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Demi Lovato and DJ Khaled reschedule N.J. concert due to storm

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The performance has been rescheduled for the first week of April

After a day or so of fan uncertainty, pop stars Demi Lovato and DJ Khaled announced Wednesday morning they will not perform at Prudential Center in Newark Wednesday night, due to an incoming snowstorm set to blanket the state with a foot of snow beginning Wednesday afternoon. 

The performance has been rescheduled for Monday, April 2, all tickets will be honored. 

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Tuesday a state of emergency in New Jersey as a powerful nor'easter could hit the Garden State with up to 18 inches of snow between now and early Thursday morning. 

Lovato, whose star first began to rise in the Disney realm as star of the teen musical film "Camp Rock," has transitioned seamlessly as a bonafide pop dynamo, dropping her strongest album to date in 2017 with the sultry and soulful record "Tell Me You Love Me." The tour is bolstered by renowned emcee, social media favorite and every hip-hop star's best friend DJ Khaled, who released an LP called "Grateful" in 2017 as well. 

Lovato last performed in New Jersey on her co-headlining tour with old Disney pal and Wyckoff native Nick Jonas in July 2016. 

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


Softball preview: Returning All-State and All-Group players

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16 All-State stars, plus a bunch of All-Group players from 2017 are back this season.

Puppies playing in snow and other social media scenes from the 'four'easter'

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And yes, we included pictures of dogs in the snow too.

Homicide charge after fatal head-on crash reduces cars to twists of metal

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These harrowing pictures show the aftermath of a vicious two-car crash Wednesday afternoon that left one person dead.

These harrowing photos show the aftermath of a fatal car wreck that happened on the snowy streets of Newark on Wednesday afternoon when a stolen car crashed into a car in which a 32-year-old city man was the passenger.

That man, police say, was Nafis Majette, and he died at University Hospital shortly after the accident.

The driver of the stolen Acura, Alan Aberden, 26, of East Orange, was charged with aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide in connection with Majette's death, authorities said. Quasim McRae, 24, was also in the car and is charged with resisting arrest and receiving stolen property. Both men sustained injuries and are hospitalized.

Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Tom Fennelly said the crash occurred just after 2:00 p.m. on Central Avenue.

In one photo, blood is visible on an air bag. Another shows the Acura with only its back end intact.

The intersection was coated in a light layer of snow at the time of the accident and pieces of the cars littered the road. A parked Mack truck with a slow plow was hit in the collision between the stolen car and the other vehicle.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com

N.J. snowfall totals: Which towns have the most snow so far from the spring storm?

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Early snowfall accumulations reported in each county across New Jersey on March 21.

Essex County school closings, delayed openings for Thursday (March 22, 2018)

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New Jersey was hit with its fourth major storm in as many weeks Watch video

After New Jersey was hit with another major snowstorm Wednesday, school districts across the state announced school closures and delays for Thursday, March 22.

The following Essex County school districts have made announcements for Thursday, March 22:

CLOSED

  • St. Francis Xavier School

DELAYED

  • Newark Public Schools - 2-hour delay
  • Nutley Public Schools - 90 minute delay
  • North Caldwell Public Schools - 2-hour delay
  • Fairfield Public Schools - 2-hour delay
  • Caldwell-West Caldwell Schools
  • West Essex schools - 2-hour delay
  • Belleville Public Schools - 90 minute delayed start
  • Bloomfield Public Schools. See district website for start times 
  • CPNJ - Horizon Schools: 2-hour delay
  • West Orange School District: 90-minute delay
  • Livingston Public Schools - 2-hour delay
  • Cedar Grove - 10 a.m. start
  • Essex County Vocational - 2-hour delay
  • Essex Fells Elementary School - 2-hour delay
  • Fusion Academy Montclair - 9:30 a.m. start
  • Montclair Public Schools - 2-hour delay
  • Verona Public Schools. See website for schedule
  • Livingston schools - 2-hour delay

If you know of any delays or closures not on this list, let us know in the comments.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

Vintage photos of historic women in N.J.

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Unquestionably, this gallery SHOULD go on and on.

To be certain, reference books should provide a more balanced view of the historical contributions made by women. 

