There's a new No. 1, but it once again rains from the Big North.

Music snobs used to look down on orchestras playing movie music, but not anymore.

Just as film snobs used to look down on the medium of television, so too did many in the classical music world look down at film scores. 

But as time -- not to mention pop music soundtracks -- make big orchestral Hollywood scores more and more a thing of the past, musicians, conductors and audiences are becoming more accustomed to experiencing film music in concert halls. And orchestras are increasingly looking to the great film scores of yore to appeal to both music aficionados and symphony newbies alike.

The most popular way to play film music these days? Have a full orchestra perform the score in synch with the full projected film.  

"I think in America maybe we're finally getting removed enough from the golden age of film scores, that people are able to look at that music with more respect," says Timothy Brock, who will conduct the New York Philharmonic for its presentation of Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" on Thursday evening.

It's a trend that certainly seems to be catching on locally. Last Sunday, the New Jersey Capital Philharmonic in Trenton performed a concert of music by composers from Hollywood's golden age. In addition to its performance of "City Lights, the NY Phil is also performing Walt Disney's "Fantasia" from 1940 this weekend.

And next month the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will be performing a weekend series of concerts at NJPAC celebrating the music of the James Bond films.

None of this should sound strange or as if orchestras are somehow pandering to popular taste: We forget that bands playing alongside films were commonplace in the silent era, where musicians -- or at least an organ or piano -- were required to provide films the necessary musical accompaniment. 

"Film music belongs in concert halls, especially silent film scores," says Brock, who has worked with the Chaplin Estate since 1998 and has also composed 27 original scores for silent films. "It wasn't because of a loss of artistic merit that silent film scores stopped being written, it was simply technical and stylistic change."

Brock adds, "In Europe, I get asked to do film scores everywhere, but in the States it's really only the big orchestras in New York and Los Angeles that do these kind of concerts."

The American-born conductor/composer currently lives in Bologna, and he says that in Italy that film composers like Ennio Morricone (who composed the scores for Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns) and Nino Rota (Fellini's favored composer) are seen as extensions of the country's musical tradition -- not a separate category. 

"In Italy, if you putting on something by Miklos Rozsa, say his 'The Vinter's Daughter,' paired along with other classical music, no-one minds," Brock says.

The NJSO got into the film score act in a big way this season. The band has already accompanied the films "Back to the Future" (as part of the film's 30th anniversary celebration) and "Home Alone," as a holiday season event.

For its series of Bond concerts, titled "Bond & Beyond," the band will play selections from the five decades of 007 movies.  

Darryl Kubian, a violinist in the NJSO, is eager to tackle "Bond & Beyond" concerts. As well as playing violin in the New Jersey orchestra, he is also a composer of the film and television scores and wants more orchestras to program movie music.

"Films are one place where orchestral music has not only survived but thrived in the 20th century and even now," he says. Kubian adds that just as the signature Bond themes are great orchestral music, the brassy opening credits songs are no different than lieder-type songs sung in classical recitals.

Conducting the "Bond & Beyond" concerts in New Jersey is Michael Krajewski -- and he, too, has become a big proponent of film scores. For the past ten years, Krajewski has conducted concerts with a touring troupe called Cirque de la Symphonie, which performs a melange of dance, acrobatics, contortionism and juggling alongside standard classical repertory.

And -- wouldn't you know it -- this weekend in Philadelphia, Cirque de la Symphonie is debuting a new program called "Cirque Goes To The Movies." At the Verizon Center, the Philly Pops will play music from blockbusters like "Star Wars," "Titanic," and the Harry Potter films. 

"All orchestras want to find new angles and audiences," Krajewski says. "Movie soundtracks offer a way for them to do just that."

James C. Taylor can be reached at writejamesctaylor@gmail.com. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.

Stanley Jerome admitted moving money between phony bank accounts to reap in commissions on life insurance policies.

TRENTON -- A former insurance agent from Essex County was sentenced to six years in state prison on Wednesday for filing hundreds of phony life insurance applications to score commission fees.

