Charles Miller is charged with aggravated assault in the attack on Bishop Manuel Cruz on the altar during a Mass

NEWARK -- The bishop punched in the face during Mass on Saturday said the man who slugged him is his "brother" and that he's praying for him.

Charles E. MillerEssex County jail 

Bishop Manuel Cruz had to get 30 stitches to his mouth after Charles E. Miller allegedly struck him Saturday during a Mass at Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

Cruz told CBS-2 that he's still "in pain" from the attack and a "little frightened." He said he suspects his attacker is mentally ill.

Miller was charged with aggravated assault and is expected in court Tuesday afternoon for a hearing. He was immediately tackled by police after hitting Cruz.

In December 2012, he was charged with threatening a law enforcement officer while resisting arrest.

The charge was downgraded to a disorderly persons offense.

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

Councilman Luis Quintana, who organized the event for baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, said he yelled for help before the man punched the bishop.

NEWARK -- When Councilman Luis Quintana saw a man in a red suit and white coat walk up to the altar at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, he knew something was wrong. 

Charles E. Miller, 48. (Essex County Correctional Facility)

"I started screaming to the officer, I said, 'Officer, get that man, get him, get him please,'" Quintana told NJ Advance Media. "I was an altar boy so I know the rules that once the Mass starts you can't go up to the altar."

Seconds later, the man approached Rev. Manuel A. Cruz, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, and punched him in the mouth -- knocking him to the floor. Authorities charged Charles E. Miller, 48, with aggravated assault in Saturday's attack. 

Miller is scheduled to have a detention hearing Tuesday before Judge Sybil M. Elias in Newark. 

Cruz was taken to the hospital but told his congregation on Sunday he was fine, according to James Goodness, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark.

"He is fine. Certainly we're thankful that law enforcement was on hand and able to apprehend the assailant," Goodness said.

Quintana, who said he saw Cruz with "blood all over his mouth," said the bishop had asked for privacy while he recovers.

A video first obtained and published by TapIntoNewark shows a man in a white coat walking up to the front of the basilica -- followed by a security guard -- and punching Cruz.

The Mass was organized by Quintana to honor the late Puerto Rican baseball Hall-of-Famer and civil rights leader, Roberto Clemente. Clemente died in a 1972 plane crash as he traveled to Nicaragua to deliver humanitarian help to earthquake victims.

Bishop calls alleged attacker 'brother'

"We were going to pay tribute and say things about Roberto, and it turned out to be a nightmare," said Quintana. "I was very shocked, I had never thought this was going to occur."

He said the basilica has hosted that event for 24 years. "We hope Bishop Cruz a speedy recovery," Quintana said. "No one is going to take away our faith and what we believe in."

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. 

A look at New Jersey's undefeated girls basketball teams through Sunday, Jan. 29.

NJ.com will provide live updates, pairings and brackets from the NJSIAA sectional wrestling seeding meeting on Monday, January 30.

ROBBINSVILLE – The NJSIAA wrestling committee will seed the 2016-2017 team sectional tournament on Tuesday starting at 9 a.m.

NJ.com wrestling writer Joe Zedalis will be on hand and will provide the pairings for each section as they become available using the comments box below. Fans can follow along, make comments and provide their thoughts on the pairings by using the comments box or the hashtag #STATEMATS.

COMING TUESDAY: NJ.com Top 20, conference, group individual rankings

NJ.com will have all the brackets available later Tuesday, so check back regularly.

Seedings are not official until Wednesday.

The seeding committee will place eight teams in each sectional bracket where applicable. The top 10, point-producing, in-state match results for each team count toward qualification.

Under tournament regulations, a team with a head-to-head victory over a higher seeded team may jump that team if it is pre-seeded immediately below the team it defeated.

All quarterfinals will be held on Feb. 6 with the following pairings: No. 8 vs. No. 1, No. 7 vs. No. 2, No. 6 vs. No. 3 and No. 5 vs. No. 4 at the higher seed.

The sectional semifinals state-wide will be on Feb. 8 with the winner of 8-1 vs. 5-4 and 6-3 vs. 7-2 winners meeting.

