New Jersey
Massive lottery winner comes forward — NJ Top News
Here are the top New Jersey news stories for Tuesday:
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., leaves federal court Monday, 7/8/24 (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
NEW YORK — A prosecutor accused Sen. Bob Menendez in a closing argument at his bribery trial Monday of putting his power up for sale to benefit three New Jersey businessmen who bribed him with gold and cash.
The presentation by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni that will continue on Tuesday prompted the Democrat to scoff as he left the courthouse, saying: “The government is intoxicated with their own rhetoric.”
Minutes earlier, Monteleoni urged the Manhattan federal court jury to follow a trail of hundreds of emails and text messages between the businessmen and Menendez and his wife to see the link between the businessmen and the bribe proceeds found in an FBI raid on the Menendez residence in June 2022.
PLAINFIELD — Somebody has answers and they’re not coming forward.
Authorities are seeking the public’s help with recovering information related to a cold case: the deaths of two individuals in April 1973.
During the overnight hours of April 19 that year, John Sabbatino, 27, of New Brunswick, and Jeanne Biondo, 37, of East Brunswick, were found shot to death in separate areas of the state, hours apart.
Sabbatino was found deceased near Otis and Grove Avenues in Edison shortly before 4 a.m., according to authorities. Approximately three hours later, Biondo was found dead in a vehicle parked near the motor vehicle inspection center in Plainfield.
An interstate and a state highway in New Jersey are both entering months’ worth of lane closures for maintenance work.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation on Monday announced that Tuesday, July 9 is the expected start date for the major projects.
The work will interrupt traffic on the interstate highway during both daytime and overnight hours. The state highway work is scheduled to occur when the sun is down.
Work is scheduled to wrap up next spring.
⬛ Rutgers hiking tuition…again
Rutgers University Faculty Vote To Go On Strike, A First For The 257 Year Old University
Rutgers’ Board of Governor has approved a 4% tuition hike.
Tuition has now increased 10% in two years. With room and board, the average cost to attend Rutgers is over $33,000 per year.
The increase also makes Rutgers the second most-expensive in-state tuition in America. Only Oregon residents pay more.
Rutgers officials blamed inflation, however one the biggest drains on the Rutgers budget remains record expenditures for an athletics department that spends millions more than it brings in.
Students pay nearly $13 million in additional fees to support Rutgers sports.
It’s been more than 3 months since New Jersey Lottery recorded its largest jackpot hit of more than $1 billion.
But as of right now, the Garden State still has its hands on all of the money.
According to a press release from New Jersey Lottery on Monday, the $1.13 billion jackpot from March remains unclaimed.
Ahead of the March 26 Mega Millions drawing, someone purchased the sole winning ticket at ShopRite Liquor in Neptune Township, lottery officials announced with a buzzing press conference the day after the drawing.
NJ Mosquitos and what colors make them bite you the most
Plus the colors that help repel them.
Gallery Credit: Mike Brant
Cape May is one of NJ’s great vacation destinations
Gallery Credit: Dennis Malloy
Most wanted in Hunterdon County
The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office has created a list of their most wanted fugitives.
Gallery Credit: Dino Flammia
Start your day with up-to-the-minute news, traffic and weather for the Garden State.
New Jersey’s First News with Eric Scott is the longest running news program in New Jersey. Eric Scott began hosting the program in 1991.
It airs live on New Jersey 101.5 each weekday morning from 5:30 – 6 a.m.
New Jersey’s First News with Eric Scott is the winner of the prestigious National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast.
Eric Scott is the senior political director and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com
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It was a first for South Amboy police Sgt. David Kales and patrolmen Mark Lewis and Paul Noble on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2000 when they helped deliver a baby.
Less than two minutes after arriving at a Washington Avenue home on the report of a woman in labor, Jeriel was born to Jennifer Llibre, with an assist by the three city cops.
Here’s a look at events that happened in Central Jersey from five, 10, 25, 50 and 100 years ago this week.
Five years ago
Dec. 3, 2020: It was reported Ray Cipperly Field at Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools’ East Brunswick campus had been named the 2020 Schools and Parks Baseball Field of the Year by the Sports Turf Managers Association, a nonprofit professional organization for men and women who manage sports fields worldwide.
Dec. 4: In a statement, it was announced Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and bill sponsors Sen. Nick Scutari and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano had reached a deal on bills that would establish a framework for a legal weed industry, setting up a key vote in the coming weeks.
Dec. 4: Six NJ hospitals ― Hackensack University Medical Center, Morristown Medical Center, University Hospital in Newark, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City and Cooper University Hospital in Camden ― were selected to receive the first COVID-19 vaccines, it was reported.
Dec. 4: It was reported Juan Hector Padilla, 29, of Bound Brook, was indicted in connection with a seven-alarm fire that damaged two apartment buildings under construction on West Main Street in Bound Brook in January 2020.
Dec. 7: Hillsborough had become a “Stigma-Free Community,” a campaign, an initiative of the Somerset County Department of Human Services, to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and create an environment where people feel free to seek support without fear of being stigmatized, it was reported.
Dec. 7: State officials said an unidentified resident at the Menlo Park veterans home died over the weekend from COVID-19 ― the first death at one of the state-run veterans homes in 180 days.
Dec. 7: It was reported celebrity chef David Burke would open Orchard Park, his fourth restaurant to open during the pandemic, on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, at the Chateau Grande Hotel in East Brunswick.
