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NJ National Guard Returns From Washington, D.C. After Capitol Riot Deployment NJ National Guard Returns From Washington, D.C. After Capitol Riot Deployment
NJ National Guard Returns From Washington, D.C. After Capitol Riot Deployment More than 300 members of New Jersey's National Guard returned to McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst air base on Wednesday after their return from Washington, D.C. Gov. Phil Murphy and U.S. Army Col. Lisa J. Hou greeted airmen from the108th Wing and 177th Fighter Wing and thanked them for assisting other military and police in maintaining order and public safety during President Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20.  Their original deployment was in reaction to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol that resulted in five deaths including one police officer. "We cannot thank these American heroes enough for …

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by Jon Craig
News
Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme
Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme A former Newark police officer is headed to federal prison for the next nine years for paying kickbacks to a corrupt official for a private security contract. Janell Robinson, 45, of Newark must serve just about all of the entire sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Jurors in U.S. District Court in Newark convicted Robinson last February of conspiring in a massive corruption scheme with Linda Watkins Brashear, the former executive director of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corporation (NWCDC). The NWCDC provided water to half a million New Jer…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
New Year's Heave-Ho: Paterson Vice Squad Raids Restriction-Violating Bashes New Year's Heave-Ho: Paterson Vice Squad Raids Restriction-Violating Bashes
New Year's Heave-Ho: Paterson Vice Squad Raids Restriction-Violating Bashes An illegal New Year’s Eve gathering in Paterson might not have drawn much attention if wasn’t held on the top floor of a downtown warehouse. Same goes for a popular hookah lounge the city Vice Squad raided for COVID violations three times in the past two months. This time, authorities said, detectives advised the operators of Besan Café on East Railway that they had to be closed by 10 p.m. under an ongoing order issued by Gov. Phil Murphy’s to stem the spread of the coronavirus. When squad members showed up at 10:43 p.m., they found 15 patrons smoking hookahs, so they issued a vio…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Newark Wheelman Cops Plea In 7-County Armed Robbery Spree Feds: Newark Wheelman Cops Plea In 7-County Armed Robbery Spree
Feds: Newark Wheelman Cops Plea In 7-County Armed Robbery Spree An ex-con from Newark told a federal judge on Thursday that he was the getaway driver in a string of overnight convenience store and gas station robberies in Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Middlesex, Morris and Union counties. Meshach Whagar, 31, admitted during a video-conferenced plea hearing that he was the wheelman during the 20 predawn holdups in November and December of 2017, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. It included robberies in Lodi, Mahwah, Elmwood Park, Clifton, Hoboken, Bayonne, Kearny, Parsippany, Rockaway, Morris Plains, West Orange, East Brunswick, South River, Edison, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ex-Con Charged In Gunpoint Essex Drugstore Robbery Spree Ex-Con Charged In Gunpoint Essex Drugstore Robbery Spree
Ex-Con Charged In Gunpoint Essex Drugstore Robbery Spree Key pieces of evidence led to federal charges against an ex-con for robbing pharmacies in Belleville, East Orange and West Orange at gunpoint, authorities said Wednesday. Police recovered a gun in his girlfriend’s car that Malik Conley, 27, of Newark, used in the second holdup last December in Belleville, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Conley and an accomplice struck again a month later, this time in East Orange, Carpenito said, adding that keys to the vehicle used in that robbery were found in his pocket. Conley apparently acted alone in the Dec. 3 robbery in Belleville, an indictmen…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
BUSTED! Feds Charge NJ Postal Carrier With Dumping Election Ballots BUSTED! Feds Charge NJ Postal Carrier With Dumping Election Ballots
Busted! Feds Charge NJ Postal Carrier With Dumping Election Ballots Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested a postal carrier from Kearny who they said dumped 1,875 pieces of mail -- including general election ballots and campaign flyers – instead of delivering them. Nicholas Beauchene, 26, was nabbed by special agents of the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General after a Saddle Brook man reported finding dumped bundles of mail in a dumpster behind a North Arlington bank. Beauchene tossed 1,875 pieces of mail – including 99 general election ballots destined for residents in West Orange and 276 campaign flyers from local candidates for West Orang…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Go Jump In A Lake': Authorities Verify Bergen Man's Report Of Dumped Mail-In Ballots 'Go Jump In A Lake': Authorities Verify Bergen Man's Report Of Dumped Mail-In Ballots
'Go Jump In A Lake': Authorities Verify Bergen Man's Report Of Dumped Mail-In Ballots A man who reported finding election ballots among mail dumped behind a Bergen County bank told skeptics, critics and other doubters to "go jump in a lake" after the U.S. Postal Service said it has since delivered the bundles and is investigating. “Just found two to 300 lb of mail dumped in a dumpster behind one of the banks I service. Including at least 200 ballots,” Howard Dinger of Saddle Brook wrote in a Facebook post. “This is the kind of stuff you just can’t make up. And yes it was reported to the local police and the postal police.” ****** UPDATE: Federal authorities on Wednesday arr…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Business
Food Writer 'Obsessed' With New Jersey Hot Dogs Runs Down Best In State Food Writer 'Obsessed' With New Jersey Hot Dogs Runs Down Best In State
Food Writer 'Obsessed' With New Jersey Hot Dogs Runs Down Best In State One is a lesser-known spot a busy highway. Another is highly-acclaimed by the late Anthony Bourdain. All of the hot dog spots Robert Simonson included in his article "Why I’m Obsessed With New Jersey Hot Dogs" have one thing in common: They're each uniquely delicious. Simonson makes the case that New Jersey's dogs are just better than anywhere else. Even the dogs in New York are comparable to the ones he ate growing up in the Midwest, he said. These spots are the ones to try in New Jersey, according to Simonson's report: Hot Dog Johnny's (Belvidere) Jimmy Buff's (West Orange, Kenilworth…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Essex County Town To Remove Christopher Columbus Statue Essex County Town To Remove Christopher Columbus Statue
Essex County Town To Remove Christopher Columbus Statue A Christopher Columbus statue that has long remained in West Orange will soon come down. Mayor Robert Parisi said in a Facebook video the monument at intersection of Valley Road and Kingsley Street will be replaced by a "more appropriate message," but did not provide a timeline. "The legend of Columbus does not match the history and today, the man, statues or monuments celebrating his life are a divisive and a symbol of hate and oppression and cannot remain as part of our community," Parisi said. Two Change.org petitions to keep the monument have been launched: One argues for the statue's …