The highest ranked teams in the upper and lower brackets will host.

The sectional finals are Feb. 10 at the highest remaining seed.

The sectional final winners advance to the Group Championship at Pine Belt Arena on Sunday, Feb. 12.

Joe Zedalis may be reached at jzedalis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @josephzedalis. Like NJ.com HS sports on Facebook.

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating.

NEWARK -- Authorities are investigating a body found Tuesday in a parked car in Newark.

The body was found on Grafton Avenue in Newark, Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Katherine Carter confirmed. She declined to comment on additional details of the investigation.

Witness photos from the scene of the investigation showed authorities focusing on the trunk of the white sedan.

The identity of the person, and other details of the investigation, were not immediately available.

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

A Newark judge ordered that Charles Miller be held in jail pending a detention Thursday hearing in his aggravated assault case.

NEWARK -- Making his first appearance before a judge Tuesday, a man accused of punching a Catholic bishop during a Mass on Saturday identified himself as a "reverend" and referred to the Bible as "evidence" in his case.

Judge Sybil M. Elias ordered Charles E. Miller held without bail pending a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Miller, 48, is charged with aggravated assault in connection with an attack on the Rev. Manuel A. Cruz, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, who was leading a Mass at Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Saturday when Miller allegedly walked to the front of the church and punched Cruz in the mouth.

Cruz was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-serious injuries, and later addressed a congregation on Sunday to assure them he was fine.

Prosecutors on Monday moved to have Miller detained pending trial under the recently-enacted Bail Reform and Speed Trial Act, which allows a judge to order a defendant be held without bail if they are determined to be a risk to the community or unlikely to make their next court date.

Elias said a review of Miller's background shows he has an out-of-state criminal history, as well as failures to appear in court on other charges.

When Elias asked Miller his name, he identified himself as "the Reverend Charles Miller."

Priest calls alleged attacker his 'brother'

A woman in the audience gasped when Elias ordered Miller held without bail, and raised her hands in front of her as if in prayer. She declined to speak to reporters outside the courtroom after the hearing.

When Miller's attorney, Nick Bergamotto, asked that evidence in the case be turned over to the defense, Miller interjected, "That does include Bible, is that correct?"

The attack was captured on video obtained and published online Sunday by TapIntoNewark. Photos on Miller's Facebook page, which as of Tuesday displayed numerous political and religious memes, show him dressed in a number of brightly-colored suits, similar to the one Cruz's attacker is seen wearing in the video.

On Saturday, the day of the attack, he shared an image depicting the Statue of Liberty covering her face.

Elias said Miller's detention hearing will be held before Judge Martin G. Cronin. 

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

Here are the towns where the average median ages were the lowest in the state, according to the most recent census data.

Another wave of bomb threats was called into Jewish community centers, including a New Jersey location.

WEST ORANGE -- Another round of bomb threats was called in Tuesday to Jewish community centers, including a New Jersey location.

This is the third round of multi-state bomb hoaxes that caused community centers to lock down and evacuate its members as police swept for explosives.

West Orange police were on scene Tuesday afternoon investigating the threat at JCC MetroWest on Northfield Avenue, authorities said. Officials at the JCC could not be immediately reached for comment.

West Orange spokeswoman Susan Anderson said the threat came in just before 11 a.m., and the building was evacuated. The county sheriff's office and NJ Transit police responded. By 1 p.m., investigators gave the "all clear," and people reentered the building.

Marcy Burach, the membership and marketing director at the MetroWest JCC, said her team has been working with local law enforcement agencies and the building's security team, in light of the previous robo threats made against other institutions. 

"We were very prepared," she said, noting that everyone evacuated the building quickly. "We got the call and we take them very seriously."

An email was sent at about noon to the center's members saying everyone was safe and asked members to stay away as police investigated, NBC reported. 

West Orange police said the unknown caller was described as a female in her 40s or 50s, possibly with an accent. 

The woman called the center saying, "There is a bomb in the building." When asked where she said, "I'm not going to tell you that," and hung up. 

