UPDATES! Thursday Briefs From WOBM News

News from Ocean & Monmouth Counties and around New Jersey.

TOMS RIVER - Barnbas Health will be getting a new President and CEO. Current COO for Barnabas Health has been in his current position for two years and served as Executive Vice President and general council for 19 years prior to that. He starts the position at the beginning of the year. Barnabas Health is the state’s largest health care delivery system.

HAMILTON  - A viral message going around Facebook telling about a program to pick up drunk drivers on New Years Eve..is a hoax...sort of. The message tells about AAA’s Tipsy Tow which will pick up inebriated drivers for free on New Years Eve. The program is real however not in our area.. AAA Mid-Atlantic has said they aren't running the program, which is curently going on in states like Virginia, Oklahoma, and Nothern California.

PLUMSTED - A 3-year-old Plumsted Township girl is airlifted to a trauma center after being viciously attacked by a pitbull Wednesday. Reports say the toddler was bitten many times on the back and head. The dog was captured by animal control officials and placed in the Ocean County Animal Shelter where it will be euthanized in 10 days. The girl is in Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where her condition is unknown.

ASBURY PARK - A suspect in an Asbury Park bank robbery is arrested minutes after the heist. Police credit the Monmouth County Dispatch Services with helping to catch up with 35-year-old Terek Stratford of Neptune. Reports say Stratford walked into a PNC Bank early Tuesday afternoon and demanded cash from a teller. He's in the Monmouth County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

STAFFORD - There's word that an improvement project on the Route 72 causeway bridge is being postponed until 2013. State DPT officials says the design work and environmental impact study for the $234 million dollar project took longer than expected. The work includes rebuilding the Manahawkin Bay Bridge and reconstruction of an intersection of Route 72 and Marsha Drive.

TOMS RIVER - The Ocean County Board Of Freeholders go through a leadership change next year. Freeholder Deputy Director Gerry Little will become the board's Director in 2012. Little says their main concern will be developing a county budget that continues to allow residents to live here. Little also runs for re-election in 2012.