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N.J. pop star Halsey was magnetic in her largest home-state concert yet (VIDEO)

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In her first N.J. arena show, Halsey was gracious, fierce and happy to be home

NEWARK -- Before she was Halsey, the Grammy-nominated alt-pop songstress who sold out Madison Square Garden last summer and scored her first No. 1 album this past June, she was Ashley (Halsey being an anagram) Nicoletta Frangipane, born Sept. 29, 1994 at JFK Medical Center in Edison, to parents who had met and married at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Ashley was a Pop Warner cheerleader in Clark, and before she graduated from Warren Hills Regional High School in 2012, Frangipane and her boyfriend used to sit in the Garden State Plaza mall parking lot, listening to burned CDs in his car.

All of this Halsey recounted in Newark Saturday night, from the steps of an immense staircase the comprised the majority of her Prudential Center stage. It was the Jersey's girl's first headlining arena show in her home state and she appeared thrilled to be back.   

"Every fiber and fabric of my being was born here ... here there were people I loved and lost, and a lot of lessons learned," she said.  

And the 23-year-old singer's education rolls on; Halsey's new album "Hopeless Fountain Kingdom" is populated with beautiful, defenseless songwriting and marks a sure-footed leap forward in emotional clarity for the fiery star -- that invincible, "don't give a bleep" aesthetic she's touted since 2014 now spars with the pain of a real young woman whose heartache she can barely manage. 

"Sorry that I can't believe that anybody ever really starts to fall in love with me," she sings on the heartbreaking new ballad "Sorry," her voice choking on tears more than once before the song's end. 

Yes, there was plenty of Halsey's patented electro-pop thumpery and hip-shaking hubris to be had this night, but these blips of sincerity -- the moments that proved she's not just another faceless vocalist who sings over a drum machine -- were what made this performance more round and memorable than her milestone Madison Square Garden offering last August, which was plenty fierce, but light on modesty.

 

The telling newbies "Eyes Closed" and "Bad at Love," an addictive tune that somehow has yet to explode on pop radio, hammered the point that while Halsey has ostensibly figured out this whole music thing, her relationships fail just like any young lover. 

Though Saturday's shrewdest move was tethered to the night's biggest hit: "Closer," Halsey's collaboration with DJ duo The Chainsmokers that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks last year, was smartly slowed down and stripped it of its ubiquitous synth lines -- this time it was just Halsey an a pianist providing newfound depth to what will go down as one of the decade's biggest hits. While Halsey doesn't possess the same sky-scraping vocal ability of pop competitors Ariana Grande or Demi Lovato, her raspy style is recognizable and crisp, and on "Closer," with no backing track for support, she soared. The crowd of teens and 20-somethings shrieked with approval. 

Her staging was one of the niftier pop setups I've seen this year, from the large, streamlined staircase, which was outfitted with LED screens to make it seem as though Halsey was standing in a mountain valley or drifting in space, to a secondary stage at the back of the venue atop which a layer of water sat, allowing for some splashing choreography, a la Beyonce's Formation tour. Blonde hair extensions and revealing, white and blood-red costumes were a stark shift from last year's dark pixie cut and hip-hop-inspired outfits. 

Much of the 90-minute set it was Halsey alone on stage; occasionally she and a female dancer who wore a face-shielding mask would interact with some interpretive and sometimes sensual choreography. A three-piece band played off to the side of the staircase.

Halsey was gracious to her fans, allowing a group of VIPs to select which song she'd play in a certain point in the set, and for her oldest track "Is There Somewhere," she hopped down into the crowd and trotted around the arena, hugging dozens of supporters, many of whom burst into tears immediately afterward. 

During the encore, she played "Gasoline," a searing tune that opened her MSG show, which asks in its first line "Are you insane like me?" Last year, such an inquiry seemed more apropos.

Now, Ashley from New Jersey doesn't seem so crazy, and that's a good thing.  

Halsey's set list

Oct. 14, 2017 -- Prudential Center, Newark, N.J. 

  • "Eyes Closed"
  • "Hold Me Down"
  • "Castle"
  • "Good Mourning"
  • "Heaven in Hiding"
  • "Strangers"
  • "Roman Holiday"
  • "Walls Could Talk"
  • "Bad at Love"
  • "Alone"
  • "Sorry"
  • "Angel on Fire"
  • B Stage:
  • "Lie"
  • "Don't Play"
  • A stage"
  • "Drive" (Fans' choice) 
  • "Is There Somewhere"
  • "Now or Never"
  • "Colors"
  • "Young God"
  • Encore:
  • "Hopeless" (Interlude) 
  • "Gasoline"
  • "Hurricane"

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.


