http://njtoday.net The online home of New Jersey's oldest weekly newspaper Sat, 26 May 2012 09:00:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://njtoday.net/2010/01/07/lesniak-gay-marriage-law-loses/ http://njtoday.net/2010/01/07/lesniak-gay-marriage-law-loses/#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:10:25 +0000 atomtabloid http://njtoday.net/?p=12536 TRENTON -- The state Senate rejected -- by a vote of 14 to 20, with six senators not voting -- a bill sponsored by Sen. Raymond Lesniak aimed at legalizing gay marriage in New Jersey.]]> http://njtoday.net/2010/01/07/lesniak-gay-marriage-law-loses/feed/ 1 http://njtoday.net/2009/11/03/cryan-committee-commits-dirty-tricks/ http://njtoday.net/2009/11/03/cryan-committee-commits-dirty-tricks/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:10:03 +0000 atomtabloid http://njtoday.net/?p=10019 STATE -- The Democratic State Committee admitted to paying for a automated phone calls that disparaged GOP nominee Christopher Christie and encouraged Republican voters to support independent gubernatorial candidate Christopher Daggett.]]> http://njtoday.net/2009/11/03/cryan-committee-commits-dirty-tricks/feed/ 0 http://njtoday.net/2009/06/05/vas-campaign-leader-pleads-guilty-to-corruption-charge/ http://njtoday.net/2009/06/05/vas-campaign-leader-pleads-guilty-to-corruption-charge/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:04:49 +0000 cmdmedia http://cmdmedia.wordpress.com/?p=4270 TRENTON –  A man who served as a leader of the 2006 congressional campaign of state Assemblyman Joseph Vas pleaded guilty today to soliciting fraudulent campaign contributions, Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced. According to Gramiccioni, Raymond Geneske, 73, of Perth Amboy, pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa in Middlesex County to a third-degree charge of financial facilitation of criminal activity, commonly known as money laundering. In pleading guilty, Geneske admitted that he solicited employees of the City of Perth Amboy and others to make fraudulent contributions to Vas’ 2006 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives for the 13th Congressional District.  At the time, Geneske was chairman of the Perth Amboy Democratic Committee and was a key advisor to the Vas campaign.  Geneske admitted that he paid cash to the people he solicited to reimburse them for writing personal checks payable to “Vas for Congress.” Geneske said he was given a total of $30,000 in cash, and distributed $25,000 or more through payments to straw contributors. He said that, under Vas’ direction, he distributed the remaining $4,000 to $5,000 for get out the vote efforts for the campaign.  According to [...]]]> http://njtoday.net/2009/06/05/vas-campaign-leader-pleads-guilty-to-corruption-charge/feed/ 0 http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/ricigliano-wins-bitter-battle-against-choi/ http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/ricigliano-wins-bitter-battle-against-choi/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:39:42 +0000 cmdmedia http://cmdmedia.wordpress.com/?p=4268 EDISON – Councilwoman Antonia Ricigliano is one step closer to becoming Edison’s first female mayor after defeating incumbent Jun Choi in Tuesday’s primary. The two-term councilwoman had the backing of the township’s Democratic Committee as well as the local police union, but still trailed Choi by 18 points in a poll taken two weeks before election day. “Does it get any better?” Ricigliano asked at her campaign headquarters on Tuesday night. “I couldn’t believe it. When the phone call came in, I didn’t know who it was—it was Mayor Choi conceding. We didn’t even have all the numbers on our board yet.” Ricigliano received 6,582 votes — 378 more than Choi, according to unofficial results. Slightly over half of Edison’s 25,536 registered Democrats voted in the primary. Choi said he would not run as an independent, calling himself a “lifelong Democrat” who hasn’t given up on his party. The mayor blamed his loss on negative campaigning. Ricigliano spent the campaign portraying Choi as a dishonest politician who distorts his tax and reform records. Ricigliano was able to carry her slate of three council candidates to victory as well. The trio, Councilman Robert Diehl, former council president Charles Tomaro and newcomer [...]]]> http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/ricigliano-wins-bitter-battle-against-choi/feed/ 0 http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/plainfield-mayor-wins-narrow-victory/ http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/plainfield-mayor-wins-narrow-victory/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:37:19 +0000 cmdmedia http://cmdmedia.wordpress.com/?p=4264 UNION COUNTY — Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs won by a narrow margin in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, defeating a field of five opponents that included a city councilman, a school board member and the chairwoman of the municipal utilities authority. Just four Union County communities had contested primaries, though 17 of 21 held elections. There are no local elections this year in Clark, Elizabeth or Rahway. Freeholder chairman Alexander Mirabella and Freeholder Deborah Scanlon, along with Democratic party-endorsed candidate Mohamed Jalloh won the Union County Freeholder primary race. In November, they will face Republicans Anthony Sytko, Nicole Cole and Modesto Miranda Jr. Philip Morin, the head of the county Republican committee, expressed confidence that his trio will break the monopoly that Democrats have on the freeholder board. This year’s 5.3 percent tax increase in the county budget included unnecessary expenditures, Morin said, adding, “every dollar being spent by the government equals a higher tax burden on the population.” In the two Roselle borough council races, incumbent Democrats Christine Dansereau and Sylvia Turnage both easily won their primaries. In Linden, Democrats Christopher Kolibas and Brian Tomko were unopposed in their city council primaries.]]