SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP

“Changing faces” is an occasional series that takes a look at changes in keycommunities.

LAKEWOOD — Of all the hot-button issues roiling this rapidly growing city-in-the-making, perhaps none provoke greater passion than the perennial fightover courtesy busing.

Last year, a closed-door session aimed at closing a $5 million transportationbudget deficit grew so heated, a pair of men tumbled out of the meeting room atone point and began wrestling on the floor.

“There was a very candid discussion,” the school board president said after-ward.

This year, talks were just as frank, if more civil. Yet at the “11th hour and59th minute,” as one participant described it, with notices set to go out to theparents of some 11,000 schoolchildren with the news that courtesy bus servicewas being dropped altogether, negotiations had reached an impasse.

Then the lights went out.Repairs to a transformer that night knocked out power in the area, envel-

oping the windowless conference room in darkness.The 16 or so men and women seated in a circle represented a diverse range

IN DEPTH CHANGING FACES

BOOMTOWN

Is Lakewoodexpandingtoo fast?

See LAKEWOOD, Page 4A

PHOTOS BY THOMAS P. COSTELLO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Top: Construction continues at the Emerald Hills development on East County Line Roadin Lakewood on Friday. Above: Toys for Thought store owner Harold Herskowitz speaksalong Clifton Avenue in Lakewood on Monday.

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08.09.15

VOLUME 136

NUMBER 189

SINCE 1879

@ISSUE 1AABUSINESS 6AACLASSIFIED 1DLOCAL 3ALOTTERIES 2A

OBITUARIES 18AOPINION 4AASPORTS 1CSUNDAY BEST 1EWEATHER 12C

Gov. Chris Christie finally brought his “New Jersey”voice to the campaign for the Republican Party nomina-tion for president.

In the Fox News debate for the top-10 GOP candi-dates, the governor was loud, brash and in rivals’ faces— the Christie that largely has been absent since hiscampaign launched June 30.

Whether the shift in persona wins over a national au-dience and turns around his fortunes — Christie wasninth among 17 GOP candidates going into Fox’s twoGOP debates — isn’t yet clear, but the early read is thatChristie breathed new life into his long-shot effort.

Donald Trump has been the attention-getting darlingof Republicans looking for a brash nominee, but Chris-tie showed a national TV audience that political brawl-ing is his calling card, too.

In a series of exchanges, he portrayed himself as an-other strong, no-nonsense, plain-speaking chief execu-tive — an alternative to the sharper-elbowed (and somesay unelectable) Trump.

The governor, who had just six minutes of speakingtime, was able to squeeze in blasts at rivals for their po-sitions on domestic surveillance and entitlements, top-

Did Republican debate trigger a comeback for Christie? BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP

See CHRISTIE, Page 11A

DONALD TRUMP’S ‘BLOOD’ REMARK ROILS GOP PRESIDENTIAL RACE PAGE 1B

SocialSecurityturns 80

Will it bearound formillenials?@issue

There are lots of ghosts in the area — and they’re goodbusiness. STORY, 1E

Sunday Best

Getting ghostlyaround the Shore