We tallied more than 70,000 votes in our quest to definitively examine the breadth and depth of loyalty to the two prevailing terms for our most prized salted pig product.

Once and for all, we can finally put the Taylor ham versus pork roll debate to rest. 

Alright, probably not.  

Nonetheless, over the past week, we tallied more than 70,000 votes in our quest to definitively examine the breadth and depth of loyalty to the two prevailing terms for New Jersey's most prized salted pig product. We received votes from all 565 municipalities in New Jersey 

We analyzed the results in a number of ways and found that the seemingly even divide between Taylor ham and pork roll is no myth - New Jersey is almost dead evenly split on the issue.  

But who won?  Well it depends on how you look at it.  

If we just take the popular vote, pork roll wins handily. More than 38,000 votes were logged for pork roll, which is the technical term for the product in the federal government's eyes.

About 32,000 votes were cast for Taylor ham, the original brand name for the product for 50 years, before regulators forced a change around the turn of the 20th century.  

Jump to the final results map  

But a popularity contest doesn't hold much statistical weight, and may just show that New Jersey's pork roll aficionados are more active online.  

So we decided to turn to New Jersey's upcoming presidential primary rules for a bit more guidance. As in most states, Democrats and Republicans have different ways of awarding delegates in New Jersey. 

Republicans award delegates here on a winner-take-all basis. That is, whoever wins the primary takes all the delegates. So we applied that on a municipal level to our Taylor ham/pork roll fight -- awarding a point to each term for every municipality won.  

The result? Pork roll once again wins, this time fairly handily. Here are those results, by county:

The results change, however, if you award things proportionally, as the Democratic party does in New Jersey.

Northern New Jersey carries the majority of the state's population, so a straight geographic win for pork roll is a bit misleading. So for another look, we applied the percentage of the vote for each term, by town, to each municipality's actual population and re-tabulated it.

Analyzing the data this way produces a win for John Taylor and his band of supporters. Under this more refined analysis, Taylor ham emerges with 4.56 million people to pork roll's 4.30 million.  

So does that leave us back where we started? Not entirely.

Ardent supporters of either term were likely to take their choice to the grave regardless of what we determined.  

But one thing we can more definitively show with our analysis is where the border of Taylor Ham and pork roll country meet.  

According to our voters, the border runs across along the border of Middlesex and Union counties before cutting straight through Somerset and Hunterdon counties, roughly along Interstate-78.  

While there's certainly disputed territory, the line was fairly distinct throughout voting and did not move much at all as votes came in. Move the slider below to the left and right to compare maps.

Generally, New Jersey's regional dialects or sports allegiances will cut along the Keith Line, the rigid line that runs from southeast to northwest across the state, once separated the territories of East and West Jersey and which visibly forms the eastern border of Burlington County today.    

But the Taylor ham/pork roll line is farther north.  Pitted against the borders of North, Central and South Jersey (above) from our analysis last year, it is almost identical to the border of North and Central Jersey.  

So while Central Jersey generally sides with the north, it appears on the issue of salty swine specialties, they side with the south and call it pork roll.  

Now obviously, none of this is strictly scientific. We're applying statistical analysis to a completely subjective and amorphous topic.  

But let the record show that the people of New Jersey have spoken. The dispute may never die, but the borders have been drawn. This project produced 70,000 votes, gathered more than 25,000 Facebook shares and thousands of tweets on Twitter, replete with...colorful and passionate language.

So if nothing else, this project has shown New Jersey is passionate about the question of Taylor ham or pork roll. So next time you're traveling through the Garden State, perhaps consult the map before you order our native pig product.

Otherwise, buyer beware.  

View the final results on the map below

Click on towns for voting details.

Stephen Stirling may be reached at sstirling@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @sstirling. Find him on Facebook.

NJ.com will be your place to follow all six games across the state

NJ.com will be your place to follow all six games across the state

Shots rang out late Tuesday

NEWARK -- A 43-year-old animal control officer died early Wednesday after he was shot in the city, authorities said.

Alvis G. Carrington was shot on the 200 block of Wainwright Street, near Lyons Avenue, shortly after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose announced in a joint statement.

Carrington, a city resident, was pronounced dead around 12:12 a.m., according to authorities.

Shootings, crashes leave several dead in Essex County

It was not immediately clear if Carrington, who served with Associated Humane Societies for 16 years, was on-duty when he was shot.

Carrington helped rescue a number of animals found in "deplorable conditions," according to the Newark animal shelter's Facebook page. 

