How did 9 new county champs jostle the rankings?

We have a potpourri of questions from readers about Garden State Parkway projects and future New Jersey Turnpike projects.

We have a potpourri of questions from readers about Garden State Parkway projects and future New Jersey Turnpike projects.

Since they're short, we've combined them. The questions are about plans to rebuild Parkway Exit 109 in Middletown, two Parkway projects in Bloomfield and if there are future plans to widen the turnpike, where it's now two lanes in South Jersey. NJ Turnpike Authority spokesman Thomas Feeney provided the answers.

Q: When will work start on the project to rebuild Parkway Exit 109?

A: A construction contract is scheduled to be awarded in the spring of 2018 for the $60 million Exit 109 work, Feeney said. A contract to design the project was awarded in 2015. That project will replace four Parkway bridges at Exit 109 over Newman Springs Road and build a flyover ramp between Newman Springs and the Parkway. It will also expand the commuter bus park-and-ride lot near Exit 109.

Q: When will construction be completed on two sites on the Parkway in Bloomfield in front of the State Police barracks and over Bloomfield Avenue?

A: The work on the bridge in front of the Bloomfield State Police station on the Parkway north is scheduled to be completed in mid-to-late November, Feeney said. Work on another Parkway bridge over Bloomfield Avenue is scheduled to be done by the end of 2017, he said. Both dates are based on no construction delays due to bad weather, he said.

Q: Is there any hope for adding one lane each direction on the Turnpike from Exit 1 (bridge) to Exit 2?

A: The quick answer is not now. There is no money in the current capital plan for widening the Turnpike south of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Extension, Feeney said. The current $7 billion capital plan financed the Turnpike widening between Exits 6 and 9, which opened in October 2014. That plan runs out in 2018.

"That is an issue the Turnpike Authority continues to study to determine whether the work should be included in a future capital program," Feeney said.

Have a commuting question?  We recently got answers about why the Parkway has two privately owned service areas and whether the DOT forgot to pave half a state highway. What's yours?

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

A look at the playoff picture.

UPPER MONTCLAIR a The Paws Annual Holiday Bazaar and Tricky Tray will be held on Nov. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in Upper Montclair. The annual event raises funds for the nonprofit group Paws Montclair, helping to offset the costs of rescue, vetting and medical care for dogs and cats. The Commonwealth Club is...

Greg Hatala | The Star-Ledger 

UPPER MONTCLAIR -- The Paws Annual Holiday Bazaar and Tricky Tray will be held on Nov. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in Upper Montclair.

The annual event raises funds for the nonprofit group Paws Montclair, helping to offset the costs of rescue, vetting and medical care for dogs and cats.

The Commonwealth Club is located at 26 Northview Ave. For more information, go to pawsmontclair.org.

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.

Who moves on in the 2017 NJSIAA tournament? NJ Advance Media makes its picks

There was one winner in North Jersey, one in Central Jersey and one in South Jersey

Three Jersey Cash 5 ticket holders will split Wednesday's $727,623 jackpot.

The three tickets were sold at the following locations, state lottery officials said Thursday.

• Waa-Laa King on West Landis Avenue in Bridgeton
• Stop & Shop on Bloomfield Avenue in West Caldwell
• Main Liquor on Main Street in South Amboy

Each ticket is worth $242,541.

The winning numbers were 3, 13, 25, 27 and 39. The odds of a $1 ticket matching all five numbers are 962,598 to 1. 

Wednesday's top prize climbed to nearly three-quarters of a million dollars after five straight daily drawings without a jackpot winner. Thursday's jackpot resets to $75,000.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Who will have huge performances with playoff berths on the line?

The allegations against the actor have grown in number over the past few days and include claims that a pattern of behavior was well known at a London theater where he worked

As allegations of sexual misconduct swirl around Kevin Spacey, a representative for the actor says he's seeking help. 

"Kevin Spacey is taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment. No other information is available at this time," his publicist told The New York Times on Wednesday. 

Stories alleging a pattern of sexual harassment and groping came to light after "Star Trek: Discovery" actor Anthony Rapp told BuzzFeed Spacey had directed sexual advances at him in the 1980s, when he was 14 and the actor was in his 20s. 

Spacey, now 58, was widely criticized for his response to Rapp's story, with some saying that he only came out as gay in the statement to deflect from the allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor.

