Times of Trenton Regional News

Regional politics, crime & more

• Authorities solicit tips to solve school blazes
TRENTON -- In light of several minor fires set inside city schools over the past few weeks, the school district is asking for the public's help to find those responsible.

• Hopewell Township hit with lawsuit
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP -- A group of Hopewell Township area residents trying to block development of a large parcel of land off Carter Road filed a lawsuit recently against the township, its planning board and the developer, citing environmental concerns.

• Lawrence resolves Wal-Mart trail issue
LAWRENCE -- In an unusual vote, the township planning board agreed it would have approved plans for a Wal-Mart on Spruce Street even without the retailer paying for the cost of a trail.

• Missing woman dies from crash injuries
EAST WINDSOR -- A police helicopter conducting a search for a woman who had been missing for at least a day found the woman last night alive and trapped in the wreckage of her car in a wooded area, however the woman died at a hospital a few hours later, police confirmed.

• Princeton U. senior gets prestigious scholarship
Princeton University student Michael Shih, a senior in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, has been named as one of 40 American college students awarded 2009 Marshall Scholarships.

• Task force charges man who missed court date
HAMILTON -- A 39-year-old man was arrested in the township yesterday morning by sheriff's officers working with the U.S. Marshals Service NY/NJ Task Force, the Mercer County Sheriff's Office reported.

• Trenton cops won't miss a beat with new computer system
TRENTON -- An upgrade of the city police computer system completed yesterday will stream line operations and provide more information for officers on the street, officials say.

• Trenton prepares for annual trip back in time
TRENTON -- The sound of a colonial ditty and the sight of re-enactors in Revolutionary War-era costumes punctuated the kickoff to Patriots' Week 2008 at the historic Trent House yesterday.

• YSI's summer program engages kids in education
It's safe to say very few children would be genuinely excited at the thought of waking at 7 a.m. during July and August to go to school.

• A mobile command center for Trenton
TRENTON -- City and area emergency management services have received a $1 million boost from a state grant announced by state, city and county officials yesterday.

• City resident admits he endangered child's life
TRENTON -- A 29-year-old city man who picked up a child to use as a shield when he was being shot at pleaded guilty yesterday before Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta.

• Costly soil cleanup was unnecessary
Soil with a suspicious odor dug up during a runway project at Trenton-Mercer Airport has turned out not to be contaminated, but is still costing Mercer County hundreds of thousands of dollars to handle.

• 'Diamond thieves' lend a hand to YSI
While the act of stealing is generally frowned upon, stealing bases in the name of charity doesn't break any laws and it does provide funding for at-risk students.

• Dramatic decrease in city school district fund
TRENTON -- The city school district has seen its general fund balance plummet over the past fiscal year from a healthy $5.1 million to a little more than $100,000, according to an independent audit.

• Finding space for affordable housing
WEST WINDSOR -- Five sites will accommodate as many as 219 affordable housing units under a plan developed to bring the township into conformance with Council on Affordable Housing requirements.

• Free predatory lending seminar set at library
HAMILTON -- The township is hosting a free seminar to educate residents about predatory lending schemes.

• Joy-riding juveniles face charges in vehicle theft
EAST WINDSOR -- A State Police helicopter and police dogs were used to help locate a pair of Hightstown teenagers after they allegedly ditched a stolen minivan yesterday morning.

• Old W. Windsor bridge gets a new beginning
WEST WINDSOR -- By Friday morning rush hour, the new Alexander Road Bridge will open to traffic after a nearly five-month closure.

• Party in local man's memory is a ray of support for Sunshine Foundation
TRENTON -- Robert "Wit" Longo was the type of person who would have given you the shirt off his back if you needed it; someone who went out of his way to help others and make them feel important.

• Queens man admits he fatally stabbed East Windsor woman
"I'm sorry," an elderly man told the family of his victim yesterday as he was led from the courtroom in shackles after admitting he killed an East Windsor woman.

• Trenton pedestrian shot in the thigh
TRENTON --A city man was shot in the thigh Monday night as he walked in the West Ward, police said yesterday.

• Trial for man accused in slaying of E. Windsor woman nears end
Opening arguments are expected today in the murder trial of a 73-year-old man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death in her East Windsor home.

• Child volunteer advocate information program set
EWING -- The Court Appointed Special Advocate is seek ing volunteer advocates who want to make a difference in the life of a foster child.

