NEWARK-- No one was seriously injured Tuesday when a school bus caught fire and another bus was involved in a hit-and-run collision, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said in a statement. The Newark Fire Department extinguished the blaze shortly before 8 a.m. at Mt. Prospect Avenue and Ellwood Avenue East. The driver, who injured his knee, pulled over when he...

NEWARK-- No one was seriously injured Tuesday when a school bus caught fire and another bus was involved in a hit-and-run collision, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said in a statement.

The Newark Fire Department extinguished the blaze shortly before 8 a.m. at Mt. Prospect Avenue and Ellwood Avenue East. The driver, who injured his knee, pulled over when he smelled smoke and helped three Camden Street School students to safety.

The fire is under investigation.

Just a few minutes later, a school bus carrying 29 Park Elementary School students was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene. No one was hurt.

That incident is also under investigation.

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

Altariq Moe was charged in connection with the April 23 incident

NEWARK--   The police department's Fugitive Apprehension Team have arrested a city man in connection with an assault, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said Tuesday. 

Altariq Moe (Newark police)  

Altariq Moe, 18, was arrested Monday and charged with aggravated assault. 

Police say Moe was identified as a suspect after a woman was assaulted at Pennington and Orchard streets April 23. She was treated at St. Michael's for non-life-threatening injuries and released. 

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

NEWARK -- A 38-year-old Newark man was arrested Tuesday and charged with carjacking and kidnapping a woman over the weekend, police said.  The Fugitive Apprehension Team arrested Warren Carswell on S. 13th Street as he sat inside the Hyundai Elantra taken Saturday, police said. The female victim was carjacked around 4:30 p.m at Court and Washington streets. She was not...

NEWARK -- A 38-year-old Newark man was arrested Tuesday and charged with carjacking and kidnapping a woman over the weekend, police said. 

The Fugitive Apprehension Team arrested Warren Carswell on S. 13th Street as he sat inside the Hyundai Elantra taken Saturday, police said.

The female victim was carjacked around 4:30 p.m at Court and Washington streets. She was not hurt and the carjacker was not armed, police said.

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

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen outed an executive who was involved in an anti-Trump group to a bank director.

WASHINGTON  -- Even if Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen's decision to identify a member of an opposition group to her employer doesn't run afoul of any laws nor congressional ethics rules, experts questioned his actions.

"Not illegal but an awful thing to do," said Richard W. Painter, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota and former chief ethics officer to President George W. Bush.

Stephen Spaulding, chief of strategy for Common Cause, questioned why a member of Congress would target someone for "exercising her First Amendment beliefs."

Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) drew criticism and a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee digital ad campaign following reports that he told a member of Lakeland Bank's board of directors at the bottom a fundraising letter that a senior vice president, Saily Avelenda of West Caldwell, was one of the "ringleaders" of NJ 11th for Change, an group opposed to President Donald Trump's policies.

Avelenda later resigned her position.

Dems launch ads against Frelinghuysen

His spokesman, Steve Wilson, has not responded to requests for comment.

Residents of his district have demanded, so far unsuccessfully, an in-person town hall meeting. They also failed to convince him to vote against the House Republican proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act with a bill that could leave 24 million more Americans without health care than under current law.

Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, said Frelinghuysen's action "certainly doesn't pass the smell test" even though he apparently didn't break the law.

"It raises serious questions as to whether a member of Congress should be taking action that endangers the job of one of his constituents who doesn't agree with him politically," Libowitz said.

The Campaign for Accountability asked the Office on Congressional Ethics -- which House Republican leaders in January unsuccessfully sought to do away with -- to investigate Frelinghuysen's actions.

"Representative Frelinghuysen is ripping a page from President Trump's playbook by trying to wreak vengeance on a political opponent," said Daniel Stevens, executive director of the group, some of whose advisory board members have Democratic Party ties. "The OCE should immediately make clear this sort of conduct is out of bounds."

If not the congressional ethics office, then residents of his district should wonder about Frelinghuysen's actions, Spaulding said.

"It's worthy of constituents asking questions and perhaps others that enforce the ethics laws," Spaulding said. "Certainly it was really a gross and unseemly action on his part." 

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. 

With Jerome B. Simandle, the state's chief federal judge, moving to senior status, New Jersey this month will see its first Hispanic chief judge.

CAMDEN--There will be a passing of the gavel of sorts in the federal courts for New Jersey later this month.

Chief Judge Jerome B. Simandle, 68, is assuming "senior status," a form of semi-retirement that allows a judge to continue working at a reduced case level. He will be succeeded by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares, 63, who sits in Newark, who will become the first Hispanic chief federal judge in New Jersey.