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Two Critically Burned Victims Rescued After Porch Candle Ignites Maplewood House Blaze Two Critically Burned Victims Rescued After Porch Candle Ignites Maplewood House Blaze
Two Critically Burned Victims Rescued After Porch Candle Ignites Maplewood House Blaze UPDATE: Two men were clinging to life with critical burns after firefighters rescued them from an overnight blaze that engulfed a Maplewood home. The two-alarm fire broke out on a porch of the 2½-story wood-frame house on Essex Avenue, trapping three residents inside, around 3:20 a.m., responders said. A candle left burning on the front porch apparently was to blame, fire officials said. Police were first on the scene and got an elderly woman out, they said. Firefighters located one of the men on the first floor and rescued the other from the second floor with a ground ladder. Both were…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Huge Number Of NJ Protests Peaceful, Powerful, Only Trenton, Atlantic City Get Riotous Huge Number Of NJ Protests Peaceful, Powerful, Only Trenton, Atlantic City Get Riotous
Huge Number Of NJ Protests Peaceful, Powerful, Only Trenton, Atlantic City Get Riotous Nearly all of the protests in New Jersey this weekend over the death of George Floyd were peaceful -- with authorities joining the demonstrators to help underscore their message, although were damaging enough to steal the spotlight. What had been a peaceful protest that included police officers kneeling in solidarity in Trenton later erupted into more than 1,000 rioters rampaging through downtown, throwing bricks at officers, setting a police car on fire and looting businesses. The same was true in Atlantic City, which Mayor Marty Small  was "under siege" Sunday by those who took …

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by Jerry DeMarco & Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Morning Blaze Guts Orange Multi-Family Home Morning Blaze Guts Orange Multi-Family Home
Morning Blaze Guts Orange Multi-Family Home A morning fire ravaged an Orange multi-family home Tuesday. Firefighters found heavy flames on all floors of the three-story Park Street home shortly after 6:30 a.m. The blaze went to three alarms less than an hour later and was knocked down about a half-hour after that. No serious injuries were immediately reported. ALL PHOTOS: Rob Munson The Park Street blaze in Orange went to three alarms less than an hour after it broke out.ALL PHOTOS: Rob Munson Among those assisting their Orange colleagues at the scene or in coverage were firefighters from Newark, Bloomfield, Montclair, West Or…

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by Jerry DeMarco