Dogs and cats statewide are in need of permanent homes.

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.

David Samson, the former chairman of the Port Authority who pleaded guilty last year to bribery in connection with his efforts to force United Airlines to schedule a favored non-stop flight for him, faces up to 24 months in prison when he is sentenced this afternoon. Watch video

NEWARK--Former Port Authority chairman David Samson will learn his fate this afternoon in connection with a scheme to coerce United Airlines to schedule what came to be known as "the Chairman's flight."

A one-time New Jersey attorney general, the 77-year-old politically connected lawyer, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, is due in federal court in Newark and faces up to 24 months in federal prison, after pleading guilty last year to bribery charges.

At the center of the case was a non-stop flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Columbia, S.C., which United reluctantly agreed to resume for Samson's benefit, after he held up the Port Authority's approval of a new maintenance hanger at Newark Liberty. The flight made it easier for Samson to get to his country home in Aiken, S.C.

Samson's attorneys, citing his health and age, have asked that he be sentenced to probation and community service. But federal prosecutors urged U.S. District Judge Jose Linares to send him to prison, arguing that the former chairman abused his power "in a stunning and audacious manner."

According to the U.S. Attorney's office, Samson began pressing United Airlines to reinstate the non-stop flight from Newark Liberty to Columbia within just weeks of being named chairman the Port Authority in early 2011.

In pleading guilty last July, Samson admitted that during a dinner with United Airlines executives in September 2011, he "let it be known that the flight...made it more convenient" for him to get to Aiken. He acknowledged he removed a request by United to build the maintenance hangar from the Port Authority's agenda after being told the airline was not going to reinstate the Newark to South Carolina route.

How feds say Samson shook down United

When the airline reconsidered, the hangar was quickly approved by the bi-state agency in December 2011.

The route, which was cancelled within days after Samson resigned as Port Authority chairman in March 2014, lost approximately $945,000 before it was grounded.

Samson's attorneys called the former chairman's actions a "one-time lapse in judgment."

They said Samson had been told that "United and other airlines often extended a wide range of travel accommodations, like convenient flight routes, to public officials." In a brief to the judge, they said the Port Authority chairman "considered himself in that category and hoped that United would provide him the Newark-Columbia flight as a courtesy similar to direct routes afforded to other officials."

His attorneys said while Samson had acted improperly, his offense did not resemble any other public corruption case. "He was not motivated by profit, but rather by convenience."

They proposed probation and a period of community service.

But federal prosecutors said as a former attorney general and New Jersey's chief law enforcement officer whose legal career spanned 40 years, Samson well understood that using his position as Port Authority chairman to pressure an airline to confer a purely personal benefit was "a criminal and outrageous abuse of his power"

"There are few instances in which public officials have had the moxie to demand something so grand," they wrote. "The sheer scope of what Samson requested and received warrants a meaningful punishment."

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Direct support for New Jersey's public colleges and universities is flat funded again. See what that means for each college.

Readers react to a list of 30 New Jersey towns with the highest average property tax bills.

TRENTON -- New Jersey's average property tax bill rose to $8,549 in 2016, and the highest property taxes in the U.S. got higher.

Tiny Tavistock borough in Camden County tops our list of municipalities across the state with an average property tax bill of $31,128. Of course, the borough's population is in the single digits.

But next on the list is Millburn, with a $23,327 average tax bill. Loch Arbour ($22,323), Alpine ($20,910), Tenafy ($19,866), Mountain Lakes ($19,775), Rumson ($19,146), Glen Ridge ($19,045), Mendham ($18,752), and Essex Fells ($18,743) round out the top 10.

Here it is: Our list of the top 30 towns

New Jersey residents love to vent their frustrations with sky-high property tax bills. Here are some of your comments:

john: If you have don't have kids, MOVE ASAP.

mrdenis: You never "own" a home in NJ ... you just rent from the state and they charge whatever they need to continue their corruption.

Archduke F: Looking at average property tax bills is useless. The property values in many of these towns are very high, in addition most of these towns have top schools and other amenities. To understand property tax burdens, you need to look at home values, average homeowner  incomes,  quality of schools and other city amenities. When you take all of that into consideration, you'll find that property tax burdens are highest in poor areas like Paterson and Irvington, and modest in very wealthy towns.

(For the record, we have also compared where property taxes are the largest and smallest share of income.)

Reasonable: The cost of funding the government increase faster than the income of the vast majority of people. Unless that government cost actually decreases (let alone remains flat) the future looks dismal for RE ( home ownership) for a huge chunk of the middle class.