N.J. pets in need: Oct. 16, 2017

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Rescues make great pets.

Some fun and interesting facts about cats and dogs from Nationwide pet insurance:

* Dogs only sweat from the bottoms of their feet, the only other way they can discharge heat is by panting. Cats do not have sweat glands.

* Dogs have about 100 different facial expressions, most of them made with the ears.

* A cat can jump as much as seven times its height.

* Dogs do not have an appendix.

* Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

* Using their swiveling ears like radar dishes, experiments have shown that dogs can locate the source of a sound in 6/100ths of a second.

* A cat's tongue is scratchy because it's lined with papillae--tiny elevated backwards hooks that help to hold prey in place.

... and when faced with the choice of going the way around something that untangles herself or the way that makes it worse, my dog will choose the wrong way 101 times out of 100.

Did Newark's school reform efforts work? This study takes a look

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Researchers at Harvard University's Center for Education Policy Research looked at a narrow slice of student growth data in Newark's public schools

The NJ.com football Top 20 for Oct. 15: Preseason favorite returns to No. 1

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It's a return to No. 1 for one North Jersey non-public team as two new teams entered the mix this week.

Which 20 girls soccer teams are exceeding expectations in 2017?

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Which teams have taken a step forward and turned heads in 2017.

N.J. is getting its first new orchestra in decades

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The Montclair Orchestra will hold its inaugural concert Oct. 22 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. The group - a mix of professionals, students and talented amateurs -- has five concerts planned for the 2017-18 season.

Decades after North Jersey residents joined to create the ensemble that later became part of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, a new group of musicians has come together to launch the fledgling Montclair Orchestra

The company's inaugural concert, "Operatic Connections," is Oct. 22 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Montclair.  The show -- which includes Verdi's "La forza del destino" overture and soprano Ying Fang -- is an homage to Musical Director David Chan, concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

"If you had told me a few years ago that I would be starting an orchestra, I'd have thought you were crazy," orchestra founder and president Andre Weker said. "We have a lot of arts talent in our backyard and a lot of musicians here in town. We're trying to put something together that is more than a typical community orchestra."

Weker, who moved to Montclair with his family in 2015, spent more than a year laying a solid foundation for the semi-professional orchestra, establishing a board of directors and raising money to pay musicians. About 200 area musicians expressed interest in playing with the orchestra. 

From a music industry stand-point, the orchestra is atypical in that it is a "blended concept," Weker said, composed of professional musicians: students from nearby conservatories including Montclair State University's John J. Cali School of Music; and skilled non-professionals called avocational players. The orchestra's first performance will feature about 80 musicians, about 30 of those players are professionals. 

From the audience perspective, the orchestra strives to be different with what it offers during this opening season's five concerts at different Montclair venues, Weker said. 

"We didn't want all Beethoven concerts. I like Beethoven, but he shouldn't be all our programming. If we focus on traditional orchestral music, we alienate a massive portion of our potential audience," Weker said. "Traditional music has its place and we'll be playing it this year, but we're pairing it with modern music and different types of music and taking the idea of orchestral music beyond the stereotype."

Chan-- who is the founder of and artistic director of Musique et Vin au Clos Vougeot in the Burgundy region of France - said he likes the idea of pairings, like wine and cheese. In planning concerts, "you go with things you like but it also has to make a logical progression," Chan said. The inaugural concert opens with an opera overture, moves to a piece by quintessential opera composer Mozart and ends with a Mahler symphony with a soprano solo.

"It really has this thread and narrative of the human voice throughout the program," said Chan, who lives in nearby Closer. "We thought it was perfect because of my own roots at the Met."

The orchestra's first and final concerts of the season are at St. Luke's. The choice is symbolic: About 100 years ago, musicians from St. Luke's formed the original Montclair Orchestra. 

"It's another testimony to support of the arts in Montclair," Weker said. "It's unfortunate it's taken so long to bring an orchestra back (to St. Luke's) but the history is here."

MONTCLAIR ORCHESTRA

Saint Luke's Episcopal Church

South Fullerton St., Montclair

Tickets: $25-45, available online at www.montclairorchestra.org. Oct. 22, 7 p.m.

