The sheriff's office was monitoring an area known as a drug market

NEWARK-- Officers from the Essex County Sheriff's Bureau of Narcotics have arrested two people as part of an effort to tackle drug activity near S. 6th Street and Springfield Avenue, Sheriff Armando Fontoura said in a statement.

Plainclothes sheriff's detectives were conducting surveillance of the area Thursday afternoon when they saw 18-year-old Rajohn Abney of Newark pacing in front of 421 S. 6th St. A 2002 Honda Civic with two people inside pulled up to the address, Fontoura said.

Officers watched as the passenger, 56-year-old Lawrence Sneed of East Orange, briefly conversed with Abney before Abney walked down an alley, pulled back some loose siding and removed a pill bottle hidden there. Abney pulled an item from the bottle and handed it to Sneed in exchange for cash, Fontoura said.

Detectives stopped the Honda a few blocks away and recovered an envelope of heroin labeled "Renegade" from Sneed.

Abney was held as detectives found three pill bottles and a bag that together contained 139 folds of heroin also stamped Renegade as well as 96 vials of crack and 78 Xanax tablets, according to Fontoura.

Abney was charged with three counts each of possession, possession with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school. He was also charged with sale and distribution, while Sneed was charged with possession.

Both men were being held at the Essex County jail Thursday pending a bail hearing.

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

One of the suspects allegedly threatened as man's life during an assault

NEWARK-- The police department's Fugitive Apprehension Team has arrested two men, including an Irvington resident suspected of making terroristic threats, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said.

James Davis (left) and Jose Romero (Newark police)  

Police allege that on Monday morning, James Davis, 23, was one of a group that assaulted a man in the 400 block of 4th Avenue. According to police, Davis, who was armed with a gun at the time, threatened to kill the victim. Davis was arrested Friday.

Also taken into custody Friday was Jose Romero, 40, of Newark, who is accused of violating a restraining order. He has been charged with contempt.  

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

The victims are largely from the homeless population, police said

NEWARK-- The number of people hospitalized after ingesting synthetic marijuana in downtown Newark has risen to about 40 since Thursday, police said.

About a dozen people became ill after using the banned substance, also known as K2 or Spice, Thursday evening. All of the victims Thursday and Friday were discovered in the vicinity of Railroad Avenue. There have been no fatalities, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said.

The victims appear to be mostly from the homeless population, Ambrose also said. 

In addition to trying to identify the source or supplier of the drug, the police department is also deploying members of the clergy unit to discourage its use.

Initially marketed as a legal alternative to marijuana, the use of K2 and related substances like bath salts led to a spike in emergency room visits and calls to poison-control hotlines before New Jersey imposed a ban in 2012.

Ambrose is asking anyone with information about this incident to call the police department's 24-hour Crime Stopper tip line at 1-877- NWK-TIPS (1-877- 695-8477) or 1-877- NWK-GUNS (1-877-695-4867).  All anonymous Crime Stopper tips are kept confidential and could result in a reward.

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

Police are searching for a man who allegedly took cash from the Grove Convenience sTores on Wednesday and threatened to stab an employee.

MONTCLAIR -- Authorities are searching for a man who allegedly swiped cash from a register at the Grove Convenience Store and threatened to stab an employee. 

Montclair Police said the man entered the store on Wednesday around 12:30 p.m., leaned over the counter and brandished what looked like a knife. Police said he took an unknown amount of money and threatened to stab a store employee if he intervened. 

The man was described as black, cross-eyed, with a thin build and about six-feet, five-inches tall. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and light jeans and has short hair with a goatee, police said. 

Authorities said the man fled the store in a blue, older-model car, heading east on Oxford Street. 

No injuries were reported. This incident remains under investigation. 

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

The school district is rolling out a long-anticipated transparency committee to make recommendations on the universal enrollment system and creating an online parent portal.

NEWARK -- Hoping to alleviate community concerns over the school district's universal enrollment system, Schools Superintendent Christopher Cerf is pushing new measures to improve the process -- and get more feedback along the way. 

The district is launching a long-awaited "transparency committee" that will give input on the schools' enrollment process. Next month, parents will also be able to use an online portal to handle any school changes after the school enrollment window closes or sign up after enrollment deadlines. 

The changes comes after Cerf announced this year that K-8 students who live in the neighborhood will be given 100 percent priority in a school over those who do not reside in the neighborhood. 

The universal enrollment system started under the district's former schools chief as a way to centralize how students to apply for and rank their schools of choice, whether traditional or charter. Fourteen of the district's 19 charter schools participate in the system.

"When this thing was first rolled out it had some implementation hiccups," Cerf told NJ Advance Media.

"Families all over the country have to figure out which school is the best fit for their child and should not be limited to only their school in their geographic area. At the same time many parents would like their child to go to school in their neighborhoods."

Parents and board members have complained universal enrollment has shuffled students across schools and emptied some campuses while overflowing others. 

School parent Brian Stepmey-Taylor said the community will be able to see if changes to the process address their concerns by next school year. 

The 2017-18 school enrollment window closed at the end of February and for the first time since 2013, ensured 100 percent of seats at K-8 schools go to neighborhood children or their siblings. Before that, a percentage of seats were open to a random lottery for students across the district. 

"If it works, you'll be able to tell by the end of September," Stepmey-Taylor said. 

The transparency committee -- which members of the School Advisory Board have asked for months about its debut -- will include parents, community partners, board members and district administrators. 

Parents interested in serving on the committee have until May 5 to apply online at www.nps.k12.nj.us/transparency-committee. 

The family enrollment portal will launch May 8 and give parents the option of making enrollment changes on a computer or at any nearby school instead of coming to the Family Support Center.

