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Brutal cold prompts New Jersey communities to take safety measures

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Brutal cold prompts New Jersey communities to take safety measures


Officials in communities across New Jersey are ensuring residents and roadways are safe as frigid temperatures prevail this weekend.

Many towns announced Code Blue advisories that will last through Sunday morning due to the frigid temperatures.

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“[The] guys are ready, [the] trucks are ready, so when it’s time to go, they are out salting and plowing and making sure the roads are safe,” said Town of Dover Office of Emergency Management Coordinator John Filosa .

The Department of Public Works in Dover was out nonstop for the last few days working to keep the streets as safe as possible for its residents.

Crews continued to look for any pop-up slick areas that need to be taken care off and it was all hands-on deck.

“We have additional crews that respond in snowstorms of this nature to make sure we can move snow out of the way, get to fire hydrants in a timely manner, and still deploy resources to a scene or rescues of individuals that are harmed or trapped,” said Deputy OEM Coordinator Anthony Rosario.

In previous winter storms, black ice has been a main concern dealing with the melting of the snow and the freezing run-off. News 12 was told crews on Friday went through three times the amount of salt they typically use in a snowstorm.

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The focus shifted Saturday to the bitter blast and potential rain on the horizon next week. Mayor James Todd said Dover has seen flooding in the past in low lying areas across town, but they’re being proactive about it.

“We actually had a meeting last week with the governor’s office and OEM to coordinate what we could do jointly to prevent situations like that from happening again,” Todd explained.

In terms of freezing cold temperatures, Todd said they haven’t had to deploy their warming center at this time, but they are prepared to do so in case a situation was to come up.

Todd said crews plan to continue to work around the clock as the frigid conditions continue.

“We are only in the month of January. We have some time to go, so throughout, our residents should be patient while our crews are out doing the best they can,” Todd added.

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Officials in Dover also reminded residents to be proactive when it comes to winter weather. Residents can pick up emergency preparedness guides at town hall to walk them through what to do in the event of a disaster.



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Exclusive | NJ grandma with heart of gold goes viral for making salami sandwich for her mailman

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Exclusive | NJ grandma with heart of gold goes viral for making salami sandwich for her mailman


This is one first class hero.

A New Jersey granny with a big heart recently went viral for making a salami and cheese sandwich for her mailman — who thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

Antoinette Giancamilli, better known as Nonna Netta, has a tradition of presenting her postman, Kyle Frankenfield, with homemade food when he delivers the mail to her Alpha, NJ home, just east of the Pennsylvania border.

Antoinette Giancamilli, aka Nonna Netta, loves preparing lunch for her postman, Kyle Frankenfield. Paula Hardin

“It started out when I was roasting chicken and I gave him a chicken leg,” Giancamilli, 83, told The Post.

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“Sometimes I just give him scones or a muffin or a piece of pizza. Whatever I have, I give him … But he loves a bagel with salami and cheese, that’s his favorite.”

The viral clip, which got close to 9 million combined views, started with the octogenarian in her kitchen, putting together the Genoa salami and provolone cheese on a bagel and toasting it.

“Got a sandwich for you, Kyle,” Giancamilli announces when she sees him approaching.

“This is like the third time this week,” the grateful mailman answers incredulously.

Once she hands him the sandwich, he gushes, “Anything you ever make is the best thing I’ve ever had. Thank you so much. You’re like a third grandmother to me.”

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A native of Rome who moved to New Jersey at age 14, Giancamilli has 2 million combined followers on social media. Alek Villa

After the sandwich became so popular online, Giancamilli started to share it with other visitors.

“The guy just came to change our water heater tank and I said, ‘Do you want the mailman special?’ and I gave it to him too,” she said.

The mom of four and grandma of nine has more than 2 million combined followers on social media thanks to her grandson, Luke Hardin.

The idea to share his nonna, which means “grandmother” in Italian, with the world came in 2023 when he would visit her for lunch during his summer internship and post photos of the meals she would make him on TikTok.

Nonna’s grandson Luke, an electrical engineer, runs her social media pages. Courtesy of Antoinette Giancamilli

“It would be a steak sandwich, hamburgers,” Giancamilli said. “And people commented, ‘Boy, I wish I had a grandma like that.’”

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Now, the native of Rome, who immigrated to New Jersey in 1956 at 14 and started working as a seamstress for 75 cents an hour at 16, cannot leave the house without being recognized.

“Every time she goes to the grocery store, there’s at least a couple people that she doesn’t know that recognize her,” Hardin, 24, said.

“Even all my neighbors, they all know me,” Giancamilli added. “They say, ‘I watch you all the time, especially when I’m hungry.’”