Stanley JeromeNJOAG 

Authorities say Stanley Jerome, 33, pulled in commissions and bonuses totaling $1,132,675 in the scheme, which included paying low-income people for their identifying information and using them to apply for policies with MassMutual.

He pleaded guilty in March to second-degree money laundering and insurance fraud. He was sentenced before Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler in Essex County.

According to the the state Attorney General's Office, Jerome would make up salary, employment and other financial information for his phony applicants, and used money he received in commission from approved policies to make premiums on others in order to fend off detection. 

He also paid the straw policy-holders to open up bank accounts in their own names, which he used to move hundreds of thousands of dollars around between 2013 and 2015 to make payments on bogus accounts. 

 S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Here are the foreclosure rates and number of distressed homes across New Jersey, according to April's housing data provide by RealtyTrac, which was broken down to a county-level.

While the housing market rebounds to pre-recession numbers in many states, New Jersey is still struggling to push properties through the foreclosure process, leaving the state with one of the leading foreclosure rates nationwide and the highest number of vacant homes in distress. 

As of April, just under one-half of a percent of homes across the United States are in the the foreclosure process, a dip from last year's overall activity at 0.82 percent, which was a nine year low.

In New Jersey, there are currently 64,487 distressed properties, making for a statewide foreclose rate of 2.45 percent, according to data provided by the Calif.-based housing firm RealtyTrac. 

How N.J.'s foreclosure rate ranks in U.S.

Just over 4,000 of those properties lingering in the foreclosure process are now vacant -- also known as "zombie foreclosures" -- which is more than any other state, according to RealtyTrac's Q2 2016 Vacancy & Zombie Foreclosure Report.

New York was second in "zombie foreclosures" with 3,352 properties, the report shows. 

New Jersey and New York have two of the longest foreclosure processes in the United States as filings flowing through the states' court systems can take up to 18 months longer than the national average of 629 days. 

A significant part of that delay in New Jersey has been due to a "massive backlog" in the courts, which experts have said they expect that to be nearing its end. 

The Garden State finished the first quarter of the year with one in every 216 housing units in foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac, with the Atlantic City and Trenton metropolitan statistical areas leading the country in distressed properties for areas with a population of at least 200,000.

Metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, are areas established by the established by the Census Bureau that often cross state lines, which is the case with most of the counties in North Jersey. However, the Trenton and Atlantic City MSAs each span across Mercer and Atlantic counties.

According to April's housing data provide by RealtyTrac, which was broken down to a county-level, Essex County leads the state in foreclosures with 6,367 and a rate of 4.12 percent. 

Camden County's foreclosures filings are the second highest with 5,967 distressed properties. Its rate only trails Essex as well with 3.57 percent of its residential properties in foreclosure. 

Camden leads the state in "zombie foreclosures" with 563 of its distressed properties left vacant. The county is followed by Burlington and Ocean counties with 468 and 400 vacant properties, respectively. 

Craig McCarthy may be reached at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig. Find NJ.com on Facebook.    

A look at which players from the class of 2015 transitioned to the college game with ease.

The three best-performing major airports int the country were Salt Lake City (87.6 percent), Portland, Oregon (87.4) and Charlotte (87.1) percent

Air travelers had slightly better go of it in March than they did the same month last year.

About 81.3 percent of flights taking off from the 29 largest airports in the country departed within 15 minutes of schedule, a nearly 5 percent jump from 2014.

That's according to the monthly Air Travel Consumer Report released this week by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Flight controllers at United Airlines Operations Tower view the runway and gates at Newark Liberty International Airport as they monitor and adjust the arrivals a departures of planes. Newark's on-time departure rate was about average among 29 major U.S. airports. (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) 

A year after a national-worst 69.4 percent of Newark Liberty International Airport departures were on time during a snowy March 2015, the airport made a major jump this year. With no major snowstorms this March about 82 percent of flights took off on time, the report said. That placed Newark right in the middle -- 14 airports did better and 14 worse.

