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The fates of three people who said they were on a rescue mission to help save a teenager from a New York heroin den when they were stopped with a cache of weapons could be decided by a New Jersey judge Monday.-SNIP-A judge is scheduled to rule Monday on whether a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officer had probable cause to stop the car at the Holland Tunnel. The officer says he stopped them over a windshield crack and objects dangling from the rearview mirror, but the defendants argue it's more likely they were pulled over...

A 35-year-old man was shot in the head and critically injured in one of five shootings reported around the city in less than 15 hours. Between 10 a.m. Wednesday and 12:30 a.m. Thursday, two men were injured, two guns were recovered, and three people were arrested in connection with the shootings. Gunfire first erupted near Martin Luther King Drive and Bidwell Avenue at about 10 a.m. No one was injured or arrested in the shooting, city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said.

A New Jersey boy has become the first openly transgender member of the Boy Scouts. Just one week after the Boy Scouts of America changed its policy to allow transgender children to join, Joe Maldonado donned his uniform as the newest member of Pack 20 in Maplewood. 'I am accepted,' said the nine-year-old on Tuesday night, as his mother fought back tears. The youngster had previously been banned from Pack 87 in Secaucus because his birth certificate stated that he was born a girl.

Cats would keep their claws under a bill that would make New Jersey the first state to prohibit declawing. The measure, which cleared the lower house of the Legislature last month, bans onychectomies and flexor tendonectomies on a cat or any animal unless a veterinarian deems them medically necessary. A vote on the measure was delayed in a state Senate committee Monday, and it’s not clear when it will move forward. The practice, often undertaken to prevent cats from shredding furniture or injuring humans or other pets, is already banned in several California cities and in nearly 20 countries. …

Action Park's notoriety as a water park where visitors in the '80s and '90s suffered slips and more serious injuries -- some called it "Class Action Park," "Traction Park" and "Accident Park" -- is now reportedly bound for the big screen. Johnny Knoxville ("Bad Grandpa," "Jackass") is set to star in an "Action Park" movie based on the Vernon water park. He'll produce the film via his company, Dickhouse Productions, for Paramount Pictures. A Deadline report says the movie will be "in the spirit" of "Bad Grandpa," Knoxville's last collaboration with Paramount. So far, no word on any Jersey filming...

Claiming New Jersey’s gun permit laws are derived from slavery and motivated by racism, a man denied a license is set to have his case reviewed by the nation’s high court next month. Marc Stephens, representing himself, argues he has a Constitutional right under the Second and Fourteenth amendments to keep and bear arms at home and in public, which the state of New Jersey has denied him even though he has had multiple death threats. His petition is set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Feb. 17 conference but has been winding its way...

New parents in New Jersey will not only bring their bundles of joy home from the hospital, they’ll also get a baby box. The boxes, which promote safe sleeping, are part of an effort to improve infant mortality rates. The United States has a high infant mortality rate— 6.5 infant deaths per 1,000 births, ranking it 23rd in the world. In 2016, 93 percent of deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) were associated with sleep complications, Philly Voice reported.

A rabbit hole is a scary place. You never expect to find it, and when you do, it starts from the unlikeliest of places. Who knew that the globalist push for a worldwide Islamic Fundamentalist Caliphate started at a small market in Irvington New Jersey? An Irvington man on Monday admitted in federal court to running a food stamps-for-cash scheme that cost the government more than $800,000 over two years. Miguel Antonio Azcona pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper in Trenton to a single count of theft of government funds, according to the office of U.S. Attorney...

The leaders of New Jersey cities who have promised to protect undocumented residents from federal immigration law enforcement officials grappled Wednesday with President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting so-called “sanctuary cities.” Trump’s executive order, signed Wednesday, would take away federal funds “except as mandated by law” from municipalities that refuse to hand over non-criminal undocumented immigrants for deportation. “Newark will continue to protect undocumented immigrants despite whatever executive order is issued,” Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement to NJ Advance Media. […] Baraka vowed after Trump’s election last year to protect the city’s immigrant population, and only arrest undocumented...

An apparent construction error six decades ago could have caused the fracture discovered Friday in a steel beam that forced the closure of the Delaware River Bridge, an engineering expert who viewed pictures of the cracked truss said Sunday. An image of the cracked truss - a supporting piece - on the bridge that runs between Bucks County in Pennsylvania and Burlington County in New Jersey shows signs of holes that had been mistakenly drilled into the steel beam and then filled with plug welds, a typical solution in the 1950s when the bridge was built, said Karl Frank, professor...