"When they miss the traditional application window, our families have shared with us that they would still like to be able to enroll in school directly from their home or in locations that are close to their home," Gabrielle Ramos-Solomon, the district's executive director of enrollment said.

Universal enrollment, though, has in some ways, become a symbol for former Superintendent Cami Anderson's turbulent tenure and the controversial school overhaul initiative called "One Newark," critics say.

But Cerf said many major cities use universal enrollment systems as a way to ensure equity and guarantee charter school accept their fair share of students with special needs. 

"We deeply believe that this is about equitable access and eliminating political favoritism," he said. 

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

Officers spotted a handgun on the passenger seat, according to officials.

Al A. Cowart, 36 (Photo: Dept. of Public Safety) 

NEWARK -- A 36-year-old man was charged with weapons offenses after he ignored orders from police to pull over and drove on the sidewalk in Newark Friday, authorities said.

Police spotted a Chevrolet Camaro driving erratically and speeding near South 12th Street and South Orange Avenue around 7:30 p.m., Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said in a statement. The driver, Al A. Cowart, ignored commands to stop and drove across a curb on the sidewalk, Ambrose added. 

The car stopped at South 11th Street and 12th Avenue, according to police. Officers saw a handgun on the passenger seat and immediately arrested Cowart.

He was charged with various weapons offenses, resisting arrest and eluding. Police also issued him traffic summonses.

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

Investigators seeking source of drugs.

NEWARK -- Newark police on Saturday said they charged two men with distributing synthetic marijuana in a downtown area of the city where 40 people were sickened by the drug over the past three days.

A joint effort by the city narcotics unit and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Narcotics Task Force led to the arrests of Kevin L. McKenzie, 31, and Quadeer A. Nelson, 37, on Friday near Newark Penn Station, according to city Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose.

McKenzie was caught with seven small Ziplock bags and one packet of synthetic marijuana, Ambrose added. Police found Nelson with four Ziplock bags of the substance, a packet of the drug and five empty synthetic marijuana packages.

Man attacked cop, released the same day, authorities say

Investigators were still working to track the source of the drug, called K2, that caused the spike in illnesses beginning Thursday night when police found about a dozen people showing similar symptoms near New Jersey Railroad Avenue, Ambrose added. Authorities could not confirm if the two recent arrests were tied to the rash of hospitalizations.

There have been no fatalities, according to police. Most of the drug users are from the city's homeless population. Officials warned using synthetic marijuana can cause seizures, hallucinations, vomiting and psychosis.

Members of the Newark police clergy unit were also working to discourage people from using the drug.

New Jersey outlawed K2 and similar substances called bath salts in 2012 after a surge in emergency room visits from the drugs.  

Ambrose urged anyone with information to contact Newark's tip line at 24-hour Crime Stopper tip line at 1-877-NWK-TIPS (1-877-695-8477) or 1-877-NWK-GUNS (1-877-695-4867). Police said all anonymous tips would be kept confidential and could lead to a reward.

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

The city's homeless services coordinator wants Newark to open its own shelter and supplement services already provided by 34 partners.

NEWARK -- At the city's main public library branch, residents sit huddled behind bundles of plastic bags, suitcases and tote bags.

Many have no place to go but seek shelter among the quiet open tables and rows of books. 

Vickie Donaldson, the city's director of homeless services told the Newark City Council this month she counted more than 100 homeless people along three floors of the library on a recent Friday. Others congregate in Penn Station or along Railroad Avenue, she said. 

"Newark has a large population that has nowhere to go," Donaldson told NJ Advance Media. "We have to have some kind of catch basin that says those people will not fall through the cracks into homelessness." 

Donaldson, whose been at the helm for eight months, is proposing the city more forcefully tackle homelessness -- and set up its own central intake center and city-run shelter. 

Newark receives about $6.6 million in federal grant money to provide homeless services in partnership with 34 community partners, Donaldson said. The city, however, has not run its own shelter in at least a decade. 

Most major cities, like New York, operate their own shelters. 

"There's so many people on the street, it is a community issue, it's not just an issue for social services people to solve. Community wellness includes a city's ability to house the most vulnerable people," Donaldson said. "There's a problem in that we do not provide critical services to a part of the population that is most vulnerable. Let's do something about it."

According to the state's annual homeless count, at least 8,941 were homeless in New Jersey last year -- 1,782 in Essex County. Final numbers for 2017 will be released in spring.

In 2015-16 there were 483 homeless students in Newark. That's slightly up from the year prior, when there were 416 homeless students, according to the 2017 Newark Kids Count report released last month

Part of Donaldson's pitch -- which has yet to get approval from the city council or the mayor -- also includes setting up standard policies and procedures for all shelters in the city. 

That would establish a bill of rights for those staying in shelters, cleanliness standards and standards of operation. She also hopes to set up a 24-hour hotline to field calls and place people in shelters at all hours of the night. 

"We are not in any way trying to replace these people," Donaldson said of the city's nonprofit partners. "We want to supplement what they do, and do it a little differently."

Donaldson said an ideal location could be an old school that has a gym, cafeteria to serve warm meals and bathrooms. A space has not been finalized. It's unclear how much the shelter could cost but it's likely the city will have to set aside dollars and find partners to invest. 

"What we want to do is create a welcoming space for the folks on the street," she said. 

"You cant be a homeless department without having somewhere to house them," added program manager Kym Gilchrist. 

The space will be for those often turned away at other shelters, like LGBT residents unwelcome at home, teenagers aging out of foster care or the newly homeless that don't receive welfare yet, to qualify for some beds. The intake center will help direct homeless people to services that can help get them off the street. 

"We want people to walk in at night and be able to get a bath, get a meal and prior to leaving the next morning have some opportunity to interact with social services," Donaldson said, adding that about 50-60 people a week walk into her office on William Street.

"We're not going to be able erase homelessness, but in our job today, if we could get two or three people off the street with case management ... that's what I'm charged with," Gilchrist added. 

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

Student competes on "Chopped, Jr."

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School fifth-grader Megan Hackett competed on "Chopped Jr."

WEST ORANGE -- A meal of teriyaki salmon, truffled macaroni and cheese and sauteed spinach might appear on the menu in a fine restaurant, but it is also the meal 10-year-old Megan Hackett prepared for her audition for "Chopped Jr." It must have been quite a tasty meal; Hackett was chosen for the show, where she competed for the $10,000 prize during an episode that aired April 11 on the Food Network.

Like the adult version of the show, contestants on "Chopped Jr." compete head to head, preparing an appetizer, entree and dessert using unusual combinations of ingredients they are given on the spot. One contestant is eliminated in each round, and the one remaining at the end is the winner. The contestants in Chopped Jr. range in age from 9 to 15.

Hackett, who is a fifth-grader at Mount Pleasant Elementary School, had taken cooking lessons prior to her audition and more before competing on the show. She finished the evening as the show's runner-up, getting "chopped" in the dessert portion of the competition.

To submit school news send an email to essex@starledger.com.

The suspects shot a man last month and then ran off, authorities said

NEWARK -- Newark police are looking for help identifying two men wanted for a shooting last month.

Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said a 25-year-old man was shot when he was at New and Hudson streets at 10:07 p.m. on March 30.

After the shooting the two suspects ran off, he said. The victim was taken to University Hospital in Newark where he was treated for his injuries and later released, Ambrose said.

While police are searching for the suspects, they are also asking for help from the public for an identification in order to get the suspects off the streets, Ambrose said.

Anyone with information about these suspects to call the Department's 24-hour Crime Stopper tip line at 1-877-NWK-TIPS (1-877-695-8477) or 1-877-NWK-GUNS (1-877-695-4867).  All anonymous Crime Stopper tips are kept confidential and could result in a reward.

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

"Bandstand" is the second of this season's Broadway musicals to get its start at the Millburn theater Watch video

As the Broadway season gallops to a close, with a new show opening virtually every night, there have been tricked-out adaptations of well-known movies ("Groundhog Day," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,"), brassy, big-budget star vehicles (Bette Midler in the revival of "Hello, Dolly!," Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole in "War Paint") and even a small-scale ensemble piece about a group of extremely friendly Canadians (the surprise hit "Come From Away").

What there hasn't been, at least until now, is a strenuously old-fashioned musical with a swelling, Big Band-flavored score that unabashedly seeks to transport audiences to yesteryear.

"We love the classic musicals," says Robert Taylor, the co-creator of "Bandstand," which opens on April 26 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York. "And while we tip our hats to Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and the old 'let's-put-on-a show' style, we also wanted to re-energize some of those ideas."

The arrival of "Bandstand" on Broadway is notable for another reason: It's the second of this season's shows -- after "A Bronx Tale," which opened on Broadway last December -- to have originated at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn. Despite lukewarm reviews, "A Bronx Tale" has turned into a word-of-mouth hit; if "Bandstand" follows suit, it would be a considerable boon (both reputationally and financially) for the theater, which recently announced a 2017-18 season heavy with Broadway hopefuls.

"I liken it to sending your kid off to college," says Mark S. Hoebee, the Paper Mill's Producing Artistic Director. "You get them ready and let them out the door."

"Bandstand," which follows a band of American veterans after WWII trying to win a radio contest, began its life when Taylor and his co-creator, Richard Oberacker, were both working on a touring production of "The Lion King" and struck upon the idea together. (Both Taylor and Oberacker are making their Broadway debuts with "Bandstand.") After working on the show for a few years, they brought it to producer Tom Smedes, who was then coming off two well-received Broadway efforts, "title of show" and "Peter and the Starcatcher."

"We did a reading ... and then a lab and invited some theater people," Smedes recalls, "and the response was through the roof. We were on a train moving forward."

Enter Hoebee, who was in attendance at a September 2014 workshop. 

"Immediately after it was over, I called Tom and said 'I want to be involved,'" he recalls. "I liked that it dealt with a subject matter that I've never seen in a musical: PTSD, war veterans thrown back into normal lives.  I knew it would resonate with our audiences at Paper Mill."

Hoebee offered "Bandstand" a first production, as well as "a nurturing home and a place to get it on its feet." According to all the entire creative team, the time at Paper Mill -- the production played there in October and November 2015 -- was key in shaping the "Bandstand" that's now on Broadway. 

While Taylor and Oberacker worked on the story and music at Paper Mill, the show's director, Andy Blankenbuehler (who won the Tony for "Hamilton") got to work on shaping the visual style of "Bandstand."  

"The original story was almost like a play with music," he says, during a recent break in rehearsals at the Jacobs. "It wasn't at all like this (current incarnation), but I believed because it was a show about music that it would turn into this."

The Paper Mill production earned strong reviews, including a review on NJ.com that described it as a "bold, uncompromising musical that jumps and swings with heart, energy, and a refreshing resistance to schmaltz." Even before the Paper Mill run ended, a Broadway transfer was announced.

Nonetheless, it took "Bandstand" another 17 months to get to the Great White Way, and the creators say that much has changed in that time.

"We have a new opening number," Smedes says, "our set is different, the orchestrations are different... Richard and Rob really learned how all of the elements could help with the storytelling."

Adds Blankenbuehler, "In the very first workshop, there was only one stylized gesture in the entire thing, everything felt like a 1940s or 1950s musical. At Paper Mill, we did a little more of it, but I still didn't feel we had the permission to use the ensemble in such a stylized way."

Further modernizing the feel of the material for Broadway, Blankenbuehler has also been able to keep the show moving without elaborate set changes. "We couldn't do that at Paper Mill because, it's very grand," Oberacker explains. "This is a more intimate theater -- it's easy to co-op the audience into feeling they're in a club."

(One other critical difference: "Bandstand" lost a preposition in its journey across the Hudson, as Paper Mill's posters read "The Bandstand." At the Paper Mill, the marketing team wanted to differentiate the show from Dick Clark's "American Bandstand," but -- as with "The Facebook," -- the show's creators ultimately felt the title was cleaner without the "the.")

"Bandstand" star Corey Cott originated the role of World War II vet Donny Novitski at the Paper Mill and reprises it on Broadway (Photo by Jeremy Daniel)Christopher Kelly | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com 

The question facing the show now: Can an original musical featuring actors who aren't necessarily household names bring in audiences? As it did at the Paper Mill, "Bandstand" stars Laura Osnes (a two-time Tony nominees for "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" and "Bonnie and Clyde") and Corey Cott ("Gigi"). The producers are hoping that this show will be a breakout for both performers, but in terms of name recognition, they obviously can't compete with the likes of Midler, LuPone, or Josh Groban ("Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812"), to name a few A-listers currently on Broadway.

Early signs are encouraging, though: Grosses have steadily risen throughout the show's preview period, and at two recent previews, the cast earned huge ovations at each curtain call. A hit would be particularly beneficial to the Paper Mill, which next season is planning productions of four shows -- the musicals "The Honeymooners," "The String" and Half Time," and the play "The Outsider" -- all of which could end up potentially transferring to Broadway. (The Broadway production cost a reported $13 million to mount; although Paper Mill isn't an investor, as originating producers the company is entitled to a share of royalties.)

And if both "A Bronx Tale" and "Bandstand" were to muscle their way into the crowded Best Musical Tony race, the Paper Mill's reputation as a major player on the national theater scene would only be cemented -- just one year after the company won the prestigious Regional Theatre Tony Award.

Says Hoebee, "We have two horses in the race, but I'm rooting for them both. Not only to be recognized with awards and audiences. I want them to be part of the musical theater canon."

Bandstand

Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 138 West 48th Street, New York

Tickets: $69-$159, available online at www.telecharge.com. On sale through Dec. 30. 

James C. Taylor can be reached writejamesctaylor@gmail.com. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook. 

The Star-Ledger took home 32 journalism awards at the annual New Jersey Press Association awards ceremony.

HAMILTON -- The Star-Ledger was presented with 32 journalism awards Thursday in the New Jersey Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest.

In all, journalists representing NJ Advance Media, which other titles also includes The South Jersey Times, The Times of Trenton and The Express-Times of Easton (Pa.), won 39 awards in the annual contest.

The contest recognizes the best work in the state. The awards were presented at a dinner at the Hamilton Manor.

Journalists whose work appeared in The Star-Ledger, which competes in the larger of two circulation categories in the contest, won 10 first-place awards. Journalists whose work appeared in The South Jersey Times won four awards, three for second place and on for third place. The Express-Times of Easton (Pa.) won two awards, including one for first place, and the Times of Trenton added one more first-place award.

In the association's advertising contest, work that appeared in The Star-Ledger, The South Jersey Times, The Times of Trenton and NJ.com won 32 awards, including 15 for first place.

NJ Advance Media formed in 2014 and provides sales, marketing and content for The Star-Ledger, NJ.com and other daily and weekly newspapers in the state.

Here are the first-place winners:

Editorial

Responsible Journalism First Amendment, Art Weissman Memorial Award: Bait & Switch, the failed 911 update, Alex Napoliello and Stephen Stirling, The Star-Ledger

Innovation Award: Census comparison tool, Carla Austudillo, The Star-Ledger

News Picture Story: RNC and DNC Conventions, Aristide Economopoulos, The Star-Ledger

Portrait Photo: Shakoor, Aristide Economopoulos, The Star-Ledger

Graphics/Illustration Portfolio: James Green, The Star-Ledger

Opinion Column Portfolio: Tom Moran, The Star-Ledger

Sports Feature, Photo: Drenching Loss, John Munson, The Star-Ledger

Best Use of Social Media: N.J.'s Olympians, Alyssa Passeggio, Marisa Iati and Megan Merrigan, The Star-Ledger

Special Issue, Print: The 100-Yard Deception, Staff, The Star-Ledger

Online Breaking News: The Bridgegate Verdict, Staff, The Star-Ledger

News/Business Page Design Portfolio: Tiffany Schmidt, The Times of Trenton

Illustration: Phillies Top Prospect JP Crawford, Matt Smith, The Express-Times

Advertising

Best Restaurant/Entertainment Ad, color: Stress Factory VIP Experience, David Peterson, Tom Bohen, The Star-Ledger

Best Newspaper Promotion or House Ad: Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Robert Morgia, Marketing Strategy Team, The Times of Trenton    

Best Special Section: First Night Morris 2017, Melissa Chin, Isabella Mest, The Star-Ledger

Best Special Section Cover: Jersey Fresh, David Petersen, Advertising Content Team, South Jersey Times   

Best Special Topic Page(s): Greater Newark Holiday Fund, Melissa Chin, Lauren Feldman, Advertising Content Team, The Star-Ledger     

Best Community Service or Shared Ad: Times-Kiwanis Camp Fund, Robert Morgia, Marketing Strategy Team, The Times of Trenton    

Best Large Space Ad - Color: See-More TV & Appliance Center: Save Big with Sedona, David Petersen, Ron Ostroff, The Star-Ledger 

Best Niche Publication / Magazine: Dining Guide 2016, David Petersen, Advertising Content Team, Carmela Giardina   

Best Classified Pages: Circle of Excellence, Melissa Chin, Patty Anistranski, The Star-Ledger     

Best New Project for 2016: RWJBarnabas Sample Pages, Alaa Selim, Jeff Ruderman, Healthcare Marketing Solutions, Lily Kirov, The Star-Ledger 

Best Digital Standard Unit Ad: Iberia Peninsula: Festa Dos Campeos, Dan Cruz, Carmela Giardina, NJ.com  

Best Digital Impact Ad: Roosterspin: Sing! Sing! Sing! David Petersen, Ron Ostroff, The Star-Ledger    

Best Rich Media Creative: Park Bayonne, Alaa Selim, Stan Lemond, NJ.com

Best Multi-Media Online & Print Campaign: NJ's Best Italian Restaurant, Alaa Selim, Marketing Strategy Team, NJ.com

Best Digital Ad Campaign: Six Flags Recruitment: Frightfest, Melissa Chin, Rodney Johnson, Shelley Jordan, NJ.com 

Complete results from the 2016 NJPA contest may be found here.

The 51-year-old Irvington man was caught hiding in a closet after police arrived within minutes of an alarm sounding

Caz MinorNPD

NEWARK -- A 51-year-old Irvington man was charged with breaking into a health and wellness center in Newark Sunday morning, after police arrived on the scene in time to catch him inside, authorities said.

Caz Minor was charged with burglary in an incident that occurred just before 6 a.m., at the Rev. Ron Christian Community Health and Wellness Center on Lyons Avenue, Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose announced.

The center, which opened in August, is run by Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children's Hospital of New Jersey, and located just across the street from the emergency room entrance.

Derek Glenn, a Newark Police spokesman, said officers responded within minutes of an alarm going off, and found Minor hiding in a closet. 

"Within minutes of getting it, the car arrived and we got him inside," Glenn said.

Glenn said it was not known what Minor was after.

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

Authorities said the man was shot by a police officer who witnessed the killing

NEWARK -- Opening arguments are expected this week in the trial of a Watchung man accused of fatally shooting the mother of his children in front of a police officer, who subsequently shot him.

Andre Higgs, 44, faces trial before Superior Court Judge Ronald D. Wigler in Newark on an indictment charging him with murder, hindering his own prosecution and endangering the welfare of a child.

Authorities have said Higgs, 44, shot Latrena May, 27, three times on May 1, 2015 after she flagged down a police officer during a dispute outside her home on Tremont Avenue in South Orange.

May, who taught at Pride Academy Charter School, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Investigators said that after being shot, Higgs re-entered the home with the gun before being taken into custody.

After being treated at University Hospital and transferred to the Essex County Correctional Facility, Higgs -- who made his first court appearance in a wheelchair -- was released on $1 million bail after posting a property bond covering equity in his $1.2 million Watchung home.

He was later returned to jail after he was involved in a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike and charged with driving drunk, resulting in Wigler ordering he post the entire $1 million bail amount in cash.

Wigler previously ruled jurors could hear evidence Higgs allegedly choked May in front of their then-four-year-old daughter about five weeks before the killing, saying the prior incident would establish Higgs' state of mind at the time of May's shooting. But, according to the attorneys representing Higgs, last week, the court reversed that decision.

May's death prompted an outpouring of support for domestic violence prevention efforts in the city.

Editor's Note: This story previously incorrectly stated Higgs was still facing an additional charge that has been dismissed, and left out a revised ruling. Changes have been made reflecting the updated information.

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

NJ Advance Media has obtained Peter Harvey's first report on federal oversight of the Newark Police Department. There's still 'significant work,' but the report was fairly positive. Watch video

NEWARK -- The police department in Newark is on its way toward positioning itself to better and more fairly serve its residents.

That's according to the inaugural report from Peter Harvey, the former state attorney general appointed last March to serve as the monitor overseeing federally-mandated changes to the embattled department. However, Harvey admitted more work needs to be done to fully rehabilitate the Newark police, according to a a copy of the report NJ Advance Media obtained.

In the report, which is expected to be filed in court in Essex County Monday, Harvey said he is "encouraged by the NPD's initial efforts in implementing the Consent Decree." And, Harvey said, Newark police have developed a positive working relationship with his monitoring team -- a group of about a dozen people and a handful of organizations -- and with the U.S. Department of Justice, which mandated the changes to the department.

However, the report said, "significant work remains to be done" before all of the reforms are enacted, especially in the areas of training, community policing, technology, and the retention of evidence.

Harvey acknowledged in the report the changes will take time, and a significant financial investment.  

The areas of reform that have been "slow" to get off the ground include new trainings for police officers, and creating a community policing policy in the department, the report said.

The NPD has hired a training director to help it craft and organize curriculum for trainings, and has looked to policies and training procedures in other municipalities that it can use as examples, Harvey said. But, creating extensive new trainings from scratch, based on new policies that are still in the midst of being written, he said in the report, takes time.

The department's existing use of force and related policies are rooted in the 1960s, and it has never implemented a full community policing policy, the monitor reported.

The review, Harvey's first quarterly report on the effort to reform policing in the state's largest city, comes about a year after the U.S. Justice Department chose him to act as its watchdog in Newark. 

A file photo of Peter Harvey. (Tony Kurdzuk | The Star-Ledger)
 

His role is to oversee the implementation of a consent decree reached between Newark and the federal government last year, and court approved in May of 2016. The decree outlined a host of changes mandated for the department, including increases in police training, efforts to strengthen its relationship with the community, and changes to its search and seizure, use of force, and other policies.

