Belleville man charged with sexual assault of 14-year-old boy.

NEWARK -- A Belleville man who ran a youth sports video company pleaded not guilty Friday in Essex County Superior Court to a charge of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy.

Ethan Chandler, 42, was first arrested Dec. 1 after he traded explicit online messages with an undercover State Police detective posing as a 13-year-old boy, according to the state Attorney General's Office.

An investigator responded to a Craigslist ad that Chandler posted seeking oral sex from a young man, prosecutors said. The undercover trooper told Chandler he was underage and they allegedly arranged to meet in Woodbridge.

Chandler never arrived, according to prosecutors. The State Police arrested Chandler on a child luring charge and obtained a search warrant for his residence, where they seized his phone and computer.

Search for child sex assault victims expands beyond N.J. after arrest

Prosecutors filed the more serious charge after State Police reviewed the seized material and discovered evidence that Chandler sexually assaulted the 14-year-old boy on at least three occasions at his apartment, according to the state Attorney General's Office. He was re-arrested Dec. 7.

Chandler remained free after his bail was set at $200,000, according to officials and jail records. The case will now head to a grand jury for possible indictment.

Chandler's company, Primetime Sports, LLC, produces videos and highlight reels of youth sports "for coaches, players and parents," according to its website.

State Police took to social media late last month in a public plea for other possible victims to come forward. Chandler previously lived in Connecticut, Tennessee and several New Jersey counties. His defense attorney said Thursday Chandler has not been charged in other jurisdictions.

The attorney, Prosper Bellizia, said Thursday he could not comment in detail before receiving evidence of the allegations.

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

The blaze, at an abandoned home, was quickly extinguished

NEWARK -- The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating a fatal fire in the city Friday night, spokeswoman Kathy Carter said. 

Little information was immediately available about the victim, she also said. 

The fire broke out at what appeared to be a vacant home in the 200 block of Eastern Parkway shortly before 7 p.m., Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said. 

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

It took Myspace, Facebook and a psychic reading for this couple to get together

WEST CALDWELL -- In today's era of social media it's becoming more common to hear stories of high school/college sweethearts, friends who've lost touch, or casual acquaintances reconnecting over sites like Facebook and rekindling the flames of former and unrequited love, and turning it into marriage.

For Cara Ann Kirner and Michael DePeri of West Caldwell, social media was not just the way they reconnected, it was how they met in the first place.

In 2005 DePeri, who works employee at PepsiCo., friend requested Kirner, who works as a clinician for Serv Behavioral Health, on the Facebook predecessor Myspace. The two would chat over the site and eventually DePeri asked Kirner out on a date.

However, the date did not go especially well. 

"He was completely shy, and didn't say much," said Kirner. "I'm extremely outgoing and took this as that he didn't like me."

According to Kirner, it turns out that DePeri was actually nervous and was so tongue-tied that he didn't know what to say. The couple eventually drifted apart until three years, and seven months ago (give or take a month or two).

At that point Kirner thought she was "done with love" as she had been through enough unsuccessful relationships. That is until she went to a psychic.

"She told me that I would be married in three years, and it would be to someone from my past," said Kirner. "I thought, 'my past?' I was horrified, the last thing I wanted was someone from my past."

Photos from the wedding of Cara Ann Kirner and Michael DePeri, at Graycliff in Moonachie. Pre-wedding photos at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. (Artist European Photography)  

A few weeks later Kirner was surprised to receive a message on Facebook from DePeri. The couple would chat over the social media platform for a bit, until they decided to reconnect at Chiller Theater, an annual horror/sci-fi convention that takes place in New Jersey.

"As soon as we saw each other it was like we were hit with a bolt of lightning," said the bride.

And at that moment she knew he was the one.

THE PROPOSAL

DePeri proposed to Kirner on the couple's two-year anniversary. He squired her to The Manor in West Orange, the same location Kirner's father had proposed to her mother years before. DePeri called ahead and arrange to have the words "Cara, will you marry me?" on a plate of desserts.

However, the message wasn't relayed properly to their waiter, because he rushed up to their table with a bottle of champagne, and yelled "congratulations!" as he popped the cork.