"I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior," Spacey had said in the statement. The allegations have affected the fate of Netflix's flagship series "House of Cards," in which Spacey and Robin Wright play lead characters. The show suspended production in the wake of the allegations.

Another man who chose to remain anonymous told the BBC that Spacey, a South Orange native, made unwanted advances in the '80s, when he was 17 and Spacey was in his 20s. He says he slept on the actor's couch but awoke to find Spacey on top of him, his head on his stomach and his arms wrapped around him. 

Actor Roberto Cavazos alleges that Spacey groped him more than once at London's Old Vic theater, where Spacey served as artistic director for more than a decade. 

"There are many of us with a 'Kevin Spacey story,'" Cavazos wrote in a Facebook post. "It appears that all that was needed was a male under the age of 30 for Mr. Spacey to feel free to touch us. It was so common that it turned into a local joke (in very bad taste)." 

People who have worked at the Old Vic contacted the Guardian to say Spacey's alleged pattern of behavior with young men was well known.

"We were all involved in keeping it quiet," one anonymous source said. "I witnessed him groping men many times in all sorts of different situations."

A statement from the Old Vic, which set up an email address for people to make confidential complaints about any inappropriate behavior, said the theater staff was "deeply dismayed" by the allegations against Spacey.

Director Tony Montana also says Spacey groped him in Los Angeles in 2003.

"He put his hand on my crotch forcefully and grabbed my whole package," Montana said.

"This designates ownership," the actor told him, Montana said, before Spacey, who he said seemed drunk, allegedly followed him to the bathroom.

Soon after the BuzzFeed story was published, Netflix announced it was ending "House of Cards" after the next season of the show. Not long after, Netflix suspended production on the season "until further notice."  

One production assistant says Spacey groped him while they drove to the set

Just two days after Netflix announced that production would be shut down on "House of Cards" "until further notice," multiple employees of the show are accusing series star Kevin Spacey of sexual assault and harassment. 

CNN reports that eight people who have worked on the show or currently work on the production allege that Spacey created a "toxic" work environment characterized by sexual harassment of young men on set.

One former production assistant says Spacey sexually assaulted him during an early season of the show's run. All have requested to remain anonymous. 

The allegations from the show's crew come on the heels of a Vulture story in which a man who wished to remain anonymous alleged that Spacey had a relationship with him in the 1980s, when he was 14 -- one that he said ended when Spacey allegedly tried to rape him. Spacey had already been facing several allegations of harassment or assault. The stories began to surface after actor Anthony Rapp told BuzzFeed that Spacey had made alleged sexual advances on him in the '80s, when he, too, was 14. 

The "House of Cards" actor apologized in a statement in the hours after the BuzzFeed story was published, saying he didn't remember the alleged encounter with Rapp, but that such an episode would have amounted to "deeply inappropriate drunken behavior." After Spacey went on to say that he chooses "now to live as a gay man," the actor was widely criticized for using his coming out to deflect from the allegations. 

Spacey, 58, a South Orange native, is executive producer of "House of Cards" and star of the series alongside Robin Wright. He's being accused of putting his hands down the production assistant's pants when they were riding to the Maryland set. The assistant said Spacey groped him when the actor was driving the car. The alleged assault happened, he said, after he had already complained to a supervisor that about sexual harassment from Spacey.   

"I was in a state of shock," he told CNN. "He was a man in a very powerful position on the show and I was someone very low on the totem pole and on the food chain there." He says Spacey again cornered him when they were back in his trailer on set and allegedly made what is described in the story as "inappropriate contact." When the assistant told Spacey he wasn't comfortable with the touching, the actor allegedly fled the set. 

"He would put his hands on me in weird ways," another crew member said of Spacey.

One employee said Spacey's behavior was openly observed by many, but people didn't come forward because they feared they wouldn't be believed and would instead lose their jobs. 

"Kevin does this thing which was play fights with them in order to touch them," said one former female production assistant, describing a routine in which Spacey would allegedly shake a man's hand, then pull it down to his crotch and touch their crotch. 

"I have friends say he reached up their shorts on set," she said. 

In a statement, Netflix told CNN that it had been aware of one incident involving Spacey from five years ago that it said had been quickly resolved.

