New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday approved online gambling within the state's border, a move that he hopes can help boost state revenues and revive Atlantic City casinos.

The measure, announced the same day that Christie unveiled his new budget plan for fiscal 2014, will legalize Internet gaming to New Jersey's 9 million residents and also create opportunities for European companies with expertise in running online gaming operations.

Nevada, home to international gambling Mecca Las Vegas, last week became the first U.S. state to allow interstate online poker.

"We are offering a responsible yet exciting option that will make Atlantic City more competitive, while also bringing financial benefits to New Jersey as a whole," Christie said in a statement.

The Republican governor signed the legislation after Democratic lawmakers agreed to make several changes, including a provision to review the program after 10 years to gauge its impact on problem gambling.

By legalizing internet gaming, New Jersey could see a huge jump in state casino revenue, to an estimated $436 million in fiscal 2014 from $235 million this fiscal year, which ends June 30, according to budget documents.

Earlier this month, the prospect of a quick approval of online gambling in New Jersey spurred gains among gaming companies on both side of the Atlantic amid hopes it could unlock a market worth up to $1 billion.

Updated at 1:29 a.m. ET: Residents of the Northeast eager to get out and about after Superstorm Sandy's rampage discovered Wednesday that they couldn't get very far.

As sunshine spread over the area for the first time since Sandy hit the coast Monday, there were some signs of progress from authorities working round the clock to restore the region to its usual hustle and bustle:

• Wall Street reopened Wednesday.
• Three of seven flooded East River tunnels in New York City were cleared of water Wednesday. Full bus service was restored before being suspended overnight in southern parts of Manhattan. Some train service resumed.
• Very limited subway service was set to resume Thursday — none of it, however, south of 34th Street in Manhattan because of stubborn power failures.
• Two of the area's three major airports — Kennedy in New York and Newark Liberty in New Jersey — reopened with restricted service. New York's LaGuardia Airport was projected to reopen Thursday with limited flight schedules.
• The New York Marathon will go on as planned Sunday, race and city officials said. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said power should be restored to most of the city by then.

"We will get up and get this rebuilt," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said as he surveyed the state's battered coastline with President Barack Obama. And Bloomberg said, "We are on our way back to normal."

For some New Yorkers, it's back to business as usual

But residents who ventured out might not have noticed it.

New York City's beating heart, its 108-year-old subway system, remained largely crippled. Many tunnels connecting the city with its outer boroughs and New Jersey remained closed or restricted. The region's airports offered only minimal service. Packed buses sped past lines stretching around entire city blocks. Many intersections were closed because of accidents caused by inoperative traffic signals.

Subway-dependent businesses see traffic slow to halt

To ease the gridlock, Bloomberg ordered that only cars carrying three or more people would be allowed into the city across four East Side bridges Thursday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, authorized transit officials to waive fares on all commuter railways, subways and buses through Friday night.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P Malloy announced that commuter rail service between Stamford and New York's Grand Central Terminal will resume Thursday morning, and that rail fares for Metro-North service would be waived Thursday and Friday.

Slideshow: Sandy slams into East Coast

Superstorm Sandy made landfall Monday evening on a destructive and deadly path across the Northeast.

Launch slideshow

Resident Anthony Sessions set out from Manhattan for Brooklyn to see for himself what Sandy had left behind.

"It took five buses to get to downtown Brooklyn," Sessions told NBC News. "I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge because of the work in Stuyvesant Town.

"I had no idea what had happened," he said.

Many people turned to rental car agencies for transportation, only to find that they had few cars to rent.

"It's people saying, 'I'm stuck; I've got to get out of here,'" Richard Broome, a spokesman for Hertz Rent-a-Car, told NBC News. "For this kind of activity, you only see it during truly catastrophic events — major natural disasters and, for example, 9/11."

In any event, gas was scarce at the few stations that were open, and lines to get it were backed up as long as an hour.

On one side of an Exxon station in Belleville, N.J., cars stretched down the street, snarling traffic. On the other, people stood in line with gas cans in hand, grabbing as much fuel as they could for cars and generators.

A man from Montclair said his girlfriend's car ran out of fuel in line at another Exxon station. He offered money to people for their empty gas cans, hoping to carry away as much fuel as possible, but he didn't have any takers.

The station's owner told NBC News that the pumps would run out of fuel about 8 p.m. ET. He said Exxon had a new shipment of gas on the way but that it wouldn't be in time to help anyone Wednesday night.