"He was a friend, a loyal employee and will be missed by all of us. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, Karen, and his children," the humane group's Newark office posted on Facebook. 

An investigation by city police and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force was ongoing.

The slaying is the third homicide in Newark in as many days. On Monday, a gas station owner was shot dead in his business on West Market Street before a 25-year-old city man was gunned down early Tuesday.

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

A 34-year-old woman faces up to 25 years in prison for a wrong-way collision in Upstate New York that killed a West Orange man.

A 34-year-old woman faces up to 25 years in prison for a wrong-way collision in Upstate New York that killed a West Orange man.

A jury sitting in Syracuse convicted Amy Dell of Rome, N.Y. of two counts of vehicular manslaughter Monday, Syracuse.com reported.

Amy DellOnondaga County (N.Y.) Sheriff's Office 

The May 8, 2011 wreck on Interstate 81 south of Syracuse took the life of Bruce Ham, a married 58-year-old father of three adult children.

She previous turned down a plea agreement that would have put her behind bars for 8 to 24 years, Syracuse.com said.

Dell was allegedly drunk after a night spent barhopping around downtown Syracuse. 

Dell was in a Ford Escape headed north in the southbound lanes of Interstate 81 when she collided head-on with a vehicle driven by Ham.

Ham was driving back to New Jersey after accepting a job in Toronto when Dell hit his Lexus around 3:17 a.m. in LaFayette, N.Y. He planned to move to Canada with his wife that fall. 

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

Newark hospital to pay $450,000 to settle claims it knowingly allowed physicians to perform unnecessary operations.

NEWARK -- St. Michael's Medical Center is settling federal whistleblower charges that some of its physicians performed medically unnecessary cardiac and kidney procedures and then billed federal health care programs for the costs. 

The Newark-based hospital will pay $450,000 to settle the charges, which were brought to federal prosecutors' attention by a hospital insider four years ago. 

According to the settlement order, St. Michael's and four physicians between January of 2009 and January of 2015 "knowingly" filed false claims for payment of renal and carotid catheterizations and cardiac procedures, including angiograms and implanting stents that were medically unnecessary.

The physicians were not identified in the settlement.  

Under the terms of the settlement, St. Michael's admits no liability for the false claims. 

N.J. hospitals settle overbilling charges

In a statement, St. Michael's attorney Bruce Levy said the center was happy to resolve the issue without admission of liability.

St. Michael's, or SMMC, "never knowingly submitted false claims and always acted in the best interests of its patients.," he said. "SMMC has been fully cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office during the course of its investigation.  SMMC elected to settle this matter to avoid the additional legal and defense costs in what was already a four-year investigation."

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said agents from the FBI and the Dept. of Health and Human Service's Office of Inspector General led the investigation leading to the settlement. 

According to the settlement, St. Michael's will pay $22,500 to the state of New Jersey for its share of Medicaid billings. The rest, $427,500, will be paid to the federal government for Medicare and the federal share of Medicaid. 

Since whistleblowers by law get to share in the proceeds of the settlement, the unnamed individual who alerted prosecutors to the issue will receive $112,500 from the state and federal governments. 

The hospital, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, was sold to Prime Healthcare Services, which owns or operates 43 acute care hospitals in 14 states. 

Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Eloy J. Delgado was born and raised in Elizabeth.

JERSEY CITY -- As Rep. Albio Sires prepares to enter his 10th year representing Hudson County in the House of Representatives, a 27-year-old public school teacher from Elizabeth is hoping Democrats will change course.

Eloy J. Delgado, who teaches English as a second language at School 6 in Linden, is a newcomer in politics compared to Sires, who was first elected to Congress in June 2006 and was previously a state assemblyman and West New York's mayor. Delgado's only brush with local politics has been as board trustee president for Elizabeth's library system.

Still, Delgado, who is challenging Sires in next week's Democratic primary, said he's passionate about federal issues and thinks they impact the urban voter more so than state or local policies.

"When we're talking about the trade deals that emptied out the manufacturing jobs, when we're talking about the disparities between certain neighborhoods ... that has a federal overview," Delgado said during a recent interview at Tops Diner in East Newark. "I feel like I could do the most effective change there."

Delgado, whose father hails from Cuba (Sires, 65, was born there) and his mother from the Dominican Republic, is an enthusiastic supporter of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in next week's Democratic presidential primary, and his challenge of Sires resembles the liberal vs. Democratic establishment flavor of the Sanders-Clinton race. Sires has endorsed Clinton.

