The 45th NJSIAA Meet of Champions will be held on Saturday, Nov. 19

The closing was announced on a staff-training day when there were no classes.

Star Career Academy, a for-profit training school with five campuses in New Jersey, abruptly informed students and faculty Tuesday that it was ceasing operations.

In a statement the company blamed, the "negative financial impact of a continued declining student population while operating in the challenging for-profit post-secondary school industry."

The academy had locations in Newark, Clifton, Brick and Egg Harbor Township. It also ran ServFast Computer in Toms River. The company also operated schools in New York and Pennsylvania.

The academy had provided training classes for medical tech, business administration and culinary jobs.

Star Career Academy last year was ordered to pay more than $9 million for defrauding students.

The announcement Tuesday occurred on a staff-training day so students weren't in class. Employees were told of the closing by phone or in person.

A school spokesman didn't immediately return a call from NJ Advance Media seeing additional information.

The class action suit, which was settled Oct. 29, 2015, argued Star Career Academy violated New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act by engaging in unconscionable commercial practices, and misrepresenting facts about the surgical technology program's accreditation.

Patricia Pierce, an attorney who represented the students during three years of litigation said that the school did not inform students that while it had institutional accreditation, its surgical technology program did not have its own program-based accreditation.

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

A look at the top results from the group semis

Medical billing receptionist wanted to shop for a house first

BLOOMFIELD -- A North Jersey woman who bought a jackpot winning Jersey Cash 5 lottery ticket held onto it for 10 months before claiming her $634,831 prize.

Rosalia Gonglefski of Bloomfield won a $634,831 Jersey Cash 5 jackpot in November 2015 but didn't claim her prize until September.New Jersey Lottery 

Rosalia Gonglefski, a medical billing receptionist from Bloomfield, made the lucky purchase for the Nov. 18, 2015 drawing but didn't show up to lottery headquarters in Lawrenceville until September.

Gonglefski told lottery officials she wanted to buy a house in a town with good schools near family who lived at the Shore. She said that if she accepted her winnings without having a plan in place, the money might have been spent frivolously.

She called the winnings, "found money." 

The lucky ticket was purchased at Marina Stationers on the 500 block of Van Houten Avenue in Passaic.

Lottery winners have one year to claim their prizes.

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

Three guns seized after exchange of gunfire on city street, according to police.

NEWARK -- Officers with the police mounted unit interrupted a shootout on a city street Monday afternoon and arrested three people, authorities said.

The officers on horseback were patrolling near Lyons Avenue and Clinton Place around 2:15 p.m. when they saw Alex Cora, 39 shooting at William A. Jones, 20, and Quamarly Boykins, 18, according to Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose.

Jones and Boykins were running on Clinton Place when officers arrived, authorities said. Police managed to stop the group and found Cora had a loaded 9mm handgun, authorities said.

Detectives determined that Jones and Boykins traded shots with Cora, Ambrose said. The three, all Newark residents, were charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses.

Police found two more guns at a nearby barbershop after detectives obtained a search warrant Tuesday, according to authorities.

Officials revived the mounted unit after it was disbanded in 2011 over budget cuts. In 2014, a city officer on horseback was credited with catching a shooting suspect in downtown Newark. 

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

Port Authority police police received a report of an attempted robbery aboard a train bound for the Journal Square PATH station.

Melvin King, 45, of Newark was arrested Tuesday after allegedly trying to steal a man's briefcase onboard a PATH train. Essex County jail photo 

A Newark man was arrested Tuesday after he tried stealing another man's briefcase while aboard a PATH train bound for Jersey City, police said. 

At about 6:45 a.m., Port Authority police police received a report of an attempted robbery on a train between Manhattan and the Journal Square PATH station in Jersey City, Port Authority police spokesman Joe Pentangelo said. 

When the train pulled into the station, witnesses said a man -- later identified as Melvin King, 45 -- reached under the victim's seat several times and tried to take his briefcase, Pentangelo said. 

