newjerseynewsroom.com

Kindergartener with autism refused lunch over 'billing issue'

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

John Robert Caravella goes to Cliffwood Elementary School in New Jersey from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. most days. During his fourth day of kindergarten, John Robert was not given lunch by the school cafeteria due to a “billing issue.”

The 5-year old Caravella is autistic. John Robert is not able to speak, and cannot communicate if he is hungry.

John Robert’s parents admitte...

Patrick's Law in N.J. would add bite to bark of animal cruelty charges

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A law to increase the penalties for animal cruelty in New Jersey has made its first steps out of a state Senate committee.

NorthJersey.com reports that Patrick’s Law would make animal abuse a fourth-degree crime or third-degree if the animal dies. Civil penalty fines for animal abuse would increase to $1,000 to $3,000 for a first offense, and move from $3,000 to $5,000...

N.J. weather forecast: Can weekend be just as nice?

BY STEVEN DiMARTINO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

High pressure will continue to produce excellent weather conditions through this evening, but a weakening cold front will provide the threat for an isolated shower tomorrow morning and cooler conditions.

For this afternoon, expect scattered cloud cover with a southwesterly wind at 5 to 10 mph. Temperatures will rise into the upper 70's to lower 80's for high...

Win or loss, college athletics need to play the social game straight

BY JOE FAVORITO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

ON N.J. SPORTS MARKETING

There has been a tremendous amount of hype and attention payed to high level college athletics in the last year. From conference reshuffling, to the National Championship playoff to expanded March Madness coverage and the innovation in the TV and digital space with added elements like the Pac 12 Network and the Longhorn Network, the oppor...

Yankees take Boston, Jeter ties Willie Mays, and Mike Francesa better wake up!

BY GINA G. SCALA

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

Apparently when George Bernard Shaw lamented “youth is wasted on the young,” he forgot naps, too.

WFAN radio host Mike Francesa proved it during Wednesday morning’s show when he dosed off talking about the New York Yankees with reporter Sweeny Murti. If Francesa’s show wasn’t simulcast on the YES Network, this may not have even mattered, other than being...

Proposed Sweeney bill addresses unemployment, small business tax incentive

BY GINA G. SCALA

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

With the poverty rate in New Jersey on the rise and the unemployment rate at a three-decade high, a bill rewarding small businesses for hiring unemployed workers is finally being proposed.

Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, announced this week he plans to introduce a bill providing tax credits for small businesses that not only hire but also sust...

Mitt Romney flip-flops on Obamacare like Gabby Douglas on the uneven bars

BY MICHAEL HAYNE

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

Watching Mitt Romney denounce and deride his very own health care invention as Governor of Massachusetts throughout the entire presidential campaign has been an orgiastic explosion of irony. The ridiculously well-coiffed, carefully scripted mannequin has proven that he is willing to say anything in order to satisfy the talking point du jour and win th...

No pink gloves, no football: N.J. boy defends breast cancer awareness for mom

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Egg Harbor City Crusaders football coach Paul Burgan said player Julian Connerton was 100 percent right in walking off the field after he was told he couldn’t wear pink gloves to honor his mother.

During the team’s opener last weekend, Burgan told Connerton to remove the gloves because they weren’t team colors. Connerton, 12, was wearing the gloves because his mother...

Bob Dylan on slavery and plagiarism: He's a visionary, man!

BY PAM LOBLEY

NEWJEREYNEWSROOM.COM

NOW THAT’S FUNNY

In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Bob Dylan holds forth on his feelings about the U.S.A., saying that the stigma of slavery has ruined America. As quoted in Yahoo News, he said we will never be rid of the shame of being "founded on the back of slaves.”

He said he has been having original thoughts like this for as long as he can remember.

The...

Apple iPhone 5 preorders set to begin overnight

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The device that Apple calls the “thinnest smartphone in the world,” the iPhone 5, is set to debut in the worldwide market.

The iPhone 5 launched Wednesday at an event in San Francisco. It will be on sale Friday, September 21 in the U.S. and eight other countries, and a week later it will be available in 22 more countries.

CNN reports that the new smartphone is 18 percen...