Not many lefthanded pitchers dominated the way Ralph Albers dominated for Pitman High School in the 1946, 1947, and 1948 baseball seasons. From a sheer record standpoint, he was a combination of Sandy Koufax and Steve Carlton.

Fireballing Albers\’ three-year composite record was a startling 35-and-2, a big part of the key to Pitman\’s championship trifecta in the Tri-County Conference and South Jersey Group 1. It was hardly surprising that he earned all-Group 1 honors each season.

Despite reservations in Washington regarding a possible Israeli strike on Iran, the American administration will supply Israel with sophisticated weapons for heavily fortified targets, the U.S. administration announced.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced it would sell the Israel Air Force 1,000 new smart bombs, rumored to significantly enhance the IAF\’s military capabilities. The deal was approved amid public and secret messages from Washington, with the Americans expressing their reservations about a possible Israeli strike against the Islamic Republic\’s suspected nuclear sites.

\”It\’s like Christmas for the residents when I come to visit,\” said Zelinski, who has been installing new smoke detectors. Residents pay monthly rent of about $600 to $800.

In December 2007 council passed a resolution to enter into an agreement with the owners to purchase the property. At the time Councilman Marchese said the apartments would be demolished and single family homes would be built. Both he and Mayor James said then that this idea is in the early planning stages.

Now that the City owns the property the long range plans for the complex is uncertain. Somewhere down the line it could eventually be sold for commercial development or as a site for single family homes. As for now the mayor has said repeatedly the City’s short term plan is to renovate the units and make them livable for the residents that are living there now.

Related: Chatham Square

Korey Alston, a running back and defensive back at Camden Catholic and one of the top football prospects in South Jersey, will undergo knee surgery tomorrow. He hopes to return by next month.

On patrol in al Bawi, Iraq, First Lieutenant Ross Pixler was in the lead inside his armored Bradley Fighting Vehicle on an October day when the fiery blast of an IED shattered the daily monotony. The deeply buried IED exploded as the Bradley passed over, ripping the vehicle apart and killing three fellow soldiers.

Still dazed by the carnage, Pixler exemplified the strength of an army soldier by ignoring his injuries, finding his rifle, and getting to work. Already the three other vehicles in the convoy were approaching the attack site, but Pixler wasted no time in checking on the unconscious driver and gunner, and taking up a defensive position. He later reflected, \”Everything goes really fast and I wasn’t really stopping to think about what I was doing. I was doing what I was trained to do.\”

Just as Pixler and the rest of his unit began recovering from the attack, scattered mortar and small arms fire bombarded the site. Pixler, rattled by his concussion, did not hesitate to raise his rifle and take a key role in the defense of the position while assistance came to recover the bodies of the Americans.

As the hours wore on, Pixler and the other surviving members of his team were loaded onto another Bradley and pulled out of the waning firefight. The safety of the rescue vehicle was broken when another IED crippled it, forcing the men to exit the vehicle and repulse another attack.

It would be many hours from the initial attack to the time Pixler and his men were within the walls of an American base, but during that time his focus on the mission and his men never wavered.

For his bravery under such austere conditions and his tenacity in the face of adversity, he earned the prestigious Silver Star medal. Pixler considers it not an award for himself but, \”an award for every single one of the soldiers that were out there, and the ones that can’t come home.\”

The owner of an off-track betting license has decided he would rather open for business in a vacant movie theater on Route 38 in Pennsauken than down the road at Garden State Park where he has land, a liquor license and Cherry Hill Township approval.

A ranking of public high schools that compete for South Jersey titles and nonpublic schools in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem and southern Ocean counties. Ranking selected by The Press\’ high school sports staff based on staff observation, research and interviews with players and coaches. Last week\’s ranking in parentheses.

In November 2007, the 22-year tenure of New Jersey State Athletic Control Board commissioner Larry Hazzard Sr. came to an end. It was a position that seemed tailor-made for the innovative Newark native.

But those familiar with Hazzard knew he\’d resurface and continue to influence boxing, and on Monday, Hazzard emerged at the East Orange-based International Boxing Federation.