Community Corner

State Wrap: Ritual Site With Animal Remains Found in Clark, Jackson Baseball Player Dies in Accident

This week's top news from around New Jersey

On Tuesday, Clark Police received a . About 100 feet down the path leading from Old Raritan Road, the site contained a five-foot-tall stick structure topped with what appeared to be a deer or goat skull.

Beneath the structure was a rock slab with a large red circle containing an X drawn in red, animal bones staked into the ground, two smaller animal skulls, an American flag planted in the ground, a white hardhat, scattered old tires and a rusted metal bucket. Near the path leading to the site were a few white animal feathers.

"Occasionally, we find these kind of animal ritual things in our park systems," Union County spokesperson Sebastian D'Elia told Patch. "It’s certainly not a regular occurrence but it does happen from time to time. We have a large parks system and we do have residents who do this stuff, possibly Santeria, especially in the more urban areas of the county. To see this in Clark is a little unusual."

Find out what's happening in Waynewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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Three members of the Jackson Memorial High School baseball team were involved in an auto accident on Friday night, .

Find out what's happening in Waynewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The two-car accident, which occurred at 8:45 p.m., according to police, in front of the Texaco gas station, 200 Route 37, Lakehurst, took the life of James Volpe, 17, the back seat passenger in a 2004 Lincoln which was split in two by the impact of the horrific crash at Route 37 and Browne Avenue.

Volpe, a senior outfielder and designated runner, was reportedly ejected from the vehicle after the car in which he was a passenger collided with another car, a 2001 Ford Escape driven by Robert Vallee, 41, of Manchester.

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On Wednesday, 53-year-old Holland Manufacturing, the Morris County Board of Freeholders, and many local officials that rebuilt four miles of the Chester Branch rail line

Carefully wielding large hammers, several freeholders drove in the last two “golden” spikes. The project will allow Holland to stay put in Morris County.

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Gov. Chris Christie announced Thursday that the state is which would  help communities impacted by the severe storms and flooding that began on March 10, 2011.

The state said preliminary damage assessments conducted after the storms exceeded $4.5 million, with over 4,000 homes affected. 

“We are disappointed in this initial outcome, but will continue to fight for New Jersey’s impacted communities and will exert the options available to us through the appeal process,” said Christie.

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Two former executives of a Pennsylvania company that reconditioned football equipment for many New Jersey school districts and youth sports leagues , federal officials said Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced the former chief executive officer of Circle Systems, Alan Abeshaus, 79, of Highland Beach, FL, and former chief financial officer Mitchell Kurlander, 52, of Allentown, PA, directed "a long-running fraud against schools in New Jersey and elsewhere."

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Saying it will reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions, New Jersey Transit officials during a ceremony at Newark Penn Station Wednesday morning.

At least 26 of the locomotives, which can switch from diesel fuel to electricity, will be added to the commuter agency’s fleet by the end of 2012. The first will be added to the Morris and Essex Line, before moving to other non-electric train lines across the state. Train lines in Monmouth and Ocean Counties are likely to also receive top consideration for the new locomotives.

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Starting Wednesday, NJ Transit rail customers were able to .

Customers can now text a station-to-station request (Trenton to NY Penn) to 266266 and CooCoo, a third-party text engine company, will respond with the next scheduled trains as a list of menu options.

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Michael and Isabella are king and queen of the crib for 2010—at least in New Jersey.

The Social Security office on Friday. Nationwide, Michael is the third most popular baby name for boys while Jacob is the top choice and has been on the top 10 list for 12 years. Isabella tops the charts in New Jersey and nationally as the most popular name for baby girls.


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