Simandle said in addition to a ceremonial handing over of the gavel, he will offer a bottle of Excedrin to his successor--who will assume responsibility for a district that has 15 active judges, 7 senior judges, and courthouses in Trenton, Camden and Newark.

"It's one of the busiest federal courts in the country," he explained.

The weighted caseload per active judge in New Jersey last year was 545 compared with the national average of 487--a number expected to grow with unfilled vacancies on the court.

Once the youngest federal judge in New Jersey, Simandle first became a federal magistrate in 1983 and has served as a district judge since 1992. He has been chief judge of the U.S. District Court since January 2012. His move to senior status will create another judicial vacancy in New Jersey, which is already down two judges.

A graduate of Princeton University, Simandle was born in Binghampton, N.Y., and did not grow up thinking about going into law. He was more interested in urban planning.

Even after becoming a magistrate, his neighbors were more likely to see him working on his house and garden. When federal agents launched the customary background check after his nomination as a federal judge, Simandle recounted how one neighbor who had watched him replace his roof that year seemed confused at the questions. "He's a roofer," he apparently told the investigator. "Why are you asking?"

He studied engineering at Princeton University, where he was recruited by Ralph Nader's Center for the Study of Responsive Law, working with lawyers on issues of aviation safety and the regulation of airlines.

"It got very interesting," Simandle recalled in an interview. "I had probably never met a lawyer, but the people who were making things happen, happened to be lawyers. It kind of opened my eyes."

After graduating from Princeton, he went on to the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia for a law degree, later clerking for Chief Judge John F. Gerry, who would swear him in as a federal judge at the courthouse in Camden nearly 20 years later.

He joined the U.S. Attorney's Office after law school, where he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Newark and Trenton. Among the cases he handled was a developer's challenge to the protection of the state's ecologically fragile Pinelands. Inspired by Gerry, he said he applied to become a magistrate judge in Camden.

Magistrate judges handle duties in both civil and criminal cases, hearing pre-trial motions, settlement and pretrial conferences in civil matters, and presiding over arraignments and initial appearances of a defendant in criminal cases.

"You see a lot more people as a magistrate judge," he said. "Everyone that's been arrested. Search warrants and arrest warrants. You never know what any day is going to bring."

He served as a magistrate judge for nine years before he was nominated by President George Bush in 1992 as a federal district judge. A far more political process than that of the appointment of a magistrate judge, his nomination was supported by the state's two Democratic senators at the time, Sen. Bill Bradley and the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who both accompanied him to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

The chief judge of the district is based on seniority, and is not an appointed position. While it comes with far more administrative duties, Simandle continued to preside over a full docket of cases from his courtroom in Camden, including a civil trial this week involving tanning salons, the alleged transfer of assets from a failed business, and the default of a lease. As chief judge, he was also responsible for overseeing the court's budget and internal financial controls, and overseeing court staff and operations with the assistance of the clerk of court and other court executives.

The chief judge of a district is often thought of as a "first among equals," said a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, calling meetings, setting agendas, appointing committees, and executing long-range plans.

"When a chief judge acts, it is assumed he or she is doing so on behalf of the court as a whole," said Jackie Koszczuk.

Moving to senior status, Simandle will join 451 senior district judges nationwide who handle about 15 percent of the federal courts' annual workload. He said he will gradually work down the cases on his docket in hopes of eventually not having to take home a full briefcase each night.

"It's frustrating to have a shore house and only spend a few days there," he remarked.

The new chief judge, meanwhile, might have to get a larger briefcase.

"I am getting to realize the magnitude of the administrative responsibilities," said Linares in an interview. "But I'm looking forward to doing this. It's an honor for me."

Linares has presided over some of the highest-profile political corruption cases in the state from his fifth floor courtroom in the U.S. Courthouse in Newark. The Havana-born judge, who fled Cuba with his family as a boy, became a state Superior Court judge in Essex County in 2000, and was nominated to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2002.

Noting the historic component for the Hispanic community of his becoming chief judge, he said that it was good the court is starting to look the way it does.

"If you told me this was going to happen--look, just becoming a federal judge was unimaginable," he said.

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

The Class of 2017 was the largest in the school's 101-year history. Watch video

NEWARK -- It was much more than just the usual pomp and circumstance.

Of course, each one of the New Jersey Institute of Technology's more than 2,300 Class of 2017 graduates celebrated a milestone achievement Tuesday. But, the school's 101st commencement ceremony also included a marriage proposal, and a 100th birthday celebration.

Near the end of the ceremony, Sina Nassim, a graduate who received a bachelor's degree in biology, proposed to his girlfriend, Zainoishi, who had been proudly watching the ceremony from the stands. The moment was caught on the Prudential Center's jumbotron for all of Nassim's classmates to see.

