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Built-in cameras and 5 minutes to pay: High-tech meters could change the way we park

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The meters can display ads and emergency notifications, collect parking data, and accept multiple kinds of payments.

BLOOMFIELD -- They don't exactly look like security cameras, billboards, or translators, but they can be all three. And, the high-tech parking meters can also accept payments and automatically ticket you if you run into the store and forget to feed them.

Bloomfield is the latest New Jersey town to test out the technologically-advanced parking meters, manufactured by the Minnesota-based company Municipal Parking Services. The Essex County township of about 50,000 people installed seven of the meters along Washington Street for a 90-day pilot. The meters, which are larger than their traditional metal counterparts, are equipped with large digital display screens, and take various methods of payment, including coins, credit cards, and cell phone payments.

The screens can display messages in multiple languages, information and emergency warnings from the township, and advertisements. "A lot of people were skeptical at first, (but) personally, I've been very pleased," said Bloomfield Parking Authority Senior Operations Manager Anne Prince.

"They are smart machines."

What N.J. does with ticket revenue it collects

So smart, she said, that they may help the township better regulate its parking meter finances. The meters track parking trends and data, she said, and alert township personnel when they are full and money needs to be removed. They also run on wifi, so don't require expensive battery changes to operate, Prince said.

And, at the top of each meter is a camera that MPS officials say is fixed on car license plates. Once you pull into a spot, you have a five-minute grace period to feed the meter. If you don't, or get back to your car more than five minutes after time expired, you can expect a ticket in the mail.

So, though Prince said the township is waiting until the end of the pilot program to crunch the numbers, if the meters are installed throughout the township, they would be poised to increase compliance with meter payment, and increase the number of tickets that are automatically doled out.

Bloomfield has about 1,200 parking meters in its downtown, some still the originals that were first installed in the 1950s, she said. 

"A lot of people park and don't pay," Prince said. "We (now) have the data to back that up. ... It's a big town and we only have a finite number of (enforcement) officers."

According to Municipal Parking Services CEO Tom Hudson, the use of the meters is expanding throughout the region. Bloomfield is one of 12 New Jersey towns that have run pilot programs or are in the midst of installing the new meters, including Palisades Park, which signed on to fully replace its parking meter lot with the high-tech versions. The five-year-old company has meters in 28 cities across the country, and is expanding globally, he said.

They are attractive to cities with high-turnover metered parking zones, he said, because the meters themselves are free to the municipality. "The economics are different depending on the city," Hudson said, but the revenue collected from the meters is generally split between the municipality and MPS.

Top 10 Essex summer day trips

"It's a big step forward from the old parking meters we all grew up with," Hudson said.

But, residents in New Jersey who have interacted with the new meters are not so convinced. They have brought up multiple concerns about the machines, including the feasibility of the five-minute grace period, and the added video surveillance.

"I think it should have alerted me (that I was being filmed)," said Christine Adams, a Bloomfield resident who parked near one of the meters for the first time Tuesday.

She also said she found using the machines a bit confusing, and felt that they were not immediately upfront about all that they do, and how quickly you have to pay.

"If it takes me more than five minutes to figure it out, I'm going to get a ticket."

But, Prince said the cameras help municipalities collect the proper amount of money due for parking, and add an extra layer of security for residents and businesses. Footage from the meters has been used in other cities to assist in criminal investigations, she said.

Cities across the state have been implementing various new parking technologies in efforts to update New Jersey's aging parking meter stock. Montclair replaced its meters with ones that accept credit card payments, and Hoboken has embraced apps that help drivers locate available parking, and pay for it.

Whether or not Bloomfield decides to install the MPS meters all over town has yet to be determined, Prince said. But, the old, broken meters that are scattered throughout the township have got the BPA considering all of the options.

In terms of parking, "we need to evolve," she said. "What worked in the 50s, 60s, and 70s (doesn't anymore)."  

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


N.J. cops go to Dallas for officers' funerals, prep for Baton Rouge

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In a law enforcement tradition, officers often travel to support their own in times of tragedy.

When her plane touched down at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport last week, Keyla Live didn't know what to expect.

The city had seen so much heartache in the preceding days -- five police officers gunned down in the street and fellow cops pummeled by grief, as the country tried to make sense of how this could have happened.

So, when the 35-year-old detective from the Union County Prosecutor's Office arrived in Texas on Thursday for the funeral of Sgt. Michael Smith, she was struck by how fervently the city embraced her. 

They greeted her in the airport. They thanked her for traveling all the way from New Jersey. They asked to take pictures of her and other officers who had come from across the country to pay respect to their fallen brothers.

