Fair 74°
News
Video Captures NJ Teacher Yelling At Students 'I Hope You Get Coronavirus, Die Painful Death' Video Captures NJ Teacher Yelling At Students 'I Hope You Get Coronavirus, Die Painful Death'
Video Captures NJ Teacher Yelling At Students 'I Hope You Get Coronavirus, Die Painful Death' A Mercer County math teacher was captured on video shouting at teenagers playing in the park that they should “die a long, painful death” from the coronavirus. Hamilton's Steinert High School teacher identified by several news outlets as 15-year district teacher Nicole Griggs yelled from the other side of a fence at teens reportedly playing football at the former Homedell School on the 500 block of East Franklin Street. "Park closed," the teacher can be seen yelling on footage captured by one of the teens. "Get it through your head." One of the teens asks, “Wait, can we go over there?" pro…

SHARE

by Jon Craig
News
Here's The Plan: Murphy Reveals Roadmap For Reopening But No Timeline Here's The Plan: Murphy Reveals Roadmap For Reopening But No Timeline
Here's The Plan: Murphy Reveals Roadmap For Reopening But No Timeline Life outside of quarantine is on the horizon for New Jersey residents. Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday laid out a six-point reopening plan for New Jersey -- but no concrete timeline. "I don't know when we'll be able to formally start this journey," Murphy said. "Hopefully if we keep at it, it will be soon." In order to reopen, New Jersey residents must continue social-distancing measures and focus on taking the steps necessary in decreasing the number of new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and COVID-19 related deaths, the governor said. The number of new hospitalizations and patients …

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
NJ Driver Who Wore N95 Mask Crashes, Police Say NJ Driver Who Wore N95 Mask Crashes, Police Say
NJ Driver Who Wore N95 Mask Crashes, Police Say CORRECTION: Lincoln Park police said they didn't know for sure that the reason a driver fainted and crashed was because he was wearing an N95 mask.“Police officers are not physicians and do not know the medical history of every person we encounter,” they wrote in a correction to an original Facebook post.The newer version: 'Other Medical Reason' Could've Caused Crash Involving Driver Wearing N95 Mask At the scene.Lincoln Park PD In the original post, police said the unidentified driver had been wearing the mask for several hours and had been getting too much carbon dioxide, and too littl…

SHARE

by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Federal authorities said they've gotten help from domain providers and others in smashing hundreds of online sites exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to commit fraud and other crimes. As of Tuesday, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) had received and reviewed more than 3,600 complaints related to COVID-19 scams, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Many of them “operated from websites that advertised fake vaccines and cures, operated fraudulent charity drives, delivered malware, or hosted various other types of scams,” federal officials said in a release. To attract traffic, t…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Excuses For Violating Coronavirus Emergency Orders Push NJ Police Officers' Patience Excuses For Violating Coronavirus Emergency Orders Push NJ Police Officers' Patience
Excuses For Violating Coronavirus Emergency Orders Push NJ Police Officers' Patience Wild excuses have begun piling up from New Jerseyans accused of violating state coronavirus emergency orders, authorities say. A Passaic woman told police she drove to their headquarters before dawn Monday because her ex-boyfriend was tailing her, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Police found the ex, identified as 21-year-old city resident Frianky Nunez, and wrote him a summons for traveling without a legitimate reason in violation of state coronavirus emergency orders. They weren’t done, though. They issued the same summons to the woman, Lucero Dalia, 21, and her passenger, …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Closer To Reopening? Murphy Says He'll Share Necessary Benchmarks This Week NJ Closer To Reopening? Murphy Says He'll Share Necessary Benchmarks This Week
NJ Closer To Reopening? Murphy Says He'll Share Necessary Benchmarks This Week The downward trend in new hospitalizations is one of the most positive indicators that what New Jersey has been doing has been working, Gov. Phil Murphy said during Monday's coronavirus briefing. He made himself clear, though: "We are not by any means claiming victory, but we are making progress." Murphy said that in the coming days, he plans on announcing benchmarks necessary and principals to follow for the state's reopening (hint: More PPE, more testing, direct partnership with the U.S. government). "Do not think for one minute we’ll be able to flip a switch and return to life as we kne…