Newark fared better than its counterparts at New York City's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. LaGuardia's 77.4 percent on-time rate was tied for sixth-worst in the country, while JFK posted an 80.7 percent on time rate. Last March, JFK tied with Newark at the bottom, while LaGuardia did only marginally better at 66.9 percent.

A flight is considered "on time" if it takes off within 15 minutes of its scheduled departure time.

The three best-performing major airports int the country were Salt Lake City (87.6 percent), Portland, Oregon (87.4) and Charlotte (87.1) percent. Philadelphia rated in the top half with an on-time rate of 84.2 percent.

The report also broke down the best and worst times to fly out of each airport.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

From Sid Allen's in Englewood Cliffs to Zaberer's in North Wildwood take your taste buds on nostalgic road trip

Be it a temple of gastronomy, a neighborhood red sauce joint or a humble roadhouse, there is surely a restaurant or two that is now closed but will forever live in your memory as if preserved in amber. Or, since this is Jersey, embalmed in a grease trap. 

Can you still taste the she-crab soup at Busch's in Sea Isle City, the filet mignon in a decadent bechamel at La Fontana in New Brunswick, or the coconut cream pie at the Tavern in Newark? 

It might not even be the food you remember most, but the atmosphere -- the lacquered exotica of Canton Tea Garden in Jersey City, the "purifying" lobster pools at Hackney's in Atlantic City, watching the sun set over the Mullica River at Sweetwater Casino.

Or the larger-than-life personalities -- Ed Zaberer, dubbed (probably by himself) "the host of the coast," of his eponymous North Wildwood seafood restaurant, or Luigi Iaccarino, the maitre d' of Casa Dante in Jersey City who would greet local, er, businessmen with their mistresses on Friday nights and have the same smile ready for their wives on Saturdays.

After putting out a call for the restaurants most fondly remembered, we've begged and borrowed vintage photos of 33 eateries across New Jersey, and we're on the lookout for more. Share your favorites in the comments below, and we'll try to track down a photo.  

Vicki Hyman may be reached at vhyman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @vickihy or like her on Facebook. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook, and check out TV Hangover, the podcast from Vicki Hyman and co-host Erin Medley on iTunes, Stitcher or listen here.

TV HANGOVER SHOW: Ep. 35: Judging which upcoming TV shows will be hits or flops

Who is the best of the best in New Jersey track and field? NJ.com tries to answer that question this season with the brand new Fab 50 individual male rankings. Check back each week for five new additions to the Fab 50.

The White House has named Newark one of 16 'Summer Impact Hub' cities across the U.S.

NEWARK -- Can summer jobs for teenagers help reduce violence in the state's largest city? Local and federal politicians are willing to bet on it.

In an announcement this week, the White House named Newark one of 16 "Summer Impact Hub" cities across the country. As such, Newark officials will be paired with a "summer ambassador" from the White House who will leverage federal resources in an effort to increase employment and decrease violence among young people, officials said in the announcement.

The White House called the hub cities "communities that will receive robust, coordinated support from 16 federal agencies to expand and refine their summer jobs (and) learning, including exposure to local innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities, meals, and violence reduction programs."

Politics round-up: Obama speaks at Rutgers

The initiative, officials said, is aimed at creating job opportunities for at-risk teens in cities across America. Other "hub" cities include Baltimore, Md. and Memphis, Tenn.

In a statement, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the designation is in line with a new
"Newark Jobs Plan" that he will announce soon.

"The choice of Newark as a Special Impact Hub is an important addition to Newark's coordinated programs targeted to young people," Baraka said. "But more importantly, it is a first step in the city's massive effort to create jobs and lift the economy of Newark."

Last year, the city signed on to take part in President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative, a mentoring program targeting young men of color.

This summer, multiple federal agencies will work together to connect Newark kids to summer jobs, and more, officials said.

