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Flash flood alerts issued in 5 N.J. counties as severe thunderstorms approach

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The National Weather Service said as much as 3 inches of rain could fall when thunderstorms move across the region Thursday afternoon and Thursday night.

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch and a severe thunderstorm watch for several New Jersey counties as well as for New York City, saying as much as 3 inches of rain could fall when thunderstorms move into the region Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening.

As of 2 p.m., rain showers and some thunderstorms were moving through central Pennsylvania but have not yet made their way into New Jersey. 

Forecasters from the weather service are expecting thunderstorms to develop in parts of the Garden State Thursday afternoon and say the storms will increase in intensity Thursday evening.

"Additional rounds of heavy rain producing thunderstorms are again possible tonight," the weather service's Upton, N.Y., office said in its flash flood watch. "Three inches or more of rain will be possible where the heaviest and most persistent storms occur, leading to flash flooding."

Heat warnings issued amid summer scorcher

A flash flood watch has been posted for the New Jersey counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union, as well as New York City, Long Island, the lower Hudson Valley and southern Connecticut. It is effective from Thursday afternoon through 6 a.m. Friday.

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Union counties, effective from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday. The same watch also includes New York City and Long Island. 

Update: At about 3 p.m., the severe thunderstorm watch was expanded to include Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset and Warren counties, effective through 9 p.m. Thursday.

Intense heat lingers 

New Jersey is in the midst of its hottest day of the week, with temperatures reaching as high as 97 degrees in Toms River, 97 degrees at Atlantic City International Airport (an unofficial record for July 13), and 97 degrees in Cape May Court House, Oceanport and Seaside Heights, according to climate data from the National Weather Service and the New Jersey Weather & Climate Network at Rutgers University.

Making Thursday feel even more oppressive is the high humidity.

During the early afternoon, the heat index -- how hot it feels when the air temperature is combined with the relative humidity -- soared to 105 at the airport in Pomona, 105 in Millville, 104 in Wildwood and 102 in Toms River. 

Live weather radar

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.


Gas main break forces street closures, evacuations in Newark

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Motorists urged to avoid the area.

NEWARK -- A gas main break caused road closures and evacuations in Newark's North Ward Thursday afternoon, according to officials.

Police closed streets from 3rd and Mount Prospect avenues to 2nd Avenue, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said. Drivers were urged to avoid the area.

An unspecified number of buildings were also evacuated. Utility crews and city emergency responders were at the scene as of shortly before 3 p.m.

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

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

 

Amid 'Summer of Hell,' Murphy faults Guadagno on transit

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Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Murphy joined mayors in Newark to criticize the Republican nominee, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, for failing to oppose cancellation of the ARC commuter rail tunnel project in 2010 by her boss, Gov. Chris Christie

NEWARK -- Seizing on the first week of the "Summer of Hell" commuting season, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Murphy criticized Republican rival Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno for supporting cancellation of a massive commuter rail project back in 2010.

"I would have loved to hear that the lieutenant governor had opposed the governor on the cancellation of the ARC tunnel project, but I don't believe that was the case, unfortunately," said Murphy, breaking a sweat in the sweltering upstairs waiting room of NJ Transit's Broad Street Station in Newark. "This goes back to a question of leadership. Period, full stop."

Murphy was referring to the so-called Access to the Region's Core project, a rail tunnel and related infrastructure improvement program intended to double commuter capacity into Manhattan.

Some of the project's $14 billion projected cost was to come from New Jersey, and Christie said he cancelled the project because state taxpayers would have been on the hook for more and more of the spiraling cost. Critics said Christie's real motivation was to avoid hiking the state gas tax, which would have run counter to the national political aspirations he still harbored at the time.

The governor later lent his support to the modified Gateway tunnel project now underway, a more expensive project that Guadagno also supports.

Guadagno campaign spokesman Ricky Diaz fired back at Murphy, a wealthy financier and former Democratic Party national finance chairman.

"Goldman Sachs millionaire Phil Murphy is used to taking his private jet to work, but Kim Guadagno took the train to work every day as a prosecutor and knows how important affordable, reliable transportation is for our state," Diaz said in an email.

Murphy was joined at the train station by Democratic mayors Ras Baraka or Newark, Tim Dougherty of Morristown, and Sheena Collum of South Orange, who all stressed the importance of mass transit to their communities.

Baraka, who on Tuesday night had hosted Murphy for a 50th anniversary observance of the city's violent unrest in 1967, said he was "glad to soon-to-be-Governor Murphy is here to talk about transit and other issues important to the city of Newark." 

Dougherty stressed that transit systems were used by all segments of society, including Wall Streeters, single moms, and blue-collar workers.

"We have to be prepared to support the infrastructure that drives our economy," he said.

Collum said communities with train stations were responsible for 59 percent of the state's population growth since 2008. She also said transit was responsible for promoting better physical health, because train riders were more likely than motorists to reach the "10,000 steps" daily health threshold.

Doug O'Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, a Murphy supporter, said it was critical to restore full funding to NJ Transit after eight years of under-funding under Christie.   

