APP.com Week in Review: Sept. 9

Welcome to our Week in Review, where we share the top stories from the last seven days. We know you have a busy life and may have missed these, so check 'em out!

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Here are some News stories you may have missed:

NJ marijuana: Neptune could have 1st grow facility in Monmouth County

🔒 Imagine going from breaking your son's bong in 2007 to becoming a cannabis manufacturer with him in 2023, opening the first grow facility in Monmouth County. Virginia Papa-Horning was cleaning her house 16 years ago when she found her son Chris' bong. Marijuana was still illegal in New Jersey back then, and after finding the paraphernalia she threw it in a recycling bin and smashed it with a brick. READ MORE

Middletown St. Leo the Great teacher donates kidney to colleague

🔒 Holmdel native Lauren Crupi’s kidneys started failing when she was 25. The slow, steady decline left her struggling last year as she taught sixth and seventh graders and raised two small children. “I was anemic, lethargic, nauseous, cold all the time, easily out of breath,” she said. “My coloring was gray. I wasn’t able to do a lot. I really expended all of my energy here (at school). When I got home, I would crash.” READ MORE

NJ legal weed sales growth: Inside the 'tug of war' over cannabis

When it comes to the roaring success — or critical failure — of the New Jersey cannabis industry, fingers are pointing in every direction. The dispensary operators. The regulators. The legislators. The black market. But in reality? READ MORE

Here are some Sports stories you may have missed:

Shore Conference field hockey: Preseason Top 20 rankings

🔒 An exciting Shore Conference scholastic field hockey season got underway on Thursday. This season, the Shore Conference has gone to a sports-specific philosophy of aligning its divisions by strength of program, geography and enrollment. READ MORE

Shore Conference football: Pinelands Regional sophomore tackling gender barrier

🔒 The scene was indistinguishable from countless other high school football practices playing out across the country on a sweltering late-summer morning, as linemen squared off in one-on-one drills at Pinelands Regional High School. And that’s the beauty of the Holly Lucas story. READ MORE

RU football: Mohamed Toure's return big lift for Rutgers football defense

🔒 Mohamed Toure admitted he shed a tear when he took the field on Sunday. After the last year, the Rutgers football linebacker couldn’t avoid his emotions. The Pleasantville native missed all of last season with a torn ACL that he suffered in spring practices. It was a crushing blow for the Scarlet Knights defense to be without Toure, who led the team in sacks the previous two seasons. READ MORE

Here are some Business stories you may have missed:

Asbury Park salon offers holistic haircare, skincare, bodycare & soulcare

🔒 Jennifer Oakley owns Artemis Ethos in Asbury Park, which she calls a holistic salon offering "haircare, skincare, bodycare and soulcare." But she started on this journey as a 12-year-old who cut and styled her neighbors’ hair. READ MORE

Point Pleasant Beach art gallery owner makes paintings with beeswax

🔒 A native of coastal Connecticut, Jim Inzero grew up loving nature and the arts. And he successfully combined those two passions in his 2018 launch of Jim Inzero Contemporary Encaustic Paintings, a Point Pleasant Beach-based studio and gallery featuring Inzero’s tranquil paintings — all created using the unique medium of color fired into layers of beeswax. READ MORE

High inflation still hurts many Americans. This is how they're coping.

Two years of high inflation has many Americans shopping in places they wouldn’t normally, scouring for coupons and discounts and learning to do without. The hit to the average budget is huge: The typical household spent $202 more in July than they did a year ago to buy the same goods and services, tweeted Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi. "And they spent $709 more (in July) than they did two years ago." READ MORE

Here are some Entertainment stories you may have missed:

Fountain Casino in Aberdeen welcomed Joan Jett, Chuck Berry and more

🔒 It's now a banquet hall and wedding venue called Addison Park, with a capacity of up to 800 for receptions. But at the very end of the 1970s and at the start of the 1980s, the Route 35 building in Aberdeen was a discotheque and concert hall, which drew capacity crowds for artists like Bon Jovi, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and R.E.M. READ MORE

Best pizza in NJ: Yelp, Washington Post picked these spots

Here in New Jersey, we don't need anyone telling us where to find good pizza. We all have our favorite neighborhood spots, plus a long list of pizzerias we can't wait to try. There are Facebook groups and Instagram pages dedicated to New Jersey pizza, and no matter where you go in the Garden State, you are never far from a great pie. READ MORE

Famous people: New Jersey is home to many well-known actors

Everyone knows the musical talent that reps New Jersey. And according to a new study from TicketSource, a free online ticketing platform, the Garden State should be known for its on-screen talent, too. READ MORE

A look back at the Asbury Park Press archives:

Bruce Springsteen: Tour the Jersey Shore spots that made The Boss famous

Greetings from Asbury Park. Fans of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band come from around the world to visit the sites in Monmouth County where the Boss and his bandmates played, stayed and rehearsed. Some of those places have become immortalized in the Boss’ songs. READ MORE

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: News in New Jersey: Week in Review for Sept. 9