Much of the progress outlined in the report refers to preliminary steps taken by the department, under the guidance of Harvey and his monitoring team, to set up new policies, procedures, and trainings that have yet to be carried out. Officials have estimated the monitor will be in place for five years, about the amount of time it will take to implement all of the changes and make sure they stick.

So far, the monitor reported, the Newark police have drafted several new policies being revised and finalized, including those on Internal Affairs procedures, stop and search, complaint intake from residents, use of force, and bias-free policing. It is also setting up a body camera pilot program that will eventually be rolled out to the entire department. 

The department and monitor team has also gone to great lengths to asses the current relationship between the community and department, and made efforts to get residents involved in the reform process, the report said. The two have hosted community meetings, and conducted several surveys of residents and police officers to measure perceptions of what the department is doing, and soliciting feedback about how it could change.

But, the monitor said, the city will need to upgrade its facilities and IT in order to comply with the decree.

The police in Newark need "updated and modern information hardware and software," and to hire an IT director dedicated to organizing data for the police department, the report states.

Harvey also harshly criticized the state of the department's evidence and seizure storage facilities. According to the report, many of the areas are unsecure, have no electricity and leaking roofs, and are unorganized, with investigation evidence often stored in stacked cardboard boxes. Without updated facilities, Harvey wrote, it will be difficult for the department to curtail theft by officers, one of the requirements of the decree.

Court OKs federal agreement to oversee NPD

"The independent monitor believes that a new property and storage facility is desperately needed. In fact, it will be difficult for NPD to comply with the theft provisions of the consent decree without a new property facility that has modern inventory control and security technology," the report reads.

In a phone interview Sunday, Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said the city has a "great" working relationship with Harvey, his monitoring team, and the Department of Justice.

"We have a ways to go, but we are headed in the right direction," Ambrose said. "We are working every day."

Much of the work, he said, focuses on updating essential components of the department that have been neglected for more than 40 years, like the evidence room.

"Over the years, evidence has been misplaced ... it's been taken out by the wrong people," he said.

The monitor is an opportunity to "get things done that we couldn't get done for years. ... We can't look at it as a wish list. It's mandated."

Harvey did not reply to a request for comment on the report. Mayor Ras Baraka has deferred comment until the report is officially filed.

The first monitoring report is a significant milestone for the process, which has been more than seven years in the making. In 2010, the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union requested a federal investigation into the police department, claiming widespread violations of citizens rights through practices like false arrests and use of excessive force.

A Department of Justice investigation started in 2011 and concluded with a damning report in 2014, finding the department routinely violated the rights of its citizens, especially minorities. 

A slow, nearly two-year process preparing for the agreement between the city and federal governments followed, during which officials tapped the public for information on community-police relations.

Federal watchdog has long N.J. history

The process has not always been smooth. A civilian review board -- set up to be one of the most powerful resident-led oversight entities in the country -- has had trouble getting off the ground. Since Baraka approved it in 2015, the city's police union has pushed back against the disciplinary powers afforded to its members.

Still, the department has reported many successes over the past year, including a significant dip in overall crime rates, and an influx of new officers to the department.

In recent months, the fate of federal police monitors across the country has been called into question following Attorney General Jeff Sessions's call for a review of the interactions between the Justice Department and municipal law enforcement agencies.

Local officials have said they will continue the police reforms, regardless of potential changes to federal policies.

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

Newark Venture Partners welcomed 11 new companies on Wednesday with a presentation by executives of Short Hills-based Dun & Bradstreet, an investor that also provides mentors

NEWARK --Scott Simonelli is the kind of entrepreneur that Dun & Bradstreet CEO Bob Carrigan wants to hang with.

Simonelli, who grew up in Madison and now lives in Connecticut, has been a rock guitarist, elementary school teacher and jingle writing who is now the founder and CEO of Veritonic, a company that uses data to help marketers make what traditionally have been highly subjective decisions about what music to use for their ads, apps and other products.

Simonelli -- who still looks more like the indie rocker he was than the 41-year-old CEO and father of four that he has become -- is among the latest crop of tech entrepreneurs taken under the wing of Newark Venture Partners, an equity investment group and tech incubator, whose partners include Audible, Prudential, Rutgers University, the City of Newark and Dun & Bradstreet.

"Sometimes, you need data to justify spending $500,000 on the Rolling Stones," Simonelli said during an event this month introducing NVP's new crop of 11 tech firms to Carrigan, and him to them. "Or you can use data to justify, 'Well, we didn't need to spend that, we're fine using stock audio or a different piece of music.'"

NVP provides the young companies a minimum of $100,000 in cash, mentoring and at least a year of free communal work space, complete with gourmet kitchen, foosball and ping pong tables, and treadmill workstations, on the 7th floor of 1 Washington Park, a building it shares with Rutgers Business School and Audible.

Dun & Bradstreet, the 175-year-old financial data and services firm based in Short Hills, has contributed $5 million to NVP's $38 million investment fund.

In addition to cash, D&B and the other investors also provide executives to serve as mentors to NVP's stable of what now totals 20 startups, comprised of nine companies from NVP's initial incubator class launched last year, plus its latest group of 11 firms, including Veritonic.

Carrigan, who lives in New Jersey, said Dun & Bradstreet is eager to help the city of Newark and its business community flourish for a variety of reasons, not least of which because it's the largest city in the state where the company is headquartered.

He was also confident D&B will recoup its $5 million stake in NVP, which is jointly run by managing partners Tom Wisniewski and Dan Borok, both veteran venture capitalists.

But beyond those reasons, Carrigan said D&B and its employees can learn from the independent and creative young minds of the start-up founders, who are trying to build their companies from scratch in the rapidly evolving digital age.