Diaz noted that Guadagno released a highway and transit funding plan on Monday, after riding the train to work on the first day of Amtrak repairs to New York Penn Station in the wake of recent derailments. The work has prompted NJ Transit and other rail service disruptions, which were predicted -- inaccurately, so far -- to cause crowding and delays that many had dubbed a "Summer of Hell."

The plan would includes dissolving a panel created under last year's gas tax hike and instead creating a formula for funding transportation projects based on need, and working with the congressional delegation in leveraging New Jersey's "donor-state" state to wrest more federal aid from Washington. 

Murphy called some of Guadagno's ideas "interesting," but he dismissed her plan as  too little too late.

"When you've been the co-leader of the state for 7 1/2 years, it's a little late to start standing up with interesting ideas that would help our transportation infrastructure," Murphy said. "I would have liked to hear those ideas in 2010."

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

Detectives seek public's help to ID 'persons of interest' in murder (VIDEO)

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Man, 42, shot to death in May. Watch video

IRVINGTON -- Authorities on Thursday asked for the public's help to identify two people in connection with a slaying on an Irvington street.

Jawab Smith, 42, was shot to death on the 400 block of Grove Street May 27, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

A brief video clip released by the prosecutor's office captured the two people, who were considered as "persons of interest" in the investigation, the agency said.

Information developed by prosecutor's office detectives led investigators to seek the pair in connection with Smith's murder, Acting Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino said in a statement.

The video was captured around 7:45 p.m. the day of the shooting from Grove Street, near Breckenridge Terrace. Smith was shot approximately a half mile away. 

A prosecutor's office spokeswoman declined to say why the pair were considered as persons of interest in the investigation.

Anyone with information or can identify the people in the video was urged to call the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force tip line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.

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

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Newark watershed manager gets 8 years for kickback scheme

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He and a contractor were indicted in what prosecutors said was a major kickback scheme

NEWARK -- The former special projects manager of the now-defunct Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp. was sentenced Thursday to eight years in federal prison for his role in a multi-million dollar kickback scheme that contributed to the collapse of the non-profit agency.

Donald Bernard Sr.Donald Bernard Sr. (Samir Id-Deen | New Jersey News Photos)
 

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Donald Bernard Sr., 69, of West Orange, previously admitted working with the watershed's former director, Linda Watkins Brashear, from 2008 to 2013 to solicit more than $956,000 in kickbacks from contractors for the watershed in exchange for sending work their way.

Bernard first served as a consultant before being hired by the watershed in 2010 as a salaried employee, according to prosecutors.

In December 2015, Brashear admitted in federal court to demanding nearly $1 million in kickbacks from contractors, income she later hid from the government at tax time. Prosecutors have said Brashear faces up to 23 years in prison at sentencing, which is currently scheduled for Sept. 11.

The watershed corporation, which was officially dissolved in 2013, was the subject of a scathing 2014 report by the state Comptroller's Office, which accused Brashear of doling out the watershed's funds to friends and family.

The watershed's newly formed board of trustees voted that year to file for bankruptcy in an attempt to recover the pillaged funds. Former Newark mayor and now U.S. Sen. Corey Booker was one of 18 people named in a bankruptcy lawsuit filed by the trustees, who argued he failed to properly oversee the watershed corporation while serving as board chair.

Booker, who was dismissed from the lawsuit in June 2016, argued the watershed's lawyers and accountants never alerted him to the financial corruption, and that he moved to bring the organization under the city's control once he became aware of the wrongdoing.

The Newark Water Group, a citizen group that led the push to dissolve the agency, said in a statement that while it was satisfying to see the case come to sentencing, "we continue to have questions and concerns about the investigation into the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp. (NWCDC) and its results."

"We also believe there are a number of other individuals beyond those already charged who could well have engaged in illegal conduct in connection with the scandal," the statement said.

"We sincerely hope federal prosecutors have taken advantage of the time between Bernard and Brashear's pleas and their sentencings to continue the probe and that it will result in additional charges."  

Bernard and one of the contractors, Jack DeRosa of Clinton Township, were indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2014 on charges including wire fraud and money laundering following an investigation by the FBI.

DeRosa was sentenced in October to six months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering.

Prosecutors said Bernard, who worked as a consultant for the watershed before being hired as a salaried employee, personally accepted more than $409,000 in kickbacks from Jim P. Enterprises and New Beginnings Environmental Services, bribes which were funded by inflated payments from the watershed.

He also admitted taking approximately $85,000 in payments from DeRosa's company, Essex Home Improvements, and omitting $314,000 in kickbacks from his 2009 tax return.

Both companies were purportedly controlled by James Porter, but were actually affiliated with Bernard, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Porter previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges and is scheduled to be sentenced July 20. 

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Jose Linares sentenced Bernard to three years of supervised release, according to prosecutors.

Bernard's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

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

Editor's note: This story has been updated with other charges Bernard pleaded guilty to, as well as comments from the Newark Water Group.

Recalling human toll of a 'rebellion' in Newark's 1967 riots | Carter

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Fifty years after the Newark riots, anguish remains for those who lost loved ones.