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

Essex man charged at PATH station with stolen purse, credit cards: police

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Desmond Albright, 24, forced open a handicap entrance gate, and was arrested when police found he had marijuana, a stolen purse and three stolen cell phones, Port Authority police spokesman Joe Pentangelo said.

albrightd.jpgDesmond Albright, 24, has been charged with burglary and other offenses after he was arrested at the Exchange Place PATH Station. (PAPD photo) 

An Essex County man would have been better off leaving after police say he was kicked out of the Exchange Place PATH Station in Jersey City for causing a disturbance Sunday morning.

But Desmond Albright, 24, forced open an entrance gate and was arrested at 9:30 a.m. when police found he had marijuana, a stolen purse and three stolen cell phones, Port Authority police spokesman Joe Pentangelo said.

Albright was charged with burglary, theft of property, theft of service, possession of marijuana and defiant trespass. 

Desmond told police the purse belonged to his girlfriend, but he could not provide a name that matched the identification cards found in the purse, Pentangelo said.

The victim told police her purse was stolen from her car that had been parked in Newark. Another victim told police her cell phone stolen from her auto, also in Newark.

Boys Soccer: 16 storylines to watch in county tournaments across N.J.

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Everything to watch for as county tournaments take the spotlight over the next two weeks.


Christie to throw support behind Newark's Amazon bid, sources say

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The governor will announce the endorsement at a 1 p.m. event in Newark.

TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie will announce this afternoon he's endorsing Newark's bid for Amazon's second sprawling headquarters, sources told NJ Advance Media.

Christie's backing may come with $5 billion in tax breaks state lawmakers have agreed to lavish on Amazon should it choose New Jersey to host its massive headquarters and 50,000 potential new jobs.

Christie worked with legislative leaders to craft the generous tax breaks, specifically tailored for the online retailing giant, to land New Jersey at the front of the crowded pack of suitors jockeying for Amazon's business.

Newark quickly emerged as one of the state's best possible contenders, given the retailer's wish list: to be in a metropolitan area within 30 miles of a population center, 45 minutes of an international airport and no more than one or two miles from major highways.

The impending announcement was first reported by ROI-NJ.com. Christie's schedule includes a 1 p.m. event at Rutgers Business School in Newark with Mayor Ras Baraka and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the former Newark mayor.

The governor will announce Newark has the state's formal backing, according to sources familiar with Christie's decision and the agenda for the news conference. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. 

Other Garden State locales looking to apply, such as New Brunswick, Camden, Gloucester County and Salem County, can still do so. 

Should N.J. offer $5B in tax breaks to lure Amazon?

Applications are due Thursday.

New Jersey residents stand to gain some $9 billion in economic benefits if Amazon builds here, Christie said in a letter encouraging the candidates to succeed him in November's election to lend their support.

Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, said he was unaware Christie would be backing Newark's bid but that the city is ready for the opportunity to host the headquarters.

"I think that's an excellent thing for the state of New Jersey and not just for the city of Newark," Rice said. "The city has been climbing back, trying to come from the ashes to renaissance, as Sharpe James used to say, ever since the 1967 riots. We've had some bumps in the road, but much of the negative we have is really because of a lack of job opportunity."

Over 10 years, Amazon would be eligible for up to a whopping $5 billion in tax credits. That includes $10,000 a year for each job created. If the tax credits the company receives in any given year exceed its tax liability, the state would allow it to reduce its future taxes for up to 50 years.

It can even sell up to $25 million in credits a year to other businesses, with the requirement that the money must be spent for infrastructure improvements at its facility.

Lawmakers would also remove the geographic restrictions on tax incentives which limit recipients to urban transit hubs, more than five dozen "distressed" communities or such designated "growth zones" as Camden, Trenton, Paterson, Passaic and Atlantic City.

In April the online giant said it already has more than 13,000 full-time employees at seven facilities in the Garden State and planned to open three new fulfillment centers in Edison and Cranbury and Logan townships.

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

Christie: Newark should land Amazon headquarters

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Christie announced that the state has endorsed Newark's bid to attract Amazon, the online retail giant.

NEWARK -- Gov. Chris Christie on Monday announced the state has endorsed Newark's bid to attract the online retail giant Amazon to locate its second headquarters in New Jersey.

The governor made the announcement at a news conference with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Christie said the state's largest city would be "not only the best" choice for Newark, but would be "the only" site for a new facility that would bring alone with it 50,000 jobs.

Other Garden State locations -- such as New Brunswick, Camden, Gloucester County, and Salem County -- have been considered possibilities and can still apply.

But Christie said Newark has key incentives, such as being close to New York City, the Newark Liberty International Airport, and major highways. 