• Cops: Man fires weapon during domestic dispute
HAMILTON -- A SWAT team sent to the 800 block of Kuser Road on Sunday afternoon after a call of shots fired arrested a 45-year-old township man, police said yesterday.

• Focusing on the future this Thursday at MCCC
Mercer County Community College will have its second annual "Creating the Future" event Thursday for students, alumni, prospective students and members of the community.

• Gun-wielding intruder terrorizes 3 Brazilians
BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP -- A man claiming to be from immigra tion enforcement stole passports and cash during a home invasion robbery at the Chateau Apart ments on Sunday afternoon, police said.

• Hamilton council expected to hire lawyer tonight
HAMILTON -- The township is poised to hire an expert attorney to take over its legal tiff with the developer of a housing complex near the Hamilton New Jersey Transit station.

• Homeowners find drunk person in their residence
PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- After a night of drinking, a man who thought he was returning to his own house mistakenly entered a home on Fleming Way where the residents called police, officials said.

• Indictment charges teen accused of setting Trenton house fire
A Mercer County grand jury re cently indicted a Pennsylvania teenager on 41 counts stemming from a fire at the house of a former boyfriend who jilted her.

• Jogger tells police she saw man expose himself
PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- A woman taking a Saturday morning jog along the Delaware & Raritan Canal towpath reported seeing a man exposing himself, police said.

• Lebanese man dies of apparent heart attack
TRENTON -- Police are investigating the death of a foreign national whose body was found outside a city residence last night.

• Man dies after being shot in the face
TRENTON -- A man died last night just minutes after he was shot in the face on South Clinton Avenue, police confirmed.

• Man treated at hospital after fire in his kitchen
MONROE -- A senior citizen emptying his pipe ashes into a garbage can sparked a fire that heavily damaged his home in the Clearbrook retirement community yesterday afternoon, police said.

• Person is injured in two-car crash
EWING -- At least one person was seriously hurt in a two-vehicle collision at Route 29 and West Upper Ferry Road about 9:15 a.m. yesterday.

• Police director sheds some light on city crime
TRENTON -- Less than 24 hours after officers resumed the age-old practice of patrolling city neighborhoods on foot, new Police Director Irving Bradley Jr. last night spoke of other crime-fighting initiatives he has in the works.

• Protective gear for cops to be bought with grant
EAST WINDSOR -- The township has received $4,039 for replacement of body armor used by members of the police department.

• Ring in the season with some holiday festivities
Tree-lighting ceremonies kicking off the holiday season will take place in both Hamilton and Tren ton within the next week.

• Robbers frighten Friendly's diners
CINNAMINSON -- Three armed men terrified but did not injure patrons at a Friendly's Restaurant in the township during a stickup early Saturday, police reported.

• Robbinsville man to fill W. Windsor engineer slot
WEST WINDSOR -- The township has hired Francis Guzik of Hamil ton's Van Cleef Engineering to fill the role of engineer vacated nearly a year ago by Jim Parvesse.

• Still no answers after man jumps into canal
TRENTON -- A second day of searching by police divers for a man who dove into the Delaware & Raritan Canal over the weekend turned up nothing, authorities said.

• Young Scholars' Institute delegates debate issues of national concern
Can the government improve national security by using "green" methods to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil?

• Church remembers county's AIDS victims
TRENTON -- Mary Lou Freund read a list of 14 names yesterday in the sanctuary of the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. After each name, she snuffed out a single flame from a series of votive candles on the table before her, and tolled a bell once.

• Courthouse workers will have shuttle bus
TRENTON -- The Mercer County Improvement Authority will spend $241,552 a year to shuttle courthouse employees to and from a parking lot during construction of a new courthouse on South Warren Street.

• High school students taste business world
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP -- They look a little young to be wearing pressed suits and ties.

• Institute enriches students' lives with after-school programs
Since 2004, the Young Scholars' Institute After School Enrichment Program has been funded primarily by New Jersey After 3 Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation established to increase and enhance after-school enrichment programs.

• SWAT team probes firing of shot at home
HAMILTON -- The firing of a shot, stemming from a domestic dispute, brought a SWAT team to a residence on the 800 block of Kuser Road yesterday evening, police said.