Tony Novak: It depends on how you look at it. If you look at the property tax as a percentage of the property's market value then we pay a much higher rate in Downe Township, Cumberland County than any of these in the list. My home at Money Island now has a tax rate more than 4% of market value. Compare that to Tavistock, for example, that pays less than 2% for a much higher level of service that includes police, trash, library, etc. that we do not have here. We are among the poorest communities in the state but have the highest effective property tax rate as far as I can tell.

Jimmytown: You only have to pay these taxes on average for 12 years per kid since many of the residents sell as soon as their kid graduates HS.

H.L.Mencken: Although informative, this article doesn't tell the full story. Property taxes in NJ are among the worst in the nation. We need to change how schools and municipalities gain revenue and spend in order to bring this under control! How we pay for public education is another issue that needs to be addressed. We should not be solely dependent on property taxes to pay for it!

Deletebutton@sl: A nice "another reason why I got to leave" article to go with the morning coffee.

EmperorBill:The real problem is the current State 1947 Constitution of Home Rule. This needs to be eliminated by a new State Constitution. Then schools can be consolidated by County. 565 plus Superintendents can be eliminated, police forces can be consolidated by County, Fire Districts can be consolidated by County, Health Departments can be consolidated by County, Human Resource Departments can be consolidated by County and local governments can get back to doing what is necessary at the local level.  People always throw in southern states to show lower taxes, however they are structured differently and mostly are run by Parish, in otherwords like Counties should be up North and that is consolidated. Your Legislators will tell you there is limited savings. They are wrong.  The savings comes in administration. Just ask yourself this question - why do we need more school superintendents then we have municipalities?

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

The best storylines from the state wrestling championships in Atlantic City

Breaking down the matchup and key players in each of the sectional finals.

Who are the difference makers in this year's sectional finals?

The Christie administration closed four charter schools but added more than 6,000 new seats through charter school expansions.

TRENTON -- The Christie administration last week announced its decisions on more than two dozen applications to expand, renew or open new charter schools. 

While four schools were ordered to close at the end of this school year, the state approved more than 6,000 new charter school seats through the expansion of existing schools, a significant increase in school choice. 

The state Department of Education also gave 21 schools a five-year renewal of their charter. Here's the rundown of the decisions: 

Closures 

Newark Prep Charter School (Newark)

Merit Preparatory Charter School (Newark)

Paulo Freire Charter School (Newark) 

Camden Community Charter School (Camden)

New schools rejected 

REACH Charter School (Clifton)

Albert Einstein EnergySmart Charter School (Old Bridge)

Nikola Tesla EnergySmart Charter School (Perth Amboy)

Pierce Academy: A Personalized Learning Charter School (Jersey City)

Why N.J. shut down 4 charter schools

Expansions rejected

Trenton STEM-to-Civics Charter School (Trenton)

Benjamin Banneker Preparatory Charter School (Willingboro) 

Link Community Charter School (Newark)

Expansions approved

Expansions and renewals approved 

Renewals approved (no expansion requested) 

Unity Charter School (Morristown)

Academy Charter High School (Lake Como)

Classical Academy Charter School (Clifton)

Community Charter School of Paterson (Paterson)

East Orange Community Charter School (East Orange)

Greater Brunswick Charter School (New Brunswick)

Hoboken Charter School (Hoboken)

International Charter School of Trenton (Trenton)

Paul Robeson Charter School for the Humanities (Trenton)

Pride Academy Charter School (East Orange)

Red Bank Charter School (Red Bank)

Teaneck Community Charter School (Teaneck)

Burch Charter School of Excellence (Irvington)

Compass Academy Charter School (Vineland)

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

Police are seeking the public's help identifying three men wanted in three separate thefts.

NEWARK -- Police have released surveillance photos of four men who they say are wanted in separate thefts.

According to police, the first man is wanted in the theft of a gaming system from the Game Stop at Ferry Street on Feb. 16 at 10:30 a.m. The man, authorities said, asked a worker for a packaged gaming system, after viewing a display model, and left the store with it. The system was worth about $300, police said. 

Police say this man is wanted in the Easy Pickins theft. (Courtesy Newark Police)
 

Later that same day, at about 10:25 p.m., police said, another man stole audio equipment from the Igreja Assembleia De Deus Church on Edison Place. The value of the stolen equipment is unclear.

At midnight on Feb. 3, police said, a third man was caught on camera stealing a snow blower from a residential building at Bruen Street and New Jersey Railroad Avenue.

On Feb. 8 at 6 p.m., another man allegedly stole another shopper's wallet while in an Easy Pickins store on Ferry Street. The wallet contained an undisclosed amount of cash and other personal items, police said.