"Netflix is not aware of any other incidents involving Kevin Spacey on-set," the statement said. "We continue to collaborate with MRC (Media Rights Capital, the "House of Cards" production company) and other production partners to maintain a safe and respectful working environment. We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the production, and have nothing further to share at this time."

MRC said it had instituted a complaint hotline and made crisis counselors and legal advisers available to the show's crew. 

The shutdown of production on "House of Cards" followed Rapp's Oct. 29 allegations against Spacey, after which the streaming giant made an announcement that the show would be ending after its sixth season.

Rapp's allegations against Spacey followed the still-unraveling Harvey Weinstein scandal, in which a long series of women, including a string of A-list actresses, came forward with stories claiming the Hollywood mogul had sexually assaulted or harassed them. The stories have moved many other men and women to come forward with their own allegations about powerful men in entertainment and media. 

They're not the same people who showed up at the start of a Newark employment program. Now they speak clearly, holding their heads high, standing tall and not afraid to chart their future.

The job fair was over. Resumes had been given to recruiters. Elevator speeches were crisp, delivered with enthusiasm at the Training Recreation Education Center on Ludlow Street in Newark's South Ward, a few blocks from Elizabeth.

Professional coaches for Hire Newark, a job readiness program, praised city residents Wednesday on their performance after four intense weeks of preparation for this opportunity.

Alfred Elliott, 40, did well, but his head was down. He qualified for several positions, but his eyes were red. His leg would not stop shaking until he stood up to tell his classmates why.

"I was supposed to be doing 60 years in prison,'' he said, his lip quivering. He was cleared in a homicide case due to mistaken identity, but a drug conviction put him behind bars for 18 months. He held several jobs afterward and now has a bona fide shot at a career with companies in Newark.

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns

Overwhelmed at how his life has changed, Elliott said it's strange to be around people who could genuinely grow to love him in less than a month. More tears fell, but they were from his classmates.

Life is working out for them -- all of them. They're not the same people who showed up in October. Some have their own "Elliott story." Some struggled with self-esteem. Many wanted to hit the reset button in their lives, but didn't know how to go about it.

The emotional layers - fragile and painful - were peeled back in the program, replaced with confidence and purpose. Now, they speak clearly, holding their heads high, standing tall and not afraid to chart their future.

"We're not doing anything special,'' said Vincent Brown, president of V. Randolph Brown Consulting, a Cincinnati-based company that developed the program for Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and RWJBarnabas Health. "All we're doing is letting people see what's already been there.''

Curtis Walker, 32, has emerged from his shell. Walker remembered how his reticence hurt him during an interview over the summer. He wasn't prepared, didn't have his "hire me" speech down pat, didn't ask questions. "I didn't know I was supposed to do those things,'' he said. "I messed up.''

Not this time. He was spot-on when he hit me with his pitch.

"I have experience, working with machines, cleaning, collecting, hauling and disposing of trash.''

His grandmother, who died in June, would be proud.

Tiffany Volious, 33, has bought in. Normally, she'd have on boots and construction clothes, gear suited more for boiler work, a job for which she has a license and loves.

"Listen, I'm a tomboy,'' Volious said.

Well, the tomboy turned corporate and was willing to be out of her element for few hours. She wore blue nail polish, black pumps and a gray suit with a white blouse underneath. "I'm about to get a career, and somebody is going to call me,'' she said.

That's the goal of the program, started two years ago by Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and RWJBarnabas Health in collaboration with Mayor Ras Baraka's Centers of Hope initiative. Because of its popularity and nearly 100 percent success rate for employment, the normal class size of 15 was increased to 30 with this fourth group of participants.

So far, 56 residents have graduated, but Newark Beth has a commitment to hire 350 city residents in Baraka's 2020 initiative, which calls for companies in the city to employ 2,020 residents by the year 2020.

"The collaborative anchor partners, who are part of Newark 2020, are going to be receiving bright candidates who are highly qualified, who have been dynamically trained, who have gone through a life transformation and who are ready to be employed,'' said Michellene Davis, executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer for RWJBarnabas Health.

Many showed up 90 minutes ahead of the interview to prep, look over their resumes and calm jittery nerves.

Kayla Farrar, 24, was there first, at 8 a.m., a promise she made to herself to be early. S. Christina Adams, 32, was right behind her with a new attitude. Her life, she said, is moving forward and is no longer "on a hamster wheel'' getting nowhere.

"You deserve to be here,'' said job coach De Lacy Davis. "You worked for this moment.''

