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MYCENTRALJERSEY.COM HOMENEWSTRIBUNE 3A to miss budget deadline Congress will blow past the Friday eadline to pass a bill to pay for running the federal government and will prepare ashort-term package to keep the government open while negotiators work on a longer-term bill, Republican leaders said Tuesday. Funding for federal agencies runs out Dec.11, and lawmakers have been negotiating a bill to approve paying for government operations through 2016. medical bills a struggle For the fourth straight year, fewer Americans are struggling to pay medical bills, according to a government survey released Tuesday. Most of the progress has come among low-income people and those with government coverage. The data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the umber of people in households that faced problems paying medical bills decreased by 12million from the half of 2011 through the six months of this year.

Los practiced at gun range Days before killing 14 people at a holiday party, Syed Farook practiced with a ri at a Southern California shooting range, authorities said. Sometimes he as joined by his wife, his partner in the attack. Farook visited Riverside Magnum Range on Nov.29 and 30, according to an instructor at the range 20 miles from the I nland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, where the couple opened Dec.2 on co-workers. Nation World atch From Gannett and wire reports MSNBC. The survey ndings come less than two months before he Iowa caucuses on Feb.1 start a cascade of contests designed to choose the nominees.

What seems likely to follow in the general election, at least at the moment, is a margin-of-error contest in which neither party starts with a commanding advantage. In hypothetical head-to-heads, Clin- his statement Monday calling for a and total on all Muslims entering he United States until concerns about terrorism can be addressed. He likened his actions to those taken by President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II against Japanese Americans and others. you look at what he was doing, it was far he said on WASHINGTON Donald Trump not only continues to lead the Republican presidential in anew USA olk University Poll the overwhelming majority of his supporters also say they would vote for him if he leaves the GOP and runs as an independent. The nationwide survey, taken Wednesday through Sunday, nds a trio of Republican candidates who show emerging national strength Trump, Texas en.

Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as other once- serious contenders struggle for traction. A nd in a chilling sign for Republicans, 68percent of backers say they would vote for the billionaire businessman if he runs as an independent rather than a Republican; just 18percent say hey The rest were undecided. Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton has widened her lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to nearly 2-1, 56per- cent to 29percent.

The poll of 1,000 likely voters was taken before the latest Trump this time over on leads Trump by 4percentage points, Cruz by 2 and Ben Carson by 1. Rubio leads Clinton by 3 points. Both front-runners have made negative impressions among voters. For Clinton, 54percent have an unfavorable view of her, 39percent a favorable one putting her image by 15 points. But that is dwarfed by Trump, who is viewed favorably by 30percent, unfavorably by 60percent a 30-point gap hat raises alarm among some Republican strategists about his electability in November.

here is an almost even divide among those who have an unfavorable opinion of both Trump and Clinton: 45percent ay they dislike Clinton more; 42percent dislike Trump more. mantra is Anybody But Clinton or says David Paleologos, director of Su Political Research Center. More than 1 i 5 of those surveyed fall into this category. each is their respective nominees, the poll tells us that the majority of the country does not see either candidate as acceptable, which means that the race for president may come down to which candidate voters view as the lesser of two of Trump backers would vote for him if he leaves GOP But Republican strategists worry about his electability Susan Page USA TODAY MIC In a new USA olk University poll, Donald Trump is viewed favorably by 30percent, unfavorably by 60percent a gap that raises alarm among some Republican strategists about his electability. The Twitterverse had a good time comparing Republican presidential fr ont-runner Donald Trump to evildoer Lor Voldemort after Trump proposed to ban all Muslims from entering the USA.

But J.K. Rowling summed up her view in a tweet Tuesday: horrible. Voldemort was nowhere near as bad. LIFE HE WHO SHALL BE NAMED TOO OFTEN WARNER BROS. PICTURES MONEY AmericasMarkets.usatoday.com INDEXCLOSECHG Dow Jones Industrial Avg.

1 7568 1 62.51 asdaq composite 5 098.24 3 .57 500 2 063.59 1 3.48 note, 10-year yield2.22% 0.01 Oil, light sweet crude 37.72 0 .07 uro (dollars per 0.0047 Yen per dollar123.05 0.28 SOURCES USA TODAYRESEARCH, MARKETWATCH.COM TUESDAY ARKETS SYCHIC AIR Shirley Ann Third Saturday of Every Month Holiday Inn Somerset NUMEROLOGY ASTROLOGY PALMING CRYSTAL GAZING TAROT CARDS AURAS 11am-6pm Sat. December 19, 2015 Information (973) 770-9511 (973) 723-8238 Holiday Inn 195 Davidson Ave. Somerset www.psychicfairnetwork.com AP-5000773388 Nearly twice as many bears were killed Monday as on the first day of New 2014 hunt. The state Department of Environment Protect ion reported 216 black bears were harvested Monday, up from 124 on he first day last year. Most of the bears were killed in Sussex County, a total of 138.

