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UPDATE: Fierce Fire Ravages Lodi Home UPDATE: Fierce Fire Ravages Lodi Home
Update: Fierce Fire Ravages Lodi Home A family of four was burned out of their Lodi home by a fierce, fast-moving fire. The Christopher Street blaze at the corner of Charlton Avenue instantly went to two alarms after breaking out shortly before 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17. The fire raced through the 2½-story wood-frame home near Route 46, forcing firefighters out before the roof collapsed. No serious injuries were immediately reported. Mutual aid responders included firefighters from Hackensack, Hasbrouck Heights, Wallington and Wood-Ridge. 50 Christopher Street, LodiRobin DeWitt Aquino 50 Christopher Street, LodiRob…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Pedestrian, 64, Struck, Killed In East Rutherford Pedestrian, 64, Struck, Killed In East Rutherford
Pedestrian, 64, Struck, Killed In East Rutherford A 64-year-old pedestrian died after he was struck by a minivan in East Rutherford, authorities confirmed. A 46-year-old Wood-Ridge man was driving the 2019 Honda Odyssey that struck the victim from Irvington on Hackensack Street near Paterson Avenue shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, Deputy Police Chief Phillip Taormina said. EMS and ALS were requested, responded and took the victim to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. East Rutherford detectives and their colleagues from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Fatal Accident Investigations Unit were investiga…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Flawed DNA Test Gets Bergen Man Doing Life For Beating, Burning Woman, 70, New Trial Flawed DNA Test Gets Bergen Man Doing Life For Beating, Burning Woman, 70, New Trial
Flawed DNA Test Gets Bergen Man Doing Life For Beating, Burning Woman, 70, New Trial DNA evidence found under the fingernails of a 70-year-old Bergen County woman bludgeoned and burned in her home wasn’t reliable enough to convict a man who’s now serving a life sentence for her murder, a state appeals court ruled. Daniel Rochat, 46, of Wood-Ridge, has already been moved from New Jersey State Prison in Trenton to the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack in anticipation of a new trial following the Appellate Division ruling. He remains charged with various counts of murder and felony murder, as well as aggravated arson, desecrating human remains, burglary, hindering arrest and f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Weather
NOR'EASTER: New Jersey Towns With The Least & Most Snow NOR'EASTER: New Jersey Towns With The Least & Most Snow
NOR'Easter: New Jersey Towns With The Least & Most Snow New Jerseyans on Saturday afternoon began digging out of the second snowstorm this month. Some had a only few inches to shovel away -- others, feet. Here's a look at snow totals (in inches) from across the state, according to the National Weather Service. Wayne: 3.3 Asbury: 3.5 Verona/Montclair: 4 Hewitt: 5.1 Chatham: 6.3 Bergenfield: 6.9 Wood-Ridge: 7.2 North Brunswick: 8.3 Elizabeth: 8.5 Evesham: 10 inches Hammonton: 10 inches Cape May Harbor: 13 Holmdel: 14 Jackson: 14.1 Eatontown: 14.2 Avalon: 15 inches Little Egg Harbor: 18 inches Linwood: 19 inches Bayville: 21 Expect cold and blus…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge
Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge An insurance broker from Rockland County who ran a failed nationwide network of nearly 100 nursing homes from an office over a Bergen County pizzeria ducked nearly $39 million in payroll taxes, a federal indictment unsealed on Monday alleges. Joseph Schwartz, 62, was arrested at his Suffern home last Thursday. A federal judge in Newark released him to home confinement hours later, with conditions, pending trial. Then came the unsealing announcement on Monday, also out of Newark. Schwartz’s Skyline Healthcare LLC amassed 95 nursing homes in 11 states nationwide in less than two years – incl…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey: Pursuers Collar Fleeing BMW Thieves In Marshes Near MetLife Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey: Pursuers Collar Fleeing BMW Thieves In Marshes Near MetLife
Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey: Pursuers Collar Fleeing BMW Thieves In Marshes Near MetLife A posse of local, county and state law enforcement officers captured three teens who’d bolted into the Meadowlands marshes off the New Jersey Turnpike after they blew a tire on a stolen BMW during a pursuit. Hasbrouck Heights police issued an alert to area law enforcement around noon Saturday after the owner happened to spot the red 320i sedan, which had been stolen from outside his Lodi home two days earlier, Carlstadt Deputy Police Chief Thomas Cox said. The owner followed the vehicle as it headed south on Terrace Avenue / Hackensack Street toward Wood-Ridge, Cox said. Just up the road …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Sports Car Totaled In Bergen Garage Fire Sports Car Totaled In Bergen Garage Fire