"Judging by her gesture, I think she said 'yes,'" NJIT Provost and Senior Executive Vice President Fadi P. Deek said in a statement about the surprise proposal.

The college also presented a "most senior alumnus" award to Herman Blackman. The Class of 1938 alum recently celebrated his 100th birthday, school officials said.

And, on top of the unusual commencement celebrations, NJIT also honored the largest graduating class in its history.

106-year-old former HS gets $99M college facelift

"By virtue of earning a degree from NJIT, you have demonstrated the capacity to make significant contributions to your communities and to society as a whole," President Joel S. Bloom told the Class of 2017.

"In your chosen fields and professions, endeavor to create and innovate in ways that enhance the greater good, not simply the profit margin."

The school also awarded honorary degrees to J. Robert Hillier, an architect and founder of Philadelphia Energy Solutions and Studio Hillier, and commencement speaker Rochelle Hendricks, New Jersey's first Secretary of Higher Education.

"I confess that I am expecting great things from you and for you," Hendricks said.

"We are all meant to shine, and I am confident that the NJIT experience releases you from your fears."

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

Anthony Munroe was selected as the new president of Essex County College on Tuesday night by the Board of Trustees.

WEST CALDWELL -- A new president has been selected to lead Essex County College.

The college's Board of Trustees on Tuesday selected Chicago professor and education consultant Anthony Munroe after conducting a national search to replace former president Gale Gibson, who was unanimously fired by the board last year. 

Munroe, 52, heads his own consulting company which works with higher education and health care institutions and is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at DePaul University in Chicago. 

"It is truly an honor to be here today and to join the Essex County College family," Munroe said Tuesday at the West Essex campus. 

Munroe's tenure begins as the college emerges from a tumultuous year of high-profile firings, financial probes and academic troubles. And while his appointment was universally praised Tuesday, some trustees cautioned against allowing interference from county political leaders.

"The county needs to stay out of the operation of this college," said board member Thomas C. McDermott, Jr. who was appointed by the governor. The county executive appoints all but three seats of the board. 

Board member Safanya N. Searcy railed against a culture of "back-biting, manipulation and ill-will targeting" and urged the school to refocus on educational priorities. 

The school is on tenuous ground with the group that accredits area colleges. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education has requested additional documents from Essex County College regarding enrollment, resources and leadership. For now, the college remains accredited.

The former ousted president and top attorney are also suing the school, claiming retaliation. 

Philp Alagia, chief of staff for Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday that allegations of political interference by county officials were "flat-out wrong."

"We have never told any board member what to vote for, what to do," he said, adding that the county did not have "undue influence." The board "should vote however they see fit," he said. 

DiVincenzo previously supported another candidate to succeed as college president but she was not picked, Alagia said. If DiVincenzo had "ironclad control of the board ... then his person would have been the president," he said. Alagia said the county was excited to work with Munroe and said the college should work even closer with the county. 

"One of the reasons (the college) hasn't been successful the last five years, is because they have't worked more closely with county government," he said, citing the high-performing county vocational schools as an example of a successful partnership. 

Munroe was one of three finalists selected by a search committee. He will earn $215,000 a year and begin on a part-time basis immediately until his official contract begins June 1. 

"Yes, my anxiety level is high," Munroe said, adding: "I'm happy because I know what is here in Essex College, I know the caliber and grit of those who have dedicated their professional careers to helping build a quality education."

Munroe replaces A. Zachary Yamba, acting president and president emeritus, who came out of retirement to stabilize the school after the leadership shake-up. Yamba was highly praised by all for his service to the school as he vowed to support the new president. 

One board trustee and members of the public, however, questioned why Yamba was not allowed to stay on as acting president through a transition period. 

Bishop Reginald Jackson, a 13-year board member, said he was "disappointed" that Yamba served a year without compensation and was arbitrarily asked to step down immediately. 

"I think the appropriate thing to do would have been for Dr. Yamba to at least have taken this institution to its commencement next Friday," he said.  

Jackson, who is moving to Georgia, will step down from the board and two other board members whose terms expired will be replaced by new appointments made by DiVincenzo. It's unclear who they will be.

Before parting, Jackson urged the board to support its new president. He said the college's two predecessors failed because of political interference from the county and undermining from those on campus.

"I pray this board will support the new president and hold accountable anyone who is insubordinate and disrespectful of the president," he said, adding that although Gibson was justly fired, she, too, faced insubordination.

"The Essex County College campus today is filled with fear and intimidation," he said.

(Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Essex County)

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

Who is the new No. 1? Who made a big move up the list? Find the answers here.

A bracket-by-bracket tournament preview.

The NJSIAA state tournament is about to start and NJ Advance Media will be providing the same wall-to-wall coverage of the playoffs as it has for the entire season. That includes a breakdown of every section in the tournament.

