New Jersey News

Toms River Votes to Spend $5 Million to Buy Downtown Drug Infested Motel

The Toms River Township Council Tuesday night unanimously voted to introduce a pair of ordinances authorizing the purchase of a crime-ridden motor lodge for $4.8 million, planning to demolish it to create open space under a riverfront development plan, the mayor said. “The plan would be to knock it down,” said Mayor Thomas Kelaher, who attended…

N.J. gets first Sikh attorney general in U.S. history

Gov. Phil Murphy’s pick for New Jersey’s top law enforcement job got swift legislative approval Tuesday, hours after Murphy took office. Former Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal became the nation’s first Sikh attorney general after Senate lawmakers approved his nomination with a vote of 29-0. Grewal, 44, is a first-generation New Jersey resident, born to Indian…

Will Phil Murphy Make New Jersey Pump Own Gas?

Don’t worry, Jersey. Your next governor may have grown up out of state, but he says he won’t make you pump your own gas. Gov.-elect Phil Murphy weighed in on the Garden State’s great gas debate Monday, saying he’s cool with allowing New Jersey to remain the last state in America where self-serve gas is prohibited.…

Murphy says N.J. will ‘soon’ end PARCC testing

As Phil Murphy succeeds Chris Christie as New Jersey’s governor Tuesday, there’s at least one thing students and teachers in the state’s public schools can expect: an end to controversial PARCC testing. But when and how that will happen remains unclear. Murphy on Monday reiterated his campaign promise to eliminate the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness…

Bamboozled: Plumbing giant A.J. Perri hit with record fine for deceiving customers

Plumbing giant A.J. Perri has been hit with a $100,000 fine – the largest ever levied by New Jersey’s plumbing board – and has agreed to reform its deceitful business practices under a consent order reached with the state Attorney General’s Office. The deal, finalized last week, follows a Bamboozled investigation that found the company routinely…

Chris Christie and Phil Murphy join together to fight Trump

WASHINGTON — New Jersey’s incoming and outgoing governors joined U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez Sunday in urging President Donald Trump’s administration to immediately end talk of allowing oil drilling off the Garden State’s coastline. The proposal “puts at risk the strength of New Jersey’s economy and the health of the state’s unique marine ecosystem,”…

Walmart Turns Over Tax Reform Savings To Workers With New $11 Starting Wage

Walmart is capitalizing on its newfound savings under the recently signed tax reform bill by increasing workers’ starting hourly wage to $11 and providing substantial bonuses to employees, in an effort to remain competitive in an increasingly tight labor market. The retail giant announced Thursday that the wage increase and seniority based bonuses take effect next…

Diner a ‘total loss’ after overnight blaze, cops say

A fire that burned through a South Jersey diner early Thursday morning has likely destroyed the building, according to police. The Country Town Diner in Berlin sustained significant damage when a fire broke out just before midnight. The flames raged through the early hours of Thursday morning, and police closed a portion of the White Horse…

Phil Murphy Event to Close State Aquarium Sunday

The Camden Adventure Aquarium will be closed to the public Sunday for a “Family Day” event with Gov.-elect Phil Murphy. The event is part of Murphy’s inaugural festivities, and will be held in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Tickets are free to those who register in advance. The aquarium did not immediately return a call…

Bloodbath of senior staffers underway at NJ Transit

A purge of political appointees may be underway at NJ Transit, with Gov.-elect asking for the resignation of 100 senior staff members, NJ Advance Media has learned. The requests were made in a letter sent to NJ Transit Executive Director Steven Santoro from Murphy’s transition team. The 100 people covered by letter have until the end…

New Jersey Doctor Charged With Hiring Hitman To Kill His Wife

A doctor from New Jersey, who was accused of hiring a person to kill his wife after she threatened to divorce and expose him for running an illegal prescription opioid drug ring with Pagans motorcycle gang, was charged Tuesday. He was arrested in June 2017. Dr. James Kauffman’s wife April Kauffman, a New Jersey radio host,…

New Jersey Town to Ticket Non-Residents for Using Roads?