Sports Car Totaled In Bergen Garage Fire UPDATE: Firefighters doused a Friday night garage fire off Route 17 in Wood-Ridge that totaled a performance sports car. The call came in from Hackensack Street off Anderson Avenue a minute before 6 p.m. Firefighters cut their way into the detached garage and extinguished the blaze, which destroyed a later-model red Dodge Viper -- some models of which carry price tags well over $100,000. No injuries were reported or cause immediately determined. Fire officials were investigating. Mutual aid responders included firefighters from Carlstadt, Hasbrouck Heights, Little Ferry, Lodi, Moonachie a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Business
Mexican Restaurant Opens In Small Bergen County Town Mexican Restaurant Opens In Small Bergen County Town
Mexican Restaurant Opens In Small Bergen County Town A New Mexican restaurant is now open for business in Bergen County. Al Toro Bar, located on Hackensack Street in Wood-Ridge, has replaced former longtime tenant Martini Grill, according to BoozyBurbs. On the menu, you’ll find all sorts of Mexican staples like chicken and steak tacos, tostados and quesadillas, as well as seafood specialties like Ceviche mixto. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 🇲🇽 AL TORO RESTAURANT- BAR 🇲🇽 (@altororestaurantbar) Al Toro also offers happy hour dine-in deals and drinks Monday through Thursday from 2…

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by Valerie Musson
News
HEROES: Pets Rescued In Fierce Lodi Fire HEROES: Pets Rescued In Fierce Lodi Fire
Heroes: Pets Rescued In Fierce Lodi Fire Firefighters rescued several pets during a blaze that blew through a Lodi home. The fire broke out on the first floor of the Westervelt Place home between 1st and Charles street just before 6 p.m. Monday. It quickly went to two alarms -- three for coverage. AftermathJo Fehl Everyone got out OK and no injuries were reported. Among those providing mutual aid at the scene were firefighters from Garfield, Hasbrouck Heights and Wallington. Companies from Rochelle Park, Saddle Brook and Wood-Ridge provided coverage. Flames raced through the Westervelt Place home in Lodi.Daniel Wixon …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Driver Critically Injured In Crash With Commuter Bus At Wood-Ridge/South Hackensack Border Driver Critically Injured In Crash With Commuter Bus At Wood-Ridge/South Hackensack Border
Driver Critically Injured In Crash With Commuter Bus At Wood-Ridge/South Hackensack Border A driver was critically injured in a multi-vehicle crash involving a commuter bus at the border of Wood-Ridge and South Hackensack. The driver apparently lost control of her 2010 Honda Accord, which hit another vehicle and then the NJ Transit bus No. 160 at Saddle River Avenue and South Main Street -- outside the Blush nightclub and across from St. Michael's Cemetery -- shortly before 8 p.m. Friday. The Wallington Emergency Squad took her to Hackensack University Medical Center. The bus driver wasn't injured, responders said. The NJ Transit bus driver was OK, responders said.James Woo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Fire Keeps Ski Slope At American Dream Mega Mall In Meadowlands Closed For Now Fire Keeps Ski Slope At American Dream Mega Mall In Meadowlands Closed For Now
Fire Keeps Ski Slope At American Dream Mega Mall In Meadowlands Closed For Now UPDATE: The indoor ski slope at the American Dream mega malls in the Meadowlands will remain closed until at least the end of this coming week following a fire that drew nearly 20 companies before dawn Saturday. "We can promise you that Big SNOW will be back and better than ever, just as soon as we can safely do so," an Instagram post by the company read. "At this point, we are uncertain of how long that will take." Firefighters doused the electrical blaze, which caused severe fire damage to the roof and ceiling and smoke damage elsewhere in the East Rutherford attraction after breaking ou…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Pre-Dawn Blaze Damages Ski Slope At American Dream Mega Mall Pre-Dawn Blaze Damages Ski Slope At American Dream Mega Mall
Pre-Dawn Blaze Damages Ski Slope At American Dream Mega Mall UPDATE: The indoor ski slope at the American Dream mega malls in the Meadowlands will remain closed until at least the end of this coming week following a fire that drew nearly 20 companies before dawn Saturday. "We can promise you that Big SNOW will be back and better than ever, just as soon as we can safely do so," an Instagram post by the company read. "At this point, we are uncertain of how long that will take." Firefighters doused the electrical blaze, which caused severe fire damage to the roof and ceiling and smoke damage elsewhere in the East Rutherford attraction after breaking ou…

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by Jerry DeMarco