Writing for time.com in 2016, Anita Sarkeesian and Laura Hudson pointed out that "if we were to judge by the history books, it would be easy to think that men were pretty much the only people who mattered in history -- or at least, the only ones worth remembering. That isn't true, of course, but that's the story we're accustomed to hearing about the past: one where the presence of men is taken as a given, and the presence of women is exceptional." 

As an example, history books refer to "Molly Pitcher" as a person in New Jersey, usually Mary Ludwig Hayes, who assisted her husband and others in the Continental Army by carrying water to soldiers in battle and helping the wounded and injured. But revolutionary-war.net notes that "there is some debate among historians as to who the 'real' Molly Pitcher was. Most believe that the title is a composite character of all of the women who fought in and supported the Continental Army."

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

There were likely scores of "Molly Pitchers" during the Revolutionary War, yet they were summed up in history books by one character, while heroic men were remembered as individuals. 

As Sarkeesian and Hudson noted, "Regardless of what our cultural narratives tell us, women as leaders, heroes and rebels isn't unrealistic -- either now or throughout history. It's reality -- just not a reality we get to hear about often enough." 

In this gallery, we highlight just a handful of women from New Jersey who have impacted history, including computer pioneer and Navy officer Grace Hopper, agricultural scientist Elizabeth Coleman White, playwright Ntozake Shange and entertainer Dionne Warwick. Unquestionably, this gallery could go on and on.

And here are links to other galleries you'll enjoy.

Vintage photos of women and the war effort in N.J.

Vintage N.J. photos that are works of art

Vintage photos from N.J. that are works of art

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

Queen Latifah's mother, Rita Owens, dies after 14-year battle with heart failure

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Rita Owens, who died on Wednesday, lived in Wayne and was an art teacher at Irvington High School. She had been diagnosed with both heart failure and scleroderma and appeared in promotions for the American Heart Association alongside Latifah, who was her caregiver.


Athletes to watch for the 2018 boys track & field season

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Who are some of the top athletes returning for the 2018 track and field season?

What to know about the gun protests happening in N.J. Saturday

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The main march in D.C. and sister marches across New Jersey call for strengthened gun control laws.

Girls Lacrosse: Title contenders to watch in 2018

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A look at the top contenders in each group heading into the 2018 girls lacrosse season.

Still much to learn 50 years after this defining fight for Newark medical school | Opinion

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In March 1968, Newark community members known as the "negotiating team" celebrated the historic Medical School Agreements, which would govern the conditions upon which the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry (now part of Rutgers University).

By Junius Williams

This month marked 50 years since the most visible and successful community struggle in Newark's history took place.

In March 1968, Newark community members known as the "negotiating team" celebrated the historic Medical School Agreements, which would govern the conditions upon which the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry (now part of Rutgers University).

Built in Newark's Central Ward on urban renewal land, the agreements reach by among community members, city and state officials, and the federal government stated:

  • Reduced the size of the medical school from 150 acres to 66 acres.
  • Brought construction job training, and hundreds of construction jobs to black and Puerto Rican men at the medical school site, and later, the Newark Airport, and projects built by the Passaic Valley Sewage Commission
  • Brought construction union membership to black and Puerto Ricans in almost all white unions .
  • Provided 60 acres of vacant land to nonprofit community developers which eventually produced 900 apartments for low and moderate income families.
  • Provided an improved hospital and health care delivery for the residents of Newark.

Why was this most successful struggle in Newark's history?  

In 1966, Newark was one of the first major majority black cities in America, but governance, including the power to make land use decisions, was held by whites who sought ways to hold onto this power in face of thousands of black migrants coming from the South and Puerto Ricans coming from Puerto Rico and New York City. Urban Renewal, a federal program designed to clear land for urban redevelopment, was used to clear land for public and private uses, and moved mostly poor people of color to other slums, or out of town.

Such was the perception of the people upon the surprise announcement in 1966 that the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry, then located in Jersey City, had been offered 150 acres of urban renewal land in the middle of the Central Ward by Mayor Hugh Addonizio. This college would have displaced an estimated 20,000 people, mostly black and Puerto Rican.

And so the people organized and the ensuing struggle consistently drew hundreds of people to stormy meetings in city hall, and into ugly confrontations with police. On this issue, Addonizio found it difficult to maintain the support of black organizations traditionally on his side, like the NAACP and large black churches.

