Results tagged “nj”

Jay-Z's 40/40 Club in Manhattan has seen some trouble in the past, but nothing compared to what his Atlantic City branch is about to see. His club's security beat down two patrons over the weekend, and of course it was caught on tape (by DJ Zeke who performed at the club that night):

A ultra-right-wing blogger and radio talk show host will go on trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn tomorrow, accused of making death threats against three federal judges who refused to overturn handgun bans in Chicago. But defendant Hal Turner claims that since 2003, he has been working undercover for the FBI, which paid him thousands of dollars to inform on neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups. Turner says the FBI even coached him to make racist, anti-Semitic and other threatening statements.

Former Nets star Jayson Williams is expected to plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the 2002 shooting of his limousine driver. According to the Star-Ledger, his sentence, in a deal with prosecutors, would be 18 months. Williams was previously convicted of charges related to covering up the shooting (and acquitted of aggravated manslaughter), but was facing a retrial on reckless manslaughter charges; if convicted of reckless manslaughter, he could have faced up to 10 years in prison. Williams shot Costas "Gus" Christofi in his NJ mansion when he was showing friends a shotgun.

Now that Lou Dobbs is no longer a CNN anchor, his next career path might take him to...the Capital. According to the Post, "With the conservative Gov.-elect Chris Christie poised to take control in Trenton, many Jersey political watchers feel the timing could be right for Dobbs, a self-described 'Rockefeller Republican.'" Montclair State poli sci professor Brigid Harrison said, "This is something that has been talked about, particularly for 2012 against Senator [Robert] Menendez." Plus Dobbs has a profile to start with. However, Monmouth University's polling chief Patrick Murray warns that his views on immigration could be a turn-off, "One out of five New Jerseyans were born outside of this country. That's a lot of people."

With Sad Rat and Sad Panda making us all so sad, it's nice to have Happy Manatee around. Ilya was rescued from the cold clutches of New Jersey earlier this week, and flown down to the more manatee-friendly state of Florida yesterday. The NY Post reports that he is expected to make a full recovery, and a rep at the US Fish and Wildlife Service confirms: "He is safely home in Florida, and currently in a nice pool at the Miami Seaquarium."

Good news! Just as the Marine Mammal Stranding Center was losing hope, Ilya the manatee has been rescued! 1010Wins reports he is currently "headed back to Florida aboard a transport jet after being rescued from murky waters near a New Jersey oil refinery."

Police say that a beloved NJ priest was stabbed 32 times by the church's janitor. Jose Feliciano, 64, who was among the group of people who initially found Rev. Ed Hinds' body in the rectory of St. Patricks in Chatham, NJ on Friday, allegedly confessed and was charged with murder.

Yesterday, the beaten and bloodied body of a beloved church pastor was found in the rectory kitchen of St. Patrick's in Chatham, NJ. A friend said of Rev. Edward "Father Ed" Hinds, 61, "He was an exceptional, exceptional ma. He didn’t offend anybody. He didn’t take on issues, he didn’t use the pulpit to take on anything political. A lot of time he’d talk and he’d say, ‘Well where’s God in this?’" Morris County prosecutor Robert Bianchi said, "The fact is that this was a community leader whose arms were wide open to downtrodden. Maybe one of those individuals was involved. That kind of generosity is preyed upon."

The NJ's governor's race is being fiercely fought, with incumbent NJ Governor Jon Corzine (D) trying to hold onto the seat while challenger Chris Christie (R), a former U.S. Attorney, attempts to capitalize on the poor economy and possible Obama-discontent. Christie has been leading in polls, though Corzine has been catching up, so it's no wonder that the campaign ads are getting very nasty. So nasty that Corzine's campaign might be drawing excessive attention to Christie's physical appearance.

The NY Times spotlights the worries of some parents whose daughters are freshmen at NJ's well-regarded Millburn High School. Specifically, how senior girls' hazing of the frosh include a slut list ("A dozen or more names are written on a piece of notebook paper, with crass descriptions, and copies are passed around — hundreds this year, some say") and senior girls "blow[ing] whistles in some girls’ faces" and shoving "them into lockers."

See any military planes downtown? Well, this alert explains some: "Teterboro Airport in New Jersey is hosting a military air show from 9/17/09 through 9/19/09. Expect military aircraft flyovers above the New York Harbor and the Hudson River."

