Free Republic

Gov. Jon Corzine enacted the first phase of New Jersey's universal health care plan yesterday by mandating coverage for all children within three years and offering affordable, subsidized policies to needy parents. The goal is to cover 1.3 million uninsured state residents by 2011 through a state program administered by private insurers at a lower cost. "For those who are cynical about government and say we don't move and we don't change, I assure you when you look back 10 years from today, you will say we made a great stride forward," Cor zine said before signing the legislation at...

ith its lace curtain bungalows and steepled Anglican church, the once tranquil town of Camden in New South Wales seems the most improbable of settings for a row that combines race and religion. Proud of its rich history, the town promotes itself as "the birthplace of the nation's wealth", for it was here, in the early 19th Century, that the sheep and dairy industries first began to flourish. Now the town, which lies on south-west fringes of Sydney, is confronting a very 21st Century issue: the proposal to construct an Islamic school for some 1,200 Muslim pupils. Behind the proposal...

Sweeping changes are afoot for Roman Catholics in South Jersey, as the bishop of the Diocese of Camden announces a plan to consolidate parishes and probably close dozens of churches.Half a million Catholics from Camden, NJ to Cape May, NJ were hoping to discern the fate of their individual houses of worship as Bishop Joseph Galante announced his plans for parish consolidations.But the plan was being presented as a "work in progress" for change within the Catholic Church in South Jersey.Bishop Joseph Galante (above) made the announcement on Thursday afternoon that the 124 parishes across the southern part of New Jersey were being consolidated into 66,...

CAMDEN, N.J. — Talk about lying down on the job! A recent audit of cash-strapped Camden, N.J. school district's finances found it was paying an employee $130,000 annually — and he's been dead for more than three decades. City officials were shocked by the discovery. The independent audit of Camden schools found fiscal mismanagement and lax controls for payroll, purchasing, and accounts payable, reported WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. Camden has been plagued with scandal and is known as the nation's poorest city.

“Snitching, telling on people, isn’t something that I personally would involve myself with,” she said in an interview last week. “People don’t want to talk to you if they think you’re a snitch. If they were your friends, they’re not your friends anymore. You’re left totally all alone.” As the most violent neighborhood in one of the nation’s most dangerous cities, the Whitman Park section of Camden is on the front lines of the struggle with witness intimidation. An array of powerful forces converge here to discourage people from cooperating with the investigation of crimes — crimes committed against their...

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070930/NEWS01/709300370/1006/news01 link only per posting rules.

Anthony Giacchino had just started as a producer at The History Channel in 1996 and was looking for a topic for his first documentary film. During a chance meeting at a church service, his former high school history teacher told him about a group of anti-war activists who, 25 years earlier, were caught red-handed breaking into a draft board office in Camden. Remarkably, they won a rare and momentous legal victory for the anti-war movement. The teacher brought up the story because the pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Camden, where Giacchino's parents worshiped, was the Rev. Michael Doyle,...

A 12-year-old Camden boy, shot dead in a fusillade of gunfire on the Fourth of July, was described by police yesterday as "a temporarily lost soul," left to find his own way on the streets. James "Pee Wee" Coleman, whose birthday was three weeks ago, was hit in the head and left leg. Police arrived shortly after 11 p.m. to find the boy slumped in the back seat of a beat-up Oldsmobile, which was riddled with bullet holes and parked at the Branch Village housing project. More than 20 shell casings, most likely fired from an AK-47 assault rifle, were...

Federal officials say they've taken a large bite out of Camden's illegal cocaine trade. Authorities say tackling crime in the city will have an impact on most of south Jersey. Prosecutors were able to arrest a total of 58 people thanks to information obtained from Raymond Morales, a man who ran a large cocaine ring and ordered the murders of six people. Officials compare the 35 year old to a "capo" in a typical crime family, who was feared and respected by other criminals in the city. U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Chris Christie says tackling the city's drug trade...

CAMDEN Citing a declining number of priests available for ministry, Bishop Joseph A. Galante said a reduction in the number of parishes that serve more than 500,000 people in the six-county Camden Diocese is inevitable. In 10 years, half of the 172 priests in the area could be retired, Galante said. This coupled with population shifts has created a financial burden and "compromised" the ability of certain perishes to meet the demands of the future, Galante said. "We, like most Northeast dioceses, have churches and facilities that were established decades ago in areas where the Catholic population is substantially diminished,"...