"While police are actively searching for these suspects, we seek the public's assistance in quickly locating and removing them from our streets," police said in a statement.

Anyone with information on the identities of the men is asked to call 877-695-8477 or 877-695-4867.

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

The Newark school district said it was extending its enrollment deadline to give parents the chance to find new schools for their children.

NEWARK -- Hundreds of parents and students were left scrambling last week after news spread that the state was ordering three Newark charter schools to close at the end of the academic year. 

The decision to shutter Newark Prep, Paulo Freire Charter School and Merit Prep for low performance came a day after the school district's student enrollment deadline for next year. 

"I am terrified for these children. I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do at this point," said Frances Huggins, whose grandson attends Merit Prep. "Merit Prep was my light at the end of the tunnel two years ago when I was lucky enough to learn of an availability for my grandson."

The school district said Friday the enrollment window would be extended to 2 p.m. on March 11, exclusively for students impacted by the closures.

"Newark Public Schools is committed to supporting the students and families impacted by the state's decision," said Gabrielle Ramos-Solomon, executive director of student enrollment. "Our priority is to ensure that every student in need of a new placement has an assigned school for the 2017-18 school year."

Students will be notified of their new schools by April though those with special needs may take longer to be placed, district officials said in a letter sent to parents Friday. 

District officials expect about 750 students will need new schools, as many will graduate at the end of the year. 

Charter school tracker: Which N.J. schools are closing, expanding

"Our parents are just devastated, we have a lot of students here, this is all they know," said Merit Prep Principal Ron Harvey. He said he heard about the closure after a reporter called the school for comment on Wednesday.  

"It definitely caught us out of the blue, it was very disturbing for us to hear it that way," Harvey said. 

Merit Prep enrolls 483 students in grades 6-12 and opened in 2012. The school has 93 employees and was renewed last year on probation.

"We've created a school over the last couple of years for (the students) that they've seen grow and change and improve over time," Harvey said. "They're upset; it just feels unfair to the kids, what are they supposed to do?"

[enhanced link]

In a letter to parents and staff, Paulo Freire Charter School said the state's decision was "not reflective" of the school's accomplishments. The school said it learned of the state's plan "in the same way that many of you did - via the media."

"Our board and administration were not afforded the courtesy of receiving notification directly from" the state's office of charter schools or the acting Commissioner of Education, the letter said. 

The school opened in 2012 and served about 200 high school students as of 2014-15, according to state data.  

The Department of Education said revocation letters are emailed to a charter school's Board of Trustees president. The email address the charter schools office used for Paulo Freire Charter School, however, "was not the best email," a DOE spokesman said. The notice was later sent to other email addresses. 

Jeff Kwitowski, a spokesman for K12 Inc., which provides curriculum and school programs for Newark Prep, said the state's decision was "quite a shock."

"Teachers and families are learning about this through Twitter and the (DOE's) press release," he said in an email Wednesday. 

Newark Prep opened in 2012 and enrolled about 400 high schooler as of 2014-15, according to state data.

"School officials had multiple conversations and several site visits with department officials over the past couple months, and no indication was given that the department was planning to close the school," Kwitowski said.

The district is hosting a school fair on March 9 for families to learn about their options, meet school leaders and apply to their schools of choice. The fair will take place from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Family Support Center located at 301 W. Kinney St. 

The center will also offer extended hours March 6-8 from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. and 4 - 8 p.m. It will open March 10 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and March 11 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Adam Clark contributed to this report.

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

The Essex County Sheriff's Office said the two separate surveillance operations, "less than a mile apart" on Frelinghuysen Avenue, were conducted in response to complaints by neighbors.

NEWARK -- Sheriff's narcotics detectives arrested five alleged drug dealers and charged two of their customers Thursday in separate investigations less than a mile apart on Frelinghuysen Avenue, authorities said.

Both surveillance operations were in response to repeated complaints by neighbors of open-air drug trafficking, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said in a statement Monday.

Jerry Webb, 59, and Omar Reeds, 50, both of Newark, were arrested near the Whittier Place intersection after authorities said investigators watched the men sell crack cocaine to Rondell Davis, 50, of Hillside, and heroin to Brian Carlisle, 36, of Linden.

Webb was caught with seven decks of heroin in his hand and a plastic bag containing an additional 56 glassine envelopes of heroin and 33 vials of crack cocaine, authorities said. Reed was in possession of a plastic bag containing 71 decks of heroin and nine vials of crack, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Quamarl Boykins, 19, Raheem Morgan, 21, and Haji Hines, 25, all also of Newark, were arrested later that day near the Van Vechten Street intersection after investigators witnessed what they suspected was a drug transaction with a woman, authorities said.

