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Pope Franciscommemorative edition

Manasquan ralliesBig plays help team find

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Altered marriage licenses concern official. STORY, 1B

Did Ky. clerkviolate order?

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09.20.15

VOLUME 136

NUMBER 225

SINCE 1879

@ISSUE 1AA

BUSINESS 6AA

CLASSIFIED 1D

LOCAL 3A

LOTTERIES 2A

OBITUARIES 16A

OPINION 4AA

SPORTS 1C

SUNDAY BEST 1E

WEATHER 16C

ATLANTIC CITY Is a gas tax hike in our future? Itlooked that way for a few fleeting moments last week.

One top Republican lawmaker was ready to vote tohike the gas tax. The top two Democrats were suppor-tive of exempting more households from estate and in-heritance taxes or eliminating the levies altogether.

That, however, is about as far as things got at theNew Jersey Business Summit, where a dozen chambersof commerce and 20-plus organizations convened overtwo days ending Friday, in a bid to get beyond gridlockon key policy and fiscal issues.

A coveted breakthrough, however, was elusive.In the end, lawmakers didn’t budge much from their

earlier viewpoints on infrastructure, taxes, regulationsand workforce readiness. They did agree to keep theconversation going with summit organizers after leav-ing the Borgata conference room.

Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick appearedmore declarative than he had in the past in committing

Gas, estate taxes on table at summit

MICHAEL SYMONS/STAFF PHOTO

Gas and estate taxes were discussed at the two-day NewJersey Business Summit. No deal was made, but lawmakersagreed to keep talks going.

MICHAEL SYMONS @MICHAELSYMONS_

See SUMMIT, Page 4A

More than a million people from allover the world are expected to attendPope Francis’ historic outdoor MassSept. 27 in Philadelphia. But the leader ofthe Diocese of Trenton will not be amongthem.

Bishop David M. O’Connell, whosediocese sits just across the DelawareRiver from the Archdiocese of Philadel-phia, tentatively is scheduled to do on-aircommentary for the local CBS affiliate,CBS 3, whose studio is located a mileaway from where the pope will be.

Nor is he on the guest list for the pope’svisit to New York City earlier in the week.The events there include a multi-reli-gious prayer service Friday at ground ze-

ro, where dozens of people from the Dio-cese of Trenton perished at the hands ofIslamic terrorists in 2001.

“It’s an opportunity for me,” O’Con-nell said of his commentating role in Phil-adelphia, “to make sure the right thing issaid.”

It proved a telling comment, comingin the context of an exclusive interviewwith the Asbury Park Press in whichO’Connell made it plain that it isn’t sim-

FIGURING OUT FRANCISWildly popular but utterly unpredictable, the pope sometimes

‘makes life difficult’ for U.S. church leaders, Bishop O’Connell says

BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Bishop David M. O’Connell speaks about the pope’s visit during an interview in his Lawrenceville office.

SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP

Inside

How to get to Philly,PAGE 15A

Online

Watch videos ofthe interview atAPP.com

“At the end of the day, ‘the

Francis effect’ has to be

evaluated by its ability to

transform and convert

people into people of faith

who go to church...”

BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL

SeePOPE, Page 14A