Commentators say the Medical School Fight was one of the causes of the Newark rebellion of July 1967: people were tired of the police violence, greedy landlords, insensitive welfare bureaucrats, and uncaring teachers. And they were tired of being pushed out of their homes by the urban renewal bulldozer. They took matters into their own hands which resulted in the killing of 26 people by police, and millions of dollars in property damage.

Once the smoke cleared, an even stronger coalition emerged with a new strategy, including an alternate plan (17 acres instead of 150 acres); a major federal administrative law complaint filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; even newer leadership comprising a negotiating team; and a negotiated settlement called the Medical School Agreements, endorsed by representatives of the President Johnson, New Jersey Gov. Richard Hughes and Newark mayor and his Urban Renewal agency.

The resultant agreements brought forth the most successful construction jobs plan in the country, which led to similar agreements for minority hiring throughout the state; as well as housing, and redirection of health care institutions in the City.

From the momentum of this movement, the people of Newark also stopped Route 75, which would have displaced thousands more as the "Midtown Connector" between Routes 78 and 280. And Leroi Jones ( later Amiri Baraka), the father of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, called the first meeting of the United Brothers whose aim it was to elect the first black mayor of Newark. Ken Gibson was elected in 1970, based on the work of grass roots organizations who converted confrontation politics into electoral politics.

For these reasons, it is important that we study how this confrontation over land resulted in the Medical School Agreements, now at age 50.

Event: The Ad Hoc Committee on Newark's History will celebrate the strategy, and the leaders -- some of whom will be brought back to Newark for a seat on stage -- at a conference on the Medical School Fight on Saturday, March 24, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Newark Public Library. 

Junius Williams, Esq., is chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the History of Newark. He is author of the book "Unfinished Agenda, Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power."

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

Newark police train to rebuild trust with residents | Carter

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The Newark police department is developing policies and undergoing training to regain the the trust of residents after the U.S. Department of Justice determined that its officers violated their civil rights.

By a show of hands, Capt. Brian O'Hara could see that most of the 10 Newark officers at roll call had been on the force at least two years.

He had a point to make with his on-the-spot inventory of service. Just about 90 percent of them came on the job when the U.S. Department of Justice, under a federal consent decree in 2016, told the city that its police department had to change.

Based on a 2014 investigation, federal officials found that Newark police had violated residents' civil rights. The department could not provide a reason for 75 percent of its pedestrian stops.

"Things were done wrong in the past. We're the ones responsible to fix it," said O'Hara, a 17-year veteran of the force.

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns 

He's determined to change the culture that got the department in trouble. With oversight from federal monitor Peter Harvey, a former state attorney general, new policies and training are in various stages of implementation.

In the past several months, O'Hara has been going to police precincts during roll call to explain how officers and supervisors will be held accountable.

As part of that compliance, he said, police reports are audited; videos from police cruisers and body cameras are reviewed regularly.

"This is how we're going to do business," O'Hara said Wednesday at the Fifth Precinct on Clinton Avenue. "It's not going away. Get used to it."

Last week, O'Hara was at a community meeting relaying the same message to residents who came for an update on the department's progress. He was with Harvey, who said the police department is committed to getting it right.

Cassandra Dock, a community activist, doesn't doubt the sincerity. But she's skeptical of the department's ability to monitor itself.

"The older ones (officers) want to keep it the same way," Dock said. "Their attitude is going to clash with the new officers coming in."

As the department moves forward, Dock said its relationship with the community can only improve as police officials hear from the young people they are most likely to encounter. "That's how you build trust and de-escalate," Dock said.

Under the decree, there is no choice but for change to take place.

The department has to write new policies, revise old ones, and provide 40 hours of training for its 1,100 officers. This covers stop, search and arrest procedures; implicit bias; use of force and de-escalating conflicts, and community policing.

Training has begun with community policing, and Newark is on pace to have all 15 of its policies approved by July, just two years after the consent decree was issued.

"I dare say that no other city under a consent decree has ever done that," Harvey said. "We will have accomplished something that no other police department had done."

Much of that sounds good, but Harvey and O'Hara know this is bigger than a federal document. It's about changing officers' behavior and proving to the public that the department can be trusted despite what happened in the past.

