iowa will conclude the series with a 1:00 p.m. game tomorrow at Conrad Park. Junior righty Matt Giannini (Millington, N.J.) will be on the mound for the Scarlet Knights against junior righty Nick Erdman for the Hawkeyes.

&copy2008 Rutgers Athletics.

Families By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 14, 2008 – A new \”virtual installation\” concept that helps families who live far from a military base get information and tap into services available for them during their loved ones\’ deployment is expected to begin rolling out next month. Recognizing the challenges Reserve families face during deployments, Laura Stultz, wife of Army Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, is promoting a virtual installation concept that helps bring information and other resources within reach of families far from military posts. Army Reserve photo (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Plans are being laid to open several \”brick and mortar\” pilot sites by April 23, just in time for the Army Reserve\’s 100th anniversary celebration, Laura Stultz, wife of Army Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, told American Forces Press Service. Focus groups are under way to identify where to put the first three to five sites, she said, likely in areas with big Army Reserve and National Guard populations and no Army post nearby. General Stultz acknowledged that all spouses face hardships when their loved ones deploy – regardless of whether they\’re active-duty, National Guard or Reserve. But he said his wife reminded him that unlike active-duty families, who can turn to their local post for help if they need it, Army Reserve families often live far from an Army post and don\’t know how to tap into available services. \”She said, \’If I am living on an installation, I have Army Community Services, child and youth services, legal support, medical support, the Red Cross. I can go to Army Emergency Relief if I need to get help,\’\” the general said. He paused, then continued his wife\’s point: \”But if I am in Pocatella, Idaho, who do I turn to?\” As Laura Stultz sees it, the gap is as much cultural as geographic. Active-duty families tend to live on or near a military post, know each other and know where to go for assistance, or at least who to ask how to get it, she said. Reserve families often don\’t. A single Reserve unit can draw members from a 10-state area, and families may have had no past exposure to each other or to the Army system overall. That quandary led her to come up with the virtual installation concept. As she envisions it, it not only will fill a gap for reserve-component families, but also will benefit the many active-duty families who leave their post for their hometowns during their loved one\’s deployment. Each site to open next month under the pilot program will be slightly different; one may be a kiosk in a local shopping mall, another may be an office in an Army Reserve center or National Guard armory. \”We\’ll try different approaches of going into the community and see what works best,\” Laura Stultz said. Military family members will be able to walk into the sites to talk to someone about their questions or needs. A trained staffer – most likely a military or veteran volunteer – will know the answer or be able to pick up a phone or go online to get it. The general\’s wife said she envisions people from the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and other veterans as well as community groups manning the sites. \”They keep asking what they can do and saying that they want to help, so I am giving them a job to do,\” she said. In addition to providing personal service to military families, the brick-and-mortar sites will serve as visible signs of a broader community outreach effort, Laura Stultz said. Volunteers who staff them will help make inroads into local businesses, churches and other groups to remind them that members of their community are deployed, and that they and their families need support, she added. The sites will represent the first step in a two-pronged effort designed to reach out to Army Reserve and National Guard families who are nowhere near installations and the full range of support services they offer to active-duty families, she said. In addition to physical sites, the new concept calls for a Web-based virtual installation that families can tap into from their computers for information and support. That site is expected to go live later this year. Once it\’s operational, users will be able to navigate the streets of a simulated Army base with a click of their computer mouse, stopping wherever they wish, Laura Stultz explained. They\’ll be able to \”stop\” at the military identification card desk to find out how to replace a lost card, the Tricare office to check on their medical benefits or the family assistance center for other support. \”You\’ll be able to navigate down the street just like in a video game and get the information you need,\” she said. Families also will be able to enter their ZIP codes into the site to find the nearest place to get help or services or to contact the nearest family readiness group. The Army Reserve chief\’s wife cited the \”Fort Family\” Web site launched by the Army Reserve\’s 108th Training Command as an example of the virtual installation\’s potential. That site links families with local military and civilian resources. It also offers a virtual volunteer program for people seeking ways to help local soldiers and families. The Web initiative and other programs promoting family wellness and readiness earned the unit honors in the Defense Department\’s 2007 Reserve Family Readiness Award program. Laura Stultz praised the 108th Training Command for taking the lead in helping make the virtual installation concept a reality. \”It\’s a wonderful program,\” she said. \”It\’s a smaller model of what we will take and then add to.\” Among additional services she hopes to offer is a chat room for children of deployed troops. While the general\’s wife never has served in the military herself, she said she\’s had lots of experience holding down the homefront far from the nearest military post when her soldier-husband deployed. She recalled his deployments to the Persian Gulf and the Balkans in the 1990s, when she had four young children at home and couldn\’t make the two-hour drive to a family readiness group meeting for help and support. \”So I know what it\’s like to be out there and not know where to turn,\” she said. \”I understand.\” Now that her husband is chief of the Army Reserve, Laura Stultz said she feels a personal responsibility to make things smoother for other Army Reserve spouses who keep the home fires burning during deployments. \”Their soldiers are putting their lives on the line just like everyone else, so they deserve and need the same help and resources available for active-component families,\” she said. General Stultz called the virtual installation an important step toward taking better care of Army Reserve families. After all, he said, the Army Reserve recruits soldiers, but it retains families. \”And we have to do a better job of reaching out to those families,\” he said.

