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Police & Fire
Feds: NJ Crew Used Postal Workers, High School Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks Feds: NJ Crew Used Postal Workers, High School Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks
Feds: NJ Crew Used Postal Workers, High School Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks A group of criminals recruited New Jersey postal service employees to steal federal COVID-19 stimulus checks and paid high school students to help cash them, authorities said. The defendants -- who were associates of a group calling itself “the Members” -- recruited U.S. Postal Service employees to steal checks, checkbooks, debit cards, and credit cards from the mail in exchange for cash, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. They then forged the signatures of the account holders and made the checks payable to high school students and others who’d given them access to their accounts, also in …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
COVID-19: Four Jersey Shore Schools Close After Students Test Positive COVID-19: Four Jersey Shore Schools Close After Students Test Positive
Covid-19: Four Jersey Shore Schools Close After Students Test Positive Positive coronavirus cases prompted two Central Jersey districts to close schools Thursday. A student at a Little Silver school Monmouth County tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing officials to move students to remote teaching from home after two days of in-person classes. Little Silver's closure order was limited to part of Markham Place School's sixth grade. A freshman at the East Brunswick campus of Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools also tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the entire school district to switch to all-remote learning for at least two wee…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Rubbing People The Wrong Way: More Massage Therapists Lose Licenses In NJ Rubbing People The Wrong Way: More Massage Therapists Lose Licenses In NJ
Rubbing People The Wrong Way: More Massage Therapists Lose Licenses In NJ New Jersey authorities this week revoked the license of the ninth massage therapist in the past year for “inappropriate and unwanted sexual contact” with a client who literally put her trust in his hands. John R. Popper, 48, of Little Egg Harbor was convicted earlier this year of harassment by offensive touching for placing his hand on a client’s vagina during a massage at Hand and Stone spa in Somers Point. In turn, the state Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy permanently barred him from working as a massage therapist in New Jersey ever again because he “engaged in professional miscond…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Pedophile Roundup: 21 Caught Having Or Trying To Have Sex With Kids, AG Says NJ Pedophile Roundup: 21 Caught Having Or Trying To Have Sex With Kids, AG Says
NJ Pedophile Roundup: 21 Caught Having Or Trying To Have Sex With Kids, AG Says One pedophile traveled to Atlantic City from Oklahoma for sex with two pre-teenage girls. Another had a girl carve his initials into her legs. A third posted a social media video of her raping a youngster she was babysitting. These were among 21 people busted in a massive state pedophile roundup, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced Wednesday. Opportunities for predators to contact children directly have dramatically increased with remote home learning amid the coronavirus pandemic, Grewal said. “Reports to our Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force of potential pred…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Family Has Yard Transformed Into Tailgate Zone NJ Family Has Yard Transformed Into Tailgate Zone
NJ Family Has Yard Transformed Into Tailgate Zone Neighbors will be green with envy as one New Jersey family roots for the NY Jets in a whole new way.  The soda company pulled out all the stops for Cindy, of Piscataway, who had her idyllic front yard transformed into a touchdown zone -- complete with 65-inch flatscreen TV, stadium light tower and more. Nearly 1,500 square feet of Cindy's idyllic Piscataway yard was paved with asphalt, which became a fully-painted end zone. Hall-of-Famer and Jets Legend Curtis Martin was on-hand, too. "This is amazing,” Cindy said after seeing her yard's new look. "This is probably the next memorable thin…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Paramus Police Department Mourns Loss Of Officer Allan Alvarez, 42 Paramus Police Department Mourns Loss Of Officer Allan Alvarez, 42
Paramus Police Department Mourns Loss Of Officer Allan Alvarez, 42 The Paramus Police Department is mourning the loss of officer Allan Alvarez. Alvarez, 42, died unexpectedly on Sunday due to complications of a medical procedure at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, his obituary says. A Plainfield native, Alvarez grew up in Piscataway and was a Rahway resident at the time of his passing. He graduated Piscataway High School in 1996 and was a U.S. Army veteran, having served in Bosnia and a tour during Operation Desert Fox. At the rank of sergeant, Alvarez received his honorable discharge in 2001. In 2006, Allan was hired by the Paramus Police Departm…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Winning $124M Mega Millions Ticket Sold In Hudson County Winning $124M Mega Millions Ticket Sold In Hudson County