Luckily, Kirner thought this exclamation was due to their anniversary. DePeri's plan was still intact and when it came time for dessert, his question was revealed, and he got down on one knee.

Photos from the wedding of Cara Ann Kirner and Michael DePeri, at Graycliff in Moonachie. Pre-wedding photos at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. (Artist European Photography)  

"I blacked out after that," said Kirner. "All of a sudden I saw Mike on one knee, everyone in the restaurant stood up clapping."

"I snapped out of it long enough to excitedly yell, "Yes!"

Kirner admits she made DePeri retell his proposal because she could not remember any of it.

WEDDING DATE

The couple choose Oct. 21, 2016 as their wedding date due to their love of the autumn season. 

"We are both totally obsessed with the fall," said Kirner.  "The leaves are changing to golden yellows, reds and browns and the air has a cool, crisp chill against your face."

WEDDING VENUE

The couple chose the Graycliff in Moonachie for their venue based on the recommendation of their friends who had had their reception there.

"The food is incredible, the service was impeccable, and the room was perfect for the amount of people we invited," said the bride.

WHERE THEY SPLURGED

The couple spent the most on the bride's jewelry.

"Mike brought me a gorgeous brooch bouquet from Brooch Bouquets by Nicolasa Cicero," said Kirner. "She did Snooki and JWOWW from 'Jersey Shore's' bouquets."

The bride also wore an heirloom platinum diamond necklace valued at $80,000.

WHERE THEY SAVED

The couple saved the most money when the groom's cousin Will DePeri served as the officiant.

HOW THEY MADE THEIR WEDDING SPECIAL

Kirner tried to get as crafty as possible when it came to the gifts for everyone involved in the wedding.

"I had beautiful "thank you" cards printed for each guest on ivory sparkled card stock and glistening eggplant print," said the bride. "After all, they are our mentors, our teachers and our greatest loves."

Photos from the wedding of Cara Ann Kirner and Michael DePeri, at Graycliff in Moonachie. Pre-wedding photos at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. (Artist European Photography)  

She recruited her bridesmaids to fill mini Mason jars with warm cinnamon sugar for the guests to take home. The side effect of this was a delicious one as the entire wedding venue smelled like cinnamon.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

One of the most memorable moments for the couple, was when Kirner's mother walked down the aisle.

A month prior to the wedding Kirner's mother became very ill, and the family nearly lost her. The entire family was racked with worry, and emotion -- but thankfully she is recovering, and was able to attend the wedding.

"The congregation stood and clapped in her honor while my father rolled her down the aisle, in her tulle-wrapped wheelchair, which I decorated for her so she could arrive in style," said Kirner.

DePeri says, outside of that moment, his favorite part of the ceremony was watching Kirner walk down the aisle. "I never saw anything so beautiful in my entire life," said the groom.

For the bride, it was when the officiant asked DePeri if he would take Kirner to be his bride, and he responded, "absolutely."

At the reception the couple says they both loved just being able to dance the night away with their friends and family.

However, DePeri did admit he got a real kick out of cutting the cake to the "Superman" theme song.

Photos by Artist European Photography http://www.artisteuro.com

Bill Bodkin can be reached at bodkinwrites@gmail.com. FindNJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.

A small aircraft crashed near the Essex County Airport on Saturday.

WEST CALDWELL -- A pilot was injured when a small aircraft crashed in a residential neighborhood near the Essex County Airport Saturday afternoon, police said.

The plane crashed on Patton Drive, which is about a mile-and-a-half from the airport, according to an officer with the Fairfield Police Department. Authorities are currently at the scene.

Rick Breitenfeldt, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the plane is a Hawker Beachcraft Bonanza and had one person on board. He said the incident occurred at 12:45 p.m. about a mile south of the Essex County Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and the FAA is investigating, Breitenfeldt said.

Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said the pilot, an adult male, suffered a broken leg and burns to his face and chest. The sheriff would not categorize the seriousness of the injuries.

The pilot was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, Fontoura said.

An operator at the Essex County Airport said he did not see the crash but could  see smoke and emergency response vehicles responding to the area.

Video on social media shows smoke rising from behind a home in the neighborhood with an ambulance at the scene.

