New Jersey
Drone sightings now reported above South Jersey towns, too. Police are investigating
Add several municipalities in South Jersey to the list of places in the state where people claim they have seen drones flying in the sky at night.
Evesham Township, Burlington County, received reports about drone activity on Thursday, and Walt Miller, the town’s police chief, on Friday said there have been similar reports in the neighboring towns of Mount Laurel and Medford – also in Burlington County – and Cherry Hill, Camden County, CBS3 reported.
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“It is a concern amongst the community,” a public information officer for Evesham Township Police told PhillyVoice on Friday. “It was an ongoing issue yesterday.”
The police departments in the other municipalities have not addressed reports of drone activity, and they could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.
New Jersey residents and officials have reported a number of unusual aircraft sightings, but until Thursday they had all been in the skies above counties in North Jersey. The first occurred last month.
The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office reported that police had spotted the aircraft while on patrol in various parts of the county on Nov. 18. Other sightings of drones flying in clusters have since been reported in parts of Somerset, Warren and Sussex counties, NorthJersey.com reported Thursday.
The FBI has been investigating the New Jersey incidents for several weeks, officials said, and Evesham police said in a Facebook post that they are collaborating with state and federal authorities “to identify the drone operators and understand the purpose of this activity.”
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he met Wednesday with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other law enforcement officials to discuss the drone activity.“We are actively monitoring the situation and in close coordination with our federal and law enforcement partners on this matter,” Murphy said.
Officials have not confirmed whether all sightings were drones or another kind of aircraft, and they said there is no known threat to public safety from the aircraft.
The FBI’s office in Newark, New Jersey, said in a statement on Tuesday it is collecting information on reports from areas along the 70-mile-long Raritan River in North Jersey.
“Witnesses have spotted the cluster of what look to be drones and a possible fixed wing aircraft,” the FBI said. “We have reports from the public and law enforcement dating back several weeks.”
Clusters of suspected drones have been spotted above and near locations including Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility in Morris County, and President-elect Donald Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, Somerset County. The Federal Aviation Administration responded by imposing drone flight restrictions in those areas in recent weeks.
Witnesses who spoke with news outlets described the drones as being larger than the typical consumer aircraft flown by hobbyists, who are required to obtain a remote pilot certificate and a license from the FAA to fly drones. Videos of the aircraft have circulated on social media in recent weeks.
“We saw one right up above us that was the size of our car.”
Mysterious drones have been spotted hovering over neighborhoods in New Jersey, leaving residents confused and concerned. The FBI is investigating and local police say there’s no known threat to public safety. pic.twitter.com/iVussv4Q8D
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 4, 2024
The FAA acknowledged the investigation and flight restrictions on Friday, but did not comment on drone sightings in South Jersey.
“We look into all reports of unauthorized drone operations and investigate when appropriate,” FAA spokesperson Cassandra Nolan said in an email Friday.
Drone pilots who operate their aircraft unsafely face fines of as much as $75,000 and the suspension or revocation of their operators’ certificates, Nolan said.
The presence of the drones has raised questions about the possibility of military involvement, including activity by foreign adversaries.
In February of last year, the U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina after it had been observed flying in parts of the U.S. The balloon had been connected to an American internet service provider to send and receive communications in China, U.S. intelligence officials later determined.
Former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker, who served under former President George W. Bush, called the drones above New Jersey “perplexing” during an interview on Fox News on Friday.
“I think it’s mainly a counterintelligence issue that needs to be resolved, first and foremost,” Swecker said. “There’s a military arsenal there where a considerable amount of research takes place on small arms and explosives. It’s a very important army facility. We know how aggressive the Chinese have been over the last few years with the balloons, so I’m interested in hearing more about these drones and why they’re not doing something to stop it.”
The FBI’s Newark Office said it is working with New Jersey State Police and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. State police declined to comment on the investigation and referred questions to the FBI.
Evesham Police said anyone with information about the drones seen in South Jersey can contact the department’s confidential tip line at 856-983-4699. The FBI directed anyone with information to call the agency at 800-CALL-FBI or submit tips online at tips.fbi.gov.
New Jersey
NJ’s biggest Catholic diocese hits pause on plan to merge parishes
NJ pastor on trying to bring young people back to religion
Amid a growing number of people leaving religion, Rev. Preston Thompson of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Englewood is trying to bring young people back.
Michael Karas, NorthJersey.com
Last June, the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark launched a review called “We Are His Witnesses,” which aimed to consider potential consolidations or closures of some of its 211 North Jersey parishes.
But amid confusion and pushback from many parishioners, Cardinal Joseph Tobin said Wednesday that the archdiocese will now extend its review to allow for further study and conversations.
In a letter published on the Archdiocese website March 4, Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, noted the challenges remain the same: a steady decline in membership and a shortage of priests projected to grow worse in the coming years. He did not specify how much longer the process would take but said he would have more to announce in June.
The largest of New Jersey’s five Catholic dioceses, the Newark Archdiocese serves approximately 1.3 million people in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties.
Story continues after gallery.
Some parishioners, Tobin wrote, “came to believe — incorrectly — that the overall goal of We Are His Witnesses is to close churches. That has never been the purpose.
“This work is not driven by downsizing, but by mission: by the call to strengthen parish life so that it can truly form disciples and reach those who are not yet engaged in the life of the Church.”
