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WEDNESDAY 07.08.15

VOLUME 136

NUMBER 162

SINCE 1879

ADVICE 5DCLASSIFIED 1ECOMICS 4DLOCAL 3AOBITUARIES 15A

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

Rutgers football: Three juniors, seniors to watch. SPORTS, 1C

ARMY PLANS TO CUT 40,000 SOLDIERS FROM ITS RANKS OVER NEXT 2 YEARS PAGE 1B

Is it better to be loved or feared?

Welcome to the life of a shark, which has just that kindof effect on people.

While millions of Americans will tune in this week toDiscovery Channels Shark Week, local shark expertsare hoping they walk away with more education and em-pathy than myth and hysteria.

Yes, certainly I watch it; its been around as long asmy career. In its beginning form it was much more scien-

tific-based. Sadly, the program over time has evolved into moresensationalism to feed the ratings monster, said Dean Fessler,marine biologist and education director at the Shark ResearchInstitute, a nonprofit education and shark advocacy group basedin Princeton.

Creatures are vital to marine life, experts say;attacks usually result from mistaken identity

To think that people are

on a sharks menu is a

common misconception.

DEAN FESSLER, MARINE BIOLOGIST ANDEDUCATION DIRECTOR AT THE SHARK RESEARCH

INSTITUTE, A NONPROFIT EDUCATION AND SHARK

ADVOCACY GROUP BASED IN PRINCETON

DAN RADEL @DANIELRADELAPP

See SHARKS, Page 11A

LAST DAY FOR TICKETS: Ever dreamed ofstarting your own business? Find out how toget started tonight at APPs Think Big foryour Small Business event, app.com/thinkbig. MORE INFO 3A, 14A.

APP Talkssmall biz

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says Republicansupporters of his presidential bid will be pleased if hegets a chance to reshape the U.S. Supreme Court, de-spite criticism from conservatives in his home statethat he broke a similar vow when elected governor.

Christie, in an interview with Shannon Bream on FoxNews Sunday, defended his 2014 reappointment ofChief Justice Stuart Rabner, a Democrat, to New Jer-seys high court.

Your critics say that you caved and you reappointedthe chief justice who was very liberal, Bream said.

Christie responded, Those folks havent watchedNew Jersey closely. Remember, I have a DemocraticSenate. They had refused to nominate four of my folks.

What I did was I got three conservative Republi-cans (onto the court) in exchange for one Democrat.Thats a pretty good deal, he said.

Christies first successful appointee, Anne Patter-son, broke from the governor when she voted to allow

THOMAS P. COSTELLO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Chris Christie signs the Time magazine cover he was featuredon after a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on June 30.

Gov pledgesconservativejudges to U.S.high court BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP

See JUDGES, Page 10A

TRENTON Two Monmouth County towns were ac-cused of poor administration and oversight of firstresponder retirement programs funded by taxpayers,including paying more than $700,000 in benefits thatvolunteers never earned, a state agency said Tuesday.

Middletown and Wall were among four New Jerseytowns cited by the Office of the State Comptroller forgiving unearned benefits through the Length of ServiceAward Programs, often called LOSAPs.

In Monmouth County, the overpayments totaled$235,000.

OSCs review revealed that there is little to no over-sight of these LOSAPs, according to the investigative

Two towns cited forpaying unearnedretirement benefits SUSANNE CERVENKA @SCERVENKA

See LOSAP, Page 10A

INSIDE

Hunt for shark teeth this weekend in Middletown. PAGE 11A

Are Shore

residents

concerned? Scan

the QR code or visit APP.com