Biographies: Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, USA Related Sites: Army Reserve Army Reserve Family Web Site

Mary M. Shaw
p>Mary M. Shaw (nee Rackowski), 81, died on March 13, 2008 at Kennedy Health System, Cherry Hill. Born and raised in Trenton/Lawrence Township area she moved to Thorofare in 1999. She worked for Wentzell Tile in Trenton and retired after 10 years. She was a member of St. Patrick¹s Church in Woodbury, the Glass Molders, Pottery and Plastic Union #181 and the West Deptford Senior Citizen¹s. Mary enjoyed playing bingo, crabbing and crocheting. Wife of the late Clarence C., she is survived by daughters Janet (Robert) DiEleuterio of Thorofare and Mary Ellen Shaw (Walt Kaminski) of Trenton, brother Al (Carol) Domboski of Fairless Hills, Pa., sister Eve Flynn of Philadelphia, grandchildren Eileen Morris, Julie Verde, Antoinette DiEleuterio, Krell Sielicki and great-grandchildren Angela Zold, Katelyn and John Morris and many nieces and nephews. Friends may call on Tuesday after 9 a.m. in the BUDD FUNERAL HOME, 171 Delaware St., Woodbury, NJ. Funeral Mass 11 a.m. in St. Patrick¹s Church, Cooper St., Woodbury. Interment St. Joseph¹s Cemetery, Chews Landing. Those desiring may make contributions to St. Patrick¹s Church, 64 Cooper St., Woodbury, NJ 08096. Memorials may be shared at www.buddfuneralhome.com Published in the Gloucester County Times from 3/14/2008 – 3/15/2008

March 16, 2008

BOX SCORE

DeLAND, Fla. – Rutgers scored six runs in the ninth and brought the tying runner to the plate but the Scarlet Knights\’ ninth-inning rally came up just short as Iowa used an eight-run seventh inning to defeat RU, 16-14 in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Conrad Park, near the campus of Stetson University.

Rutgers fell to 5-8 on the season, while Iowa improved to 5- 7. The Hawkeyes took the final two games two in the series over the Scarlet Knights.

The following was released by the officers of the Gloucester City Little League:

The Gloucester City Little League is working hard for the start of our 56^th season of the Little League Baseball in Gloucester City. Try-outs and the Major Division draft were held this past weekend and by next weekend all coaches and players will be assigned to their respective teams and ready to go for our opening day celebration on April 12.

It is exciting time for all involved and as we now turn our attention to what we love about summer-Little League Baseball.

This past week the alleged perpetrator of the theft of Little League funds (our former Treasurer Harry Fox, Jr.) was arrested and formally charged. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for the end of March and additional information will be released when available.

The league\’s position is prosecution to the fullest extent with full restitution.

The missing funds were from our Reserve Account and our Capital Improvement account. At no time was the league \”bankrupt\” as reported or was the 2008 season ever in jeopardy.

The league is structured so each year\’s operating capital is generated by registration fees, sponsor fees, ad signs, candy and hoagie sales and the efforts of the Ladies Auxiliary. The kids will be totally unaffected by the recent events, although some planned improvements will have to be rescheduled.

Additional revenues occasionally are generated by tournaments (State Tournament in 1995, the annual 8-yr old Tournament) and by 50/50\’s and refreshment sales when we host District and Section All-Star games. That revenue goes into the Capital Improvement account for major field expenditures.

That account had grown in the last few years because we had delayed some improvements pending the actions on our fields and we were accruing extra funds in case temporary fields had to be built or leased so we would not miss a season or two while the clean-up work was being completed. Do to the lengthy delays at Klemm Ave, we proceeded with major improvements this season (new sod) on the infield, left field fenced extended, new warning track and fence replacement at the Major Field and backstop renovations, batting cage and warning track at the Senior Field.