Neighbors claim a plane down in West Caldwell pic.twitter.com/f5b4pI4s32

-- Burt Sempier (@realburtsempier) January 21, 2017

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Plane landed safety Saturday, according to federal aviation officials.

NEWARK -- A JetBlue flight from Newark Liberty International Airport bound for the Dominican Republic was diverted to Fort Lauderdale after a note referencing a bomb was discovered in the plane's restroom, officials said. 

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Airbus A321 aircraft landed safely at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

No explosives were found after the Broward County Sheriff's Office bomb squad searched the plane around 3:20 p.m., according to agency spokeswoman Gina Carter. 

"Out of an abundance of caution, JetBlue flight 893 from Newark Liberty International Airport to Santiago, Dominican Republic, is diverting to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a security report," the airline said in a statement.

The FAA and JetBlue referred further questions to the Florida airport and law enforcement authorities. The FBI was aware of the incident, a spokesman for the bureau's Miami office said. 

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

Male victim died at University Hospital, prosecutor's office says.

NEWARK -- Essex County Prosecutor's Office detectives were investigating a deadly shooting in Newark's South Ward late Saturday, officials said.

The homicide occurred on the 200 block of Avon Avenue, according to prosecutor's office spokeswoman Katherine Carter.

The victim, identified only as a male, was pronounced dead at University Hospital, the spokeswoman said. Additional details were not immediately available.

The killing marked Newark's third reported homicide of the year. 

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

How the need to clean wallpaper led to an iconic plaything.

According to playdoh.hasbro.com, more than 950 million pounds --or, 2 billion cans -- of Play-Doh have been "squished and squashed since 1956."

And, this modeling clay, which children have played with for generations, was the brainchild of a nursery school teacher from Dover. The teacher, Kay Zufall, found her inspiration in a hardware store.

 

The story goes this way:

In the 1930s, two men from Cincinnati, Joe McVicker and Bill Rhodenbaugh, developed a compound to clean wallpaper called "Kutol."

Demand for the product diminished in the 1950s with the introduction of vinyl wallpaper, which could be cleaned with soap and water. So, the partners stopped manufacturing the compound.

Well, sort of.

Writing in "Inventing in New Jersey," Linda Barth notes that Zufall read about using wallpaper cleaner for art projects. She was confident the compound was safe for children to play with; she knew the doughy substance's composition -- flour, water, salt, boric acid and mineral oil - was non-toxic.

Play-Doh was originally marketed in this canister in the 1950s. Courtesy of therapyfunzone.net 

So, after finding a can of the cleaner in her local hardware store, she introduced it to her pupils. The children loved it. They rolled it, kneaded it and used cookie cutters to make shapes with it.

Zufall convinced the men to once again manufacture the product, only this time as a child's toy. The rest is history.

Play-Doh was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998. Zufall, who died on Jan. 18, 2014, could easily be called the inventor of Play-Doh.

Kay ZufallCourtesy of legacy.com 

But this teacher can be credited with far more. She and her husband, urologist Robert Zufall, founded the Zufall Health Center, which provides affordable medical treatment to the working poor, uninsured and underserved residents of Dover.

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

 

The city man was shot on Avon Avenue.

NEWARK -- A city man died Saturday night after being shot, authorities said.

Devion Wilson, 24, was shot at about 5:59 p.m. on Avon Avenue, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said in a statement.

Wilson was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. at University Hospital, authorities said. Police have not made an arrest or identified a suspect.

The killing is the third reported homicide of 2017 in Newark.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Correction: This post has been updated to correct the spelling of the victim's name. The prosecutor's office initially said it was Devon. It later said it was Devion.

The fire started after a vehicle knocked down a utility pole.

NEWARK -- A car crash and fire knocked out power early Sunday for more than 30 electric customers.

The fire started 3:20 a.m. at a building on Peshine Avenue, Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said in a statement.

The fire started after a vehicle crashed into a utility pole at the same location, Ambrose said. The crash took the pole and wires down.

The second floor of the three-story building caught fire. The second and third floors contained residences, while the first floor had businesses.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control by 4:04 a.m., Ambrose said. No one was hurt.