"Access to a job in the summer and beyond can make all the difference to a young person - especially those who don't have access to many resources and opportunities," Obama said in a statement.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Owner and employee face drug charges

IRVINGTON -- Investigators seized a large stash of heroin, oxycodone pills and guns in a raid at an Irvington towing yard, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said Thursday.

John Hibinski, Jr., 48, owner of Coast to Coast Towing, and an employee Eric Love, 37, were also arrested and charged with various drug distribution offenses, the sheriff said.

Detectives with the sheriff's narcotics bureau, and police from Bloomfield, Irvington and Roselle, joined federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security agents in carrying out a search warrant Wednesday afternoon at the 14th Avenue lot, according to Fontoura.

Authorities saw Love move a large amount of heroin from an abandoned Dodge Caravan to his Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Fontoura added. Love was caught with $2,100 and 14,300 envelopes of heroin stamped with "FRANK LUCAS," the infamous New Jersey heroin dealer, the sheriff said.

Reputed gang member threatens to kill cop during arrest:sheriff

Hibinski, the lot owner, was arrested after officers found a loaded .38 caliber revolver and more than 300 oxycodone tablets on his desk, according to Fontoura. Investigators discovered two more revolvers, illegal hollow-point rounds and $14,925 in the office.

"With these arrests we believe a major drug distribution operation has effectively been shut down," Fontoura said in a statement.

The seized drugs carry an estimated street value of more than $125,000, according to authorities. Additional search warrants were planned for the lot.

Love was ordered held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in lieu of $150,000 bail, and Hibinski was jailed in lieu of $25,000 cash only bail, officials said. Hibinski also faces added weapons charges.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's daughter is making her third trip this month to the Garden State. Watch video

Chelsea Clinton is returning to New Jersey on Tuesday in Bergen, Essex and Passaic counties campaign for her mother.

This will be the third visit in May by Chelsea Clinton. Details of the visit are still to come, according to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

Along with her father, former President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton has been an active surrogate for her mother, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

New Jersey Democrats vote June 7. Hillary Clinton needs just 90 more delegates to clinch her party's nomination, according to the Associated Press. The Garden State will send 142 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July.

Who's leading in N.J. primary polls?

Both Democratic candidates, Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, also have campaigned in the state. Clinton led Sanders among likely Democratic primary voters, 54 percent to 40 percent, in a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.

Chelsea Clinton made two stops at the Jersey Shore earlier this week as she called out the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, businessman Donald Trump.

"Right now as Americans we have a responsibility to stand up everyday to the misogyny, and the anti-immigrant rhetoric, and the Islamaphobia, and the racism that seems to be all too common from Mr. Trump and the Republicans," she said in Hazlet.

The week before, campaigning in Bloomfield and Metuchen, she called out what she termed "the daily diet of racism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, anti-immigrant rhetoric, anti-workers' rights rhetoric, rhetoric against Americans with disabilities" from the Republicans.

"I never thought in my lifetime I'd see the normalization of hate speech from the Republican Party," Clinton said. "None of that is the country I want to live in or have my children grow up in."

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook 

The city's first beer garden is officially open.

NEWARK -- The beer garden phenomenon has made its way to Newark.

Redd's - the company behind the restaurant and bar outside MetLife Stadium - has opened the city's first biergarten, right outside the Prudential Center. The 7,000 square foot open-concept restaurant and bar, named Redd's Biergarten, had a soft launch last month, and was welcomed by city officials with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week.

N.J.'s 10 hottest restaurants for May

"It's a great city," Redd's co-owner Frank Pinto said in a phone interview about the opening. "This is very different from anything else in the area."

Dan Palsi, Frank Pinto, and Doug Palsi, childhood friends who own Redd's Biergarten. (Courtesy Redd's Biergarten) 

Pinto co-owns the restaurant with brothers Doug and Dan Palsi - the three grew up together and are building on the Palsi family's experience running the Redd's in Carlstadt since 2002. The group's desire to open a location in Newark, Pinto said, goes back to 2007, when the New Jersey Devils moved from East Rutherford to the Prudential Center in Newark.

