A series of events combined to put the pinch on the county's cash flow. The county's cash flow is hampered in the spring because Middlesex doesn't set its tax rate until May and tax notices are due by June 5, giving the county little time to collect taxes.

Assemblyman Joseph Vas entered a not guilty plea in Superior Court Tuesday morning on a second state indictment that accuses him of money laundering, conspiracy and official misconduct.

" Middlesex County will use a $95,750 grant from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety to help improve the safety of all roadway users in the county.

" Middlesex and Monmouth counties would each save their taxpayers over $20 million - " a total of $40 million - over the next 10 years under a unique Shared Services agreement for Youth Services.

Friday was the 8th annual Give Kids a Smile Day from the American Dental Association.

Called ''a professional con man'' by one of his victims, a 67-year-old Rockaway man was sentenced Friday to five years in state prison for defrauding two jewelry stores and stealing a neighbor's check.

TRENTON - A Manasquan man who started washing dishes at a steakhouse and rose to become the company's chief executive officer admitted on Thursday he took part in a kickback scheme that traded contracts for cash, appliances and trips.

He went by the ring name "A.J. Sparxx'' in the National Wrestling Alliance from 1992 through 2004.

All juvenile offenders being detained by Monmouth County authorities will be housed in Middlesex County under a shared-services agreement that is expected to reap millions of dollars in savings for Middlesex County.

The owners of an East Brunswick used car center have been charged with stealing about $500,000 from clients who gave them vehicles to sell on consignment and $229,000 from a real estate investor, authorities said.

A 47-year-old Edison man was arrested Tuesday and charged with breaking into an apartment in a complex where residents have been hit by a recent string of burglaries.

Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerMiddlesex County Sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo, left, at the Metuchen Inn in this 2007 file photo with Joe DeMarco.

Middlesex County agreed to pay nearly $1 million to settle a sexual harassment suit that five female sheriff's officers filed against the county and the sheriff's department.

Two South Brunswick women have been charged in a string of violent purse snatchings in retail parking lots in Edison and Monroe, police said.

A Perth Amboy man died in a fire early Saturday morning inside his apartment near the corner of Johnstone and Ridgeley streets, a fire official said.

MONROE TOWNSHIP -- Two Monroe High School students are accused of assaulting a girl on a school bus.

A former Republican candidate for Middlesex County freeholder and a former federal prosecutor have been sworn in as Superior Court judges in Middlesex County.

The corruption trial of Jersey City deputy mayor Leona Beldini is underway and jurors watched their first clips of hidden camera video.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, is expected to be named chairman of the New Jersey Democratic Party when the party's state committee meets Wednesday night in Jamesburg.

Manny Singh of North Brunswick, the new owner of Mist, a hookah lounge opening in March in North Brunswick, recently conferred with students from Middlesex County College.