Check out previews for every group in the breakdowns below.

• Non-Public

• Group 4

• Group 3

• Group 2

• Group 1

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

A crew from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission operates a skimmer vessel to collect floating trash on the Passaic River. Watch video

NORTH ARLINGTON -- You could view them as the trash collectors of the Passaic River. But George Krusznis and Bob O'Neill see themselves more as caretakers, helping to heal a sick waterway.

The two are part of an 11-member crew of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission's skimmer vessel Newark Bay. They collect the trash floating near the surface.

It's no secret the Passaic River is among the most polluted bodies of water in the United States. Two centuries of industrial dumping is buried in layers of silt and muck at the bottom of the river. While the river faces one of the most challenging and expensive environmental cleanups in U.S. history to remove chemicals, pesticides and heavy metals at the bottom, these men from the commission believe they can make a difference at the top.

Outdoors with Andre: Discovering gnomes on the Columbia Trail

The vessel travels up and down the lower Passaic collecting debris and trash using a conveyor belt on the front of the vessel. The materials travel up the conveyor and are then collected and stored onboard until offloaded at a dock in North Arlington.

The skimmer collects an average of 40,000 pounds of trash per month, Kruznis said. Anything from bottles, cans, shoes, trees stumps, clothing, furniture. You name it and they've pulled it from the river. And there's always more to collect since each new tide brings new trash.

"In a perfect world on this river I would like to see it used much more extensively," Krusznis, said. "I don't think we'll get swimmers -- not in our lifetime."

Krusznis wishes that people would learn to stop using the Passaic as a trash can. He thinks the key to slowing the flow of garbage is to reach and educate our children early on before they learn bad habits.

While some might think it's a losing battle, he said he can't imagine what the river would look like if they didn't do the work they do.

"Seeing this river clean up is great because we're a part of it," O'Neill said. "Every day we come out here and we see some progress."

Andre Malok may be reached at amalok@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @AndreMalok. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Not guilty on all counts was the verdict rendered yesterday by the jury in the trial of a 42-year-old Montclair man charged with vehicular homicide and aggravated manslaughter following a fatal 91-mph crash in the Lincoln Tunnel in Weehawken in 2014.

JERSEY CITY -- It took a jury only two hours yesterday to clear Louis Pine, the Montclair man charged with vehicular homicide and aggravated manslaughter, of all counts following a fatal 91-mph crash in the Lincoln Tunnel in 2014. 

"There is no celebration for this case, which involved the death of a man who was obviously beloved by his friends and family," said defense attorney Joseph Hayden, who represented Pine, 42, in the trial. "But justice was done by the verdict because this case arose out of a medical event which ultimately caused the accident."

The courtroom was packed with both friends and family members of Pine and the man who died in the Sept. 2, 2014 collision, Steven M. Benevento, 49, of Summit. Benevento went into cardiac arrest after his Mercedes was rear-ended by Pines' BMW in the high-speed crash. He was taken to a New York City hospital, where he died a few hours later.

During the trial, Pine testified that he was making his daily morning commute to his office at Trulia in Manhattan when he began feeling nauseous. He said he thought about stopping but could not remember stopping. The next thing he remembered was his airbags deploying in the crash, in which he suffered collapsed lungs and a fractured sacrum.

Video from cameras in the tunnel did show the BMW stopping inside the tunnel for about 20 seconds before buses going around it blocked the view. After about 20 more seconds, the BMW begins moving again and it scraped against the tunnel's right curb as it proceeded. After a short time, the car begins to accelerate at full throttle before striking Benevento's vehicle.

Because the BMW had been stopped for 40 seconds, a gap in traffic was created in front of the car, giving it the room to accelerate to 91 mph. Benevento's vehicle was in traffic behind the BMW but it passed Pine's car while the BMW was stopped, moving it into a position to be struck by Pine's vehicle.

During the trial, a doctor testifying for the defense said he believed Pine passed out as a result of vasovagal syncope, citing reports on the accident, medical reports and Pine's description of what happened.

Among the state's witnesses was a biomechanical engineer who testified that if Pine had passed out and gone limp, the weight of his foot and lower leg would not have been sufficient to fully depress the accelerator and hold it down. The BMW's airbag systems recorded that it was at 100 percent throttle during the five seconds preceding the crash. 

An NJ Transit bus driver who came to Pine's aid after the crash said Pine had no idea what happened. 

Pine had faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The trial was  before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Martha Royster in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City. Also representing Pine was attorney Brendan Walsh. 

Sheriff says drugs were being sold from shop.

NEWARK -- Essex County sheriff's detectives raided a Newark clothing store, where they arrested three reputed Crips street gang members and seized various drugs, officials said Wednesday.