"We were on the hunt for years...and were finally able to get the right location," Pinto said.

The biergarten - which employs about 25 people - is in the ground floor retail space of 218 Market Street in the RockPlaza Lofts complex, a part of the area's "restaurant row" between Broad and Mulberry Streets. It serves traditional German fare, drinks, and hosts private parties as well as casual diners.

"(We've known for years that) the Four Corners Historic District... would experience a renaissance and return as a center of residential living and commercial business," Marc Berson, chairman of Fidelco Realty Group, an owner and developer of RockPlaza Lofts, said in a statement about the restaurant.

"Redd's joins the thriving district and brings something unique to RockPlaza Lofts and the surrounding community that's been missing from Newark."

When designing the space, Pinto said the owners paid special attention to the city and its history. The eatery includes a Newark history wall with murals depicting old city breweries and Newark's downtown, as well as a wall dedicated to the city's first responders.

"We wanted it to be a destination," Pinto said. "There's a lot to see when you get there."

Scott and Mark Kelly, West Orange natives and the only siblings ever to have flown in space, get their old elementary school named after them Watch video

WEST ORANGE -- It was hardly the first countdown astronaut brothers Mark and Scott Kelly eagerly awaited. The identical twins and West Orange natives had both piloted multiple space shuttle missions.  

But this lift-off was different. 

After hundreds of K-5 students counted down from 10, the brothers -- still identical at age 52, with their shaved heads and blue NASA jackets -- lifted a pair of cloaks from a sign out front of the school building on Pleasant Valley Way to reveal its new name: Kelly Elementary School. Under the name, the sign bore a childlike image of a rocket ship with the smiling faces of two astronauts, "Scott" and "Mark," looking out a pair of portholes.  

The sign unveiling capped an hour-long ceremony that was equal parts reverent and comic, led by Assemblyman John McKehon, a former West Orange mayor, in honor of the Kelly brothers, who had attended what was then known as Pleasantdale Elementary School more than 40 years earlier. 

A more all-American scene would be hard to set: the school's young choir singing the "Star Spangled Banner," as students, educators and elected officials stood with hands on hearts; a pair of hometown heroes (twin astronauts, no less!) sharing a lectern, jokes, and wisdom under the red brick school's arched main entrance; all of them basking in the sunshine and shade of a beautiful spring day.

It could have been a verse out of Gerry Goffen and Carol King's "Pleasant Valley Sunday" -- written, as McKeon pointed out, by the former West Orange couple about the very street the school is on -- but without the underlying cynicism of The Monkees' 1967 hit.

In March, Scott Kelly returned to Earth after spending 340 days on the International Space Station, an experience he summed up on one word as "amazing."

While Mark Kelly has flown four shuttle missions and written six books, three of them for children, he is also well known as the husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in a mass shooting in Arizona that killed six people, and the couple have become prominent gun control advocates. 
 
"I, obviously, am Mark Kelly, the better-looking and smarter one," joked the first brother to speak, poking fun at their remarkable likeness, both physically and in terms of their accomplishments. (Aside from being the only siblings who have both flown in space, each one has a master's degree in aeronautical engineering.) 
 
On a slightly more serious note, the veteran space traveler later told awed young listeners, "What I want to say to you is, go and reach for the stars, because if you reach for the stars, the sky is definitely not the limit."

The brothers are the sons of Richard and Patricia Kelly, who were both West Orange Police officers. Their mother, who died in 2012, was the departments first woman officer. Their father, who retired as a captain in 1986, said Thursday was one of the proudest, most moving days of his life, along with the relief he felt at the successful culmination of Scott's time on the space station.

"One of the great moments of my life was the day that Scott landed after 340 days in space," said the elder Kelly. "Because I had spent the entire time, every, watching the NASA Channel, and all the craft that exploded, supply ships. So this is right up there, but in a different way."