Price gouging was becoming a concern, especially in New Jersey, where about 100 people had called the attorney general's office to complain.

"Some gas stations have raised their prices by 20 to 30 percent in one day," Neal Buccino, a spokesman for the state's Division of Consumer Affairs, told NBC News. "Some hardware stores have doubled the price they charge for generators overnight."

Sandy likely to hit car buyers in the wallet

'We need more fuel'
News agency tallies indicated that Sandy killed at least 63 people in the U.S. after it came ashore Monday night. More than half — 34 — were in New York City, officials told NBC News.

Many of those were drownings on Staten Island, where rescuers going house to house were finding people floating inside their homes, NBC New York reported.

BreakingNews.com's coverage of Sandy

Sandy's effects were still vividly evident from the Atlantic coast to as far inland as Chicago:

• About 6 million homes and businesses — two-thirds in New Jersey and New York — were still without power. Ninety percent of Long Island was without power, and it could take as long as 10 days to restore all service, Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., told MSNBC TV.
• Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius declared a public health emergency for New York, helping to make sure Medicare, Medicaid and children's health beneficiaries continue to receive services.
• About 500 patients at New York City's Bellevue Hospital were evacuated to other hospitals after floodwaters crippled its equipment and power supply.
• New York City schools will be closed the rest of the week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
• Sewage was backing up into homes near a flooded sewage plant in Nassau County on Long Island. Authorities feared that it could spread to thousands of homes.
• The U.N. Security Council had to move because of water damage to parts of U.N. headquarters in Manhattan.
• More than 3 feet of snow had fallen in parts of West Virginia, where 220,000 homes and businesses were without power Wednesday afternoon. Red House, Md., got 30 inches of snow.
• In Chicago, forecasters warned that high waves and flooding were possible on the Lake Michigan shore Wednesday. Sandy caused waves up to two stories high on the Great Lakes, forcing cargo ships — some longer than three football fields — to seek shelter.
• In New Haven, Conn., Sandy blew down a tree that uprooted human remains and what appeared to be a time capsule.
• More than 70 percent of homes remained without power in Greenwich, Conn., where downed trees littered the landscape. In Westport, 85 percent of customers still had no power.

Much of New Jersey, where the storm made landfall, remained in dire straits. Aerial footage Wednesday showed fires raging among storm-damaged homes and sand pushed inland.

Christie ordered that Halloween trick-or-treating be moved to Monday because of the unsafe conditions. Many communities in Connecticut also delayed trick-or-treating.

Hoboken, just across from Manhattan, became a virtual island. At least 20,000 people — about 40 percent of the population — remained stranded Wednesday as 500 million gallons of water overwhelmed the town. Authorities said it would take at least two days to pump all the water out.

The National Guard showed up Wednesday to deliver equipment, food and supplies, but much more is needed, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said.

"We need more food," Zimmer told NBC News. "We need more resources, so anyone who's listening to this in the city of Hoboken or neighboring towns who can who can get to us, we ask you to come and deliver your supplies."

Particularly critical: "We truly need, we need more fuel," she said.

In Brigantine, Obama, Christie and Anthony Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, comforted residents and vowed that every possible resource would be made available.

"We are here for you, and we will not forget," Obama said. "We will follow up to make sure you get all the help you need to rebuild."

Obama praised Christie for putting "his heart and soul into making sure the people of New Jersey bounce back stronger than before."

Christie, in turn, said he and Obama had "a great working relationship." He thanked Obama "for his concern and his compassion for the people of our state," saying it was important to have the president "acknowledge all the suffering that's going on here in New Jersey."

That suffering is likely to stretch for months in New Jersey, where at least 2 million customers remained without electricity.

"All the houses on the oceanfront on the north end of my town — all their bottoms have been washed away," said Thomas Boyd, the police chief in Seaside Heights. "Their foundations are gone."

In Point Pleasant Beach, one of the hardest-hit areas, Lisa and Rich Morico carried away what they could as they left their home for what was likely to be a very long time — "I have no idea" how long, Rich Morico said.

Looking over the remains of their home, he admitted: "I don't want to say in front of my wife."