Newark unveils downtown transformation

The driver in the crash suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

PSE&G said on its website that 38 of its customers lost power and estimated that power would be back by 12:15 p.m.

Newark firefighters also extinguished a blaze earlier in the morning at a home on Clinton Place.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The victim, who died after being shot early Saturday morning has been identified as a 21-year-old Newark resident

ROSELLE -- Police charged a Roselle man for the murder of a Newark resident in the borough early Saturday, and authorities are asking the public for help in locating the suspect.

Nathaniel Price, 25, has been charged with the fatal shooting of Tyquan Johnson, 21, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park said in a statement Sunday.

Shortly after 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Roselle police responded to reports of shots fired and rushed to the 1000 block of Rivington Street where they found Johnson suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, Park said.

She said Johnson was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where he was later pronounced dead.

A resident on the street who would not give her name said the shooting victim was in a car. The prosecutor's office declined to comment about Johnson being found in a car.

Park said a $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and indictment in the case.

Authorities are urging anybody with information about the shooting or Price's whereabouts to contact Homicide Task Force Sgt. Jose Vendas at (908) 358-3048 or Detective Nelson Costa at (908) 337-0807.

Roselle police, the Union County Homicide Task Force, Union County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Unit, and Union County Police Department Ballistics Unit are investigating the murder.

The Union County Crime Stoppers organization is offering the reward.

Tips can be given anonymously by phone at (908) 654-TIPS (8477), or via text message by texting "UCTIP" plus a message to 274637 (CRIMES), or by going online at www.uctip.org.

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

Nine suspects remain at large, police said.

NEWARK -- Twelve members of the Bloods street gang were arrested as part of a multi-agency police investigation that netted more than 160 doses of heroin, nearly 100 vials of crack cocaine and thousands of dollars, the New Jersey State Police announced on Sunday.

The 10-month investigation targeted the Red Breed Gorillas, a set of the Bloods street gang, which police say controlled a drug-dealing operation in the area of Stratford Place and the Grace West Housing Complex on Irvine Turner Boulevard in Newark.

This alleged drug-dealing operation led to increased violence and criminal activity in the area, officials said.

"Through long-term investigations with multi-agency cooperation, we are able to dismantle sophisticated drug trafficking networks, which always bring violence and sorrow to the communities they affect," Colonel Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the State Police, said in a statement announcing the arrests.

The 12 individuals arrested were picked up in a "massive sweep" on Friday, police said. Still, police have active warrants out for the arrests of nine individuals who remain at large.

During the sweep, authorities seized 168 decks of heroin, 94 vials of crack cocaine, $3,541 in cash and a Glock .357 semi-automatic handgun.

Police said the following suspects, who are all Newark residents, were arrested and charged with drug distribution, drug possession, gang criminality and weapons offenses:

Kevin Clayton, 25
Aljuquan Thomason, 24
Yasim Smith, 19
Abdul Bryant, 20
Lyonel Finklea, 30
Bryant Hawkins, 39
Elijah Evans, 24
Quashyne Seburn, 24
Terrance Shells, 19
Alfatah Loyal, 31
Tyree Oxford, 23
Tyre Sorbino, 18
Darrell Williams
Ameer Castleberry
Hezron Rodgers

Police said the following Newark residents remain at large:

Ramon Finklea, 29
Jahob Loyal, 27
Yasin Hamilton, 25
Kevin Loyal, 28
Charlie Jones, 28
Nyreek Loyal, 21
Darnell Cogman, 44
Jahwon Christian, 21
Naim Stewart, 23

The investigation was led by the State Police's Crime Suppression North Unit, Fugitive Unit, Violent and Organized Crime North Bureau. The following agencies assisted in the investigation:  New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, Newark Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Task Force.  

Police asked that anyone with information about the remaining suspects call the State Police at 973-351-1063. 

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Two men recounted their story about pulling a pilot to safety from the airplane crash in West Caldwell on Saturday.

WEST CALDWELL -- After sprinting through thorny, barely passable woods, the two men arrived out of breath to a smashed aircraft engulfed in flames and a pilot, burned and bleeding, lying near the tail.