In a classroom where they learned life skills and how to manage time and budget finances, the coaches laid out supplies they could use before heading to the gym in black-and-gray suits for interviews. On a table were mints, lotion, combs, a lint brush, clippers to trim beards, and makeup to cover tattoos.

They looked great, realizing second chances count here.

Gold Cley, 47, didn't waste hers. She shook hands firmly, replaced a red hair weave with a conservative hairstyle. When speaking, she also eliminated the dreaded "um" from her conversation.

"I was doing things all wrong before,'' she said. "I feel like a whole new person.''

MORE CARTER:  East Orange 'Brainy Bunch' seniors build spry minds to beat stress

Thembekile Adesunloye, 51, didn't think Wednesday was possible at one point. An ex-offender, she feared her felony conviction in 1995 would be hinder her growth. It didn't.  Last week, she received her license to be a certified nursing assistant. Adesunloye showed it to potential employers, confident she'll get a call-back.

They have testimonies and don't mind sharing. It's a new day for them, a reclamation, a rebirth.

"I am never going to be broke again,'' said Jamillia Harrison. She lost her job in June, and spent the summer toughing it out as an Uber driver and trying to start a cleaning business.

Amanda Calypso, 28, has a power pose now and the courage not to hide anymore. Expressing herself, she said, is second nature.

It was unexpected for Elliott, whom classmates hugged as he wiped away his tears. "We love you,'' they said.

Moments like this occurred often in their short time together. That's what made their experience genuine.

It shouldn't be any different on Dec. 4, when they return to graduate and when most, if not all, should be employed.

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

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

CALDWELL a Milton is a 13-year-old blind Yorkie in the care of Rescue Haven. He was saved from an inner-city shelter where he was terrified. Now in foster care, he has been described as "playful and full of life." Milton has been vetted and has no health issues other than blindness. He gets along well with other small dogs and...

Milton 

CALDWELL -- Milton is a 13-year-old blind Yorkie in the care of Rescue Haven.

He was saved from an inner-city shelter where he was terrified. Now in foster care, he has been described as "playful and full of life."

Milton has been vetted and has no health issues other than blindness. He gets along well with other small dogs and would do best in a quiet home. He has been neutered and is up-to-date on shots.

For more information on Milton, email donnarescuehaven@gmail.com or go to rescuehaven.org. The rescue foundation, currently caring for 13 dogs, is a nonprofit group that rescues dogs from animal shelters and provides foster care until they are adopted.

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.

With chilling matter-of-fact clarity, Ali Muhammad Brown told Essex County homicide detectives how he dressed in military fatigues, covered his face and head with an Arab battle scarf and hid in the bushes at a West Orange intersection waiting for what in his mind was the right person to "ambush" and kill. He said he waited for about a half hour and...

With chilling matter-of-fact clarity, Ali Muhammad Brown told Essex County homicide detectives how he dressed in military fatigues, covered his face and head with an Arab battle scarf and hid in the bushes at a West Orange intersection waiting for what in his mind was the right person to "ambush" and kill.

He said he waited for about a half hour and "made sure it was no women or children. I made sure it was just a man by himself."

That person turned out to be Brendan Tevlin, 19, who was home for the summer from the University of Richmond in Virginia and had spent the night playing video games with his high school friends from Seton Hall Prep.

Details of Brown's confession, which was recorded on July 25, 2014, at the Essex County Correctional Center, were provided to The Star-Ledger by two sources who asked for anonymity because they are unauthorized to discuss the case. 

MORE: Recent Mark Di Ionno columns

Brown's confession was recorded during a one-hour and eight-minute period, exactly one month after he stepped out from a hiding place at the corner of Northfield Avenue and Walker Road in West Orange and shot the unsuspecting young man, who was stopped at a red light.

The confession is one of several documents that prosecutors are seeking to admit as evidence in Brown's trial, tentatively scheduled for early next year. Judge Ronald C. Wigler is scheduled to hear the request on Nov. 9.

Brown is charged with murder in the Tevlin case as well robbery, carjacking, weapons offenses and terrorism.  

The terrorism charge stems from his statements to police and his writings in a journal found where Brown was camped in the woods, high on the first ridge of the Watchung Mountains, in a neighborhood of multi-million-dollar homes less than a half-mile from where Tevlin was shot.