"We see the growth happening in Newark," Christie said.

The potential for the new facility, which Amazon will announce in the spring whether to move to New Jersey or locate in another part of the country, would cap off years of rebuilding in Newark.

"The reality is that it's this kind of partnership that is something we should all be proud of," Booker said.

"Let's tell the truth about this incredible city," said Booker, who served as mayor here before he was elected to the Senate. He said Newark "for centuries" was one of "America's premium cities."

The federal lawmaker declared Newark has been "charging back" in recent years after being hit by decades of financial woes and a spike in crimes.

Booker added: "Amazon would be smart to come here."

Cities around the country have been jockeying to land the Amazon headquarters. Christie has proposed $5 billion in tax breaks to help lure the company, and leaders of the Democratically controlled state Legislature have signed on.

Newark would add more to incentives the company to make New Jersey its newest home, including a city property tax abatement that could be worth $1 billion and a city wage tax waiver that would allow Amazon HQ2 employees to keep an estimated $1 billion of their earnings for up to 20 years, according to the governor's office.

"There is no other place in the country that Amazon should go but here," Baraka said. "New Jersey and Newark is the place to be."

The mayor boasted his city's transportation infrastructure and its proximity to Newark International Airport and second busiest sea port in the nation. Not to mention, Barak said, Newark has the fastest broadband internet connection in the country.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

Family faces prison for forcing teen into 'sexual slavery,' AG says

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Husband, wife, son and two others admitted roles in prostitution ring that abused New York teen, authorities say.

TRENTON -- An Essex County man faces 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges he and members of his family forced a 16-year-old girl into sexual slavery, authorities said.

Glen Bowman, Sr. pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree conspiracy to commit human trafficking in front of Superior Court Judge Robert M. Vinci in Bergen County, according to the state Attorney General's Office.

"This man threatened to beat the 16-year-old victim if she didn't follow his orders and perform to his expectations for clients of his prostitution ring," Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a statement Monday. 

Authorities claim Bowman and his wife, Ernestine Bowman, ran a prostitution ring that advertised the underage girl online. They were helped by three others, including their son, Glen Bowman Jr., authorities said.

The five were indicted in April 2015 and have all since pleaded guilty to a range of prostitution and human trafficking charges, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice.

Police say the Bowmans lured the teen from Brooklyn to New Jersey, where she worked as a prostitute at motels in South Hackensack and Clifton.

In October 2014, an undercover officer with the South Hackensack Police Department found an advertisement depicting "a very young-looking female with her breasts exposed" on the classified ad website Backpage.com and arranged to pay $160 for sex, according to police.

Officers from the department later brought the teen and another woman, Tokina Williams, into custody at the motel. They later learned the teen had been reported missing in New York. 

Glen Bowman, Sr. faces 13 years in prison with five years of parole ineligibility under a plea deal with state prosecutors. He is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 14.

Ernestine Bowman pleaded guilty to second-degree facilitating human trafficking in December. Authorities claim the woman "took on a greater leadership role" in the ring after he husband was arrested on separate charges in New York in August 2014. 

Porrino said the family and their co-defendants forced the teen into "a life of brutality and sexual slavery."

The couple's son, who police say introduced the girl to his father, previously pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy to promote prostitution and faces a seven-year sentence. He and his mother are scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 25.

Two other women -- Tokina Williams and Jessica Copeland -- were arrested for lesser roles in the scheme and have pleaded guilty to second-degree facilitating human trafficking and second-degree promoting prostitution, respectively, according to state prosecutors. Both have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. 

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

 

Police seek help finding missing 14-year-old boy

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Angel Gonzalez was reported missing by his family on Oct. 9.

KEARNY -- Police are asking for help locating a 14-year-old boy who has been missing for more than a week. 

Angel Gonzalez was reported missing by his family on Oct. 9. 

He is described as having brown eyes, black hair, is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 140 pounds. Angel was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, gray sweatpants, and black Nike sneakers. 

Authorities say Newark and New York City have been reported as possible locations where Angel could be. 

Police could not immediately be reached for additional information about the investigation. 

Anyone who may know where Angel's whereabouts is asked to contact Det. Marc McCaffrey in the Juvenile Aid Bureau at 201-998-1314 ext. 2824. The case reference number is 17-25,091. 

Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.

6,000 pink symbols of love from Hillside woman to cancer survivors | Carter

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Brenda Bayley doesn't have cancer, but that didn't stop her from crocheting 6,000 pink ribbon shaped pins to honor cancer survivors and those who have died from the disease.