• Truck kills man outside tavern
BENSALEM, Pa. -- A 30-year-old Philadelphia man was killed Saturday night when a bar patron who was deemed too drunk to be served slammed his truck into the front of the building, police said.

• 2 hospitalized after accident in Trenton
TRENTON -- A Pennsylvania man and his front-seat passenger were in critical condition after their car crashed into cement barriers on a dead-end street Thanksgiving night.

• 2 women rob man, 88, in his garage for $500
TRENTON -- An 88-year-old man was robbed in his garage Thanksgiving afternoon by two women who asked him for money.

• Beijing is displaying grand plan on Taiwan
PRINCETON BOROUGH -- Think of it as Beijing's "grand strategy" toward Taiwan.

• Council can't agree what to build near rail station
WEST WINDSOR -- Somewhere between zero and 660 hous ing units lies the future of the township's ruptured 350-acre redevelopment plan centered at the Princeton Junction train station.

• Efforts under way to help less fortunate
As the holiday season begins, governmental and community organizations are gearing up their programs to help the less fortunate.

• Man arrested, admits role in 2 armed robberies
CINNAMINSON -- A Willingboro man confessed to two armed robberies Thanksgiving Day after he was arrested by police.

• Man caught with $208 in items in pants arrested
WEST WINDSOR -- Black Fri day became bleak Friday for one city man arrested for shoplifting charges.

• Pa. man, passenger critically hurt in crash
TRENTON -- A Pennsylvania man and his front-seat passenger were in critical condition after he crashed his car into cement barriers on a dead-end street Thanksgiving night.

• Warehouse park could be diversified
ROBBINSVILLE -- A real estate firm is looking to diversify the warehouse park it owns in Robbinsville now that township officials have expanded the permitted uses there.

• Woman charged in DWI for failing sobriety tests
MANSFIELD -- A 38-year-old Trenton woman was charged with driving while intoxicated after she refused to take a Breathalyzer test yesterday.

• Woman hurt in crash after car drifts off road
EAST WINDSOR -- A 22-year-old Edison woman was hurt in a car crash Thursday afternoon.

• Conn. man is carjacked, suspect hits pole, flees
TRENTON -- A 20-year-old Connecticut man was a carjacking victim early Thanksgiving morning.

• Gathering, vigil to mark World AIDS Day in city
TRENTON -- Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, in partnership with the Trenton Minority HIV/AIDS Sharing Network, will mark World AIDS Day with a dinner and candlelight vigil tomorrow night.

• Pa. DA seeks ouster of official convicted of corruption in N.J.
STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- A former executive director of the Mercer County Improvement Authority who nabbed a public job in Pennsylvania after serving time for federal corruption charges is under fire from a state district attorney who wants him removed from office.

• Police arrest 2 in dealership burglary
BENSALEM, Pa. -- Township police arrested two men and one juvenile in connection with a burglary and theft at a Cadillac dealership.

• Princeton unveils a gnarly new urban skate park
PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- Skateboarders are flocking to this township.

• Suspect in killing, mutilation out of jail
Rosario DiGirolamo, the man accused of murdering his girlfriend in Hightstown last year and dumping her dismembered body in a Staten Island pond, has been released on bail.

• Woman slashes another with razor in bar fight
TRENTON -- A 47-year-old city woman was slashed with a razor in a bar fight Wednesday night.

• E. Windsor Regional audit is 'excellent'
HIGHTSTOWN -- After five years of cleanup, budget crises and operating deficits, the superintendent of the East Windsor Regional schools says the district is on stable financial ground, and says a recent audit for the 2007-2008 school year backs him up.

• Teen plunges car into water, is unhurt
WEST WINDSOR -- A 16-year-old township boy is unharmed after an early morning ride in his parents' car landed him and the vehicle in the water hazard of the 13th hole at the Mercer Oaks Golf Course, authorities said yesterday.

• City inspectors oppose privatization
TRENTON -- City inspectors and area contractors who support them again asked the city council last night to oppose privatizing much of the city's inspections work.

• City to use grant to rehire gang expert
TRENTON -- The city council yesterday agreed to bring back Barry Colicelli, a gang expert whose contract the council declined to renew in February, after the city received federal money to pay for his position.

• Collision injures woman who is hospitalized
HAMILTON -- A three-car col lision on Whitehorse-Hamilton Square Road around 7:45 a.m. yesterday seriously injured one woman, sending her into emer gency surgery at a local hospital, police said.