Community centers in New York State and Connecticut also received calls threatening of explosives, the report says. Calls to the JCC Association of North America were not immediately returned. 

Less than two weeks ago, 27 Jewish Community Centers, across 17 states, received similar unfounded threats. Two centers were located in Edison and Scotch Plains. 

Jan. 9 marked the first wave of calls targeting more than a dozen Jewish facilities, including Kaplen Jewish Community Center in Tenafly. 

No explosives have been found in any of the incidents. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department said after the second round of robocalls said it was investigating the hoaxes at hate crimes. 

NJ Advance Media reporter Jess Mazzola contributed to this report.

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

The promotions come as the police force is trying to add to its ranks after losing more than 500 officers since 2010.

NEWARK -- The city police department promoted 56 members Tuesday as it is working to rebuild its ranks after losing more than 500 officers to layoffs and attrition since 2010. 

The promotions of four captains, 23 lieutenants and 29 sergeants come as the force plans to add 23 officers in March and bring 216 recruits to the police academy in August.

"We are absolutely committed to restoring our police department to its former strength," Mayor Ras Baraka said at a ceremony at Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the city's North Ward. 

Newark's police force has been under the yoke of federal monitor since a judge in May approved a far-reaching consent degree meant to improve civil rights practices in the 1,032-member department. 

Baraka urged the officers being promoted Tuesday to fill what he called a "vacuum of leadership" in the city. 

"Leadership is needed in this very difficult moment, in this hour, in this second of history," he said.  

Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose and Police Chief Darnell Henry also presided over the ceremony. 

The department in August elevated 68 officers, a group officials said was the largest to be promoted in more than a decade. In July, 135 police recruits began training to join Newark's force. 

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

See the top 8 wrestlers in each weight class

The long-awaited supermarket will occupy 30,000 square feet at the base of the former Hahne's department store, with an entrances from the Hahne's atrium and Broad Street

NEWARK -- Whole Foods, an anchor of the redeveloped Hahne and Company department store and one more feather in Newark's revitalized cap, will open on March 1, the company said Tuesday. 

"We're excited about it," said Michael Sinatra, a spokesman for the Whole Foods chain, known for its organic and high-end edibles. "Everything's been on time and as expected from the start."

There is no particular significance to the opening date, other than that the space will be ready, Sinatra said. The date is consistent with a late-winter opening projected by store officials in early December, when the shell of the 29,000-square-foot store had been completed, the walls were being painted, and shelving and refrigeration units were about to be installed.

The store, which will have entrances from the sidewalk on Broad Street and from the Hahne's glass-roofed atrium, is open its doors at 9 a.m., following "the company's traditional bread breaking ceremony at 8:45 a.m." Whole Foods said in an announcement of the opening.   

The company said the store will provide Newark with "access to the highest quality produce, meat, seafood, baked goods, body care, grocery offerings and healthy eating resources in the area."

It will be the 17th Whole Foods store in New Jersey, and the third in Essex County, along with locations in West Orange and Montclair.

At a Hahne's ribbon cutting event last week, City Councilwoman Gayle Cheneyfield Jenkins and former mayor and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), both said they looked forward to no longer having to travel to those two stores to do their grocery shopping.    

On opening day, the Newark store and the Whole Cities Foundation will announce Healthy Food Access grants of $5,000 to $15,000 to local non-profit organizations throughout Newarks five wards.

While downtown Newark has been undergoing a building boom that includes "luxury" housing and hotel projects, Whole Foods says the grants are part of its effort to combat the misconception that it will cater mainly to a well-heeled community of newcomers and commuters downtown, and not residents of all five wards.

Whole Foods says the store will employ more than 100 people, many of them Newark residents, and that the company will look for local vendors to stock the shelves.

City officials, manwhile, have lauded the "community partnerships" Whole Foods is making as another sign of Newark's revitalization.

In addition to the Whole Food store, the Hahne's building will include a Rutgers arts collaborative, City National Bank's headquarters, a new restaurant concept from celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, and 160 apartments, 65 of them reserved for people of low or moderate income.

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

Authorities say she was reported missing over the weekend.