Debra Chandler didn't know the lady handing out the pink Breast Cancer Awareness symbols in downtown Newark.

But Chandler, a 14-year survivor, and others participating in the annual breast cancer walk on Sunday were moved to hug Brenda Bayley when they learned what she had done to honor cancer survivors and those who have lost their lives to the disease.

With nimble fingers -- of undisclosed age --  and a knack to make anything, Bayley spent the past 10 months crocheting the 6,000 symbols in the shape of a ribbon that she handed out.

Who makes 6,000 of anything for people they don't know?

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns 

The Hillside resident never had cancer, nor does anyone in her family, including her eight siblings.

"What a fitting tribute to spend to time to bring awareness" about cancer, said Chandler, an East Orange resident said. "Cancer is not a death sentence. What she's doing represents hope.''

Bayley has been doing this good deed for four years, bringing a measure of comfort to thousands of people who walk every year in Newark.

"I just wanted to help,'' Bayley said.

That's it. Nothing more, except kindness and lots of yarn -- over 30 rolls, which she purchased with her own money.

Breast cancer walkers were grateful when they saw Bayley with the ribbons standing in front of Old First Presbyterian Church, a historical landmark where her roots run deep.

She's been the secretary and administrative assistant for 30 years and a member for 40 years at the Broad Street church. Bayley, who also cooks for church functions, gave herself plenty of time to pull off this massive project.

A labor of love, Bayley started in January, crocheting about 500 a month or 17 or more a day. By September, she'd passed her goal of making 5,000. Last year, she made 1,500 for the walk and it wasn't enough. She ran out on Sunday, too.

Each ribbon-shaped symbol, decorated with colorful beads, took Baylely about 20 minutes to make. Mondays were her busiest days. The church was closed, so she would get an early start and make 100, working until midnight.

Marcia Fingal, her niece, saw the creative process unfold each night.  She said her aunt would be lying on the couch working away, the television tuned to "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" game shows.

"It's was very therapeutic for her,'' Fingal said. "She took it to the next level. She went way beyond so she would have enough.''

Sewing and crocheting are Bayley's gifts, skills and hobbies she picked up as a 14-year-old growing up in Guyana. Bayley recalled gravitating toward the crafts when an uncle told her father: "Why don't you try her out with the scissors?'' to see if that would be something she'd like.

"From there, I just skyrocketed,'' Bayley said.

Bayley made blankets, curtains, clothes, socks, hats, furniture throws, her sister's bridal dress. She continued when she came to the United States in her 20s and after graduating from a New York secretarial school in the late 1960s. Bayley still has her manual typewriter, which she uses to keep track of orders from Avon customers.

For more than an hour on Sunday, Bayley, her relatives and church members gave out the pink pins, Bibles and water to pink-wearing walkers who stopped at their table. Upbeat inspirational music pumped through speakers as people paused to mill about and meet Bayley.

Vicky Andrade, the moderator of the Presbytery Board of Trustees, said she was floored by Bayley's selfless act of kindness.

"She's not selling them,'' Andrade said. "She's just passing them out. This is her contribution.''

Hugs came from Sheila Burke of Irvington, who called Bayley "wonderful'' for thinking of others. Burke was walking with her daughter, Rushelle Burke, in memory of a friend, Terry McCoy, who died of cancer five years ago.

MORE CARTER: Hire Newark gives city residents a future

Gladys Gabbidon, of Newark, didn't get a chance to meet Bayley, but she was thankful the world still has people like her who give freely.    

"She's one of the people that we need,'' Gabbidon said.

Bayley's gesture helped to ease her hurt. Cancer claimed the lives of Gabbidon's  30-year-old son, Glenroy Clive Shelton, and her 45-year-old husband, George Gabbidon.

"She gives from the heart,'' Gabbidon said. "A lot of people need a helping hand.''

She plans to extend that hand next year, too.

"I don't have a choice," Bayley said. "I'll be doing it again.''

Somehow, I knew you'd say that.

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

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

What we know from trial of man accused of killing, dismembering girlfriend

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Closing arguments are expected Tuesday in the trial of Matthew Ballister, of Union Township

PHOTOS of N.J.'s high school mascots: Fierce, fuzzy & funny - you sent us more

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Photos we've snapped since 2010, and we want yours too.

UPDATE, Oct. 16, 6 p.m.: You sent us more photos, we shot more photos and we found some in the archives that we missed the first time around. From all those sources, we're well past 100 pics now. And we're happy to get more, so use the form below to send more, if you have some.

