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Lifestyle
Posh Highclere Castle Gin, Launched By CT Company & The Real 'Downton Abbey,' Makes US Debut Posh Highclere Castle Gin, Launched By CT Company & The Real 'Downton Abbey,' Makes US Debut
Posh Highclere Castle Gin, Launched By CT Company & The Real 'Downton Abbey,' Makes US Debut How does a Connecticut-based spirits company partner with the real-life Earl and Countess of TV’s "Downton Abbey," Highclere Castle? They connect through email of course. It was after watching an episode of "Downton Abbey," followed by a documentary about Highclere Castle, that Adam von Gootkin got an idea. Von Gootkin was already successful in the spirits business, having launched New England’s first legal moonshine since Prohibition, Onyx Moonshine, in 2011 along with Peter Kowalczyk. Why not a premium gin? Thus, an email was sent and the conversation started. Follow-up calls turned in…

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by Vira Mamchur Schwartz
News
Report: Climate Change Heating Up N.J. Faster Than Almost All Other States Report: Climate Change Heating Up N.J. Faster Than Almost All Other States
Report: Climate Change Heating Up N.J. Faster Than Almost All Other States New Jersey's average annual temperature has risen by nearly 2 degrees Celsius since 1895, double the average for the lower 48 states, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.  Of all U.S. states, Alaska's average temperature has risen by the most, followed by Rhode Island and New Jersey. Other states in the Northeast, including Connecticut and Massachusetts, are close behind.  A temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius is regarded as a critical climate warming threshold. Scientists fear that if average global temperatures rise by 2 degrees above the 1895 average, the conseque…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Tour Van In Fatal Mass. Crash May Have Had NJ Passengers Tour Van In Fatal Mass. Crash May Have Had NJ Passengers
Tour Van In Fatal Mass. Crash May Have Had NJ Passengers A tour van operated by a company catering to Polish-Americans that picked up passengers in New Jersey crashed in Massachusetts Saturday, killing two people, State Police there said.  The people killed were identified only as two adult males. State Police said Saturday identification of the victims was "ongoing."  The state police said the van stopped for passengers in Philadelphia, Trenton, LInden, Wallington and New York before it crashed around 11 a.m. on I-95 in Attleboro, near the Rhode Island border.   The 2004 Econoline van was traveling northbound near Exit 3 whe…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Franklin Lakes PD: Officer Stops To Help Disabled Car, Finds Ex-Con Carrying Gun, Ecstasy, More Franklin Lakes PD: Officer Stops To Help Disabled Car, Finds Ex-Con Carrying Gun, Ecstasy, More
Franklin Lakes PD: Officer Stops To Help Disabled Car, Finds Ex-Con Carrying Gun, Ecstasy, More A Franklin Lakes police officer who stopped to help what turned out to be a Rhode Island ex-con with his disabled car found him carrying a handgun, authorities said. Roland Morgan, 35, of Providence, RI, had a previous gun possession conviction from Rhode Island, along with arrests that included a mad chase and crash following a theft last year in Massachusetts, records show. Besides a .25-caliber handgun, Franklin Lakes Officer Christopher Heffner also found a small amount of Ecstasy, more than 100 Gabapentin pills without a prescription and some pot in the 2001 Toyota during the mid-morni…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
BEWARE: 'Grandson In Trouble' Phone Scam Costs Elderly Saddle Brook Woman $7,500 BEWARE: 'Grandson In Trouble' Phone Scam Costs Elderly Saddle Brook Woman $7,500
Beware: 'Grandson In Trouble' Phone Scam Costs Elderly Saddle Brook Woman $7,500 Heartless phone scammers stole $7,500 from a frightened Saddle Brook woman who was fooled into thinking her grandson had just been arrested after an accident. They tried getting $7,300 more from her – only she was at the borough police station at the time reporting the first crime. The first caller told the victim on Tuesday that he’d been arrested for DWI after he rear-ended a pregnant woman’s car, Police Chief Robert Kugler said. “He also said he broke his nose and cut his lip, requiring stitches, had just been released from the hospital and was in custody of the police,” Kugler said. “…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Whole Foods Recalls Prepared Foods Over Salmonella Contamination Concerns Whole Foods Recalls Prepared Foods Over Salmonella Contamination Concerns
Whole Foods Recalls Prepared Foods Over Salmonella Contamination Concerns Whole Foods has announced a voluntary recall of prepared food containing baby spinach that may be contaminated with salmonella. Salads, sandwiches, wraps and pizza, as well as products purchased from a Whole Foods salad bar or hot bar containing baby spinach through Wednesday, Jan. 23, are among the products affected, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA noted that the bulk of the contaminated food was sold in the Northeast, including the tri-state area. The affected products, including salads, pizza, sandwiches and wraps, were sold at stores in Connecticut, Flor…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Effort Underway To Save Lives On I-95 Effort Underway To Save Lives On I-95
Effort Underway To Save Lives On I-95 Law enforcement agencies up and down the east coast are teaming to protect motorists on I-95 as part of the National Drive to Save Lives Campaign. State police agencies from 15 east coast states - including New York and Connecticut - are teaming in an effort to “keep one of the country’s most highly-traveled interstates, I-95 safe and fatality-free" Friday, April 20 and Saturday, April 21. There will be an increased police presence on the interstate during the two-day detailed effort, with officers and troopers focusing on seat belt violations, safety restraint use, speeding, impaired …

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by Zak Failla
News
New Jersey AG To Sue Trump Administration Over Citizenship Census Question New Jersey AG To Sue Trump Administration Over Citizenship Census Question
New Jersey AG To Sue Trump Administration Over Citizenship Census Question New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is leading a multi-state coalition of elected officials who are intending to challenge President Donald Trump and the federal government’s decision to bring back a question asking about citizen status in the 2020 United States Census. On Monday night, the Commerce Department announced it would indeed reintroduce the question, which had been asked until 1960. The lawsuit was filed by Attorneys General in New York, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New…

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by Zak Failla
Schools
B-E-S-T Again! Cliffside Park Cheerleaders Win Grand National Championship B-E-S-T Again! Cliffside Park Cheerleaders Win Grand National Championship
B-e-s-t Again! Cliffside Park Cheerleaders Win Grand National Championship CLIFFSIDE PARK, N.J. -- Cliffside Park's competitive cheerleading team, Raiders Elite, topped more than 30 other squad to be crowned Grand National Champions in Hershey Park, PA. Coached by Pamela Leone and Melissa Piccinich, the team of 3rd-through-8th-graders also was hailed as "King of the Mat" during last week's Mardi Gras Spirit Nationals.  This follows a full-aid Gold Bid to compete in the U.S. Finals in Rhode Island on May 5. It's no stretch for a squad that, year after year, finishes at or near the top of the list of best recreational cheerleading teams in the country.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Politics
Tristate Governors Join Multi-State Gun Safety Coalition Tristate Governors Join Multi-State Gun Safety Coalition
Tristate Governors Join Multi-State Gun Safety Coalition Tri-State governors joined Rhode Island's governor to announce a Gun Safety’ Coalition to combat the gun violence epidemic. The Multi-State Coalition will trace and intercept firearms to stop the flow of out-of-state weapons. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, and Governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island announced the formation of the new “States for Gun Safety” coalition to combat gun violence. In the face of repeated federal inaction, the multi-state coalition will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding to better share info…

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by Jon Craig