Her followers love the panettone she makes for Easter. Courtesy of Antoinette Giancamilli

The beloved nonna’s most popular videos have been the one of her roasting tomatoes for sauce, which racked up 110 million views, making cinnamon buns, which garnered 95 million, and whipping up pasta with pesto and shrimp, which got more than 21 million.

Her recipes are in such high demand that she’s even releasing a cookbook.

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“She’s really seeing the impact that she’s having, all these people saying that they cooked cutlets for the first time or made pizza with their family,” Hardin said.

The spry senior, who is celebrating her 70th anniversary of moving to America next month, cooks for her family of 20 every Sunday.

“She has a saying, ‘If you feed them, they will come,’” Hardin said.





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New Jersey Devils named fit for a surprising… and expensive star forward

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New Jersey Devils named fit for a surprising… and expensive star forward


The New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks are going in very different directions. Well, we hope they are going in different directions. Both teams are currently in the same spot: home. Watching the playoffs on TV. Both also ended the tenure of their GMs, although Jim Rutherford is still in the seat.

The Canucks seem like they know what the path forward is, and it involves a rebuild. Quinn Hughes was traded for a haul. Elias Pettersson has been on the trade block for two years. Everything in Vancouver is available, as long as they hit the cap floor. 

One player who is really interesting is Brock Boeser. He’s a former 40-goal scorer who hasn’t been that guy for two years. He seems very similar to Timo Meier, who is also a 40-goal scorer who has struggled to get back to 30 goals. 

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One might think that the Devils should have no interest in another player who is paid like he’s a 40-goal scorer when he’s actually a 25-goal scorer. That’s Boeser. 

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The difference is that Meier is a hard-nosed player who adds more than scoring to the lineup. Boeser isn’t a one-trick pony, but he’s also not a “lot of tricks” pony. Boeser needs to score to be effective, and he’s not scoring enough.

That’s why, one year after signing him to a seven-year deal worth a little more than $7 million per season. 

Many believe the Canucks only re-signed Boeser in a last-ditch effort to keep Quinn Hughes, but it was never going to work. Now, they are stuck with a pretty bad contract. Boeser still has some value, so many are looking at who might trade for him. 

Brock Boeser still doesn’t make sense for the New Jersey Devils

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Michael DeRosa with the Sporting News says the Devils are one of three teams that could trade for Boeser. His reasoning includes the Devils’ disappointing finish and Boeser’s possible fit on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. 

Boeser does have a similar impact profile as Tyler Toffoli, who has been the best fit next to Hughes since he joined the league. 

However, the Devils can’t afford to pay Boeser his price, even if the Canucks retain $1 million for the life of the deal. The only way this works is if the Devils essentially sell on a lost asset. If the Devils can trade Jacob Markstrom for Boeser, maybe Sunny Mehta would consider it. 

Without a considerable trade going the other way, the Devils wouldn’t even consider trading for Boeser. This isn’t how to start the Mehta era in New Jersey.

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How are public libraries funded in New Jersey? ⋆ Princeton, NJ local news %

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How are public libraries funded in New Jersey? ⋆ Princeton, NJ local news %


Teddy Bear Picnic storytime at Princeton Public Library on April 22 welcomed more than 150 attendees in celebration of literacy and National Library Week. Photo: Shannon Hurley, library communications

In New Jersey, public libraries are treated as civic infrastructure under state law. They are primarily funded by a mandatory municipal tax under N.J.S.A. 40:54-8, known as the “1/3 mill” formula: 33 cents for every $1,000 of a municipality’s equalized, or true, property value. This minimum must be raised annually for library operations, regardless of local budget pressures.

Many municipalities choose to fund their libraries above this minimum. Libraries often receive additional support from grants, donations, and Friends of the Library groups.

But in municipalities like Princeton, where developers are receiving tax abatements known as PILOTs, or Payments in Lieu of Taxes, that baseline funding can be slowly and quietly eroded.

Under a PILOT agreement, a developer pays the municipality an annual fee instead of conventional property taxes. These agreements can last up to 30 years. The fee is typically far less than what full taxation would generate, and it flows directly to the municipality. The county receives 5 percent. The library receives nothing.

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That matters because the 1/3 mill formula runs on equalized property valuation, which is the total taxable value of assessed property in a municipality. When a large apartment complex receives a PILOT, the building’s value is exempt from assessment. Only the land beneath it remains on the tax rolls. A development worth $60 million might contribute the taxable equivalent of a modest vacant lot.

The result: as a town grows — new buildings rising, new residents moving in, new cardholders walking through the library’s doors — the funding formula can stagnate. The tax base the library depends on reflects a version of the town that no longer exists.

The gap has drawn some legislative attention. A 2022 bill proposed adding the value of PILOT-exempt properties back into the equalized valuation used for state aid funding calculations, an acknowledgment that the standard formula fails to account for the full scale of development in PILOT-heavy municipalities. The bill never made it out of committee.



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