ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION APP.COM $1.00

WEDNESDAY 08.05.15

VOLUME 136

NUMBER 186

SINCE 1879

ADVICE 5DCLASSIFIED 1ECOMICS 4DLOCAL 3AOBITUARIES 15A

OPINION 18ASPORTS 1CTABLE 1DWEATHER 8CYOUR MONEY 14A

HOLMDEL The New Jersey State Police offered a$5,000 reward Tuesday for information leading to thearrest of the gunman who shot and critically woundedtwo people near a hip-hop concert at the PNC BankArts Center the night before.

The victims, identified as Neptune men ages 23 and24, were each struck multiple times. They were listedin critical but stable condition at Jersey Shore Univer-sity Medical Center in Neptune, State Police Sgt. FirstClass Gregory Williams said. He declined to releasetheir names.

Concert shooter sought

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Authorities attend to a victim following a shooting outsidePNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel late Monday. See SHOOTING, Page 13A

$5G offered for leadsas pair remain criticalANDREW FORD @ANDREWFORDNEWSAND STEPH SOLIS @STEPHMSOLIS

LAKEWOOD Leaders of the townships private reli-gious schools have agreed to a cost-savings plan thatwould preserve courtesy busing for thousands ofschoolchildren in the coming school year, according toparticipants in the talks.

The tentative agreement, reached Monday night,came as the school district was poised to send notices toparents informing them that courtesy, or non-manda-tory, busing was being scrapped, starting in Septem-ber.

The district said the cancellation was necessary dueto a $8.3 million budget shortfall.

Details of the plan have not been released.The move would have affected nearly 11,000 public

and private schoolchildren and likely would have cre-ated major traffic problems on Lakewoods alreadycongested roads.

Talks aimed at resolving the budget gap have fo-cused on staggering, or tiering, the start and dismiss-al times of the scores of private Orthodox Jewishschools. The change would allow fewer buses to trans-port the same number of students, resulting in mil-lions of dollars in savings.

Private school leaders agreed in April to shift theirschedules by 15 minutes, then reconsidered, saying itwould unduly disrupt their operations and create ahardship for parents.

The reversal would have cost the district $2 mil-

11,000Public and private schoolchildren who would have beenimpacted by the loss of busing

$8.3 millionSchool district budget shortfall

$2 millionExtra aid from the New Jersey Department of Education thatwould have been lost, and another $500,000 or more fromthe Township Committee

LakewoodbusingdealreachedLast-minute pact preservesrides for nearly 11,000 kids

See PACT, Page 4A

SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP

DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT SLOWLY BUILDS FOR IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL PAGE 1B

Countdownstarts nowRestaurants to visit beforesummers end. TABLE, 1D

ASBURY PARK Its good news for the underper-forming presidential campaign of Chris Christie: TheNew Jersey governor has made the cut for the crucialfirst televised debate among candidates for the 2016Republican nomination.

Debate sponsor Fox News announced Tuesday nightthat Christie will be in the field of 10 for the debate inCleveland on Thursday. But it was a close call. Christieis in ninth place in Foxs average of recent polls used todetermine who gets in.

The news came just before doors opened at AsburyPark Convention Hall for a previously scheduled cam-paign fundraiser, with Christie defending his turfagainst rivals who have been aggressively courtingNew Jersey residents for support.

Tickets for the reception cost $250. Those who paid$2,700, or $5,400 per couple, also received an opportuni-

ty to have a photo taken with the guest of honor.When Christie addressed supporters, he didnt mask

his elation over securing a place in the debate.Were going to bring a little Jersey to the White

House, he said. And I think you all know this, its goingto start Thursday night in Ohio.

A new Rutgers-Eagleton presidential primary pollshows Christie has been overtaken by business tycoonDonald Trump as the No. 1 choice among New JerseyRepublicans.

Christie makes Fox News debate cutBOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP

See DEBATE, Page 17A

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Republican presidential candidate New Jersey Gov. ChrisChristie speaks during a forum Monday in Manchester, N.H.

INSIDE

Christie: Im Catholic, but Ive used birth control. STORY, 17A

Meet the rest of the field in Fox News debate. STORY, 1B

Fire claimsdozen unitsMany left homeless after Ocean building is razed. 3A