While this work was being bid, we received the $25,000 grant from the Camden Count Board of Chose Freeholder Tom Gurcik. That allowed us to reallocate the funds in our Capital Improvement account towards substantial improvements to the Tee-Ball and Minor Fields, but that money is now gone.

Our League is pulling together and with the great support we have already received and anticipate receiving from the business community (thanks to the Gloucester City Business Association) and our long time sponsors and supporters, we are moving forward with great enthusiasm to meet the challenge before us.

There will be some information forthcoming of some special events that are being planned, thanks to some very special people who are standing behind our organization and offering us some unbelievable support.

We are very grateful for all of the encouragement we have received and the generous support from many benefactors. We look forward to seeing everyone out for the Opening Day Parade and down at the fields all season supporting our kids playing baseball. Thank you.

Bob Plews-G.C.L.L. and League Information Officer

Flynn staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, Paddy. He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Mary.

He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step. As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump. A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful.

Managing not to yell, Flynn sprung up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his butt cheeks were cut and bleeding. He managed to quietly find a full box of Band-Aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood.

He then hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed.

In the morning, Flynn woke up with searing pain in both his head and butt and Mary staring at him from across the room.

She said, \”You were drunk again last night, weren\’t you?\”

Flynn said, \”Why would you say such a mean thing?\”

\”Well,\” Mary said, \”it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your bloodshot eyes, but mostly…..it\’s all those Band-Aids stuck on the hall mirror.\”

submitted by Gloucester City Fireman Dan McGlinsey

KISSIMMEE, FL – The Rowan University softball team won two more games at the Rebel Spring Games on Sunday. Rowan defeated Smith College (MA), 11-3 in six innings and shut out Bridgewater State College (MA), 10-0 in five innings.

Rowan totaled 16 hits in the first game against Smith. Center fielder Kristina Brenner (jr. Vineland, NJ/Vineland) went three for four with two runs scored. Right fielder Heidi Smith (so. Hainesport, NJ/Rancocas Valley Reg.) contributed with three hits (four at bats), one RBI and one run scored.

PHOTO….Pitcher Jackie Sasko

Third baseman Kristin Wallace (sr. Glassboro, NJ/Washington Twp.) recorded three RBIs. First baseman Sara Carangelo (sr. Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.), second baseman Lauren Navarro (sr. West Milford, NJ/West Milford) and left fielder Amanda Brown (sr. Audubon, NJ/Audubon) each added two hits.

Amanda Riegel (sr Millville, NJ/Sacred Heart) and Brianna Seckinger (fr. Churchville, PA/Council Rock S.) shared the pitching duties. In three innings, Riegel did not give up a run or a hit. Seckinger was on the mound for three innings. She scattered six hits and had three strikeouts.

The Profs got on the scoreboard with three runs in the first inning. Wallace singled in Brenner and Smith scored on a sacrifice bunt. Navarro had a RBI single that scored Wallace. Rowan went up 5-0 with two runs in the third. Designated player Stephanie Taraschi (so. Mt. Ephraim, NJ/Audubon) crossed home plate on an error and Carangelo scored on a single by shortstop Jenna DiDonato (so. Hamilton, NJ/Steinert).

Smith came back with two runs in the fourth inning and one in the fifth. Rowan had three runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Smith singled in Brown and Wallace drove in DiDonato and Brenner with a single. Catcher Melanie Sura (jr. Linden, NJ/Linden) double in two runs in the sixth and she came home on Brown’s single.

Pitcher Jackie Sasko (PHOTO ….jr. Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) had the shutout against Bridgewater State. Sasko (4-0) only allowed two hits and struck out seven batters. She was two for three at the plate with a triple, two RBIs and one run scored. Carangelo had two hits (two at bats), two RBIs and one run scored. DiDonata went two for three at the plate with one RBI.

Rowan went ahead 4-0 in the second inning. Carangelo singled in Taraschi for the first run. Navarro doubled in Sasko and Carangelo scored on DiDonato’s sac fly. Brenner had a RBI single that brought home Navarro.
The Profs put the game out of reach with six runs in the top of the fifth. Smith crossed the plate on a fielder’s choice. Sasko tripled in two runs and scored on Carangelo’s single. Brenner drove in Carangelo with a single and Smith doubled in a run.

Rowan (7-1) plays again on Tuesday, March 18 against Wis.-River Falls at 9 a.m. and Fontbonne University at 1 p.m.