See which players were selected as NJ.com's Player of the Week in each of N.J.'s conferences.

NJ Turnpike Authority officials approved the change on Tuesday, which will remove the toll plaza at the exit from the northbound Parkway and double the current toll to $1.

One-way tolls are coming to the Garden State Parkway's busy Exit 145 to and from Route 280 in East Orange next year as a way to reduce a high crash rate at the toll plaza, officials said.

NJ Turnpike Authority officials approved the change on Tuesday, which will remove the toll plaza at the exit from the northbound Parkway and double the current toll to $1 at the remaining plaza.

The northbound toll plaza will be demolished in conjunction with a larger project to replace several bridges over the Parkway to eliminate bottlenecks near Exit 145.

Construction of that project is scheduled to begin in late April or May, said Robert Fischer, chief engineer.

Safety is the main reason for the change, said John O'Hern, interim executive director.

"The exit ramp has the highest crash rate on the Parkway for rear-end accidents," he said. "Engineers have confirmed this will smooth the traffic flow."

The change also will save the authority some money by reducing the number of E-ZPass transactions, eliminating toll collectors and will help traffic move during construction of the bridge projects, he said.

"It gives more lane capacity to shift traffic (during construction)," Fischer said.

Three other Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike exits have tolls collected in one direction, O'Hern said. That number does not include barrier plazas with one-way tolls on the Parkway. 

Shawn Cier worked as an art teacher at a Newark charter school despite being accused of misconduct at three previous schools.

Shawn Cier, the art teacher whose controversial past was documented this week by an NJ Advance Media investigation, was fired by a Newark charter school Monday, a spokeswoman said.

The board of trustees at the Marion P. Thomas Charter School voted to terminate Cier's employment the same day he was revealed to be still teaching, despite leaving three previous jobs where he was accused of misconduct.

A school spokeswoman said she could not explain why the board chose to end Cier's employment because it's a personnel matter. 

Cier taught in Bridgewater, Roselle, Hightstown and Keansburg before coming to the charter school.

At his previous teaching jobs over the past decade, Cier was reported to school officials for texting a student late at night, accused of showing two students pornography on his cellphone and was later caught with pornography on his school computer, according to police records and interviews with former administrators in his previous districts.

While in Hightstown, Cier's was arrested after he was accused of showing students pornography, but the criminal charges were dropped and he continued teaching elsewhere. 

Pornography was discovered on Cier's computer in Keansburg, according to police records, and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office last year notified the state Board of Examiners, which is considering revoking Cier's teaching license. 

Cier, through his attorney, issued a statement after losing his $66,000-a-year teaching post, in his first full response to the allegations raised against him:

"From the very start of the Hightstown investigation I did everything I could to cooperate. I immediately handed my phone over to forensics although I knew it was my right to refuse at the time. A student came forward who was a witness to my accusers planning 'getting me in trouble' in the hallway just after I redirected them during class the day prior to the accusations. That student was voluntarily willing to speak for me if the accusations went to court. 

"My accusers never showed up for questioning of any kind, and forensics reported that nothing my accusers said they saw on the phone was found. By this time, I passed a polygraph test at my own request that focused on my interactions and conversations with my accusers, and satisfied both police and DYFS's thorough questioning. Although it is difficult to prove a person did NOT do a thing, I can say I did everything in my power to show that I was completely innocent. All charges were dropped and the matter expunged.

"As for Keansburg, I am still unaware as to how a student found personal files in my trash. I have never interacted with those photos on my school computer nor did I know they were reachable from that computer. Computer records showed these files were created when school was on break; the late time stamps show they were neither created nor viewed during school hours.

"If I had known the files were available in a public setting I would have simply emptied my trash or dismantled my Google drive instead of being humiliated and putting a career I love and value in jeopardy, especially after already having had to deal with the perceptions fabricated by the prior accusations."

Cier was one of five teachers featured in NJ Advance Media's report on a pattern known as "passing the trash" that allows teachers to continue to get teaching jobs despite being accused of sexual misconduct. Teachers' new schools are often unaware of complaints made against them. 

A reporter had questioned officials at the Newark charter school in October about complaints made against Cier in his previous jobs in three different districts. 