Some of that can be achieved with the use of body cameras, which are already in operation at two precincts. O'Hara said that when the camera videos are reviewed, they should help teach officers how to interact with residents on traffic stops.

"They (cameras) are key for our ability to audit and ensure that a lot of things that gave rise to the consent decree are monitored," O'Hara said.

The common complaint the department receives from the public concerns an officer's demeanor, how he or she has treated residents.

From now on, O'Hara said, officers have to introduce themselves on a stop, explain to motorists why they were stopped and allow them to ask questions.

MORE CARTER: Newark trailblazer paved the way for future teachers | Carter

Lyndon Brown, a West Ward district leader, is still a bit leery. While cameras should alleviate some of the problems, Brown said fostering a new culture of training has to be done in the academy.

"It's hard to go back to train them when they've been conditioned a certain way," Brown said.

After the community meeting last week, O'Hara continued to make his rounds to precincts. At the Fifth Precinct, where this story began, O'Hara was frank with the officers awaiting their assignments.

"While guys may not have been here or been directly responsible for some of the stuff that was found to be wrong in the past, you have to deal with it now," he said.

Residents still may harbor resentment, but that doesn't bother David Worrill, a 20-year veteran, or Samuel Okerchiri, 34, who's been on the force two years.

Over time, Worrill said, people develop trust after seeing officers consistently in their neighborhood.

"If you are doing the right thing from the get-go, you're going to continue doing the right thing," Worrill said.

Okerchiri said he doesn't dwell on the department's transgressions. It's about moving forward.

"If we can change the minds of how they (residents) are feeling, we'll be there for them when they need us."

Right now, the residents and police officers need each other.

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

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

What are the best grad schools in N.J.? See the new rankings

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US News & World Report is out with its latest rankings -- and New Jersey fared well across many categories

'Snowman' could melt a heart

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Snowman walks well on a leash and is good with other dogs.

ez0325pet.jpgSnowman 

NEWARK -- Snowman is a 2-year-old pit bull terrier at the Associated Humane Society.

Rescued by the shelter from a neglectful situation, he has been described as "sweet and loving."

Snowman walks well on a leash and is good with other dogs; he has been neutered and is up-to-date on shots.

To meet Snowman and other adoptable pets, visit the Associated Humane Society at 124 Ever-green Ave. The shelter is open Monday through Friday from noon to 5:30 p.m. and weekends from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call 973-824-7080 or go to petfinder.com/pet-search?shelter_id=NJ01.

More homeless pets in New Jersey can be seen by clicking here

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.


EMT charged with stealing from patient during ambulance ride

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Bloomfield residents Eric Fernandez and Karian Persaud face forgery and theft charges

An emergency medical technician for a private ambulance company faces theft and forgery charges after Hillsdale police say he stole blank checks from a woman during transport from a hospital, authorities said.

Eric Fernandez, 32, of Bloomfield, signed the stolen checks in the patient's name and deposited them with the help of a woman he lives with, according to Hillsdale Police Chief Robert Francaviglia.

The theft occurred in early December, police said. The woman called police to say two checks were stolen from her belongings and deposited, police said.

"The resident believed the that the checks were stolen while she was being transported home from the hospital via private ambulance service," Francaviglia said in a statement.

Police zeroed in on Fernandez, who was working as an EMT during the woman's ambulance ride, the chief said.

Fernandez allegedly "completed and signed the checks pretending to be the resident," Francaviglia said.

The checks were deposited into an account belonging to Karian Persaud, 31, of Bloomfield, Francaviglia said.

Fernandez and Persaud live together in the 500 block of Bloomfield Avenue in Bloomfield, police said.

Fernandez was charged with third-degree forgery, third-degree uttering a forged document and theft. Persaud was charged with third-degree uttering a forged document and third-degree theft by deception, police said.

Police did not release the name of the ambulance company Fernandez worked for, how long he has been working there or the status of his employment.

Public records show Fernandez has arrests in two states dating back five years.

In January 2013, he was charged with two counts of retail theft in Palm Beach County, Florida. The charges were later dropped by the prosecutor, records show.

In May 2016, Fernandez was sentenced to up to three years in prison for a burglary in Union County, records show. In October 2017, Fernandez was sentenced to up to 18 months for fraudulent use of a credit card in Monmouth County, records show.