Boykins was in possession of 111 heroin-filled glassine envelopes, while Morgan had 8 grams of crack cocaine, authorities said. Hines was in possession of 109 decks of heroin and 69 plastic jugs of crack cocaine, authorities said.

Webb and Reeds, who are charged with offenses including drug distribution, were lodged in the Essex County Correctional Facility along with Boykins, Morgan and Hines, who face charges including possession with intent to distribute.

Davis and Carlisle were released after being issued summonses for possession of a controlled dangerous substance, authorities said.

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

Facing two years in jail, the former Port Authority chairman, David Samson, instead was sentenced to probation after attorneys, calling his actions a one-time lapse in judgment, asked the court to grant leniency for the ailing 77-year-old attorney, who was Christie's mentor.

NEWARK--Facing two years in prison for the shakedown of United Airlines in a bizarre scheme to get a more convenient direct flight to his South Carolina getaway home, former Port Authority chairman David Samson found a soft landing Monday.

U.S. District Judge Jose Linares stunned federal prosecutors by sentencing Samson to a year of home confinement, four years of probation and 3,600 hours of community service in his admitted strong-arming of the airline.

The 77-year-old former New Jersey attorney general will also be required to pay a $100,000 fine and wear a location-monitoring device.

"I did something wrong. I violated the law. I deeply regret it. I am trying to live my life to the highest moral standards," Samson said in court, apologizing to his family his friends and the public. "I violated the law. I deeply regret it."

Linares did not minimize Samson's guilt.

"This crime was ridiculous. It was a complete abuse of power. It was corruption that is not to be tolerated," said the judge.

But at the same time, he said he took into account Samson's lifetime of public service and good deeds, his age and poor health, as well as more than 40 letters of support from friends, colleagues, family members and public officials --including former Gov. James McGreevey, three former state attorneys general and a retired federal judge.

The judge also cited the punitive nature of Samson losing his law license and seeing his name stripped from the law firm he founded. He said the loss of reputation was not insubstantial.

"He was someone who knew the law and knew the consequences of what he was doing," Linares told the court. "But we don't look at one factor and ignore all the others."

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, whose office had urged the judge to impose a 24-month sentence, noted the incongruity of a man who pleaded guilty to a scheme that allowed him to get home quicker to his country estate, and then being sentenced to spend a year in that very house.

"It is a less severe sanction than we wanted," Fishman remarked following the sentencing in federal court in Newark.

The Chairman's flight

Samson pleaded guilty to using his power as Port Authority chairman to coerce one of the nation's largest airlines to accommodate his request for the non-stop flight between Newark Liberty and Columbia, S.C., by holding up the carrier's efforts to build a new maintenance hanger at Newark.

United is the largest carrier at Newark Liberty, which is operated by the Port Authority.

The wide-body aircraft maintenance hangar United ultimately built at Newark Liberty. (Ed Murray | Star-Ledger file photo)

At issue was Samson's desire for United to resume a convenient flight to get him to his estate in Aiken, S.C., an opulent home decorated in rich antiques that he called "Rest Period." Long before becoming Port Authority chairman, he often would travel to South Carolina on a Continental Airlines' non-stop route between Newark Airport and Columbia, just a short drive to Aiken.

But Continental, which later merged with United Airlines, discontinued the Newark/Columbia route for business reasons in 2009, forcing Samson to Charlotte in North Carolina, making for a far longer drive to Aiken.

Samson, a close friend and mentor to Gov. Chris Christie, was appointed by the governor in 2011 as chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and within weeks of his appointment, he began pressing United Airlines to reinstate the flight to Columbia Metropolitan Airport, according to federal prosecutors.

He admitted that he "let it be known that the flight...made it more convenient" for him to get to Aiken during a dinner with United CEO Jeff Smisek. He admitted he removed a request by United from the Port Authority's agenda to build the proposed maintenance hangar after being told the airline was not going to reinstate the Newark to South Carolina route.

Ultimately United acquiesced to the chairman's demand and the route was brought back after the hanger project was approved.

Federal prosecutors told the judge that because the flight was created solely for Samson's convenience, United allowed him chose the days he preferred to travel.

The route came to be known as "the Chairman's flight."

The flight was cancelled within days after Samson resigned as Port Authority chairman in March 2014. United said it lost approximately $945,000 before it was grounded.