Police arrested King and determined he had $4,500 in open warrants out of Union and Newark, Pentangelo said. 

Although police did not specify what was in the briefcase, Pentangelo said its contents were valued at $1,075. 

King was charged with criminal attempted theft and bail jumping, and taken to Hudson County jail in Kearny. 

One person shot in the chest in weekend attack, according to city officials.

ORANGE -- Police were seeking three people involved in a robbery and shooting on Bell Street, officials said Wednesday.

The robbery occurred around 2 a.m. Saturday, according to city spokesman Keith Royster. Three people were robbed and one was shot in the chest. The male victim, who was not identified, was listed in stable condition after the attack.

The wounded man has not identified his attackers, the spokesman said. Police reported the assailants were last seen driving a Nissan sport utility vehicle.

Authorities were continuing to investigate.

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

The woman allegedly tried to leave the scene but the victim grabbed one of the Accord's windshield wipers.

JERSEY CITY - A Newark woman is accused of driving more than two miles with a woman clinging to the hood of her Honda Accord following an accident in Jersey City last month.

Talika Lesaine, 30, of North 13th Street, is charged with aggravated assault, endangering an injured victim by hitting her with her vehicle and possession of a weapon - the car - for an unlawful purpose, the criminal complaint says.

A court official said that following the accident - which occurred at Communipaw Avenue and Route 440 on Oct. 29 - Lesaine allegedly tried to leave the scene but the victim grabbed one of the Accord's windshield wipers.

The complaint says the victim was struck by the Accord and thrown onto its hood where she clung for her life as Lesaine drove to Danforth Avenue near Garfield Avenue. At that point, Lesaine allegedly hit the bakes and sent the woman flying off the Accord before fleeing, the complaint states.  

According to the court document, witnesses supplied authorities with Lesaine's license plate number. Probable cause for the charges was also listed as the victim's statement and her identification of Lesaine in a photo array, the complaint states. 

Lesaine's bail was set at $30,000 with a 10 percent cash option when she made her first appearance on the charges this afternoon in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.

Her next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 4 before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale. 

NJ.com looks at all the boys winners from the meet that started in 1972

Davon Gordon, 35, arrested with police badge, prosecutors say.

Davon M. Gordon (Photo: Essex County Prosecutor's Office) 

NEWARK -- A Newark man on Wednesday was convicted of impersonating a city police detective in a ruse to receive discounted car repairs at a South Orange auto shop.

An Essex County jury found Davon Gordon, 35, guilty after a two-day trial before Superior Court Judge Alfonse Cifelli, Acting Essex County Carolyn A. Murray announced.

Gordon in February 2014 went to the South Orange auto repair shop and posed as a detective in order to get discounted repair work, according to Assistant Prosecutor Alaina Caliendo. The shop's owner initially gave him a discount, but became suspicious over about a two-week span.

The shop owner eventually alerted the South Orange police and Gordon was arrested. He was caught carrying a police badge and multiple police union cards, according to prosecutors. Witnesses testified at trial that the badge was not issued by the city police force.

Police on horseback interrupt shootout, arrest 3

Gordon has seven prior convictions for offenses, including receiving stolen property, resisting arrest, eluding police and credit card fraud in Essex, Union, Atlantic, Passaic and Hudson counties between 2001 and 2013. 

"The County of Essex saw justice today with the conviction of Davon Gordon,"  Caliendo, the assistant prosecutor who handled the case, said in a statement. "With this case and his previous cases, Gordon has shown a pattern of engaging in fraudulent activity that will not be tolerated."

After a Dec. 22 sentencing in New Jersey, prosecutors said Gordon is expected to be sent to Prince William, Virginia where he also faces charges stemming from an armed robbery. Details on those charges were not immediately available.

Gordon faces 18 months in state prison for a fourth degree charge of impersonating a police officer.