"Were in the middle of this modernization and transformation of our business," said Carrigan, dressed in the corporate-tech uniform of a sport jacket and no tie. "This is a way for us to expose our employees, who are involved with a whole lot of areas of our business, from technology to data to marketing and sales, to have them get involved with these companies."

"It's part of, again, this cultural transformation. It's an invigorating thing for our employees to have, who are part of a company with a long history," Carrigan added. "To have them mingle with these early stage companies and have them figure out new ways to use the data, and new ways that we can help these companies. And just new ways to kind of share ideas."

NVP was founded by Audible's civic-minded CEO Don Katz to encourage Newark's rebirth as a high-tech hub, a goal shared by the administration of Mayor Ras Baraka.

The firms, selected for their market potential and at least some demonstrated success, will be put through a 3-month training program that includes a series of seminars on technical and business-related subjects. For example, on Tuesday, two dozen people took in a digital marketing class led by an industry professional in a glass-walled classroom space at the NVP office.

Following the formalized instruction period, the entrepreneurs will continue to receive mentoring from executives of D&B as well as Audible, while putting in the hours at their NVP space and elsewhere needed to build their companies. 

Like NVP's initial group of 9 startups did in December, the second group of firms will take part in a "demo day" on June 27, when the founders will each make a pitch to potential investors at the Prudential Center arena a few blocks away.

The latest group of startups include Circlelink Health, a healthcare monitoring app that was one of several health-related firms; Pomco, a "peace of mind" company that produces a "one-button personal safety device; SAM, which uses artificial intelligence to boost sales and marketing; and Wearaway, a b2b online rental service for film, television and advertising props.

Along with Veritonic, Claimit, DocDelta, Envested, Gitlinks, Trendalyze and Wellsheet round out the 11 firms. See descriptions of all the companies here.

Some of the firms will be given more money, space and time at NVP to reach their potential, Wisniewski said, adding that others will grow out of NVP and into a new space.

And, depending on market forces and other factors, some will dissolve. Wisniewski said their founders will move on to new ventures or jobs with established firms like Audible, Prudential or D&B, which will benefit from their new hires' start-up experience.

"And that's a good thing," Wisniewski said.

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

Immigration law is complex and for those in detention, it's hard to find an attorney to represent them. Advocates say without a lawyer, most end up getting deported. Watch video

ELIZABETH--Aman Raza sits in a detention center, not far from Newark Liberty International Airport, where he has been held since fleeing Pakistan after an angry mob attacked the mosque of his minority Ahmadiyya sect in December.

"There were more than 5,000 people," he said of the crowd storming the gates, recalling the violence during a recent asylum hearing. "They threatened to kill us."

Unlike most of those in detention, Raza, 26, was not on his own as he pleaded his case before an immigration court judge. He had an attorney.

According to federal data, nearly 70 percent of those detained in New Jersey in immigration removal proceedings have no such representation, said Lori Nessel, director of the Seton Hall University School of Law Center for Social Justice.

"It's a system that's not very accessible," she remarked. "The problem is we have such a large population of detained immigrants and a paucity of pro bono lawyers, non-profits and funding."

Unlike those tried in criminal court, undocumented immigrants in this country have no right to an attorney if they cannot afford one. Nessel said individuals in removal proceedings may hire counsel at their own expense--if there is no delay to the government--but many simply cannot afford a lawyer.

"They face an incredible uphill battle without representation in dealing with complex laws," she said, adding that it is near impossible to gather witnesses and evidence in support of one's case when someone is detained.

Nessel said basic due process requires that people be given a meaningful opportunity to understand the charges against them and the chance to present a claim that they are legally entitled to stay in the country.

A report she co-authored last year for Seton Hall's Immigrants' Rights and International Human Rights Clinic found those appearing in immigration courts are more likely to prevail if they have legal representation. But two-thirds of those detained were without attorneys at any point in their removal proceedings. At the same time, non-profit organizations represented significantly fewer detainees than it did those who were not being held, regardless of their caseload.

"This means that adults and even unaccompanied children who cannot afford to hire counsel must argue on their own against trained government prosecutors," the report said. "Considering the potentially life-threatening consequences of a removal order and the very limited process available in immigration court, experts have likened removal proceedings to trying 'death penalty cases in traffic court.'"

NJ chief justice: stop arresting immigrants in courthouses

Immigration attorney Harlan York of Newark said it's even worse elsewhere in the country, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, maintains several contract detention facilities in remote locations. Court sessions for detainees are scheduled in the facilities where they are held, making it difficult for attorneys to get to hearings.

"They're not accessible for lawyers," said York. "Look at the Stewart Detention Center. It's in Lumpkin, Ga. It's literally in the middle of nowhere."

The private prison in Lumpkin, operated under contract to ICE, is more than a two-hour drive from Atlanta for any immigration attorney willing to make the trip.

"The judges in Stewart never grant anything," said York. "They virtually grant nothing."

Indeed, according to data collected by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, a non-partisan research group at Syracuse University, nearly 95 percent of all asylum cases were denied by the judges in Lumpkin between 2011 and 2016. In comparison, immigration judges nationwide denied 49.8 percent of all asylum claims during that time.

A study by the American Immigration Council found only 6 percent of those held at Stewart were represented by lawyers between 2007 and 2012.

The pace of removal hearings has seen little change since the end of the Obama administration. According to data released by TRAC on Friday, the latest available court records through the end of March 2017 shows that despite the stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws under the Trump White House, the pace of immigration court filings has remained steady. What has changed is the number of individuals being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while their cases are pending.

TRAC said 54 percent of the court cases under Obama involved detained individuals. "This was true for only a quarter of Trump's cases. Most of the remaining individuals were still detained," TRAC reported.