10 years ago
Dec. 2, 2015: Appearing on ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” Gov. Chris Christie defended his hard-line opposition to relocating Syrian refugees to NJ and said former Gov. Thomas Kean ― his latest critic on the issue ― was all wrong.
Dec. 3: A day after 14 people were killed in a mass shooting in California, lawmakers failed to override Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of a gun-control bill by just three votes.
Dec. 3: The Westfield High School football team beat Bridgewater-Raritan, 10-7, in a sectional final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
Dec. 5: George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic with TL Shider, Garden State Line, Midnight Mosaic and Underground Logic, performed at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville.
2000
Dec. 2, 2000: About 70 supporters of Texas Gov. George W. Bush rallied outside the Somerset County Courthouse in Somerville on behalf of his claim to the presidency.
Dec. 3: Two divorcing parents ― Jim Price of Raritan Borough and Jennifer Price of Clinton ― who were battling over the circumcision of their 3-year-old son, would appear on Monday, Dec. 4, 2000, in Superior Court in Somerville for a hearing ordered by the Supreme Court to determine whether the surgery should go forward, it was reported.
Dec. 6: In women’s college basketball, Rutgers University beat Virginia Tech, 61-53.
Dec. 7: It was reported Dave Keyes and his band, winners of the W.C. Handy National Blues Talent Search, would perform at Old Bay Restaurant in New Brunswick.
1975
Dec. 2, 1975: U.S. District Court Judge Frederick B. Lacey, sitting in Newark, issued the go-ahead for the planned public deer hunt scheduled for the next week in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Passaic Township.
Dec. 3: Many milk drivers continued on a “business as usual” basis in Middlesex and Somerset counties, in spite of a strike of 880 union drivers.
Dec. 4: Several homes in South Amboy were showered with kerosene after a United Airlines jet with 120 passengers on board jettisoned 40,000 gallons of fuel when an engine caught fire. The plane returned to Newark International Airport safely, with no injuries.
Dec. 5: In Elizabeth, Edward Nolan and Robert Madurski, defendants in a case involving the theft of $4 million worth of home heating oil from the Exxon Bayway Refinery in Linden, received suspended prison sentences and were fined $1,000 each.
Dec. 5-7: “Bye Bye Birdie” was presented at Middlesex County College Performing Arts Theater in Edison.
Dec. 6: In college basketball, Phil Sellers scored 36 points and Mike Dabney added 21 as Rutgers beat Seton Hall’s Pirates, 119-93, at Rutgers Gym in New Brunswick, setting a Rutgers Gym record for most points by one team.
1925
Dec. 2, 1925: In basketball, St. Peter’s Lyceum beat the Maroon and Gray quintet of South River, 36-27.
Dec. 2-3: The movie, “Thunder Mountain,” a dramatic story of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was shown at Reade’s Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.
Dec. 4-5: The movie, “The Half Way Girl,” starring Doris Kenyon and Lloyd Hughes, was shown at Reade’s Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.
Dec. 6: Fire of an unknown origin started in the south wing of Winants Hall on the Queens Campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, for the second time within a month. Students helped firemen fight the fire.
Dec. 6: The New Brunswick Soccer Club won the first half championship in the Capital City Soccer League at Buccleuch Park in New Brunswick by beating the Highlanders of Trenton, 3-1.
Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com
New Jersey
Mom of NJ teen killed outside NYC ax-throwing bar claims booze, lax security led to her son’s death
Abundant booze and lax security set the stage for the fatal 2023 stabbing of a New Jersey high school football player outside an NYC ax-throwing bar, his mother contended in new court papers.
Rocco Rodden, 17, was knifed in the heart on Nov. 23, 2023 outside Live Axe in TriBeCa by Long Islander Gianluca Bordone, who admitted to the killing in court but was acquitted of manslaughter and assault charges in the case.
Rodden’s mother Angelina claimed Live Axe, security company Burns Consulting and others, including bartenders, promoters and a limousine company, set up a perfect storm the night her son was slain.
The companies “failed to provide wristbands to people old enough to drink” and “were required to check the identification documents of all individuals entering the venue, but failed to do so,” she said in her Nov. 21 Manhattan Supreme Court papers, which also name Bordone as a defendant.
The poor security also allowed Bordone, who was 19 at the time of the attack, to bring a pocket knife to the Lafayette Street bar, she alleged.
Bordone, of Oyster Bay, claimed he feared for his life as a group that included the victim chased him down the street and began beating him.
“I was afraid that they would get me to the floor, stomp me, kill me, hit me with the bottle that I had seen before,” he said on the witness stand, according to Newsday.
Bordone also allegedly stabbed Rodden’s older brother, Anthony, outside the bar — where all three were attending a private party, authorities had said.
“It is quite possible that Bordone could have killed Anthony Rodden due to his tortious conduct,” the mother said in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
The promotors, security and others hired to work the event also failed to call authorities after the stabbing, she claimed.
Neither Bordone, nor Live Axe owner Zac Segal and promoter Ian Magid, who are each named in the lawsuit, could be reached for comment. A lawyer for security company Burns Consulting denied any wrongdoing.
“Many horrible tragedies do not result in legal liability and this is one of them,” said Burns Consulting attorney Kenneth Belkin. “My heart goes out to the family of Mr. Rodden for their loss, but this is a frivolous lawsuit against my client.
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