According to 1010 WINS, six people, ages 18 to 39, were arrested for trespassing on the ground of the old Essex Country Hospital Center in Cedar Grove, NJ. The building, once a mental hospital, is being razed for parkland; it has also attracted many trespassers and/or ghost hunters, thanks to being mentioned in Weird NJ (here's the entry, plus video). However, Essex County Sherriff Armando Fontoura was adamant in saying there were "no ghosts, goblins or boogeymen [on the site]. What you will find, however, are uniformed officers on patrol and plainclothes detectives conducting surveillance of the property. Trespassers, vandals and mischief makers will be arrested and charged to the fullest extent of the law. We strongly advise individuals to keep off the property as it is being renovated and it can be dangerous."

The Naked Cowboy is running for Mayor, so the NY Post is taking this time to delve deeper into the Times Square busker's life (whose first turn in the spotlight was posing as a prostitute on the Jerry Springer Show). There's just so much going on Behind the Underwear!

About 100 protesters stood outside the home of Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano yesterday and called for his resignation, joining a public plea the day before from NJ Governor Jon Corzine. Despite being arrested as part of the massive corruption bust Thursday, the mayor has insisted he will stay in office continuing "business as usual." Corzine said if Cammarano and other officials refuse to step down, he will seek measures to force them out of office, adding, "If they want to get back into politics once they are proven innocent, I think that's fine." Cammarano was busted for taking $25,000 in bribes and his ambitious climb to become Hoboken's youngest mayor last month lead many to believe he will not go down lightly. A longtime NJ legislator said of him, "Some kids grow up and want to be the center fielder for the Mets. Some grow up and want to be mayor of their town. That was him. He was reveling in it." Meanwhile one spot getting a boost from the scandal—Hoboken's Malibu Diner, the scene of the crime. A manager told the News, “It’s not the kind of publicity we want, but business has picked up."

According to MyFoxNY, police were investigating a break-in on a Marlboro Township, NJ street—when they discovered four alligators in the basement! And MyFoxNY is ready for the doubters: "Alligators living in the basement of a huge, fancy house on Deerfield Street in Marlboro Township? It does not sound possible, but Fox 5 EXCLUSIVELY obtained photos of the alligators police discovered."

       

Yesterday, federal agents arrested dozens of individuals, many of them NJ politicians and lawmakers as well as prominent religious figures in NJ and NY, in a probe that began as a money laundering investigation but then turned into a political corruption bust as well. The Star-Ledger reports, "The bribes went down in diners, living rooms and parking lots. New Jersey Assemblymen took them, mayors took them, and so did dozens of others. Orthodox rabbis, acting more like crime bosses than religious leaders, laundered millions through synagogues and yeshivas in Deal, one of the state's wealthiest towns. And a Realtor tried to sell an informant a black market kidney for $160,000."

       

The feds' raids and arrests this morning didn't just capture the NJ mayors and officials (past and present)—there are rabbis, relatives and apparently an organ dealer! A total of 44 people were arrested in a "broad-ranging corruption and international money laundering investigation."

NJ gubernatorial Chris Christie reassured NJ voters that he's not interested in having soon-to-be former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin stump for him this fall. The Republican challenger did offer one familiar name—the Star-Ledger reports that Christie told 101.5 FM, "This is about New Jersey issues and New Jersey, and I don't think having Governor Palin here would do me, or frankly the state, a whole lot of good in the sense that we need to talk and focus on what the New Jersey issues are. I hope Mayor Giuliani will continue to be supportive and be here and work with me, but other than that, I think the people of New Jersey have to hear from me and that's the person they'll be electing. I'll be sitting in the chair, and I want them to spend most of their time getting to know me." Giuliani endorsed Christie back in February. Governor Jon Corzine, who trails Christie in the polls, is optimistic about his chances, "We have a national recession, we have a global recession. The public understands that President Obama and the Democratic policies are not how we got into this mess."

With Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's schedule after July 26 freeing up, some of her associates say that she's ready to help other Republican candidates with their elections. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele even says, "She is an important and galvanizing voice... I believe she will be very helpful to the party this year as we wage critical campaigns in Virginia and NJ." But those states' GOP officials aren't so sure: NJ Republican Chairman Jay Webber said he hadn't hear from Palin's camp and is totally okay with that, "We don't have any plans on having her in. We're busy working to get Chris Christie elected and telling people about the failed record of Gov. Corzine." Christie leads the incumbent 45 to 39 points in a recent poll and the Obama-Biden ticket beat McCain-Palin by 15 points last year. Someone who would like to see Palin in NJ: Corzine, whose spokesman told the AP, "Her positions are certainly consistent with where Christie's been. They would both deny a woman the right to choose and they oppose new gun control legislation. And like Palin, Christie's staked out conservative right-wing positions on rejecting the federal stimulus money, which would create thousands of jobs."