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

UNION CITY — Mayor Brian Stack of Union City has joined counterparts from other New Jersey cities in assuring unauthorized constituents that local police will not help round them up for deportation in the wake of Donald Trump's election as president. "Undocumented immigrants provide an economic and cultural benefit to our community and to our country," Stack, who is also a...

State Senator and Mayor Brian Stack of Union City said he supports undocumented immigrantsJersey Journal file photo 

UNION CITY -- Mayor Brian Stack of Union City has joined counterparts from other New Jersey cities in assuring unauthorized constituents that local police will not help round them up for deportation in the wake of Donald Trump's election as president.

"Undocumented immigrants provide an economic and cultural benefit to our community and to our country," Stack, who is also a state Senator, said in a statement. "I will not support any policy that will hinder economic growth and rip families apart."

Erin Knoedler, a spokeswoman for Stack, said the mayor would direct the Union City Police Department not to take part in the apprehension or detention of unauthorized immigrants in connection with any initiative by the Trump Administration, "if a crime has not been committed."

Stack, who said 95 percent of Union City residents were of Hispanic descent, joined Mayors Ras Baraka of Newark and Steven Fulop of Jersey City in voicing their support for those in the United States without proper documentation.

"Newark already has a policy of protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation by U.S. immigration authorities" Baraka told reporters on Monday. "Despite the election of Donald Trump, we see no reason to change that policy."

On Tuesday, Fulop said his community would remain a "sanctuary city" for undocumented residents.

Since winning the Nov. 8 election, Trump has softened his campaign rhetoric on immigration. During a CBS "60 Minutes" interview on Sunday, the Republican president-elect appeared to back away from his earlier insistence that he would deport all unauthorized immigrants in the country, and instead said he would focus on deporting or detaining those with criminal records.

In his statement on Wednesday, Stack said, "Reasonable and responsible policy has to be a priority rather than unilateral deportation that will result in broken communities."

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

High-ranking gang member previously pleaded guilty to a a racketeering conspiracy, federal officials said.

NEWARK -- A high-ranking member of an international street gang who is already serving 22 years behind bars in California, received a 13-year prison sentence after admitting to his role in a racketeering conspiracy that including drug distribution and a murder plot, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, seen in a file photo, announced the sentence. (Luke Nozicka | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

Joel Antonio Cortez, also known as "Pee Wee," 42, was sentenced in federal court Wednesday after pleading guilty to a racketeering conspiracy, Fishman said.

According to authorities, Cortez and Amiclar Romero, 47, helped run the "Mara Salvatrucha" street gang, also known as MS-13. Under California-based leader Jose Juan Rodriguez-Juarez, 34, the gang was working on uniting all local gang sects into a "national program" under a single leadership structure, Fishman said.

Rodriguez-Juarez tasked Cortez with recruiting East Coast gang cliques to join the national program, officials said. Both Cortez and Romero ordered other gang members to collect money using force and coordinated the distribution of Mexican cartel drugs like heroin and crystal meth to New Jersey and other East Coast states, Fishman said.

Cortez also authorized a November 2013 murder plot against a rival gang leader in Hudson County that investigators intercepted and stopped, Fishman said.

6 MS-13 members get federal prison time

Cortez's 13-year sentence will run concurrently to the California sentence he is already serving, officials said.

Romero, who also served as the liaison between the MS-13 chapters in the U.S. and El Salvador, previously pleaded guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to five years in prison, to be served after a 44-year sentence he is serving in California on attempted murder charges, Fishman said.

Rodriguez-Juarez, who pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, has yet to be sentenced, officials said.

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

Marijuana found in fanny pack, according to police.

Matthew K. Spencer (Photo: Dept. of Public Safety) 

NEWARK -- A 24-year-old man was arrested after city police found a loaded gun and bags of marijuana in the car he was driving Wednesday night, authorities said.

Detectives assigned to the Special Enforcement Bureau were on patrol near Sayre and West Kinney streets when they pulled over a car for having a cracked windshield, according to city Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose.