KEANSBURG -- As Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno formally launched her 2017 bid for governor Tuesday, she avoided any talk of the unpopular governor who gave her a shot in statewide politics eight years ago. Promising that "better days are ahead in New Jersey," Guadagno in her 22-minute speech at a Mexican restaurant La Playa did not mention Gov. Chris Christie's name at all.

In reaction to liberal Senator Cory Booker's (D-N.J.) testimony against attorney general-nominee and fellow Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke said Booker's remarks were "phony," that "he lied about Jeff Sessions," and that he acted like a "poor man's Obama." Clarke added that Booker first called Sessions his "friend" and then "he turned around and just stabbed him in the back" with his testimony. VIDEO: Sheriff Clarke on Sen. Booker: 'He Lied About Jeff Sessions' and 'Stabbed Him In The Back' On the Jan. 11 edition of Fox's Hannity, host Sean Hannity asked Clarke, “Let me ask...

HAMPTON -- A former Newton police officer charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy in a Burger King bathroom last month is making a second try at getting out of jail... ...Miller was on probation at the time of his arrest. He resigned from the Newton force in 2015 as part of a plea agreement after allegations he exposed himself to male motorists during traffic stops. As part of Miller's guilty plea to tampering with records, charges of lewdness and official misconduct were dismissed.

SECAUCUS, N.J. -- The family of an eight-year-old boy in New Jersey says he was kicked out of Cub Scouts because he is transgender. Joe Maldonado was born a female. His mom signed him up for Cub Scouts and said she was very clear about his transgender status. But after about a month, she got a call from the Scouts' head counsel, saying he could no longer be part of the organization. "I felt bad for my son he was having a good time," his mom Kristie Maldonado said. "They had a barbecue, the last day they had a Halloween...

A classroom assignment on Islam says one negative effect of the Crusades is that Christians are still treating Muslims harshly. “I almost fell over,” said Barbara Light. Mrs. Light, of Westwood, New Jersey, was helping her 13-year-old daughter prepare for a World History test when she discovered some rather shocking lessons. “The Christians’ harsh treatment of Muslims in the Holy Land led to bitterness that has lasted to the present,” one worksheet stated.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Joe Piscopo’s Frank Sinatra impression, made famous from his days on “Saturday Night Live,” has gotten an update. It’s no longer “New York, New York,” but “NJ, NJ,” the actor, standup comic and potential 2017 Republican candidate for governor is now crooning. Piscopo performed the updated song — lyrics included “my New York and Philly blues are melting away” — at a recent charity event for the Boys and Girls Club in New Jersey, where his flirtation with running for governor to succeed incumbent Republican Chris Christie when his term ends in 2018 is out...

MORRIS TOWNSHIP -- A few people in the crowd wore familiar-looking red baseball caps with white lettering. But no, unlike the ones sported by Donald Trump supporters, they didn't read, "Make America Great Again." Instead, the hats read, "Steve Rogers for Governor." Rogers, a township commissioner in Nutley, has formally joined the ever-growing race to succeed Chris Christie as New Jersey's governor, kicking off his campaign for the Republican nomination with a Trump-like message Thursday.

<p>Six people were shot by gunmen at a New Jersey restaurant this weekend that "riddled" the place with bullets, police say.</p>

The mystery of the anti-Hillary Clinton, pro-Donald Trump vandals who continued to deface a beautiful children’s mural took a while to solve. Power Stretch Studios in Montclair, New Jersey, had suffered a fire in September, and its windows and door was boarded up. Two days after the Nov. 8 presidential election, someone wrote on the boards: “Lock her up,” a popular refrain against Clinton amongst Trump supporters during his campaign. A studio employee painted over it, but the vandals returned, writing ”America Has Spoken” with Trump’s face drawn next to it. Gina Shaw, a friend of studio owner Hakika DuBose,...

The president-elect's former agent is said to be hoping to discuss some of Trump's initial appointments. Is the president-elect soliciting help from his former Hollywood agent in selecting a cabinet? Ari Emanuel, the co-CEO of entertainment and sports powerhouse WME-IMG, was spotted at the Trump National Golf Course in New Jersey on Sunday, and a WME-IMG source confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that a meeting is set for this afternoon. The exact nature of the sit-down is unclear, but the Democratic stalwart Emanuel is said to be uninterested in a job in the Trump administration and instead hopes to discuss...