Category: New Jersey

DNA Ties Man Who Died in Prison to 1984 NJ Killing, AG Says

TRENTON, N.J.—Authorities say DNA evidence has proven that a man who died in prison several years ago was responsible for the 1984 murder of a 19-year-old woman whose body wasn’t found for more than a decade after she disappeared from her family home in New Jersey. The state attorney general and the Mercer County prosecutor’s…


Thefts Prompt 17 States to Urge Recall of Kia, Hyundai Cars

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Attorneys general in 17 states on Thursday urged the federal government to recall millions of Kia and Hyundai cars because they are too easy to steal, a response to a sharp increase in thefts fueled by a viral social media challenge. Some Kia and Hyundai cars sold in the United States over the last…


Pentagon Warns Offshore Wind Projects Could Threaten National Security

The Pentagon is sounding the alarm over planned offshore wind farm projects that it says could negatively impact U.S. national security. According to published reports, the Pentagon is concerned that nearly all of the new areas slated for offshore wind energy development along the Central Atlantic coast—a key component of the Biden administration’s climate agenda—would…


Chris Christie Says He Will Decide His Presidential Candidacy in ‘Next Couple Weeks’

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has not decided on another run for president yet, but he is testing the waters. In an April 18 interview with Semafor editor-at-large Steve Clemons, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate revealed that he will make a decision on a potential campaign “in the next couple weeks.” “RNC [Republican National…


Supreme Court Sides With New Jersey in Dispute With New York Over Organized Crime Watchdog

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on April 18 that New Jersey may unilaterally withdraw from the interstate compact that created the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor in the 1950s to combat corruption. New Jersey decided in 2018 to leave the interstate compact that created the commission in 1953 that bestowed regulatory and law-enforcement functions…


Massive New Jersey Pine Barrens Fire Now Fully Contained

MANCHESTER, N.J.—A fire that tore through 6 square miles of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens this week has now been fully contained, authorities said Thursday. The blaze in Manchester, near Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, forced the evacuation of around 170 homes late Tuesday, with police and fire officials going door-to-door to ask people to take temporary shelter…


New Jersey Representatives Call for Halt of Offshore Wind Projects, Probe of Whale Deaths

State, county, and federal officials in New Jersey want to halt offshore wind turbine projects for an independent investigation into why whales and dolphins have been washing up on New Jersey beaches. “The whales are the canaries in the coal mine; they’re telling us something we all need to listen to,” U.S. Rep. Chris Smith…


Former Military Couple Faces 4th Sentencing in Child Abuse Case

NEWARK, N.J.—A former U.S. Army major and his wife accused of routinely beating their young foster children and denying them food and water as punishment will be sentenced for a fourth time. But, the sentencing will be handled by a different judge, a federal appeals court has ruled. Federal prosecutors have argued that the sentences…


New Jersey College Suspended Student for Preaching From the Bible on Campus

College student and street preacher Kombe Sefelino was suspended from the County College of Morris (CCM) in Randolph, New Jersey, for quoting the Bible and condemning homosexuality as a sin. But after he filed a federal lawsuit in March citing his First Amendment right to free speech, he is now allowed back on campus. The…


Hitman in New Jersey Murder-for-Hire Sentenced to 16 Years

NEWARK, N.J.—A career criminal whose rap sheet includes bank robberies and a murder conspiracy was sentenced to 16 years in prison for killing a New Jersey political consultant in exchange for money in 2014. George Bratsenis, 74, pleaded guilty a year ago to a charge that he and another man accepted thousands of dollars from…