More content from NBCNews.com:

• As National Guard comes to rescue, so do NJ residents — with power outlets
• For some New Yorkers, it's back to business as usual
• Devastated NY community built by firefighters burned beyond their reach
• For some who stayed behind in New York, it wasn't too bad
• New Jersey investigating reports of price gouging
• Subway-dependent businesses see traffic slow to halt
• Fed up with waiting, air travelers rush rental car counters
• NY's Bellevue Hospital evacuates patients as power stays cut
• Off-duty NYPD officer dies saving his family from Sandy
• Toppled tree exposes skeletal remains, cement box
• Your Sandy photos: Show us the heroes in your life

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New Jersey Governor's Office

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie with Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno in November 2011. Despite Guadagno's involvement in a criminal investigation of pension abuse, Christie has not appointed a special prosecutor.

By Mark Lagerkvist
New Jersey Watchdog

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — a rising star in the national Republican Party — called an overhaul of the state pension system his "biggest governmental victory." He now faces embarrassment from flaws his reforms failed to fix.

The sweeping new laws increase contributions from public workers, decrease benefits and halt cost-of-living hikes. According to Christie, the changes should save the state $120 billion over the next 30 years.

But his reform did little to stop the age-old New Jersey practice of double-dipping, in which employees "retire," start collecting a pension, and then are rehired, often the next day. Christie's own deputy chief of staff collects $219,000 a year from the state — a $130,000 salary as a top aide to the governor plus $89,000 in state pension.

Worse for Christie, a criminal investigation is under way involving his running mate, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.

As a county sheriff in 2008, Guadagno made false statements to enable her chief officer to pocket nearly $85,000 a year in retirement pay while drawing an $87,500 annual salary. The double-dipping scheme first was reported by New Jersey Watchdog in 2010.

The state's investigation is assigned to the Attorney's General's Division of Criminal Justice, a unit where Guadagno once served as deputy director. Despite the apparent conflict, Christie has not appointed a special prosecutor.

A spokesman for Christie and Guadagno declined to comment. The Attorney General's Office did not respond to questions.

Pension abuses are so rampant in New Jersey that even the agency investigating Guadagno has its own controversy.

Twenty-three supervisors and investigators for the Attorney General’s Office and DCJ are using legal loopholes to draw salaries and pension pay, New Jersey Watchdog found. On average, each pockets $164,000 a year — $96,000 in salary and $68,000 in pension.

Most "retired" for just one night. Those officers left their positions with the Attorney General’s Office only to return to the same employer the next morning with new job titles — and two paychecks instead of one.

In a continuing series of investigative reports, New Jersey Watchdog exposed similar double-dipping practices involving 125 officers employed by prosecutors, 18 officials from a state Homeland Security Unit and 44 county sheriffs and undersheriffs — in addition to the Guadagno story.

Democratic State Sen. Fred Madden is a "triple-dipper" who collects more than $241,000 a year from public coffers — $49,000 as a legislator, $106,983 as a police academy dean and an $85,272 pension as a State Police retiree.

"I don't have a problem with it at all," said Madden.

The Guadagno controversy
While Madden and others profit from loopholes in pension rules, the circumstances surrounding Christie's second-in-command raise questions of fraud and deception. 

Guadagno was elected sheriff of Monmouth County in 2007. She previously worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and as an assistant New Jersey attorney general. From 1998 to 2001, Guadagno served as deputy director of the DCJ — the unit now assigned to investigate the case in which she's a major figure.

In 2008, Guadagno hired Michael Donovan Jr., a retired investigator for the county prosecutor, as the sheriff’s “chief of law enforcement division.” She announced the appointment in a memo to her staff.

Monmouth County Sheriff's Office

The focus of a criminal investigation of pension abuse, Chief Michael Donovan takes an oath of office in the Monmouth County, N.J., Sheriff's Office on Sept. 22, 2008. Donovan's job title was fudged to allow him to collect his pension and his pay at the same time. The swearing in was witnessed by his mother, Emily, and then-Sheriff Kim Guadagno, now the state's lieutenant governor. Donovan was sworn in by Judge Lawrence M. Lawson.

But there was a problem. As a sheriff's chief officer — a position covered by the pension system — Donovan would be required to stop receiving pension checks and resume contributions to the state retirement fund.

Guadagno fudged the job title, so Donovan could double-dip. In county payroll records, the oath of office and a news release, Donovan was called the sheriff's "chief warrant officer" — a low-ranking position exempt from the pension system.

A chief warrant officer oversees the service of warrants and other legal documents. In contrast, the sheriff's official website identified Donovan as "sheriff's officer chief," supervising 115 subordinate officers and 30 civilian employees.

On Guadagno’s organizational chart, Donovan was listed as chief of law enforcement — and the position of chief warrant officer was conspicuously absent.