"As a district that is based in an urban community with a student body that is predominately African American and Latino, we understand what it means to be accused of a crime or inappropriate behavior and later be found innocent or not be charged," Marion P. Thomas Charter School officials said in a statement.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

The hall doesn't have a permanent physical home, but a state loan

The New Jersey Hall of Fame has never had a static home, but now, it's expanding. 

Gov. Chris Christie announced on Tuesday that a $400,000 Department of State grant will fund an exhibition from the hall at Newark Liberty International Airport. Christie said the exhibition would be part of an effort to update the airport terminals. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is also funding the project, the governor said.

The airport exhibit, which will be installed in terminals B and C over the next year, will have an electronic wall of fame equipped with virtual reality headsets and "hologram units" featuring inductee Wyclef Jean and astronaut Mark Kelly (who is not an inductee), who hails from West Orange. Two of the holograms are expected to go up this month.

"New Jersey Hall of Fame inductees, people who we are most proud of in this state, have made significant and vitally important contributions to our state's quality of life, our society in general and to the world," Christie said in a statement. "This new exhibition will welcome domestic and international travelers to our state, giving them the opportunity to learn more about who we are in New Jersey and our state's history, and it will further instill a sense of Jersey pride for all New Jersey residents."

New Jersey Hall of Famers from arts and entertainment include Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, Jon Stewart, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, Queen Latifah, Kool & the Gang, Kelly Ripa, Ray Liotta, Wyclef Jean, Dionne Warwick, Joe Piscopo, Alice Guy Blache, Dizzy Gillespie, Toni Morrison and Celia Cruz. Other inductees include Frank Lautenberg, Buzz Aldrin, Derek Jeter, Brian Williams, Connie Chung, Chuck Wepner, James Florio, Patrick Ewing, Grover Cleveland, Thomas Paine and Yogi Berra. The hall welcomed its first class in 2008. 

The hall inducts a new class each year, but does not have a brick-and-mortar home. A New Jersey Hall of Fame mobile museum housed in a 53-foot double-expandable trailer and designed by another inductee, the late Princeton architect Michael Graves, has traveled to places including the Newark Museum and local schools (at $1,500 a day) since opening in 2013. Otherwise, the hall is based at njhalloffame.org. 

The hall announced its 2017 nominees in November, including Stephen Colbert, Gloria Gaynor, Olympian Carli Lloyd and the E Street Band's Steven Van Zandt. Anthony Bourdain was originally nominated, but declined because he will not be able to make the induction ceremony. Those who get the most votes in each category -- public service, performing arts, sports, enterprise and arts and letters -- among the 41 men and 10 women nominated, along with those nominees chosen by the hall's board, will be inducted into the hall in May. (The 2016 class had 13 inductees.)

A Newark community leader spent her own money to hire young people in the city.

Tamika Darden grew tired of seeing the dejected faces every summer.

Young people in Newark would apply for the city's summer jobs program but, unfortunately, not everyone could be selected. There were not enough jobs for the thousands who filled out applications.

Juwan Thomas-Jackson, 18, was one of them this year. So was Ja'Mir Horton, 15. Both thought they had a shot to be among the nearly 3,000 young people, ages 14-24, to be hired.

"I was extremely disappointed," said Thomas-Jackson, a freshman at Rider University. "I needed the money for supplies and books."

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns 

As examples like this played out, Darden, a Newark community leader, decided to do something. She spent $7,000 to $9,000 of her own money to offer a nontraditional work experience for 11 Newark young people, including Horton and Thomas-Jackson, a psychology major.

As her platform, she had her own nonprofit organization: the Gregory Thomas Foundation, named after her late father. She had the money to give Newark youth something constructive to do for six weeks.

"My thing is, if we're here for the youth, why not do that if I can," Darden said.

Darden's plan spread by word of mouth, and it wasn't long before people found out that she was paying $100 to $200 every other week. She was known in Newark's community circles, plus she was an outreach employee at the Newark Youth One Stop and Career Center, the office in charge of the summer job employment program.

Darden's idea wasn't a typical 9-to-5 gig when the participants reported to a site provided by the Newark Housing Authority. 

"She was doing it for kids she doesn't even know," said Horton, a high school sophomore at Eagle Academy for Young Men in Newark. "She actually cares."