> http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/plainfield-mayor-wins-narrow-victory/feed/ 0 http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/h1n1-flu-cases-confirmed-in-middlesex-county-2/ http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/h1n1-flu-cases-confirmed-in-middlesex-county-2/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:36:12 +0000 cmdmedia http://cmdmedia.wordpress.com/?p=4262 MIDDLESEX COUNTY—Four cases of H1N1 flu have been confirmed in Middlesex County, according to the Middlesex County Public Health Department. Three of the cases, two from Highland Park and one from Edison, are from an influenza cluster in students from a private parochial school in Piscataway. A cluster is defined as two or more individuals with symptom onset within seven days of each other who have common exposure, i.e. school. The private school was closed for a week, and reopened on Monday, June 1. County health officer David A. Papi said, “We have been working closely with the school, local physicians, parents, and all local health departments in the county, particularly Piscataway and Edison health departments.” A fourth confirmed case involves an adult male from North Brunswick and is not related to the cases from the Piscataway school, officials said. Papi said, “We will continue to provide residents with information about this situation and advise them of any steps necessary to protect their health.  What is important for parents and residents to do now is: • Know the symptoms of flu • Report illness to your school nurse • Call your doctor if you have symptoms of the flu • [...]]]> http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/h1n1-flu-cases-confirmed-in-middlesex-county-2/feed/ 0 http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/linden-budget-calls-for-tax-increase-furloughs/ http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/linden-budget-calls-for-tax-increase-furloughs/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:34:37 +0000 cmdmedia http://cmdmedia.wordpress.com/?p=4260 LINDEN – Municipal taxes will rise about $100 for the average Linden resident under the proposed 2009 budget, which calls for furloughs of city employees and deferrals of municipal pension contributions. Taxes will go up $103 on a property assessed at the city average of $141,100. While the planned increase is smaller than in recent years, the average municipal tax bill will climb to $2,100. The proposed 2009 budget comes in at around $88 million, more than $4 million less than the 2008 budget, which was $92.5 million. But the tax increase is necessary because revenue is down more than $4 million. Personnel costs, which make up about half the budget, were the major target for cuts, officials said. “The council and the mayor definitely tried to eliminate positions where possible while still maintaining the same level of service the citizens of Linden are used to,” said treasurer Alexis Zack. City officials negotiated voluntary furloughs with most of the unions representing city employees, except for firefighters and police officers. Municipal employees will be required to take four furlough days during the year, which can be taken in days or hours. The city will save $3.1 million by reducing pension contributions [...]]]> http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/linden-budget-calls-for-tax-increase-furloughs/feed/ 0 http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/gang-member-sentenced-for-2006-murder/ http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/gang-member-sentenced-for-2006-murder/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:33:32 +0000 cmdmedia http://cmdmedia.wordpress.com/?p=4258 ELIZABETH—A Jersey City man was sentenced to 60 years in state prison on Friday after having been found guilty of first degree murder, Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow announced. Omar Holmes, 24, must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, officials said. In March, after a three-week trial and less than a day of jury deliberations, Holmes was also convicted of several weapon offences, said Assistant Prosecutor Michael Henn, who handled the case. According to the investigation, Holmes, a verified member of the Bloods, was at Club Flight on Routes 1&9 in Elizabeth on April 3, 2006.  An associate of Holmes got into a fight with William Green, 26, of Newark and the scene “quickly turned into a brawl,” said Henn. Within minutes the Jersey City members of the Bloods were fighting with Greene and members of his family and during the course of the melee, Holmes shot Green five times. Green was pronounced dead at the scene, said Henn. Following an intense investigation by Elizabeth Police Department Detective Paul Pasternak and Union County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Michael Manochio, Holmes was identified as the suspect and arrested in January 2007. Union County Superior Court Judge James [...]]]> http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/gang-member-sentenced-for-2006-murder/feed/ 0 http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/supreme-court-approves-revised-school-funding-formula/ http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/supreme-court-approves-revised-school-funding-formula/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:32:12 +0000 cmdmedia http://cmdmedia.wordpress.com/?p=4256 STATE – New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled last week that Gov. Corzine’s revised school aid formula can replace the system instituted by the Abbott school funding case that has sent billions to 31 city school districts during the past 30 years. The court unanimously ruled that the School Funding Reform Act adopted by lawmakers last year is “a constitutionally adequate scheme.” Earlier this spring, state Attorney General Anne Milgram told the court that the revised formula spreads money based on “children’s needs, not children’s zip codes.” The court’s opinion, written by Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, places a condition on the ruling: the system must be reviewed for fairness in three years. “There is no absolute guarantee that (the revised funding plan) will achieve the results desired by all,” the opinion states. “The political branches of government, however, are entitled to take reasoned steps, even if the outcome cannot be assured, to address the pressing social, economic and educational challenges confronting our state.” The state Supreme Court had previously ordered that New Jersey’s poorest communities be funded on par with the most affluent. The new plan distributes school aid money based on enrollment, with additional funding going to districts with high concentrations [...]]]> http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/supreme-court-approves-revised-school-funding-formula/feed/ 0 http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/rahway-races/ http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/rahway-races/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:29:54 +0000 cmdmedia http://cmdmedia.wordpress.com/?p=4253 Runners take off at the start of the PowerBar Mayor’s Trophy 5K Run on Memorial Day in Rahway. The winners of the race were G. G. John of East Orange and Almlemtseh Misganaw of Ethiopia. (Photo courtesy of the Rahway Recreation Department)]]> http://njtoday.net/2009/06/03/rahway-races/feed/ 0