Winning $124M Mega Millions Ticket Sold In Hudson County We have a winner!  A winning Mega Millions jackpot ticket was sold in Hudson County, New Jersey Lottery officials announced Saturday afternoon. The ticket from Friday night's drawing is worth $124 million -- $100.8 million cash -- was purchased from Brenda’s Inc. on Kennedy Boulevard in Bayonne. The lucky ticket matched all six numbers. The white balls were 8, 33, 39, 54 and 58, and the gold Mega Ball was 17 and the Megaplier was 03. The winner has one year from the date of the drawing to file a claim. The retailer will receive a bonus check of $30,000. In February, a tick…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Kids Eat Free July 4th At These NJ Applebee's Locations Kids Eat Free July 4th At These NJ Applebee's Locations
Kids Eat Free July 4th At These NJ Applebee's Locations Casual kid-friendly restaurant chain Applebee’s is celebrating the Fourth of July with a special Kids Eat Free promotion. Locations owned and operated by Doherty Enterprises in New Jersey are offering a free kids’ meal with an adult entree purchase. The deal can be used with dine-in service or via online orders using the code KIDS, and the order must total at least $15. Restaurants offering the promotion include: Brick Bridgewater Butler Clark Clifton Edison Flemington Garfield Hackensack Hackettstown Hillsborough Howell Jersey City Jersey Gardens Kearny, Lacey Linden Manahawkin Manalapa…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
US Marshals Capture Third Ex-Con Wanted For Shooting Four People In Paterson US Marshals Capture Third Ex-Con Wanted For Shooting Four People In Paterson
US Marshals Capture Third Ex-Con Wanted For Shooting Four People In Paterson U.S. Marshals captured the last of three ex-cons accused of shooting four people in Paterson last month. Two co-defendants already were in custody when Paterson police and members of the U.S. Marshals Service's NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force nabbed city resident Elijah McQueen, 32, in Piscataway on Thursday, they said. Struck by gunfire on 10th Avenue near East 23rd Street shortly before 1:30 a.m. May 30 were three city residents – 32, 28 and 22 years old – and a 32-year-old man from Newark, authorities said. Three of victims were taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center by ambula…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
24 Hour Fitness Closing 7 New Jersey Gyms 24 Hour Fitness Closing 7 New Jersey Gyms
24 Hour Fitness Closing 7 New Jersey Gyms 24 Hour Fitness will be closing seven gyms across North Jersey amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company in a statement Monday said it filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be closing 130 locations across the U.S. Among them are ones in Jersey City, Hasbrouck Heights, Piscataway, Saddle Brook, Wayne, Whippany and Woodbrige. "Removing these financial and operational constraints allows us to focus entirely on transforming our business and the club experience for the better," the chain said.  "We will have the financial flexibility and resources to upgrade equipment and ex…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Wife Killed, Husband, Toddlers Seriously Injured In Horrific Route 287 Piscataway Crash UPDATE: Wife Killed, Husband, Toddlers Seriously Injured In Horrific Route 287 Piscataway Crash
Update: Wife Killed, Husband, Toddlers Seriously Injured In Horrific Route 287 Piscataway Crash A Jamaica, NY woman was killed while her husband and two toddlers survived a Route 287 Piscataway crash with serious injuries, authorities said. Amarjit Fnu, 37, also of Jamaica, NY, was behind the wheel of a Toyota Rav 4 when the car veered off the roadway, crashed into a tree and overturned just south of Exit 7 at around 3:35 a.m. Thursday, New Jersey State Police Lt. Theodore Schafer said. All three passengers including his wife, Dheer Fnu, 30, and two toddlers were ejected, Schafer said. It is not clear if the kids -- a 1-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy -- were theirs, although all liv…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
NJ State Trooper Charged With Pulling Woman Over, Following Her Home To Hit On Her NJ State Trooper Charged With Pulling Woman Over, Following Her Home To Hit On Her
NJ State Trooper Charged With Pulling Woman Over, Following Her Home To Hit On Her A New Jersey state trooper stalked a woman while on duty, authorities said Friday. Michael Patterson, 28, of Bayonne first stopped the female motorist for an unspecified offense on the New Jersey Turnpike on Jan. 28, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. After letting her go with a warning, Paterson “conducted a second, unwarranted stop of her vehicle a few minutes later when she exited the Turnpike at Exit 11….in order to make unwanted advances on the woman,” Grewal said. Patterson “put the victim in fear by following her to her home in his patrol vehicle,” the attorney …

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by Jerry DeMarco