Never since Tony Soprano prowled his NJ kitchen has a big bear wanted Italian cold cuts so much! The Star-Ledger reports that Vernon resident Henry Rouwendal's "Italian hoagie, loaded with salami and other meats, lettuce, onions and tomatoes" was so tempting that a black bear knocked him down: "Rouwendal said was knocked, face-first to the ground. When he rolled over, the bear was standing over him and then grabbed the sandwich." The 52-year-old electrical engineer said, "I kicked him three times in the snout and one time in the throat. I think the one in the throat got him." The bear ran off—with the sandwich—as Rouwendal was left on the ground. It took him an hour to get up and go back inside his house; he has a "large cut on his left temple and several deep bruises on his knee, elbow and buttocks." The police are calling it an attack, but the NJ DEP doesn't think it's an attack. DEP deputy director Lawrence Herrighty said, "At this point, it just doesn't seem we will label this as an attack on a person. ... He has no bruises, claw marks or scratches or even a ripped shirt that indicates it was a purposeful attack by the bear."

You think yesterday's sudden (and relatively brief) downpour was nuts in the city? Well, in Bergen County, NJ, Mother Nature decided to spring three inches of hail onto a number of towns, including Westwood. The Record reported, "Snow plows that had sat idle since March were pressed into service in Emerson, Westwood, Ridgewood and elsewhere to clear penny-sized hail that piled inches high in streets and municipal parking lots." A fire chief also expressed surprise when his sister-in-law called him about her car being stuck, "I’m on the phone and she’s saying that she’s freezing cold, that there’s ice. I’m like, what is she talking about? It’s June. What does she mean there’s Ice?” WABC 7 even has footage of kids making snowmen! It's unclear why so much hail was produced, but National Weather Service meteorologist John Murray suggested "that the storm clouds were relatively high in the sky — 25,000 to 30,000 feet up — exacerbating the instability in the atmosphere." Drier weather is expected today.

NJ Senate President Richard Codey, who has also been acting governor three (!) times, has introduced new legislation that would toughen penalties against motorists repeatedly caught drunk driving as well as those who lend vehicles to people with a suspended or revoked license. The Star Ledger reports, "The bills were prompted, in part, by recent reports of an East Rutherford man who injured another man and his young daughter in a DUI related accident and was later found to have 12 previous DUI convictions and 78 license suspensions." (The repeat DUI driver tried to flee the police by running into a park.) One bill would "impose mandatory jail time of six months to one year for anyone caught driving under the influence while currently suspended for a previous DUI or previous refusal to take a breath test; or for anyone caught driving two times or more while suspended for a DUI or refusal to take a breath test, even if they are not intoxicated." Codey said, "In my opinion, one time caught drunk driving is too many... If you don't learn from those mistakes and continue to endanger the lives of others, we need to send a clear message that we are going to have zero tolerance."

The massive Pabst Blue Ribbon bottle in New Jersey, a deteriorating symbol of Hipstericana, has been moved to a junkyard just off the New Jersey Turnpike. The 60-foot-high bottle was chopped into about six pieces after standing tall and proud for over 70 years atop the brewery off the Garden State Parkway. While the "managers at recycling company, which demolished the defunct Pabst brewery in Newark's West Ward for redevelopment, didn't want to talk about the dislocated landmark they now own," there are plenty of folks making offers on the pieces. One man, a New Jersey Institute of Technology professor and curator of the school's gallery, offered $500 for the cap and planned on somehow making it into a dining room table! However, it was estimated it would cost around $150K to move and install elsewhere—of course, that quote may have also been based on the amount they estimate they'll get from the steel and copper scrap metal. Meanwhile, isn't there some giant John Deere trucker hat statue out there we can put this thing next to?

The remaining 71 cats were removed from a Chester, NJ home yesterday, where the NJSPCA originally found living in squalid conditions—rooms filled with garbage and feces. The Star-Ledger reports that Morris County Emergency Management Coordinator Rick Loock praised the homeowner, Wanda Oughton, for being helpful, "These are healthy cats, you could even say fat cats. They did not seem to be suffering from any abuse. The lady (Oughton) seemed to be feeding them well. And I want to emphasize that she was unbelievably cooperative today, helping us catch the cats and put them in travel carriers."The cats are being housed in a temporary shelter and will soon be examined; it's hoped they can be adopted out to new homes (the NJSPCA website will have photos of adoptable cats). Oughton faces 186 counts of animal cruelty in both criminal and civil summonses.

