An engineer in Hunterdon County is building up a small business that saves big money on energy costs for his customers.

The one catch: There's a big upfront investment. For one of Mike Strizki's New Jersey customers, that means sinking a half-million dollars on top of a million he's already budgeted to build a house.

``It's not cheap right now, that's for sure," said Chris Knepper, also an engineer, who's constructing a French-styled country home about a mile from where Strizki lives in East Amwell.

Photos by Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerEdmond Thornhill works on building a turret at the house in Hopewell Twp. that Chris Kneppers is building to have geothermal energy, solar and hydrogen.

An engineer in Hunterdon County is building up a small business that saves big money on energy costs for his customers.

The one catch is, there's a big upfront investment. For one of Mike Strizki's New Jersey customers, that means sinking a half-million dollars on top of a million he's already budgeted to build a house.

ED MURRAY/THE STAR-LEDGERChris Kneppers is building a new home in Hopewell Township, with help from Mike Strizki, chief technology officer of Renewable Energy International, using a solar- and hydrogen-based system.

In a wooded neighborhood of Raritan Township, Sarah Nojiri walks through an empty colonial with a dining room big enough to fit the large furniture her grandmother gave her.

She can't wait to hold family dinner parties inside her first home, and she loves the location in Hunterdon County with easy access to Route 202.

Mia Song/The Star-LedgerSarah Nojiri, left, who is buying her first home in Flemington, does a walk-through with her Weichert Realtor, Paula Anastasio.

Delaware Valley Regional High School has fired its transportation supervisor, Sue Schaible, allegedly for insubordination and use of a racial slur.

Flood-control and environmental groups want more water to be released from three upstate New York reservoirs to lessen the risk of flooding along the Delaware River.

The seven groups have asked New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the governors of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania to get the water released. The mayor and governors jointly control the operation of the three reservoirs.

Leonard Lance

Leonard Lance will be sworn in as a member of Congress on Tuesday.

Where he'll sleep for the next few weeks is still to be decided.

Mr. Lance, the Clinton Township Republican elected to his first term in November, hasn't found an apartment in Washington yet, victimized by the frenzy of people who'll attend the swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20.

For Margery and John Geddes, a typical walk with their three dogs often ends at the icon of their neighborhood, the towering Barnegat Lighthouse.

But now, something has changed about Old Barney, the red-and-white icon that has stood perched at the northernmost tip of Long Beach Island since 1858.

Its beacon extinguished 82 years ago, the 163-foot brick structure now flashes an intense beam of light out the glass windows. This evening it was lit up 150 years to the day it first started guiding ships to safety along a treacherous point of land.

Newborn Andrew Ochojski arrived at 10:19 p.m. Baby boy Sejra (no first name yet) made his way into the world at 11 p.m. Not to be outdone, Nylah Malcolm was born at 11:12 p.m. New Year's Eve.

Sure, the first baby of the new year typically gets the attention. But it's the last ones born as the minutes tick away in the old year that deliver a healthy tax break to mom and dad come April.

At a time when the economy has cratered and job losses are mounting, those tax savings add up.

CHRIS FAYTOK/THE STAR-LEDGERKimberly and Eric Ochojski of Clifton are the proud parents of Andrew Eric Ochojski, born at 10:19 p.m. on New Year's Eve, hence securing them a tax write-off.