Delgado said his big issues are jobs and income inequality. He wants to renegotiate trade deals that he said have put the nation's foreign policy interests ahead of its economic interests; get "big money out of politics;" and make college more affordable.

Delgado grew up in public housing, his father was a manufacturing worker. He attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, where as an educator in his fraternity he discovered his love of teaching. After graduating, he also learned the devastating effects school-related debt can have on a young person struggling to break into the middle class.

Keeping college affordable is not about "making college free," Delgado said.

"Allow students to work off the debt ... or else we're going to see the middle-class shrink dramatically," he said. "Economically it's the only way for us to move forward unless we want two classes, the rich and the poor."

The 8th Congressional District is a boomerang-shaped area that includes parts of Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties. Here in Hudson County, Sires represents East Newark, Guttenberg, Harrison, Hoboken, Kearny, North Bergen, Union City, West New York and parts of Bayonne and Jersey City.

"We need a fierce progressive advocate in that seat talking about income inequality, talking about minimum wage, talking about the jobs that went overseas," Delgado said. "That's what I don't feel that we have in this congressional district."

The primary is Tuesday, June 7. Republican Agha Khan is running unopposed.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.

 

Jurors in the "nanny cam" trial of a man accused of beating a woman in her Millburn is raising questions about the attempted murder charge. Watch video

UPDATE: Attacker not guilty of attempted murder, faces stiff prison term

NEWARK -- The jury in the "nanny cam" trial of a man accused of severely beating a woman in her Millburn home raised questions Wednesday about the most serious charge of attempted murder.

Jurors sent a note to Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler asking if they had to find that the defendant, Shawn Custis, had planned or intended to kill the victim in order for them to find him guilty of attempted murder.

Custis, 45, of Newark, is accused of breaking into the woman's home on June 21, 2013, where she was alone with her two small children, and then punching and kicking her, and throwing her down the basement stairs. The woman's 3-year-old daughter was sitting on the living room couch during the attack and her 18-month-old son was sleeping upstairs.

Wigler on Wednesday told the jurors that to convict Custis of attempted murder, they must find he intended to kill the woman, and that he took actions that most people would believe could have carried out that intent. The judge said that the prosecutor had to have shown that Custis had the intent to murder the woman, even if he did not state that intention.

If the jury does not unanimously agree on the attempted murder change, it must then consider the next lower charge, Wigler said. That next charge is second-degree aggravated assault. Wigler's comments came at the beginning of the second day of jury deliberations.

Custis, 45, also faces charges of burglary, robbery, theft and two counts of endangering the welfare of child for the attack.

The beating of the woman was recorded on a home security "nanny cam," which police released shortly after the attack. Four women, two of them former girlfriends of Custis, called authorities after the video was released and identified him as the attacker.

Custis' attorney has argued that his client was arrested by bias police officers who planted the blood on the jeans. His argument hinged on comments made by the first detective to arrive at the victim's house after the attack. The detective was recorded on the same "nanny cam" referring to the then unknown attack with obscenities and racial slurs.

Jury deliberations were continuing late Wednesday morning.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

With the public sectional finals set for Friday, the race to be No. 1 in the NJ.com baseball Top 20 turns into a sprint.

A Newark man was convicted of aggravated assault in the beating of a woman in her home but acquitted of a more serious charge. Watch video

NEWARK -- A city man Wednesday was convicted of beating a woman in her Millburn home while her children were nearby, but he was acquitted of a more serious charge of attempted murder.

A jury found Shawn Custis, 45, guilty of second-degree aggravated assault for the June 21, 2013 attack that was recorded on a home security "nanny cam." The victim was punched and kicked and thrown down the basement stairs.

The victim sat in the courtroom weeping as she heard the jury foreman say that Custis was also guilty of endangering the welfare of a child, robbery, burglary, criminal restraint and theft. Her husband sat beside her.

Custis was not in the courtroom. His lawyer, John McMahon of the Public Defender's Office, said Custis waived his right to hear the verdict.

Moments later outside the courthouse, jury foreman Jerome Branham praised four women who identified Custis from the "nanny cam" video.

The case, Branham said, "was sealed for me when the four women testified."

"Thank God for the Nanny cam, because the Millburn police left some questions in my mind," Branham said. He said the police who testified were "very bias" against Custis.

During the trial, Custis' attorney, John McMahon of the Public Defender's Office argued Custis was arrested because of the police officers' bias, largely because the first police detective to arrive at the house after the attack was recorded on the same nanny cam referring to the then unknown attack with obscenities and racial slurs.

Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Jamel Semper said prosecutors were aware that proving the attempted murder charge depended on jurors believing that Custis intended to kill someone before he entered the house.

"We knew from the start that would be a difficult charge to prove, but given the proofs and the violent nature of the crime, we thought it was a question that should be put before the jury, and we're satisfied with their verdict on that," Semper said.

He said the victim was pleased with the outcome. Semper also said Custis had more than a dozen prior felony convictions, including for home invasions across the state.

Jurors deliberated seven hours over two days. Early Wednesday morning, the jury asked Judge Ronald Wigler for details about the attempted murder charge, and whether they had to find that Custis intended to kill the woman.

Wigler said the law requires that the prosecutor prove Custis intended to kill the victim, even if Custis did not state that intention. If jurors could not unanimously agree on that charge, Wigler said, then they had to consider the next charge of aggravated assault.

The first-degree robbery charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. However, Semper said Custis' prior convictions would likely lead to an extended term of up to life in prison on the robbery charge.

During the attack in the home, the woman's 3-year-old daughter sat on the couch during the beating and the victim's 18-month-old son was asleep upstairs.

Authorities said Custis broke into the home and discovered the woman, then beat her until she fell to the floor. He then went upstairs, but quickly came down and attacked the woman again as she was trying to get up and reach for a phone.

Days after the attack, police released the video of the attack and received tips from more than 20 people.

Custis was arrested one week after the attack in an apartment in New York City.

Star-Ledger columnist Mark DiIonno contributed to this story.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The Non-Public football playoffs format will not be changed for 2016.

The Non-Public football playoffs format will not be changed for 2016.

Police and fire academy graduates sworn in Wednesday

NEWARK -- Dozens of Newark police officers and firefighters were sworn in Wednesday at a ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the city's North Ward.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka called on the 40 new police officers and 34 newly-minted firefighters to keep focused on their missions and praised the responders as they prepared for duty.

"Today, right now, at this moment, at this hour you are exactly what the city needs," Baraka said in addressing the graduates. "You are part of the finest public safety department in the entire state of New Jersey. We expect the best from you, we know you will give us the best and the people of Newark will be better for it."

Baraka moved the police and fire departments into divisions under the city's new Department of Public Safety. He picked Anthony Ambrose, former chief of investigations with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office and a local law enforcement veteran, as Newark public safety director late last year.

Newark would add 150 new cops under proposed budget

Reforms under the new department are designed to focus on collaborating with the community to reduce crime, according to city officials.

The new police officers would be assigned to walking patrols across the city, Ambrose said in a speech Wednesday. He told the graduates to remain focused on the department mission, work hard and be problem solvers.

"Treat people like you would want to be treated," the director said.

The new police officers and firefighters serve different functions, but were united by their courage when facing danger, Ambrose added.  

Thirty-one men and nine women completed the 26-week training program at the Passaic County Police Academy, which included lessons on criminal law, cultural diversity, firearms skills, physical training and community relations.

Officers honored at Newark ceremony

The fire division graduates completed 12 weeks of training at the city's Orange Street academy. Officials said the recruits faced intense physical training, classroom work and tests, along with simulated rescues.

The ceremony included scores of excited family members, who stood to snap cell phone pictures as their loved ones took the oath of office. New firefighters and officers posed for photos outside the basilica, where a large American flag hung from firetrucks and police horses were stationed.

Newark's last class of police recruits graduated in March. Baraka's 2016 budget calls for 150 new officers to join the approximately 950-member force in what officials say is an effort to eventually offset the loss of 400 officers since 2010.

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

Artists from the New Jersey Plein-Air Society and The Center for Contemporary Art put paint to canvas in Willowwood Arboretum and Park.

FAR HILLS --  With brushes, paint, pastels and bug spray in hand artists from The New Jersey Plein-Air Society and The Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster, took advantage of the nice weather Wednesday and converged at the Willowwood Arboretum to capture beauty of the park on canvas.

After finding the perfect spot in the Chester park, the artists begin their work, which sometimes lasts a few hours or until the heat of the day gets to be too much.

"Painting outside is energizing," says Catherine Whithead, a Plein-Air painter from Glen Gardner, "It connects you what you are trying to capture, with what you feel."

The arboretum is part of the Morris County Park System, and with its rolling hills, flowering plants and trees the park attacks many visitors. The site dates back to 1908 when the land was purchased by two brothers from New Your City, Robert and Henry Tubbs.