The shakedown of an airline

Samson's attorneys, citing health problems that include prostate cancer and tremors that caused him to shake visibly during the court hearing, asked that Samson be sentenced to probation and community service.

"This is not the classic case of greed motivating someone to break the law," said attorney Michael Chertoff. Instead, he called it "a test of wills" between Samson and United executives who he said would not immediately respond to his questions about why the South Carolina flight was cancelled in the first place.

"It's not about a deliberate scheme but something that developed over a period of time and a line was crossed," he said.

But federal prosecutors urged Linares to send Linares to prison, arguing that the former chairman abused his power "in a stunning and audacious manner."

Assistant U.S. attorney Vikas Khanna said anything other than a prison term would not be a just sentence.

"This crime was not just a brief moment; a brief yielding to temptation," he told the court. "This was a plan. It was premeditated. It was carried out over a period of months."

The charges against Samson were an offshoot of a nearly 16-month federal investigation that led to criminal charges against two other members Christie's inner circle in connection with the 2013 toll lane shutdowns at the George Washington Bridge that served as an act of political retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee after he decline to endorse Christie for re-election.

Chairman of the Port Authority when the so-called "Bridgegate" scandal broke, Samson was never charged with any wrongdoing in connection with the lane closures. However, his name repeatedly came up as the story unfolded and he was charged last year with bribery in connection with his push for the South Carolina flight.

United was not criminally charged in the case, but agreed to pay a fine of $2.25 million and pledged to institute "substantial reforms" to its compliance program.

The airline's own internal investigation led to the ouster of Smisek and two other senior executives. None were charged in the case, although a criminal complaint was filed against Jamie Fox, a former Port Authority official and a friend of Samson then working as a consultant for United.

Fox, who served as state transportation commissioner under Christie, was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery for allegedly helping Samson put pressure on United. However, the federal case against him was held in limbo because of serious health problems that led to his death last month.

Separately, United also agreed to pay $2.4 million to settle civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission after regulators charged that United had "circumvented its standard process for initiating new routes," and found that no corporate record "accurately and fairly reflected the authorization to approve the money-losing flight route."

The governor, following the sentencing, called it "a sad day" for Samson and his family and friends.

"The court has ruled and this chapter is now behind us. David will now pay the price for his bad judgment," Christie said in a statement.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Officials said the driver of a car that hit the two pedestrians has not been charged.

VERONA -- A 30-year-old man was in stable condition Monday, days after being struck by a car in an incident that claimed the life of his older sister.

A spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said Monday authorities are still working to determine what caused the crash in which a motorist driving a 2006 white Mitsubishi near Lakeside and Pease avenues at 7:45 a.m. Friday jumped a curb and struck 34-year-old Megan E. Villanella and her brother.

The two were standing on the sidewalk when they were hit, officials have said. The driver, a 25-year-old Belleville man, stayed at the scene, authorities have said.

As of Monday, no one had been charged in the crash, the prosecutor's office said.

Villanella was pronounced dead at the scene. Her brother was taken to University Hospital, where he was initially listed in critical condition.

MetLife, where Villanella worked in the Global Brand & Marketing division, released a statement in the wake of her death.

"Megan was a valued employee and friend and we are devastated by this tragedy," the company said. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends."

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

Shamsuddin Abdul-Hamid, a 2010 graduate of Arts High School and Star-Ledger scholarship recipient, was 25.

JERSEY CITY - A standout actor and poet from Newark was found dead on Martin Luther King Drive on Friday.

Shamsuddin Abdul-Hamid, a 2010 graduate of Arts High School and Star-Ledger scholarship recipient, was 25. Officials said his death has not been classified as suspicious. 

Abdul-Hamid attended Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. He performed in plays at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Shakespeare Globe in London, and several productions at Rutgers.

Last year Abdul-Hamid was featured in a New York Times column for his role in "The Brothers Size" at the Luna Stage in West Orange.

The Newark native was awarded first place in the 2010 Women's Association of NJPAC Star Ledger Scholarship for Performing Arts. At the time of the presentation, Abdul-Hamid said he found his love for acting in grammar school, often performing in his mother's salon.

He had dreams of opening his own theater company in Newark, The Star-Ledger reported.

Arts High School released a statement on Facebook announcing the "untimely passing" of the talented former student.

"Sham, as he was affectionately known, left an indelible mark on the entire AHS family," the post read.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Abdul-Hamid's family pay for funeral expenses. Nearly $9,000 had been raised as of Monday afternoon. 

A candlelight vigil is planned for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. outside of Arts High School. 

A federal jury in Newark deliberated for less than a day before finding Bernard Greenspan, 78, guilty of all 10 counts of his indictment in the Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services investigation.

