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ASBURY PARK PRESS OCEAN EDITION THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011 $1.00 COLLEGE A D. SALARIES ON RISE SPORTS C1 WAR ON TERRORISM MONMOUTH IMAM TOE MHO Partner in public, suspect in secret Sheikh Reda Shata ASSOCIATED PRESS Apple founder, 56, dies IT' uj I I 1 i 1 7 -if By Jordan Robertson jiiyt'i'itlritiaaeii-wtuM In this photo taken Monday, Sheikh Reda Shata stands in his mosque, The Islamic Center of Monmouth County in Middletown. The New York Police Department's intelligence squad secretly assigned an undercover officer to monitor him while he served as an imam of a mosque in New York, associated press NYPD spied on prominent Middletown Muslim leader Associated Press I CUPERTINO, Calif. Steve Jobs, the Apple founder and former CEO who invented and masterfully marketed ever-sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone, has died. He was 56.

Apple announced his death without giving a specific cause, i "We are deeply saddened to an-I nounce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the company said in a brief statement Wednesday. "Steve's brilliance, passion and ener-i gy were the source of countless in-t novations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve." Jobs had battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009 after taking a leave of absence for un-i specified health problems. He took another leave of absence in January his third since his health problems began and officially resigned in Au-i gust. Jobs started Apple with a high school friend in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, was forced out a decade later and re-l turned in 1997 to rescue the company.

During his second stint, it grew into the most valuable technology company in the world. i Cultivating Apple's countercultural i sensibility and a minimalist design ethic, Jobs rolled out one sensational product after another, even in the face of the late-2000s recession and his own failing health. He helped change computers from a geeky hobbyist's obsession to a necessity of modern life at work and home, and in the process he upended not just personal technology but the cellphone and music industries. For transformation of American industry, he has few rivals. Perhaps most influentially, Jobs in See JOBS, Page A14 a4 HI I "This is very sad.

What is your feeling if you see this about people you trusted?" SHEIKH REDA SHATA, after seeing his name in the NYPD file By Eileen Sullivan Associated Press The New York Police Department's intelligence squad secretly assigned an undercover officer to monitor a prominent Muslim leader who now heads a mosque in Middletown even as he 'decried terrorism, cooperated with the police, dined with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and was the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning series by The New York Times about Muslims in America. Sheikh Reda Shata was among those singled out for surveillance because of his "threat potential" and what the NYPD considered links to organizations associated with terrorism, despite having never been charged with any crime, according to secret police documents obtained by Jl The Islamic Center of Monmouth County, on Red Hill Road in Middletown. dustin racioppistaff photo See IMAM, Page A2 1 4UCIWC PCINT tKILL ECONOMY GAS PRICES Motorists get a break, but outlook still bleak worth of food at Starting Point Grill in Point Pleasant Serving breakfast lunch dinner daily Fresh broiled seafood specials, steaks pasta Don't miss the homemade soups desserts Parking lot available behind the restaurant Goto: DailyDeal. njbestbuys.com jerseyshore TRANSPORTATION HIGHWAY PROJECTS Construction workers to drivers: Slow down Officials hold roadside safety class By Larry Higgs Staff Writer EAST WINDSOR Imagine your workplace had traffic ripping by at speeds of 75 mph or more on one side of your desk and giant construction machinery capable of crushing you on the other side. That's the peril faced daily by construction crews working on highway, road and bridge projects.

Their safety trainers gave the same advice Wednesday to drivers that they give to workers pay attention because complacency can cost someone an injury or even their life. "Drivers are distracted. Sometimes they don't see the lane changes and they end up on the wrong side (of the construction zone), where the guys are working," said Greg LaLevee, business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825. He recalled during a job installing sound barriers on Interstate 78 seeing drivers pull into the work zone two to five times a night either to ask directions or by mistake, thinking they were still on the highway. "We run heavy machinery.

There's a lot of responsibility in our hands. We work in traffic," he said. "We'd ask drivers to slow down in work zones. There are too many accidents and too many On Wednesday, LaLevee was one of several instructors and union officials holding a roadside safety class for construction workers working on the massive New Jersey Turnpike widening project as part of a larger annual training effort by the Associated General Contractors of New Jersey and several trade unions. Of the 87,400 workers injured on job sites in the state during 2009, 600 were hurt on highway, street and bridge projects, according to the U.S.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Several workers and trainers said drivers could pick up some safety hints from the training as well, especially about being alert, avoiding distractions and never assuming "the other guy" sees you coming. "Major accidents happen when you assume someone sees you," said Harry Silverglate, instructor for the Heavy and General Construction Laborers Local 472, who led a refresher course for labjsrers about the dangers of waking around big See WORKERS, Paqe A13 By Michael L. Diamond Staff Writer Before she hit the road Wednesday, Erika Barthelmas found a gasoline station near Atlantic City and filled up for $3.17 a gallon. A quick calculation showed the transaction was $5 less expensive than a month ago not enough to buy a pizza.

But the Ventnor resident was not so quick to dismiss it. "I'm retired, and every little bit helps," Barthelmas, 70, said at a Garden State Parkway rest stop in Wall before continuing her drive to Marlboro. Gasoline prices have fallen this week, bringing relief, particularly to low- and middle-income consumers who have been under relentless pressure from rising prices and stagnant wages. The drop, experts say, may be welcome news, but it is nothing to celebrate. The price of crude oil has declined because investors are worried the global economy and its demand for oil are headed for a slowdown.

"We're looking at better prices, but it's a little like saying if the Yankees lose, we'll save money on ticker tape," said Tom Klo-za, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall. It would be nice if the U.S. had a technological breakthrough to ease its dependence on oil, "but that's not what's behind this. This is economic malaise and the fear that the See GAS, Page A13 FALLING GAS PRICES U.S. average Wednesday: $3.40 U.S.

average one month ago: $3.66 U.S. average one year ago: $2.73 N.J. average Wednesday: $3.33 N.J. average one month ago: $3.56 N.J. average one year ago: $2.56 Monmouth-Ocean average Wednesday Monmouth-Ocean average one month ago: $3.55 Monmouth-Ocean average one year ago: $2.54 Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon average Wednesday: $3.34 Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon average one month ago: $3.57 Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon average one year ago: $2.58 Camden average Wednesday: $3.26 Camden average one month ago: $3.52 Camden average one year ago: $2.53 Source: AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report ADVICE B7 CLASSIFIED D1 COMICS B6 LOTTERIES A2 OBITUARIES A19 OPINION A15 SPORTS C1 TV B3 ASDury ParK Press daily.