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Sparta PD: Customer, 73, Tangles With Police After Refusing To Wear Mask In Supermarket Sparta PD: Customer, 73, Tangles With Police After Refusing To Wear Mask In Supermarket
Sparta PD: Customer, 73, Tangles With Police After Refusing To Wear Mask In Supermarket A 73-year-old Sparta man who had a previous history of disorderly conduct coughed on a supermarket employee, saying he had the coronavirus, and then spit on and tried to bite police after he was caught shopping without a face mask, authorities said. An employee asked Vadim Sakiewicz to leave a local Stop & Shop after he walked in not wearing a mask, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. The Polish immigrant “became combative,” then coughed on a second employee who came to help, saying he had COVID-19, Grewal said. He then resisted arrest, the attorney general said. Police char…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Girl Seized In COVID-19 Bias Attack On Asian Middlesex County Woman Girl Seized In COVID-19 Bias Attack On Asian Middlesex County Woman
Girl Seized In Covid-19 Bias Attack On Asian Middlesex County Woman An underage teen punched an Asian woman in the head after she and others surrounded the victim in Edison shouting coronavirus-related racial slurs, authorities said. The girl was detained on Tuesday in connection with the incident from 10 days earlier, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Thursday. Police issued delinquency complaints charging her with bias intimidation, rioting, simple assault and disorderly conduct, as well as with violating state coronavirus emergency orders, the attorney general said. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and Edison police were continuing an…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
MTA Agrees To $500,000 Coronavirus Death Benefit MTA Agrees To $500,000 Coronavirus Death Benefit
MTA Agrees To $500,000 Coronavirus Death Benefit The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Transport Workers Union of America announced an agreement Tuesday establishing a COVID-19 death benefit for TWU members who died after being infected.  Under the agreement, the MTA will pay $500,000 in a lump sum to the spouse, beneficiary or estate of each deceased member in active service on or after Feb. 1, 2020, Local 100 in Brooklyn reported.  "Transportation workers are the heroes moving heroes of this public health crisis, continuing to get healthcare workers, first responders and other ess…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
Murphy Cancels School Through May 15 Amid Coronavirus Crisis Murphy Cancels School Through May 15 Amid Coronavirus Crisis
Murphy Cancels School Through May 15 Amid Coronavirus Crisis New Jersey schools will be closed until at least May 15, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Thursday amid the coronavirus crisis. "There is no one who wants to reopen schools more than I do," Murphy said. "We cannot be guided by emotion. We have to be guided by the facts on the ground." New classroom configurations and more testing are needed before schools can be opened again, the governor said. "There is no doubt we are saving lives and we must maintain the course," Murphy said. There were 75,317 coronavirus cases as of Thursday in New Jersey, including 3,518 fatalities.

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
More Trouble In Lakewood: Police Crash Catered Backyard Party, Packed Toy Store Lot More Trouble In Lakewood: Police Crash Catered Backyard Party, Packed Toy Store Lot
More Trouble In Lakewood: Police Crash Catered Backyard Party, Packed Toy Store Lot Police shut down a Lakewood toy store that had more than 50 customers gathered outside while an employee took orders in violation of mandatory state coronavirus closures, authorities said. The customers who'd gathered in the packed Toys4U parking lot weren’t social distancing or wearing masks, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Ten employees also were together in the store – only three of them wearing masks, he said. Ten cars blocked the fire lane, the attorney general said. Police charged owner Yossi Itzkowitz and manager Tzvi Blau with violating Gov. Phil Murphy’s closure of “…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Man, 70, Brawls With Police, Customers At Two Wawa Stores Over Not Wearing Mask Jersey Shore Man, 70, Brawls With Police, Customers At Two Wawa Stores Over Not Wearing Mask
Jersey Shore Man, 70, Brawls With Police, Customers At Two Wawa Stores Over Not Wearing Mask Toms River police arrested a 70-year-old local man twice in less than three hours after they said he got into brawls with customers and officers at two different Wawas over his refusing to wear a mask. Stephen Breza “became belligerent when he was told to wear a mask inside the Wawa store” on Route 37 late Saturday morning, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Monday. Breza “started screaming, flailing his arms, and cursing at employees, [then] threatened a customer in the store that he was going to hit him with a pipe,” Grewal said. He screamed at responding officers and resisted …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco