NJ.com released its latest rankings.

Grandparents Day is one of a series of intergenerational events held at Green Hill each year.

Loretta Brooks, seated, is shown with, from left, her niece Donna Smith, son Herschel Davis and daughter Marie Davis at Grandparents Day at Green Hill Assisted Living in West Orange. 

WEST ORANGE -- Green Hill Senior Living in West Orange held its 35th annual Grandparents Day celebration on Sept. 11 with residents, family members and staff in attendance.

Activities included a petting zoo, pony rides, face painting and carnival games and food.

Grandparents Day is one of a series of intergenerational events held at Green Hill each year to bring families together in the community.

To submit news for the Senior Spotlight column, please call 973-836-4922 or email essex@starledger.com.

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

 

Asia Bibi Rahami, the wife of the bombing suspect, landed at JFK airport on Wednesday night, a federal law enforcement source confirmed.

The wife of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the Elizabeth man who is facing federal and state charges in connection with bombing incidents in New Jersey and New York, has returned to the U.S., a federal law enforcement source said.

Asia Bibi Rahami arrived at JFK airport in New York on Wednesday night and will be questioned by authorities, the source said. Information about where she is currently is not being released, the source said.

Asia Bibi Rahami left the country for her native Pakistan in June and was stopped by officials in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, the source said.

As of Tuesday night, Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was unconscious and intubated at University Hospital in Newark two days after being wounded during a shootout with Linden police before his arrest.

FIRST ON @ABC: Asia Bibi, Ahmad Rahami's wife, seen here upon entering the U.S. in May 2014 pic.twitter.com/yKfKzFomKD

-- Joshua Hoyos (@JoshuaHoyos) September 20, 2016

Ahmad and Asia Rahami met and married in Pakistan in 2011, and in 2014, Ahmad Khan Rahami had called the office of Rep. Albio Sires  (D-8th Dist.)  to help him bring Asia to the United States.

"He wanted his wife to come from Pakistan," Sires said. "At the time she was pregnant and in Pakistan. They told her that she could not come over until she had the baby, because she had to get a visa for the baby."

He said Rahami was "kind of nasty." Asia Bibi Rahami eventually was allowed to enter the United States, he said.

Another woman, the mother of Ahmad Khan Rahami's first child, issued a statement Wednesday night pleading for privacy and saying Rahami has not come to see his 9-year-old daughter in more than two years.

"Ahmad Rahami and I have a child together, but neither my child nor I have had any physical contact with him in more than two years. In addition, he has only reached out to us one time in the last year," said the mother, Maria, whose full name is being withheld by NJ Advance Media.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Peter Barnes granted the mother temporary sole custody of the girl, and ordered that Rahami have no contact with the child pending a Sept. 27 hearing in Family Court in Middlesex County, where the mother and daughter live.

However, Barnes denied the mother's request for a court order to change the girl's name.

Reporting from staff writer Jonathan D. Salant was used in this story.

Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Residents can expect to hear an explosion or feel the ground shake

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST -- An old military explosive found at a scrap metal business in Newark Thursday has been safely detonated.

The unexploded ordnance was taken to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst after it was discovered around 7 a.m. by workers at Sims Metal Management at Richards Street and Raymond Boulevard.

Newark authorities said it weighed 1,000 pounds.

The base's 87th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal team safely blew it up around 11 a.m.

Base officials say there was no connection to the weekend bombings in Seaside Park and New York City, but rather such explosives were typically buried for disposal in the mid-20th century or kept as souvenirs by veterans.

Staff Sgt. Caitlin Jones said it's not uncommon in New Jersey to find unexploded ordnance that had been dropped on practice ranges during World War II.

"Typically when we find an (unexploded ordnance) off-base, there's not really an easy way to determine how much explosives are in it and how dangerous it could be," she said. "We don't like to leave them sitting around."

Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Financial information, fingerprints from security firm taken in computer breach, according to federal prosecutors.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman at an unrelated press conference (File photo)Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger 

Mircea-Ilie Ispasoiu, 31, of Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Ispasoiu, who worked as a systems administrator at a large financial institution in Romania from August 2011 through February 2014, hacked into the computer networks of retailers, security firms, medical offices and individuals in a scheme to steal usernames and passwords, personal identifying information along with credit and debit card data, according to prosecutors.

Romanian admits guilt in massive identity fraud case out of N.J.

The hacking also compromised systems at a large security company, which conducted background checks on job applicants, the case revealed. Ispasoiu stole information about the applicants, including their fingerprints. According to court documents, businesses in the North Brunswick and Montclair-areas were targeted in the scheme.

The judge also sentenced Ispasoiu to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $907,204.88 in restitution. The U.S. Secret Service and Romanian authorities arrested Ispasoiu in 2014.

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

A pair of cousins who robbed a woman and shot her husband dead when he came to his wife's aid will be sentenced tomorrow.

A pair of cousins who robbed a Jersey City woman and shot her husband dead when he came to her aid two years ago will be sentenced tomorrow.

Joshua Higgins of Newark, who pleaded guilty to murder and carjacking, and his cousin, Hanyif Higgins, 24, of Jersey City, who pleaded guilty to armed robbery, will learn their fate tomorrow in a Hudson County courtroom, authorities confirmed today. Joshua Higgins was 19 at the time of the fatal shooting.

George T. Smith, 63, was returning home with his wife on April 6, just after midnight, when they were approached by armed robbers on Danforth Avenue. The men took his wife's purse and Smith was shot in the chest when he tried to get it back.

Donte Gaskin of Irvington, another man who was charged in the fatal shooting, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced last week to time served. Gaskin had spent roughly 15 months in Hudson County jail.

Joshia Higgins was arrested three days after the incident. His cousin was arrested five months later in Fayetteville, North Carolina. 

The father of bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami told the New York Times his son was "fascinated" by jihadist music, poetry and videos. Watch video

ELIZABETH -- The father of bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami told the New York Times that he knew his son was interested in terrorist organizations and "fascinated" by jihadist music, poetry and videos.

In an interview conducted in Mohammad Rahami's native tongue, Pashto, the suspect's father called his son's activities on the internet "a disease."

"The way he speaks, his videos, when I see these things that he listens to, for example, Al Qaeda, Taliban, he watches their videos, their poetry," Mohammad Rahami said he told federal agents, according to the report. He also said his son admired Al Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki.

Officials have said Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, had a notebook with jihadist writings on him when he was arrested.

The day after the Linden shootout and subsequent arrest of Ahmad Khan Rahami, his father told reporters, "I called them two years ago," while pointing at authorities. "He stabbed my son. He hit my wife, and I put him in jail two years ago."

In the New York Times report, Mohammad Rahami says he visited his son in jail after that incident, but would not forgive him until he knew he was not a terrorist.

"In two months, the FBI came back to me and said he's clean," Mohammad Rahami said. "They didn't find anything on him. But they didn't interview him. ... I still had my doubts. I was never 100 percent clear."

A federal law enforcement official confirmed to NJ Advance Media that Mohammad Rahami did call authorities, initiating a review by federal agents.

"He used the T word," the official said. "It was something to the effect of, 'My son is acting like a terrorist.' He didn't say he was looking up information on internet or building bombs, he just used the T word."

The official said the FBI then began database checks on Rahami and checked in with local law enforcement, but found "no derogatory information whatsoever." He said when agents then went back to Mohammad Rahami, he recanted what he had said and the investigation was closed.

"We get leads like this all the time and 99.9 percent of them go nowhere," the official said.

Ahmad Khan Rahami was not interviewed by agents, the official said.

Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

A grant will allow at least 300 Newark mothers to provide their children with safe cribs.

300 needy babies in Newark are getting free cribs. File photo. (Saed Hindash | The Star-Ledger) 

NEWARK -- The goal is simple: keeping babies safe, which also happens to be the name of the group responsible for providing some of Newark's most financially-challenged mothers with free cribs for their children.

A $51,000 grant from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey allowed Keeping Babies Safe, a nonprofit organization based in Warren, to partner with local groups in Newark to distribute cribs throughout the city.

"The crib is the safest place for a baby to sleep," Joyce Davis, president and founder of nonprofit, told NJ.com. She said too often infants die when they suffocate in an adult bed or are crushed in a rollover accident.

Davis founded the organization in 2007, after her son was killed in a preventable crib accident. Since then, the organization has donated more than 8,000 safe cribs to families across the country.

The group was able to purchase 300 cribs with the grant, 80 of which will be given to Newark Beth Israel for future donation.

Each year, the Center for Disease Control estimates there are 3,500 sudden unexpected infant deaths, 44 percent occurring because of accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.

In 2015, The Turell Fund, a Montclair-based organization, gave $17,500 to Keeping Babies Safe to buy 115 cribs for infants in Essex, Passaic, Union, and Hudson Counties.

On Oct. 30, keeping babies safe will hold a 5K walk and run at Harry Dunham Park in Bernard to raise money to purchase additional cribs and spread awareness about crib safety.

Michael Anthony Adams may be reached at madams@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelAdams317. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

A couple faces charges after an argument along Route 94, state police say. Among other charges, the driver was accused of DWI.

He jumped on the hood. She hit the gas.

A New Jersey couple face charges after an alleged fight along Route 94 in Blairstown Township. (NJ Advance Media file photo) 

That's how New Jersey State Police say a man was injured during an apparent roadside argument with his girlfriend early Sunday off Route 94 in Blairstown Township, an incident that resulted in both being charged.

Troopers were called for a reported struck pedestrian about 1:30 a.m. near the Buck Hill Brewery, where they found 50-year-old Victor Sabeh, of Edison, according to state police Sgt. Gregory Williams.

Sabeh said he had fallen while walking on the road, a story later found to be a fabrication covering for 51-year-old Christine A. Curia, of Kenilworth, state police said. Sabeh asked to be brought back to a local campground and troopers obliged, Williams said.

They were soon called back to the campground for a harassment report, and both Sabeh and Curia were questioned, Williams said.

Sabeh allegedly said Curia had hit him with the car and that he lied to protect her. Curia said that Sabeh had jumped on the hood and she accelerated to knock him off, Williams said, adding that damage on the car appeared to back up her statement.

Cops: Driver drank before I-80 crash

Sabeh was taken to Newton Medical Center to be treated for minor injuries, Williams said. He is charged with hindering apprehension, criminal mischief and a disorderly persons offense for allegedly being intoxicated and creating hazard in the road.

Curia is charged with assault by auto and DWI.

Both were released pending court appearances, Williams said. Sabeh and Curia could not be reached Thursday.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

Parents have been frustrated by the district's enrollment process

Catalina Orozco was banking on her 5-year-old son attending kindergarten at Newark's Ann Street School this year. She had a neighbor lined up to take the boy to school in the morning and to pick him up in the afternoon because she has serious health issues.

Orozco was beside herself when her son was assigned to Miller Street School, which is across town from her Ironbound home. 

Since school started Sept. 6, she is one of the many parents who have been upset with the district for not allowing them to enroll their children in their first school of choice, assigning the students, instead, to their second choice or another school that the district has selected.

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns  

Christopher Cerf, the state-appointed superintendent of the city's public schools, said nearly 2,000 reassignments have been made following parents' requests for a student placement change.

Orozco, unfortunately, wasn't one of them.

Enrollment in Newark schools is facilitated by its Family Support Center, which uses a database to track the number of available seats in each grade for each school in order to place students.

Denise Cole and Yolanda Johnson, two district parents, said they have been talking with other parents who say they are frustrated with the enrollment process. They claim the district has put kids on waiting lists for pre-kindergarten through high school, without an alternate school assignment.

One of these parents is Shante Dupree, who went to Lincoln Elementary School in Newark last week to register her 4-year-old-son for preschool. 

She said school officials told her there was space available, but that she had to register her son at the Family Support Center. 

Dupree said she went to the center, thinking she would be completing the process of enrollment, but that's not what happened.

"They said he was on a waiting list,'' she said. "I'm upset. How do you have slots and now he's on the waiting list?''

Cerf said Dupree's encounter is not typical of how the enrollment process works. He said schools should not tell parents who simply show up at their doors that space is available for their children.  

"Schools often do not have the (data) to convey accurate information,'' he said, only the Family Support Center does.

However, Cerf said that if a parent's preference is not met, their child is put on that school's waiting list. In the meantime, the student is assigned to a different school. He said all students have a school assignment.

In Dupree's case, the situation is different because more than half of the pre-kindergarten programs in the district are handled by private providers, though there is no charge for attendance. 

Cerf said Dupree was told that her public school choices  - Lincoln School and Ivy Hill School - are full and have waiting lists.

She said she wasn't given a list of providers - only a waiting list.

Under the district's Universal Enrollment system, Cerf said, the Family Support Center figures out how best to place students in grades K to 12. Among the considerations are keeping siblings in the same school and placing kids in neighborhood schools.

Ernestine Reed hopes something can be done for her 17-year-old son, who is new to the district. She said he hadn't attended school for two days when they showed up at the Family Support Center on Tuesday, seeking a transfer from Barringer High School because of constant fighting there. 

"He doesn't want to go to school,'' she said.

Reed left the center in tears after officials told her that the teen had to attend Barringer, because that was the school he had been assigned. Reed said she thought the transfer wouldn't be a problem after officials at the Board of Education office explained that her request would be handled by the support center.

The district, Cerf said, generally requires documentation of a safety problem to grant such a transfer request. He said it's not the practice to just change a kid because a child is uncomfortable. But he added that safety transfers have been done when it's been determined that a student has an issue.

Cerf said thousands of the city's students have successfully received school assignments. "The values of this system, I think, are unimpeachable,'' he said.

 MORE CARTER: Newark resident thrilled with latest decision in parking lot battle

But for some parents like Orozco, who started the enrollment process last year,  the system hasn't worked so smoothly.

Over the summer, she stood in line at the Family Support Center to appeal her son's placement. Since that didn't work out, she returned Tuesday to the Family Support Center to plead her case again.

"They said, 'There's nothing we can do,' '' Orozco said.

Not to be deterred, she reached out to Cerf during a Board of Education business meeting that night.

"I heard her concern and we're in the process of addressing it,'' he said.

The district is now working with Orozco to place her son in a school closer to her home.

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL

Gerety, who died Tuesday at 104, was the oldest Catholic bishop in the world

The Archdiocese of Newark has announced funeral arrangements for retired Archbishop Peter Leo Gerety, who died Tuesday at age 104.

Gerety, a widely admired figure known for aiding the cause of social justice, served as archbishop for 12 years, from 1974 to 1986, before retiring. He had previously served as bishop of Portland, Maine.

His body is expected to arrive at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark at 3 p.m. Sunday, followed by a public viewing from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. An evening prayer will take place at 7 p.m.

A second viewing will be held at the cathedral from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday. Newark Archbishop John J. Myers is scheduled to preside over a funeral Mass for Gerety at 3 p.m.

Msgr John E. Doran will give the homily.

Interment will follow immediately afterward in the cathedral's crypt.

The cathedral's address is 89 Ridge St. in Newark. The main entrance is on 6th Avenue between Ridge Street and Clifton Avenue.

Gerety, the world's oldest Roman Catholic bishop, died Tuesday night in his room at St. Joseph's Home for the Elderly in Totowa. The facility is run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Over the course of his 77 years as a priest, he became known for his support of racial equality, the rights of women and church reforms spawned by the Second Vatican Council. In his early years, he founded the first African-American Roman Catholic parish in Connecticut.

Mark Mueller may be reached at mmueller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJMueller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Georgette was born in a feral cat colony and spent the first three months of her life as a stray.

Georgette 

WEST ORANGE -- Georgette is a 5-month-old kitten in the care of West Orange Trap Neuter Vaccinate and Return.

She was born in a feral cat colony and spent the first three months of her life as a stray.

Georgette, who has been described as mellow yet playful, gets along with dogs and other cats and should make a good pet in any home. She has been spayed and is up-to-date on shots.

For more information on Georgette and other adoptable felines, email wotnvr@gmail.com or go to wotnvr.petfinder.com.

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

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

 

From headliners to theater to a maze walk, have some fun through the end of the month.

Spend An Evening with Kristin Chenoweth as she performs tonight and tomorrow night at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. The Tony winner will present Broadway favorites and pop standards during the shows; which begin each night at 8 p.m. Tickets are $79 to $149. Visit mayoarts.org.

***

It's a family affair when Sean "Diddy" Combs, Lil' Kim, Mase, Faith Evans, Mario Winans, 112, Total, Carl Thomas, The Lox and French Montana share the stage Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. for The Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour at the Prudential Center in Newark. Tickets are $59 to $721; there is an 8-ticket limit. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com.

***

Gather your best gal pals for a girls' night out when Amy Schumer brings her acerbic wit to the Prudential Center in Newark on Sept. 28. The show begins at 8 p.m.; doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $49 to $130; there is an 8-ticket limit. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com.

***

Get ready for a laughing good time when the Paper Mill Playhouse opens its 2016-17 season with "The Producers." The Mel Brooks comedy, about two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich by overselling interests in a Broadway flop, debuts Sept. 28. Performances are Wednesdays through Sundays at the theater, 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn. Ticket prices vary; single tickets start at $33. Call (973) 376-4343 or visit papermill.org.

***

Drama at dinner? "My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy" plays out at the George Street Playhouse through Oct. 2. This play, by Brad Zimmerman, who grew up in Oradell, is part standup and part theater. Tickets start at $45. Located at 9 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick. Call (732) 246-7717 or visit
GSPonline.org.

***

Take a walk in the 13-acre Rutgers 250 corn maze at Happy Day Farm in Manalapan. The maze, which celebrates the university's 250th anniversary, will include historical trivia on local farming and food production, as well as information about Rutgers history. Open Saturdays and Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., in September; and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., in October. Admission is $13; free for children younger than age 2. Located at 147 Daum Road. Call (732) 977-3607 or visit happydayfarmnj.com.

MORE FROM INSIDE JERSEY MAGAZINE

There are big trophies and plenty of debate as the third week of the high school football season quickly approaches.

Competing on season 16 of 'Hell's Kitchen' is Pat Tortorello, a culinary instructor who learned to cook from his Belleville grandmother

Belleville born and bred, Pat Tortorello started cooking as soon as he could reach the stove, apprenticing under his Grandma Tort, who lived next door, and working professionally since his junior year of high school. Now the 49-year-old, a culinary instructor and former corrections officer and drummer for the Belleville band Brass Knuckle Barbie, is tackling his biggest challenge yet: "Hell's Kitchen," the culinary boot camp run by Gordon Ramsay. 

Tortorello, who is one of the oldest competitors on the show, shared with NJ.com his earliest food memories, his "Hell's Kitchen" strategies and why he was excited to be screamed at by Ramsay: 

Q When did you first get interested in cooking, and do you have any culinary idols, famous or familial? 

A I have loved food and cooking from a very young age. My grandparents lived next door to me and I used to help with Grandma Tort's Sunday dinner by grating the cheese with her ancient iron cranked grater. Everyone came over at 2 pm for her feast of pasta, meatballs, sausage, bracciole and pork bones. Her meals showed me the close tie between food and family. ... Grandma Tort, as well as my mom, were my culinary idols. I also enjoyed watching Julia Child and Graham Kerr on TV. Today, I would say that I most admire Anthony Bourdain for his blunt, no-nonsense point of view and his deep respect for all foods, from a great hot dog to a Perigord truffle. Oh yeah, I like that Ramsay guy, too.

Q What did you do to prepare for "Hell's Kitchen"?

A To prepare for Hell's Kitchen, I watched countless episodes to try to glean any little nuances that could potentially give me an edge. I looked for things that Chef Ramsay liked, as well as, things that made him blow up, to try to avoid doing. I also watched his online cooking demo videos, to familiarize myself with his techniques.

Q What is it like to be screamed at by Gordon Ramsay?

A Getting screamed at by Chef Ramsay invokes many emotions. I'm sure it's on the bucket list of millions of chefs worldwide, which I can check off. It's also as equally surreal as it is frustrating. He has the uncanny ability to not allow you to win an argument, so you find yourself just standing there and taking the defeat.

Q How did you develop your signature dish (pan-seared sea bass with citrus risotto, pistachio and fennel frond gremolata and balsamic-glazed heirloom cherry tomatoes)?

A My signature dish started with a quick Google search of "Gordon Ramsay's favorite foods," which brought me to sea bass. I then added citrus risotto to show Chef Ramsay right out of the gate that I can nail his staple "Hell's Kitchen" menu item. I then added some blistered heirloom cherry tomatoes for their color and the way their flavor works with white fish. Needing something on top of the fish as a garnish, I came up with a fennel frond pistachio gremolata as an homage to my Italian roots.

Q What's your favorite local restaurant and dish?

A My favorite local restaurant has to be the Franklin Steakhouse in Fairfield. You can get amazing steaks, great BBQ dishes, chops, burgers, huge salads and sandwiches. My favorite dish there is the ribeye steak sandwich with Italian long hots and potatoes. 

Season 16 of "Hell's Kitchen" premieres Friday at 8 p.m. on Fox. Runway 22, 168 Passaic Ave., Fairfield, 973-808-1414, is hosting a viewing party Friday with Tortorello, with half-price drinks and appetizers from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and shot and drink specials during the broadcast. 

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

Ep. 51: Which fall shows to watch or skip

The three-story sculpture was hotly debated and nationally celebrated — and eventually torn down

Once, in the mid-1980s, an ark -- a ship 86 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 31 feet tall -- arose in a vacant lot in Newark's Central Ward, next door to the Humanity Baptist Church.

The Ark of Newark it was called, and it was built by a single woman, Kea Tawana. The Ark was made from urban scraps salvaged from nearby buildings, but it had an iron-reinforced keel and five watertight compartments fitted together with mortice-and-tenon joints. Kea lived in it, even while it was under construction.

From 1982 through 1987, the Ark became a kind of alternative symbol of the beleaguered city, visited by school children, written about in all the local newspapers, and even celebrated by national publications like Newsweek and The Chicago Tribune. 

But Kea, a Japanese-American who had always worked in construction, was a critic of urban renewal. She thought the new houses being built for the poor were far inferior to the brick and pine buildings razed to make way for them. And that made her an enemy of the Sharpe James administration, which condemned the Ark as unsafe and an eyesore.

Even though structural engineers found no structural flaws, and even after a judge granted a temporary injunction to prevent its demolition, Kea was jailed and then forced to register with city services as a homeless indigent. The New Community Corporation bought the vacant lot where the Ark stood. In 1988, Kea Tawana agreed to personally disassemble her ark just the way she'd built it in the first place -- alone and by hand.

For a brief time when the vacant lot had been bought out from under the Ark, Tawana single-handedly moved it onto the parking lot of the Humanity Baptist Church. Camille Billops 

Thirty years later, there's nothing left of the Ark. But the Humanity Baptist Church is still there, and many people in the neighborhood remember Kea Tawana's story and the brief moment when the Newark school of found object sculpture had a public monument to rival Los Angeles' Watts Towers.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, Gallery Aferro and the Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience at Rutgers University-Newark, will open "Kea's Ark of  Newark: A Life in Works," an exhibition that will try to "recreate" Newark's lost Outsider monument. The exhibit arrives just one month after Tawana passed away at her home in Port Jervis, New York.

"'Recreate' is really a virtual term," says Emma Wilcox, who, with Evonne Davis, co-directs Aferro. "We've brought together photos and newspaper stories and TV broadcast footage about the Ark, and assembled oral histories from people in the neighborhood who remember it well. We hope that gives some sense of what this huge construction was like, and some sense of what Kea was like, too. But the Ark itself has left no trace."

Wilcox says the show is as much about the future as the past. The Ark was a kind of protest architecture against abandonment and gentrification, but it also invoked more contemporary concerns about artwashing (artists' role in reclaiming neighborhoods for gentrification) and public art. The Ark suggested literally Biblical analogies to Newark's decline, but it also mocks current arks, like the fundamentalist, Noah's Ark themed amusement park being built in eastern Kentucky.

"Kea's Ark of Newark" tries to bridge the decades with effects, like the hacked payphone in the center of the exhibit. Pick up the receiver and you can hear oral histories from neighborhood folks who remember Kea and the Ark, "as if the 1980s are calling."

For many years, the side of the Ark advertised Kea Tawana's feud with the city.Michael Dal Cerro 

Today, the site of the Ark is surrounded by new low- and mid-priced townhouses, housing that the city desperately needs.

"Look, I understand the city's response in a way," Wilcox says. "I know how hard it can be to project a positive image of the city."

Tawana's neighborhood support wasn't total. But she was a neighborhood resource, in a way; one of the oral histories tells how, when a nearby apartment building lost heat in the middle of the winter, Tawana came by and fixed the boiler in a day. 

Tawana continued to work, in construction and as an artist, for years after the Ark was razed. Her skill set included soldering and lampwork, and she started making stained glass windows that broadened African-American church traditions into something more personal. As with the ark, most of her glass material was found on city streets, and she heated it to bend it into shape. At least 25 of her windows are included in the Gallery Aferro show. 

Tawana sometimes said she'd been born on a Native-American reservation in Arizona. But most sources believe she was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and an American-born father. Her mother and sister were killed in the war, and her father died in a U.S. internment camp.

She said she came to Newark in 1953 by hopping a freight train. 

She spent a time working as an assistant to Willie Cole, the most prominent of Newark's found-object sculptors.

But the New Ark was her greatest work. In recent years she found a small apartment in Port Jervis, NY, and a sympathetic gallery that welcomed her. On Aug. 8, she died there, missing this week's opening by seven weeks. She was at least (Tawana's birth records are difficult to find) 81 years old.

Kea's Ark of Newark: A Life in Works

Where: Gallery Aferro, 73 Market St., Newark

When: Sept. 24-Dec. 17. Open noon-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.

How much: Free. For more information see www.aferro.org or call (973) 353-9533

Dan Bischoff may be reached at danbischoff55@gmail.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

Police are investigating what they say is a possible hit and run.

MONTCLAIR -- Police are investigating a possible hit-and-run that landed a bicyclist in the hospital.

According to an announcement from the Montclair Police, a 59-year-old man from Bloomfield was riding his bike near the intersection of Mt. Hebron Road and Park Street at about 5:34 p.m. Thursday when he was hit by an SUV driving east on Mt. Hebron. Police called the collision a "possible hit and run."

Montclair opposes French charter school

The bicyclist was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital and is in stable condition, police said Friday. The extent of the injuries he sustained from the accident is unknown.

The man did not provide a description of the driver, but said that the SUV was either white or gold, and possibly was damaged on its right side, officials said.

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

Stories, features, schedules and everything you need for Week 3

Below is NJ.com's high school football mega-coverage guide, your one-stop shop for everything you need to get ready for Week 3. Check back throughout the week as the page gets filled with new links and stories. 

WEEK 3 CONFERENCE SCHEDULES/SCOREBOARDS 
Pages automatically update with links as scores come in
• Greater Middlesex Conference
• North Jersey Super Football Conference
• North Jersey Interscholastic Conference
• Mid-State 38
• Shore Conference
• West Jersey Football League 

WEEK 3 ESSENTIALS 
• Top 20 for Sept. 18
• 17 can't-miss games in Week 3
• Top performers: Helmet stickers for Week 2
• What we learned from around the state
• 3 players added to Player of the Year watch
• Statewide group and conference rankings
• WATCH and VOTE for Week 2's best plays
• Statewide stat leaders through Week 2 
• How did N.J. alums fare in Week 2 of the NFL | NCAA 

WEEK 3 PICKS 
• Top 20 picks
• Picks by conference
• Quick picks: Our selections for every game in N.J.

WEEK 3 FEATURES 
• Who has the best football student section? 
• N.J.'s longest winning streaks and 7 teams that can end them 
• Succeeding or struggling? 25 football teams off to surprising starts 

GAMES OF THE WEEK 
• Star-Ledger: Bridgewater-Raritan at Phillipsburg
• Trenton Times: Princeton at WWPN
• South Jersey Times: Pennsville at Deptford

OTHER MUST-READ STORIES 
• Jabrill Peppers did what? Weekly look at Michigan's Heisman hopeful
• 'My students and I are hurting': Woodrow Wilson coach on anthem protest
• The next super conference? GMC, Mid-State 38 discuss merger
• Don Bosco QB Tommy DeVito selected for Under Armour All-America Game
• Brooks-Irvine Memorial Football Club honors 8 athletes 
• WATCH: Scintillating run by Peddie's Farmer among national Plays of the Week 
• Which NJ.com Top 50 football recruits had big games in Week 2

Pat Lanni may be reached at planni@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatLanniHS. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.

British scientists John Whinfield and James Dickson patented polyethylene terephthalate – polyester – in 1941.

CEDAR GROVE -- Members of the Memorial High School band in Cedar Grove are shown in this photo from 1973.

It's likely that some of the patterned pieces of apparel worn by the students were made of polyester, common in the 1970s.

According to whatispolyester.com, British scientists John Whinfield and James Dickson patented polyethylene terephthalate - which forms the basis for synthetic fibers like Dacron and polyester - in 1941.

Polyester clothing took off in the 1970s but eventually fell out of fashion.

If you would like to share a photo that provides a glimpse of history in your community, please call 973-836-4922 or send an email to essex@starledger.com. And, check out more glimpses of history in our online galleries Thursdays on nj.com.

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

 

A 19-year-old Newark man was sentenced to 40 years in prison today for the murder of a 63-year-old Jersey City man who was gunned down while coming to the aid of his wife as she was being robbed near their Danforth Avenue home two years ago.

JERSEY CITY -- A Newark man was sentenced to 40 years in prison today for the murder of a 63-year-old Jersey City man who was gunned down when he came to the aid of his wife during a robbery two years ago.

"I'm asking for 40 years in prison but even if it was 100 years, it would not compensate for this," Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Sal Rozzi said at the sentencing of Joshua Higgins, who must serve more than 34 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Higgins was 19 when he fatally shot George T. Smith on April 6, 2014 near the man's home on Danforth Avenue. Higgins and two others were involved in the mugging that precipitated the fatal gunfire. All three men pleaded guilty to their roles in the crime. 

"Although Higgins said he was sorry to the Smith family and to his own family. My job here is to protect the public. Quite frankly, the remorse doesn't mean much. He should have thought about that before."

Also sentenced today was Higgins' cousin, Haniyf Higgins, 23, of Arlington Avenue in Jersey City, who pleaded guilty to armed robbery for his role in the fatal incident. Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez sentenced him to 12 years in prison and he must serve more than 10 years before becoming eligible for parole. Haniyf Higgins also apologized for his acts today.

Donte Gaskin, 21, of Irvington, had already been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to receiving stolen property - Margaret Smith's cell phone. Rozzi said Gaskin was the first of the three arrested and that lead to the arrest of the Higgins cousins. In his plea, Gaskin agreed to cooperate with the state. 

Galis-Menendez also sentenced Joshua Higgins was also sentenced to 10 years for carjacking today. Following his arrest on the murder charge, his DNA linked him to a hat found in the vehicle carjacked a year before the fatal robbery, Rozzi said. The murder sentence and carjacking sentence will run concurrently. Galis-Menendez Joshua Higgins also has a weapons charge pending in Essex County Superior Court.

"Bear with me, it's the first time I'm going through this," said Joshua Higgins as he began to speak at today's hearing while fighting back tears.

"I just want to apologize to the victim's family and also to my family," Joshua Higgins said. "I'm sorry for what happened... Nobody was supposed to be hurt. Things just happened so fast... I was startled and it was dark and I didn't expect Mr. Smith to run after me... I love older people. I always help older people around the neighborhood."

Galis-Menendez told Joshua Higgins she had "no doubt that you are good and I see it in the letters on your behalf. You've done a lot of good for a lot of people... Although you said you never intended to hurt anyone that day, I have difficulty with that because why were you carrying a loaded gun. Why would a kid be carrying a loaded gun?"

Smith and his wife had just returned home from a basketball game at an Elks Club when two men approached Margaret Smith on the street and one of them grabbed her purse. When Smith tried to get it back, he was fatally shot.

Neighbors administered CPR and tried desperately to save Smith before he was rushed to Jersey City Medical Center - Barnabas Health, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

Margaret Smith could not attend the hearing due to health issues but Rozzi read a letter she wrote saying she and her husband were making plans for their 25th wedding anniversary when he was shot twice. She said she had to move from the place that was home and had become just a house. Her husband was to retire the next year and he wanted to spend time with family, watching basketball, traveling and he wanted to move to California.   

"I know that it has been as if I have been sentenced for your actions, as well as my children," the widow said. "I am asking the courts to sentence Joshua and Haniyf Higgins to the maximum sentence for their horrific acts... Today you are in the hands of the court system and will pay your debt to society. Also, you are in the hands of your God and you will answer to him also."