Robert Sciarrino may be reached at bsciarrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SciarrinoRobert. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Shooting reported Monday

Quadir Whitehead (Photo: Newark Police) 

The city police Shooting Response Team was working to find Quadir Whitehead in connection with the gunfire on the 100 block of Shepard Avenue, according to a statement from the department.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the Newark 24-hour Crime Stoppers tip line at 877-NWK-TIPS (877 695-8477) or 877-NWK-GUNS (877 695-4867). Authorities said anonymous Crime Stopper tips are kept confidential.

More than 70 sworn in as Newark cops, firefighters

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

Jury repulsed by video of home invasion beating

The first time the video was shown, the jury of six men and six women who had the chance to lock up Shawn Custis, could barely watch.

"I'm not ashamed to say I was crying," said juror Francis Ojbo of Newark. "We were all crying, men and women. I had never seen anything like that."

It didn't get any easier for them during the six-week "nanny cam" trial, where Custis was caught on tape savagely kicking and punching a defenseless woman during a home invasion in Millburn in June 2013.

Custis beat and robbed the woman, who was alone in the house with her two children. All the violence occurred in front of her 3-year-old daughter, who whimpered on the couch. Her 18-month-son was upstairs, asleep.

The jury saw the video several times, most recently on Tuesday, their first day of deliberations. Yesterday they found Custis, 45, of Newark, guilty on charges of aggravated assault, robbery, burglary and endangering the welfare of children.

He was cleared of attempted murder only because the law requires that the state prove a clear intention to kill from the outset of the crime.

And while that may not have been Custis' motive, "it was but for the grace of God he didn't kill that woman," said jury foreman Jerome Branham, of Newark. "It was a miracle she survived it."

MORE: Recent Mark Di Ionno columns

Branham spoke minutes after Wednesday's verdict in the parking garage of the Essex County Superior Court. He was joined by two other jurors, John Long of Montclair and Ojbo.

All three spoke of the impact the video had on them, ranging from revulsion to nausea.

The video played in court was seconds shy of three minutes long and, unlike the version released to the media, it had sound.

"I was horrified. I wanted to look away," said Long. "I could not wait for it to end. It was the longest three minutes of my life."

The ferocity of the beating is stomach-turning; the sound amplifies the brutality. As the video plays, one question loops through your mind: What kind of man does something like this?

The video begins with the victim reacting to a bang in the back of the house. She is then seen retreating and Custis suddenly appears on screen and lunges into her with a left hand punch to the head that knocks her down.

She falls on the couch, right next to her daughter, where he hits her eight times with both hands. The sound of those punches is like an ax hitting wood.

He goes up the stairs, then comes down to see she has struggled to her feet. He knocks her down again with a right hand. He is breathing heavy and his grunts dominate the sound, drowning out the little girl's soft cries.

"Where you goin'? Where you goin'?'' he says as he puts the woman in a chokehold, while her daughter's cartoons play in the background on a big screen TV. The victim isn't screaming, but moaning in pain.  He rips off her wedding ring and bracelet.

"Where's your pocketbook? Where's your pocketbook? Where's your pocketbook?" he asks as he lies on top of her, punctuating each question with a hard punch to her kidney area.

He kicks her twice, one in the chest and once in the face, sending her sprawling on her back both times. He puts her in another chokehold and drags her out of the room and is seen shoving her down the stairs. The sound of her tumbling is clearly audible.

In the version shown to the jury, the woman is seen floundering and staggering while Custis is off-camera. She is clearly semiconscious, unable to steady herself on her feet, let alone defend herself. Both times he kicks her, she is already on her knees.

"The first time the jury saw it, I think they were very disturbed, as I was, by the continuous violence," said Jamel Semper, the Essex County assistant prosecutor who tried the case. "They had a visceral reaction to how he continued to beat her after she was clearly incapacitated. I noticed some closing their eyes or looking away."

Branham was one.

"The first I saw it I had to close my eyes to keep ... to keep from ...," Branham said yesterday, choking up still.  "It was very emotional."

On Monday, during the final time the jury watched the video, Custis sat at the defense table, shuffling papers while the sound of his grunts and the victim's moans filled the courtroom. He showed no emotion as the brutal attack played on. One minute ... two minutes ... three.

For the jury, there were no tears this time. They were focused. They were cementing their decision. They were leaving no question that the man committing such a brutal act sat 20 feet away.

