New Jersey

Paul McCartney spotted in Metuchen: This week in Central Jersey history, Feb. 24-March 2

Published

1 year ago

February 24, 2025

Paul McCartney spotted in Metuchen: This week in Central Jersey history, Feb. 24-March 2

It was reported on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 that former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney was spotted in front of the Buttery Bake Shoppe on Main Street in Metuchen on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020 by borough resident John Manzo, who took a quick picture.

McCartney, 77, strolled around the borough. enjoying the spring-like day. He was seen taking pictures of the Metuchen’s downtown area.

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

Feb. 25, 2020: Gov. Phil Murphy proposed a $40.9 billion budget that raised taxes on millionaires, cigarettes and guns while setting aside a record amount of money for NJ Transit ― but helped pay for that by diverting money from other accounts, moves he’d denounced as budget gimmickry.

Feb. 26: According to several reports, the book “The Good Nurse” about Charles Cullen, a former nurse who was convicted in March 2006 of 22 counts of first-degree murder and is serving eight life sentences at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, might soon be turned into a Netflix film, it was reported.

Feb. 27: It was reported PharMedium, a South Brunswick healthcare company, would close on April 20, 2020 after the federal Food and Drug Administration said it manufactured and distributed drugs intended to be sterile, such as oxytocin and morphine sulfate, that were adulterated because the drugs were made under insanitary conditions.

Feb. 29: A patient at Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel who was suspected of having the novel coronavirus was cleared after tests were performed. While test results were awaited, the patient was treated in isolation.

Feb. 29: The Rutgers Prep boys basketball team beat Watchung Hills, 71-57, winning its first Somerset County Tournament title since 1983.

March 1: In an episode called “Human Sawdust,” the show Forensic Files II, on HLN cable news channel, featured Melanie McGuire, the former Woodbridge resident convicted of killing her husband, cutting his body into pieces and discarding them inside suitcases thrown into the Chesapeake Bay.

10 years ago

Feb. 25, 2015: Gov. Chris Christie was proposing a $33.8 billion spending plan for the fiscal year starting Wednesday, July 1, 2015 that included extensive changes to public workers’ pensions and health benefits, it was reported.

Feb. 26: It was reported Robert Heary, a surgeon at Rutgers University’s teaching hospital in Newark, was its highest paid employee, earning $3.14 million.

Feb. 26: In the 2015 Greater Middlesex County girls basketball tournament final, Piscataway High School beat Monroe, 77-74, in overtime, making it Piscataway’s third straight championship.

Feb. 27: The body of missing Perth Amboy man Moises Torres, an 80-year-old with dementia and hearing loss, was found at a spot along the Middlesex Greenway behind the former Boro Hardware in Metuchen, a more than seven-mile walk.

Feb. 27: HelloFresh, a delivery service for recipe kits, opened a warehouse and storage facility at 1501B W. Blancke St. in Linden, bringing more than 100 jobs to the city, it was reported.

Feb. 28: It was reported Jared Silverstein, a senior at Hillsborough High School who participated in the Grammy in the Schools Grammy Camp, performed on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015 at the 57th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

2000

Feb. 25, 2000: Tara Cunningham, 20, was sentenced to five years in prison ― the minimum prison sentence ― for stabbing and killing her boyfriend, Christopher Jay Hayes, in their Bound Brook apartment in November 1998.

Feb. 27: A growing movement of students at Livingston College at Rutgers University had started a grassroots effort to get Rutgers University to expand its student center, it was reported.

Feb. 27: The Westfield High School boys swimming team took first and second place in the 100-yard breaststroke and added a first and third place in the 400 freestyle relay to beat Cherry Hill East, 89.5-80.5, to win the Public A state title at The College of New Jersey in Ewing.

Feb. 29: A Somerset County grand jury indicted Monique Lozada and Francisco Demoscoso, both of North Plainfield, and Manuel Carmona of Plainfield, in connection with the alleged kidnapping of Wilber A. Ramirez of North Plainfield.

Feb. 29: Katie Couric, co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” show since 1991, spoke to an audience of more than 1,800 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick as part of the “Unique Lives and Experiences Women’s Lecture Series.”

Feb. 29: The body of a man was found in New Market Pond in Piscataway by a crew of township employees who were repairing the Washington Avenue bridge. The body was later identified as Zahid Saleem, 26, of North Plainfield, who had been missing since Friday, Jan. 14, 2000.

1975

Feb. 24, 1975: The New Brunswick board of education adopted a $10,710,934 budget for 1975-76. It was reported on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 1975, they would ask the city for $8,760,312 of the total amount.

Feb. 24: Rev. Thomas Quinlan, 38, a South Amboy native, was shot and killed in a first-floor hallway of St. James Parish School in Penns Grove where he was principal. It was reported on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 1975 that he was acting as a decoy in an attempt to lure the gunman out of the elementary school.