The ruse allowed Donovan to collect an $87,500 salary from Monmouth County in addition to an $85,000 pension as a retired county employee.

A Conflicted Investigation
When Guadagno was elected as Christie's running mate in the 2009 election, she resigned as sheriff.

In 2010, state Treasury pension officials began to ask Monmouth County about retiree Donovan's employment. "I would respectfully request that former Sheriff Guadagno be contacted..." replied her successor, Shaun Golden, in a letter forwarded to the Treasury.

The Treasury denied the existence of any correspondence or email contact with Guadagno or Christie regarding Donovan. Officials also rejected requests for records of the Treasury's inquiry.

In response, New Jersey Watchdog filed a formal complaint with the state Government Records Council, a body consisting of gubernatorial appointees and cabinet officials. One year later, the council has yet to render an advisory opinion.

Meanwhile, the state Police and Firemen's Retirement System's Board of Trustees took action of its own.

"It's a double-whammy," said PFRS chairman John Sierchio. "If you're going to retire under one job title and come back under another title, we have a problem with that. The chief of sheriff is a covered title under the pension system — and they should be contributing instead of drawing out."

The PFRS board voted in May 2011 to call for a criminal investigation of Donovan and parallel instances involving John Dough, of Essex County, and Harold Gibson, of Union County. The case was referred to DCJ.

However, the investigation is riddled with a maze of potential conflicts of interest:

• DCJ is probing allegations involving its own former deputy director, Guadagno.
• Nearly two dozen DCJ investigators and supervisors are "double-dippers" who collect state paychecks and pensions.
• Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, a Christie appointee, is ultimately in charge of the probe of fellow cabinet member Guadagno. Chiesa is also former chief counsel to Christie.
• Despite evidence of possible wrongdoing by his lieutenant governor, Christie has not appointed a special prosecutor or authorized an independent investigation.

One year later, the PFRS board remains in the dark. "I keep asking, but we haven't been told anything," said Sierchio.

New Jersey Governor's Office

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno of New Jersey. When she was a county sheriff, her office fudged a job description and organizational charts to allow an aide to double-dip on his pension. Guadagno has declined to comment.

Sean Conner, a spokesman for Christie and Guadagno, refused to listen to questions about Guadagno's role or the need for a special prosecutor.

"Let me stop you right there," Conner told New Jersey Watchdog. "If it was referred to DCJ, you need to call DCJ."

The Attorney General's Office did not respond to questions about the investigation.

Back in Monmouth County, Donovan has another new job title — but he’s still a double-dipper. In February 2011, Golden named him undersheriff in charge of law enforcement — a strikingly similar position, but one apparently exempt in the labyrinth of pension rules. Donovan currently gets an $86,000 annual pension on top of his $92,000 salary.

While sheriff's chief, Donovan pocketed $227,000 in retirement checks. Since he did not re-enroll in the pension system, he avoided $18,000 in contributions to the retirement fund. If state authorities ultimately determine Donovan violated pension rules, he could be forced to repay $245,000.

Reform...except for double-dipping
Pension fraud and widespread abuse are nothing new in New Jersey.

The federal Securities and Exchange Commission accused New Jersey of pension fraud in 2010. It was the first time the SEC had taken action against a state government over public pension funds.

According to the SEC, New Jersey misled its bond investors from 2001 to 2007 by failing to disclose it had not met its obligation to fund public workers' pension funds. The lawsuit was settled with a cease-and-desist order, which the state accepted without admitting or denying the charges. The alleged fraud occurred on the watch of four previous governors.

Christie vowed to overhaul the pension system. With the state facing a $45 billion pension shortfall when he took office, the new governor spearheaded legislation that he signed into law last year.

"We are putting the people first and daring to touch the third rail of politics to bring reform to unsustainable system," stated Christie in a news release. “We are once again showing the people of New Jersey that our state is leading the way on the biggest challenges before us and remains unafraid to do what is hard, but necessary."

But the reforms did little to halt widespread double-dipping by numerous public employees, including Christie's deputy chief of staff.

Louis Goetting gets $219,000 a year from the state — $130,000 in salary as a top aide to the governor plus $89,000 in state pension payments from an early retirement deal. Christie hired Goetting in 2010 as a budget guru to help trim the cost of government.

In addition, Goetting (pronounced “getting”) received two golden parachutes from public coffers before joining Christie — severance packages of $190,000 from Brookdale Community College in 2009 and $180,000 from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2002.