NEWARK -- After less than a day of deliberation, a federal jury Monday convicted a Bergen County physician of violating federal anti-kickback laws by accepting more than $200,000 in bribes from a Parsippany blood-testing lab.

Prosecutors said Bernard Greenspan, 79, of Saddle Brook, accepted bribes from representatives of Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services in exchange for referring his patients for testing.

Prosecutors said Greenspan's referrals alone generated more than $3 million in revenue for the company, which has since pleaded guilty and ordered to forfeit its remaining assets following an FBI investigation that's seen 31 doctors charged.

The jury found Greenspan guilty of all 10 counts of the indictment, which included both conspiracy charges and actual violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Travel Act, as well as wire fraud.

His sentencing has been scheduled for June 20, according to court records.

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

Housing advocates say the changes could push people out of their homes and encourage landlords to vacate apartments.

NEWARK -- City officials are considering changing how rent hikes are calculated and approved in rent-controlled residences that become vacant. 

On Tuesday the Newark City Council will decide whether to make four changes to its 2014 rent control ordinance that they say will clarify the type and amount of investment a landlord must make to be able to raise rents.

"We introduced this stuff, this is progressive," South Ward Councilman John Sharpe James, who co-sponsored the city's original rent control measure, said of the changes. "It's cutting edge." 

Tenant advocates have welcomed some of the tweaks but worry the changes will incentivize landlords to push residents out of their rent-controlled homes in order to qualify for rent increases. 

"The amounts that (landlords) have to spend to rehabilitate are just too low and provide too high an incentive for abuse," said tenant leader James Powell. He said the current ordinance went through a rigorous process and there was no reason to change it. "Right now it's good policy and good law," he said. 

Under the city's current rent control ordinance, a landlord can ask the city to raise a vacant unit's rent by a maximum of 20 percent if the landlord spends $5,000 multiplied by the number of rooms in the unit to rehabilitate the residence.

The proposed changes would reduce that threshold and allow landlords who spend eight months worth of a unit's rent to ask for up a 20 percent increase in rent. Rehabilitation work worth six months of rent would allow a 15 percent increase and work worth four months of rent would allow a 10 percent bump.

Councilman James said all sides agreed the $5,000 per room threshold was too high. He said requiring eight months worth of rent as a rehabilitation investment was a compromise and dismissed worries about renters being pushed out. 

"If you look at Newark's history, we've been maligned as one of the worst places to live. We can't run a city on what they think might happen, the worst case scenario," he said. "This does not touch any current residents."

The amended ordinance also clarifies what is considered substantial rehabilitation so landlords will be forced to make more than just basic repairs to qualify for a rent increase. Landlords will no longer be credited for work and materials they provide themselves. The changes also redirect any appeals from Rent Control Board decision to Superior Court instead of the City Council.  

James maintained the changes strengthened protections for tenants against slumlords and poor maintenance on buildings.

Housing advocates said clarifying what constitutes substantial housing and removing credits for a landlord's own work gave the law more teeth to prevent tenant abuse.   

Joseph Della Fave, executive director of the Ironbound Community Corporation, however, worried redirecting the appeals process from the council to the courts could burden tenants.

"When people have an appeal process to the council then they have a cost-free option," he said. "If it has to go to court, it's no longer cost-free."

The city is also reworking a proposed inclusionary zoning ordinance that will require new housing developments to provide a percentage of affordable units. It's not clear when that ordinance will be voted on. 

The City Council will meet at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at City Hall to decide whether to adopt the ordinance.

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

Newark merchants in the Ironbound said business has decreased by a much as 50 percent because the immigrant community stopped spending money when false rumors spread that immigration officers were arresting immigrants at a police check point.

Alessandra's Beauty Salon on Ferry Street is usually packed with Newark immigrants who come to get their hair cut or their nails done. But things have changed.

"The people don't come in,'' said Alessandra Lima, the salon owner. "Everybody is worried.''

Elsewhere in the diverse Ironbound section of the city, other business owners tell a similar story. The lunch and dinner crowd at Delicias de Minas restaurant on McWhorter Street is smaller. And immigrant customers have not been showing up as much at the Casa Nova Grill on Adams Street, or a second location across the street from the salon.

Alessandra Lima, owner of Alessandra's Beauty Salon, said business at her shop has dropped by 50 percent after Newark's immigrant community in the Ironbound thought immigration officers were arresting immigrants at a police check point. Barry Carter | The Star-Ledger 

Ironbound community leaders and business owners said many undocumented immigrants are saving their money after new rules from the Department of Homeland Security on immigration were released two weeks ago by the Trump administration.

