DANIEL HULSHIZER Aarab Zutshi, 3, Avenel, reaches out to touch a model train, as he and his father, Dushyant Zutshi, look at the holiday model train display at the Barron Arts Center in Woodbridge on Dec. 1. More ... Firm confident former General Dynamics site safe Toxins found near three property lines, but said to be no threat to residents BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer       After preliminary testing, only the borders of three residential property lines - two on Lehigh Avenue and one on Dartmouth Avenue - have been found to contain lead, arsenic, and base neutral compounds in the Avenel section of the township. More ... Choo-choo!      PHOTOS BY DANIEL HULSHIZER staff Two children look at the holiday model train display at the Barron Arts Center in Woodbridge on Dec. 1. Mike Gelesky, of Colonia, foreground, operates the holiday model train display he created. More ... Fortin found guilty of murder, other charges Could face life in prison plus 20 years, if he is spared the death penalty BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer       NEW BRUNSWICK - After approximately nine hours of deliberation and three weeks of testimony in the second trial for Steven Fortin, the nineman, three-woman jury last week found the former Carteret handyman guilty of the 1994 capital murder of Melissa Padilla in the Avenel section of Woodbridge To... More ... Counting for the birds Local bird watchers to begin annual census of bird population BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer       WOODBRIDGE - Avid bird watchers are gearing up for the 108th National Audubon Society's Annual Christmas Bird Count. There are counts in Middlesex County as well as in the surrounding areas, including Somerset County, Sandy Hook, Long Branch, Assunpink, and Princeton. The Great Swamp-Watchung Ri... More ... J-E-T-S Jets!      Clockwise from top left: It was all about the New York Jets at the Port Reading Elementary School No. 9 as the school hosted New Jersey State Secretary of Agriculture Charles Kuperus and Jets football players for their Eat Right, Move More award on Nov. 27. Jets player D'Brickashaw Ferguson speaks a... More ... Havoc wreaked on parked cars at Sheraton BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer       WOODBRIDGE - Vandals swept through the parking lot of the Sheraton Hotel on Route 1 south over the weekend. Ten vehicles in total were broken into between 6 p.m. Dec. 1 and 10 a.m. Dec. 2, according to police reports. More ... Township to vote on child care center ordinance Measure will require home-based facilities to register with clerk BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer       WOODBRIDGE - Stemming from an August incident that left an 11-month-old Carteret boy dead at a home-based day-care center in Iselin, the Township Council introduced a Child Care Center Ordinance at a Township Council meeting in November. More ... Tidings of comfort and cheer       Now in its 15th season, Holiday Express is a traveling Christmas party, a from-the-heart troupe of musicians bringing music, friendship, help and hope to those often left out in the cold at this most special time of the year. More ... Woodbridge couple indicted for robbing elderly woman Pair accused of defrauding 80-year-old with dementia of $400,000 BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer       MIDDLESEX COUNTY - A Middlesex County grand jury has indicted a Woodbridge husband and wife for allegedly taking over $400,000 from their 80-year-old neighbor, who was diagnosed with a form of dementia in 2005, and allegedly using $300,000 to refurbish their home, open a restaurant in Piscataway ... More ... Middlesex County celebrates adoption National Adoption Day observed with 16 families adopting 21 children BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer       NEW BRUNSWICK - Yellow. Pink. Purple. Green. The fluorescent balloons are everywhere. Gift bags line the floor, filled with toys. Kids are holding Spider- Man coloring books. A young boy sits with his hair gelled, in a suit tailor-made for the happiest of occasions, ready for his big moment: He i... More ... In the Service       Army 2nd Lt. Ryan C. Daly has arrived for duty at Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Ga. Daly, a platoon leader, has one year of military service. He is the son of Bruce G. and Judith M. Daly of Woodbridge. The lieutenant graduated in 2002 from St. Joseph's High School, Metuchen, and received a bachelor's... More ...