NEWARK -- Authorities have identified the body found in the trunk of a parked car Tuesday as a missing Belleville woman.

Diana Boggio, 41, had been reported missing to the Belleville Police Department on Jan. 28 at 2:30 p.m., Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced in a release.

Her body was found Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the trunk of her car, a Honda Accord, parked at 25 Verona Avenue, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:50 a.m. Her official cause of death will be determined by an autopsy, officials said.

Authorities said there is no indication that Boggio was killed in Newark, and they are still working to determine where she was killed. Her death is being investigated as a homicide, they said.

Anyone with information on the death is asked to call 877-TIPS-4EC or 877-847-7432.

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

Charlotte McCourt found honesty was the best policy when selling Girl Scout cookies Watch video

Charlotte McCourt has some choice words for one particular type of Girl Scout cookie.

"The Toffee-tastic is a bleak, flavorless, gluten-free wasteland," the South Orange scout recently wrote of the confection, which, at $5, costs a dollar more than most other boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

"I'm telling you, it's as flavorless as dirt," the 11-year-old said of the cookie, which has rice and tapioca flours, butter toffee bits and corn syrup listed among its ingredients.

Don't hold back, Charlotte.

Thanks to her honesty, McCourt, whose original goal was to sell 300 boxes, has attracted a boatload of national media and a huge bump in cookie sales.

Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, McCourt's local scout council, said in a statement that it was "thrilled for Charlotte" and "proud that she exercised her entrepreneurial skills." Her cookie sales now stand at 16,430 boxes.

"Today," "GMA," ABC News, Good Housekeeping and the Huffington Post picked up on the scout's frank assessment of the cookies.

McCourt, who sells the cookies online at her scout website, learned her father had a wealthy friend from high school who lived in Colorado and was interested in buying cookies for troops overseas, a type of purchase she thought had been lacking. So the resourceful scout sat down with her father's laptop and fired off an email to his friend.

She decided to be as transparent as possible when presenting her sales pitch, so she rated most all of the cookies (apart from the new S'mores cookie, which she hadn't yet tried) from 1 to 10. 

Her letter (and cookie sales) first took off on Jan. 25 when Mike Rowe, host of the podcast "The Way I Heard It," who works with her father, Sean, a producer of the podcast, read it to his Facebook audience. A video of Rowe reading her letter drew more than 8.3 million views.

"Some of the descriptions, I'm afraid, use false advertising," McCourt wrote of the cookies. She rated the lemon Savannah Smiles a 7, but the Trefoil got a 6.

"Alone, it's kind of boring," she wrote of the classic shortbread cookie. 

The peanut butter and oatmeal Do-Si-Do got a dismal 5, "for its unoriginality and its blandness." 

The Samoa? A caramel-chocolate-coconut winner, with a 9.

The Tagalong's chocolate-peanut butter combo?

"Inspired," McCourt wrote.

The only boxes that could get a 10, she wrote, were the ones donated to troops. Or, rather, the donations themselves: "It helps strike a spark into the treacherous lives of those men and women protecting our country and keeping America safe," McCourt wrote.  

So far, her efforts have netted 7,765 boxes of cookies for the troops. 

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.

Seton Hall Law saw its applications fall by more than half since 2009.

NEWARK -- It's a tough time to be a law school dean.

Nationwide, applications to law schools have fallen about 40 percent in what many view as a crisis in legal education.

The downturn in the economy, a scarity of legal jobs and high law school tuition made many students rethink the idea of spending years training to become a lawyer. Many law schools have had to lay off staff and shrink the size of their incoming classes to stay afloat.

Kathleen Boozang, a veteran professor at Seton Hall School of Law in Newark, took over as dean of New Jersey's only private law school in 2015 just as the institution was making changes to compensate for declining applications.

Seton Hall Law still had more applications than available seats. But, school officials decided to shrink the incoming class size so the institution could keep up its standards and admit the same quality of students as before.

After 18 months on the job, Boozang told NJ Advance Media that Seton Hall Law is bouncing back with new programs and a renewed mission.