Neither state nor county jail records show when Fernandez was last released from custody.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

March for Our Lives is about safety first, guns second | Di Ionno

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How do we keep safe -- and preserve liberties of the Second Amendment?

It's about safety.

It's also about school shootings and urban violence.

It's also about guns. And gun rights.

It's also about mental illness. And criminal behavior.

And even violence in movies and video games.

But mostly, it's about safety.

Safety. Something we should all be able to agree on.

Safety is not a liberal agenda, just as ignoring safety isn't really what conservatives want.

What we disagree on is how to keep our country's school children, city dwellers, movie goers, mall shoppers, sports fans -- and everyone else -- safe.

It's the age-old question about our Bill of Rights.  How much freedom are we willing to give up for the public good?

But agreeing we all want to be safe is a good place to continue the conversation about violence in our country.

MORE: Recent Mark Di Ionno columns

The people organizing New Jersey's March for Our Lives tomorrow want to hammer home that message.

"We don't want to take away the right for people to safely own guns," said Rev. Melissa Hall of the St. James Episcopal Church in Upper Montclair, which is holding a March for Our Lives event tomorrow at 5 p.m., one of two dozen in the state.

"But we want our kids, our people, to be safe," she said. "Isn't that what we all should want? To be safe."  

Elizabeth Meyer, a Branchburg mother and teacher, who has helped 29 student leaders organize the March for Our Lives event in Newark tomorrow, echoed that mission.

"This isn't about the Second Amendment," she said. "It's about keeping people safe everywhere -- in school, on the streets, in the movie theater and the mall."

The Newark march, which begins at 10 a.m. in Military Park (www.marchforourlivesnj.org) was organized by students from places as economically disparate and geographically distant as Princeton and Newark, and Ridgewood and Toms River. The student leaders represent those towns and Howell, Marlboro, Randolph, Somerville and the Oranges.

Newark was chosen because of the mass transit options and because the students want to connect and bring attention not only to school shootings but also to the gun violence that plagues our cities.

One of the student leaders, Elijah Brown of East Orange, has had two cousins in Baltimore murdered.

"One was about my age, and still in high school," he said. "The other was a Marine."

Brown, a sophomore political science major at Rutgers-Newark, will speak to the crowd about how the deaths left "a void that's hard to heal" in his extended family.

"It creates holes in a family," he said. "You never get to know those people."

For those not directly impacted, Brown said, there is constant fear. Gunshots reverberate down city streets, making people feel uneasy and at risk.

"Entire communities live in fear," he said. "It's crazy. People should be able to feel safe in their towns."

Safety. It's on all our minds these days as mass shootings have breached the boundaries of the unthinkable in the past few years.

  • Fifty-eight people killed and more than 500 wounded during a country music concert in Las Vegas.
  • Twenty first-graders and six adults killed in Newtown, Conn.
  • Twenty-six parishioners killed in a rural Texas church.
  • Fourteen county employees killed at a work event in San Bernardino.
  • Twelve moviegoers killed and 58 wounded in a Colorado movie theater.
  • Forty-nine nightclub patrons killed and more than 50 injured in Orlando, Fla.
  • Thirty-two students killed at Virginia Tech.

And then there is the urban violence, where the murders, usually one or two at a time, add up to thousands. Nearly 500 a year in Chicago, about 350 in Baltimore, roughly 300 a year in both Philadelphia and Detroit, and 150 a year each in New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Milwaukee.

Newark, with 74 homicides last year, doesn't make the list of the worst cities for murder. But, as police and politicians like to say, one is too many.

"Parkland was the catalyst, but inner-city gun violence is one of the reasons we chose Newark," said Sarah Emily Baum, a senior at Marlboro High School and an organizer of the Newark event. "For white picket-fence communities, the school violence is shocking. But in the cities, this is an old problem and nothing is being done."

She referred to a budget amendment signed by Bill Clinton in 1996 that prohibited funding for the national Center for Disease Control to study gun violence. A new spending bill will make funding available in the wake of the Parkland shooting.

"Government stripped funding to study gun violence. How can we solve the problems if we don't educate ourselves?" she said.

A spending bill passed by the House on Thursday will make that funding available in the wake of the Parkland shooting.

After that attack at Stoneman Douglas High School left 17 students dead last month, Baum wanted to organize a local March for Our Lives.