• Council wants fewer free rides for officials
TRENTON --City council members said yesterday that the city should be able to save money by cutting back on the use of public cars by city employees.

• Driver is threatened by man with knife
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP -- An early morning fire yesterday destroyed a barn that was being used as an office and for equipment storage, police reported.

• Educators teach kids about college aid
TRENTON -- It's the kind of scenario school officials want to avoid: Students opt to forgo a college education because they can't afford tuition.

• Fire destroys barn used as an office
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP -- An early morning fire yesterday destroyed a barn that was being used as an office and for equipment storage, police reported.

• Flag football game is for a good cause
EWING -- The township police department will face off against Ewing's fire department on the gridiron for a game of flag football on Nov. 26 at 6:30 p.m. on Ewing High School's turf field for the an nual Sunshine Bowl.

• Man accidently shoots self in leg and hand
BORDENTOWN CITY -- A city man suffered wounds to his left hand and left leg early Friday when, he told police, he accidentally shot himself once with a handgun in his living room, police revealed Monday.

• Police seek video of armed robbery
PENNINGTON -- A daylight armed robbery in this normally placid hamlet has perturbed the community and has borough police investigating a rare violent crime.

• School official pushes for uniforms
HAMILTON -- At least one school board member and the superintendent think students would benefit from a uniform policy after an incident on Veterans Day in which a Hamilton High West student brought two teenage girls from outside the district into class with her.

• The hungry have help this holiday
Hunger does not know a season, and while many people will be sit ting down with family members for tomorrow's Thanksgiving meal, others will have no place to go or no food to eat.

• Armed man robs shop in Pennington
PENNINGTON -- In what could possibly be the first holdup in the borough since 1989, a man armed with a handgun robbed two women inside a seasonal gift store on South Main Street yesterday morning.

• Bridge commission awards more than $14M in contracts
NEW HOPE, Pa. -- Professional contracts and grants including consulting services for the proposed $309 million Scudder Falls Bridge and refurbishing of the Calhoun Street Bridge -- totaling more than $14 million were awarded yesterday by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.

• Ex-Hamilton coach heads to Trenton job
HAMILTON -- Former Steinert High School varsity football coach Carl Jordan has moved to a teaching position in Trenton, ending seven months of uncertainty over his future at Hamilton schools.

• Fire is basement is contained
TRENTON -- A fire that began in a dryer spread to the basement where the dryer was located early yesterday, fire officials reported.

• Hughes receives award from history group
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes received an award Saturday from the New Jersey Historical Commission for his support of historical preservation.

• Motorcyclist robs convenience store
BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP -- A man using a motorcycle helmet as a mask robbed a gas station convenience store of an unknown amount of cash early yesterday, police reported.

• Police arrest man for disorderly conduct
PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- A 22-year-old township man who allegedly ran amok when a verbal dispute he was involved in was bro ken up by the police was arrested Sunday night, police said.

• Police investigate car fire in city
TRENTON -- City police are investigating the circumstances of a car fire that occurred early yesterday.

• Rag catches on fire at bagel shop
LAMBERTVILLE -- A rag left on top of a boiler at the Bagel Delight deli caused a small fire Sunday evening, police reported.

• Runaway girls return to their homes
HAMILTON -- Two juvenile runaways were returned home Thursday after contacting township police saying they wanted to come back from Georgia, police said yesterday.

• Shining a light on state's Revolutionary history
It was America's original Homeland Security system.

• State is promoting efficient light bulbs
TRENTON -- New Jerseyans will have a chance to switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs under a program announced by the state Board of Public Utilities yesterday.

• Trenton ranks 30th in nation in crime rate
Mercer County's two largest municipalities may share a border, but Trenton and Hamilton are far apart when it comes to crime rates, according to an annual survey re leased yesterday that compares reported crimes in American cities.

• Bridge work enters final phase
MORRISVILLE, Pa. -- The reconstruction and widening of the Route 1 Toll Bridge will enter its final phase early this week as motorists began driving on smooth surfaces in both directions over the span between Trenton and Morrisville.

• Charter school seeks a home
FLORENCE -- The classrooms at the former Holy Assumption School could come back to life in September, if two educators from Hamilton's Pace Charter School get their way.