Important note: If you sent us pics thinking you were nominating your mascot for the NJ.com mascot challenge, that won't do it. For that, we need a 30-60-second video. The deadline is coming up fast - Oct. 23 at 10 a.m. Here's lots more info.


Some are adorable. Some are kind of scary. Some are a little puzzling. They're almost all fuzzy.

These are New Jersey's high school mascots. The ones we've photographed since 2010 are in the photo gallery above, and, we know - we're a little heavy on cardinals, or Kardinals, as the case may be.


RELATED: Nominations open for the NJ.com HS Mascot Challenge


We know there are more out there than these for the 37 schools represented above, so we're looking for some help from you. When you're out there over the next few weeks enjoying some high school sports, scan the venue for something bigger, brighter and fuzzier than your typical athlete.

When you find something, snap some pics and then use the form below to send them to us, and we'll add them to the photo gallery.

And while you're at it, think about shooting some video, because a video is what's needed to nominate that mascot for the NJ.com HS Mascot Challenge. All the details about that project, including the Oct. 23 deadline for videos to be posted with the #NJmascotchallenge hashtag, are at the link above.


7 heated moments, new charges, fact checks from lieutenant governor debate

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The Democratic and Republican lieutenant governor candidates met Monday night for their only televised debate. And it frequently grew tense. Here's a recap for those who missed.

Astronaut Scott Kelly is back on Earth and reliving his space stories in W. Orange

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Kelly, who grew up in West Orange with his twin brother Mark, made history as the first American to spend 340 consecutive days in space Watch video

A young Scott Kelly stared out the window daydreaming, occasionally switching his gaze to watch the clock. Anything, really, to avoid listening to the teacher. As a student at Hazel Avenue Elementary School in West Orange, he was constrained by boredom and reading below grade level.

None of his teachers could have guessed that he would grow up to join a select group of intrepid travelers floating in endless space.

Decades later, Kelly, now 53, is retired from a storied career as a test pilot, Navy captain and astronaut. But for 11 months, he was our guy in space, with his stay on the International Space Station. Kelly returned to Earth in 2016 to much fanfare. President Barack Obama lauded Kelly and his identical twin brother, Mark, a fellow retired astronaut, at the White House. Pleasantdale School was renamed Kelly Elementary for the Jersey boys made good. 

Now Scott Kelly is embarking on a tour to promote his book, "Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery" (Knopf, 387 pp., $29.95), which comes out on Tuesday, the same date of his appearance at West Orange High School. The book follows the career of the astronaut, who first traveled to space in 1999 and commanded three missions on the space station, spending 340 consecutive days -- an American record -- on his last trip, performing experiments in service of a larger NASA quest to examine the effects of long-term space travel on the human body.

The Kelly brothers are known for NASA's ongoing Twins Study, a project of 12 universities that documents differences between an earthbound body (Mark) and one that has spent a long period of time in space (Scott). The brothers will be tested each year for the rest of their lives.

scott-kelly-endurance-007.JPGScott Kelly, at right, with his twin brother Mark in 1967 in their yard on Mitchell Street in West Orange. (Scott Kelly)
 

With such a resume, Kelly doesn't often express regret. He does not dwell, for instance, on the fact that in 2011, the brothers missed the boat on an anticipated historic first -- the meeting of siblings in space -- because of a delayed launch. But shirking his education? That's another story. 

"I have one regret in my life and that is that I spent 13 years in school looking out the window," he tells NJ Advance Media in a phone interview from Las Vegas. "Such a waste of my time." 

To be sure, Kelly spent a lot of time looking out of windows (at Earth) on his long stay in space, which stretched from March 27, 2015 to March 1, 2016 (he returned on March 2, Kazakhstan time). "Year in Space," a PBS and Time documentary about the mission, won an Emmy (the second part, "Beyond a Year in Space," airs in November) this month. Kelly also authored a children's book, "My Journey to the Stars" (Crown Books for Young Readers), also out on Tuesday. 

scott-kelly-endurance-043.JPGScott Kelly, right, and his brother Mark Kelly. (Robert Markowitz)

"Endurance" starts with Kelly back on Earth, glad to be reunited with Mark and his daughters, Samantha and Charlotte, but feeling the harsh symptoms of his body's adjustment to gravity -- legs wobbly and swollen, skin plagued by rashes. The story then moves between the Kelly's space launch and the improbable tale of how he even became an astronaut.

