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Business
America Can't Afford To Lose These 5 New Jersey Restaurants, Website Says America Can't Afford To Lose These 5 New Jersey Restaurants, Website Says
America Can't Afford To Lose These 5 New Jersey Restaurants, Website Says Small businesses have certainly suffered amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  Some long-favorited restaurants closed temporarily, and that was difficult and tragic enough for their loyal patrons. Imagine if more closed for good. Five New Jersey eateries were named to Esquire's list of "100 Restaurants America Can't Afford to Lose." If you've been to any of them, you probably already know why. Cowan's Public, Nutley: The Irish pub with a speakeasy vibe was built on Centre Street in the 1920s and opened about 15 years later. What Esquire says: "The craft-beer, proper-drink, good-food re…

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by Cecilia Levine
Schools
Science Experiment By South Jersey College Student Grows Aboard NASA SpaceX Flight Science Experiment By South Jersey College Student Grows Aboard NASA SpaceX Flight
Science Experiment By South Jersey College Student Grows Aboard NASA SpaceX Flight 10-9-87-6-5-4-3-2-1. New Jersey snow peas are blasting into international space. Saturday's fourth voyage of a Falcon 9 rocket will carry a science experiment designed by a college freshman from South Jersey. Sophia Bradach of Point Pleasant, who is a freshman at Stockton University in Atlantic County, created an experiment that is set for launch to the International Space Station. Bradach, an environmental science major from Ocean County, wants to determine whether snow peas are capable of self-fertilization through nitrogen fixation while subjected to microgravity, according to a news re…

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by Jon Craig
News
Ex-Jersey City School Board Prez, Jersey Shore Lawyer Charged In $113,000 Embezzlement Schemes Ex-Jersey City School Board Prez, Jersey Shore Lawyer Charged In $113,000 Embezzlement Schemes
Ex-Jersey City School Board Prez, Jersey Shore Lawyer Charged In $113,000 Embezzlement Schemes A former Jersey City school board president pulled off a series of embezzlement schemes that netted more than $110,000 with the help of a Jersey Shore attorney, federal authorities said. Sudhan M. Thomas, 45, had previously been the acting executive director of the Jersey City Employment and Training Program (JCETP), which “received substantial amounts of funding from federal grants from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Thomas -- known as "Tommy" -- paid personal debts and expenses with $45,000 that …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Driver, 39, Airlifted After New SUV Hits Pole, Rolls On Route 23 Jersey Shore Driver, 39, Airlifted After New SUV Hits Pole, Rolls On Route 23
Jersey Shore Driver, 39, Airlifted After New SUV Hits Pole, Rolls On Route 23 A Jersey Shore driver was airlifted after his new SUV hit a utility pole and rolled on Route 23 in West Milford over the weekend. Brian Kochakji, a 39-year-old finance manager with Mercedes Benz, was headed north on Route 23 when the 2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 crashed shortly before 9:30 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. Kochakji, a former township resident who lives in Point Pleasant, was brought by ambulance to Echo Lake Ballfield on Germantown Road, police Lt. Thomas Valente said. AirMed One flew him from there to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson with serious injuries, Va…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Swimmer Pulled From Jersey Shore Beach Dies Swimmer Pulled From Jersey Shore Beach Dies
Swimmer Pulled From Jersey Shore Beach Dies A swimmer whose body was pulled from a Jersey Shore beach Wednesday died, authorities said Thursday. Three Point Pleasant police officers responding to reports of a swimmer in distress pulled the victim from the water on Jenkinson's Beach at Arnold Avenue around 11:40 a.m., Police Chief Joseph A. Michigan said. Point Pleasant First Aid Squad, paramedics and lifeguards arrived as the officers performed CPR on the victim. He was taken to Ocean Medical Center in Brick, where he was pronounced dead, Michigan said. The victim's identity was not immediately released. Point Pleasant Beaches are…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Ex-Health Club Bookkeeper Gets Three Years In State Prison For Theft Ex-Health Club Bookkeeper Gets Three Years In State Prison For Theft
Ex-Health Club Bookkeeper Gets Three Years In State Prison For Theft A former bookkeeper who admitted stealing at least $75,000 from a Monmouth County health club has been sentenced to three years in state prison, authorities said. Jennifer Ambrosino, 42, of Point Pleasant, also was ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution by Superior Court Judge Paul X. Escandon. The business thefts occurred between January 2012 and June 2017, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said. Ambrosino pleaded guilty to second-degree theft by unlawful taking on April 28, Gramiccioni said. Wall Township Police Department and the state Department of T…

