Headlines from this week lead us into Erika’s story about the Trooper Youth Week Program.  It’s an annual summer camp sponsored by the New Jersey State Police.  It gives kids a first hand glimpse of what it’s like to be a State Trooper.  Campers live in military barracks for 5 days, while learning the skills and discipline of recruit life.

For more information about the Trooper Youth Week program click HERE

After campaigns that allowed fans to appear in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and attend the movie's premiere, online charity platform Omaze and Lucasfilm have teamed for the biggest Star Wars: Force for Change project yet: one that celebrates the past, present and future of the franchise with three separate prizes to delight fans.

The new campaign, offers something for every generation of Star Wars fan: One winner and their guest will get to spend a night at Skywalker Ranch, all expenses paid, with a private screening of Star Wars: A New Hope and tour of the Star Wars archives thrown in for good measure; a second will get to attend the premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi with a guest, complete with red-carpet walk and access to the afterparty; a third will visit the set of the Han Solo movie, meet directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller and have the chance to appear in the finished movie. (Additionally, one winner will get to experience all three past, present and future experiences.)

The latest Force for Change campaign is the third collaboration between Lucasfilm, the Walt Disney Company and Omaze, and follows two campaigns linked to The Force Awakens in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The first collaboration alone raised a total of $4.26 million for UNICEF Innovation Labs, a figure that remains the high watermark for an Omaze campaign to date.

"Our goal at Omaze is that we believe that any audience has an opportunity to create impact," Omaze co-founder Ryan Cummins tells Heat Vision, "To be able to partner with a property like Star Wars, there's no bigger audience. To be able to launch these type of experiences, it definitely makes giving fun and easy."

The California-based company's relationship with Lucasfilm and Disney dates back to 2014, when The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams and his wife Katie McGrath were in early discussions with the studios about the potential of Star Wars beyond movies. "While they were launching [The Force Awakens], they wanted to see whether they could do more than just launch the movie, but whether they could create something that could have a real impact," Cummins says.

He continues, "We were fortunate to be involved in those conversations early on, and it was really at the time that [Lucasfilm, Disney and Abrams' Bad Robot] were coming together. In some ways, Omaze was really fortunate to be sitting in the middle to offer them an opportunity to leverage that fan base toward good. We couldn't be more grateful that they were willing to take a chance on us, and we couldn't be happier with the result."

The result goes far beyond creating opportunities for fans to meet their idols or appear in their dream movies — and also beyond the funds raised for worthy organizations. (The latest Star Wars campaign will benefit UNICEF and Starlight Children's Foundation.) For Cummins and Omaze, the success of each campaign builds toward a much bigger ultimate goal.

"As big as this campaign is, I think we're only scratching the surface of what can be accomplished in the charity world," he says. "Individual giving, just here in the U.S., is a $330 billion market, and about 7 percent of that — just 7 percent — takes place online. Really, the whole philanthropic market is living in the past. We really see these types of campaigns as just the beginning for being able to run more and more and more of these, scaling up the number of campaigns and partnering with foundations so that they can amplify their influence, and then taking all this experience international. We really want to innovate philanthropic giving, and make it fun."

More information about the new Star Wars: Force for Change campaign can be found here.

Before the days of digital music players, compact discs, cassette tapes and even the phonograph, people were entertained by mechanical music makers in their own homes. And before television, many relied on automated toys for amusement. The nation’s largest collection of such machines – and one of the largest in the world – was assembled by brewing heir Murtogh Guinness, and it’s at the Morris Museum.

A clown that loses its head and gets it back. A ten-foot high mechanical one-man band. A fairground organ that booms out ragtime tunes. A box that teaches birds to sing. All these amazing, 19th century mechanical marvels and more are on view, many for the first time ever, at the Morris Museum in the permanent exhibition Musical Machines & Living Dolls!

The exhibition features over 150 pieces from its world-renowned Murtogh D. Guinness collection of mechanical musical instruments and automata. Largely dating to the 19th century, these ingenious objects once brought animated, musical entertainment to private settings and public places. Now, through video and audio technology, hands-on activities and live demonstrations of select instruments, visitors can see and hear these beautiful and intriguing historic objects and experience for themselves a largely lost chapter in entertainment history.

For more information, click here

New York lawmakers have approved a plan to make attending public colleges and universities free for students from middle-class families.

The plan, which New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced back in January, was approved Sunday by the state Senate, after receiving the OK from the state Assembly a day earlier. Under the plan, in-state students whose families earn $125,000 or less can participate. Altogether, the program is expected to cost New York $163 million and is expected to benefit roughly 940,000 families.

New York is the first state to offer free four-year tuition. Previously, Tennessee and Oregon created programs that made community college tuition-free — Tennessee’s initiative in particular inspired former President Obama’s free community college plan. A proposed program in Rhode Island that would make the first two years at one of the state’s public colleges tuition-free has met some resistance, even from Democrats.

The New York plan, nicknamed the Excelsior Scholarship, will be phased in over three years: Families earning up to $100,000 a year will qualify in 2017, families making up to $110,000 per year can participate in 2018 and families with income up to $125,000 can take part in the program in 2019.

Tuition at the State University of New York schools costs $6,470 for in-state students, while community colleges cost $4,350 for residents.