He is also charged with three homicides in his home state of Washington, committed, police say, in the months before Tevlin was shot.

In a brief filed to Wigler prior to the next week's hearing, Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Jamel Semper said journal entries in Brown's handwriting stated he "must learn proper ways of jihadi training."

According to the sources, during the confession recorded by three Essex County homicide detectives, Brown was asked, "What is your mission?"

He replied, "My mission is vengeance for the lives, the millions of lives, that's being lost every day ... over in Iraq and Syria, Afghanistan ... being taken every day by America, by this government. So, a life for a life."

"A life for a life," the detective said.

"Vengeance," Brown replied.

"This is why this happened up in West Orange?" the detective asked.

Brown repeated the statement verbatim. "This is why this happened up in West Orange."

The sources said Brown requested detectives come to the Essex County jail and record his confession, saying, "I would like to sit and tell you what you need to know ... to close this case." 

The sources said Brown was read his Miranda rights, which he affirmed he understood, then initialed the document. Brown also asserted he has a GED in lieu of a high school diploma and can read and write English, the sources said.

After he was "Mirandized," the sources said, Brown was asked "Do you wish to have an attorney present?" He answered, "No." 

Brown then detailed the crime, from the time he left his camp in the woods until he arrived at the intersection, including putting on camouflage military fatigues and wrapping his head and face in the scarf, the sources said.

"I walked all the way up through the woods over that little river all the way up until I got to the street," Brown said.

He said the first spot he chose to hide didn't allow him "to see who I was going to fire on," so he crossed the street "to get a better view into the cars.

"So, I sat there and waited for some time, maybe I don't know, all together maybe a half hour. And I made sure that it was no women or children. I made sure it was a man by himself," Brown told police, according to the sources.

When Tevlin stopped at the red light, shortly after texting his mother he was on the way home, Brown said how he looked in the car and "saw that he (Tevlin) fit the description of the target. And I fired upon him."

As Tevlin tried to escape the car, Brown came around to the driver's side and "I killed him there and then" Brown said, as Tevlin remained buckled in his seat belt, the sources said.

Brown went on to describe how he unbuckled Tevlin, and pushed his body onto the passenger side and drove the SUV to a nearby apartment complex and left it there.

Brown's statement is detailed according to the sources. For example, he remembers the number NJ Transit Bus he took from a Montclair mosque he had visited (No. 73), what Tevlin was wearing (a tan baseball hat, red shorts and white T-shirt that said ("lifeguard") and what the young man looked like after he was killed.

Later in the statement, the sources said, Brown also acknowledged, in detail, a carjacking he attempted in Point Pleasant beach.

The sources said detectives later ask him about the three other homicides in Washington.

"And the vengeance you were seeking, was there any other vengeance extracted?" a detective asked.

He then asks about incidents on April 28 in King County, Wash., and a double-killing of two gay men in Seattle on June 1 of 2014.

"It's about vengeance?" he asked, said the sources.

"All of it," Brown said.

"Those four murders ... were all done for vengeance for the actions of the United States in the Middle East.

"Yes," Brown said.

"And you're taking responsibility for that?" the detective asked.

"I'm just doing my small part," Brown replied.

Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.

Find out which teams have left a stamp on the state tournament so far.

Which state tournament games are must-see ones?

IRVINGTON -- Best buddies Bob Molee, left, and Frankie Lemon were captured in this photo take in Irvington in the mid 1960s. MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey The Springfield Avenue businesses behind them include an Acme supermarket, Parkway Bowling and Billiards, Sears & Roebuck and Petty's Drug Store. If you would like to share a photo that provides a...

IRVINGTON -- Best buddies Bob Molee, left, and Frankie Lemon were captured in this photo take in Irvington in the mid 1960s.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

The Springfield Avenue businesses behind them include an Acme supermarket, Parkway Bowling and Billiards, Sears & Roebuck and Petty's Drug Store.

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.

Your one-stop shop for Week 9 info

ESSENTIALS 
• Full playoff picture: Who's in & who has work to do - every section
• Sat., LIVE @ 12:30: Playoff projection chat - updates & discussion
• Week 9 schedule/scoreboard
• Week 9 schedule/scoreboard by conference
• Power points through Week 8
• Conference standings through Week 8
• Stat leaders from Week 8 
• Season stat leaders  

LIVE SATURDAY @ 12:30: Playoff projections chat - updates & discussion

RANKINGS 
• Top 20
• Group and conference 

PICKS  
• Top 20 picks
• Picks by conference
• Quick picks for every game in N.J. 