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by Jon Craig
Business
DJ Sidelined By COVID-19 Opens Jersey Shore Ice Cream Shop Named After Daughter DJ Sidelined By COVID-19 Opens Jersey Shore Ice Cream Shop Named After Daughter
DJ Sidelined By Covid-19 Opens Jersey Shore Ice Cream Shop Named After Daughter A DJ whose business came to a screeching halt due to COVID-19 has opened a candy and ice cream shop on the Jersey Shore. Haven’s Sweet Shop opened last month on Bay Avenue in Point Pleasant. When his DJ company Xplosive Entertainment saw a sharp decline in business this March because, Michael Langsner, 42 of Brick, knew he needed another plan.  Collecting unemployment -- or as Langsner put it, "sitting on my hands waiting" -- wasn't an option. Choosing Point Pleasant Beach to start a new business was easy, as Langsner’s parents lived there for 15 years. He grew up enjoying …

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Point Pleasant Woman With Young Daughter Charged With Downloading Child Porn Point Pleasant Woman With Young Daughter Charged With Downloading Child Porn
Point Pleasant Woman With Young Daughter Charged With Downloading Child Porn A Point Pleasant woman with a young daughter was jailed after authorities said they caught her with child pornography on her cellphone. Lisa (Moffett) Cuervo, 24, remained held Saturday in the Ocean County Jail, charged with possessing child pornography. The divorced Cuervo also was charged with having 17 marijuana plants that Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said were found during a warranted search of her home on Friday by members of his High Tech Crime Unit and Point Pleasant Borough police. Authorities also charged her with child endangerment “based upon the fact that her m…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Planning Trip To Point Pleasant? Smart To Know New Beach Rules First Planning Trip To Point Pleasant? Smart To Know New Beach Rules First
Planning Trip To Point Pleasant? Smart To Know New Beach Rules First Trying to smuggle drugs or alcohol onto the beach at Point Pleasant? Think again. Council members on Tuesday introduced an ordinance limiting the size of coolers allowed on the sand, banning loud music and closing the beach after 7 p.m. to everyone except fishermen and surfers. (The beach now closes to the general public at 8 p.m.) A second reading of the ordinance is set for Aug. 4 -- during the next town council meeting -- when any new rules, still open to revision, can be approved as local law. Beachgoers would be barred from using coolers larger than 13 inches in width, length or heigh…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Authorities: Contractor Who Stole 1,600 Masks Intended For NJ Hospital Had Accomplice Authorities: Contractor Who Stole 1,600 Masks Intended For NJ Hospital Had Accomplice
Authorities: Contractor Who Stole 1,600 Masks Intended For NJ Hospital Had Accomplice UPDATE: Authorities charged a second electrical contractor with stealing 1,600 respirator masks intended for a New Jersey hospital. Stephen Milligan, 54, of South Amboy, conspired with Kevin R. Brady, 49, of Point Pleasant Beach to steal the masks from a Prudential Financial building in Iselin, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Friday. Investigators arrested Brady two weeks ago and charge him in the theft. Both he and Milligan had access to storage areas in the building, where they swiped seven to eight cases of N95 coronavirus respirator masks, Grewal said. Each case cont…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Monmouth County Health Club Bookkeeper Admits Stealing $223K Ex-Monmouth County Health Club Bookkeeper Admits Stealing $223K
Ex-Monmouth County Health Club Bookkeeper Admits Stealing $223K A former bookkeeper at a Monmouth County health club admitted that she embezzled more than $223,000 from the business, authorities said. Jennifer Ambrosino, 42, of Point Pleasant, pleaded guilty to theft in Superior Court in Toms River on Tuesday in exchange for a five-year state prison sentence, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said.Ambrosino admitted "altering bank statements, initiating fraudulent wire transfers, and submitting erroneous reconciliation documents" while she worked at the Atlantic Club between January 2012 and June 2017, Gramiccioni said …

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Ocean County Fitness Center Ticketed For Breaking State Coronavirus Shutdown Ocean County Fitness Center Ticketed For Breaking State Coronavirus Shutdown
Ocean County Fitness Center Ticketed For Breaking State Coronavirus Shutdown Police cracked down on a Point Pleasant fitness center for violating the state's ban on operating "non-essential" businesses during the coronavirus outbreak, authorities said. Anytime Fitness on Route 88 allowed some customers to enter a side door and workout, Point Pleasant police said in a statement. The owner of the fitness center, Janice Lauria, 52, of Point Pleasant Borough was issued a summons on four counts of violating Gov. Phil Murphy's COVID-19 shutdown order, police said. Lauria ignored repeated warnings from police about staying open, they said. Police officers surveilled the g…

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by Jon Craig