Yesterday, when the jury announced it reached a verdict, the victim and her husband were accompanied into court by members of the Essex County prosecutor's office.

As the verdict was read, the woman leaned against her husband and began to shake and cry, most demonstrably when Custis was pronounced guilty of the child endangerment charges.

Custis, meanwhile, stayed in the holding cell, opting not to come out to hear the verdict or his victim's cries. It raised the question again: What kind of man does that?

The same kind that beats a defenseless woman.

A coward.

Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.

The lead prosecutor in the "nanny cam" case said the conviction showed the value of police and the public working together. Watch video

NEWARK -- Throughout the "nanny cam" trial, the lead prosecutor said the suspect arrested for severely beating a man in her home was caught because investigators got help from people in the community.

When the trial ended Wednesday with the defendant Shawn Custis being convicted of the beating, Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Jamel Semper again pointed to the value of the public's support in the case.

"Law enforcement works hard but we can't be everywhere. We don't know everybody," Semper said. "In this instance, we had some women, some people from the community step up and say something. They helped us a great deal and we are grateful for that," he said.

During the trial, four women, two of them former girlfriends of Custis, testified and identified him as the man seen on the home security "nanny cam" that recorded the attack on the victim in her Millburn home on June 21, 2013.

Authorities said Custis broke into the home, discovered the woman and punched and kicked her, then threw her down the basement stairs while her 3-year-old daughter sat on a couch nearby and her 18-month old son was sleeping upstairs.

Days after the incident, police released the video of the attack, and received more than 20 tips about possible suspects, including calls from the four women.

In his summation, Semper told jurors of the women's courage to speak up, even saying one of the witnesses came from a community where people don't call police.

"This is just another example of what happens when the community works in hand with law enforcement," Semper said after the guilty verdicts were announced.

"As we said during the trial, crimes don't get solved without the help of the community, and we are able to make the community better as a whole," Semper said.

He said the verdicts brought a bit of closure to the victim, who sat in the courtroom weeping, her husband by her side, as the jury pronounced Custis guilty.

"I think if I could characterized her reaction it would be relief," Semper said. "She thanked all the law enforcement officials involved, and said she was very pleased with the outcome," he said.

He said Custis stole the victim's wedding ring and other jewelry, none of which has been recovered.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Many of the defenders of leaf blowers claim there is some sort of right to use them; if there is, then there's also a Second Amendment right to silence them Watch video

I see the members of the Libertarian Party got together last weekend and nominated Gary Johnson for president.

I've spoken with Johnson. He seems to be a sincere guy (and he sure can run a marathon quicker than Paul Ryan.) But I suspect he will do about as well in the 2016 election as he did in the 2012 election, which is to say miserably.

There's a good reason for that. Libertarianism is not so much a system of governing as it is a system of analyzing government - one that most libertarians are notoriously bad at.

Nothing proves that better than the "dust-up" over a summertime ban on leaf blowers in Maplewood.

I use that term advisedly. Leaf blowers kick a lot of dust up. Often, after I've just washed my car I will drive past some lout who is blowing crud directly at my passenger door.

But that's just a small aspect of the problem with leaf blowers. The big problem is they make a racket that intrudes on the right of those living nearby to enjoy their own property in peace.

Which right wins out?

This the sort of decision a politician must make.

And it's the sort of decision that most people who consider themselves libertarians are incapable of making - at least if the internet comments on the dispute are any indication.

When I discussed this with Maplewood Mayor Victor DeLuca the other day, he gave me a compelling description of how leaf blowers infringe on the rights of homeowners.

"The problem is that these landscapers tend to come with crews of four or five," DeLuca told me. "Oftentimes the people who have these services are not home and it impacts the people who are home."

One such resident is Tom Clough, who is self-employed.

"They leave early and they catch commuter trains," he said of his neighbors. "But I work at home."

That work requires concentration, but Clough said he finds it impossible to concentrate when the landscapers show up with their blowers.

"Even with the windows closed and the doors shut it would be shrill," he said. "The sound they make is in a high register and the cumulative effect is amazing."

Like the mayor, Clough said he can understand the use of blowers in the autumn when the leaves fall from the many trees for which Maplewood is famous. But in summer, landscapers use them to blow around blades of grass.

The defenders of the leaf blowers tend to speak of a "right" to use them and argue that any denial of that "right" is evidence of the nanny state in action.

Nonsense. A nanny state is a state that prevents you from doing harm to yourself, not to others. The best way to understand that is by comparing this grass to that other grass, the kind people smoke.