MUST-READ CONTENT 
• Player of the Year watch: 22 contenders for top honor
• Quests for perfection: 18 teams remain undefeated
• 13 bold predictions for the football cutoff weekend
• 25 must-see football games on postseason cutoff weekend
• Who were N.J.'s top football players for Week 8? Here are 40 standouts
• Verona football coach Lou Racioppe ousted following administrative investigation
• Which N.J. alums made the biggest impact during week 9 of college football schedule?
• Week 8 football hot takes: New records, playoff pushes, big performances and more
• Hunterdon County football teams will be scoreboard watching this weekend 
• Ferris' win over Marist snapped 34-game slide, longest in state

REFEREES WALK: Where we are with this story

ANTHEM CONTROVERSY
• Refs walk after players kneel for anthem: Where we are with this story
• Refs walk off in protest after players kneel during anthem at N.J. football game
• Coach says ‘coward’ ref screamed at players after anthem protest at N.J. football game
• Officials who walked off field at N.J. football game made racist comments on social media
• Referees who walked out after anthem protest shouldn't work in N.J. again | Politi
• 'The power to change something.' Monroe football players explain why they kneel for anthem
• Ref chairman: Switching out officials who planned to walk would have been 'no big deal'
• Refs who walked off in protest removed from working any more games this season
• Refs: Why we walked on kneeling players and what we want moving forward
• Fire the HS refs who walked away after anthem protest | Moran
• H.S. coaches to officials who made racist comments: We can’t trust you anymore 
• Eagles players from N.J. react to high school refs walking off after anthem protest

WATCH & VOTE: Videos of the 25 HS mascots vying to be crowned N.J.'s best

GAMES OF THE WEEK 
• Hasbrouck Heights vs. Rutherford for NJIC crown in NJ.com/Star-Ledger Game of the Week 
• Times of Trenton
• South Jersey Times 

RECRUITING  
• What is the college football early signing period and what will be Rutgers' Chris Ash's approach?
• Rutgers commit performance recap: Jalen Chatman, Isaih Pacheco, Zamar Wise light it up
• Which football recruits did Rutgers staff offer in October? 
• What does 4-star QB Artur Sitkowski bring to Rutgers' offense?

Matt Stypulkoski may be reached at mstypulkoski@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @M_Stypulkoski. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.

The sixth annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival, named to honor the late Newark-raised saxophonist, features performances by trumpeter Chris Botti, Manhattan Transfer, Christian McBride and Dianne Reeves Nov. 4 - 12.

Trumpeter Chris Botti can move seamlessly between genres, from R&B to rock to classical, creating a different mood with each composition. Still, jazz remains his preferred style, the one that best showcases his playing and improvisational skills and the one that has helped him garner fans in every corner of the globe.

"I've played all over the world and places you would never think loved jazz do," said Botti, who has sold more than three million albums worldwide and whose 2013 recording "Impressions" won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album. 

Botti will take the stage Nov. 8 at New Jersey Performing Arts Center as part of the TD James Moody Jazz Festival. Most of the the sixth annual event's programming, which runs from  Nov. 4-12, are at NJPAC. The opening show, the Terell Stafford All-Stars playing the music of Dizzy Gillespie on Nov. 4, is at Bethany Baptist Church.

The festival is named in honor of saxophonist James Moody, who grew up in Newark. Moody, who died in 2010, predominantly played bebop style jazz and recorded as a sideman with Gillespie, Charles Mingus and Max Roach. 

This year's performers include the Grammy Award-winning quartet Manhattan Transfer; Newark-born singer Carrie Jackson; and Christian McBride and Dianne Reeves. The festival is also celebrating the centennials of Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald 

Botti has played at the festival before. He jokes that he feels like he's been on  a "12 to 13 year world tour," one that's taken him to prestigious stages from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House and partnered him with respected musicians from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga. His audience, he said, is those ages one to 19 and 28 to 88.

"I think somehow fate comes in when you're 20 and you have to go rock or R&B or hip hop for a while, then they come back and stay with it," he said. "Or knock wood, that's what seems to be happening."

Botti promises a night of multiple music genres, classic songs and originals and a true performance.