Heron De Dios, 35, of Elmwood Park, and Scott Bauman, 50, of West Orange, had been teaching their regular softball clinic Saturday afternoon at a facility off Passaic Avenue when a small aircraft crashed into woods at around 12:45 p.m. just behind a row of homes in a residential neighborhood. Neighbors reported hearing a loud boom.

De Dios' 15-year-old daughter, Lianna -- who said she had seen the plane struggling to maintain altitude -- rushed inside to tell her father.

The plane -- a Hawker Beachcraft Bonanza -- had crashed in the woods adjacent to Patton Drive, which is about a mile-and-a-half from the Essex County Airport, according to officials in a previous report.

De Dios and Bauman immediately rushed outside and darted through the woods to the crash site where they found the pilot lying in a contorted position near the tail of the plane. They said his leg appeared to be broken, his face and body severely burned, his mouth bloody, and what was left of his shirt was scorched from the flames.

"The back of his shirt was smoking, it was still burning, and we took that portion of the shirt off," De Dios recalled.

"I threw my sweatshirt on top of him," Bauman added, standing next to De Dios.

The two men recounted the story on Sunday near the crash site. De Dios' wife and two daughters tagged along.

Capt. David Black, of the West Essex First Aid Squad, which responded to the crash, confirmed that a group of bystanders was helping the pilot when the squad arrived and took over.

Despite the pilot's injuries, he was conscious and able to speak, the two men said.

"I kept saying 'We're going to get you out of here,'" Bauman recalled.

But, with flames continuing to roar nearby, De Dios worried about an explosion.

"I could feel the heat," De Dios said. "We moved him just a few yards, and at that point, I was still looking at the roaring flames, thinking we are still too close."

He added, "I asked him how much fuel was in the plane."

The pilot told him the fuel tank was full, De Dios said.

Then, De Dios said two other men who had been at the softball clinic arrived to assist. The group then quickly carried the pilot away from the burning aircraft to a safe distance.

Emergency personnel ultimately arrived and took over. The pilot was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, however, the extent and seriousness of his injuries remains unclear, according to officials in a previous report.

Multiple requests for comment were not returned Sunday by St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, Fairfield or West Caldwell police. The Essex County Sheriff's Office referred questions to West Caldwell police.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and the FAA is investigating, officials have said.

As the men recounted the ordeal Sunday afternoon -- this time at the entrance of a building on the other side of the crash site -- a black SUV pulled up alongside the group.

Driving the vehicle turned out to be West Caldwell Police Chief Gerard Paris, who began talking to the two men about the rescue. The chief gave the men his card, shook their hands and thanked them for their heroic deed.

Bauman later said that they didn't really think about it, they just reacted, and when they saw the pilot in agony, they did what they could to get him to safety.

Staff writer Sara Jerde contributed to this report.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The FAA put a halt on domestic flights by Newark Liberty International Airport's main carrier

UPDATE: United Airlines back on schedule after tech issues grounded flights 

NEWARK -- United Airlines flights across the country were grounded for several hours on Sunday, due to a problem transmitting weight and balance information to pilots, the airline said.

"At 5:30 p.m. CT we issued a ground stop for all domestic mainline flights due to an IT issue," United said in a statement. "As of 8:00 p.m. CT, we have resolved the issue and flights are resuming. Customers may experience additional delays as we work to get flights out this evening. We are issuing a system-wide waiver, and apologize for the inconvenience to our customers."

United, which accounts for about three quarters of all flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, said more than 200 flights were affected by the problem system-wide, "though that number may increase," due to residual effects.

The problem involved United's Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, a digital communications tool used to transmit necessary flight information involving fuel, routing, the number and distribution of passengers, between the cockpit and support personnel on the ground.

United tweeted that the problem was due to "an IT issue," before tweeting later that the issued had been resolved and the ground stop lifted just after 9 p.m.

UPDATE: The ground stop has been lifted. We're working to get flights on their way. We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers.

-- United (@united) January 23, 2017

It's not the first time United has been forced to ground its fleet due to a computer problem. Flights were kept out of the air in July 2015 due to what the airline described as a "network connectivity issue."

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

Dogs and cats throughout New Jersey await adoption.

Here is this week's collection of some of the dogs and cats in need of adoption in northern and central New Jersey.