The New York program borrows heavily from the ideals put forward by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. But while New York succeeded in passing a free tuition program, other states may not see the same degree of success. The Empire State was a bit of a special case, since it was already more generous than most in funding public higher education (though it’s spent less on higher education since the recession.)

And free college initiatives can cost states anywhere from $42.8 million (Delaware) to $4.96 billion (California) in revenue from tuition in just the first year, according to a report released last October by the Campaign for Free College Tuition. Plus, some critics have argued that these programs don’t address other factors that make attending college a difficult proposition for lower-income students, such as needing to work part-time to support their families. And these programs may not help to enrich the funding public colleges and universities receive, meaning ones that are under-resourced may stay that way.

BY Zack Friedman

There is a light at the end of the student loan repayment tunnel.

And it comes at an unlikely time each year: tax season.

Are you maximizing each and every tax benefit on your student loans for college and graduate school? If not, you're not alone. The tax laws can be complicated, and it can be daunting to differentiate between a tax credit and tax deduction.

So, let's make it easy for you.

If you are paying student loans for your (or your child's) education, here are four student loan tax credits and deductions that you potentially can take advantage of this tax season:

1. Student Loan Interest Deduction

With the Student Loan Interest Deduction, you can deduct up to $2,500 each year of student loan interest that you paid on a qualified student loan so long as you are enrolled at least half-time and are working toward a degree. A qualified loan means that you borrowed your student loan solely to pay for education expenses and did not borrow the student loan from a relative or through a qualified employer plan. Examples of qualified education expenses include tuition and fees, room and board, books, supplies, equipment and transportation, among other necessary expenses.

You can only the deduct the lesser of $2,500 and the actual amount of interest that you paid, including any additional, voluntary student loan payments. For example, if you paid $10,000 of student loan interest this tax year, then you only can deduct $2,500 from your taxable income. Since the student loan interest deduction is an "above the line," deduction, you do not need to itemize your deductions.

To qualify for this tax deduction, you must have a modified adjusted gross income of $80,000 or less ($160,000 if married filing jointly).

To find out how much student loan interest you paid over the past year, you should review your Form 1098-E from your student loan lender. As long as your paid more than $600 in student loan interest, you should receive Form 1098-E. If you paid less than $600 in student loan interest, you can still qualify for the student loan interest deduction.

2. The American Opportunity Credit

The American Opportunity Credit is a tax credit that allows you (or a person paying for your education) to claim up to $2,500 per year for the first four years of school as you work toward a degree with at least half-time enrollment. You can apply the tax credit to the costs of college, including tuition and related expenses that are required for enrollment (such as books, supplies and equipment).

This tax credits covers 100% of your qualified education expenses up to $2,000, and then 25% of the next $2,000 of qualified education expenses up to $2,500 total.

To qualify for this tax credit, you must have a modified adjusted gross income of $90,000 or less ($180,000 if married filing jointly). Up to 40% of the tax credit may be refundable.

3. The Lifetime Learning Credit

The Lifetime Learning Credit is a tax credit that allows you to claim up to $2,000 per year for any college tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment that were required for your course. There is no limit on the number of years that you can claim the Lifetime Learning Credit. To qualify for this tax credit, you must have a modified adjusted gross income of $65,000 or less ($131,000 if married filing jointly). This tax credit is a non-refundable tax credit, which means that the tax credit is limited to the amount of your total income tax owed. Therefore, if the tax credit is more than your income tax owed, you will not receive the excess amount as a refund.

4. Tuition and Fees Deduction

The Tuition and Fees Deduction, which expired in 2016, enabled you to reduce the amount of your income that was subject to income tax by up to $4,000. The deduction could be utilized for you, your spouse or a dependent for your tuition and fees (but not your room and board). To qualify for this tax deduction, you had to have a modified adjusted gross income of $80,000 or less ($160,000 if married filing jointly).

What's the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction?

A tax credit reduces the amount of income tax that you have to pay. A tax deduction reduces the amount of your income that is subject to income tax.

Does a tax credit or tax deduction save me more money?

A tax credit saves you more money than a tax deduction.

Why?

A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction of the income taxes that you owe. For example, a $2,000 tax credit means that you save $2,000 in taxes.

A tax deduction saves you the amount of the deduction multiplied by your marginal tax rate. For example, if you are in the 30% tax bracket and qualify for a $1,000 tax deduction, your savings are $300 ($1,000 multiplied by 30%).

Can you claim both the American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit?

Unfortunately, even if you are eligible, you cannot claim both the American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit on your income tax return in the same tax year. You should claim the tax credit that maximizes your savings based on your specific, financial situation.

Can you claim an education tax credit if you also claim an education tax deduction in the same tax year?

Yes. If you claim an education tax credit, you can claim the Student Loan Interest Deduction.

Can you still qualify for the Student Loan Interest Deduction if you are on an Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan or Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan?

Yes. The IRS allows you to deduct student loan interest regardless of your student loan repayment plan.

Which IRS tax forms do you use to take advantage of these tax credits and tax deductions?

You can use IRS Form 8863 and Form 1040, and speak to a tax professional for more details.

Is it better to pay off your student loans faster or should you make sure to at least qualify for these tax deductions and tax credits?

You always should strive to pay off your student loans faster. That means making extra payments to reduce the principal amount of your student loans, which will save you money on interest costs. Tax deductions and tax credits are helpful, but you should never make a financial decision solely for tax reasons.