Kelly, who now lives outside Houston, says he probably could've been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a child. But both he and Mark have long demonstrated another quality -- a penchant for risk-taking. Growing up on Mitchell Street in West Orange (before his family moved "up the hill" to Greenwood Avenue), they were always recovering from some sort of scrape. 

scott-kelly-endurance-045.JPG(Knopf)
 

"We both got stitches so often we sometimes would have the stitches from the previous injury removed during the same visit," Kelly writes, recalling how Mark, who would go on to become a Navy captain and spend more than 50 days in space, got hit by a car after he failed to heed their mother's instructions to cross at the corner. Their penchant for goofy mischief endures, too -- Mark sent a gorilla suit to space so Scott could scare his fellow ISS inhabitants. 

As a teen, Scott Kelly got his adrenaline fix working as an EMT in Jersey City, but it wasn't until he was a drifting student at the University of Maryland that he found his sense of purpose in the pages of Tom Wolfe's 1979 book "The Right Stuff." He was utterly taken by the story of the hotshots who would go on to join Project Mercury, the first American manned space program, in 1959.

Wolfe's book gave him direction, even if his ascent to a world-class space laboratory wasn't a quick ride. There, floating in zero gravity, he would perform ultrasounds on himself, get a whiff of the metallic "smell" of space, repair a processor that turns urine to water, watch the movie "Gravity" (really), use a "space cup" to drink espresso from a special machine (that cost $1 million from build to launch), cut up mice (for science) and play a game of "is that chocolate or mouse droppings floating my way?" 

This is where the "endurance" comes in, Kelly says. 

"It's a giant leap to imagine -- but if you consider it, really, what it was was a bunch of small steps executed over a very long period of time, almost 15 years from the time I read that book to becoming an astronaut," he says. 

Flashbacks to Kelly's late teens drive the "endurance" point home, like when he transferred to SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx, only to nearly ruin his chances of staying afloat by running off to party at Rutgers (the school had rejected his application), before Mark advised him to hunker down and stay the course. 

Kelly's recalibrated focus eventually led him to the Navy, then NASA, where he became the first American in his astronaut class to fly, piloting space shuttles. And though the record has since been broken, after his last return to Earth, Kelly notched an American best for the most time spent in space.

The Kellys are the first astronaut siblings to travel to space, but they had a template for firsts -- in 1979, their mother, Patricia Kelly, a former secretary who died in 2012, became the first female police officer in West Orange. 

scott-kelly-endurance-008.JPGScott Kelly's police officer father, Richard, holds a Bible as his mother, Patricia, is sworn in as the first female police officer in West Orange in August 1979. (Scott Kelly)

Their father, Richard, was already a police officer in town. His alcoholism colored their childhood; Kelly recounts a trip down the Shore when his father took off with their money, then refused to hand it over when their mother tracked him down at a bar. He still remembers how hungry he felt that weekend.

When they were teenagers, Scott and Mark intervened when a fight between his parents ended with their father pointing a gun in his mouth, threatening to pull the trigger. 

Kelly was in Las Vegas with Mark to give a speech less than two weeks after a mass shooting there left 58 dead. He believes rough moments in childhood helped the two future astronauts learn to manage conflict, to see "through all the bullsh*t," he says. After Mark's wife, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head in a 2011 assassination attempt that left six people dead, he became an advocate for stricter gun laws. 

During Scott Kelly's year in space, he completed his first three spacewalks and ate lettuce grown onboard. On difficult days, such as when carbon dioxide levels were too high, Kelly would page through "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage," the 1959 Alfred Lansing book about a failed 1914 Antarctic expedition to the South Pole, which inspired the title of his space memoir. He'd always see that those men, who had to eat their dogs to survive, had it worse.

Kelly's tweets from @StationCDRKelly served as the public face of the mission, letting millions see his view of Earth from the cupola. Kelly, who is divorced from his first wife, says his fiancee, Amiko Kauderer (they got engaged in March), a former NASA public affairs officer, had much to do with his Twitter presence; his tweets came up during after-work phone calls from space to Texas.

In the last days of his mission, Kelly made another call to his hero, Tom Wolfe. He had sent the writer a thank-you note and photo of himself holding a tablet computer displaying the cover of "The Right Stuff."

"My name is Scott Kelly and I'm currently the Commander of the International Space Station," he wrote, calling Wolfe's book the "spark" that lit his career.

"It just made logical sense for me to call him," Kelly says. "People don't hang up on you in space." 