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns 

Anibal Romero, a Newark immigration attorney, said that under the new guidelines undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. less than two years face expedited removal, and parents who attempt to bring their children across the border illegally will face prosecution. The administration also intends to hire 10,000 new immigration agents to enforce the law.

"The community got word of this and it's been crazy,'' Romero said.

More like panic. When Newark police conducted a road safety checkpoint on South Street Feb.23, false rumors spread that immigration officers were stopping and arresting people.

The fear, unfortunately, has hurt business owners, who say the immigrant community has not been patronizing shops and restaurants along Ferry Street as well as other Iroundbound corridors.

Lima said she has lost 50 percent of her business; Jose Moreiria, owner of Casa Nova Grill, estimated a 20 percent combined drop at his two restaurants; and Wendel Correa of Delicias de Minas said he's experienced a 25 percent decline.

"They're scared to spend the money because they don't know what's going to happen,'' Correa said. "They don't know if they're going to be deported.''

Newark officials tried to ease residents' worry last week during a standing-room-only community meeting at the Mediterranean Manor restaurant.

Mayor Ras Baraka said Newark will remain a sanctuary city, meaning immigrants will continue to have access to city services and the police department will not ask them about their status or join any federal immigration force to deport them.

"We want to assure you that here in the city of Newark we're going to do all we can in our power to make sure we protect the residents and neighbors of this city," Baraka said. "Whatever it is that we in our power can do, we will do.''

Newark police captain, Adolph Perez Jr. also assured residents that Newark officer are not conducting a campaign with immigration officers to round up undocumented immigrants.

"Our job is not to enforce federal laws,'' Perez said. "Our job is to protect the citizens that live here."

But once the rumor got out about an immigration crackdown, Ironbound leaders said, the community has been on edge, uncertain and worried about Trump's deportation talk.

Roberto Lima, editor of Newak's Brazillian Voice newspaper said he had a hard time convincing a Portuguese resident that the police checkpoint wasn't being used to find illegal immigrants.

"Newark is a sanctuary city,'' Lima said, but he understands immigrants' concerns - especially  after an encounter he had with Newark police in 2007.

Lima filed a civil lawsuit in 2008 following an incident in which he claimed Newark's then-acting police director, Samuel DeMaio, asked photographer for the paper, Gerald Carlos, whether he had a "green card" after Carlos discovered a dead body and was taking pictures.

Lima claimed DeMaio ordered officers to seize the pictures and handcuff him at the precinct in order to stop him from publishing the photographs.

"I never heard of police asking for a green card,'' said Lima, who was awarded $55,000 in a suit for wrongful arrest against the city.

DeMaio, who has repeatedly denied Lima's assertion, was reprimanded by then-Attorney General Anne Millgram for the "green card" comment.  She said it violated a directive prohibiting police from asking crime witnesses about their immigration status.

"When I got arrested, the community was afraid of the police,'' Lima said. "If they arrested a journalist, what will happen with a guy who doesn't have the press behind him.''

It was a day Lima said he'd like to forget, which is why he believes Baraka's steadfast support of immigrants should help calm down deportation fears.

Romero, the immigration attorney, hopes that happens soon. The 1,500 calls his office received in one week from immigrants crashed his phone system.

Solange Paizante, executive director of Mantena, a Brazillian community organization in the city, said calls have increased 30 percent at her office and some parents have pulled their children out of school.

Following rumors of a checkpoint for undocumented immigrants, she said, many salons and boutiques in the Ironbound were empty.

 MORE CARTER: Newark fathers wait to dance with their daughters

But business was brisk at store that issues money transfers and takes identification photos for passports.

Owner Luciano Trajano said he normally services up to eight people a week who want their picture taken. After the checkpoint rumor, he said, the number jumped to about 25 in a week because people were preparing to leave for their homeland should immigration officers appear.

"They don't know what's going to happen,'' Trajano said.

A 23-year-old nursing assistant said Trump's immigration stance is unsettling because she doesn't know if the administration will renew her two-year work permit under DACA - the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals.

If the permit is not approved, the Ecuadorian native who lives in Newark said she would be considered an illegal immigrant and face deportation.

"They (government) have all of my information,'' she said. "They know where I am."

An undocumented 44-year-old Brazillian woman hopes she can stay in the country after applying for an extension of her tourist visa.

She's counting on the approval. The woman said she sold her laundry service business in Brazil to pursue the American dream like many others who come to United States.

Now that dream seems to have gone into hiding, replaced by a community's anxiety. 