• Parachuting into Princeton
PRINCETON BOROUGH -- More than 500 parents and children went back to school yesterday afternoon, when Princeton University hosted "Breaking Down Barriers," a conference designed to teach parents how to support children who suffer from Down syndrome.

• Train station proposal stalls
WEST WINDSOR Eighteen months ago, the furor aroused by architect J. Robert Hillier's plan for 1,000 housing units near the train station area almost derailed redevelopment around the Princeton Junction train station.

• Italians tell story of immigrant experience
WEST WINDSOR -- Leaders with Italian surnames, such as Alito, Bencivengo, Bocchini, Colavita and Inverso may seem commonplace today, but in 1880 the Mercer County census listed zero residents of Italian descent, Rosemary Alito told an audience at Mercer County Community College yesterday morning.

• Police investigating fires at school
MOUNT LAUREL -- Police said that an intoxicated man armed with a handgun and threatening to harm himself barricaded himself in a house in the 400 block of Timberline Drive on Friday before police were able to take the man into custody.

• Trenton teens get college preview
EWING -- The day was about broadening horizons.

• Bloods member pleads guilty to heroin distribution
TRENTON -- A member of the Sex Money Murder set of the Bloods street gang pleaded guilty yesterday to a first-degree heroin charge as a result of a multiagency gang investigation dubbed Operation Dawg Pound.

• Drug charges follow brief chase of Pa. man
TRENTON -- A Morrisville, Pa., man who fled at the sight of police was caught in South Trenton with a large amount of marijuana Thursday afternoon, police said.

• Five men charged in motorcycle theft ring
TRENTON -- The state Attorney General's Office has charged five Burlington County men with involvement in a motorcycle theft ring.

• Hopewell Twp. home burns
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP -- A three-alarm fire believed to have started in a laundry room badly damaged a large home in an upscale neighborhood off Jacobs Creek Road last night.

• Man cuts his wrist while held in police station
HAMILTON -- A man cut his wrist in the township police station yesterday but did not endanger his life, police reported.

• Man seen breaking into house jailed in burglary
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A 20-year-old man who tried to hide under a pine tree from police was arrested Thursday and charged with burglary.

• Motel room fight nets assault, threat charges
MANSFIELD -- A Bordentown man was charged with assault and making terroristic threats after a fight in a motel room Thursday.

• Thanksgiving parade route prohibits parking
TRENTON -- From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. today parking will be prohibited and cross-streets will be barri caded along the route of the Thanksgiving parade.

• Armed robbers strike on Clinton Ave.
TRENTON -- A city man was robbed at gunpoint and a city woman struck on the back of the head when she tried to call for help on the 400 block of North Clinton Avenue just before 2:15 a.m. yesterday, police said.

• Cops seek information on armed suspect
TRENTON -- A 17-year-old male and a 20-year-old female were the victims of an armed robbery inside the hallway of a building on Ei senhower Avenue Wednesday evening, police said.

• Foundation earns matching grant
TRENTON -- A new foundation to benefit the city library system reached its first milestone, receiving enough donations to become eligible for a $5,000 matching grant.

• Man gets 10 years for slaying
TRENTON -- As part of a plea deal agreed to in late September, Dontay Brannon was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for his role in the death of David Campbell in November 2006.

• Police investigate 2 recent burglaries
ROBBINSVILLE -- Township police are investigating two recent burglaries in which local residents lost about $31,000 worth of property.

• Roadwork will close entrance ramp
TRENTON -- Resurfacing work will close the entrance ramp from Route 29 northbound to Memorial Drive for several hours next week, the state Department of Transportation reported.

• State worker, cohort indicted for theft
TRENTON -- A Bordentown man accused of stealing state- owned computers and profiting off a scrap-metal ring was indicted yesterday, the state Attorney General's Office said.

• Suspect arrested twice on drug charges
HAMILTON -- A township man who was arrested two weeks ago on charges of making and selling crack cocaine in his home was arrested again on similar charges Wednesday.

• Thief makes off with cash register
WESTAMPTON -- A glove- wearing suspect ran off with the cash register from a Dunkin Do nuts in a Wednesday evening robbery, police said.

• Workers aid driver in a burning car
ROBBINSVILLE -- Two construction workers helped push a burning car to the side of the highway yesterday in an incident that was quickly taken over by township police, according to one witness at the scene.