The driver, Matthew K. Spencer, could not provide a driver's license during the stop, authorities said in a statement. When he got out, detectives spotted a loaded Glock 35 handgun and a fanny pack holding 14 bags of marijuana in the car.

Police charged Spencer, of Newark, with various drug and weapons offenses, including having a gun while committing a drug crime, possession with the intent to distribute drugs within 1,000 feet of a school and 500 feet of a public housing facility.

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

Cause of the fire under investigation

A house at 83 Forest Hill Road was damaged in a fire Nov. 17, 2016 (Photo: Google Maps) 

WEST ORANGE -- Two firefighters suffered minor injuries as they battled a two-alarm blaze at a vacant house in the township Thursday afternoon, officials said.

One firefighter was burned on the neck and taken to Saint Barnabas Medical Center, according to West Orange township spokeswoman Susan Anderson. Another firefighter had an injured wrist and was treated at the scene on Forest Hill Road, near Birch Street. 

The house was vacant and there were no other injuries reported, officials said. Investigators were working to determine what sparked the blaze.

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

Spoiler alert: Onychetomy is in this week's quiz.

Are you ready for this week's NJ.com local news quiz? If you've been on NJ.com this past week, you should be. All of the quiz questions below come from our most popular stories of the week gone by. Take the quiz and then share your score in comments to show off your New Jersey bonafides to our other users. Gloating is permitted, and is in fact encouraged.

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

In our boldest effort yet, NJ.com writers make one prediction in each section of the NJSIAA playoffs this week.

Prosecutors say the man, who was babysitting the children while their mother worked, faces up to 50 years in state prison.

NEWARK -- A 45-year-old city man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two young girls he was babysitting, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office announced Friday.

Uvaldo Melgar. (Essex County Prosecutor's Office)

Uvaldo Melgar was convicted of after a three-week trial of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors said.

Melgar watched the girls, ages 7 and 10, at his family's home while their mother worked, prosecutors said. Melgar sexually assaulted the youngest girl between August 2012 and May 2013, and endangered both girls by his conduct, according to prosecutors.

Melgar was arrested on June 26, 2013, but posted bail two weeks later. Judge John I. Gizzo remanded him to the Essex County Correctional Facility following the verdict.

"The little girls, who were supported by their mother, bravely testified in a courtroom full of strangers about the horrific acts committed against them by this defendant,'' said Assistant Prosecutor Camille Claudio, who prosecuted the case with Assistant Prosecutor Peter Polidoro.

Melgar, who faces a maximum of 50 years in state prison, is scheduled to be sentenced before Gizzo on Feb. 6.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Authorities released a photo of a suspect

Police released a photo of the suspect in a Nov. 17, 2016 bank robbery (Photo: Dept. of Public Safety) 

NEWARK -- Police are seeking the public's help to find the man who robbed a Newark bank Thursday afternoon.

The robber handed a note to a teller demanding cash at the Popular Community Bank on Bloomfield Avenue around 1:15 p.m., according to authorities.

The thief fled the bank with an unspecified amount of money and was last seen on North 11th Street.

Authorities described the robber as wearing a white shirt, black skull cap and black pants. Police also released a photo of the suspected robber.

The man possibly got inside a beige 4-door vehicle with another man waiting inside, police added.

Anyone with information was asked to call Newark's Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-877-NWK-TIPS (1-877-695-8477) or 1-877-NWK-GUNS (1-877-695-4867). Officials said anonymous tips are kept confidential and could lead to a reward.

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

The hospital is one of the last in the state to enact a tobacco-free campus policy.

NEWARK -- University Hospital is now officially tobacco-free. The Newark hospital Thursday enacted a smoke-free campus policy already in place at most of New Jersey's other hospitals.

"We made the decision to become a tobacco-free campus because it is in the best interest in the health of our patients and visitors. We are also responding to feedback we've received from the patients we serve," said hospital spokeswoman Stacie Newton.

