Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Four Firefighters Injured After Blaze Damages Historic Church Four Firefighters Injured After Blaze Damages Historic Church
Four Firefighters Injured After Blaze Damages Historic Church Grace Presbyterian Church, a 99-year-old Montclair institution, suffered extensive damage after a three-alarm fire tore the building on Tuesday morning, August 15. Montclair firefighters rushed to Grove Street and Tuxedo Road at 8 a.m. and found the fire reaching from the basement to the roofline at the back of the church, Deputy Chief Robert Duncan said. The roof collapsed about a half hour after the blaze started, according to witnesses on scene. It took multiple hoselines and master streams to bring the fire under control at 11 a.m., Duncan said. Four firefighters suffered minor injurie…

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by Jerry DeMarco and Sam Barron
Towson, MD
Business
Church-Themed Bar, Hotel Bars In Baltimore Named To 'Esquire' List Of Best In America Church-Themed Bar, Hotel Bars In Baltimore Named To 'Esquire' List Of Best In America
Church-Themed Bar, Hotel Bars In Baltimore Named To 'Esquire' List Of Best In America A church-themed bar and hotel bars in Baltimore were named to the "Esquire" list of the best bars in America for 2023. The publication's lifestyle and culture director, Kevin Sintumuang, said this year's list (its 18th) has more "spirited originality" than ever before. Church, the Maryland Avenue bar, for example (which was temporarily closed as of June 1), is reminiscent of an actual church, complete with a pulpit as a greeter stand and pews in the back room, according to "Esquire." The second (well, and third) Baltimore spot on the list is Ash Bar and Bloom’s at Ulysses. Both are bars at…

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by Cecilia Levine
Towson, MD
News
AG Seeks To Release Report Naming 158 Priests Accused Of Abuse In Archdiocese Of Baltimore AG Seeks To Release Report Naming 158 Priests Accused Of Abuse In Archdiocese Of Baltimore
AG Seeks To Release Report Naming 158 Priests Accused Of Abuse In Archdiocese Of Baltimore Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has filed a motion to release an investigative report of sexual child abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. On Thursday, Nov. 17, the AG announced that he is seeking approval from the Circuit Court of Baltimore City to release the 463-page report to the public, which reportedly identifies more than 600 victims. Frosh’s office launched a criminal investigation into child sexual abuse by priests and other employees of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 2019, which included hundreds of thousands of documents dating back to the 1940s that were produced in re…

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by Zak Failla
Glen Burnie, MD
News
Police In Maryland Searching For 66-Year-Old Man In Connection To Hate Crime At Church Police In Maryland Searching For 66-Year-Old Man In Connection To Hate Crime At Church
Police In Maryland Searching For 66-Year-Old Man In Connection To Hate Crime At Church Detectives are searching for a man wanted for vandalizing a church in Gambrills, authorities say. Donald Eugene Hood Jr., 66, is has been identified as the suspect in connection to the vandalization of the Kingdom Celebration Center at 952 Annapolis Road that was reported on Wednesday, Aug. 3, around 9:15 p.m., according to Anne Arundel police. The victim found an offensive message inscribed onto the door of the church. Police say this church had been a target of past incidents of the similar nature. An arrest warrant has been filed for Hood, and police are asking anyone with information o…

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by Annie DeVoe
Fredericksburg, VA
Police & Fire
Divine Intervention? Wanted Man Crashes Through Stafford County Church Ceiling During Service Divine Intervention? Wanted Man Crashes Through Stafford County Church Ceiling During Service
Divine Intervention? Wanted Man Crashes Through Stafford County Church Ceiling During Service Rumblings heard in the ceiling of a Stafford County church on Saturday, June 11, weren't the Holy Spirit but a wanted criminal playing a game of hide and seek with deputies.  Troy Longwell, 52, was arrested after he dropped out of the roof during a church service around 7:30 p.m. He crawled into the sanctuary from an adjoining business, the Stafford County Sheriff's Office said.  Deputies received a tip that Longwell was hiding in a beauty shop at a shopping center on Warrenton Road, the Sheriff's Office said. He had warrants from four other jurisdictions, officials noted. Th…

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by Josh Lanier
Bowie, MD
News
Maryland Grandmother Wins $47K Playing Lottery Maryland Grandmother Wins $47K Playing Lottery
Maryland Grandmother Wins $47K Playing Lottery A Maryland Lottery player has won a $47,181 "Racetrax" prize. The 72-year-old grandmother of two and her adult son went to AJ Liquors on Bladensburg Road in Brentwood to play the game on Saturday, Feb. 12. “The morning of, I wrote down the numbers I wanted to play, 10, 11, 12,” she told the Maryland Lottery. “I don’t know where they came from, they just came to mind.” The woman put a 50-cent Trifecta Box wager on the horses numbered 10, 11, and 12 for two drawings, adding the Bonus multiplier feature, according to lottery officials. But, it took more than one try for her to win …

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by Nicole Acosta
Hackensack, NJ
News
Tragedy Follows Joy: Hackensack Funeral Director Tom Gentile Dies Tragedy Follows Joy: Hackensack Funeral Director Tom Gentile Dies
Tragedy Follows Joy: Hackensack Funeral Director Tom Gentile Dies He’d walked his daughter down the aisle just the day before when beloved Hackensack funeral director Tom Gentile died suddenly this weekend, friends and loved ones said. “After a day of celebration, it is with heavy hearts that our family regretfully needs to announce that our patriarch, G. Thomas Gentile…passed away this morning,” the family announced Sunday. He was 72. Gaetano Gentile, a father of three, dedicated his life to helping people at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives. “This community has been kind to me over the years, giving me the opportunity of fulfilling my …

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by Jerry DeMarco