The 26 names of those who died in the 1967 Newark riots had already been read aloud, but Kimberly Spellman wanted to read them again during an observance two blocks from where it all started.

Wiping away tears, Spellman did roll call once more, reading from a 1968 report -- the Governor's Select Commission on Civil Disorder -- that lists where the people were and how they died between July 12 and 17, 1967.

Eloise Spellman, her mother, was the 22nd name on the document from which Kimberly read. 

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns 

Spellman was emotional, asking the crowd for its patience at Rebellion Park, a small swath of land at Springfield and 15th avenues, where a crowd gathered Wednesday for the 50th anniversary.

"She was minding her business," said Spellman, speaking of her mom, who had 11 children. "She was taking care of her babies."

Her mother was cooking dinner July 15, pausing to move one of her children away from the window of their 10th-floor apartment at Hayes Homes, a public housing project. When she leaned out of the window, Spellman was shot in the neck by a National Guardsman, who thought she was a sniper.

"She bled out," said Spellman, who was 4 then, the youngest of the 11.

People listening could hear her anguish, some hugging Spellman afterward as she stood by the monument that bears the names of those who died. She was with her sister, Pam Spellman, of Orange, her brother, Frank Spellman, and several nieces and nephews.

"Time doesn't heal this wound," said Pam, who held a large black-and-white photograph of their mother. "Every day of my life, I think about my mother."

Organizers of the observance and witnesses of the civil disturbance said this should not have happened. They describe the unrest as a rebellion, because blacks were fed up with stifling economic and social conditions laced with discrimination.

The city was in turmoil for five days, marked by looting and gunfire, $10 million in damage and the 26 deaths.

"The rebellion was a response to what people were experiencing in this country," said Larry Hamm, a community activist who is president of the People's Organization for Progress, a Newark-based community civil rights group.  "It was a collective response to collective repression."

Since 1983, the group has organized the annual commemoration to remember those who died. In 1997, the monument was installed and dedicated so others can examine the circumstances of what happened.

The uprising that summer was sparked by the arrest of a black cab driver, John Smith, who was beaten by white police officers after they said he passed them improperly on 15th Avenue and Seventh Street in Newark. Large crowds gathered around the Fourth Precinct station on 17th Avenue, where people had seen Smith being dragged.

After rumors that he had been killed were quashed, community activists demanded that Smith be taken to the hospital when they saw him bleeding and in pain in a jail cell.

His brother, James K. Smith, was 11 years old at the time in Salisbury, N.C. Soft- spoken and quiet, James, a musician and resident of Brooklyn, stood in front of the precinct on Wednesday. He told the crowd that had marched there from the monument that his brother would be honored because of the respect from Newark, but he probably would be sad as well.

"It's bitter sweet,'' he said. "Bitter because the names are there."

He had never been to the monument, but said seeing the names offers a measure of comfort to surviving relatives who are still here.

"They are still in the rib cage, still in the heart," he said.

David Armstrong, of Orange, came for his 20-year-old uncle, Albert Mersier, who was shot in the back July 14 by Newark police for stealing from a warehouse.

Armstrong was 10 then, but holds fond memories of his uncle. He said Mersier made sure he'd go to school, let him tag along to the basketball court to shoot hoops with his older friends.

"He was my role model," Armstrong said.

Dennis Westbrook, who lives in Pittsburgh, came back to honor the fallen and share his role in the rise of black political power in Newark.

Westbrook was on the slate with Kenneth Gibson when Gibson became the first black mayor of the city in 1970. Had Westbrook won re-election in 1974, he said, he'd probably never have left.

"Newark has always been my heart," he said. "It's my second home."

The annual observance was among several events this week to define the upheaval as a rebellion. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka made a point of reminding people Tuesday night at Abyssinian Baptist Church that it was not a riot nor should the period before it be romanticized.

He said Newark began to decline long before the riots. After World War II, he said, the Federal Housing Administration redlined many neighborhoods, meaning there would be no investments or loans.

The FHA, he said, encouraged white flight when it provided low-cost mortgages to mostly white soldiers returning home from the war so they could buy homes in the suburbs instead of renting in the city.

Between 1950 and 1967, the white population declined from 360,000 to 160,000, while the African-American population, many of whom came from the Jim Crow South for a better life, jumped to 220,000.

"While the federal government subsidized homes in the suburbs for most white Americans leaving these cities, they trapped African-Americans in the city that was wholly redlined and subsidized with low-income housing that we know as the projects."

MORE CARTER: Monument remembers those who died in the riots

By 1966, the public housing stock was dilapidated. Poverty was concentrated. Upward mobility for the poor was limited. Housing was substandard, urban renewal plans uprooted blacks from neighborhoods and more than a third of black men age 16-19 were unemployed, according to the governor's commission, an independent panel that studied the riots.

Even with fewer whites as residents, Baraka said, Newark was still governed and controlled by whites in a city that was predominately black.

"It was almost a de facto apartheid structure," he said. "Newark was a cauldron that boiled over. It was a rebellion."

On Wednesday, it was a time for reflection.

When the crowd returned to the monument, there were more speakers as the crowd began to thin. James Smith pulled out his trumpet and played a peaceful tribute to his brother, John, a saxophone and trumpet player himself.