New Jersey Governor's Office

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has touted his pension reforms, which have done little to halt the practice of double-dipping by public employees, including his deputy chief of staff.

The bottom line: Goetting has gotten more than $1.1 million in pension and severance pay — and he still draws a six-figure salary from the state.

In answer to questions about Goetting's double-dips, the governor's press office has reiterated a statement Christie issued last year: "There is no one in my administration, myself included, who understands about the operation of this government better than Lou Goetting does. And so the people of New Jersey have gotten an incredible bargain.”

Pension reforms will not be complete without an investigative staff to monitor potential abuses, according to PFRS chairman Sierchio. He noted there are 275,000 retirees — but no investigators assigned to review complaints.

"We don't have anybody watching the store," said Sierchio. "We've got an $80 billion pension system, and nobody to investigate anything. Once you get your pension, you never have to look over your shoulder."

New Jersey Watchdog is a news website devoted to public service journalism. Read more about veteran investigative reporter Mark Lagerkvist.

An Investigator views the scene of a school bus crash Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, in Chesterfield, N.J.

Updated at 3:25 p.m. ET CHESTERFIELD, N.J. -- The National Transportation Safety Board is examining how seat belt use factored into the New Jersey school bus crash that killed an 11-year-old triplet and severely injured her two sisters and one other child.

"(The accident) drew our attention because New Jersey is one of six states that has seatbelt requirements on school buses for passengers," Peter Kotowski, the NTSB's chief investigator for this accident, said during a news conference Friday afternoon in Chesterfield, the Burlington County community where the crash occurred.

"The safety board has been interested in occupant protection on school buses for several years, and restraint systems are an important part of what we will be looking at here," Kotowski said.

Natalie was upgraded from critical to stable condition Friday. Sophie remains in critical condition, along with one other student.

Authorities said 25 children were on the bus when the crash occurred, and 17 were injured.

Police have recorded 15 accidents at the same four-way intersection since 2007 — including a minor one on Friday.

Chesterfield Police Chief Kyle Wilson said no charges have been filed and he declined to speculate if any would, noting the investigation is ongoing and much material still needs to be gathered.

"We still have to wait for the toxicology tests to come back, which will take several weeks, and also review the forensics before we can go ahead and determine if any charges are warranted," Wilson said.

Kotowski said NTSB crews would likely remain in the area for about a week to complete this phase of the investigation, but noted that the overall probe could take anywhere from 12 to 16 months to complete.

Both drivers in the crash had no active points on their licenses, according to Motor Vehicle Commission records.

MVC records showed that John Tieman, the 66-year-old school bus driver's most recent violation was for obstructing the passage of another vehicle, a non-points violation, in 2007. He also had a careless driving violation while operating a passenger vehicle in Delanco Township in 1994.

The last violation for the dump truck driver, 38-year-old Michael Caporale, was a reckless driving citation in 2003 in Plumsted Township, according to MVC records. He was ticketed for speeding in Virginia in 1997.

On Thursday, more than 200 mourners packed into pews at the Chesterfield Baptist Church, with more people outside, for a silent vigil, according to nj.com.

“It’s a small town. They were sisters. It’s sad, and we all hurt together,”  Karen Wainwright, a friend and neighbor of the Tezsla family, told the website.

Chesterfield Baptist Church Pastor Edward DeSilva told NBCPhiladelphia.com: “It’s sobering, it’s devastating. You think of your own kids. " 

Lori Morrow, a mom of one of the children on the bus,  talked to NBC10's Lu Ann Cahn Thursday as she was on her way back to the hospital to be with her daughter.

"She saw the dump truck coming at the bus and it didn't look like it was going to stop and she saw it smash right into the bus," Morrow told the NBC affiliate. "It was a couple of seats above her where it smashed into the bus. It was horrendous."

Despite seat belts, the children were thrown about the bus, Morrow told the TV station. "All the kids got thrown into the aisles. They had their seat belts on apparently, but they didn't hold. It was horrible." 

“The family’s grief must be enormous,” New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, said in a statement Thursday night. “We can only imagine their pain, and lend our support and prayers in this most difficult of times. We are sure that all of Chesterfield Township, the family of State Police men and women, and indeed residents all across New Jersey, have the Tezslas in their thoughts and prayers. Our same concerns and prayers extend to the other children aboard the bus, particularly Jonathan Zdybel, the young boy who also remains hospitalized and in critical condition.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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