There were writing exercises every day. They met professionals who talked about their careers. The expansive list included a judge, an attorney, a talk show host, a school board member, a musical artist and a retired executive.

Some of the young people learned videography, others did office work. No day was the same. Martial arts lessons were mixed with strategies to cope with trauma they may have been going through.

When the homegrown initiative was about to end, Darden kept it going, but without the money. They met at the Newark Public Library to network and talk of life, achievement and setting goals.

"That's why I'm sticking with her," Thomas-Jackson said.

Thomas-Jackson said he appreciates her vision, which he believes is to promote excellence in urban communities like Newark that are often frowned upon.

"Without Ms. Tamika doing what she did, I wouldn't have had much going on. It was like it was meant to be."

Whether it's fate or not, there are still nice people among us who do the right thing and don't look to be written about. This story came to me months after the fact when I heard about Buju Hopkins, a 19-year-old man who contemplated dropping out of Lead Charter School, an alternative school, where he's a senior.

He signed up for Darden's program, but not for the same reasons as the other participants. Hopkins didn't apply for a summer youth job. He was looking for a permanent job through the city's One Stop-Career Center, so he could help his 80-year-old grandmother.

That department, which serves adults re-entering the workforce, sent him to Darden's office. She thought he had not been selected for summer youth employment, and suggested that he show up for her program.

He did, but was skeptical. The writing exercises, the professionals talking about careers didn't add up for him. Hopkins wondered when the "real money" would kick in.

"It wasn't easy to trust Ms. Tamika," he said. "When somebody is being nice to you off the rip (from the beginning), you put your wall up."

Gradually he gave in, especially after learning Darden used her own money. The exposure to new people and experiences, he said, was genuine. Darden showed him that he could trust people, and not to judge prematurely as he did her kindness.

"I believe everything happens for a reason," Hopkins said. "I don't believe anything happens by mistake."

So, when Hopkins thought leaving school was the answer to his personal struggles, Darden had him attend a mentorship breakfast last month at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark. Several men talked to him, but one in particular, Charles Williams of West Orange, had his ear for 90 minutes.

"I told him that while you're going through all of these problems and tribulations, you have been chosen to be the one in your family to be the example of how you can take a bad situation and turn it into something," said Williams, who owns a media production company and said he has mentored many young men across the country.

MORE CARTER:  Newark housing tenants have a fighter in their corner| Carter

He explained to Hopkins that he had to improve his grades and that he would walk him through the college process and help him get into school.

"I was telling him, 'You have to make that first step. When you make that first step, the angels will send people into your life and will help guide you on the right path.' "

Between Darden and Williams and the other men surrounding him, Hopkins left the event thinking differently from when he arrived.

"I got a lot of hope and new life out of it," he said. "You never know how life gets planned out. You can go from nothing to something."

He was feeling like something on Saturday.

Because of Darden, he met Mayor Ras Baraka at a re-election rally. It was just another sign for the young man that his life held promise.

"There are some kids that fall by the wayside and don't make it," Darden said.

She wasn't going to let that happen last summer, but she deflects the credit.

"It wasn't me," Darden said. "God made a way."

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

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

The kids from St. Benedict's and their guests from Haifa, Israel, spoke the same language. Technology. "They start talking and after two seconds, I have no idea what they're talking about," said Rev. Edwin Leahy, the St. Benedict's headmaster known universally as "Father Ed." Universal is not an overstatement. St Benedict's has alumni all over the world and has...

The kids from St. Benedict's and their guests from Haifa, Israel, spoke the same language.

Technology.

"They start talking and after two seconds, I have no idea what they're talking about," said Rev. Edwin Leahy, the St. Benedict's headmaster known universally as "Father Ed."

Universal is not an overstatement. St Benedict's has alumni all over the world and has had exchange programs in places as diverse as Bolivia and Mongolia. And now the Benedictine monastery and preparatory school in Newark has added Israel to its list of nations.

"I always tell our kids there are two things no one can ever take away from you," Leahy said. "That is where you've been and who you've met."

With that philosophy in mind, the school pursued an exchange program with an Israeli technical high school in Haifa, the country's third largest city, a seaport town on the Mediterranean.

