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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.”
Continue reading...‘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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.”
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Specific details weren’t released but Jersey City mayor said police have been posted at city’s seven synagogues
The FBI said on Thursday it had received credible information about a “broad” threat to synagogues in New Jersey.
The FBI’s Newark office released a statement urging synagogues to “take all security precautions to protect your community and facility”.
Continue reading...Robert Hadden, a former gynecologist, was accused in 2016 of sexually abusing female patients for over two decades
Two New York hospitals have agreed to pay more than $165m to 147 former patients who have accused a former gynecologist of sexual abuse and misconduct.
Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian announced the agreement Friday. Last year, the two hospitals reached a settlement to establish a $71m compensation fund with 79 former patients.
Continue reading...Police say charges for US actor, 78, include criminal sexual contact at Monster Mania horror film convention last weekend
Actor Gary Busey is facing charges of sexual misconduct and harassment stemming from his behavior at a fan convention in New Jersey, police said on Saturday.
Police in Cherry Hill, a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia, charged the 78-year-old Busey with two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, one of attempted criminal sexual contact and another of harassment, officers said in a statement.
Continue reading...One heat-related death reported in New York while authorities in Philadelphia extend health emergency declaration
Residents in the north-east US braced for potentially record-breaking temperatures on Sunday as a near-week-long hot spell continued, prompting officials to warn of dangerous heat.
At least one heat-related death, in New York, was reported. Around the region, athletic events were shortened or postponed and cities opened cooling centers and even turned to buses to offer relief from the heat.
Continue reading...Agreement between diocese of Camden and plaintiffs is one of largest cash settlements involving Catholic church in US
A New Jersey Catholic diocese has agreed to pay $87.5m to settle claims involving clergy sexual abuse with some 300 alleged victims, marking one of the largest cash settlements involving the Catholic church in the United States.
The agreement between the diocese of Camden, which encompasses six counties in southern New Jersey on the outskirts of Philadelphia, and plaintiffs was filed with US bankruptcy court in Camden on Tuesday.
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