If somebody wants to smoke pot in his own house, then he can do so to his heart's content as far as I'm concerned. He can even listen to the Grateful Dead - though only if he keeps that sound on his own property as well.

But if he wants to project 90 decibels of sound onto my property, then let us imagine my possible response in a land of true liberty, free of all regulation.

I've imagined this many times. What I imagine usually involves my Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. A quick search shows numerous cases in which leaf-blower users have been shot; a classic case of justifiable homicide.

You can see the problem for any libertarian elected to office. Does he use the power of government to crack down on the guy who uses one infernal device against his neighbor - or against the other guy who uses another infernal device in return?

Either way he's infringing on the liberty of one of them, at least according to the trenchant analysis of such classic libertarians as John Locke and John Stuart Mill.

The philosophers back then weren't dealing with that sort of thing in mere theory. Disputes were regularly resolved with pistols. So the deep thinkers did their best to devise rules by which society could sort out such disputes peacefully.

To that end, Mill wrote, "the individual is not accountable to society for his actions, in so far as these concern the interests of no person but himself."

 As for Locke, he argued that in a totally free society "any one in the state of nature may punish another for any evil he has done."

Or in other words, use that leaf blower at your own peril.

If it's too loud, you might not hear the warning shot.

COMMENTS: I realize this will offend the many bleeding hearts who defend leaf blowing, but  I'm deadly serious, as it were, about the right to use force to defend your property - especially against the sort of louts who use leaf-blowers with no regard for their neighbors.

As regards those louts, read this comment from a guy responding to the above story about the man who shot his low-life neighbor who was blowing leaves onto his driveway:

"My blower has a throttle to regulate the amount of force, and I have hearing protection."

Got that? This guy thinks blasting noise throughout the neighborhood is fine - as long as his own ears are protected. 

And the liberals say there are no good arguments for capital punishment!

For as long as cameras have been around to take pictures, there have been a wealth of celebrities in New Jersey to photograph.

When I was nine years old, President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin chose to have a political summit at what was then known as Glassboro State College, now Rowan University.

Glassboro didn't get on the cover of Newsweek all that often.from the author's collection 

It was a BIG deal.

Aside from the fact that these were, arguably, the two most powerful men in the world at that time, the more pragmatic reason for widespread excitement was that famous people just didn't stop by Glassboro very often ... or Vineland or Malaga or Elmer or Newfield or any other of the myriad towns I knew growing up.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

But that's not to say it was a particularly unusual event for New Jersey.

For as long as cameras have been around to take pictures, there have been a wealth of subjects in the state who were major players in their field. This gallery is just a small sampling of them - from poets and physicists to actors and airmen, players of sports and players of musical instruments, people whose fame came from their pursuit of peace or their interest in entertaining or educating us.

These aren't people New Jersey can claim as its own --  we'll visit with them in our annual gallery covering famous people from New Jersey. For now, enjoy these pictures of the well-known as they were passing through.

Can't get enough? Links to previous galleries are here and here. Maybe you'll find some of the other folks you're thinking about.

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

Continuing to fight for a case it was forced to drop on a legal technicality, the state Election Law Enforcement Commission plans to appeal an administrative law judge's ruling that forced it to drop its campaign misspending action against Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo earlier this year.

TRENTON -- Are parking tickets and tuxedo rentals legitimate campaign expenses?

The state Election Law Enforcement Commission continues to argue they are not, as it prepares an appeal of a ruling that forced it to abandon its campaign misspending case against Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo earlier this year.

The powerful Essex County Democract was charged in 2013 with spending tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds on himself, including the purchase of sporting event tickets, the payment of parking tickets, and a tuxedo rental. In an effort to keep the case alive, the state's election watchdog said it will appeal a court ruling that forced it to dismiss its long-contested enforcement action over a legal technicality.

The Election Law Enforcement Commission Wednesday filed a notice on intent to challenge a decision by an administrative law judge, who ruled that its hands were tied because the vote to bring legal proceedings against DiVincenzo had not been bipartisan in nature.

By law, the four-member commission cannot have any more than two members of the same party -- historically two Democrats and two Republicans. But vacancies on the election watchdog agency left unfilled for years by Gov. Chris Christie, a close friend and ally of DiVincenzo, led to challenges by attorneys for the county executive over the legality of the case.

The ELEC case was originally brought by the two Republicans then on the board. The lone Democrat, Walter Timpone -- who was just sworn in as the newest member of the New Jersey Supreme Court -- recused himself in the DiVincenzo case over a personal matter.