MORE: Recent Mark Di Ionno columns 

The idea came out of an international soccer tournament St. Benedict's hosted in 2013. One of the teams was a youth team associated with the professional Maccabi Haifa Soccer Club.

Dani Neuman, a Bronx Science High and University of Pennsylvania graduate, was traveling with the team.

"We discussed an exchange program, and worked it out," Leahy said. "It was his idea to have the kids work on a science project. But after that it was all up to the kids."

Using the internet, the students began to trade thoughts on building a smartphone app, since the school the Israeli kids attend is technically oriented.

Several ideas bounced between Newark and Haifa as the students got to know their counterparts 5,641 miles away.

"We had a few ideas," said Juan Perez, a St. Benedict's junior. "We talked about a workout app, a health app, and a help app."

The help app was first suggested by St. Benedict's student Jules Gouton, who is not on the project, Perez said.

"We were on the bus and I was telling him about the project," he said. "He was the one who said it could be like Uber for people who need help."

The idea is simple. If someone needs help with anything from homework to yard work, they put their request in, and the app matches them with someone able to help in their vicinity. The app would show the people signed up as helpers, what they offer and their locations.

During one internet conference, the students voted for which of the three apps they wanted to build, and the help app won.

Last week, six Israeli students came to St. Benedict's to work on the project and the St. Benedict's students will go to Haifa in March to continue the work.

"The (Israeli) kids are staying with some of our families," Leahy said. "I think for them, and for our students, it's an eye-opening experience. How often do they see brown or black people? Our kids may have limited exposure to travel and foreign cultures. This gives them a chance to understand the world - which is shrinking."

While the Israeli students were here, a joint Christmas/Hanukkah party was thrown for all the young inventors at JCC Metrowest in West Orange, then it was back to work on the app, tentatively named "Go Get" as in "go get help."

"We thought it would be good thing in Israel,'' said Gal Shaked,16, said of the app. "Our city is big. It is not like a kibbutz (a communal settlement), so people aren't as close. This app would help people get to know each other and be helpful and do more sharing. We see it as something that could be international."

Juan Garcia, a junior at St. Benedict's, said the app could be used in emergencies or for scheduled events.

"If somebody got a flat tire, they could go on the app. Or if they needed a tutor," he said.

Garcia, Perez and Shaked were on the design team working together at St. Benedict's. At the other end of the room, Jack Correira and Jacob Amaro, both St. Benedict's juniors, were working with Matan Yariv, 16, on the software.

Yariv studies business and app development at the Amal school and had knowledge of Mac programs and "excode" language.

"That's the engine," he said. "That's what makes it work. We're writing the lines of code."

Jon Marlow, a science teacher at St. Benedict's, said the idea of "community help comes directly" from the St. Benedict's motto.

" 'Whatever helps my brother helps me. Whatever hurts my brother hurts me,' '' he said. "Our kids learn to live by it."

And that, like technology, is a universal language.

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

Take a look who led the state statistically in the first four days of the year.

Twenty-two houses of worship, schools and social service agencies received the toys and other items.

The impending winter became a little warmer Tuesday for Essex County kids, who got nearly 5,000 donated toys and gifts to make their holiday season bright. 

Eight Essex County Sheriff's Office pickups and SUVs made the rounds at houses of worship, schools and social service agencies to deliver computer games, bicycles, books, sports gear and more, the sheriff's office said in a news release. 

"You name it, we've got it," Sheriff Armando Fontoura said in the release. 

Donations came from the officers and staff of the sheriff's office, County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and the county Department of Parks. Visitors to Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange also contributed, Fontoura said. 

Recipients of the toy drive included The Salvation Army, Joi's Angels in East Orange, The North Ward Center in Newark and the children's ward at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, among 18 other agencies and several individual families in need. 

"The work we do at this time of the year is a gift from the uniformed officers of our department to our neighbors," Fontoura said in the release.

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

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

For the first time, DNA is used in New Jersey to predict what the relative of a victim may look like

Authorities in Monmouth County released Wednesday a headshot of what the mother of an infant found decapitated in a recycling center in 2014 may look like.

