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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
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
Police & Fire
Garfield PD: Ex-Con Who Ran After Car Burglary Claims He Was Just Exercising Garfield PD: Ex-Con Who Ran After Car Burglary Claims He Was Just Exercising
Garfield PD: Ex-Con Who Ran After Car Burglary Claims He Was Just Exercising A Morris County ex-con chased down by Garfield police after a vehicle burglary told them he was running to get some exercise, authorities said. Officer Nicholas Kopacz spotted Scott P. Cuskaden, 48, in a River Drive parking lot Wednesday night minutes after a man who fit his description broke into a vehicle on nearby Hobart Place, Capt. Richard Uram said. Cuskaden took off as Officer Jonathan Librizzi pulled into the parking lot in his marked police vehicle, the captain said. Librizzi chased down Cuskaden, who told the officer that he’d begun running for exercise, Uram said. Cuskaden, of …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SEE THEM? Police Search For Trio Wanted In Separate Newark Assaults SEE THEM? Police Search For Trio Wanted In Separate Newark Assaults
SEE Them? Police Search For Trio Wanted In Separate Newark Assaults Authorities are seeking the public's help locating three men who they say were involved in separate domestic assaults in Newark. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of Farod Rice, 49, of South Orange, and for Newark residents Javoun Williams, 26, and Nashid Smith, 24. Rice pointed a handgun at a South Ward woman during an argument on Friday, Feb. 28, authorities said. He has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Williams assaulted a woman from North Ward on Thursday, Feb. 2, authorities said. He has been charged with aggravated assault. Smith assaulted a South Wa…

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by Valerie Musson
Lifestyle
Food Network Names South Orange Deli Among Best In America Food Network Names South Orange Deli Among Best In America
Food Network Names South Orange Deli Among Best In America Food Network is breaking down the best delis in every state. In New Jersey, that's Town Hall Deli in South Orange. The deli opened in 1927 and has since relocated twice, most recently in 2013 to its current location at 74 1st St. Town Hall's claim to fame is that it's the birthplace of the Sloppy Joe. And no, Food Network clarifies, that's not the ground hamburger meat between two buns. The Sloppy Joe Sandwich from Town Hall Deli.Town Hall Deli It's the New Jersey classic Sloppy Joe sandwich: Layers of two different meats, Swiss cheese, coleslaw and homemade Russian dressing on baked …

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Dozens Have Been Charged In Carjacking, Car Theft Investigations Dozens Have Been Charged In Carjacking, Car Theft Investigations
Dozens Have Been Charged In Carjacking, Car Theft Investigations Authorities have placed dozens of people behind bars in disrupting a pipeline that delivered luxury vehicles from North and Central Jersey to customers in West Africa via ports in Newark, Elizabeth and Staten Island, the Attorney General's office said Monday .  Panel Dalce was sentenced Friday, becoming the last person put behind bars as a result of a pair of investigations, dubbed "Operation Jacked" and "Operation 17 Corridor" aimed at carjackers and car thieves operating in Somerset, Bergen, Essex and a number of other counties.  More than 50 people have been arrested and charge…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Victim In Tuesday's Fatal Newark Shooting Is South Orange Man, 22 Victim In Tuesday's Fatal Newark Shooting Is South Orange Man, 22
Victim In Tuesday's Fatal Newark Shooting Is South Orange Man, 22 The victim in the second deadly shooting to occur in Newark within 24 hours earlier this week has been identified as a 22-year-old South Orange man.  Sabor A. Townes was gunned down at 80 Clinton Place Tuesday night, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said, There did not appear to be a connection with the shooting the previous night that left 49-year-old Hassan Webb dead.  In both shootings there were multiple victims. The two other people struck by gunfire in Tuesday's shooting are in stable condition, authorities said.  Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ess…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Woman Killed By Train Strike In South Orange Identified Woman Killed By Train Strike In South Orange Identified
Woman Killed By Train Strike In South Orange Identified NJ Transit released the name of the woman who was fatally struck by a train in South Orange Wednesday.  Barbara Voorhees, 60, of New Providence, died after she was hit by a Dover-bound train around middday.  She was the first of two people killed by a train Wednesday in the Essex County area. An unidentified male was struck by an Amtrak train just east of Penn Station in Newark around 5 p.m. 

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by Paul Milo
News
Med School Student Center Named For Westfield's Dr. Derrick Nelson Med School Student Center Named For Westfield's Dr. Derrick Nelson
Med School Student Center Named For Westfield's Dr. Derrick Nelson The late principal of Westfield High School widely praised for his service in the military and for his dedication to the students in his charge has received another honor, a Roseland law firm announced Thursday.  Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, which is located at Seton Hall University in South Orange, has named its student life center for Derrick Nelson, who died in April after he fell into a coma following a bone-marrow transplant procedure. The facility will now be known as the Dr. Derrick Nelson Student Life Services Center, according to a release from Mazie Slater Katz &…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Person Struck By Train In Harrison; 2nd Person Killed By Train In NJ Wednesday Person Struck By Train In Harrison; 2nd Person Killed By Train In NJ Wednesday
Person Struck By Train In Harrison; 2nd Person Killed By Train In NJ Wednesday An Amtrak train struck a person who had entered the tracks in Harrison just east of Penn Station Newark Wednesday night, NJ Transit said. Transit later said the person died.  The person was hit around 5:07 p.m.  The incident disrupted service between New York Penn and Newark Penn stations, NJ Transit and Amtrak said. PATH service was affected as well.  The red lights in this photo are from a stopped Amtrak train on the Dock Bridge in Newark, while first responders investigate a reported pedestrian strike. Service is subject to 45min delays & rail tickets/passes are being cross-hono…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Person Fatally Struck By Dover-Bound Train In South Orange Identified UPDATE: Person Fatally Struck By Dover-Bound Train In South Orange Identified
Update: Person Fatally Struck By Dover-Bound Train In South Orange Identified UPDATE: The woman's name was released Thursday. Click here for more.  A Dover-bound NJ Transit train struck and killed a person in South Orange Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the agency said.  Morris & Essex 6225, which left Penn Station New York shortly before noon, struck the person, described only as a female trespasser, at around 12:30 p.m. at Mountain Station. None of the 300 passengers and crew aboard the train were hurt.  Morris & Essex and Gladstone branch service was temporarily suspended Wednesday afternoon in both directions.   The New Jersey Tran…

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by Paul Milo
News
Bear Spotted In South Orange: Report Bear Spotted In South Orange: Report
Bear Spotted In South Orange: Report Police in Maplewood issued an alert Friday afternoon that a bear had been spotted on Wyoming Avenue in neighboring South Orange.  The Village Green reported that the text went out around 12:22 p.m., adding that schools in the area had been advised to hold recess indoors. The public was asked to avoid contact with the animal and to call police if it's seen.  The sighting was reported in the general vicinity of South Mountain Reservation, where bears have been spotted in the past. Black bears have been seen in all 21 of the state's counties. 

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by Paul Milo