"Everybody was very supportive and grateful that such a large amount of people were there to mourn with them," said Live, a 10-year law enforcement veteran.

Live was among scores of off-duty New Jersey police officers who voluntarily went to Dallas last week, a nationwide tradition among law enforcement eager to support their own in times of tragedy. The departments, sometimes funded by donations, send representatives to cities and states across the country when manpower allows. 

One person was particularly thankful for officers' sojourns in Dallas. A woman identified by the New York Post as Diane Thurman, of Amarillo, Texas, was sitting near Live and nine other visiting officers in Bob's Steak and Chop House when the group got a little loud.

An officer approached Thurman, 42, and told her they were in Dallas to support the families of the shooting victims. 

Toward the end of their meal, Live and her companions learned they wouldn't be footing the $1,000 bill. Thurman had taken care of it and had left a note on the receipt: "There are no words to express our gratitude! God keep watch over you!"

The officers, who hailed from New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, were floored.

"I don't even have words to explain how we felt to have a complete stranger that's not from our state do such a gesture," Live said.

'A surreal experience'

When Point Pleasant Beach police officer Peter Andreyev goes to work every day, he leaves a wife and two kids at home. 

What if, one day, he didn't return?

Andreyev, 43, was part of a delegation from the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association (NJSPBA) that flew to Dallas for four of the five funerals. The union brought a trailer filled with water and food for officers standing in the Texas heat.

As Andreyev sat in Watermark Community Church for two of the services, he felt a sense of familiarity. The officers thousands of people had come to mourn could have been him or any of his colleagues in law enforcement. 

"It kind of hits home when a lot of these guys were around my age or things like that," said Andreyev, who has served with Point Pleasant Beach police since 1992. "It was personally moving because I can see the similarities between my friends and these guys."

Of the three funerals Sgt. Michael DeGrazio of Montclair sat through, watching the fallen officers' kids speak was the hardest part. There were few dry eyes as the kids remembered their dads.   

Even outside the funerals, signs of what Dallas had endured were unavoidable. The hotel where DeGrazio stayed with three fellow Montclair officers sat squarely in the middle of what remained an active crime scene last week. 

They saw police tape roping off the spot where the shooting took place, bullet holes in architectural columns, broken windows and officers still guarding the area.

"I literally felt sick to my stomach," DeGrazio said. "You wish you could do something to help, but we were just there for support."

But beneath the city's pain pulsed a sense of unity, of support and of all being in this as one. Every seat was filled in the church, one of Texas's largest. Police officers from across the United States and Canada packed the building. Funeral processions, lined with people waving American and Texas flags, stretched for miles. 

"It was just a surreal experience," Andreyev said. 

Equally surreal was the response from Dallas residents who stopped police officers on the street to thank them for their service. In his 24 years working in law enforcement, Andreyev had never experienced that degree of praise. 

"Their hospitality came out," he said. "It's almost as if their sense of community pride and state pride was on display for all of us that were from out of town."

Lt. Andy Montalvo of the Perth Amboy police went to Dallas with two of his fellow officers. He saw the 1,500-mile pilgrimage as a chance to stand in solidarity with police men and women across the country. 

The trio left a Perth Amboy Police Department patch among the photos and teddy bears that comprised a temporary memorial outside the Dallas Police Department -- a symbol that they had been there, and they had seen. 

Bound for Baton Rouge 

Andreyev was waiting for his flight back to New Jersey when he saw the news: three officers killed in Baton Rouge, La., after days of protests in response to the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling.

Now, the NJSPBA is making plans to send officers to a second string of police funerals in a matter of days -- a sign of the kinship the officers feel with law enforcement killed in the line of duty. No matter where you work, Andreyev said, the job is about the same.

"It's just a hatred toward police officers that these individuals [shooting police] have exhibited," Andreyev said. "The officers here in New Jersey are watching over their shoulders a little bit because God knows, if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere." 

To DeGrazio, being a police officer these days feels eerie. He knows that his wife is nervous, that his 9- and 11-year-old kids worry. He signed up for this job, but they didn't.

DeGrazio's family had some advance warning of the dangers of being a cop: His dad was a police officer in Newark for almost 30 years. Still, DeGrazio said, it's hard to tell kids the very nature of the job means anything can happen. 

"I feel myself looking over my shoulder now, being more aware of my surroundings," he said. "It's a little bit nerve-wracking. We don't get a lot of support right now."

Although the spate of national violence has left police officers rattled and uneasy, they insist that they still have a job to do.

They've made a promise "to protect and to serve."

Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Which N.J. hoops players should Rutgers be targeting?

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Which N.J. players should head coach Steve Pikiell target in his first summer of recruiting as Rutgers' head coach?

Girl, 3, suffers life-threatening injuries after being hit by ambulance, officials say

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Child remains hospitalized

NEWARK -- A 3-year-old girl was being treated for life-threatening injuries after she was hit by an ambulance at an intersection in the city's South Ward Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

The ambulance hit the child in the intersection of Lyons Avenue and Hobson Street, according to Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Katherine Carter. No charges have been filed in the incident.

Carter said the ambulance was heading to pick up a patient at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center when the incident occurred and not using lights or sirens.

It was not clear which ambulance service was involved in the crash. The prosecutor's office did not name the ambulance company and a representative for Newark Beth Israel Medical Center said the hospital did not own any ambulances.  

The child was being treated at University Hospital in Newark, the prosecutor's spokeswoman said. Additional details were not released. 

A University Hospital spokesman said its ambulance did not hit the child. 

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

 

Employee stole $19K from Cedar Grove bank, cops allege

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The Investor's Bank employee will be arraigned later this month, police said.

CEDAR GROVE -- Police have arrested a bank employee who is accused of stealing nearly $20,000 from his employer.

Matthew A. Roselle, 28, of Cedar Grove, was arrested on July 13 on theft and computer criminal activity charges, according to an announcement on the Cedar Grove Police Department website.

Police said they investigated Roselle after management at the Investor's Bank on Pompton Avenue alleged that he stole $19,300 of bank money between May 19 and June 30 of this year. He was arrested and released, pending a July 28 arraignment in Superior Court, police said.

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

Man indicted in weekend killing spree that left ex-girlfriends dead

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An East Orange man charged with killing three people in Newark in one weekend now faces a 17-count in indictment. Watch video

NEWARK -- An East Orange man faces a 17-count indictment charging him with the murder of three people in Newark in a single weekend.

An Essex County grand jury indicted Jeffrey Holland, 27, in connection with the Jan. 29 strangulation of Tiniquah Rouse, 21, in her Newark home, and for placing Rouse's 5-month-old child inside a closet and leaving the child unattended, acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said in a statement Wednesday.

Holland also faces indictments in the Jan. 30 break-in at the home of Ashley Jones, 23, and Jarrell Marshall, 28, a Newark couple that was gunned down just steps away from three children, ages 1, 3 and 4, Murray said.

Authorities said Holland strangled Rouse while she was in her bath tub and then placed the infant in the closet.

Authorities said Holland is the biological father of the 1-year-old and 4-year-old, and both were Jones' children. The 3-year-old is the daughter of Marshall and another woman, Murray said. The children were not physically harmed, officials said.

The indictment against Holland includes charges of felony murder, burglary, desecration of human remains, endangering the welfare of a child, hindering apprehension or prosecution, theft by unlawful taking, and weapons possession offenses, said Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab, who is handling the case.

Holland also faces a contempt charge because there was an active restraining order against, baring him from having contact with Jones, at the time of the murder, Murray said.

Authorities said Holland had prior romantic relationships with both Jones and Rouse.

Holland pleaded not guilty to the three killings in February. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on July 25 before Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler.

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

PATH service restored between Newark, Journal Square

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The suspension was due to a signal failure on the Hackensack River drawbridge.

The Port Authority has restored PATH service between Newark and Journal Square. 

Service was suspended for about 30 minutes this afternoon due to a signal problem on the Hackensack River bridge, according to a PATHAlert on the Port Authority's website. 

The issue was reported at 12:46 p.m.

17 faster TSA lanes coming to Newark airport

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Newark Liberty International Airport will have new "automatic" screening lanes installed by the fall

NEWARK -- The Transportation Security Administration in partnership with United Airlines plans to roll out faster "state-of-the-art" security screening lanes at Newark Liberty International Airport this fall. 

Newark airport will have 17 new "automatic" screening lanes to process passengers 30 percent quicker, officials said. The lanes feature powered conveyor belts that can fit bins up to 25 percent larger.

Five travelers can load luggage onto the scanning equipment at the same time, and each bin will be tracked using radio-frequency sensors.  

TSAEWRcheckpointRainey .JPGA Transportation Security Administration agent stands in Newark Liberty International Airport in this file photo. 

"Our responsibility remains keeping passengers safe but also moving through security," said TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger.

Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport will be equipped with the new technology sometime later this year. 

The TSA has already installed the new security lines in Atlanta in a partnership with Delta. 

The TSA has struggled to reduce security wait times in Newark and other New York City area airports over the last few months. The issue came to a head in May when the the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey threatened to replace the agency with private security.

The announcement Wednesday appears to be part of the agency's plan to prepare for the Federal Aviation Administration's reclassification of Newark airport on Oct. 31. The change will remove the current cap of 81 flights per hour at the airport.

The FAA says the move will open the airport to competition between more airlines. Multiple low-cost carriers have already announced new routes out of Newark since the news broke in April of the upcoming changes.

United Airlines says the reclassification will cost the company $412 million

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


Rutgers hikes tuition for 2016-17 school year

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Rutgers Board of Governors met Wednesday afternoon to set the new rate.

NEW BRUNSWICK -- Tuition and fees for Rutgers University's undergraduate students in New Brunswick will increase 1.7 percent, or about $241 this fall, the lowest price hike in five years at New Jersey's state university. 

Under the plan approved by the Rutgers' Board of Governors on Wednesday, the average in-state undergraduate on the New Brunswick campus will pay $14,372 in annual tuition and fees in 2016-2017.

The university is also raising the price tag for room and board by 1.7 percent. With room and board considered, the average undergraduate from New Jersey on the New Brunswick campus will see a total bill of $26,632, or $447 more than last year.

Tuition for out-of-state students, most graduate students and students at Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark will also increase 1.7 percent, according to the university. 

The Board of Governors approved the increases along with the university's new $3.9 billion budget during a meeting Wednesday in New Brunswick. School officials called the hikes "modest but necessary."

How well do you know Rutgers?

"This tuition increase is low," said Nancy Winterbauer, Rutgers' vice president for university budgeting. "Our units are going to have to really tighten their belts and look for efficiencies because this is going to be difficult for some of them." 

Rutgers' average tuition hike of 2.4 percent over the past five years is lower than many of the state's other public colleges and comparable universities across the nation, Winterbauer said. 

But David Hughes, president of Rutgers' faculty union, said Rutgers shouldn't be content with a lower increase than other universities. As one of the most expensive state universities in the nation, Rutgers should be trying to lower its price, he said. 

"Really the only comparison that matters, and the only one you need to consider, is whether the board is doing as much as it can do to make Rutgers affordable or doing less than it can do," Hughes said. 

Mariah Wood, a junior majoring in labor and employment relations and philosophy, urged the board not to approve the tuition increase. She struggles to pay her bills now and worries she won't be able to pay off her college loans after graduation, she said. 

"It's really demoralizing to look at my decision to go to college as a mistake," Wood said.

The increases are driven by rising expenses, primarily in personnel and salaries, Winterbauer said. Rutgers' faculty and staff are receiving 2 percent raises in the upcoming school year, she said. 

The university would have needed to raise tuition and fees by 2.4 percent simply to cover those salary increases, she said. Instead, it looked for cost cuts in other areas to keep tuition down, she said. 

Many students won't pay the full cost of tuition and fees because of grants that significantly reduce the price, Winterbauer said. 

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClarkFind NJ.com on Facebook.

 

$6.9M hand-off of federal Head Start program leaves employees' futures unknown

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All of the kids served by the Community Development Institute Head Start in Newark will be accounted for.

DN MCNICHOL TRNDAY06 MCNISH LD 1File photo of a La Casa de Don Pedro early childhood program. (George McNish | The Star-Ledger)
 

NEWARK -- The operational switch of preschool and other early childhood programs from a temporary federal agency to a city nonprofit will not affect the several hundred kids who attend the program, but the futures of the 237 employees who work in the system are not so clear.

The Department of Labor released a WARN notice earlier this month to let the 237 employees of the Community Development Institute Head Start in Newark that it will shutter operations on Aug. 31. The closure was planned, Head Start officials say. The agency was only opened to run the program until a local agency could take over on a permanent basis. Newark nonprofit La Casa de Don Pedro, which already runs its own early childhood programs, has been awarded a $6.9 million federal grant to expand its pre-K program to include Head Start, a federally-funded provider of free preschool options in low-income areas.

As part of the switch, La Casa Executive Director Raymond Ocasio said the agency will take on about 405 new preschool children beginning this September, and 144 infants and toddlers in a program beginning in January 2017. It will also take on classes for about 24 prenatal parents.

"We are basically going to step into (the CDI's) shoes, and move forward from there," Ocasio said. La Casa, which will re-open in a number of Newark's existing Head Start locations, will also integrate its own practices and Newark Public School's Creative Curriculum into the Head Start classes, he said.

Parents wait 2 days in line for pre-K registration

Though all of the children who were being served by the federal agency will be accounted for, the impact of the switch for employees remains to be seen.

"This (switch over) process... supports qualified employees being available for hire by the newly-awarded grantee," said Patrick Fisher, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families.

"The transition was planned for this summer to minimize the impact on children and families, as well as staff."

Ocasio said La Casa is currently vetting employees, and looking to hire from the Head Start pool, and beyond that. He said he is unsure how many positions will be filled in the new program.

But, all new staffers, he said, will work to combine both groups' histories of "innovative" education techniques.

"With Head Start, we will be able to offer a richer program for our kids and engage parents in a stronger way," he said.

"We are excited to take this on."

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

N.J. Supreme Court: Cops can't search cars simply because high beams are on

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Gun evidence thrown out because traffic stop was unconstitutional, court rules.

TRENTON -- New Jersey's highest court ruled on Wednesday that an Essex County sheriff's officer violated the state constitution when he pulled over a motorist for using high beams when there were no other cars on the road.

The state Supreme Court upheld a trial court ruling suppressing weapons evidence found on the passenger of the vehicle, Al-Sharif Scriven, because it was the product of an unreasonable search.

The case stemmed from a November 2013 incident in which the sheriff's officer, David Cohen, was waiting for a tow truck to remove an unregistered vehicle from a Newark street around 3 a.m.

As he waited, Cohen saw a car stop at a nearby stop sign with its high beams on. He flagged the car down with a flashlight and, smelling marijuana through the car window, asked Scriven to step out of the car.

DWI defendant entitled to video, court rules

Scriven then told him he had a gun under his jacket, court documents show.

Scriven was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of hollow-nose bullets and a large-capacity magazine and receiving stolen property. But at trial, the court agreed to his request to suppress the evidence because the stop was unconstitutional. An appeals court later upheld that decision.

The issue was that the officer testified the car Scriven was in was the only one in the area at the time of the stop. He said, however, that the use of high beams "always sends up a red flag" and that he intended to give the driver a verbal warning until he smelled the marijuana, court documents show.

He also said drivers of stolen cars frequently drive with high beams on and that their use removes an officer's "tactical advantage" to see weapons inside a car on approach.

Justice Barry Albin wrote in the unanimous decision that the state law against using high beams "applies only when there is an 'oncoming vehicle' operated by an 'oncoming driver'"

"The statute does not state that high beams may be used only on rural or unlit suburban roads at night, but not on a seemingly well-lit deserted city street at 3:30 a.m.," the justice wrote.

Alison Perrone, Scriven's public defender, said Wednesday the ruling was important because the officer's basis for the high beam stop was too broad.

"Under that interpretation, it would be legally permissible to stop anyone at any time for using their high beams," she told NJ Advance Media.

In a statement, Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Frank Ducoat disagreed with the decision.

"This brief motor vehicle stop was necessary to ensure officer and public safety and we are disappointed the court chose not to see it that way," he said.

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

 

1 dead, 2 wounded in Orange shooting

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Crime scene near playground and apartment complex

ORANGE -- One person was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting on Central Avenue in the city late Wednesday, according to authorities.

Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Katherine Carter said the other two victims were expected to survive. Further details were not immediately available. 

Evidence markers were setup on the sidewalk in front of an apartment complex and on the street near a playground and athletic field on Central Avenue, closer to Carteret Place. 

The roadway was closed between Carteret Place and Lincoln Avenue shortly before 11 p.m. A prosecutor's office SUV later arrived with spotlights as authorities continued to work at the scene late Wednesday.

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

Vintage photos of hot wheels and cool cars in N.J.

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At its peak in 1970, the automotive manufacturing industry in New Jersey employed 14,000 workers.

For decades, thousands and thousands of American cars rolled off assembly lines in Bergen, Middlesex and Union counties.

chevelle.jpgMy 1972 Chevelle ... "If I could turn back time ...." 

The Ford Motor Company was the first big American automobile manufacturer to open a facility in the state. Ford operated a plant in Edgewater from 1929 to 1931; according to fordmotorhistory.com, it was considered the most advanced and efficient automobile assembly plant for its time.

The Ford Motor Company's Edison Assembly Plant opened in 1948. The facility produced both the Mustang and the Pinto as well as the Falcon, Escort, Ranger pickup and, later, the Mazda B-series. They also made the Mercury Cougar, Bobcat and Lynx. Before the plant closed in 2004, folks traveling along Routes 1 and 27 could see rows and rows and rows of vehicles awaiting delivery to Ford dealerships across the country.

The Ford Assembly Plant in Mahwah opened in 1955 and closed in 1980. The plant produced the Edsel in 1958 as well as the Galaxie, Ford LTD, Granada, Fairmont, Mercury Monarch, Mercury Zephyr and Lincoln Versailles.

General Motors kept a manufacturing presence in Union County for some 70 years; GM operated an assembly plant in Linden from 1935 to 2005. GM's website notes the plant turned out Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, Buicks, Chevrolet's S-10 Blazer and the GMC Jimmy as well as a variety of commercial vehicles for GMC's Truck and Bus division.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

A 2008 article in the New York Times noted that, at its peak in 1970, the automotive manufacturing industry in New Jersey employed 14,000 workers. The article noted that the Garden State plant closings were part of a general downsizing on the part of auto manufacturers, with the hardest-hit plants being those that produced vehicles that were to be discontinued or for whom demand had diminished.

Even though these American machines are no longer built in New Jersey, they're still tooling around the state's streets. Here's a gallery of classic cars in New Jersey. Be sure captions are enabled to read all about these wonderful wheels.

Want more? Here's a link to last year's gallery.

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

What Rutgers students should know about 2016-17 tuition, other costs

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Find out what the university's tuition hike means for you.

NEW BRUNSWICK -- Rutgers University on Wednesday announced what school officials called a "modest but necessary" increase in tuition and fees.

The 1.7 percent hike is the lowest for Rutgers in five years, but it will still leave students digging deeper into their pockets to pay for college. 

With room and board included, the average in-state undergraduate student living on campus in New Brunswick will pay $26,632, or $447 more than last year. 

Here's what else students should know about the 2016-17 tuition hike: 

Undergraduate tuition and fees

Rutgers' tuition and fees vary by campus and school, so there are dozens of rates. The university releases an average tuition and fee rate for the typical student on each campus.

At Rutgers-New Brunswick, the average in-state undergraduate will pay $14,372 in annual tuition and fees, or about $241 more. 

Students at Rutgers-Newark will also see a 1.7 percent increase in tuition and fees. The cost will rise to $13,829 for the average undergraduate, about $232 more than last year. 

For Rutgers-Camden students, the cost will rise 1.7 percent as well. The average undergraduate will pay $14,238, an increase of $238.

These colleges pay professors the most

Room and board

Like tuition and fees, room and board rates will rise 1.7 percent for the typical student living on the New Brunswick campus.

An average student will pay about $7,490 for a double occupancy dorm room and $4,770 for a typical meal plan. That totals to $12,260 for room and board.

Out-of-state students

Rutgers is also raising tuition and fees by 1.7 percent for its out-of-state students. 

An out-of-state student in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-New Brunswick will pay $27,059 in tuition and $2,643 in mandatory fees for a total of $29,702, an increase of $495. 

Part-time students

On the New Brunswick campus, part-time undergraduates from New Jersey will pay between $367 and $415 per credit, depending on their school. Most classes are three credits.

Part-time students will also be charged between $619 and $788 in annual fees.

Graduate students

Graduate students from New Jersey will pay between $689 and $964 per credit for programs on the New Brunswick campus, including education, the arts, communications and social work. Annual fees for full-time students will range from $1,776 to $2,411.

Law school

The Rutgers School of Law will charge $24,067 in tuition for in-state students, plus $2,622 in annual fees.

Medical school

New Jersey Medical School in Newark will charge new in-state students $39,288 in tuition and $2,590 in fees. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School on the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus will charge incoming students $39,288 in tuition and $1,770 in fees.

Financial aid

To help offset the rising tuition and fees, Rutgers will dedicate an additional $500,000 to it Rutgers Assistance Grant program. Increases and state and federal grants will also help combat the rising costs, according to the university. 

NJ Advance Media reporter Kelly Heyboer contributed to this report

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClarkFind NJ.com on Facebook.

 

2 ball teams, 1 goal for Newark: Stop the violence

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Ivy Hill Little League and EnoughoftheViolence Project played ball to stop the violence.

NEWARK -- One team on the baseball diamond in Ivy Hill Park was "Stop the Violence," the other "Stop the Killing." No matter who won, the message would be loud and clear: Violence and killings need to stop. 

On Wednesday, EnoughoftheViolence Project and the Ivy Hill Little League joined played baseball for fun, but also to spread awareness about urban violence and to pay tribute to victims of gun violence. 

This was the fourth game, but this one took on special meaning following an especially violent few weeks around the country and in Newark. 

Crispus Garvey, organizer of the project and little league coach, initially planned the game for Monday night. But when his sister was shot three times on West Market Street, he had to reschedule. 

"My family became victimized, so it had more of an impact," he said.

Before the game, parents and little leaguers stepped onto the field and greeted friends. They borrowed black permanent markers and wrote on their white shirt "Stop the Violence" or "Stop the Killing." 

Orest Pyndus was one of the players on the Stop the Violence team. He's usually a little league coach for Ivy Hill Little League. 

"I want to give back," he said. "It's terrible what happens on the streets." 

He said the kids he coaches see him like older brotherd, and he tries to teach them "life skills" like manners and "being great individuals," he said. 

Jamal Bernard's daughter usually plays T-ball, but tonight Bernard stepped onto the field on team Stop the Killing. 

"There's all the killing on a daily basis, and I hope this sends a message to the right people," Bernard said. 

That's the goal, Garvey said. 

"It's a tribute game to get a message that enough is enough," Garvey said. "We need to stop shooting and killing each other and this is a great way to give them a positive alternative and have a safe environment for our community." 

After all the players had geared up and decorated their shirts, they took positions in the dugout and the outfield. 

Garvey's voice boomed from the dugout: "Play ball!" 

MORE ESSEX COUNTY NEWS

Kate Mishkin may be reached at kmishkin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KateMishkin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.


Another steamy heat wave on the way for N.J.

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Forecasters say temperatures in some parts of the state could reach the mid-90s for several straight days.

If you like steamy summer days, you're in for a treat.

After dealing with nasty thunderstorms earlier this week and refreshingly dry July weather on Wednesday, New Jersey is in line for another sizzling heat wave -- just in time for the weekend.

For most of the Garden State, temperatures will be creeping up into the high 80s to low 90s on Thursday and Friday, then pushing into the mid- to upper 90s on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Although many of those days will be humid, making it feel hotter than the actual air temperature, the humidity levels probably won't be as high as they were during last week's oppressive heat wave, said Rob Reale, a meteorologist at WeatherWorks in Hackettstown.

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Helping to keep the humidity down is the fact that the current weather pattern will have more of a westerly flow, bringing drier air compared to last week, when our region was hit with a southerly flow of air from the very humid Gulf of Mexico, Reale said.

In advance of the upcoming heat wave, the National Weather Service has placed most of the Garden State under an excessive heat watch, effective from Saturday morning through Sunday evening. The watch will likely be upgraded to a warning the closer we get to Saturday.

Heat wave No. 4?

The latest blast of hot air will be the third or fourth heat wave of the year, depending on where you live. (A heat wave is typically defined as three or more consecutive days with air temperatures of 90 degrees or higher.)

The longest heat wave so far this year was the one that just ended on Monday, July 18, which stretched five days in several parts of the state. Forecasters said that one could be matched by the upcoming heat wave.

* Hillsborough had a heat wave in late June, with readings of 92 on June 19, 93 on June 20, 90 on June 21, according to data from the New Jersey Weather and Climate Network at Rutgers University. Hillsborough had its second heat wave of the year in early July, with temperatures hitting 94 on July 6, 92 on July 7 and 91 on July 8. The township just had a five-day string of days with 90+ temperatures, with readings of 92, 90, 91, 91 and 93 from July 14 through July 18. 

* In New Brunswick, there were lots of hot days in June but no string of three straight days at 90 or higher that month. July has been a different story, with two heat waves so far. The city had 94, 91, 90 readings from July 6 to July 8, and 92, 91, 92, 91 and 94 readings from July 14 to July 18. 

* Atlantic City had no official heat waves in May or June, but came very close in early July with a string of days at 92, 92 and 88 degrees, according to weather service data. However, the city pulled off a streak of five straight days with temperatures of 90 degrees or higher (92, 93, 94, 90 and 93) from July 14 through July 18.

* Newark had no heat waves in May or June, but came very close on Memorial Day weekend, with temperatures of  91 on May 25, 93 on May 26, 89 on May 27, 96 on May 28, 88 on May 29. In early July, Newark had its first official heat wave of the year, with temperatures of 95, 95 and 90 from July 6 through July 8. Newark just wrapped up its second heat wave, with the mercury hitting 91 on July 14, 94 on July 15, 91 on July 16, 93 on July 17 and 95 on July 18.

* Trenton had its first heat wave from June 19 to June 21, then another one from July 6 to July 8. The city was only one degree away from its third heat wave of the year last week, with the thermometer hitting 93 degrees on July 14 but getting stuck at 89 degrees on July 15 and July 16.

New York lagging behind

For our friends in New York City, there's actually been no official heat waves this year in Central Park, none at John F. Kennedy International Airport and one at LaGuardia Airport. At LaGuardia, the mercury ranged from 91 to 97 degrees each day from July 14 to July 18, but the other two major climate stations in NYC weren't able to get a string of three 90-degree days.