He taught James how to finger the instrument and play " 'Round Midnight" by pianist Thelonious Monk.

Wednesday, he played that for John -- just as he had done, in 2002, at John's funeral.

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or 

nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL

Bonded kittens need a home

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WEST ORANGE -- Cinderella and Fluffy (pictured) are 3-month-old kittens in the care of West Orange Trap Neuter Vaccinate and Return. They spent the first few weeks of their lives in a feral cat colony. Cinderella and Fluffy have bonded and need to be adopted together; they have been dewormed, spayed/neutered, are FIV/FeLV negative and up-to-date on shots. For more...

ex0716pet.jpgFluffy 

WEST ORANGE -- Cinderella and Fluffy (pictured) are 3-month-old kittens in the care of West Orange Trap Neuter Vaccinate and Return. They spent the first few weeks of their lives in a feral cat colony.

Cinderella and Fluffy have bonded and need to be adopted together; they have been dewormed, spayed/neutered, are FIV/FeLV negative and up-to-date on shots.

For more information on Cinderella and Fluffy and other adoptable felines, email wotnvr@gmail.com or go to wotnvr.petfinder.com.

Shelters interested in placing a pet in the Paw Print adoption column or submitting news should call 973-836-4922 or email essex@starledger.com.

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

Glimpse of History: Not just a haircut anymore

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IRVINGTON -- A photo taken at House of Style Haircutters on Union Avenue in Irvington in the 1970s. MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey According to hairstyleonpoint.com, the top five hairstyles for men in the 1970s were shoulder-length but combed hair, "long and natural" (uncombed") hair, the Afro or perm, side-combed and shaggy. If you would like to share a...

IRVINGTON -- A photo taken at House of Style Haircutters on Union Avenue in Irvington in the 1970s.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

According to hairstyleonpoint.com, the top five hairstyles for men in the 1970s were shoulder-length but combed hair, "long and natural" (uncombed") hair, the Afro or perm, side-combed and shaggy.

If you would like to share a photo that provides a glimpse of history in your community, please call 973-836-4922 or send an email to essex@starledger.com. And, check out more glimpses of history in our online galleries on nj.com.

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


Trump arrives in Newark from France, heads to U.S. Women's Open

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Protestors are expected to greet the president at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, site of this year's premier LPGA event Watch video

NEWARK -- President Donald Trump touched down at Newark Liberty International Airport Friday afternoon after attending Bastille Day ceremonies in Paris, with plans to head to his golf course in Bedminster for the U.S. Women's Open.

The president arrived on Air Force One at 2:44 p.m., before leaving the airport in a motorcade for the 30-mile trip to Trump National Golf Club in Somerset County.

Earlier in the day, Trump had tweeted that he would, indeed, be attending the "most important tournament" in women's golf.

Apart from attending France's independence day celebration as the guest of honor 100 years after America's entry into World War I, Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, and he and First Lady Melania Trump also dined with Macron and his wife, Brigitte.

Protesters plan to greet Trump at the golf club, objecting to the decision by the Ladies Professional Golf Association and the U.S. Golf Association to stage the showcase event there in light of past revelations about Trump's attitudes and behavior toward women.

The anti-sexism group UltraViolet has called on the LPGA and USGA to "dump Trump," and issued a statement attacking the real estate developer, reality show host and 45th U.S. president as, "a self-admitted serial sexual predator and unapologetic misogynist."

Trump's return from overseas also comes amid the recent revelations that his son Donald Jr., met during the campaign last year with a Russian lawyer on the promise of receiving damaging information about his father's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Trump told reporters in Paris that he had been unaware of the meeting, and he defended his son's actions as something, "a lot of people would do."

At Trump National, the president and his guests are expected to watch the tournament from an elevated, air-conditioned viewing stand constructed near the clubhouse, overlooking the 16th tee and the 18th green.

Trump National is one of several New Jersey properties that have borne the president's name, including a pair of apartment towers in Jersey City, and several Atlantic City casinos, all defunct: Trump's Castle, which later became Trump Marina; Trump Plaza; and Trump Taj Mahal, which held a liquidation sale last week.

NJ Advance Media staff videographer Bernadette Marciniak contributed to this report.

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

Man facing life after conviction in Newark killing

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Authorities say a jury convicted the city man of the 2013 killing after just an hour of deliberations.

Mangual.jpgMangual. (Essex County Corrections)
 

NEWARK -- An Essex County jury took about an hour to convict a city resident of murder and other charges in the 2013 shooting death of a man in front of his Newark home, officials said Friday.

Luis Mangual is facing life in prison after his murder and weapons charges convictions, Acting Essex Prosecutor Robert Laurino said in a release. Mangual was found guilty of killing Jose Alfaro, 39, who was shot on December 28, 2013 while standing on the sidewalk outside his Mt. Prospect Avenue home, officials said.

Authorities at the time said he was shot after a verbal exchange with another man. Mangual was arrested in February 2014, records show.

Mangual will be sentenced later this year, officials said.