The program’s aim is not to close churches, but to “strengthen parish life” he added.
He said a follow-up announcement would come on June 12 but reassured parishioners that “there is no need to fear that an immediate and wholesale closure of parishes will be announced.”
‘The Church is not a museum’
Current circumstances demand Church leaders to make difficult decisions, he said. “The challenges we face are real: fewer priests, fewer people in the pews, communities that look very different than they did even a generation ago, and financial strain. Ignoring the changed landscape does not preserve parish life; it weakens it. The Church is not a museum to preserve what it once was,” he wrote.
The initiative kicked off last summer, with meetings at churches around the region to allow parishioners to offer feedback. Many expressed fears about their future of their church, Tobin said.
Parishioners at many of the meetings and in letters to Tobin expressed concerns about the program. As a result, Tobin concluded that “it is clear that the communities of the Archdiocese need more time for honest discernment. We are extending this phase of our work to allow for deeper reflection and broader consultation throughout our local Church.”
“This is not a pause in mission. It is a call to take the mission seriously and to ask ourselves, with renewed honesty, what it means to be a missionary Church today.”
Msgr. Richard Arnhols, pastor emeritus of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Bergenfield and a member of a committee of pastoral leaders helping to guide the review, said that, “Based on the input from the priests and people of the parishes which took place last fall, Cardinal Tobin has approved a period of additional study and reflection before any decisions are made.”
The first step is further conversation among parish priests, which will take place this month, he said.
Gregory Hann, a religious instructor at St. Vincent Academy in Newark, applauded Tobin’s decision. “If we continue to do things the way we have been doing them, we become a stagnant Church and we allow the comforts of our culture and the outside to keep us from moving from the Cross to glory.”
Nicholas Grillo of Bloomfield, a parishioner who attended several listening sessions at Holy Rosary Church in Jersey City, approved of the decision. “Hopefully the pause will give them time to reevaluate this going forward,” he said.
He added that it was a “waste of money” to pay large sums of money to a consultant that “doesn’t understand the intricacies of the Archdiocese of Newark,” he said, referring to the Catholic Leadership Institute, a Pennsylvania group that the archdiocese has engaged.
Instead, Grillo suggested, “they should put together a group of lay parishioners and priests from the diocese who can collaborate on a better path forward.”
New Jersey
Devils Out to Rattle the Leafs | PREVIEW | New Jersey Devils
THE SCOOP
The Devils began their season-high seven-game homestand with a decisive victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. The win was their second consecutive victory after picking up a win in St. Louis earlier in the week.
There’s not a lot of runway left in the season, and stringing together a run of victories is at the top of their minds. New Jersey is 11 points out of the final Wild Card spot, and 13 out of third in the Metropolitan Division. Tuesday will mark the Devils final game before the NHL Trade Deadline, which is on Friday at 3 p.m.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are having a down year, based on where the expectations were set heading into the season. The Leafs have struggled to gain any traction in their season and sit just two points ahead of New Jersey with 64. Toronto is 12 points out of third in the Atlantic Division, and nine points out of a Wild Card spot.
The Leafs have a tendency to give up an abundance of shots to their opponents, ranking first in the league in shots against, per game with 31.8, which bodes will for a Devils team that averages 29.4 shots per game, ranking sixth in the league. Despite their overall struggles, the Leafs do have the league’s fourth-best penalty kill, working at an 83.1 percent efficiency.
New Jersey
Former Lumberton, New Jersey, mayor Gina LaPlaca pleads guilty to 2025 DUI, sentenced to treatment program
A former mayor in Burlington County, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to DUI and child endangerment charges after a 2025 traffic stop, according to prosecutors.
Lumberton Township committee member Gina LaPlaca, 46, was indicted last spring on child abuse charges after county prosecutors said she was observed driving drunk with her young child in the car, while serving as the township mayor.
Police arrested her at her home after reviewing video from a witness showing her swerving out of her lane and nearly hitting a utility pole. Lumberton police discovered her blood alcohol concentration was .30%, over three times the legal limit of .08%.
On Monday, LaPlaca was sentenced to three years in a diversionary program for first-time offenders after pleading guilty to driving under the influence and a fourth-degree child abuse charge. As part of the plea deal, LaPlaca will avoid jail time as long as she abides by the terms of the program.
Under the terms of the Pretrial Intervention or PTI program, she must attend regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and comply with any requirements set by the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
Judge Craig A. Ambrose also ordered LaPlaca to have an ignition lock device on her car that will prevent it from starting up if the driver has consumed alcohol. She said in court she had already installed one in October 2025, the county prosecutor’s office said.
If LaPlaca violates the terms of the PTI program, she could be prosecuted for the child abuse charge.
LaPlaca completed an intensive treatment program in May 2025 and said in a statement that she is “fully committed to my recovery” and is doing the “daily, intentional work” that comes with it. She apologized to Lumberton residents while acknowledging a private struggle with alcohol addiction that was no longer private.
“The weight of my actions is something I carry deeply,” she said in a statement shared on social media. “What I did was wrong. It was dangerous. It was inexcusable. I drove while intoxicated with my child in the car — a choice that could have caused irreversible harm. That reality is something I will live with, and learn from, for the rest of my life.”
LaPlaca served as mayor through 2025 but remains on the township committee. Terrance Benson was sworn in as mayor of Lumberton this year.
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