Narcotics investigators on Tuesday served a warrant at Jeff's Urban Clothing on 15th Avenue, according to Sheriff Armando Fontoura. In the shop, authorities detained Bobby Bradley, 27, of Newark, Gene Bruster, 26, of East Orange and a 16-year-old boy from Newark.

"Upon executing the search warrant our officers found that the store was selling more than the usual fashion accessories, such as bandanas, hats and sunglasses," Fontoura said in a statement.

Detectives found 14 plastic bags of ecstasy that was stashed behind the counter and pill bottles containing 18 oxycodone and 49 Xanax pills in the store's refrigerator, the sheriff added. Bradley was also carrying $420.

Authorities charged the trio with various drug distribution-related offenses. Bruster and Bradley were also charged with employing a juvenile in a drug crime. They were being held at the Essex County jail ahead of a detention hearing.

Officials said the three were all working behind the counter. The store could not be reached Wednesday.

The sheriff's office did not release the teen's name because of his age.

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

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Rutgers Newark awarded degrees to about 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students at the Prudential Center in Newark

NEWARK -- Some students strode across the stage as the firsts in their families to earn a degree. Others walked with the weight of their immigrant parents' struggle to give them a better life in the U.S.

And one man stood on the graduation stage at the Prudential Center Wednesday in honor of his son, killed in a hit-and-run accident days before. 

"What's essential at graduation is that it defines an extended family of belonging," Rutgers University Chancellor Nancy Cantor said before Rutgers-Newark's graduating class of 2017.

About 3,000 students dressed in black robes and hanging red tassels excitedly waved their diplomas as family members honked airhorns and drowned the auditorium in cheers. 

Mujahid Henry, 23, who was killed days before commencement, was awarded with a posthumous degree. His father, Darryl Henry, accepted the diploma on his behalf, tears streaming down his face as stood on stage. 

"This is a blessing and an honor," Henry told NJ Advance Media as he, too, sat in black robes with more than 30 members of his family. "I'm just wishing I was able to see him walking himself."

"I'm happy that they still recognized him because he wanted to change the world, he wanted to do a lot of great things and it was cut short," added Mujahid's mother, Sonya Lindsay. 

Students adorned their black caps in flowers, glitter, inspirational messages and even sharp critiques directed at President Trump.

Betsy Rubio, 24, who received a masters in public administration, covered her cap in the colors of the Mexican flag, writing in silver glittered letters: "My parents crossed the border so I could cross this stage."

"I did it as a political statement against Donald Trump," Rubio said, citing her opposition to his plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. "My parents worked hard to get me here."

Jalisa Williams, 22, snapped pictures with her friends and bounced in excitement before the ceremony -- she'd be the first in her family to receive a bachelor's degree. 

"I'm excited and nervous at the same time, it's been a journey," she said. Her cap was emblazoned with the words "stay woke" as a message for others to remain mindful about what's happening in the world.

"Stay woke to the policy, to the health care, the injustice," she said. 

Faculty members, too, had a message of their own. Prof. Rob Snyder said he made about 100 red ribbons for faculty members to wear on their robes to support immigrant students at threat of deportation. 

"I felt like I needed to do something," he said. The red ribbons, the same color of the school, were a way to support students "without detracting from their achievement on graduation."

Eboo Patel, who was tapped by President Obama to serve on the advisory council on interfaith cooperation, was the commencement speaker and received an honorary doctor of humane letters. Arthur James Hicks, program director of the National Science Foundation's Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation that has a hub at Rutgers-Newark, received an honorary doctor of science.

"Though boundaries are vast, though walls are big, though some terrains are tumultuous, that as soon as they go up they can quickly come down," Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told the graduates. "You have to have the power and the strength to begin to change, to transform this nation, this community and this city of Newark where I was born and I was raised."

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

John Overdeck, of Millburn, was number 3 on the list of the highest paid hedge fund managers in the world

Two New Jersey-based hedge fund managers were among the highest paid in 2016, earning a combined $1.5 billion, according to a report published Tuesday by Institutional Investors Alpha magazine. The report ranks the 25 best-paid hedge fund managers in the world for 2016.

John Overdeck, the co-founders of Two Sigma Investments, tied for third on the magazine's list. Overdeck, who lives in Millburn, tied with his Two Sigma co-founder David Siegel, a Princeton University graduate who currently lives in Scarsdale. N.Y. Both Overdeck and Siegel earned $750 million from the hedge fund in 2016. 

Overdeck and Siegel are both worth $4.8 billion, according to Forbes. Two Sigma Investments has $40 billion worth of assets under management. The company is based in New York City.

Meet the 5 N.J. men on Forbes 400 richest people in U.S. list

Ranked fifth on the magazine's list is David Tepper, the president and founder of the Short Hills-based Appaloosa Management. Tepper earned $700 million from the hedge fund in 2016.