Warren County was second with 41and assaic County was third at 20. orris County was ourth with 15 bears killed. The only other ounty with recorded kills as Bergen with two. Other counties that had hunt- i ng areas were Hunterdon, Somerset and Mercer. Hunters had to purchase permits that were specific to one of five areas, encompassing about 1,000 square miles.

Areas 1and 2 had the most recorded kills, tied with 67 each; 56 bears were killed in Area 3 and 26 in Area 4. No bears were killed in Area 5, which cover the area south of Route 78 in the western half of the state and a short distance east of Route 287. A reas 1, 2, and 3 are orth of Route 80 and west of Route 287. Area 4 is between Route 80 and Route 7 8, and west of Route 287. Most of Morris County is in a bear hunting zone.

The majority of the count is in areas 3 and 4, with a small portion in area 2. East of Route 287 in the county is part of Area 5. DEP spokesman Bob Considine said the 216 irst-day figure is the large st number since the hunt returned in 2010. The irst-day number that year was about 240, he aid. big number further justifies the need for the hunt.

It shows the ears are out there, that 2 16 bears can be taken in a Considine said. is the most densely opulated state, and densely populated for the black bears, too. trying to prevent bear-hum an Those who oppose the hunt debate its effectiveness in preventing those interactions. New Jersey aid we needed a hunt, it as to protect public safety and to get rid of aggress ive said Jeff Tittel, director of the New ersey Sierra Club. five years of a hunt just the opposite has happened; we have seen ag- ressive bear incidents inc Tittel said the state should focus on developing a management plan to reduce bear and human interactions and on keeping garbage and food out of reach for black bears.

The number of bears killed in 2010 was about 6 00 but dropped to between 250 and 300 in recent years, though wild- ife officials credit bad weather for low numbers the past few hunting seasons. Typically, there is a ig drop-off in numbers after the first day of the unt, as fewer hunters articipate. There tends to be a second uptick on aturday, the final day, hen many hunters do not have to work. Consid ine said too early to project numbers for the entire week but he credited good weather and extended hunting zones as contributions to the large number of bears killed Monday. He also said the 8,200 permits sold were the most since the hunt sold all 10,000 in 2010, which may be because of a possible four-day extension of the hunt if objectives are not met for managing the bear population.

Considine said the oal is to harvest 20 per- ent of the projected population. Bear kills way up on first day MICHAEL IZZO WARREN ANew Jersey Fish and Wildlife official is behind the bear eing weighed at the Whittingham Wildlife Management Area in Fredonon Monday. TRENTON Gov. Chris Christie has nominated two Central Jersey attorneys to be judges. omerville Borough Councilman Robert Wilson has been nominated be a Superior Court Judge, while former Middlesex Borough Municipal Court Judge George Psak has been ominated to be a judge in Workmen's Compen- ation Court.

ilson, who has practiced law since 1994, has erved on the Somerville orough Council since 2000. If his nomination is onfirmed by the state Senate, Wilson, a Democrat, will have to resign his seat on the Borough Council. The vacancy will be filled after the borough's Democrat Municipal Committee submits three names to the Borough Council from which to fill the vacancy. Wilson, of Kovacs and Wilson in Somerville, has been a municipal prosecutor in Plainfield since 2005. Agraduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Wilson has been an active member of the New ersey and Somerset County Bar Associations.

From 2004 through 2 008, he was a member of Somerset County District XIII Attorney's Fee Arbitration Committee. He has also served as co-chair- an of the Somerset County Bar Association riminal Practice Comm ittee is co-chairman of its municipal Court Prac- ice Committee. sak, a Readington resident, is the senior manag- i ng partner at Psak Associates in Middlesex Borough. He was municipal court judge in Middlesex Borough from 1990 to 2013. He previously served as municipal court prosecutor starting in 1980.

He was attorney for the Bound Brook Board of Health for 20 years and is counsel to the Middlebrook Regional Health Commission. Governor nominates two to serve as judges MIKE DEAK state.