New Jersey Arab Americans go on strike over Gaza: ‘The administration isn’t listening’

Paterson residents describe ‘anger, sadness, desperation’ after US vetoes UN resolution calling for ceasefire

A general strike called after the US blocked a UN resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza took hold across New Jersey’s Arab American communities on Monday, in the latest expression of opposition to Israel’s devastating military offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Along Palestine Way in the city of Paterson, dozens of business owners, community leaders and families with young children, swathed in keffiyeh scarves against the cold, heeded the call from Palestinian leaders to show, in symbolic, political and economic terms, deepening anger and distress about an Israeli military operation that began after a Hamas cross-border attack on 7 October.

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Senator Bob Menendez charged with acting as foreign agent of Egypt

New Jersey Democratic senator has resisted calls for his resignation in the middle of a corruption scandal

Federal prosecutors on Thursday filed a superseding indictment against the Democratic senator Bob Menendez, charging him with being an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government, a court filing showed.

The New Jersey senator has thus far resisted calls for his resignation. His trial on corruption charges will begin next May.

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Bob Menendez’s daughter says MSNBC colleagues will cover story ‘aggressively’

Alicia Menendez, a weekend anchor on liberal network, says she has been watching father’s case ‘along with all of you as a citizen’

The MSNBC anchor Alicia Menendez said her colleagues at the network would “aggressively” cover the corruption scandal involving her father, the indicted New Jersey senator, Bob Menendez – “as they should”.

Alicia Menendez hosts a weekend show on the liberal-leaning network.

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Chuck Schumer says he is ‘disturbed’ by Bob Menendez bribery charges

Senate majority leader says fellow Democrat has fallen ‘way short’ of senatorial standards but stops short of calling for resignation

The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said on Wednesday he was “disturbed” by the fraud indictment against his fellow Democratic Senator, Bob Menendez, and that the New Jersey lawmaker has fallen “way short” of senatorial standards.

Menendez pleaded not guilty earlier in the day to charges of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, as calls for his resignation from his fellow Democrats escalated.

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Bruce Springsteen postpones rest of tour due to peptic ulcer disease

Singer shelves all 2023 shows with the E Street Band to ‘continue treatment through the rest of the year on doctor’s advice’

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have postponed the remainder of their 2023 concerts as the singer receives treatment for peptic ulcer disease.

According to a statement released by the New Jersey singer on Wednesday, all of the cancelled shows will be rescheduled for 2024. Springsteen had previously postponed his September shows because of symptoms from peptic ulcer disease, which causes open sores in the esophagus, stomach or small intestine.

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Five helicoptered to hospitals after home explosion in New Jersey

House in West Milford collapsed due to ‘unknown cause’ and explosion under investigation by detectives and fire marshals

Five people were hospitalized after an explosion at a New Jersey home on Friday night, police said.

The house in West Milford was heavily damaged by the explosion about 9 pm, the local police department said in a statement.

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New Jersey senator Menendez rejects calls from fellow Democrats to resign

Robert Menendez urged to step down after being charged with accepting bribes, including gold bars, in exchange for favors

Several Democrats including his own state governor are calling on their fellow party member Robert Menendez to resign after federal authorities charged the New Jersey US senator and his wife with accepting bribes. However, the defiant senator has rejected those claims and is refusing to step down.

Authorities on Friday revealed charges alleging that Robert and Nadine Menendez illegally accepted gold bars, cash, a luxurious Mercedes-Benz car and other gifts in exchange for favors benefiting three businessmen as well as influencing the Egyptian government.

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Hurricane Lee prompts weekend beach warnings on US east coast

Dangerous surf and rip currents expected along most of Atlantic coast from Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Lee is making its way through the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to remain a powerful hurricane through early next week, prompting warnings of dangerous beach conditions on the US east coast over the weekend.

Between Wednesday and Thursday night, Lee evolved from a category 1 tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane. It then dropped down to a category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center announced on Friday morning.

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‘This is psychological warfare’: Starbucks workers allege anti-union firings

The National Labor Relations Board has reinstated 28 of the more than 200 pro-union workers fired since late 2021

Alicia Flores had worked at Starbucks in Portland, Oregon, for seven years until June, when she received a voicemail from a manager – filling in for her usual boss, who was taking a leave of absence – who informed her she was being fired.

Flores is far from alone.

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‘Freakin’ it out’: lip-syncing New Jersey judge in hot water over TikTok videos

Gary Wilcox allegedly performed to graphically sexual and violent songs while wearing his robes at court and in chambers

A judge in New Jersey is under investigation for allegedly filming TikTok videos in which he lip-synced to popular songs, at times in his bed or his judicial chambers.

Last Friday, the advisory committee on judicial conduct in New Jersey’s supreme court filed a complaint against Gary Wilcox, a 58-year-old superior court judge who presides over criminal cases in Bergen county.

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Chris Christie, ex-New Jersey governor, launches 2024 presidential run

Pugilistic politician joins Republican primary with singular focus – to take the fight to Donald Trump

The former New Jersey governor Chris Christie announced his bid for for the Republican presidential nomination at a New Hampshire town hall.