The new policy was set in motion Thursday, to coincide with the American Cancer Society's annual "Great American Smokeout," - a day the organization asks people to stop using tobacco products and commit to quitting. The hospital held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday to commemorate the change.

Most hospitals in the state already have smoke-free policies in place, the American Cancer Society said. University Hospital had yet to implement one, said Dr. Andrew Berman, a pulmonology specialist who led the initiative, because of its unique location, on the campus of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences school campus.

N.J. town raises smoking age to 21

"Our goal was not just to limit this to the hospital," Berman said. "We wanted to create an entire campus environment that is smoke-free, tobacco-free, and vapor-free."

Despite the conversions of most hospitals to tobacco-fee environments and moves to ban smoking everywhere from college campuses to county parks, the cancer society says smoking is far from eliminated.

According to the organization, about 17.3 percent of adults and 14.3 percent of 12 to 18-year-olds in New Jersey smoke.

Most New Jersey hospitals' anti-tobacco policies include e-cigarettes and vapes, ACS spokeswoman Donna Gulotta said, which contain nicotine, but not tobacco.

"The reason e-cigarettes have been included is that the safety or harm of ingredients in e-cigarettes is not yet known," Gulotta said. "Until recently proposed FDA regulations, e-cigarette manufacturers were not required to disclose their ingredients."

One of the medical community's main concerns with vaping, Berman said, is its appeal to young people. E-smoking could act as a "gateway to tobacco use," he said.

Many anti-tobacco advocates see the advent of e-cigarettes as the first development since the 1960s that could "stop the momentum of creating a smoke-free America," Berman said.

University President and CEO John Kastanis said the new policy positions hospital employees as "health leaders."

"By not allowing people to smoke on the sidewalks in front of our buildings, in the entryways, in our gardens and hospital grounds, and in our other outside areas, we are sending a clear and urgent message that smoking tobacco is bad for your health, and we are leading by example," he said.

Thursday's ribbon cutting was one of many anti-tobacco initiatives the American Cancer Socity is working on in New Jersey, the organization said.

"Tobacco is still the number one cause of premature death, so we still have a lot of work to do," said Natasha Coleman, senior director of state health systems.

"The American Cancer Society is working with organizations throughout the state to drive down smoking rates and support people in their efforts to quit."

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

One aide is facing sexual assault charges. A second aide was arrest for stealing money from another patient.

TRENTON -- The state Board of Nursing has suspended a certified home health aide following his arrest for sexually assaulting a resident of a nursing home, Attorney General Christopher Porrino announced Friday.

The nursing board also suspended another certified aide for stealing $32,000 from the checking account and credit card belonging to a patient under her care, Porrino announced.

"Certified Homemaker-Home Health Aides spend significant time alone with their patients, making it extremely important that they abide by the professional and ethical standards set for them," said Steve Lee, Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Attorney General's Office. "The allegations in the charges against them are disturbing and the Board acted appropriately to protect the public."

Robin L. Frye, of Newark, was arrested by Eatontown Police in May and charged with sexual assault by force or coercion and aggravated criminal sexual conduct.

N.J. senior care employee pleads guilty to stealing from elderly clients

Dionne Eke, of Lawrence Township, was arrested in October for allegedly stealing $32,000 from a patient's checking and credit card accounts. Police say she wrote herself a blank check and used her client's credit and debit cards.

Frye and Eke agreed to surrender their licenses while their cases are reviewed by the nursing board, Porrino said.

The investigations were led by the Enforcement Bureau within the Division of Consumer Affairs.

"Anyone capable of exploiting their vulnerable patients, as these two allegedly did, has no place in the healthcare profession," Porrino said. "They are barred from working with patients until the charges against them are resolved."

Patients who believe that they have been treated improperly by a licensed health care professional may file an online complaint with the State Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting its website or by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504- 6200.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.