New Jersey has the fifth highest number of AIDS cases in America, and yesterday became the last state to allow intravenous drug users to get clean needles, hoping it will slow the spread of the deadly virus. Gov. Jon Corzine ended a 13-year stalemate by signing a law to permit six communities to host needle exchange sites, where clean syringes and referrals to drug treatment will be available. The bill includes $10 million for drug treatment and counseling programs. "This is an historic day for public health," Corzine said, calling the law "a potential bridge to hope for addicts." After...

JUST A REMINDER FOR FREEPERS IN THE SC AREA. WE WILL HAVE OUR MONTHLY COUNTER PROTEST AT THE CAPITOL IN COLUMBIA. FREEPMAIL ME IF YOU NEED DETAILS.

Ngoc Le heard his wife’s screams and ran from the back of the wireless store he owns in Camden, New Jersey. His wife was behind the counter, as was a masked man wielding a knife. The man brandished the blade, herding the couple into a back room. Once there, he tied the 28-year old businessman to a chair, then proceeded to rape 22-year old Kelly Le. Once the brutal rape had finished, he slit the couple’s throats, then ran away. There was no 2nd Amendment, no right to own a gun, and Antonio Diaz Reyes got away with murder. That...

On the Feast of the Assumption, Tuesday, August 15, 2006, we will celebrate our sixth annual Mass of Thanksgiving at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Broadway and Market Streets in Camden, NJ. The Solemn High Tridentine Mass will begin at 7:pm and will once again feature the Ars Laudis Festival Chorus & Orchestra. The Mass setting chosen for this wonderful day will be the Missa Dolorosa, by Antonio Caldara (c. 1670-1736), a composer of the Baroque era. Our Cantor, Mr. Nicholas Beck, a graduate of Westminster Choir College will direct the singing of the Gregorian Propers and Dr....

Every Wednesday evening in Columbia, SC a group of "peace activists" (traiterous cowards) protest US involvement in Iraq. They hold up signs that denegrate the efforts of our troops. Calling it a "war for oil" and demanding that we "end the occupation" ( They obviously never looked up the definition of that word.) They do this near the foot of the capital steps 5-6 pm. Columbia is home of Fort Jackson which is one of the largest initial entry training posts in the army. It is also located near Sumter -home of Shaw Air Force Base. As a military wife,...

CAMDEN, N.J. - Four teenagers accused of plotting to kill about 25 people in a lunch-period massacre at a high school were charged Thursday under a terrorism law created after the Sept. 11 attacks. The boys, ages 14 to 16, were arrested Wednesday after police heard about the alleged plot from administrators at the school, where three of the teens are students. Their names were not released because of their ages. Authorities said the teens planned to attack students, teachers and others at Winslow Township High. The four boys appeared in family court, and a judge ordered them held for...

Former Governor and current State Senate President Dick Codey sponsors the legislation. He says, "We would be the first in the country to build a building dedicated solely to stem cell research." He adds, "We would be using existing tobacco bond monies so, we're not spending new money." $150 million dollars would be needed leading many critics to ask, "What else could that money be used for?" Codey says, "This is about saving lives in the future." He asks, "If the cure for diabetes or something else came out of this New Jersey facility, wouldn't that be a great legacy…it...

CAMDEN -- Two city police officers were charged with official misconduct on Friday, accused of beating and prodding a 15-year-old male with blunt objects after the juvenile was arrested and handcuffed here in October 2005. George Ingram, 34, a patrolman, and Lawrence Norman, age unavailable, a detective, were suspended Friday from the Camden Police Department without pay. They had been on desk duty since shortly after the alleged offenses occurred on Oct. 19. In addition to official misconduct, a second-degree charge carrying a maximum 10 years in prison upon conviction, Ingram is charged with fourth-degree aggravated assault, accused of placing...

Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H. W. Brands. Published by Doubleday, a division of Random House, New York. 2005, 560 pages. Part of gaining a deeper understanding of American history is reading presidential biographies. Each biography is not only a look at the person who occupied America's highest office but is a window on the events, individuals and decisions that shaped America's destiny and character. H. W. Brands is a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin and is best known for his biography of Benjamin Franklin "The First American," that was a finalist for the...

ROME (CNS) -- Msgr. James F. Checchio, a priest of the Diocese of Camden, N.J., has been named rector of the North American College, the U.S. seminary in Rome. Msgr. Checchio, 39, has been vice rector for administration at the seminary since 2003. He will succeed Msgr. Kevin C. McCoy, who will move to Washington to direct the college's $25 million capital campaign after more than four years as rector. The appointments, announced Dec. 12, were made by the college's board of governors, and Msgr. Checchio's nomination as rector was approved by the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education. The rector...