"It's not just me standing up there with a trumpet, a lazy boring jazz act,"he said. "I craft a show with amazing musicians that features more than one style of music that enables the audience to feel multiple emotions."

TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ FESTIVAL

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

1 Center St., Newark

Tickets: $29-89, available online at www.njpac.org. Prices vary by show. Nov. 4 - 12.  

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. 

Lauren Liu's family has also set up a memorial fund in her honor to bring awareness to mental illness and depression.

MILLBURN -- The family of 14-year-old Lauren Liu knows she would have wanted the honesty reflected in her obituary.

Lauren Liu. (Courtesy photo)

"Despite her God given gift of bringing love to people, deep inside she was suffering in the darkness, privately battling a deep inexplicable pain," her obituary reads.

"She succumbed to the silent illness of depression and took her own life in our home this past Monday. We know that she is without pain and is now at rest in God's arms."

In an interview Friday, James Liu said his daughter's personality inspired those words and led her family to form Hope For Lauren, a memorial dedicated to helping fund research on mental illness and awareness for suicide prevention.

"Lauren, our darling daughter...was such a gentle and kind person," he said. "This death is so unexpected. There were no obvious signs of her internal struggle. ... She was not able to allow us to hear her cry for help. I don't know if she even really made a cry for help."

Lauren was a Millburn resident and freshman at the Kent Place School in Summit. She died Monday.

She was a good student and a varsity tennis player, her family said. She was an avid dancer, and enjoyed her family's annual ski trips to Utah.

James Liu said part of the reason he believes his daughter's mental illness went unnoticed is because the topic is "taboo." Sufferers feel uncomfortable discussing their depression or other illnesses, and asking for help, he said.

Hope For Lauren seeks to bridge that divide and provide help to those in need, he said.

"In the spirit of Lauren's character, this is what she would have wanted us to do," Liu said.

A vigil for Lauren is planned for 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Renaissance Church in the Summit Opera House, and a celebration of life service is scheduled for Saturday beginning at 10:45 a.m. at Community Congregational Church in Short Hills.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, the suicide rate of middle school students more than doubled form 2007 to 2014.

Youth suicide was brought to the forefront in New Jersey earlier this year following the death of 12-year-old Mallory Grossman in Rockaway Township.

To reach the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, click here, or call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.

Officials have identified the Orange man killed during the Belleville home invasion.

BELLEVILLE -- The Orange man who was killed after breaking into a Belleville home was shot with his own gun after the resident wrestled it from his hands, authorities said Friday.

Michael Ridley, 42, was shot after breaking into a Belleville home at about 10 p.m. on Oct. 31, acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino and Belleville Police Chief Mark Minichini announced in a joint press release Friday.

Ridley broke into the Berton Place home and shot a resident. During a subsequent altercation, the resident "gained control of the weapon" and shot Ridley, the prosecutor's office said.

Ridley ran from the home and collapsed at the nearby Nutley border, where he was later pronounced dead, officials said.

The 32-year-old resident was treated for his injuries and has since been released from the hospital, authorities said.

A prosecutor's office spokeswoman previously confirmed to NJ Advance Media there was another suspect in the home invasion, but did not release more details.

Officials said Friday the investigation into the incident is "active and ongoing." Anyone with information is asked to call the office's tip line at 877-847-7432.

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

Anthony Buono and a former police officer, Dino D'Elia, sold information from a fraud-investigation database

NEWARK -- A Newark police captain admitted his role in a scheme to sell information taken from a private database accessible to law enforcement, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino said Friday.

Anthony Buono, 62, of Millstone, pleaded guilty to one count of computer theft before Judge Michael Ravin in Superior Court.

Cop, police captain charged with computer theft 

In 2014, authorities learned that the database, which is used in insurance fraud investigations, had been breached. Following an investigation by the Newark Police Department's  Internal Affairs unit and the prosecutor's office, Buono and Dino D'Elia, 52, who had been a Newark police officer, were charged in 2015.

Buono accessed the database more than 900 times and passed the information on to D'Elia, who would sell it to third-parties at a rate of $100 per search. D'Elia, who previously pled guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in December, sold the information through his private investigation business.

Buono is to be sentenced Jan. 8. According to the terms of his plea deal, he will avoid jail time but must surrender his job as a police captain and is barred from public employment.

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