Tepper, who is also the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is worth $11 billion, according to Forbes. Appaloosa Management has $17 billion worth of assets under management. Tepper had lived in New Jersey until 2016, when he relocated to Miami, reportedly because of Florida's lower taxes.  

The highest ranked hedge fund manager on the list was James Simons, of the Long Island-based Renaissance Technologies, who earned a reported $1.6 billion in 2016.

Earlier this year, Forbes' released its list of the 25 highest-earning hedge fund managers and traders in 2016. On that list, Tepper is ranked fourth, while Overdeck and Siegel are tied for ninth.

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Jersey City is hoping an appellate panel will overturn an April 2016 ruling that found the city breached its contract with a real estate appraisal firm.

NEWARK -- Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop did not act in bad faith when he scrapped the long-stalled property revaluation in 2013 and stopped paying the company hired to conduct the reval, an attorney working for the city argued in a state appellate court hearing this morning.

Peg Schaffer, whose Bernardsville law firm was hired to represent the city in the breach-of-contract case filed by Realty Appraisal Co., argued that a lower-court judge erred when he ruled in the company's favor in April 2014 and said that Fulop had acted in bad faith in canceling the reval.

"If that's bad faith, then ... 251 mayors in the state of New Jersey have acted in bad faith in delaying revals," Schaffer said today. "And in Jersey City alone there were five mayors since the last reval. Not one of them thought the reval was a good idea, until Jerry Healy."

Schaffer, chair of the Somerset County Democratic Party, was arguing today for the three-judge appellate panel to throw out Hudson County Superior Court Judge Francis B. Schultz's April 14, 2016 ruling found in Realty Appraisal's favor and ordered the city to pay the West New York company the $984,511 remaining in its contract. Jersey City is appealing that decision.

Jersey City has since embarked on a new revaluation with a different firm, Appraisal Systems, that is expected to wrap up later this year. State tax officials ordered the city to undergo the reval about a week before Schultz's decision, saying by stalling the revaluation the city was violating state laws requiring fair taxation. Revals are intended to square each property's assessment on the city tax rolls with its true value.

In today's 45-minute hearing, which took place on the 11th floor of the Veterans Courthouse in Newark, Schaffer argued that Realty Appraisal's $3.2 million contract, awarded under Healy, was invalid because the company had hired former city tax assessor and business administrator Brian O'Reilly at the time it was formulating a bid to win the reval contract. O'Reilly's involvement, Schaffer said today, represented a conflict of interest that violated state and local laws.

O'Reilly, who was hired at Realty Appraisal after his retirement from the city, testified at trial that he had not "one iota" of involvement in the city's subsequent selection of Realty Appraisal to conduct the reval. Phil Elberg, Realty Appraisal's attorney, today said the firm acted in "a totally transparent and ethical way" by requiring O'Reilly to obtain assurance from the city that he was not involved in the bid process when he worked at the city.

The city's arguments - which included that Schultz improperly squashed a subpoena seeking emails between Realty Appraisal officials and O'Reilly - represent distractions from the core issue, Elberg told the judges today.

"What the city was against, what (Fulop) was against, was the revaulation," he said. "I think Judge Schultz got it exactly right."

The three judges who heard today's arguments -- Harry Carroll, Jose L. Fuentes and Marie P. Simonelli -- did not indicate which way they would sway when they rule.

At one point Fuentes said it was a "little bit of a stretch" for Schaffer to cite comments made on Jersey Journal articles posted on NJ.com to indicate a public outcry about Realty Appraisal hiring O'Reilly in 2010.

Fuentes said he would have preferred to hear "what a reasonable person who knows the facts before them would deem to be an improper relationship, not what some person who responds to an article in the newspaper (thinks) about what is or is not proper."

"I don't disagree," Schaffer said. "I'm really not sure how you prove public outcry ... we tried to prove public outcry."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.

"Victims and their families can't depend upon a jury of its peers to do the right thing."

JERSEY CITY -- The wife of a Summit man killed in a 91-mph crash in the Lincoln Tunnel in 2014 said Tuesday's acquittal of the Montclair man charged with killing him is "unfathomable."

"My family is extremely disappointed with the jury's verdict in this case and we will never understand how the jury reached its decision," said Laura Benevento, the wife of Steven Benevento, 49, who died after his Mercedes was rear-ended by the BMW driven by Louis Pine, 42, on Sept. 2, 2014.

"The jury believes that Louis Pine drove his car in an unconscious state, crashed into the car in front of him at a speed of 91 mph killing my husband, and should not be held accountable for his actions," Laura Benevento told The Jersey Journal today. 