If a nonprofit rescue group or animal shelter in any of the following counties wishes to participate in this weekly gallery on nj.com, please contact Greg Hatala at ghatala@starledger.com or call 973-836-4922:

* Bergen County     * Burlington County     * Essex County

* Hudson County     * Hunterdon County     * Mercer County

* Middlesex County     * Monmouth County     * Morris County

* Ocean County     * Passaic County     * Somerset County

* Sussex County     * Union County     * Warren County

More pets in need of adoption can be seen here and here.

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

The closure was reported as of 7:30 a.m.

One school district in Essex County has closed due to inclement weather Monday, January 23.

The following schools are closed as of 7:30 a.m. Monday:

• Cedar Grove School District

If you know of any delays or closures not on this list, let us know in the comments.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The headquarters of the once great department store starts its second life as a mixed-use development with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

NEWARK -- Alan Kane remembers feeling a little anxious when he started as a senior vice president at the Hahne & Co. department store headquarters on Broad Street in Newark in 1977.

He was only 35, and had not worked for the company, or in Newark, before, and said he wasn't sure if the staff or city would accept him.

Two years later, he was the company's president and CEO.

"The culture at Hahne's was just so great," he said in a phone interview Friday. "There were people who had worked in that building for 30 or 40 years, and they were just so welcoming from day one."

Kane recalled the department store as vibrant and alive, and as an integral part of the greater Newark community. Kane was the final CEO of Hahne's, which closed its doors in 1987, and has stood a vacant reminder of a more prosperous time in the city ever since.

Beginning Monday, the Hahne's building, which will retain its name, begins its second life, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open a new mixed-use development inside the building.

Express Newark, an arts collaborative and incubator run by Rutgers-Newark, is already open inside the building. On Tuesday, the building's atrium will be open to the public, and executives at L+M Development Partners, the company behind the project, said the entire building will be up and running soon.

The Hahne's development includes 160 apartments, about 65 of which are affordable units, a slew of retail and commercial developments, and the city's first Whole Foods.

About 20 percent of the market rate apartment units have been rented, said L+M's vice president of development John Cortell, and residents are expected to begin moving in Feb. 1. The rest of the apartment units should be renting by mid-March, he said.

The Whole Foods is expected to open this winter, and the other retailers in the building, which include a new restaurant concept from celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson and a Barnes and Noble Rutgers bookstore, should be open sometime this year, with the entire building being filled out by next year, he said.

Monday's ceremony, Cortell said, "begins the new life of this building."

12 projects that will change the face of Newark

The ribbon-cutting comes about a year and a half after city officials, developers, and investors broke ground on the development, which retains much of the old Hahne's exterior. It took about $174 million to redevelop the rest of the building, investors said.

Though much of the building had been left to decay, the developers were able to save some of the original steel to use in the new development, and included architectural elements that harken back to the lavish department store, according to Ommeed Sathe, a vice president at Prudential who heads the company's involvement in the project. Prudential invested about $50 million into the project.

"Newark has this incredible diversity that we tried to bring to life...(while still) capturing the grandeur that made Hahne's Hahne's," Sathe said in a phone interview.

He called the site an "incredibly iconic building" in the city, and said that while its 30-year stint as a vacant and abandoned memory may have spoken to the city as a whole, its revitalization "is a huge symbol for where the city is headed."

Kane, who has not been back to the building since the department store closed in the 1980s, said he is looking forward to seeing the new Hahne's at Monday's ceremony.

"I think this (new development) is just great for Newark," he said. "I'm so glad that it's happening there."

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

Who are the top ranked teams in the state?

After the opening of three charter schools, Teachers Village has leased more than half its apartments and several storefronts

NEWARK -- The high-backed pedicure "thrones" at the Bella Nail Lounge and Beauty Bar are meant to make clients feel like royalty.

And, according to the owner of the new gold-toned, rococo style salon, they've been working.

"It's been actually pretty good," said Lisa Allen, a former healthcare administrator who opened the business three months ago on Maiden Lane in Newark's Teachers Village mixed-use development. "Newark has embraced us as something different."

Like the beauty bar, Teachers Village itself is something new for Newark. The development is like a neighborhood unto itself, with a distinct look and feel that nonetheless is integrated into Newark's downtown streets.

