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Heavy Luggage: Ringleader Gets 10 Years For Smuggling 330 Pounds Of Coke Into Teterboro Airport Heavy Luggage: Ringleader Gets 10 Years For Smuggling 330 Pounds Of Coke Into Teterboro Airport
Heavy Luggage: Ringleader Gets 10 Years For Smuggling 330 Pounds Of Coke Into Teterboro Airport A Puerto Rican resident who coordinated a private shipment of more than 300 pounds of cocaine into Teterboro Airport is headed to federal prison for a mandatory 10 years. Mariano Enrique Arroyo Perez – also known as “Humilde” – took a deal from the government rather than risk a trial. He’ll have to serve out the entire plea-bargained term because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. The scheme involved smuggling more than a quarter-ton of cocaine into the United States on private planes flying into the small local airport in Bergen County from 2017 through July 2019, U.S. Attorne…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Weather
AccuWeather Releases Winter Weather Outlook AccuWeather Releases Winter Weather Outlook
AccuWeather Releases Winter Weather Outlook Long-range forecasters for AccuWeather have just released their projections for the winter of 2022-23. Senior Meteorologist Paul Pastelok and his team are predicting La Niña will shape the weather patterns across the United States for the third straight year. That means less-than-average snowfall in much of the nation, including the Northeast, especially the southernmost part of the region. (See the first image above). In addition, the biggest blasts of cold air will hold off until later in the winter in the Northeast, AccuWeather says. "I think going forward, even though we're in th…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
Airline Workers At Philadelphia International Airport Indicted In $283K Skimming Scheme Airline Workers At Philadelphia International Airport Indicted In $283K Skimming Scheme
Airline Workers At Philadelphia International Airport Indicted In $283K Skimming Scheme Three airline workers at Philadelphia International Airport were arrested and indicted Tuesday, Sept. 20 for skimming $283,000 from their employer by manipulating its booking system, federal authorities announced. Taylor Thompson, 27, Tiana Fairfax, 29, both of Philadelphia, and Theodore Robinson, 29, of Upper Darby, each face seven counts of wire fraud in the case, United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said. The Indictment alleges that between December 2017 and August 2018, the employees, along with two other co-schemers, charged customers who wanted to change their itineraries …

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by Nicole Acosta
News
Jehovah's Witnesses Resume Trademark Door-Knocking For First Time Since Pandemic Jehovah's Witnesses Resume Trademark Door-Knocking For First Time Since Pandemic
Jehovah's Witnesses Resume Trademark Door-Knocking For First Time Since Pandemic Who's there? Jehovah's Witnesses will resume their trademark door-to-door ministry after a two-and-a-half-year suspension due to COVID-19. The Sept. 1 launch kicked off with a global campaign featuring an interactive program for Bible study. The decision to resume their door-to-door ministry marks the complete restoration of all pre- pandemic in-person activities for the nearly 1.3 million Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 12,000 congregations in the United States.  “We believe that the early decision to shut down all in-person activities for more than two years has saved many lives,” s…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
DEA Warns Of 'Rainbow Fentanyl' Made To Look Like Candy DEA Warns Of 'Rainbow Fentanyl' Made To Look Like Candy
DEA Warns Of 'Rainbow Fentanyl' Made To Look Like Candy As if the drug wasn’t already terrifying enough: The DEA says it’s seeing increasing amounts of “rainbow fentanyl” being seized across the United States. The trend “appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people,” the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration warned. This month alone, the agency said, law enforcers at various levels have seized brightly covered fentanyl power and pills in 18 states. Some of it even comes in blocks that resemble sidewalk chalk, federal authorities said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
'Rainbow Fentanyl' Made To Look Like Candy Being Sold To Children, DEA Warns 'Rainbow Fentanyl' Made To Look Like Candy Being Sold To Children, DEA Warns
'Rainbow Fentanyl' Made To Look Like Candy Being Sold To Children, DEA Warns Brightly-colored fentanyl made to look like candy is being sold to children and young people, the Drug Enforcement Administration warns.  The DEA and our law enforcement partners seized some of the brightly-colored fentanyl in 18 states in the month of August 2022.  “Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.   “The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fe…