For the first time in New Jersey, authorities say, investigators used a new technology that predicts what the mother of the baby may look like at age 25 by using DNA pulled from clothing found near the girl's body. 

The infant was found decapitated in the ReCommunity Recycling facility in Farmingdale on Nov. 11, 2014. Colonel Patrick Callahan, who is serving as the acting superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon that the child is believed to have been born two weeks after Halloween of that year. 

The Middlesex County Regional Medical Examiner's Office was never able to determine the manner and cause of death. 

The baby was found with two pieces of blood-stained clothing and a handbag near the body, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said.

The new technology uses DNA to produce trait predictions, such as eye color, hair color, skin color and face shape. It's also able to make predictions for ancestry. The mother in this case is believed to be of Central or South American ancestry. 

Colonel Patrick Callahan, acting superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said at a press conference Wednesday that he's hoping the new information will get people to pick up the phone and call police with information. (Alex Napoliello | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) 

Officials say the technology will be used in cases where there is "unidentified DNA."

Gramiccioni said no one is a suspect in any type of crime and that the "primary goal" of the investigation is to identify the mother or any other family members.

"We want to find out what happened," he said. "We all carry badges and guns but we also all have hearts. We'd like to solve this and we hope that anybody in the public who is willing to work with us will give us a call. Let that phone ring."

Callahan said releasing the photo and information might spark memories among family, friends and coworkers. The State Police previously released a sketch of the baby in April 2015. 

"We trust that this DNA evidence and the displays here will hopefully get that phone to ring and that we could move forward with this investigation," Callahan said.

Gramiccioni said investigators believe the bag found near the infant's body came from The Wiz retail store on Main Street in Orange, Essex County. Authorities believe the two shirts and the shopping bag are connected to the infant's mother.

The baby is described as 21.5 inches, 7 pounds, and five ounces, and of mixed race, possibly of Hispanic origin.

The infant was given a proper burial by the Ardena Baptist Church in Howell, which named her "Emma Grace."

Authorities urged anyone with information to contact Detective Sgt. Joseph Itri of the State Police's Homicide South Unit at 609-963-6993 or Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office Detective Brian Weisbrot at 800-533-7443.

Authorities said they are also offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction. More information can be found at the Monmouth County Crime Stoppers' website. 

Gramiccioni said the timing of the press conference around the holiday season was intentional. 

"We are trying desperately in hopes that somebody in the public who might know something is willing to work with us in some kind of holiday miracle and break this case open for this poor little girl who breathed life for such a brief period of time before passing," he said. 

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The duo crashed their vehicle in Morris Township

Two Essex County men are facing charges after a police chase through Morris County early Tuesday morning resulted in a motor vehicle crash, authorities said. 

The pursuit began around 1:15 a.m. when law enforcement identified a vehicle in the area of Hanover Avenue and Speedwell Avenue in Morris Plains with a registration tag that didn't belong to it, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and Morris Plains Borough Police Chief Jason A. Kohn said in a news release.

Police tried to pull over the vehicle, but it accelerated and tried to flee, Knapp and Kohn said. The pursuit, they said, continued into Morris Township where the driver lost control and crashed into a telephone pole on Hanover Avenue.

Both the driver and passenger fled on foot, but the driver -- later identified as Meshach Whagar, 28, of Newark -- was found hiding in a Morris Township garage a short time later. 

The passenger -- Tione Davis, 35, of East Orange -- was taken into custody at his place of employment on Wednesday morning, Knapp and Kohn said.

A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of two handguns, one of which had dum-dum bullets, which are also known as expanding bullets because they expand on impact.

Whagar and Davis were each charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, resisting arrest and possession of dum-dum bullets. Whagar was also charged with eluding, burglary and hindering apprehension.

The duo was remanded to the Morris County jail. 

Anyone with information about this incident can call the Morris County Prosecutor's Office at 973-285-6200 or the Morris Plains Police Department at 973-538-2284.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have information about this story or something else we should be covering? Tell us. nj.com/tips

The accident occurred early Wednesday

A man was struck by a newspaper delivery van and killed early Wednesday morning in Livingston, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino said.

The victim was hit by the Star-Ledger delivery van around 1 a.m. near South Orange Avenue and JFK Parkway. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim has not been identified but has been described as a middle-aged Hispanic man.