  MSNBC.com Most dangerous city? Ranking says Camden N.J. city's mayor blasts report; "We're doing so many nice things now" The Associated Press Updated: 9:24 a.m. ET Nov. 21, 2005 CAMDEN, N.J. - For the second year in a row, this destitute city has been named the nation's most dangerous, according to a company's annual ranking based on crime statistics. Last year, the distinction seemed to hurt city boosters' feelings more than it harmed revitalization efforts. This time, city leaders are offended by the ranking, calling it unfair. "We're doing so many nice things now. It's unfortunate that somebody always wants...

CAMDEN, New Jersey (AP) -- For the second year in a row this destitute city of Camden, New Jersey, has been named the nation's most dangerous, according to a company's annual ranking based on crime statistics. Last year, the distinction seemed to hurt city boosters' feelings more than it harmed revitalization efforts. This time, city leaders are offended by the ranking, calling it unfair. "We're doing so many nice things now. It's unfortunate that somebody always wants to bad-mouth Camden," Mayor Gwendolyn Faison said. The city took the top spot last year from Detroit, which remained No. 2 in the...

CAMDEN, N.J., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- City officials in Camden, N.J., are taking the offensive against a Kansas statistical firm that ranks Camden as the most dangerous city in the United States. Monday, the Morgan Quitno firm released its annual ranking of dangerous cities based on six types of crime, and for the second year, Camden was first in the country among 354 cities. The study analyzed the occurrence rates of murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary and motor vehicle theft. However, local officials told the Camden Courier-Post the latest rankings use figures from 2004, and overlook improvements made in...

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) -- For the second year in a row, this destitute city has been named the nation's most dangerous, according to a company's annual ranking based on crime statistics. Last year, the distinction seemed to hurt city boosters' feelings more than it harmed revitalization efforts. This time, city leaders are offended by the ranking, calling it unfair. "We're doing so many nice things now. It's unfortunate that somebody always wants to bad-mouth Camden," Mayor Gwendolyn Faison said. The city took the top spot last year from Detroit, which remained No. 2 in the most dangerous city rankings, to...

PHILADELPHIA - A former Philadelphia-area priest accused of abusing more than a dozen girls and taking an 11-year-old he had raped for an abortion performed a baptism this summer weeks after he was defrocked. Nicholas V. Cudemo performed the baptism at Christ the King Church in Haddonfield, N.J., on July 10, Camden diocese officials confirmed. A recent Philadelphia grand jury report found that Cudemo had sexual relationships with girls from Catholic schools where he taught from the 1960s to the 1980s, molesting one girl in the confessional and invoking God to seduce the youngsters. The report focused on abusive priests...

BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- The fast combat support ship USS Camden (AOE 2) was decommissioned Sept. 29 at Pier Delta at Naval Base Kitsap, ending 38 years of naval service. More than 300 people attended the pierside ceremony held under a large ceremonial tent due to inclement weather conditions. Capt. Kenneth Norton, the ship's commanding officer, welcomed the audience that also included more than a half dozen former Camden commanding officers and approximately 100 former crew members who served aboard throughout the ship's career. "Today we are not only going to honor the decommissioning of the USS Camden, but we...

The New Jersey courts had rarely seen a hero quite like Judge Stephen Thompson. A decorated Army veteran who lost a leg after being shot 20 times in the Vietnamese jungle, he came home to earn a law degree. He rose to the state bench, where he presided over Megan's Law cases, earned a reputation for fairness and balance and later helped make the state's first drug court an unqualified success. Yesterday, that same Stephen Thompson went on trial, accused of going to Russia in 2002 to perform sex acts with a teenage boy. He is accused of videotaping that...

Stem Cell Research in Leech Underway at Rutgers-Camden For Immediate Release CAMDEN – Research underway at Rutgers University—Camden may provide an opportunity for medical and scientific advancements of stem cell knowledge without the current controversy. Stem cell research in human embryos is highly controversial and isolating a human stem cell from hundreds of microscopically developing cells is extremely difficult. The aquatic leech offers an effective alternative to human stem cells, suggests Daniel Shain, an associate professor of biology at Rutgers-Camden. A newly awarded $149,265 grant from the National Institutes of Health is allowing Shain and a team of Rutgers-Camden student...

An inquiry into the June deaths of three boys who suffocated while playing in the trunk of a broken-down car even as the police undertook a wide search concluded today with a finding that had long been suspected: No one thought to look inside the family car. Despite the failure of police officers to check the Toyota Camry - a place where at least one of the boys had been known to play - authorities said today that no one would be disciplined in the case. "I don't think any purpose would be served to have heads roll," Vincent P....

