Local Beat is the NJ News Commons’ weekly roundup of the best reporting by community news sources.
COST OF NEW BRUNSWICK POLICE CORRUPTION, RACISM CASES TOPS $2M
Taxpayers in multiple New Jersey counties are footing the multi-million dollar bill for the team of lawyers representing New Brunswick’s mayor and top police officials in two court cases. Charlie Kratovil of New Brunswick Today says the cases represent two types of discrimination within the embattled police department: one based on race and another based on politics.
GREATER MORRISTOWN CHURCH VANDALISM ‘A CRY FOR HELP,’ SAYS FAMILY OF DEFENDANT
The family of a man charged with the vandalism of five African American churches in Greater Morristown over the weekend is coming out in the man’s defense, according to Kevin Coughlin of Morristown Green.
$36M PENNSAUKEN SCHOOL BOND TO IMPROVE ACADEMICS, ATHLETICS, JOB TRAINING
The Pennsauken Board of Education announced a $35.6 million district-wide bond measure this month, reports Matt Skoufalos of NJ Pen. The proposal would affect all 11 schools in the district, and would create an early childhood education center, a new neighborhood park and a magnet high school to attract high-achieving students looking for college credits in math and science.
FORMER WESTFIELD GYMNASTICS INSTRUCTOR CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT OF CHILD
Union County officials announced Wednesday that a former instructor at Surgent’s Elite School of Gymnastics in Westfield has been accused of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old student over the course of more than six months. TAPinto Westfield says Jose Rodriguez has been charged with second-degree sexual assault and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
UNIVERSAL ENROLLMENT CREDITED FOR DISTRICT-WIDE IMPROVEMENTS BUT DEBATE CONTINUES
District officials in Newark say recent improvements to universal enrollment in the city’s One Newark program have created more equitable access to schools while ensuring that 100 percent of the seats in each elementary school are filled with the children of families that live in the neighborhood or have a sibling in the school, reports Elana Knopp of TAPinto Newark. Others, however, view the program’s effectiveness in a different light.
OTHER NOTABLE LOCAL STORIES THIS WEEK:
- Voting Block: In wake of Murphy victory, downtown Newark hopes for action, not hype | TAPinto Newark
- Launch Pad coworking community is coming to Newark’s Hahne & Co. building | Brick City Live
- Memorial Middle School Sixth Graders Go Forties | TAPinto Milltown/Spotswood
- Lights, Camera, Cake Boss! | MyVeronaNJ