It includes 3 charter schools, 65,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, and a total of 204 apartments with a preference for educators, all housed in a cluster of buildings in a four-block area surrounding the intersection of Maiden Lane and Halsey Street, a block from Prudential Arena.

After breaking ground in 2012, the initial, school phase of the $150 million project was completed a year later, and the Team Charter, Discovery Charter and Great Oaks Charter Schools are now open, with more than 1,000 teachers and children in all, according to an update on the Teachers Village's project by its developer, the RBH Group.

A recent self-guided tour revealed that the project is gradually coming to life -- a community of schools, homes and businesses, visually distinguishable by the signature elements of its designer, Newark native Richard Meier, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect of the Getty Center in Los Angeles and Spain's Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art.

Meier is known for his use of the color white, combined with grid-like exterior details, both dominant characteristics of Teachers Village. To compliment those design elements, and to acknowledge and help fit into the surrounding Brick City neighborhood, some exterior walls are done in a dark brown brick.

 
 
In addition to Bella Lounge, RBH said there are two other businesses now open, Closet Savvy and Provident Bank, in a total of 18 storefronts. Others expected to open in coming weeks include a Krausers convenience store and a Tonnie's Minis cupcake bakery, with medical services, restaurants and a fresh food marketplace to open over the next six months, RBH said.

The residential phase of the project is scheduled for completion early this year, and completed leased out, RBH said. More than half the apartments are already occupied, according to the developer, and among those 123 occupied units, 70 percent are by teachers and other educators, the developer added.

RBH founder and CEO Ron Beit said the company was proud that Teachers Village had helped spur other projects in the area known as the Halsey Street Corridor, where apartments and retailers including Whole Foods are being developed in and around the former Hahne's department store site.   

"We are very proud that Teachers Village has become an anchor for the Halsey Street retail corridor that ties in all the new development underway," said Beit, whose investment partners include Goldman Sachs and Prudential, in a project assisted by city, state and federal tax breaks. "When we first started Teachers Village we never imagined that it would have inspired other high quality development in Newark."

Seated on one of the gilded thrones at Bella Nail as a pedicurist worked on her toes, Terri Gibson said she was impressed by Newark's downtown revival, which she likened to what began happening years earlier along Hudson County's Gold Coast.

"I think Newark is in line to be the next Hoboken or Jersey City," said Gibson, 42, a registered nurse who lives in Linden, who had heard about the salon from a friend.

Around the corner, 62-year-old Patricia Robinson had just left a jobs fair and was walking through Teachers Village to catch a bus back to the South Ward.

"It's nice. It's nice," Robinson repeated when asked her impression of the project. "The buildings are excellent. They didn't just throw it up. You can't walk past it and not notice it."

There was one more thing Robinson liked about the project.

"I guess it'll bring jobs, too," she said.

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

brews among the boys

Spontaneous photos capture the moment.

Employees of the Krueger Brewing Co. in Newark get together after their shift to sample the fruits of their labor in this photo taken in 1955. Courtesy of Johnny Deke.

This and other "unposed" photos capturing life in the Garden State will appear in a gallery titled "Vintage N.J. candid photos" on Thursday, Jan. 26. on nj.com.

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Train are an hour behind schedule on the Morris & Essex lines

MADISON -- New Jersey Transit trains on some lines are facing one-hour delays after a tree fell on an overhead wire this morning during Monday's nor'easter.

It happened around 11:30 a.m. in Madison, a New Jersey Transit spokeswoman confirmed. Trains on the Morris & Essex lines as well as the Gladstone branch are still delayed as of 1:30 p.m.

No one was injured.

Heavy rain and strong winds battering the state and expected to intensify as the day progresses. 

In addition, the AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport is suspended due to heavy rain and wind. Bus shuttles are available as an alternative. AirTrain JFK remains in operation and will be monitored by Port Authority staff.

In southern New Jersey, service between Philadelphia's 30th Street Station and Cherry Hill was suspended when the Delair Bridge became stuck in the open position. PATCO is accepting New Jersey Transit rail tickets.

NJ Advance Media reporter Rajiv Dhir and the Associated Press contributed to this report.