"I wanted to do a sister march (to the national march in Washington tomorrow) but I knew I was in over my head," she said. "I wanted to reach out to the people who organized other marches."

Simultaneously, Erin Chung of "Women for Progress," and Brett Sabo of "Moms Demand Action," reached out to Elizabeth Meyer, who was fresh off organizing a Trenton event as part of the national Women's March in Trenton on Jan. 21.

"She is an dynamite organizer," said Chung, who lives in Wyckoff. "I texted her and said, 'We have to do something.' We decided almost immediately that we should do something in Newark."

"We also knew we wanted the kids to be the driving force," said Meyer.

  Through social media and old-fashioned networking, the word went out.

"My mother knew of Elizabeth, so I got in touch," Baum said.

She was the first. Within a week, other students were on board.

The Newark students came in through Eliza Armstrong, a teacher at North Star Academy and Kim Gaddy, a member of the Newark Board of Education.

"I heard from a woman whose daughter went to camp with (Parkland victim) Alex Schacter," Meyer said. "She was devastated and wanted to be involved. She brought in another girl who knew Alex from camp."

Darcy Schleifstein of Randolph and Samantha Levy of South Orange are those two girls and will speak at the Newark event.

They, like Brown, will talk about personal loss. But all of us sense a loss of security these days -- that unnerving feeling we may not be safe. Wherever. Whenever.

 "Just the other day," Meyer said, "one of our student organizers, Christian Martin of Princeton, began texting me. He was on lockdown (at school) because of the guy with the gun at Panera Bread."

Police killed the armed man, Scott Mielentz of Lawrenceville, after a five-hour standoff.  No one else was injured. This time.

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

Glimpse of History: An organization for women in Essex County

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WEST ORANGE -- In this undated photo, board members of the Green Hill Society reenact the founding of the the organization at a fundraising gala. MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey Green Hill, founded in Newark in 1866 as The Society for Relief of the Respectable Aged Women, provided a home for unmarried and widowed women. The organization moved to...

WEST ORANGE -- In this undated photo, board members of the Green Hill Society reenact the founding of the the organization at a fundraising gala.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

Green Hill, founded in Newark in 1866 as The Society for Relief of the Respectable Aged Women, provided a home for unmarried and widowed women. The organization moved to West Orange in 1965 and welcomed men to its senior living facility in 1998.

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.

HS Baseball preview: The 16 returning All-State players

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There are 16 returning all-state players from 2017 returning to start the 2018 high school baseball season

Federal fugitive from N.J. who lived openly in Morocco for 16 years finally surrenders

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Steven Nacim allegedly bought computers from businesses in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and California with bad checks. Some of the businesses lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Nearly 16 years after fleeing to Morocco after he was indicted in connection with a $2.8 million bank fraud, a now 49-year-old man is in federal custody.

Steven Nacim agreed to surrender to the FBI on Friday morning after flying back to the U.S. and is set to appear in federal court in the city this afternoon, authorities announced.

Officials issued a warrant was for Nacim on on July 31, 2002 after a federal grand jury indicted him on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Moroccan authorities verified to the FBI over the years that Nacim was there, but the U.S. doesn't have an extradition treaty with that country. 

elcohen.jpgAbdesslem Reda El Cohen, left, and Mohamed El Cohen. (Courtesy FBI) 

He stayed out of trouble while in Morocco and eventually agreed to turn himself in, the FBI said. 

"Over the years we had contact with him to remind him he was still wanted in the U.S," FBI special agent Ed Koby said.

Nacim and others allegedly bought computers and computer-related merchandise from businesses in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and California with checks that wound up bouncing or on credit.'

Nacim and his partners then shipped the merchandise to Morocco, authorities allege. Some of the businesses lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

They ran a business called "Computers 3000" that operated here and in Casablanca, Morocco, according to the FBI.

Nacim, who formerly lived in Bergen County, is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

His alleged co-conspirators Mohamed El Cohen,46,  and Abdesslem Reda El Cohen, 37, are still being sought by the FBI. Both are thought to be in Morocco. Mohamed El Cohen was indicted on the same day as Nacim in 2002. 

Abdesslem Reda El Cohen was in 2004 sentenced to 10 months in prison but boarded a plane before his report date, according to the FBI.

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

 

 

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