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Hildeberto Salinas of Carlstadt sentenced for role in illegal driver's license ring

Hildeberto Salinas of Carlstadt was sentenced to four years in state prison Friday for acting as a broker in a conspiracy involving a former clerk in the Lodi Motor Vehicle Agency to illegally sell New Jersey digital driver’s licenses to unauthorized persons.

Salinas, 44, was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine by state Superior Court Judge James J. Guida in Hackensack. Salinas pleaded guilty on Ma...

Tribeca Film Festival recap: Top picks from the experts

BY JOE TYRRELL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

MOVIE REVIEW

As the annual Tribeca Film Festival enters its final weekend, when audience favorites are given additional viewings, several of our reviewers have joined forces to spotlight some of their favorites from the past week.

We agreed that this year's line-up, while not as high-profile as some previous editions, was strong from top to bottom. There have been ...

N.J. Devils' Martin Brodeur thinks Panther fans' rats were fine...just not during play

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The Southeast Division champion Florida Panthers were right in the middle of their first playoff series since 2000, and found that they had more to worry about than the New Jersey Devils.

Panthers fans have taken up the habit of throwing plastic rats onto the ice to celebrate wins. But Sun-Sentinel.com reported that the Panthers had been warned by the NHL that they wil...

Reina Peck of Cherry Hill accused of stealing over $161K in state unemployment benefits

Reina Peck of Cherry Hill was indicted Friday on charges that she obtained $161,358 in unemployment insurance funds from the state by filing false claims using false names and fictitious employment information.

Peck, 41, is charged in a 12-county state grand jury indictment with second degree theft by deception, second degree impersonation, third degree theft by deception, and nine counts of third ...

Brian Petaccio of Toms River sentenced for Hoboken parking meter theft

Worked as a contractor hired by the city 

Brian A. Petaccio of Toms River, a contractor whose company was hired by the city of Hoboken to collect coins from city parking meters was sentenced to five years in state prison Friday for stealing $1.1 million in parking revenue.

Petaccio, 52, the owner of United Textile Fabricators, was sentenced by state Superior Court Judge Francis R. Hodgson Jr. i...

Homeward Bound Adoption Center in Freehold Mall opens

BY ADELE SAMMARCO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

It is the first of its kind on the northeast; an animal adoption center inside a shopping mall.

The Monmouth County SPCA has set up the Homeward Bound Adoption Center in the Freehold Raceway Mall in Monmouth County.

Assistant Manager Rich Twarog of the Monmouth County SPCA says, “We want people to adopt, not shop,” and added at the Center’s Grand Opening Thursda...

N.J. church pastor burns credit card apps: The new war on poverty

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Rev. DeForest B. Soaries Jr. of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens dedicates his church to debt-free living, and has taught classes about it there since 2005.

Soaries says that one of his church members received 38 credit card offers over a four-week period, and his 81-year old mother continually gets card offers.

So last week Soaries led a protest against ma...

Monmouth football: Callahan in booth, Gumbs to NFL?

BY JEREMY SCHILLING

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Some leftover notes from the end of Monmouth Spring Practice:

1) Anyone who was listening to the Shore Spots Network radio broadcast of the Blue-White spring game might have done a double-take at the start of the 2nd half, but yes, that was head coach Kevin Callahan joining Matt Harmon and Eddy Occhipinti in the broadcast booth to help describe the action.

Call...

New Jersey's rare native plants need protection

BY MICHELE S. BYERS

COMMENTARY

Have you ever seen a Pickering’s morning glory, an American chaffseed flower or a three birds orchid?

If you have, you are probably an experienced botanist! They are among New Jersey’s rarest native plants. But unless actions are taken to protect these rare plants and others, you may never get to see them. Without protection, they could disappear entirely!

For centuries,...

Rutgers senior Kevin Tobia to move from Chatham to Oxford with Ertegun Scholarship

BY ROBIN LALLY

RUTGERS TODAY

You might say that Kevin Tobia is a Renaissance man. He graduates from Rutgers next month with degrees in philosophy, cognitive science and mathematics and is then off to the University of Oxford in England after being named one of only 15 students in the world to receive a full two-year graduate school scholarship bequeathed in the name of the founder of Atlantic Record...