The driver stayed at the scene, called for help and came to the man's aid, authorities said. No criminal charges were filed.

An investigation was underway as of Wednesday night.

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

"Olden times and ancient rhymes of love and dreams to share."

On Dec. 9, 1965, at 7:30 p.m., television sets around the country - including a black-and-white Zenith with a beige cabinet in Vineland -- were tuned to CBS; families were curious to watch a new special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

The program remains entertaining and powerful more than 50 years later. Here, thanks to mentalfloss.com, TV Guide, thefw.com and IMDB, are some obscure facts about the iconic holiday show.

Merry Christmas from the Hatala children on Chimes Terrace in 1962 ... wait, what's up with the eyes? 

* We're all familiar with Vince Guaraldi's jazz soundtrack for the show; it's become one of the most identifiable musical links to the holiday season. I've heard a myth that Guaraldi's music would have been forbidden, save for Charles Schulz stepping up and stating something to the effect of "It's Vince's music or no show." Actually, Schulz left the music decisions to director Lee Mendelson.

* Schulz was instrumental in going against the long-standing tradition of hiring adult voice actors to perform children's roles in animated movies and TV shows. According to thefw.com, "Schulz wanted to bring believable voices to the characters, so the producers cast professional child actors for the roles of Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy since they were required to recite most of the dialogue." Kathy Steinberg, the voice of Sally Brown, had not yet learned to read at the time of the production and had to be "fed" her lines a word or syllable at a time.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

* The broadcast was sponsored by Coca Cola, and believe it or not, there was serious consideration to have a scene with one of the characters drinking the beverage. No characters drank soda in the special, however, the first airing featured an opening scene in which Linus crashes head-on into a sign advertising Coca-Cola. The scene was cut due to expired advertising contracts and the sign was replaced with one that read "Danger."

And some more trivia tidbits:

* In the first show's credits, Charles Schulz's had a "t" added to his last name; none of the children who voiced the characters received credits at the end.

* Lucy refers to Charlie Brown as "Charlie" in one scene about the commercialization of Christmas; it's the only time -- in print or subsequent specials -- she refers to him as anything but "Charlie Brown."

* Snoopy's dog house is blue; in all subsequent specials, it's red.

* "A Charlie Brown Christmas" pre-empted an episode of "The Munsters" and, fortunately, pulled a 50 share in the Nielsen ratings (second only to "Bonanza") or it likely would never have aired again.

Merry Christmas! Enjoy this gallery of Christmas photos, as well as these galleries from Christmases past.

Vintage photos of celebrating Christmas in N.J.

More Vintage photos of celebrating the holidays in N.J.

Vintage photos of celebrating the holidays in N.J.

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

According to its Trulia listing, the taxes on the property this year were $41,875.

In this week's "Sold!" property, we feature a home in Short Hills with nearly 3,800 square feet of living space.

The house sold for $1,650,000 in December. According to its Trulia listing, the taxes on the property this year were $41,875.

The home features six bedrooms, six full bathrooms and two partial baths. The house was assessed this year at $2,245,200.

The median sale price for homes in the area is $1,417,500.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Former workers at Associated Humane Societies said the conditions at the Newark shelter have been deteriorating for decades

A look at how Twitter introduced these players.

Less than one week in, there's already a new No. 1 team and a new team entering the fold.

Where you need to be over the holiday break.

Tashan Gree, 23, was arrested by officers from Essex County, Bethlehem, Pa., and the FBI and faces multiple charges Watch video

The Newark man wanted in the robbery and killing of an Irvington resident gunned down earlier this month in front of his wife and son was captured Tuesday in Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Tashan Green

Tashan Green, 23, was arrested Tuesday in a home in Bethlehem, Pa. by authorities from both states and the FBI, officials said.

Green faces charges of murder, robbery, endangering the welfare of a child and weapons offenses in the Dec. 4 killing of 29-year-old Marco Angarmarca-Yupa, said Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly.

Angarmarca-Yupa was shot to death outside his apartment on Grove Street in Irvington, as his 8-year-old son looked on.

Green was also charged with conspiracy, and Fennelly said the investigation was continuing with additional arrests possible. 