Out-of-state colleges with the most N.J. students

The entire law school field has been struggling. Seton Hall Law's applications dropped from 3,666 in 2009 to 1,609 last year. How is the school doing?

Are you treating this as the new normal? Will the number of people who want to be lawyers - or pay your $52,022 annual tuition -- ever be as high as it was in the past?

Kathleen Boozang, dean of Seton Hall School of Law (Seton Hall photo) 

You are starting a weekend program for part-time students. That's rare for a law school. Why are you doing it?

How has fundraising been going?

Have you had to lay off or reduce the size of your faculty?

Some schools say the upside of the drop in applications is more women and minority students have been able to get into top law schools. Are you seeing more diversity in your classes?

It's unquestionably the case that our applications of diverse applicants suffered much less of a decline than the overall application pool. So, we have been able to diversify our class.

It's always something that is front and center in our mission. We are always interested in receiving applications from diversity as defined by race, gender and religion. But also disability, veterans, and LBGTQ. We have been seeing that uptick over the last couple years.

How has the job market been for your graduates? Is it getting better?

Has the 2015 merger of New Jersey's other two law schools -- Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-Camden -- affected you in any way?

We have not seen an impact or anything affect us as a result of the merger. Yes, Rutgers and Seton Hall Law frequently have students who apply to both schools and the New York schools. We frequently accept the same students and those students figure out which school they want to attend. We are obviously in the same space.

Are you trying anything else new to make up for the drop in the number of people who want to be lawyers?

What's your best pitch for why going to law school is still a good idea?

The former Paterson teacher pleaded guilty to abuse of a child, records show.

NEWARK -- A former Paterson math teacher has lost his education license after pleading guilty to child abuse charges, according to a Department of Education State Board of Examiners decision reached earlier this month.

Romero. (Essex County Prosecutor's Office)
 

Abelardo Romero, a former teacher at East Side High School, was accused in 2014 of having a sexual relationship with a student, authorities said at the time.

In January 2015, Romero pleaded guilty to abuse of a child, cruelty/neglect, and was later sentenced to a year of probation, according to the board's decision.

Romero, who lived in Montclair when he worked in Paterson, did not respond to several letters from the board asking him to testify about the charges, according to the board's ruling.

The Board voted to revoke Romero's teacher of mathematics certificate of eligibility, which he earned in 2011, and teacher of mathematics certificate, which was issued in 2013, the decision states.

Shortly after Romero's arrest, school officials said he had been terminated. He had taught in the district since 2011.

Romero could not immediately be reached for comment.

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

A group of volunteer lawyers has camped out at Newark airport offering their support to those affected by President Trump's executive order on immigration.

NEWARK -- They sit hunched over laptops in the arrivals area of Newark International Airport, surrounded by signs that read: "Immigration lawyers here to help! You are not alone."

Arya Popescu monitors incoming international flights. Nicole Johnson continuously refreshes her email checking for tips of stranded travelers. 

There's word that a possible traveler who might have been briefly held at Newark Liberty International Airport is now on a plane to Atlanta. And a call that someone else is detained at John F. Kennedy airport in New York. 

These are the volunteers and pro-bono lawyers on the front lines of President Donald J. Trump's newest immigration ban, who sit huddled at Terminal B mining for clues of who is being held and why.

Lawyers have described confusion in Newark and at airports across the country over the weekend after Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning all refugees and citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Syrian refugees were indefinitely banned.

They said at least two legal permanent residents from the list of targeted countries were detained on Saturday in Newark, but eventually released to their families. 

Some travelers were not being allowed to board their flights, while others were subject to "secondary inspections," essentially more extensive questioning during screenings, the attorneys said.

"If we see people looking distraught or waiting for someone, or if we get word from one of the various listserves people are checking on, we'll do something," Johnson, an immigration attorney, said Monday. The important thing, she said, was to "be here."

The roll out of Trump's executive order Friday was met with stiff opposition and prompted protests in airports and cities across the county, including Newark and Elizabeth. Attorneys challenged the action in court and federal judges in New York and several other states issued orders temporarily blocking the deportation of people with valid visas who arrived after the executive order was signed. 