That will change this weekend, forecasters said. 

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

1 dead in Irvington house fire

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Authorities responded to an early morning fire on Arverne Terrace, where a small house was gutted

IRVINGTON -- A young man was killed in an early morning house fire in Irvington on Thursday.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly said one person was found dead at the scene, a small white house on Arverne Terrace that appeared gutted several hours after the fire broke out around 2 a.m.
 
A family member confirmed that his brother had died in the fire, but said the family was not ready to talk about what happened.  

Fennelly said he had no information on the age or identity of the victim.

Police closed the 100 block of Arverne Terrace, as well as part of Grove Street, a main north-south artery parallel to the Garden State Parkway a block to the west,  delaying morning rush hour traffic on surrounding Irvington streets.

Irvington firefighters, the Regional Medical Examiner and investigators from the prosecutor's office remained on the scene after 8 a.m., when neighbors were still gathered.

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

Technical glitches ground hundreds of Southwest flights

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Fliers should check with Southwest for their current flight status if they have a ticket booked for Thursday travel.

Southwest Airlines is trying to get back on schedule after a series of technical outages grounded hundreds of flights Wednesday, leaving fliers stranded at airports across the country.

The airline said Thursday morning that most of its systems were back online. But as of 7:30 a.m., more than 221 flights have already been canceled as the carrier recovers from the last 24 hours of computer problems. 

The Dallas-based airline cancelled or delayed between 600 and 700 flights Wednesday afternoon due to "intermittent performance issues" across multiple systems, the carrier said in a statement. The airline issued a temporary ground stop at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

More delays appear to be possible. "We expect some cancellations and delays as we position aircraft and crews," the airlines said in an update to travelers Thursday morning.

Fliers should check with Southwest for their current flight status if they have a ticket booked for Thursday travel. According to Flight View, no Newark Southwest flights have been cancelled or delayed, but LaGuardia has two cancellations and one delayed flight. 

At Philadelphia International Airport, 6ABC.com reported long lines at Soutwest ticket counters. The airline reported one delayed flight at that airport Thursday morning.

"Our Employees are the best in the business, and they are working extremely hard to get you and your luggage to your destination," Southwest wrote. "Thank you for hanging in there with us."

The airline said it would offer fliers flexible accommodations for rebooking travel. 

Southwest Airlines operates flights out of Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport.

Here's some of what stranded travelers were saying online:

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

 

    

Authorities ID 18-year-old killed in early morning fire

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Jeremiah Maxfield was one of three people inside the Irvington home when it went up in flames, authorities said.

IRVINGTON -- Authorities have identified the 18-year-old who was killed in an early morning fire Thursday.

Jeremiah Maxfield was killed in the fire, which broke out in his home at 15 Arverne Terrace at about 2 a.m., Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced in a release Thursday afternoon. Maxfield was pronounced dead at the scene at about 5:25 a.m., authorities said.

Two other people were inside when the two-story, wood-frame home went up in flames, but got out unharmed, officials said.

A family member on the scene of the fire Thursday morning declined to comment on Maxfield's death.

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigationg the cause and origin of the fire.

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

Man who allegedly hit officer with SUV charged with assault

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Hakim Taylor allegedly knocked a Homeland Security Investigations agent to the ground Wednesday.

NEWARK -- A man who allegedly used his SUV to knock a federal agent to the ground during an investigation of drug dealing around Newark was charged Thursday with assaulting a federal officer. 

Hakim Taylor of Bayonne was charged in a criminal complaint Thursday. He made his initial appearance in federal court before Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor and was held without bail.

According to the complaint, agents from Homeland Security Investigations were conducting surveillance of suspected drug activity at a residence in or around Newark on Wednesday. Taylor was seen conducting a suspected drug deal while sitting in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, it said.

Suspecting he was being watched, Taylor began to drive the Jeep, it said. A Homeland Security Investigations agent, who was not identified by name in the complaint, turned on emergency lights in his undercover vehicle and tried to box in Taylor's Jeep, it said. He then got out of his vehicle. 

Taylor initially appeared to cooperate with orders to stop, it said, but then he lowered one hand while still behind the wheel. The agent drew his weapon and Taylor accelerated the Jeep, aiming it at the agent, the complaint said.

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The complaint says the agent was struck on his left arm and shoulder and knocked to the ground. The agent suffered multiple cuts and bruises, it said. He was treated at a hospital emergency room, it said.

Taylor was identified as the driver based on interviews with other individuals, the complaint said.

The assault charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Anne Raney.

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

 
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