Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Suspect In Maplewood Double Killing Arrested UPDATE: Suspect In Maplewood Double Killing Arrested
Update: Suspect In Maplewood Double Killing Arrested UPDATE, 12 p.m. Aug 4: A suspect in the killings has been arrested. Click here for more.  The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating after two people were found dead in Maplewood Saturday morning.  Police were called to a home in the area around 6 a.m. on a report of a woman being assaulted. Arriving officers found an injured woman in the street and she as transported to Beth Israel Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead shortly after 7 a.m.  Police also found an unresponsive man inside a home in the 400 block of Walton. He was pronounced dead at the scene.…

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by Paul Milo
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Duo In Million-Dollar Meth Bust Now Facing Federal Charges UPDATE: Duo In Million-Dollar Meth Bust Now Facing Federal Charges
Update: Duo In Million-Dollar Meth Bust Now Facing Federal Charges UPDATE, Aug. 6: The two men arrested last week have been charged in federal court. Click here for more.  Another suspect believed to be involved with a large methamphetamine operation based in a West Orange home was arrested in Maplewood, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said Wednesday.  Police and sheriff's officers raided the Lorelei Road home Tuesday and seized meth with a street value of about $1 million, Fontoura said. They also arrested Brian Chedahackembruch, 23, who was at the home at the time of the raid. He's accused of running a meth production facility, among…

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by Paul Milo
Jersey City, NJ
News
Top-Tier Lottery Scratch-Offs Sold At These 12 North Jersey Retailers Top-Tier Lottery Scratch-Offs Sold At These 12 North Jersey Retailers
Top-Tier Lottery Scratch-Offs Sold At These 12 North Jersey Retailers Several North Jersey retailers sold top-tier New Jersey Lottery scratch-off tickets. Players claimed more than $101.9 million in prizes last month. Below is a listing of the top prizes over $10,000 won for the month, sold at a dozen retailers in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic and Essex counties. BERGEN COUNTY:  Harrington News, Harrington Park: $250,000 Crossword Quick Mart, Franklin Turnpike, Mahwah: $20,000 Crossword Xtra-Tel, Fairview: $10,000 Bonus ESSEX COUNTY: Crosstown Liquors, Newark: $100,000  Bingo Bonus Square QuickChek, Springfield Avenue, Maple…

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by Cecilia Levine
Cresskill-Closter, NJ
Police & Fire
Closter PD: Driver Of Unlocked Stolen Car In Chase Crash Tracked Down In Jersey City Closter PD: Driver Of Unlocked Stolen Car In Chase Crash Tracked Down In Jersey City
Closter PD: Driver Of Unlocked Stolen Car In Chase Crash Tracked Down In Jersey City Closter police tracked down a Jersey City man who they said fled during a stolen-car chase earlier this year. Justin Howard, 19, was charged with eluding, resisting arrest and receiving stolen property stemming from the Feb. 4 incident. Closter police were actually chasing two stolen vehicles around 3 a.m. that morning when the one that Howard was in crashed at the Alpine border, Detective Sgt. Vincent Aiello said. The occupants bailed out, ran through a large estate in Alpine and made their getaway in an unlocked car whose owner left the key fob inside, he said. Working with the Jersey C…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Woman Killed In South Orange Fire Was Once Victim Of Home Invasion Woman Killed In South Orange Fire Was Once Victim Of Home Invasion
Woman Killed In South Orange Fire Was Once Victim Of Home Invasion The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office has identified the victim in a deadly fire in South Orange early Friday. The blaze broke out at 231 Ward Place around 2:40 a.m. The fire left the three-story, single-family home heavily damaged. The victim, 48-year-old Cecelia Cranko, was found on the home’s top floor and was pronounced dead at the scene.  There were no other occupants in the home when firefighters arrived and no one else was injured, the prosecutor's office said.  Two years ago Cranko told WABC 7 News she had been attacked by a man in the Ward Place home. She was on the top…

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by Paul Milo
Newark, NJ
News
Off-Leash Dog Park Coming To Branch Brook Park In Newark Off-Leash Dog Park Coming To Branch Brook Park In Newark
Off-Leash Dog Park Coming To Branch Brook Park In Newark Construction has begun on an off-leash dog park at Branch Brook Park in Newark and Belleville, officials said Friday.  "We are always looking for opportunities to improve our open spaces and create recreation opportunities for the public. The development of the dog park transforms an underutilized area of the park into a vibrant location where community members and their canine pets can gather and socialize," Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo said.  The dog park is scheduled to be completed by the end of next month.  "We are happy to work with the Forest Hills Neighbo…