The Trump Administration also scaled back on the ban and said green-card holders were exempt from the order. 

"To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion -- this is about terror and keeping our country safe," Trump said in a statement following the backlash.

Lawyers maintained the order was too broad and being interpreted differently by U.S. Border Patrol and Customs at airports across the country. 

"There is the possibility of more confusion," said Michael Younker, 34, an attorney with Catholic Charities. "The order is not very specific, I think there's generalities in it that allow them to expand the ideas of national security to a larger scope of people."

He said at least 25 people had signed up to volunteer through the week. A rotating group of attorneys, social workers and other volunteers man three-hour shifts until 1 a.m. 

Christopher Eibeler came from his office in Holmdel. Though he's an employment attorney, he wanted to lend a hand. "I'm an attorney, if I can help in any way, I would." 

Some lawyers met for the first time; others exchanged advice on cases as they waited. Passers-by drop off snacks; someone left $40. Other onlookers took photos or asked if the services were free. 

"In the face of this hate and uncertainty, there are so many people answering the call by helping," Johnson, 33, said. "It gives me hope."

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. 

WOODBRIDGE - National Signing Day is finally here, and when players from across New Jersey ink their National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, NJ.com is the place to be for the latest updates from a...

WOODBRIDGE — National Signing Day is finally here, and when players from across New Jersey ink their National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, NJ.com is the place to be for the latest updates from around the state.

We will be live in this blog, with coverage that starts at 8:30 a.m. while Joe Giglio and NJ.com recruiting analyst Todderick Hunt will discuss the Rutgers recruiting class in a live show at 9:30 a.m.

RELATED: Send us pics and info to make your signees part of our coverage

NJ.com has reporters and photographers spread across New Jersey throughout the day on Wednesday, bringing you the latest signings, commitments and flips.

Follow the comments below to see the latest news, and if you have any questions or comments of your own, join the conversation there as well. 

Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

'The Infernos' have deep roots in doo-wop, Motown and other music that 'rocks the house'

Vince Terrell took the microphone, walked almost into the crowd and began to croon in a voice reminiscent of Frank Sinatra.

"I've been alive forever

and I sung the very first song."

He substituted the word "sung" for "wrote" in the lyrics of "I Write the Songs," written by Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys in 1975 and made famous by Barry Manilow a year later.

Still, there couldn't be a better opening number for the band The Infernos. It comes from their vast repertoire of both era and style. And it also speaks to the idea that for most singers and musicians, the music keeps going, whether fame and celebrity ever comes, or after it disappears.

"The Infernos, the Cameos, I can name a bunch of bands out there that still rock the house," said Joe Piscopo, a guy who knows a thing or two about entertainment and has sung with The Infernos. 

"New Jersey is great for these kind of bands," Piscopo said. "They're blue-collar bands. I'm a blue-collar performer. I don't need a masseuse. All I need is a stage. And this is a tradition that started with the old man (Piscopo's name for Sinatra) and goes right up to (Bruce) Springsteen. If you can rock the house, you can play forever. Generations change, stars come and go, but the energy of live music never goes out of style."

MORE: Recent Mark Di Ionno columns 

Members of The Infernos have been around forever - at least in the North Jersey music scene.

Vocalist Richie Rosato of Old Bridge fronted the Duprees for 25 years with some of the original members of the early '60s doo-wop group from Jersey City. Keyboard player and band founder Bobby Wells, who lives in Roseland, also played with the Duprees beginning in the early '70s.

Robin Di Laura Filippone of Florham Park, the lone female vocalist, worked with Nick Masi of the Four Seasons and studied the singing style of Connie Francis.

"I grew up about 10 blocks from where Frankie Valli grew up," said Wells. "We grew up on that kind of music."

And that kind of entertainment.

"We try to give a performance like you'd see on the Ed Sullivan show," Wells said. "Like a 'Wow!' show with singing and dancing."

And lots of standards, from Sinatra to Motown, from the Duprees to disco.

"What we want is to get the crowd up, clapping, swinging their arms, dancing," Wells said. "We sell them happiness ... make them forget their divorce, their mortgage, their credit cards, their fight with boss."

