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ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION

FEDS: NEPTUNE VET

TRIED TO JOIN ISIS
Man, 47, was
arrested in
Asbury Park in
January, charged
with attempt to
provide support
to terror group
WEDNESDAY 03.18.15
COURTESY FACEBOOK

Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh. If found guilty of the charges against him, he could face up to 35 years in prison.

JAY SMITH, JEAN MIKLE, NICQUEL TERRY

AND ANDREW FORD
@JAYSCOTTAPP, @JEANMIKLE, @NTERRYAPP AND @ANDREWFORDNEWS

NEPTUNE Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, a Neptune man accused of attempting to join the terrorist
group ISIS, long harbored ill feelings toward the United States and planned on defending the Islamic
State, according to a federal indictment made public
Tuesday.
Born and raised in the United States, Pugh allegedly turned his back on his country and attempted to

travel to Syria in order to join a terrorist organization, said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in announcing the indictment.
Pugh, 47, was charged in U.S. District Court in
New York with attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group ISIS, also known as ISIL,
and obstruction of justice. He faces a maximum of 35
years in prison. Pugh will plead not guilty, his attorney Michael Schneider told CNN.
See ISIS, Page 5A

To read the indictment, visit

Gov boosts PARCC

N.J. job growth:

Slow improvement
counts as progress

Says hes discouraged

so many students are
opting out of testing

MICHAEL L. DIAMOND @MDIAMONDAPP

PARCCs a problem. Maybe they have

New Jersey finally might be joining the jobs recovery.

The state added 12,400 jobs in January, and the past
two years werent as bleak as first thought, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday.
It wasnt enough to employ everyone who looked for
a job; the unemployment rate climbed to 6.3 percent in
January from 6.2 percent in December. But the Garden
State is no longer near the bottom in job growth. Its tied
for 37th nationwide, alongside Nebraska and Alaska.
Weve gone from a snails pace to a tortoises pace,
quipped Patrick J. OKeefe, director of economic research for CohnReznick, an accounting firm.
New Jersey has struggled to find its way since the
recession ended in 2009. It has the nations highest foreclosure rate. Its pharmaceutical companies and casinos
have downsized. The suburban landscape so attractive
to baby boomers has fallen out of favor with the massive millennial generation, whose members would prefer to walk and take mass transit. And its high cost of
living has been viewed as a burden by workers and employers alike.
The result: New Jersey job growth has been less
than half as fast as the nations, leaving it still shy of

ESP. I dont.

See JOBS, Page 6A

MICHAEL SYMONS @MICHAELSYMONS_

FREEHOLD Gov. Chris Christie, taking on critics of
PARCC, said Tuesday hes discouraged that so many
people are making what he called a shortsighted decision to opt students out of taking the new standardized
tests.
Christie addressed the topic at a town hall meeting at
the National Guard Armory in response to a question
from a student at Long Branch High School, who noted
that lots of kids are opting out of it.
Christie said that its important for schools to administer a common test and that people should give the
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College
and Careers (PARCC) tests a fair chance before determining whether they should be scrapped.
What Ive said to folks is: I hear your concerns
about PARCC. I dont know how they know yet that
PARCCs a problem. Maybe they have ESP. I dont,
Christie said. So were going to see the results that
come in this year on the PARCC test. Im discouraged
that people are opting out. Its their ability to do it. I
think its shortsighted to do that, but thats their conclusion and call.
Christie told the student that a commission is studying the issue and will recommend whether to make
changes. He said that plenty of people have taken the
PARCC, which began to be administered this month,
and that officials will have a representative amount of
results when we have to make a judgment.

APP.com

MARK R. SULLIVAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Gov. Chris Christie holds a town hall meeting at the National

Guard armory in Freehold on Tuesday.

I dont know how they know yet that

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE

6.3%

12,400

Unemployment
rate up from
6.2% in December

New jobs in
New Jersey
in January

AT A TOWN HALL MEETING IN FREEHOLD

See CHRISTIE, Page 6A

ISRAELI RACE FOR PRIME MINISTER TOO CLOSE TO CALL PAGE 1B

Sweet spell of success

Students tackle the last round of the annual
Regional Spelling Bee. Find out who won, 3A

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VOLUME 136
NUMBER 66

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