In an unconventionally contrite speech, Christie said: “I can’t guarantee you success in what I’m about to do. But I guarantee you that at the end of it. You will have no doubt in your mind, who I am and what I stand for and whether I deserve it.”

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Holy macaroni! New Jersey town baffled by 500lbs of pasta dumped by brook

‘Fifteen wheelbarrow loads’ of uncooked spaghetti and macaroni mysteriously left in Old Bridge creek

Residents of a New Jersey town are stumped after they found about 500lbs of pasta inexplicably dumped next to a local brook.

Last month, Nina Jochnowitz – a former candidate for a seat on the Old Bridge township council – posted pictures on to her Facebook page that showed heaps of spaghetti and macaroni preposterously dumped alongside a bank of Iresick brook.

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Escaped cow that tore through Brooklyn finds home at sanctuary

Canarsie cow to meet fellow celebrity escapees at rescue center where animals live on vast pasture: ‘She’ll be ecstatic’

It’s been one hell of a week for the Canarsie cow, a black angus calf who started this week on her way to a slaughterhouse and will end it settling into her new home on a New Jersey farm.

After she escaped a truck hauling her from a Pennsylvania farm to certain death at Saba Live Poultry in Canarsie, Brooklyn, she went on a rampage through the streets. Slaughterhouse employees and workers at a nearby pizza shop tried to catch up with her, in a chase that lasted several minutes.

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Eight dolphins die in New Jersey stranding

Rescuers unable to save cetaceans after mass stranding event at Sea Isle City

Eight dolphins have died after being stranded on a beach in New Jersey, a rehabilitation center said.

According to the New Jersey-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC), the pod of eight dolphins were caught in a “mass stranding event” in the state’s southernmost city, Sea Isle City, on Tuesday morning.

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Newark mayor signs deal with Hindu nation that does not exist

Mayor and city council agreed to partnership with Kailasa, invented by Indian fugitive Swami Nithyananda

The city of Newark, New Jersey, has confirmed that it was duped over five days in January when Mayor Ras Baraka invited what he believed to be a delegation from the Hindu nation of Kailasa to join into a sister city partnership.

A signing ceremony was held at which Baraka told a Kailasa delegate: “I pray that our relationship helps us to understand cultural, social and political development and improves the lives of everybody in both places.”

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Newark unveils Harriet Tubman memorial to replace Columbus statue

Queen Latifah and Pia Wilson take part in celebration of abolitionist in New Jersey city

Newark’s Mayor Ras Baraka, community leaders and celebrities including the musician and actor Queen Latifah and writer Pia Wilson led celebrations of a new monument to the abolitionist Harriet Tubman this week. The ceremony was a historic final step in replacing a Christopher Columbus statute that was removed from a square in the New Jersey city following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Gone is an ode to Columbus, who engaged in the kidnapping, enslavement and killing of Indigenous people in the Caribbean. Instead is now a depiction of Tubman, a legendary racial justice activist. Known as the “Moses of her people”, Tubman, who escaped slavery herself, helped other enslaved people gain their freedom amid great danger, acting as what was known as a conductor of the Underground Railroad during the civil war.

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US protesters turn ire on wind farms to explain whale deaths – but where’s the evidence?

Controversy stirs in New Jersey along political lines as some scientists say wind turbine theory is ‘cynical disinformation’

Thousands gathered at New Jersey’s Point Pleasant beach on Sunday with a united mission: to pause offshore wind projects in response to recent whale deaths along the New York-New Jersey coast.

The gathering unfolded even as officials dispute the notion that the projects may be to blame for the dead whales, a controversy that – like many – is breaking along political party lines.

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California gun laws can’t stop mass shootings without federal support

The Golden State will struggle to stop mass shootings and protect citizens until uniform federal laws on firearms are signed

The recent mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay have brought devastation, outrage and shock to Californians. As the state grieves the loss of 19 residents, one question continues to arise: how could this happen in the state with some of the strongest gun laws in the US?

California’s gun laws include bans on the military-style assault weapons and large-capacity magazines that have been used in many mass shootings. It is one of just two states, along with New Jersey, to receive an “A” rating from the gun safety group Giffords, based on the strength of its firearm regulations.

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Woman, 29, arrested for allegedly posing as high school student in New Jersey

Investigators accuse Hyejeong Shin of providing fake birth certificate to enroll in New Brunswick high school

A 29-year-old woman who allegedly enrolled in a New Jersey high school and posed as a student has been arrested, authorities said this week.

The woman – identified by police as Hyejeong Shin – faces a charge of providing a false government document with the intent to lie about her age in a case which again demonstrates that officials in real life do not respond kindly to the plots of movies such as 1999’s Never Been Kissed and 1987’s Hiding Out being carried out under their watch.

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‘Memes to dreams’: viral Popeyes boy finally reaps reward of online fame

Dieunerst Collin, who became internet famous as a child for video of him at fast-food chain, signs advertising deal with company

A decade has passed, but at last the star of the internet meme showing a boy glancing sideways in confusion with a cup in his hand while standing in line at a Popeyes is capitalizing on his viral fame.

Dieunerst Collin, an 18-year-old player for the football team at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, can finally cash in on his online fame thanks to a change in policy from an organization which governs collegiate sports in the US that in 2021 enabled student athletes to earn money from sponsorship opportunities.

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