"The Infernos" are a working band.

Last Saturday their fans followed them to the restaurant Boonton Station 1904, where the band of four horns, a guitarist, a keyboard player and drummer played from an 8-foot-high platform, while their five singers worked table-level.

Tuesday night, they were off to Manhattan's Cipriani 42nd Street to play at the 2017 Femmy Awards, a lingerie industry gala.

On Feb. 11, they'll play a Valentine's Day benefit at Our Lady of Peace School in Providence to raise funds for the cloistered Dominican Nuns of Summit. 

Next week, it's a Novartis corporate party at The Grove in Cedar Grove, a few days after the bridal showcase at Nanina's in the Park in Belleville.

They've been a fixture at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure  since 2008. Next month, they're playing for the Bobby Buecker Foundation, which raises money for families with sick children. 

And in-between there are all the weddings, anniversary parties and political fundraisers. No job too big. No job too small.

Their webpage has band members posing with Gov. Chris Christie, James Gandolfini and fellow Sopranos actors Frank Vincent, Dominic Chianese and Stevie Van Zandt, also of E Street Band fame. They have testimonials from Katie Couric and Caroline Manzo, of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. They played at inauguration events for former governors Jon Corzine and Jim McGreevey. Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo is on their celebrity page.

They're Jersey. All the way.

Take how Terrell got in with Wells in the earliest days of The Infernos.

"We were playing in this place called the Casa Blanca in Garfield, a real (expletive) hole," Wells said. "You couldn't breathe, the cigarette smoke was so thick. I go outside for a break, this guy is leaning on a car. He says, 'You with band? 'Cause I sing like Sinatra.'

"I say, 'If you sing like Sinatra, you can be in the band.' He's been with me ever since - 35 years."

Ken Simmons, who leads the band's Motown, Barry White and dance songs, was a fill-in for the late Dennis Rotunda, who died in a car crash in 1998.

"We used to play the Shore circuit and I'd bump into him down there," Wells said. "I asked him to help us out, he said he was retiring. I said, 'Do a couple of shows, see how you like it. That was, whatever, 17 years ago.

"He's a Jackie Wilson-esque performer," Wells said.

Simmons, who has experience singing with several famous Motown acts, says he'll take the small venue experience over the big stage any day.

"This is when you get to see the looks on their faces," he said. "You're singing stuff that makes up their memories. They connect with you, and the songs, and you connect with them."

Rosato has the same take.

"I like the access. In arenas you're playing to people you can't see," he said. "Here, you can see that their hearts are touched."

Wells and Simmons wanted to make it clear that The Infernos - and bands like them - are not places where old musicians come to fade away.

"We're on the rise," Simmons said. "We're getting bigger and more popular than ever."   

 "We're always working," said Wells, who is also the band's business manager. "And we're a work in progress. You got to keep working."

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

Tractor-trailer overturned after striking a guard rail near interchange 13

LINDEN -- The truck driver killed Tuesday in a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike has been identified as a 42-year-old Newark resident, authorities said Wednesday.

Juan Rojas was thrown from the tractor-trailer after it struck a guard rail and overturned near Interchange 13, State Police said. Rojas was pronounced dead at the scene.

The right and center lanes of the outer roadway on the northbound Turnpike, as well as the exit ramp was closed for about six hours following the 6:41 p.m. crash.

State Police are still investigating the cause of the crash.

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

Authorities have not yet identified a suspect.

EAST ORANGE -- A 35-year-old East Orange man was fatally shot Tuesday night, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray and East Orange Public Safety Director Sheilah Coley announced in a release Wednesday.

Jermaine Maddox, 35, was shot at 11:03 p.m. in the 200 block of North Arlington Avenue in East Orange, authorities said. The prosecutor's office, which is investigating Maddox's death as a homicide, said no suspects have been identified in the shooting, and no arrests have been made.

The shooting marks the first homicide of the year in East Orange, which in recent years has seen a significant drop in violent crime rates.

Anyone with information on Tuesday night's shooting is asked to call 877-TIPS-4EC or 877-847-7432.

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