Green now awaits extradition to New Jersey from the Northampton County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania, said Fennelly.

"It was an intensive investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Task Force," Fennelly said in an interview. "We received valuable assistance from the FBI and the Bethlehem Police Department, for which the prosecutor thanks them."

Fennelly said a lawyer for Green has not been identified.

Angarmarca-Yupa's landlord told reporters that Angarmarca-Yupa was a "good man," who had immigrated from Ecuadoran several years earlier and had been renting the apartment in the pale green multi-family house for several years. 

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

Quick-acting trooper pulled woman from ledge 40 feet above the ground, authorities said.

New Jersey state troopers kept a distraught woman from jumping off a barrier on the Garden State Parkway on Wednesday, authorities said.

Police said they received a 911 call from a witness who saw a woman standing on the ledge. The troopers found her near a parkway entrance ramp in East Orange around 1:20 a.m. Wednesday, according to State Police.

Authorities said the woman was seated on the barrier with her legs dangling over some 40 feet from the ground below when they arrived. She "appeared to be crying and looked like she was about to jump," a State Police spokesman said in a statement.

Dashboard camera video released by the division on Thursday shows several officers present at the scene. Police said one of the troopers, Det. Anthony Giunta, attempted to talk her off the ledge.

Minutes later, the video shows, another trooper -- identified as Det. Sgt. David Bogdan -- was speaking with the woman as Giunta lunged toward her, pulling her to the ground.

Police said neither she nor the troopers were injured, and the woman was taken to Mountainside Hospital for evaluation.

"The victim and her family remain in our thoughts and prayers," the statement said.

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

The shelter on Sussex Avenue in the Newark's Central Ward offers showers and laundry as well as placement and social services

Aiming to get homeless men, women and children out of the cold and off the streets permanently, Newark officials on Thursday unveiled a wintertime shelter offering housing, employment, health and counseling referrals, as well as dining, shower and laundry facilities.

"I'm sure especially during the holiday season, its a serious blessing to be able to have a warm shower, a warm place to sleep, and a place where they don't have to worry that they're going to throw you out in the daytime," Mayor Ras Baraka said in an interview Thursday, four days before Christmas.

Baraka was among city officials present Thursday morning for a ribbon cutting at the new shelter, which began taking in clients over the weekend and will be open through the end of March.

The building, located on Sussex Avenue in the city's Central Ward, is one of 31 public and privately operated homeless shelters in Newark. But in addition to being the newest, it's distinct in several of ways. 

The shelter was created specifically to house adult individuals, including members of the LGBT community, along with families with children, who have literally been spending their days and nights on the streets, out-of-doors. The groups sleep on separate floors of the 4-story building, in rooms with four beds each.

The temporary residents are encouraged to spend daytime hours at school or work, or looking for work or housing. But officials said the policy is flexible depending on weather conditions and individual circumstances, particularly for families.

With a capacity of 480, the shelter has had about 500 admissions in six days, averaging more than 80 people per night, said Dr. Mark J. Wade, a pediatrician who directs the Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness.

Wade said it's the first city-controlled shelter to include on-site services intended to address factors that are often at the root of homelessness, including unemployment, substance and domestic abuse, mental health problems and other issues.

"The goal is to minimize their need to remain in a shelter system," Wade said. "This is a four-month, winter shelter initiative, and it is focused on the unsheltered homeless, those who are on the street that we are trying to get off the street."

The shelter principally targets the homeless population around Newark Penn Station, the Public Library, Military Park and Francisco Park, all in the city's downtown section. Under a temporary agreement, NJ Transit provides a nightly 11 p.m. bus to the shelter from Penn Station, Wade said.

The city has a contract with a local non-profit agency, Emergency Housing Services, Inc, to operate the shelter for $388,000 for the four-month winter season. This winter's funding comes from the city budget and federal grant money. But in future years officials hoping to raise the money from among Newark businesses, who have an interest in reducing the number of people living on city streets.

"Most of the conversations with a lot of the businesses that we have, especially the new ones that come in, are centered around Penn Station and the homeless situation around the station," said Baraka, who is running for re-election in May. "So, it obviously will help the businesses to help us provide shelter for these folks. And we're appealing to them to do that."

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