Advocates rally at Elizabeth Detention Center

No matter where a case is heard, few held in detention are likely to prevail against removal without legal representation, said Lauren Major, senior detention attorney for American Friends Service Committee in New Jersey. But even in New Jersey, where detention facilities are far more accessible than the one in Lumpkin, it can be hard to for those facing deportation find legal representation while they are locked up.

"It takes a lot more resources to do a detained case than a non-detained case," Major explained. "They move quickly and there's not a lot of time to put together the evidence."

She said most non-profit organization and attorneys doing pro bono work have limited time and resources, and devote those resources to handle more people who are not being detained.

Earlier this month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would allocate money in the fiscal 2018 budget to create a legal defense fund to ensure all immigrants have access to representation. A spokeswoman for Vera Institute of Justice, which helps provides lawyers to those detained in New York, said Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago are in various stages of working on similar programs.

A spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the office within the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for adjudicating immigration cases, said it has sought to improve access to "legal information and counseling for aliens in proceedings."

Officials said that since 2003, EOIR has had a legal orientation program to improve judicial efficiency in the immigration courts, and to assist detained individuals and others involved in detained removal proceedings to make timely and informed decisions.

EOIR also contracts with nonprofit organizations to provide group and individual orientations, self-help workshops, and pro bono referral services for detained individuals in removal proceedings, the spokeswoman said.
 
In addition, a list of lawyers who do pro bono work is provided to all individuals in immigration court proceedings, and includes non-profit organizations and attorneys who have committed to providing at least 50 hours per year of free, or pro bono legal work before the immigration court.

Recalling a mob attack

At the Elizabeth Detention Center, an ICE contract facility that can hold 300 men and women, hearings are held in a small, low-ceiling courtroom on the first floor of the former cement masonry warehouse on an industrial tract just off the New Jersey Turnpike sandwiched between a FedEx terminal and a sprawling supermarket warehouse.

The Elizabeth Detention Center, a private prison under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that holds immigrants awaiting removal or asylum proceedings. (Marisa Iati | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Malick A. Diop, a New York attorney representing Aman Raza, noted that few attorneys want to go there because of the time and travel involved, while most of those in detention there cannot even afford representation. They are left to fend for themselves.

"The judges don't defend you," he said.

As he presented his client's case one morning, Immigration Court Judge Mirlande Tadal appeared stern in her black robe and reading glasses perched low on her nose.

Before she was appointed as an immigration judge by former Attorney General Janet Reno in 1995, Tadal worked for Travelers Aid Immigration Legal Services in New York and also served as an attorney investigator for the New York Commission on Human Rights.

Tadal lectured Raza on how to answer questions. "Yup is not an answer. Shaking your head is not an answer," she said.

"Yes, your honor," replied Raza, clad in a grey short-sleeve shirt over a white T-shirt.

"They got in. Broke in the main gate. They burned everything. They burned the Koran, your honor," he said.

Raza claimed the police did nothing, and claimed the government of Pakistan has turned a blind eye to the harassment and violence against the Ahmadiyya.

"We cannot profess our faith orally or in writing," said Raza, whose travel documents all identify his religious affiliation.

According to Human Rights Watch, Pakistan's government has allowed extremist groups to target the Ahmadiyya community. News accounts from Pakistan have documented the attack on a Ahmadiyya mosque in December.

"I cannot go back. I cannot even imagine going back," Raza testified.

Diop, in his summation, said the basis of U.S. values is that people should be allowed to practice their religion without fear.

"If someone needs to hide to pray, that's persecution," he said.

But Robert Miller, assistant chief counsel for the Department of Homeland Security who represented the government in the proceedings, challenged Raza's testimony, calling it "rehearsed" and told the judge there was no evidence that the young man was in any real danger.

"Whatever mistreatment he suffered does not rise to the level of past persecution," Miller said. "As far as the attack on the mosque...it's a stretch to say the government had any involvement."

The judge said she would issue her ruling in May.

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

Authorities are seeking help locating the driver.

NEWARK -- Authorities are looking for a person who  crashed a stolen car into a city church and fled.

The stolen Nissan Altima crashed into the Community of Chapel Ministries on Hawthorne Avenue at 3:17 p.m. Sunday, police said.

Nine people were inside the church at the time, police said. Two of them were taken to Newark Beth Israel for evaluation and released, police said.

The driver ran before police arrived, and no one in the church was able to provide a description of the driver, authorities said.

Anyone with information about the car or the crash 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.

Cheerleaders of all ages compete at this annual event in Wildwood

WILDWOOD -- Hundreds of cheerleaders from nearly 40 teams competed in the Beast of the East Cheerleading championships here Sunday.

The cheerleaders -- from across the state, as well as Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland -- competed in recreation, all-star, school and dance divisions. The choreographed performances took place on a 54- by 42-foot spring floor, which assists the athletes as they execute acrobatic and aerial stunts.

The event, hosted by Spirit Brands, was one of two cheerleading competitions held at the Wildwoods Convention Center over the weekend.

PHOTOS: 2016 Beast of the East Cheerleading competition

Spirit Brands is hosting a Spring Festival competition at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden on Sunday, April 30, and the North American Spirit Tournament at the Atlantic City Convention Center on Saturday, May 6.

The convention center is home to hundreds of events throughout the year, including the "War at the Shore" National Youth Wrestling Championships, USAIGC New Jersey Gymnastics State Championships, Dance Xplosion National Finals, Wildwood Polar Bear Plunge and Wildwoods International Kite Festival.

For more information on events in Wildwood, visit www.wildwoodsnj.com.

Lori M. Nichols may be reached at lnichols@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @photoglori. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Before they starred in college, these prospects made their marks in NJ.