Weekend Briefs From WOBM News

News from Ocean & Monmouth counties and around New Jersey.

ATLANTIC CITY- Important news for Atlantic City drivers!  Next week, from Jan. 30-Feb.1, the right lane of the Brigantine Bridge will be closed for repairs between 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.  Also, the Atlantic City Expressway's Ramp 7s headed westbound will be closed Feb. 2 between 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. for guide rail repair.  The right lane of the GSP ramp 38A will also be closed during this time.

MAYS LANDING- An Atlantic City man is sentenced to 6 years in New Jersey State Prison for robbery Friday.  Atlantic County Prosecutors Office tells us 47-year-old Dennis White pleaded guilty to robbery charges on November 28, 2011.  This plea came after witnesses saw White shove a man to the ground and steal his cash on St. James Pl. a couple of months earlier.  The victim, 66-year-old Paul Hartig, later helped police identify White as the robber.  White must serve at least 5 years before he can become eligible for parole.

TRENTON (AP)- New Jersey's Council on Local Mandates says the State's tough, new Anti-School Bullying Law is an unfunded mandate and needs to be fixed.  The council made that ruling Friday in a 7-2 decision. The ruling is to take effect in March when the council issues a formal order.

TOMS RIVER- A Marlton woman heads to prison for 4 years for the drunk driving incident that claimed the life of her passenger.  Friday's sentence follows 25-year-old Laura Nelson's guilty plea to vehicular homicide charges for operating a vehicle with a B.A.C.  level 3 times the legal limit.  Nelson lost control of her S-U-V in May of 2010, and crashed into a utility poll in front of a Rt. 37 Stop and Shop ejecting her passenger Kelly Walck of Haddonfield.

FREEHOLD- Salvaged pieces of a mural once located on a vacant gas station in Freehold Borough will be on display at the Freehold Raceway Mall.  The pallets have been relocated to the Red Horse Art Gallery and will part of a display that will run through Feb. 23 called "The Art of Community...The Rise, Destruction and Rebuilding of the Freehold Borough Mural Project."  The panels were salvaged after the gas station property owner directed one of his workers to paint over the mural on Jan. 6.

TOMS RIVER- Police launch a search for a brazen burglar who robbed a home of $5,000 in jewelry while the residents were watching T.V.  Police Chief Mike Mastronardy says the female resident encountered the man Wednesday just before midnight hiding in an upstairs bedroom closet, but he fled downstairs when she screamed and was confronted by her husband.  Police are looking for a dark skinned male, around 5'10, thin build, wearing a black hoodie pulled tight over his face and blue jeans. Anyone with information is asked to call Toms River Police at 732-349-0150.

JACKSON- A man is charged with heroin possession and his companion is accused of shoplifting outside a Monmouth County Costco.  Police in Ocean Township say that 41-year-old Gregorio Lopez was seen tossing syringes and heroin into a trash bin Wednesday by a security guard who identified 29-year-old Ginnie Dawson of Somers Point as the shoplifter.  Both await court dates.

MANALAPAN- 24 former substance abusers get their lives back Monday.  The Monmouth Drug Court Graduation sends people tough enough to complete the 4-phase passage to sobriety out to productive lives in their families and occupations.  The ceremony starts at 9:30 a.m. at the Monmouth County Library in Manalapan.