A small borough in New Jersey has decided to push back against the phenomenon of traffic created by navigation apps such as Waze and Google Maps. According to The New York Times, police in the New Jersey borough of Leonia will, starting in January, be penalizing nonresidents who use 60 local streets during rush hours, in…

Judge reviews Snapchat, video evidence in Sarah Stern killing case

The man accused of strangling his childhood friend, Sarah Stern, and dumping her body off a Jersey Shore bridge in December 2016 used Snapchat to discuss the ongoing investigation with a friend who later went to authorities, prosecutors revealed in court Tuesday. Liam McAtasney sent a Snapchat message to the unnamed friend, who helped authorities record…

Christie Gives Himself High Marks in Final State of State Address

Gov. Chris Christie With his legacy still a matter of debate thanks to record-low approval ratings, Gov. Chris Christie used his final State of the State address yesterday to emphatically recast his two terms in office, asserting that his tenure was one of consequence that will be viewed more fondly over time. In a nearly 90-minute…

Read Christie’s final State of the State address

Gov. Christie Christie will bid New Jersey farewell on Tuesday as he gives his eighth and final State of the State address. Below is the full text of his prepared remarks. Before we begin, let us rise one more time for, not a moment of silence but a moment of celebration, for the extraordinary life of…

Outgoing Gov. Christie to NJ: You’ll Miss Me!

The first time I asked Gov. Chris Christie a question we were 2,000 miles from New Jersey. I was a year into my first newspaper job in southeast New Mexico. Christie, just eight months into his first term, was there to stump for Susana Martinez’s campaign for governor. Noting the candidate’s law-and-order record, Christie played up…

More Snow Tonight? Wintry mix in store for Monday evening commuters

For some, the evening commute on Monday could include some freezing rain and sleet. A winter weather advisory has been issued for central and southwestern New Jersey, from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, according to the National Weather Service forecast. A wintry mix, including light freezing rain, sleet and snow, could hit commuters in…

Sears to Close Ocean County Mall Store This Year

An additional 103 Sears and KMart stores will close in the next several months, Sears Holdings announced Thursday. Among the locations set to go out of business is the Sears on Hooper Avenue in Toms River. That store will close in early April. The Sears Auto Center there will shutter its doors in late January. Sears…

Army sergeant based in N.J. killed in Afghanistan

A sergeant who was stationed in Fort Lee was killed Monday while serving in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army said. Sergeant First Class Mihail Golin, 34, died of injuries sustained from small arms fire while on dismounted patrol in the Nangarhar Province in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Army officials said. Four other soldiers were wounded in…

N.J. woman wins $5M with accidental scratch-off lottery ticket purchase

A New Jersey woman won $5 million with a scratch-off lottery ticket she purchased accidentally in New York City and didn’t even bother checking for two weeks. Oksana Zaharov, 46, of Edgewater, told New York Lottery officials she meant to buy $1 scratch-off ticket but was mistakenly issued a $10 Set for Life ticket by the…

Teenager shot parents, sister, family friend ‘at close range,’ prosecutor says

The Long Branch teenager who allegedly killed his parents, sister and a family friend on New Year’s Eve opened fire “at close range” using a semi-automatic rifle containing 15 bullets, prosecutors said Tuesday. Law enforcement officials also revealed a third person – a woman in her 20s – fled the house when the shots began along…

Teen killed parents, sister, family friend with assault rifle, cops say

A 16-year-old armed with a semi-automatic rifle shot and killed his parents, his sister and a family friend who lived with them in Long Branch on New Year’s Eve, authorities said Monday. The teen, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, will be charged as an adult with four counts of murder and…

Fireball Shooting Across The Sky Captured By Dashcam

Typically, police dash cams are used to gather evidence during traffic stops. However, a New Jersey police officer accidentally captured something quite spectacular on his: a fireball blazing across the sky. Sgt. Michael Virga was on patrol when the camera recorded the bright meteor, at 3:09 am on December 2, according to a statement on Facebook…

Top Dems tell MacArthur to Stop Hurting New Jersey

Gov.-elect Phil Murphy and U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez agree: The sole New Jersey Republican to support the President Donald Trump-backed tax plan needs to change his votes. The state’s top three elected Democrats expressed their dismay Friday over U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur’s decision to back the GOP tax plan they say will devastate…

New Jersey Police ‘Charge’ A Squirrel With Criminal Mischief

The hunt launched by police in Sea Girt, New Jersey, for a vandal who damaged a popular Christmas lights display ended Saturday morning with the arrest of a squirrel. The police uploaded a picture of the perpetrator along with a statement on its Twitter page which said officials had caught the squirrel who was responsible for…