The Record, Bergen County, NJ

Saving Souls and the Planet ; Room for 'Green' in Houses of Worship

A growing number of North Jersey's religious leaders are shading their sermons in green. Taking care to keep politics out of their save-the-earth messages, they're preaching practical everyday changes in lifestyle. The basic tenet remains that God gave man dominion over the Earth, as the Bible says. But now clergy members are likening that dominion to a farmer's stewardship of the land controlling, but also nurturing it and giving it time to replenish.

Hospital's Closing Adds Pain ; Emts Report Lengthy Trips, Patient Waits

Neighboring hospitals may be handling the increased patient load from defunct Pascack Valley Hospital, but rescue workers in North Jersey say they are feeling the strain. Ambulance drivers and emergency medical technicians report that since bankrupt Pascack Valley in Westwood closed on Nov. 21, their round trips to other hospitals take longer, and emergency departments are more crowded.

A Little Quiz to Start the New Year [Corrected 01/04/08]

Happy 2008! There's so much to look forward to this year: presidential elections, Olympics, an extra day in February, etc., etc. We're two days into the new year already, but do you know what's going on in the next 364 days? Here are eight questions for 2008:

Suits: Feds Play Dirty ; Immigration Officials Say Raids On Illegals Are Within the Law

The federal government is increasingly deceiving unsuspecting illegal immigrants into granting entry to their homes, a growing chorus of lawyers and civil rights groups say. They charge that in an overzealous effort to deport illegal immigrants, federal immigration agents forgo required search warrants, instead using ruses and intimidation to gain consent to enter and search private dwellings. In interviews with The Record and in a growing number of lawsuits, immigrants and critics of the rai...

Mortgage Firm Pulls Out of $1.8b Takeover ; Phh Blames Lack of Financing

MOUNT LAUREL PHH Corp., a top provider of mortgages and services for managing vehicle fleets, said Tuesday that it ended a $1.8 billion agreement to be bought by General Electric Capital Corp. and The Blackstone Group because the private equity company could not line up financing for the deal. General Electric Capital, the consumer and commercial finance unit of General Electric Co., and Blackstone agreed in March to acquire Mount Laurel-based PHH.

New Ferries Make Maiden Voyage to Lady Liberty

NEW YORK New Year's Day brought a new operator for ferries that shuttle sightseers to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. For more than a half century, Circle Line has run the lucrative ferry service to the islands in New York Harbor.

A Terrible Start to a New Year

Mc Hammer Hopes to Nail Net Success ; Ex-Rap Star to Help Launch Dance Video Site

SAN FRANCISCO MC Hammer hasn't topped the music charts since the early 1990s, but the former rap star says he has another hit in him only this time around he'll produce it as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Hammer, whose real name is Stanley Burrell, is choreographing a new career as co-founder and chief strategy officer of Men0lo Park- based DanceJam.com.

People in the News

Island romance Roselyn Sanchez and fellow actor Eric Winter got engaged during a holiday vacation on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, according to a statement released Tuesday.

Crash Kills Woman, Injures Officer

ELIZABETH One person died and a Port Authority police officer was injured in a crash Tuesday afternoon in Elizabeth. Marta Szydlowska, 30, of Bayonne, drove her sport utility vehicle through a red light and collided with a police vehicle, seriously injuring the Port Authority police officer who was driving it, according to Elizabeth police Lt. Bill Dugan.

Whew, Good Thing That's Only a Float

Candidates Ring in '08 in Iowa ; Pitches Largely Positive As Caucus Nears

DES MOINES, Iowa Uplifting appeals largely replaced stinging insults Tuesday as Democratic and Republican candidates did the only thing left to do in Iowa races that are too close to call encourage supporters to vote for them. "The polls look good, but understand this the polls are not enough. The only thing that counts is whether or not you show up to caucus," Democrat Barack Obama told a fired-up crowd of young and old packed into a high school gymnasium.

Plunging Right Into Another Year

Cold Case Students to Probe 2001 Killing of Chandra Levy ; 'How Do You Just Stop Trying?'

MODESTO, Calif. Criminal justice students at a Georgia college are preparing to undertake their own investigation of the 2001 slaying in Washington, D.C., of Chandra Levy, the Modesto resident whose death tainted a congressman's career. The students at Bauder College in Atlanta also will look into the disappearance three years ago of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba.

Racial Disparity in Dispensing of Painkillers ; New Study Looks at Er Trends

CHICAGO Emergency room doctors are prescribing strong narcotics more often to patients who complain of pain, but minorities are less likely to get them than whites, a new study finds. Even for the severe pain of kidney stones, minorities were prescribed narcotics such as oxycodone and morphine less frequently than whites.

Underpaid, Unknown, Undaunted ; Defender's Case Goes to Top Court

FRANKFORT, Ky. One of the biggest capital punishment cases to come before the U.S. Supreme Court in a generation was put together largely by a young, fresh-out-of-law-school member of Kentucky's overworked and underpaid corps of public defenders. David Barron, 29, filed an appeal on behalf of two Kentucky death row inmates, arguing that the three-drug cocktail used in lethal injections across the country can cause excruciating pain, and thus amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in violati...

Around the Nation

Zoo allows party after tiger attack SAN FRANCISCO A couple were allowed to hold their long- scheduled wedding reception at the San Francisco Zoo, even though the grounds have been closed since a tiger escaped on Christmas and mauled three people, killing one of them.

It's an Anxious Time for Tourists

MOMBASA, Kenya Amel Blouza came to Kenya expecting a holiday on white beaches and a safari with a chance to view elephants or perhaps giraffes lumbering across the picture-perfect savannah. Instead, she hasn't even left her hotel. She is too scared to venture out as enraged protesters clashed across the country after a disputed election in one of Africa's top tourist destinations.

Scores Killed As Kenyan Mob Burns Church ; Many Victims Were Children Hiding From Election Violence

NAIROBI, Kenya A mob torched a church sheltering hundreds of people fleeing election violence Tuesday, killing up to 50 people including many children as four days of rioting and ethnic clashes marked one of the darkest times in Kenya's history. President Mwai Kibaki, sworn in Sunday after a vote opponents said was rigged, said political parties should meet immediately and publicly call for calm. The violence has killed at least 270 people in what had been east Africa's most stable and pro...

Smoking Ban May Help French Kick the Habit ; Cafs, Restaurants Go Cigarette-Free

PARIS Non-smokers reveled. Some smokers grumbled. But others pondered kicking the habit as France's smoking ban went into effect Tuesday with the start of the new year. Owners of bars, restaurants, nightclubs and cafs, where smoking is now prohibited, worried that it would be bad for business.