The astronauts were also scheduled to appear later in the day at Town Hall, where Mayor Rob Parisi planned to officially declare Kelly Family Day in West Orange.  
 

Despite their accomplishments, or because of them, the brothers used modesty to make their points. They told the students that they had started out as mediocre students in school and pilots in the Navy, but that they had improved and excelled through diligence and hard work, as lesson educators present said was invaluable to any struggling students, especially coming from such larger-than-life figures.

"The worst thing we can do to a child, the worst thing," emphacized Susan Cole, president of Montclair State University, "is to underestimate their potential."

Cole said Montclair State will partner with West Orange Public Schools in applying for a NASA program fostering science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Kelly School students took their namesakes' message to heart.

"Something that stood out to me today was how they struggled in school but they worked hard and became astronauts," said fifth grader Nate Kilonzo, 10. "Sometimes in science there's something I don't understand, so when i go home I stay on it and get help from my mom. This makes me want to work harder to I can as successful as they have."

During the ceremony, McKeon had marveled at the self-control it must have taken the students to sit still and pay attention for so long, something he said the rambunctious young Kelly brothers might have lacked at their age.

Fifth-grader Victoria Afolabi, 11, said she was surprised to hear that.

"Because they had to stay so long in space, I thought they would have had a good attention span when they were younger," she said. "It makes me think that I can do anything. And it makes me reach for the stars."

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Newark's mayor released an executive order Thursday that seeks more power over the Port Authority.

NEWARK -- City Mayor Ras Baraka has taken the latest swing in an ongoing battle over jurisdiction at Newark airport. Baraka released an executive order Thursday that calls for several new regulations at the airport, including a call for $15 an hour minimum wage for airport workers.

Among the provisions in the order is the creation of a "City of Newark Office of Port Authority Oversight," which city officials said would "examine all capital projects affecting Newark and to help increase job opportunities." The order also calls for an audit of the city's lease agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to "ensure the city receives its fair share of rent payments and other financial benefits," the city said in an announcement about the order.

The move will likely escalate the city's struggle to take control of aspects of the airport's operations, which have been rebutted by the Port Authority.

The calls follow Baraka's longtime promise to residents that his administration would seek to increase benefits the city receives from the international airport, and a public battle with the Port Authority over regulating ride-share programs at the airport.

"This Executive Order will ensure that our residents finally reap real benefits from our lease agreement with the Port Authority," Baraka said in a statement Thursday.

"We know there's considerable value in our land at Port Newark and Newark Airport. It's time the Port Authority recognizes this and gives us a seat at the table on matters that impact our assets and residents. And the agency must live up to its promise to be a good partner by providing job opportunities for Newark residents and at least a $15 wage for Newark Airport workers."

The move comes after an announcement earlier this year in which Baraka said a $15 an hour minimum wage will be phased in for all city employees by the year 2018.

A spokesman for the Port Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. In response to a similar call Baraka made earlier this year, Port Authority Commissioner Raymond M. Pocino said that agency is conducting a study considering the economic impact of raising the minimum wage. The results of that study have yet to be announced.

Port Authority officials also said at the time that they were willing to work with the city on Baraka's proposed regulations.

However, last month, the Port Authority warned that it could halt an agreement between Newark and ride-sharing company Uber over company pick-ups at the airport.

The city did not immediately respond to requests for additional comments on the ongoing jurisdiction battle with the Port Authority Thursday.

Still, the union representing airport workers in Newark released statements in support of Baraka's call for a higher minimum wage.

"By seeking at least a $15 minimum wage, the mayor is giving hope and dignity to all workers, including the hardworking men and women at Newark Airport who are struggling to survive on poverty wages," Kevin Brown, 32BJ SEIU Vice President and NJ State Director, said in a statement.

"It's clear Mayor Baraka understands that when working people can afford more than the basics it's good for families and the economy."

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Campus official says death was "tragic accident"

Richard Sweeney (Photo: NJIT) 

Richard Sweeney was struck by a Nissan Altima as he crossed the street near Central Avenue and Lock Street around 7:45 a.m., according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray.