At trial, Pine testified that he was making his daily morning commute to his office at Trulia in Manhattan when he began feeling nauseous. The next thing he remembered was his airbags deploying in the crash, in which he suffered collapsed lungs and a fractured sacrum.

Video cameras in the tunnel show the BMW stopping inside for about 20 seconds before buses going around the car block the view. After about 20 more seconds, the BMW begins moving again and is seen scraping against the tunnel's right curb as it proceed. After a short time, the car begins to accelerate at full throttle before striking Steven Benevento's vehicle.

Because the BMW had been stopped for 40 seconds, a gap in traffic was created in front of the car, giving it the room to accelerate to 91 mph. Benevento's car was several cars behind the BMW but it passed Pine's car while the BMW was stopped.

During the trial, a doctor testifying for the defense said he believed Pine passed out as a result of vasovagal syncope, citing reports on the incident, medical reports and Pine's description of what happened.

New York Medical Examiner Dr. Zhanna Georgievskryn testified during the trial that Benevento suffered vertebral fractures in his neck and damage to spinal ligaments. She said the injuries compromised his ability to control a number of vital, unconscious bodily functions such as heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. 

Steven Benevento went into cardiac arrest and was taken to a New York hospital, where he died hours after the crash.

Pine was charged with vehicular homicide and aggravated manslaughter. He faced up to 30 years in state prison if convicted.

"New Jersey has reached an all-time low," Laura Benevento said. "Victims and their families can't depend upon a jury of its peers to do the right thing, use common sense, and punish those who deserve it."

Famed attorney Richie Roberts professes innocence, offers to take lie detector test.

TRENTON -- A former prosecutor whose takedown of Harlem heroin kingpin Frank Lucas was dramatized in the film "American Gangster" now faces theft and conspiracy charges after state authorities accused him and his law partner of stealing from clients at their private practice. 

Richie Roberts and partner Gerald Saluti were indicted Wednesday on charges they misused more than $140,000 and then lied under oath to cover their tracks. 

Reached by phone, Roberts -- who pleaded guilty in federal court to tax crimes last month -- professed innocence and said he told state prosecutors he would gladly submit to a lie detector test. 

"To satisfy the Star-Ledger and myself, I'll take a polygraph today," he said.  

Gerald M. Saluti Jr., 49. NJOAG 

According to the state Division of Criminal Justice, which brought the charges, Roberts and Saluti allegedly conspired with an administrator at their firm, the Saluti Law Group, to steal settlement money and escrow funds from four clients in 2012 and 2013. 

Elie Honig, the division's director, said in a statement the lawyers "treated their attorney trust account like a personal slush fund that they spent on everything from cars and entertainment to, in Roberts' case, paying alimony."

When clients began complaining, the two allegedly reported the thefts to law enforcement -- and then tried to pin them on the administrator, Gabriel Iannacone. 

Saluti could not be reached and his attorney did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Ianncone pleaded guilty to third degree theft charges in January and is awaiting sentencing, according to prosecutors.

In an interview, Roberts claimed the state was using Ianncone, who has his own troubled legal history, as a witness against him. Ianncone could not be reached for comment and a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office declined to comment on the matter. 

Roberts claimed he and Saluti uncovered the theft of funds, which he blamed on Ianncone, and tried to alert the authorities. 

"I took the case to the prosecutor's office," he said. "Would I have taken the case to the prosecutor's office if I was doing this stuff?"

Authorities claim the investigation found Roberts and Saluti were directly involved in the theft and later lied to investigators about their roles. 

The two men were indicted Wednesday on charges including conspiracy, theft, hindering apprehension or prosecution and perjury, according to a copy of the indictment. 

"Lawyers take an oath to faithfully serve their clients' interests and uphold the law," state Attorney General Christopher Porrino said following the indictments. "But we charge that these men made a mockery of those obligations."

Last month, Roberts pleaded guilty to separate federal charges of failing to collect and pay payroll taxes from the Newark law firm, as well as failing to pay his personal income taxes.

The state and federal charges marked a long fall for Roberts, a prominent defense attorney with a storied career in law enforcement. 

Roberts served as a detective and then an assistant Essex County prosecutor in the 1970s, when he obtained an indictment against Lucas -- the most powerful heroin dealer in Harlem -- for Lucas' role in a Newark drug ring.

The case was later made into the 2007 film "American Gangster," starring Russell Crowe as Roberts and Denzel Washington as Lucas. 

"For all those years, I never did anything wrong, I did everything on the up and up," Roberts said. "Suddenly I'm conspiring (to frame somebody)?"

NJ Advance Media reporter Thomas Moriarty contributed to this story. 

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

29 bags and 2 weapons were recovered Tuesday night, according to police

NEWARK-- A city man was arrested Tuesday night after police received reports of drug activity at N. 13th St. and 6th Avenue West, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said.