NJ Governor Jon Corzine signed a bill requiring teen drivers to have decals identifying themselves as probationary drivers starting next year. The decals will probably be attached to the front and rear license plates; the bill, the first of its kind in the country, also includes an earlier curfew, prohibiting the use of cell-phones (even hands-free ones) and passenger restrictions until they get full licenses. Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D) said, "This package will help reinforce the message to teens that driving is a privilege, not a right," but teens worry it'll be a field day for cops. One told the AP, "They see that sticker on the car, they're just going to be pulling us over for no reason. Are there drugs in the car? That's the first thing they're going to think, because we're teenagers." The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety offers these factoids: 61% of 2007 teenage passenger deaths "occurred in vehicles driven by another teenager" while 20% of "all passenger deaths occurred when a teenager was driving."

The new Bravo housewives were unmasked earlier this week as the network aired a preview of The Real Housewives of New Jersey (watch it here). It was all very mafia mini-mall chic, to say the least. The big cameo this week was by none other than former NYC police commissioner Bernard Kerik! He now lives in Housewife territory in Franklin Lakes, N.J, and went uncredited for his scene, where he was training an attack dog in the yard of the show's Manzo family. The NY Times points out that "Mr. Manzo’s father, who weighed 350 pounds but was known as Tiny, ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Paterson before buying the Brownstone [catering hall] in the 1970s. In 1983, he was found dead in the trunk of his Lincoln Continental with four bullet wounds to his chest. The crime was never solved." Kerik actually held a fundraiser in December at the Manzo's catering hall to raise money for his legal defense as he fights a federal indictment on corruption, tax evasion and perjury charges. He'll be getting ready for his real close-up when he faces trial this October.

      

It turns out that the N.J. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found 93 cats (previously, it was thought there were almost 80) living in disgusting conditions in a home in the posh suburb of Chester Township, NJ. The Daily Record reports, "Police found the cats covered in feces in rooms throughout the spacious home at 22 Farm Road. Pictures provided by the SPCA depict floors, couches and tables littered with waste, while microwave and conventional ovens were crammed with garbage." Some of the NJSPCA photographs are above; the NJSPCA site has more, including a disturbing one of a bathtub filled with cat poop.

The Star-Ledger reports that dozens of cats were found living in unfit conditions in a million-dollar home in Chester, NJ: "All 12 rooms of the two-story house on Farm Road were laden with feces and urine, authorities said. In some areas, piles of excrement reached as high as 2 feet. In one of the bathtubs, a mound of feces measuring 8 inches thick coated the bottom, authorities said." The fire department was called to ventilate the house, which might need to be condemned because it's so toxic. Anonymous complaints had been made to the SPCA last week and the authorities found almost 80 cats, plus a dog, and will likely charge owner Wanda Oughton with 80 counts of animal cruelty. SPCA superintendent Frank Rizzo said, "The smell was horrific. This is not a place you can live in. I don't know how anyone could survive in that." Twenty-two cats were taken to a vet for observation; the others were left in the home as the SPCA coordinates living arrangements for them.

The truth is out there, according to Google Street View. British newspaper The Telegraph reports, "A misty shape, bearing a distinct similarity to the movie alien, was captured behind a bush next to a mysterious beam of light. The spooky snap was caught by Google image cameras in the town of Berkeley Heights in New Jersey." Now, some people think it could just be, you know, an odd light thing, but one person points out, "Whatever it is, you cannot deny that it looks exactly like ET. The head is an oblong shape and it seems to have the same long neck and fat body. There is also a beam of light right next to him, who knows, that might be an unseen spaceship trying to make contact." Totally—NJ is a recent hotbed of weird, unexplained activity. [Via NJ.com]

Wax on and on: The NJ Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling's attempt to ban bikini waxes—prompted by women claiming infections from the Brazilian waxes—has been dropped. According to the AP, NJ Consumer Affairs Director David Szuchman said he wouldn't support the ban (the Consumer Affairs division oversees the Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling) and suggested that the board instead look at training and safety protocols for spa and salon workers. In NJ, only waxing on the face, neck, abdomen, legs and arms are permitted; genital-area waxing is not explicitly prohibited. One spa owner said it was "unnecessary," " In NJ especially, where the government has been picking our pockets for so long, it was like, 'Just stay out of our pants, will you?'"