Scott Kelly will be at West Orange High School (51 Conforti Ave.) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17 to promote "Endurance" with a conversation with New York Times science writer John Schwartz. Tickets available with purchase of the book ($29.95) from Words Bookstore.  

 

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

 

What are the two mystery construction projects on Route 280?

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A reader asked for details about two projects being done on Route 280 between exits one and four.

Highway construction crews are hustling to take advantage of the days before cold temperatures forces them to stop work, and one driver who uses Route 280 asked what they're working on.

A reader asked on Twitter about work on Route 280 between Exits one and four in suburban Essex and Morris Counties, which she said looked like bridge work.

Q: @CommutingLarry, could you please tell me what's the project on 280 between exits 1-4? 

A: We asked the state Department of Transportation what's going on. There are two projects underway on that section of Route 280, said Dan Tirana, a DOT spokesman.

"The first is a bridge deck replacement project and the second is a resurfacing project," he said.

Construction started in July on a $7.2 million federally-funded bridge project on Route 280 west, which will demolish and replace bridge decks on spans over the Passaic River and Essex County Park Road, between East Hanover and Roseland, Triana said. That work is scheduled to be completed in Spring 2018.

To keep two lanes in each direction are open for traffic, drivers will have to change lanes during construction, he said. Traffic in one westbound lane will use the right shoulder, traffic in the other lane will be diverted to a crossover lane and on to a temporary westbound lane on the eastbound side of Route 280. Once past the two bridges, that lane returns to the westbound said of the highway, Triana said.

The second project is a project to repave 14 miles on Route 280 in both directions between Parsippany and Newark, he said. Work started in July and will be done predominantly during overnight periods. Single lanes may be closed during the day, when necessary, he said. Completion is scheduled for fall 2018.  

Have a commuting question? Recently, we answered questions about when a rusty bridge over the Garden State Parkway will get a coat of paint and whether work on a busy Jersey shore intersection has hit a red light?  What's yours? 

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

 

Who were the best N.J. football players in Week 6? Here are 49 standouts

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A look at the best players from Week 6.

Teachers entitled to longevity raises, arbitrator finds

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The Newark school district did not comply with certain provisions of a landmark teachers contract, according to an arbitration ruling.

NEWARK -- An arbitrator has found the Newark school district violated terms of the 2012 teachers contract that received unified praise from Gov. Chris Christie and national union leaders for being a landmark agreement between often warring parties. 

Responding to a series of grievances filed by the Newark Teachers Union in 2013, an arbitrator last month said the Newark school district violated certain provisions, including failing to give employees promised payments for longevity. 

"This contract was the culmination of very difficult but good-faith negotiations. But the state broke its word and its trust by blatantly refusing to implement what it agreed to do," said John Abeigon, president of the Newark Teachers Union. "The arbitrator's decision is a huge victory for Newark teachers and sends a loud message that it's not OK to violate a signed contract."

The district did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It can still appeal the decision.

After 22 years under state control, the locally-elected Newark School Advisory Board is getting ready to assume responsibility over the schools, including the power to hire and fire its own superintendent. 

The historic contract was negotiated by then-Superintendent Cami Anderson, who was appointed by the state. 

"Gov. Christie and his appointees really didn't care about respecting educators or making Newark public schools better, so they ignored the aspects of the then-new contract that enabled teacher voice and professionalism," American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said in a statement.

Weingarten appeared next to Christie to tout the contract's passage in 2012. The agreement was progressive for its offer of merit pay to teachers based on classroom performance. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million donation and private donors helped foot the cost of the contract. 

"Sadly, they just wanted the Facebook money, and they used state control to put testing over teaching and learning and to close schools," Weingarten said.

According to the arbitrator, the district did not abide by four provisions:

  • Failing to pay longevity payments. The NTU said this amounts to $1.6 million owed to 500 employees.
  • Failing to pay one-time salary payments for employees who were on a leave of absence. The NTU said about 40 employees are impacted.
  • The district did not create a committee that would approve which graduate degree programs could earn teachers additional compensation.
  • Current administrators acted as peer evaluators in the new evaluation system, contrary to what was stipulated in the contract.

The district was also recently reprimanded by the Civil Service Commission for not properly appointing 485 employees to new titles. Any new titles must be approved by the agency. Failure to comply with the order could force the district to pay a $10,000 fine. 

"This ruling stops the district from changing members' titles to decrease their pay, lay them off or remove them from the union inappropriately," said Abeigon. "Now, we want the district to show they have complied with the order so the workers are in their proper job titles."

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

 
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