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

Cemetery left body exposed to elements in unfilled grave, police report says

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The corpse was found on top of a coffin in an open grave at Rosemount Cemetery in Elizabeth, the police report said.

ELIZABETH -- A nude corpse was found Wednesday lying facedown on top of a coffin in an unfilled grave at an Elizabeth cemetery, according to police.

The male body was decomposing and partly submerged in water and other fluids at Rosemount Memorial Park, according to a police report obtained by NJ Advance Media. The gravesite was partially covered with wood planks and secured by the bucket of a backhoe, the report says.

A police officer went to the cemetery, which sits on the border with Newark, to investigate a call of exposed human remains, the report says.

A group of people flagged down the officer down when he arrived and said they had found the uncovered gravesite of one man's wife, who had died June 27.

"I observed that the gravesite was not filled in and that human remains were exposed to the elements and not properly placed in a coffin-type box," Officer Victor Matos wrote in the report.

The deceased woman's family had found her grave marker at the open site and taken a picture of the nude corpse, which they mistakenly thought was their relative, the report says. 

After a police officer photographed the gravesite, groundskeepers removed the backhoe bucket and wood planks, according to the report.

"We observed the decomposing, partially submerged, unclothed body of a male, who was laying facedown on top of a coffin, which was submerged in water and other fluids," Matos wrote in the report.

Groundskeepers then filled in the grave with dirt, according to the report. 

"I notified the family and advised them the body that was exposed was not" their relative's, Matos wrote in the report. 

An Elizabeth police spokesman on Friday declined to elaborate or comment on the report. 

The state Division of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the board that regulates cemeteries, acknowledged the incident in a statement.

"The Cemetery Board is aware of the allegations and is currently gathering information," the statement read. 

Attempts on Friday to reach several relatives of the woman whose grave was uncovered were unsuccessful. A phone message left at the cemetery for its manager, Michael Baratta, was not immediately returned. 

Rosemount's operations have come under question before. The cemetery in 2013 employed a man who had been convicted in a scheme to harvest and sell body parts from the corpses that passed through his Newark funeral home. 

In 1996, Rosemount and its two principal operators paid a $60,000 fine to the Division of Consumer Affairs to resolve accusations that bodies had been buried under sidewalks and up to nine people had been put in one grave. The operators, Louis Cicalese and Lawrence Nikola, also admitted to illegally reclaiming gravesites that families had bought but not used. 

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

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

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips 

Duo robbed Newark pharmacy at gunpoint, police say

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Newark police arrested two men after they allegedly robbed Harris Pharmacy in Newark on Thursday.

NEWARK -- Two men were arrested after they allegedly robbed Harris Pharmacy on Broadway at gunpoint, Newark police said Friday.

Saleem Young, of Newark, and Jahfee Scott, of Hillside, both 23, were arrested after a passerby saw the two riding bicycles and carrying a handgun, according to a release by the Newark Public Safety Department.

Police arrested the two men around 1 p.m. after they found Scott was carrying a gun, authorities said. The duo fit the description of the two men who had robbed Harris Pharmacy minutes earlier, police said.

They were charged with robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon and conspiracy. Young was also charged with resisting arrest, criminal mischief and discharging a weapon in the city. 

It wasn't immediately clear what was taken from the pharmacy. Anyone with additional information can call the Crime Stopper tip line at 1-877-695-8477. 

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

Father lashes out at son's killer during sentencing for 2013 shooting

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A man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the killing of a college student and former high school wrestling star.

DSCF4945.JPGLavarr Nowell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a first-degree charge of aggravated manslaughter for the 2013 killing of Plainfield High School wrestling star Duwad Hicks. (Tom Haydon | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) 

ELIZABETH -- Duwad Hicks was star wrestler at Plainfield High School who had colleges around the country pursuing him, his father Duwad Hicks Sr., said in court Friday.

"He had so many opportunities," the father said.

That all ended on Dec. 3, 2013 when the son, then 21, was shot and killed on Manson Place in Plainfield.

On Friday, the son's admitted killer, Lavarr Nowell, 25, was sentenced to 20 years in prison as part of a plea agreement.

"He has gotten the benefit of a very generous plea offer," Union County Assistant Prosecutor Colleen Ruppert told Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim. "This was a murder. (Nowell) lie in waiting for this victim, and then got out of a car and shot him."

Nowell, who also lived in Plainfield, and a co-defendant, Julian Robinson, 26, of Newark, were both tried for Hicks' murder. Robinson was found not guilty. Nowell was convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon, but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the murder charge.

After the trial, Nowell agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter.

Peim, who presided over the trial, said it "was a very difficult case to prove" because witnesses claimed they could not recall the events surrounding the shooting.

In a statement to the judge, Duwad Hicks Sr. said Nowell chased his son "down the road like a dog," shooting him twice.

"This man devastated our community," the father said. "To let him off with anything less than the maximum is a disgrace to my family, to our community. This is going to happen again. He's going to be back here."

Nowell, when given the chance to comment before being sentenced, looked at Hicks' father sitting in the audience and softly said, "I apologize."

Ruppert said Nowell only accepted responsibility for the shooting after reaching the plea agreement.