Officers from the Community Focus Unit responded to the area around 10 p.m. and saw a man toss a gun and a large plastic bag once he noticed the police, Ambrose said.

Toushawnt Dixon (Newark police)  

Toushawnt Dixon, 21, was arrested and police also recovered 29 bags of marijuana as well as a loaded 9-mm handgun. A second 9-mm was also found, Ambrose said.

Dixon has been charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, distribution and distribution within 500 feet of a public housing complex. Dixon was also wanted on an outstanding warrant.

Ambrose urges anyone with information about this incident to call the 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.

Ambrose credited the tip line and wanted posters with 92 arrests and four guns taken off the streets so far in 2017.

You may not be the fashion trend-setter, but you're likely right in step with what's in vogue.

The new format on nj.com will make it even easier for you to enjoy the vintage photo galleries. One unfortunate side-effect is that I won't be able to insert small photos in the copy, so I guess you'll have to do without a photo of 19-year-old me wearing what looks for all the world like a pair of Daisy Dukes.

Want to be in style? Chances are, you probably are. You may not be the fashion trend-setter, but you're likely right in step with what's in vogue.

According to Health on NBCNews.com, research shows that what's "hot" in baby names, dog breeds, clothing and music is largely the result of copycatting.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

Scientists developed computer simulations based on a system of random copying in which hundreds of thousands of individuals copy each other with two percent or fewer being innovators.

And, those who set the trends don't even have to be original. Refinery29.com noted that "In 2016, the fashion industry dipped into three decades for explicit inspiration -- the '70s, '80s, and '90s, where roller-disco bohemian, Dynasty opulence, and skater grunge filled the racks of every single store."

Perhaps your path to being a fashionista is as close as those old duds stashed in the attic. Your attic, not mine.

Here's a gallery of the fashions and styles people in New Jersey have worn through the years. Be sure to have captions enabled for more information on each photo.

Like to see more? Click these links to previous galleries of what folks wore.

Vintage N.J. fashions and styles

More vintage N.J. fashions and styles

And even more vintage N.J. fashions and styles

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

The California-based supermarket chain will open its 12th New Jersey store

HOBOKEN -- What's on the shelves at the new Trader Joe's opening Friday in Hoboken?

Well, there are the Savory Thin Mini Edamame Crackers, at $2.69 for a 6-ounce bag. Or the White Cheddar Corn Puffs, 7 ounces for $1.99. Organic Super Sweet Cut Corn ("Excellent for Mexican cuisine," we're told), also $1.99, for a 1-pound bag.

If the "Handsome Cut Potato Fries" don't look good to you at $1.99 for 24 ounces worth, how's about cookin' somethin' up with a pound of "Country Potatoes with Haricuts Verts & Wild Mushrooms," priced at $3.29?

In the candy isle, there's the 2-ounce Birthday Cake Bar for $1.49, a confectionary celebration where white chocolate, sprinkles and cookie crumbs mingle in a pink, blue and yellow wrapper.

And much, much, much more.

Trader Joe's, the 50-year-old California-based supermarket chain, will open its 12th New Jersey store on Friday at 9 a.m., on Willow Avenue at 14th Street in Hoboken. Store hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The store is at the base of a 140-unit apartment complex known as The Harlow, one of several residential projects that have transformed the Mile-Square City's traditionally industrial northwest corner.

"We're super excited to wow our customers here," said Linda Bilyk, the Hoboken store "captain," what Trader Joe's calls the manager.

Bilyk provided a sneak preview two days before the opening, as "crew members," also known as employees, finished stocking the 11,700-square foot store with 4,000 items.

"Everything is unique and a great seller," said Bilyk, a 14-year veteran of the Trader Joe's chain who went to Hoboken from its Paramus store.

Bilyk declined to say how many people work at the new store, though she said 95 percent its employees were from the Jersey City-Hoboken-Union City area.

She and other store employees will hold a "lei-cutting" ceremony customary at Trader Joe's openings, followed by food demonstrations and giveaways throughout the day. 

indeed, there does seem to be something particularly celebratory about the arrival of a new supermarket, exemplified by the March 1 opening of a Whole Foods store in Newark. That included Whole Foods' own store-opening ritual, a literal breaking of bread, when loaves of fresh challah were pulled apart and devoured by hundreds of store employees, city officials and eager shoppers.

Likewise in Hoboken, neighbors of the new Trader Joe's welcomed the store with anticipation.

Grace Ryan, a 28-year-old analyst with JP Morgan who lives a few blocks away, was eating a muffin from Dunkin' Donuts as she and friend walked by the store. The muffin was passable, said Ryan, but she had to agree with Bilyk about the universally appetizing quality of Trader Joe's entire product line.

Asked to name her favorite food, she said, "Everything."   

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