Attorney Angelo Genova, who represents DiVincenzo, argued that the lack of a bipartisan quorum meant ELEC effectively could take no action in the matter, and said the complaint had to be dismissed. Administrative Law Judge Jeff Masin later agreed, saying the Legislature specifically precluded the ability of a single-party majority from making a determination in any campaign enforcement matter in New Jersey.

The commission in April was finally forced to abandon the case after a state appellate court refused to stop the clock in the matter until additional members could be named to ELEC.

The commission currently only has one member, Republican Ronald DeFilippis.

In its notice of appeal, ELEC said the administrative law judge misinterpreted the state's Campaign Act, which it argued did not require a bipartisan vote to issue a complaint. It also said the commission's 2-0 vote satisfied any issue of a quorum.

"The plain meaning of the Campaign Act indicates that a vote of a majority of the authorized membership is required only for the actions of finding a violation and imposing a penalty," the commission said in its notice.

A spokesman for the election commission declined comment.

Anthony Puglisi, a spokesman for DiVincenzo, said: "We will resist this appeal for the same reason we have defended this litigation, to preserve the important principle that when ELEC acts it must do so with  a legally sufficient and bi-partisan majority."

Campaign cash helps feed DiVincenzo

DiVincenzo's campaign spending has been the focus of questions since 2011, when a former political opponent filed a complaint with ELEC over his alleged lack of disclosure on election finance reports.

The Star-Ledger found that over one four-month period, DiVincenzo used campaign funds to pay for more than 100 meals, 28 golf games and airfare for a planned trip to Puerto Rico.

Reports also showed he amassed about $250,000 in charges to his personal credit cards, paying off the bills with his campaign account without itemizing any of the charges.

In 2013, ELEC charged DiVincenzo with misusing more than $16,000 in campaign funds and failing to disclose nearly $72,000 in campaign spending over a two-year period--including more than $9,000 for airfare, hotel stays and food for two trips to Puerto Rico during Super Bowl weekend in 2011 and 2012. The event was described by DiVincenzo as a political retreat for Essex County Democrats.

The complaint also charged that DiVincenzo used his campaign account to pay for tickets to the U.S. Open, Devils games and a Houston Astros game; a $676.94 tuxedo at Joseph A. Bank; a $97.25-a-month gym membership; and more than $100 in parking tickets in Nutley.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

West Orange's Turtle Back Zoo will celebrate its 14th annual Open House this Saturday. What will you miss if you don't go?

WEST ORANGE - Turtle Back Zoo was named the best zoo in New Jersey for three years in a row. And for one day, all its admission fees will be nixed to honor its 14th annual open house. 

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, rain or shine, Turtle Back Zoo will host a day filled with carnival games and activities to bolster awareness about Essex County's programs and services. 

Visitors can play mini golf, ride on a miniature train and paddle boats, in addition to viewing the animal attractions, officials said.

Turtle Back Zoo opens giraffe exhibit

The latest attraction to the zoo is a $7.4 million giraffe exhibit, installed in mid-May. Four Masai giraffes - Hodari, Lincoln, Milo and Kamau - are settling into life in New Jersey following moves from South Carolina, Florida and California.

The next item on the zoo's agenda is to open a lion and hyena exhibit across the path from the giraffe exhibit, said Anthony Puglisi, director of public information for Essex County, but plans are still in their infancy.

The giraffe exhibit alone is already proving to be wildly popular.

There were thousands of visitors by the early afternoon, said zoo docent Stuart Yedwab, three days before the open house.

"The attendance today - there are 40 school buses alone, never mind the other patrons who are coming in," Yedwab said.

The zoo opened in June, 1963, but a previous Essex County administration in 1995 considered closing it because of lackluster attendance and troubled upkeep.

In the last 14 years, the county has invested about $70 million into revitalizing the zoo, Puglisi said. Revitalization efforts included opening new exhibits and attractions, expanding existing facilities, and gaining zoo accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo.

Whenever the zoo adds new attractions and draws bigger crowds, it prevents the zoo from falling back into the same hole as 14 years ago when the previous county administration wanted to close it, he said.

"Our annual open house has become a county tradition that our residents look forward to attending," DiVincenzo said in a statement. "Hosting this popular event at Turtle Back Zoo is a unique way to make county government more accessible and raise awareness about the many ways we contribute to our residents' quality of life."

Katie Park may be reached at kpark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @kathspark. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

Softball: The NJ.com Top 20 for June 2