UPDATE! Thursday Briefs From WOBM News

News briefs from around Ocean & Monmouth Counties and New Jersey.

TRENTON (AP) -- The first woman to hold the position of majority leader in the state Senate won't seek a second term in the post. Senator Barbara Buono of Middlesex County says in a letter she'll step aside rather than share power. Democrats in the Senate and Assembly are choosing their leaders today.

TOMS RIVER - Flags are flying at half-staff around the state today in honor of a fallen soldier from our area. Army seargent John Lyons of Seaside Park was killed October 26th from wounds suffered during an attack by insurgents. He was 26 years old. A viewing will be held Saturday at the Timothy E. Ryan Home For Funerals in Toms River.

OCEAN (MONMOUTH) - Four Brooklyn residents are in custody following a shopping spree at the Seaview Square Mall in Ocean Township (Monmouth) with stolen credit cards. Reports say, an investigation began when police questioned the occupants of a vehicle outside of a vacant furniture store and were given fake identification. A search of the car also turned up items purchased with stolen credit cards. Jean-Raymond Colassaint, Emmanuel Laforest, Loriza Hiralal and Michelle Medonca were charged with receiving stolen property, conspiracy to commit credit-card theft and conspiracy to commit identity theft.

FREEHOLD - A longtime Freehold soil conservation district inspector is arrested on bribery charges. Reports say, 51-year-old John Tonon of Wall Township was taken into custody Wednesday after allegedly accepting a $700 bribe from an undercover law enforcement officer to help expedite the approval of a home construction project in Hazlet. He's charged with second-degree bribery and is in The Monmouth County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

NEW YORK - Dozens of people in Ocean County succumb to illness by eating kosher chicken liver meat from a New York-based food processing company. The chicken liver is under a recall following a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 89 people so far. The liver was manufactured by Schreiber Processing Corporation under the Mealmart brand. Besides New York, the livers also were sold in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Minnesota.

BARNEGAT BAY- More help is coming to the Barnegat Bay with the replacement of five outfall pipes. The Ocean County Freeholders say it's part of a $1-million dollar storm water improvement contract on the fast-track for approval. The pipes that lead into the giant estuary are located in Seaside Heights and Lavallette. The work also includes grading improvements in Barnegat and Jackson Township.

BARNEGAT BAY - Five coastal research groups divide almost $2.5million state dollars to conduct 10 separate studies aimed at restoring the health of Barnegat Bay. New Jersey DEP Commissioner Bob Martin announced the grants for the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, Rutgers Institute, Philadelphia's Academy Of Natural Sciences, and Rider, Montclair and Monmouth universities. The studies encompass water composition, wildlife growth, and resource management.

BRICK - A Brick Township woman will spend up to 33 months in a federal prison for embezzling more than a million dollars from the Lakewood law firm where she served as office manager. 54 year-old Kathleen Baker's sentence in Trenton followed her guilty plea to wire fraud. She admitted spending it on personal expenses for six years starting in 2003, hiding the cash flow by opening a bank account for a fictitious company.

BARNEGAT - After a year-long probe, fingerprints left at a looted home construction site in Barnegat lead investigators to a 26-year-old in Little Egg Harbor. Barnegat Police say John Sauer III was identified by prints from the scene that were confirmed two weeks ago by the FBI after processing in its automated fingerprint i-d system. He's charged with stealing an electrical box and a hundred feet of wire.