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by Paul Milo
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Elizabeth, Maplewood Scammers Bought Rolls Royce, Other Fancy Cars With Bad Checks Elizabeth, Maplewood Scammers Bought Rolls Royce, Other Fancy Cars With Bad Checks
Elizabeth, Maplewood Scammers Bought Rolls Royce, Other Fancy Cars With Bad Checks An Elizabeth man and a Maplewood resident were both found guilty last week of using phony checks and money orders to obtain a small fleet of luxury cars and to pay off a large mortgage balance, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey said. Germaine Howard King, a 43-year-old Elizabeth resident, used counterfeit money orders he created on a computer with the assistance of a woman named Melissa Reynolds, who previously pleaded guilty to fraud. The two tried to pay off two Mercedes Benzes using the money orders as well as a $432,000 mortgage. The financial institution mistakenly accepted the bogus m…

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by Paul Milo
Elizabeth, NJ
Police & Fire
Longtime Teacher At Maplewood’s Columbia High Had Child Porn: Prosecutor Longtime Teacher At Maplewood’s Columbia High Had Child Porn: Prosecutor
Longtime Teacher At Maplewood’s Columbia High Had Child Porn: Prosecutor A Union man who teaches at an Essex County high school was arrested after authorities found pornographic electronic files of children at his home, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said. Authorities seized a tablet, desktop computers, laptops and storage devices from the home Michael A. Morrill, 55, following an investigation by the prosecutor’s Internet Crimes Against Children division. Investigators plan to look for illegal material in addition to the files that have already been found, the prosecutor’s office said. Morrill has taught astronomy and physics for nearly 25 years at Colum…

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by Paul Milo
Elizabeth, NJ
Real Estate
Union County Town Is Most Affordable New York City Suburb, Website Says Union County Town Is Most Affordable New York City Suburb, Website Says
Union County Town Is Most Affordable New York City Suburb, Website Says Living in the 'burbs comes with a hefty price tag these days. Hillside is a an exception, according to a new report by Realtor.com. The website ranked the 11 most affordable places to live outside the big city, ranking the Union County borough at the top. Realtor.com looked at ZIP codes in the 11 largest metropolitan areas and considered crime rates, rush-hour commutes more than an hour long. Then, the site ranked the reamining ZIPs by median home listing prices from April 2018 to March 2019. "Stroke-inducing prices for restroom-sized co-ops and condos in Manhattan have long pushed folks …

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by Cecilia Levine
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Ex-Maplewood School Employee Who Took Lewd Pic Of Child Gets 10 Years Ex-Maplewood School Employee Who Took Lewd Pic Of Child Gets 10 Years
Ex-Maplewood School Employee Who Took Lewd Pic Of Child Gets 10 Years A man who once worked as a paraprofessional at a grade school in Maplewood has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for conduct which included masturbating in the presence of students, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said.  Kenneth Palmer, a 22-year-old from Randolph, shot videos of himself masturbating in hallways at Jefferson Elementary School. He was charged in Essex County with criminal sexual assault for engaging in a criminal sexual act with himself in view of children under 13.  It was not known whether children had actually seen Palmer, but he can still be charged eve…

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by Paul Milo
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
News
These North Jersey Towns Have State's Highest Property Taxes These North Jersey Towns Have State's Highest Property Taxes
These North Jersey Towns Have State's Highest Property Taxes The average property tax bill in New Jersey last year was $8,767, an increase of $77 from $8,690 in 2017. Many towns, though, paid more than $10,000. Millburn residents paid the most in the state ($24,308) with Alpine trailing in the second spot at ($21,299). Here are the towns in North Jersey with the highest property tax bills in the state for 2018, according to a report by NJ.com. 26. Mendham, Morris County:  $15,598 25. Chester, Morris County: $15,602 24. Maplewood, Essex County: $15,630 23. Livingston, Essex County: $15,933 22. North Caldwell, Essex Cou…

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by Cecilia Levine
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
N. Caldwell Police Officer Hurt In Chase, 5 Arrested: Report N. Caldwell Police Officer Hurt In Chase, 5 Arrested: Report
N. Caldwell Police Officer Hurt In Chase, 5 Arrested: Report A North Caldwell police officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries after he attempted to stop the driver of a stolen car early Wednesday morning, according to published reports.  Sgt. John Belotta was patrolling the area of Mountain Avenue and Knowlwood Drive shortly before 5 a.m. when he saw two vehicles that had been reported stolen in Morris Plains and Maplewood. Belotta and officers from neighboring departments were in the area investigating reports of suspicious people running through backyards. Belotta was dragged as he attempted to stop one of the vehicles, a black …

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by Paul Milo