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by Jillian Pikora
Weather
Farmers' Almanac Releases Winter 2022-23 Predictions Farmers' Almanac Releases Winter 2022-23 Predictions
Farmers' Almanac Releases Winter 2022-23 Predictions While you were cooling off at the pool this week, the Farmers' Almanac released its predictions for Winter 2022-23. "A cold December and a very cold January might make readers in the Northeast shake and shiver," said the FA, who released its extended winter forecast on Wednesday, Aug. 3. Winter is expected to make an appearance much earlier this year than last, with December 2022 looking stormy — especially on the East Coast. The latter portion of January will be packed with snow in the east, followed by "what might be one of the coldest outbreaks of arctic air we have seen in several year…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
PA Man Learns His Fate For Fathering Two Kids With 12-Year-Old Girl PA Man Learns His Fate For Fathering Two Kids With 12-Year-Old Girl
PA Man Learns His Fate For Fathering Two Kids With 12-Year-Old Girl A Pennsylvania man was sentenced Tuesday, July 26 for repeatedly leaving the country to have a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl, with whom he later fathered two children, federal authorities said. Valentin Ortiz, 73, of Reading, was sentenced to five years and 11 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $10,000 restitution, United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said. Ortiz was convicted in November 2021 of one count of travel in foreign commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and two counts o…

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by Nicole Acosta
News
Former NJ Resident Convicted Of Kidnapping Son Former NJ Resident Convicted Of Kidnapping Son
Former NJ Resident Convicted Of Kidnapping Son A former New Jersey resident faces federal prison time after being convicted of kidnapping his son and failing to return him from India. Amitkumar Kanubhai Patel, 38, a naturalized U.S. citizen who previously lived in Edison, fled with the child in July 2017 before settling in Vadodara, federal authorities said. He was captured in England three years later. Patel had lived with the child’s mother from August 2015 through July 2017. Their son was born in November 2016. According to her, Patel wanted to take the boy to India to introduce him to his parents and obtain DNA testing that he sai…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Business
Nationwide Recall Issued For Brand Of Blueberries Due To Levels Of Lead Nationwide Recall Issued For Brand Of Blueberries Due To Levels Of Lead
Nationwide Recall Issued For Brand Of Blueberries Due To Levels Of Lead A company has issued an urgent recall of blueberries sold in the United States due to the potential presence of lead levels above the FDA's recommended limits.  BrandStorm Inc. announced the recall of two lots of its Natierra Organic Freeze-Dried Blueberry pouches on Thursday, July 14. The company said the pouches were distributed in the US through retail and online stores.  As of the announcement, the company said it hadn't received any reports of adverse reactions linked to the recalled blueberries. The recall includes the following products: Lot 2021363-1, Best By Date…

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by Nicole Valinote
News
Albanian Who Fled Persecution In Former Yugoslavia Charged With Hauling 68 Pounds Of Pot In NJ Albanian Who Fled Persecution In Former Yugoslavia Charged With Hauling 68 Pounds Of Pot In NJ
Albanian Who Fled Persecution In Former Yugoslavia Charged With Hauling 68 Pounds Of Pot In NJ A native Albanian who found asylum after entering the United States illegally more than two decades ago was charged with transporting 68 pounds of pot through Bergen County. Flamor Djokovic, a 37-year-old restaurant owner from Michigan, was stopped and arrested in Lodi on Tuesday, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Djokovic was 14 when his family smuggled him out of the former Yugoslavia in 1999 amid what their lawyer at the time said was persecution for their political and social activities -- specifically for helping Albanians in Montenegro and providing safe passage to Albania f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Recall Issued For 400K Umbrellas Sold At Costco Due To Fire And Burn Hazards Recall Issued For 400K Umbrellas Sold At Costco Due To Fire And Burn Hazards
Recall Issued For 400K Umbrellas Sold At Costco Due To Fire And Burn Hazards Hundreds of thousands of outdoor umbrellas sold nationwide at Costco locations are being recalled due to fire and burn hazards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued an alert for 10-foot SunVilla Corporation “Solar LED Market Umbrellas” that have lithium-ion batteries in the base that can overheat. Approximately 400,000 units sold in the US are subject to the recall, which was announced on Thursday, June. 23 by CPSC. The recalled products come in a variety of colors, featuring LED lights on the arms of the umbrella and a black solar panel battery puck at the top. To date, …

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by Zak Failla