New Jersey
South Amboy police officers deliver baby. This week in Central Jersey history, Dec. 1-7
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
3-minute read
Gov. Mikie Sherrill addresses affordability crisis in NJ: video
Watch new Gov. Mikie Sherrill on state affordability: “Too many people are working too hard and still falling behind.” Jan. 20, 2026 at NJPAC, Newark
Gov. Mikie Sherrill is set to present her first state budget proposal in a Tuesday, March 10, address to the New Jersey Legislature. It’s clear the proposal will make some hard choices as state finances face major headwinds.
Late last month, Sherrill said her budget plan will include some “tough choices” because of the looming uncertainty of a structural deficit for state finances.
The governor explained that if projections stay on the current path, the state would have a structural deficit of about $3 billion by the end of June, when her proposed budget would be in the final stages of negotiations with the Legislature.
Uncertainty due to federal funding cuts, along with the end of pandemic relief funding, has already forced Sherrill to consider all of her options when crafting her plan for New Jersey’s fiscal year 2027.
The governor wouldn’t give particulars about what to expect in her upcoming fiscal plan but instead said she is “setting the table so people can anticipate that this is going to be a tough budget season.”
What does a structural deficit mean for New Jersey taxpayers?
A structural deficit, simply put, means New Jersey spends more than it earns.
Among the costliest tax relief programs in the state’s history, Stay NJ was introduced legislatively in the run-up to the fiscal year 2024 budget and received funding for three years without paying anything out.
The first Stay NJ checks are being sent out to qualifying New Jersey seniors, but the accumulated $1.2 billion covers only the first six months of the program for this year. Roughly $900 million will need to be added to the line item in Sherrill’s first fiscal plan to maintain the program.
The law that created Stay NJ requires full pension payments, full school funding payments and a surplus of at least 12% to be built into the budget as prerequisites for funding the program. The surplus was not 12% when the budget was signed during the last two years, but budget language allowed for a work-around.
Sherrill would not commit to requiring the prerequisites before she would be willing to sign a budget bill in late June.
Increasing costs for the State Health Benefits Program, which is already a contentious topic, could also be a concern for the new governor, as payments are about $2 billion annually and the 10% increase needed in this year’s budget added more than $180 million.
How does New Jersey’s budget process work?
New Jersey’s $58.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2026 is the largest in history and is set to expire at the end of June.
The plan for fiscal year 2027 — which will run from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027 — is a major factor in how New Jersey state government will function by dictating which state departments and programs are funded.
After Sherrill’s address in March, her proposed spending and revenue plan will be analyzed and shaped in the Legislature through the spring. Negotiations will heat up as the current fiscal year winds to a close in June. If the budget cycle is normal, a final budget bill will land on Sherrill’s desk hours before the current fiscal year ends at 11:59 p.m. on June 30.
Though it would be unlikely — given Democratic control of both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s office — in the event the budget bill does not get signed, state government shuts down. There have been two shutdowns in state history: for 10 days in 2006 and three days in 2017.
Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com
Phil Murphy on NJ Transit future during State of State address
Gov. Phil Murphy discussed the future of NJ Transit during his final State of the State address.
A woman was fatally struck by a train in Ramsey on the morning of March 8.
The unidentified woman was hit by the train at 10:49 a.m., just west of the Main Street crossing near the main Ramsey station, said John Chartier, director of media relations for NJ Transit.
Rail service was suspended in both directions between Allendale and Port Jervis but has since resumed, with delays of up to 30 minutes.
The train came from Port Jervis and was heading to Hoboken, and 150 people were on board at the time, Chartier said.
NJ Transit police are leading the investigation. No additional information about the circumstances of the death was available.
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