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

Thousands of jobs are available in the Garden State

Find out why the state Department of Education made the change.

TRENTON -- Facing a shortage of bilingual teachers in its public schools, New Jersey has made it easier to become one. 

The state Board of Education this month approved what education officials called a "slight relaxation" to the score teachers need on the written proficiency test for bilingual teachers, a move officials expect will boost the number of bilingual educators by 10 to 15 percent. 

The change applies only to prospective teachers for students learning English as their second language. It does not affect foreign language teachers for native English speakers. 

Despite the lower qualifications, the state isn't expecting any decline in the quality of its bilingual teachers, said Mark Biedron, president of the Board of Education. 

"I am confident that teachers coming through the program will be highly proficient," Biedron said. 

How well does your district pay teachers?

Currently, bilingual teachers must hold a standard teaching certificate and earn an "advanced low" score on a writing proficiency test in both English and the language they want to teach. 

The advanced level is in the middle range of scores, below "superior" and "advanced" but above "intermediate" and "novice." 

Under the new requirements, New Jersey will ask bilingual teachers to earn an at least an "advanced low" score in one of the languages and an "intermediate high" score in the other. 

That means someone teaching Spanish-speaking students how to speak English might not have an advanced mastery of Spanish or, on the flip side, an advanced mastery of English.

A teacher with an "intermediate high" score on the writing test will be able to communicate with students in their native language, but there are likely to be gaps in comprehension, according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 

The change comes after complaints from school districts that bilingual teachers are in short supply, especially since the number of New Jersey students learning English as a second language grew from 55,000 in 2010-11 to 70,000 in 2015-16, Department of Education spokesman David Saenz said. 

The state's largest district, Newark Public Schools, recently partnered with Montclair State University to provide an in-house bilingual certification program for teachers who already speak a foreign language but weren't trained to teach in it. 

"It's not a problem that's specific to Newark that it's difficult to find bilingual teachers," said Larisa Shambaugh, Chief Talent Officer for the district. "We are all in competition for a small pool."

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

The inaugural event, at Bloomfield College's Westminster Arts Center, hopes to introduce the unique music style to a new fans.

New Jersey's first Cabaret Festival comes to Bloomfield College's Westminster Arts Center March 8 and 9, and co-organizer Corinna Sowers Adler wants to ensure potential audience members understand what cabaret is so there's no confusion with burlesque or even more sordid stage acts.  

"It's not scantily clad," Sowers Adler promised, describing cabaret as "a musical conversation between a performer and the audience. There's no fourth wall. The performer usually has a story tell about a song, using it as a tool to help the audience feel emotion."

Cabarets feature standards and selections from the American songbook; think Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.  The performances are generally intimate in terms of venue and audience size, not attire or lack thereof. 

But cabaret can be done anywhere, said Sowers Adler, who noted the Westminster Arts Center seats about 300. The two-night festival -- one planned as an homage to Frank Sinatra -- will feature between 10 - 11 performers per evening, each on stage for about seven minutes. Featured artists include guitarist Sean Harkness, MAC Award winner Stearns Matthews and BroadwayWorld Award winner Lisa Viggiano. 

"Performers want to perform. They want to sing and build new audiences," Sowers Adler said.

Cabaret-style singing is having a resurgence, one she traces back to the TV show "Glee," on air from 2009-2015. 

"It exposed people to music in a different way, (then) 'Hamilton' brought in people who never listened to musicals into the theaters. That lead them to concerts and the cabaret world," said Sowers Adler, who is also an arts educator twice nominated for the Excellence in Theatre Education Tony Award. "I teach kids and see them fallen in love with musical theater and this type of performance."

Bloomfield, too, is on the upswing, with a growing arts scene, said Sowers Adler, a township resident. In 2011, she started the monthly cabaret show "Music at the Mansion" at Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center. The successful series, which was nominated for a 2012 MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) Award, draws well-known NY-based performers and has a faithful following.

"The festival is an extension of that," she said. "If this takes off, I'm hoping it would put Bloomfield on the map as a place for singers of song."

Sowers Adler, who will perform on both festival nights and host the first night, said she's already chosen one of her songs: Berlin's "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy." The choice is very personal, she said. 

"My whole life." she said, "is pretty much summed up in that sentence."

New Jersey Cabaret Festival

Westminster Arts Center, Bloomfield College, 449 Franklin St., Bloomfield, NJ. 

Tickets: $20 for one show, $35 for both. Available at evitebrite.com or NiCoristudios.com. March 8-9.

Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at nataliepompilio@yahoo.com. Find her on Twitter @nataliepompilio. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.