Sweeney, 70, of Metuchen, was pronounced dead at 10:45 a.m. at University Hospital, the prosecutor's office said.

The driver, identified only as a female, remained at the scene, Murray said in a statement. No charges have been filed and the investigation was ongoing.

As university librarian, Sweeney was responsible for overseeing the school's Robert W. Van Houten Library and Barbara & Leonard Littman Architecture Library.

In a message to students and staff, NJIT Provost Fadi P. Deek called the death a "tragic accident."

"The university has been in close contact with Richard's family, and we wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to them and to his many friends," Deek's message said. "Please keep them in your thoughts in the following days."

Grief counselors were available on campus, Deek added.

Sweeney joined NJIT in 1995, according to the university. He previously worked in Atlantic City, Columbus, Ohio, and Flint, Michigan.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Also find out which school won Prom of the Week. Watch video

 

Woodstown is NJ.com's Prom of the Week, but the real race was for best dressed. We had our closest vote yet during prom 2016. Couples from Cedar Creek and Williamstown were very close to the top spot, but this couple from Mainland won this week's best-dressed vote. Congrats, guys.

We are at a ton of proms this week, and it all starts tonight with Prom of the Week winner Woodstown. We'll be there taking photos, so look for them on NJ.com's homepage Friday. We'll have photos from more proms Friday and Saturday nights as well. You can see them all on NJ.com's prom page. On Monday, we'll go through all of the photos from this weekend and find the best looks for our next best dressed vote.

Tweet and Instagram your prom photos with #njprom.

John Shabe can be reached via jshabe@njadvancemedia.com. Follow John on Twitter, and find NJ.com on Facebook.

Awards for arresting armed suspects, fight with prisoner

NEWARK -- Officials honored dozens of police officers for their exceptional service and dedication during Newark's annual police awards ceremony at City Hall Thursday.

Among the officers honored was Edna Perez, who was hurt in a violent struggle with a prisoner as he tried to disarm the officer and escape from custody at University Hospital Feb. 25. Perez suffered serious injuries, and was credited with keeping hospital staff safe before other officers foiled the prisoner's escape.

Perez received the Purple Heart Award, which is bestowed on officers who suffer serious injuries and even death while taking police action.

"We are here to honor our heroes, the men and women of the Newark police," Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said, while he also recognized the 51 officers who have died in the line of duty throughout department history. 

Essex County police, firefighters honored for heroics

"Thank you for what you do each and every day," Ambrose told officers at the awards. "Thank you to your family members and your loved ones who put up with [working] holidays and nights. 

Other officers who received the Medal of Honor included Detectives Juan Ramos and Wyhidi Wilson. The detectives were running after an armed suspect when the gunman turned and pointed his weapon at them, police said. The detectives fired and continued the chase before they arrested the suspect and seized a stolen handgun.  

Sgt. Matthew Ruane, and Detectives Ana Colon and Tyrell Wheeler also received the Medal of Honor for chasing armed suspects. Police say Ruane and Wheeler wrestled a gun from one suspect's hand after Colon fired at a suspect who aimed his gun at the group. Officers made two arrests and recovered two guns.

Detective Glen Calderon was awarded the Medal of Honor for apprehending two suspects - including one who police said pointed at a gun at him - after he interrupted a holdup at a gas station. The Essex County 200 Club also recognized Calderon for the arrests at its ceremony this month.

Mayor Ras Baraka joined Ambrose and Chief Darnell Henry to present the awards. 

"Thank you for putting your life on the line for people who you don't even know, who sometimes don't appreciate the work that you do every single day," Baraka told officers gathered at the city council chambers.  

The Unit Award was given to the Fugitive Apprehension Team, led by Lt. John Rodrigues. Ambrose said the team captured more than 900 fugitives last year wanted for violent crimes, including murders and rapes.

Houston Stevens, of the city's Vailsburg-section, was selected as the Citizen Award recipient.