CAMDEN, N.J. — Three boys who suffocated in a car trunk last month were alive for at least 17 hours, slowly succumbing while police searched their neighborhood, a lawyer for the family of one of the boys says. Lawyer Peter M. Villari told The New York Times that officials of the Camden County prosecutor's office went over details of an autopsy report with him, the newspaper reported Tuesday. The boys, ages 5, 6 and 11, disappeared from the yard where they were playing a little after 5 p.m. on June 22. Their deaths were ruled accidental. Relatives searched for the...

ABOARD USS ANTIETAM (NNS) -- USS Antietam (CG 54), a cruiser equipped with the Aegis Combat System, has patrolled the Persian Gulf since arriving on scene with the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Carrier Strike Group in mid-March. The ship was a vital cog for the strike group as they conducted maritime security operations (MSO) and supported the coalition efforts in the region. Among the numerous operations conducted by Antietam in the Persian Gulf were Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations and protection of vital assets such as Iraqi oil platforms and Carl Vinson. Antietam is also responsible for...

The grieving dad of the 11-year-old mentally troubled New Jersey boy who suffocated in a car trunk with two younger pals blames the state's social-services agency, saying it should have put his son in a facility where he could have gotten help. "If he would have been put in a safe place, this wouldn't have happened. The child needed a lot of help," Anibal Cruz Sr. said yesterday. -snip-" [The division] did nothing," Cruz said. "Why didn't they lock the baby somewhere safe? When kids need help, they have to help them."

CAMDEN, N.J. -- The father of a missing 6-year-old boy found his son's body and those of his two young friends in the trunk of a car Friday, two days after the children disappeared from a nearby yard where they were playing. A neighbor, Carmen Cilla, said she saw David Agosto open the trunk of the car and collapse to his knees screaming. It was not immediately clear how the three boys got into the vehicle or whether foul play was involved. Yolanda DeNeely Aguilard, an aide to Mayor Gwendolyn Faison, confirmed the bodies had been found. She had no...

Breaking now...

Some white students at a South Jersey Catholic school walked out of classes Tuesday in protest over a speech by the New Jersey Secretary of State Regina Thomas. Tensions have been building up at Paul VI High School since Thomas' speech on racial justice last week.

Program will coordinate federal, state, local crime fighters in targeting gangs. Fresno has been chosen as one of five communities nationwide to receive targeted help in reducing gang crime, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday. The effort will enlist federal crime fighters, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in Washington. As part of the relatively new Violent Crime Impact Team program, the Justice Department plans to target armed career criminals with a combination of state, federal and local forces. "The initiative has shown how we can fight crime better, expand freedom, and open new opportunities in communities that had...

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) A man who was killed while attempting to rob a store last week was responsible for three recent rapes that had spread fear among students and workers in the city’s relatively safe downtown area, authorities said Wednesday. Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi said the state police DNA lab confirmed that Antonio Diaz Reyes, 32, was the rapist. “The DNA results were a perfect match,” Sarubbi said at a news conference. The rapes in November and December were brazen daylight attacks at knifepoint. Investigators decided to check Reyes’ DNA against samples taken after the three sexual assaults...

Here is the elusive sighting of M & M on the morning of September 19th. ALL the best-known search engines had lost it, but thanks to AlltheWeb.com and Aristeides I found it again. I will add it to the Muhammad/Malvo Timelines sometime soon. Sniper suspects slept here: Before the attacks in Maryland and Virginia began, Muhammad and Malvo slept in the parking lot of the Ramada Inn in PetersburgBy:JENNIFER FRANCIS , Staff Writer 10/30/2002 PETERSBURG VA - Just two days before sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo allegedly shot and killed a clerk outside an Alabama liquor...

Camden reports its 54th homicide A store owner shot a robber who held a knife to his wife. The 2004 total was second to the city's 60 killings in '95. By Troy Graham Inquirer Staff Writer Hours before one of the most violent years ever in Camden came to a close yesterday, a store owner shot and killed a knife-wielding assailant, the city's 54th homicide of 2004.A man walked into Camden City Wireless & Fishing Supply at 27th Street and Westfield Avenue around 12:30 p.m., grabbed the owner's wife, and held a knife to her, saying he intended to rob...

Police officers in North Camden arresting a suspect in an armed robbery. CAMDEN, N.J., Dec. 23 - If anybody was surprised that Camden was recently ranked America's most dangerous city, it wasn't the people who live here. In the past 12 months, there have been 53 homicides, including a 12-year-old shot to death on his porch for his radio, more than 800 aggravated assaults, including a toddler shot in the back of the head, at least 750 robberies and 150 acts of arson, more than 10,000 arrests and one glaring nonarrest - a serial rapist on the loose downtown. All...

