OCEAN COUNTY FAIR

Step right up
for fairway fun
Organizers hope the forecast stays cool and sunny
Top: Horse Cents 4-H Club member Abigail Venter, 16, of Toms River uses a hose to cool down her horse, Bobbi,
before the start of the Ocean County Fair at Robert J. Miller Air Park in Berkeley. Above left: Kyle Bastarrika, 14, of
Barnegat, with his brothers, Jack, 9, and Aiden, 12, look at duck hatchlings at the Wise Quackers 4-H Club tent.
Above right: Doc Swan performs his Comedy Magic & Sideshow Act. PHOTO BY ROBERT WARD/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Scan the QR code or visit APP.comfor a gallery of photos from the fair. For story, see Page A3.
The baby ducks and horses are there. So are the magicians and circus performers. It can
only mean its time for the 68th annual Ocean County Fair, which runs through Sunday at the
Robert J. Miller Ocean County Air Park in Berkeley. The fair is featuring some new acts this
year, such as an aerial acrobatic troupe and a Wild West show, along with fan favorites like the
rescue dog comedy act Mutts Gone Nuts. And, of course, cotton candy. Admission to the fair
is $7; children under 9 are free.
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WEDNESDAY 07.09.14
VOLUME 135
NUMBER 163
SINCE 1879
ADVICE D5
CLASSIFIED E1
COMICS D4
LOCAL A3
OBITUARIES A15
OPINION A18
SPORTS C1
TABLE D1
WEATHER C8
YOUR MONEY A14
PRESS ON YOUR SIDE
COLD COMFORT
A couple is not happy when the manufacturer
tells them that rust on their new appliances
is just cosmetic. Page A14
ISRAEL LAUNCHES BLISTERING AERIAL ASSAULT ON GAZA STRIP. PAGE 1B
MIDDLETOWN Township Committee members re-
luctantly approved a $249,338 check Monday for retir-
ing Police Chief Robert Oches to pay for unused sick
and vacation time rolled up over 40 years.
Immediately after approving the chiefs payout,
committee members passed a resolution calling on
state lawmakers to end or at least greatly limit the
practice of letting public employees bank unused sick
and vacation days.
From Mayor Stephanie Murray down the line, com-
mittee members voiced their displeasure, not with Och-
es, but with the system that allowed him and other long-
time employees to cash out decades worth of past sick
and vacation time at 2014 pay rates.
This isnt anything that reflects on the chief and his
40 years of service; the money is owed and the law re-
quires us to vote, Murray said. Its wrong because its
accruing at present rates for time banked before many
Middletown Police Chief Robert Oches is
retiring after a 40-year career with the
township Police Department.
Middletown
OKs $249,338
payout to chief
Officials press lawmakers to limit
banking of sick, vacation days
By Larry Higgs @APPLarry
See PAYOUT, Page A9
WASHINGTON Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.,
wants federal prosecutors to pursue evidence the Cu-
ban government invented and planted allegations that
he hired underage prostitutes in the Dominican Repub-
lic, he said Tuesday.
I think it should be pretty appalling that a foreign
government would be engaged in trying to affect an
election and or the position of a United States senator,
he said in an interview with CNN. And if that can hap-
pen, then I think theres real consequences for our de-
mocracy. So I hope that the authorities will investigate
and come to the bottom of who was engaged.
Probe sought of
alleged Cuban plot
By Nicole Gaudiano
and Michael Symons
@ngaudiano and @MichaelSymons_
See PLOT, Page A13
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., has asked
the federal government to investigate an
alleged plot to smear him by planting false
reports that he had hired underage
prostitutes. FILE PHOTO
KIM KARDASHIAN VISITS SEASIDE HEIGHTS A3
LITTLE
LEAGUE
SUSPENSE
Rain and light malfunction interrupt
play of District 19 tourney. SPORTS, C1