Khalif Thomas, an employee with the city's Public Buildings Division, was also honored for helping restore heat to police stations and firehouses during a major snow storm, Ambrose said. 

The Teamwork Award was given to the criminal investigative and field operations branches of the State Police, which has deployed troopers to help Newark officers. 

The full list of award receipts is below: 

Purple Heart Award
Officer Edna Perez

Medal of Honor
Officer Edna Perez
Detective Glen Calderon
Detective Juan Ramos
Detective Wyhidi Wilson
Sgt. Matthew Ruane
Detective Ana Colon
Detective Tyrell Wheeler

Medal of Merit
Lt. Euclides Lopez
Detective Torrance Minatee
Officer David Chapparo
Officer Pedro Rivera
Officer Alfedo Costeira
Officer Kenneth Lee
Officer Lucia DaSilva-Ocasio
Detective Paul Hamilton
Detective Richard Pisano
Detective Tauraon Hinnant
Officer George Hines
Officer Daniel Oliveira
Officer Franciso Martinez

Medal for Excellent Police Duty
Officer Joseph Sapienza
Officer John Fields
Officer Jose Rebelo
Detective Tauron Hinnant
Detective Emmanuel Miranda
Officer Careem Yarborough
Officer Latoya Young
Sgt. Ilidio Ferreira
Detective Bobby Bullock
Detective Richard Warren
Officer Wayne Pugh
Detective Nuvar Tehlikian
Detective Paul Hamilton
Detective Brandi McTighe
Special Officer Ismael Guerrero
Officer Hector Moya
Officer Eddie Rios
Officer Sandro Colon
Detective Lillian Mejias

The Teamwork Award
State Police Criminal Investigative and Field Operations Branches

The Director's Award
Lieutenant John Zutic

The Chiefs Awards
Sgt. Rasheen Peppers

The Unit Award
Fugitive Apprehensive Team

Civilian Police Employee Awardee
Richard Wood

Citizen Award
Houston Stevens

Civilian Employee Recognition
Khalif Thomas

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The lane is closed near Exit 15

NEWARK -- The left lane on I-280 westbound was closed Thursday night due to a vehicle fire, the state Department of Transportation reported. 

The lane near Exit 15-Rt. 21 remained closed as of about 6:20 p.m., the DOT said. Massive delays were still being reported in the area a half-hour later. Delays were also reported on the eastbound side of the roadway. 

The DOT was urging motorists to find an alternate route. 

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Feel free to brag on your score on Facebook and Twitter ... no matter how bad it is.

It's your day of reckoning, the time when the wheat is separated from the chaff, when we find out who are men and who are boys and any other cliches you can name. It's NJ.com local news quiz time when we learn how well you recall the biggest New Jersey news stories of the week gone by. Get a great score on the seven questions below and you can share it proudly on Facebook. Get a bad score and you could share it on Facebook, but you probably won't because it's a lousy score and you wouldn't want your Facebook friends to know.

Now that you know the stakes, it's time for this week's quiz. Ready?

John Shabe can be reached via jshabe@njadvancemedia.com. Follow John on Twitter and find NJ.com on Facebook.

Skye shouldn't be in a home with small children due to her strength.

Skye 

CALDWELL -- Skye is an 18-month-old pit bull/boxer mix in the care of Ferndog Rescue.

Volunteers say she "thinks she's a lap dog" and gets along very well with larger dogs and older children, but shouldn't be in a home with small children due to her strength.

Skye is housebroken and crate trained and has learned commands very quickly.

An active home would be ideal for Skye, who has been spayed and is up-to-date on shots.

For more information on Skye, email ferndogadoptions@gmail.com or go to ferndog.org. The rescue foundation is a nonprofit group that rescues dogs from animal shelters and provides foster care until they are adopted.

Shelters interested in placing a pet in the Paw Print adoption column or submitting news should call 973-836-4922 or email essex@starledger.com.

Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find The Star-Ledger on Facebook.