Peim called the killing an "execution."

"As for the family (of the victim), my heart breaks for you," Peim said. "There's no punishment that's going to make this feel better."

However, Peim said the sentence "took a dangerous person off the street."

Peim said Nowell must serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.

While in high school, the younger Hicks competed in two state wrestling tournaments, and was the number two seed in the 2011 competition, finishing sixth. 

After graduating Plainfield High School in 2011, Hicks went on to Iowa Central Community College, one of the best junior college wrestling programs in the country. However, he left the school and returned to New Jersey, enrolling in Middlesex County College to be closer to home, his father said.

On the night of the shooting, Hicks was shot at about 9 p.m. Police responded to the scene and Hicks was taken to a hospital where he died about 30 minutes later, authorities said.

Nowell was arrested two months later, in February 2014. Investigators later developed evidence against Robinson and charged him in 2015.

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

Newark man arrested with $15K worth of drugs

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The Essex County Sheriff's Office said German Pereyra was arrested Thursday after he allegedly was carrying a brown paper bag filled with cocaine in his car.

NEWARK -- A 22-year-old Newark man was arrested Thursday after police found $15,000 worth of drugs in his apartment and car, the Essex County Sheriff's Office said. 

German Pereyra was arrested in the city's North Ward as part of an ongoing investigation into drug dealing in the area, authorities said.

Authorities said they were monitoring Pereyra at his home in the 300 block of North 11th Street when they saw him leave with a brown paper bag and drive away in his 2008 Honda Odyssey. 

PereyraAuthorities arrested 22-year-old German Pereyra, of Newark, on drug charges. (Essex County Sheriff's Office) 

When detectives pulled him over near Belleville, they saw he tossed the brown bag to the back seat, authorities said.

"When the bag hit the back seat, 208 grams of bulk cocaine, wrapped in clear plastic, and drug packaging paraphernalia spilled out," Sheriff Armando Fontoura said in a press release. 

Detectives then searched his home and found a shoe box with 200 envelopes of cocaine and other drug-related items.

Pereyra faces multiple drug possession charges, including intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of two public schools.  

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

Family claims cops are withholding video of son shot by police

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The mother and grandmother of 23-year-old Kashad Ashford said dashcam tapes they were shown Friday by the state Attorney General's office showed only the aftermath of the shooting.

NEWARK -- Dashcam video from a 2014 fatal police shooting in Rutherford screened Friday by the state attorney general's office was "an insult to the family" that revealed little about what actually happened, said the mother and grandmother of the Newark man who was killed.

"If you were going to show us something, show us what happened," said Cecille Hepburn, whose grandson, Kashad Ashford, 23, was fatally shot after striking a guardrail in Rutherford at the end of a police chase.

The family vowed to continue its fight to get at what really happened, including pursuing other, more revealing tapes that they believe must exist.

A year after the shooting, a state grand jury declined to indict four officers who fired their weapons into the stolen SUV driven by Ashford, which had crashed into a guardrail on a Route 3 overpass, before police said it backed into a patrol car while trying to flee.

Two Lyndhurst officers, a Rutherford officer and a State Police trooper armed with a shotgun fired more than a dozen rounds, according to a report by the Attorney General's Shooting Response Team, which nonetheless found that the officers acted legally in the Sept. 16, 2014 incident.

The case prompted a protracted legal battle in which Ashford's family and local news media sought the release of dashcam videotapes recorded by responding officers, which culminated with a state Supreme Court decision on Wednesday siding with the family.

That decision, written by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, is what prompted Hepburn and her daughter-in-law, Regina Ashford, Kashad's mother, to travel to Trenton on Friday to the state Department of Law and Public Safety to view what they thought would be the final moments of his life and just how it ended.

Instead, what they saw were three video clips of the aftermath of the shooting, recorded by dashcams from officers who arrived later, said Hepburn, Ashford and a civil rights advocate who accompanied them.

"I was expecting to see the killing of my son," said Ashford, who lives in Newark. "I was expecting to see the chase that put him in harm's way. The three tapes I've seen had nothing to do with that. Nothing at all. I didn't understand it. I was lost."

A spokesman for the Attorney General's office, Peter Aseltine, did not respond to questions Friday afternoon about the videotapes shown to the family earlier that day.

The family said copies of the tapes were not provided to them.

Essentially, Hepburn said, the tapes showed a relatively quiet scene that included "a lot of cops just walking around, talking," with some audio from police radios.

The audio included lines, "one in custody, one down." At one point, she said, "One cop hollers, 'Be careful, the car's in gear,'" said Hepburn, who lives in Franklin Township in Somerset County. "Somebody asks, 'Did you fire?' He said, 'No. I didn't fire.' And there was another who said, 'One fled, one ran, so I shot.'"

The 2015 attorney general's report of the incident found that Ashford went lifeless behind the wheel after he was shot, and that the one passenger in the SUV was removed from the vehicle by officers. 

That passenger, Jemmaine T. Bynes, 31, of East Orange, reclined his seat and avoided being hit. Bynes was later shot dead in an unrelated incident.