Feb. 25: In the semi-finals of the 11th annual Middlesex County Coaches Basketball Tournament, Woodbridge High School beat St. Joseph’s, 56-45, at Madison High School.

Feb. 27-March 1: “Anastasia” was presented by the Wardlaw-Hartridge Dramatic Club at the Wardlaw Country Day School campus in Edison.

Feb. 28: According to information released by the state Department of Labor and Industry, unemployment in Middlesex County rose by 1.5 percent in February 1975 to 10.3 percent.

Feb. 28: Under the guidance of second-year head coach Jerry Moore, Somerville High School set a school record for most victories in a season by beating Highland Park High, 56-53, in a basketball game.

1925

Feb. 24, 1925: Raymond H. Morris of New Brunswick was given a term of six months in the Hudson County penitentiary in the United States District Court after he entered a plea of guilty to an indictment charging him with embezzlement. He was taken to the penitentiary to begin his sentence.

Feb. 25-26: The movie “Love’s Wilderness,” starring Corinne Griffith, was shown at Reade’s Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.

Feb. 27: In boys basketball, South River defeated Belleville High, 25-23.

Feb. 28: Plainfield experienced some sensations of an earthquake at about 9:30 p.m., the first of such an experience in the past 40 years, or since the more severe shock of 1885.

March 2: After taking a drink of orangeade at a Perth Amboy store, Anton Berlando, 4, of Carteret, became ill immediately and died before medical aid could be secured..

Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com

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New Jersey

New Jersey death investigator fired for sharing details of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau’s fatal bike crash

Published

7 hours ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

New Jersey death investigator fired for sharing details of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau’s fatal bike crash

A New Jersey offficial upheld the firing of a death investigator who leaked details of the crash that killed NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew Gaudreau in 2024, according to court documents.

A court filing shows a Gloucester County death investigator shared details of the Aug. 29, 2024 crash with a group chat. Someone in that chat later posted information about the Gaudreau brothers’ deaths — and a New Jersey State Police trooper’s cell phone number — on social media, prior to the information being released to the public.

The Gaudreau brothers — Johnny, a Columbus Blue Jackets winger, and Matthew, a Gloucester Catholic High School hockey coach — were riding bicycles on County Route 551 in Oldmans Township when a driver, Sean Higgins, allegedly struck them while under the influence.

Defense attorneys have argued Higgins’ blood alcohol level was below the legal limit of .08 at the time of the crash, while prosecutors say he was intoxicated. The Gaudreaus were struck the night before their sister’s wedding.

The Gloucester County Medical Examiner’s office worker sent a picture of his notes to a text message group with members of his hockey team, after receiving news of the crash from a state trooper, documents filed with the New Jersey Civil Service Commission say.

The worker said he took the photo because he was emotional and knew the victims, and that it would also serve as a way of informing the team he could not make it to their scheduled game that night. Someone from that group chat posted the photo on Twitter, the documents say. The post at some point made it to Reddit.

Overnight, multiple articles were written based on the social media post that originated from the group chat. The trooper whose phone number was visible in the picture received about a dozen phone calls from the media trying to confirm details of the crash, documents say.

The worker was accused of failing to safeguard confidential patient information, conduct unbecoming of a public employee and other offenses.

An administrative law judge recommended the worker be suspended for six months before the Civil Service Commission ruled to fire him.

While the worker had no prior disciplinary record, the commission said that “some disciplinary actions are so serious that removal is appropriate notwithstanding a largely unblemished prior record … the [worker’s] offense … constituted a serious breach of the standard of conduct expected from all public employees who have access to confidential personal information.”

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New Jersey

NJ sees largest increase in energy bill costs, according to new report

Published

19 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

NJ sees largest increase in energy bill costs, according to new report

A new report showed how much more money Americans paid for energy in 2025 compared to the year before and New Jersey led the way with the largest increase.

All three states in the Philadelphia region showed increases in energy costs.

The report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee shows that residents in New Jersey paid about $260 more in utilities last year which is more than double the national average.

“Electricity increases are a big thing. Utility increases are a big thing,” Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. said. “It’s terrible and we have to put a stop to it.”

Pallone is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

He says he supports a price cap for energy transmission PJM is recommending to federal energy regulators.

PJM is a member-run company that operates the mid-Atlantic electrical grid for 65 million people in 13 states, including Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.

“You need to adopt the price cap, because if you don’t, we’re going to see a continuation of these price increases,” Rep. Pallone said.

NJ Gov. Mikie Sherrill declared a state of emergency on utility costs during her inauguration in January. She signed two executive orders to combat what she described as an affordability crisis.

“What I’ve heard from people in Camden County, I heard across the state, and that is around issues of affordability. That too many people are working too hard and not getting ahead,” Gov. Sherrill said.