CAMDEN, N.J., Dec. 23 - If anybody was surprised that Camden was recently ranked America's most dangerous city, it wasn't the people who live here. In the past 12 months, there have been 53 homicides, including a 12-year-old shot to death on his porch for his radio, more than 800 aggravated assaults, including a toddler shot in the back of the head, at least 750 robberies and 150 acts of arson, more than 10,000 arrests and one glaring nonarrest - a serial rapist on the loose downtown. All in a city of 79,000, nine square miles small. For decades, Camden...

Camden, N.J. overtakes Detroit as most-dangerous city in U.S. 11/21/2004, 11:58 p.m. ET The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Camden, N.J. has become the nation's most-dangerous city, according to a Kansas company's yearly ranking based on crime statistics. Camden, which was ranked third last year, took the dubious honor from Detroit, which fell to second in this year's ranking, followed by Atlanta, St. Louis and Gary, Ind. Camden area officials downplayed the designation, saying many steps have already been taken to reduce crime in the city. "Irrespective of labels and characterizations by outside groups, the Camden anti-crime partnership, along...

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - A postal worker was sentenced Wednesday to a year of probation for causing the deaths of his two young sons by leaving them in the back of his sport-utility vehicle in midday heat. Derrick Strothers, 39, could have received up to six years in prison on each of two charges of involuntary manslaughter. Federal prosecutors had sought five years of probation. Authorities said Strothers dropped off his wife at her job on Aug. 15, 2003, then headed to the East Orange post office where he worked. His sons - Derrick Jr., 2, and Dylan, 1 -...

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — The incoming leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden has decided that Gov. James E. McGreevey cannot receive communion. The Most Rev. Joseph Galante said Thursday that he was taking the stance primarily because the divorced governor, who is Catholic, remarried without receiving a church annulment. He also cited McGreevey's support of abortion rights, stem-cell research and other positions which contradict church views. Galante, who was to be installed Friday during a Mass at St. Agnes Church in Blackwood, said he felt duty bound to take a hard line stance on the issue. He said...

CAMDEN - After a trip by ambulance to the emergency room Wednesday night, a Somerdale mother left the hospital carrying a prescription to treat her son's high fever and earache. She never filled it, authorities said. Instead, Sandra A. Roman, 29, took her 4-year-old son to Camden and bought crack cocaine, authorities said today. After getting high, she left her son with a stranger at a Camden bus-rail station, officials said. The preschooler was discovered by a passerby, still in his stroller inside the station, about 6:15 a.m. yesterday, roughly six hours after his mother had left him, officials said....

On September 11th, 2002, suspected Sniper John Allen Muhammad walked into the Camden, New Jersey State Motor Vehicles office, to register the now-notorious "blue Caprice" he'd just purchased. Though the car had not yet converted been into a rolling sniper's nest, what happened in the next several minutes leaves little doubt that Muhammad had something sinister in mind. The registration transaction began at 8:52 am. At 8:58 am., while Muhammad was still standing at the counter, someone (now believed to be fellow suspect, Lee Malvo) phoned a bomb threat at the Motor Vehicles office on the 1st Anniversary of what...

After holding out for more than a month, Mayor Gwendolyn Faison has decided to give up her "stolen car" - a black 1998 Lincoln Town Car. The car, which had been used since January as her official chauffeur-driven transportation to municipal appointments, had become a vehicle of ridicule for opponents of the 77-year-old mayor. The car had been reported stolen from its owner - a 70-year-old Pennsauken man - earlier this year and was abandoned in Camden. "We were notified by [the Camden County] Prosecutor's Office that proper procedures were not used to obtain the title to car," Christine Jones-Tucker,...

Childhood is its own country, and for some it's a brutal place to live. At 18, Matthew Lovett of Oaklyn, N.J., is described in news accounts as a peculiar loner, a tall, stooped kid who stood out because he didn't dress or act like his peers and hung out solely with younger kids. Obsessed with certain movies and computer games, Matthew reportedly tried to protect his younger brother, James - born with a disfiguring cleft palate and retaining a speech impediment after multiple corrective surgeries - from the teasing and humiliation his physical condition invited. He's described by former high...

A 18,16 and 14 year old surburban males arrested with a "cache " of guns 2,000 rounds of ammo multiple knives. Planned to car=jack a car and drive around on a killing spree. Showed the Cache on Fox---looked like a old bolt action rifle, 2 pump shot-guns and revolver and a 9mm semi-automatic. All looked old. No evil assault rifles. Alot of long knives and ammo!