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  “ This N.J. town erected barriers to hold back the sea. A public fight erupted ,”  by The Washington Post’s Brady Dennis:   “From atop the local lifeguard headquarters, Mayor Patrick Rosenello looks out over the shrinking shoreline of his hometown. To the north, past the kaleidoscope of umbrellas that dot the beach, he can see the massive bulkheads the city has installed to hold back the encroaching sea — the same ones at the heart of an ongoing fight with the state, which has sued North Wildwood and fined it more than $8.5 million for that and other work it says was unauthorized, misguided and destructive. Rosenello can also glimpse the signs he posted along beach entrances this summer, bearing photos of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and the state’s top environmental officer, calling them ‘directly responsible’ for failing to fix the erosion problems here. …  The peculiar, acrimonious fight playing out along the Jersey Shore is, in one sense, an outlier — a rare...

 “ Republican sues over ‘statistical impossibility’ of Democrats’ winning streak in ballot drawings ,”  by New Jersey Monitor’s Dana DiFilippo:   “On Monday, the Essex County clerk held a drawing to see which political party would get the preferential first line on the ballot for the Nov. 7 general election. Such drawings happen all over the state around this time and usually generate little hubbub. But this time, the Republicans won the coveted Line A in Essex County — for the first time in 17 years and on the same day a Republican state Senate candidate sued County Clerk Chris J. Durkin for ‘nefarious conduct’ the candidate said ensured Democrats’ statistically improbable 17-year winning streak. Such a win might delight other Republicans.  But Michael D. Byrne, the GOP candidate vying for retiring Democratic Sen. Dick Codey’s seat, remained just as suspicious after Monday’s drawing as he was when he filed his lawsuit in Superior Court earlier in the day. Friday, he...