People's Organization for Progress Chairman Lawrence Hamm, a veteran civil rights activist who has monitored several police shootings, said he was as mystified as Ashford's mother and grandmother by the tapes he and the family were shown.

All three said the tapes were so banal they had to assume there was other, more incriminating video that the state had fought to keep secret, and the family vowed to press its fight to get at what really happened.

"It is definitely suspicious, because they've been to court three times," Hepburn said. "No one fights that hard for what we've just seen today."

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


Use of pepper spray justified after cops called 55 times, court rules

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A Nutley family sued the police department claiming it used excessive force when an office pepper-sprayed some family members. The lawsuit was dismissed and an appeals court affirmed the ruling.

A police officer's use of pepper spray against a Nutley family during a domestic dispute was justified and reasonable, a state appeals court ruled.

The family had previously had 55 other interactions with police, 25 of which were related to domestic disputes, court records show.

Anthony Pace Sr. and Diana Pace sued the Nutley Police Department claiming an officer used "excessive force" when he pepper sprayed Anthony Pace Sr. and his son in 2012, according to the complaint.

Diana Pace had called police in October 2012, telling the dispatcher they needed officers at their home. "This time it's for real," she told the dispatcher according to court records. When police arrived, Diana Pace was outside her home and said her husband was out of control, records show. 

Officers entered the home but were told to leave; when another officer tried to enter the home, Anthony Pace Jr. pushed the officer back and his father also tried to push the officer but did not touch him, records show. 

The two men were pepper-sprayed in the face and later arrested. 

A lower court dismissed the lawsuit and the Appellate Division upheld that ruling this week. 

"Especially where a police officer was attacked, the use of pepper spray was objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances confronting the officers," the ruling said. 

Calls to the attorneys representing the Pace family and the Nutley Police Department were not returned.  

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

 

Newark police looking for robbery suspect

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NEWARK-- Police are looking for a suspect in an early-morning robbery that occurred over the weekend. Three male suspects in a gray vehicle approached the victim Saturday shortly before 6 a.m. in the 100 block of Elizabeth Avenue. They robbed him at gunpoint and he was later treated for injuries at University Hospital. Police are asking the public's help locating...

NEWARK-- Police are looking for a suspect in an early-morning robbery that occurred over the weekend.

Screenshot (181).pngPolice in Newark are searching for this man in connection with an armed robbery. (Newark police)  

Three male suspects in a gray vehicle approached the victim Saturday shortly before 6 a.m. in the 100 block of Elizabeth Avenue. They robbed him at gunpoint and he was later treated for injuries at University Hospital.

Police are asking the public's help locating the suspects, including the one pictured in an artist's rendering. Anyone with information about this suspect and his accomplices is being asked 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.

Promising Newark teens visit Massachusetts boarding school in summer STEP program

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Students in the STEP program, founded by philanthropist Russell B. Wight Jr., and run by the Wight Foundation, are learning what it's like to attend boarding school.

EASTHAMPTON, Mass. -- In the heat of the day, 51 rambunctious and neatly dressed eighth-graders, accompanied by two or three kindly and patient adults, walked from the Williston Northampton School to the downtown 7-Eleven, politely placed their orders, then gathered on the sidewalk with their ice-cold Slurpees.

They cheered, laughed and mugged for a reporter's camera before one young woman stepped forward and spoke for the group.

"We're here as part of a special academic program," she said. "We're getting to experience what it's like to spend a week at a boarding school."

"We pretty much all get good grades," said another boy. "And we do good things for our community."

The students from Newark and the surrounding area are participating in a rigorous program designed to prepare promising and needy eighth-graders for the academic and social challenges of boarding school.

The Scholars Training and Enrichment Program was founded by philanthropist Russell B. Wight Jr. and run by the Wight Foundation.

Those who make it through the 11-month STEP program may then apply to become Wight Foundation scholars. That group will receive generous scholarships and support to attend four years in residency at a private prep school.

Students from STEP have graduated from such prestigious institutions as the Cambridge School of Weston, the Darrow School, Phillips Academy Andover and Phillips Exeter, and gone on to attend top colleges.

In order to qualify, rising eighth-graders must demonstrate financial need, academic excellence, leadership potential and character, said program director Thalia Brownridge-Smith.

"These kids are attending boarding schools from Vermont to Virginia," she said. "It represents a very special opportunity."

"This week, they're taking classes, participating in sports and activities, and studying hard," added recruitment coordinator Daniel Rowe. "It's the full boarding school experience. We want them to understand that this is a real option for them."

Reached by telephone, Wight Foundation outreach coordinator Haley Mojica said not every student who attends STEP will become a four-year funded scholar.

"It's a vetting process," she said. "But for the Wight Foundation scholars, we provide four years of financial aid, help empower the families, stay in touch, and eventually help guide them through the college application process."

Those who make it become part of a growing alumni network, she added.

Back on Union Street in Easthampton, Cheryl Frank, a school nurse from New Jersey, helped organize the young recruits for the trek back to campus. She said her two children benefited from the STEP program.

"My 19-year-old is now in college studying biochemistry and Spanish, and my 17-year-old is spending the summer at the Savannah College of Art and Design," she said. "I'm very grateful, and happy to give back."

Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.com

These are the 10 most stolen cars in N.J.

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The most stolen car in Jersey isn't a Porsche or hot sports car. It's a 20-year-old sedan.

This Maplewood family finished their basement in high style

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The gorgeous renovation cost more than $100,000

When a basement serves mainly as 900 square feet of storage space, it can be difficult to see past the clutter and imagine what it might become.

In the case of a Maplewood family, blue tape would help.

The couple, who preferred not to be identified, wanted to finish the basement of the 1928 Colonial that has been their home for 11 years. The project would create a family gathering space as well as a quiet office area for the husband and father in their four-level home, which now has 3,500 square feet of living space, including a third-floor guest loft.

On the second floor, the daughter's bedroom suite was newly furnished and decorated, with custom cabinetry added to address a dearth of closet space. The suite comprises two bedrooms separated by a Jack-and-Jill-style bathroom. The bedroom that had previously served as a play area is now an office outfitted with clear acrylic furnishings and designer-themed artwork that lends a grown-up air to a room now used for homework. The bathroom, which was painted and updated with backsplash and floor tiles in a herringbone pattern, is one of three and a half bathrooms in the five-bedroom house.

In the basement, the first step in repurposing the space was to clear it. "That really forced them to edit and get rid of things," says Pam Cooper, whose Watchung company Cooper Interiors was hired to design the home renovation.

With the basement emptied, Cooper could begin to show the family how it could support every activity and function they told her they wanted there.

"Literally, this was one big open room," she said. "I designed where all the walls and cabinets would go." For the family's benefit, she taped shapes on the concrete floor. The lines, squares and rectangles showed them where new walls, furnishings and appliances would be placed, creating a real-world grid for the basement floor plan Cooper had drawn on paper.

The floor would ultimately be covered with ceramic tile that resembles worn wood. "It gives them flexibility," Cooper said. "If they ever get water, it's easily wiped up.

"We kept the flooring light so the room would feel brighter," she said, noting that the basement has only three small windows. "We had all the walls painted in cream-colored neutrals, and then we added layers of grays and beige.

"In a space that doesn't have a lot of natural light, it's important to have overhead lighting," she said. So eight recessed lights were installed along with lamps.

The basement's low ceiling was a challege, so Cooper suggested that the family go with an industrial chic aesthetic that would appeal to their daughter and her visiting friends. "This also helped them keep costs down," she said.

Exposed ductwork was painted to complement the room's color scheme, and some areas were concealed by drywall. "We left some of the cinder block wall and some beams exposed," she said.

The wife says the result exceeded their expectations. "We were the most nervous about the basement given our old house, the lower ceiling and pipes or cables running everywhere," she said. "Ryan (of Bothner Construction in Berkeley Heights) did an outstanding job of going through the puzzle work of hiding, moving, adapting and re-adjusting all sorts of obstructions that got in the way as he was trying to finish the space."

In all, the family gained a wider finished staircase, the basement office, and an entertainment area with a dry bar, a 72-inch flat-screen television and a table for board games and casual dining. "There's also room for a compact beverage refrigerator, a six-foot-tall wine refrigerator that stores about 100 bottles, and a second full-size refrigerator.

The laundry area was already in the basement, but it was enlarged and reconfigured. A ten-foot granite counter was installed for a folding and prep area that tops custom cabinetry to store essentials. A new sink large enough to comfortably bathe the family dog was added.

Adjacent to the laundry, a mudroom with a bench and coat hooks above it is flanked by 6-foot-tall cabinets. One has shelves for shoes, bags and boots. The other is a pantry area. "We gave them a huge storage area for larger serving pieces and things that she doesn't want to keep in her kitchen."

One especially attractive area of the basement is the dry-bar niche accented with glass tiles above cabinets that store beverages and snacks. "We kept everything open, but put up partial walls so we had defined spaces," Cooper said. 

"It feels like we added a thousand square feet to this house," Cooper said. "We added value."

What they renovated

The entire basement of a 1928 Colonial home in Maplewood, along with two second-floor bedrooms and a Jack-and-Jill-style bathroom

Who did the work

Bothner Construction of Berkeley Heights, Cooper Interiors of Watchung, and  Ingrained Cabinetry of Freehold, which built the custom basement cabinetry and bedroom closets.

How long it took

July 2016 to April 2017

What they spent

More than $100,000

Where they splurged

On daughter's bedroom furniture, custom-made cabinetry, granite countertops, and tiles in the laundry and mud room.

How they saved

While painted and organized, a third of the basement (mainly the storage and heater area) remains unfinished. Pipes that could not be easily moved or concealed were integrated into the basement's design. The custom cabinets in the basement were less expensive than the built-ins in the daughter's upstairs bedroom, but have a comparable level of styling. 

What they like most

The coupld had concerns about working on the basement given its lower ceiling and numerous pipes and cables. Their designer "found a fabulous way of integrating the raw look of the outside (cinder block) walls that were important for us to keep, into the overall design of the rooms."

What they'd have done differently

Be more relaxed and worry-free through the process

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