By Steve Strunsky/The Star-Ledger 

The City of Newark said accidents fell 64 percent at seven intersections where red light cameras had been in place for at least three years.Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — Newark officials say 
seven intersections with red light cameras have had a 64 percent drop in accidents since the controversial technology was installed four years ago.

The city found that the seven Newark intersections analyzed for today's report had a 69 percent reduction in right-angle collisions, or broadsides, among the deadliest type of car crashes. Rear-end collisions declined 61 percent, the city said.

By Max Pizarro

NEWARK – A progressive umbrella organization this afternoon endorsed state Sen. Barbara Buono (D-18) for governor, by its very presence somewhat underscoring the absence of Democratic Party machine politicians from Newark and the environs who haven’t enthusiastically saddled up with the Buono campaign.

An undeterred Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, said her affiliates will be out pounding on doors and making phone calls for Buono.

“New Jersey’s economic recovery lags behind the region and the nation as a whole,” said Salowe-Kaye, anchoring a ragtag tableaux of Buono progressives. “Far too many New Jersey families are still struggling to make ends meet. New Jersey needs a leader who will put the economic health of our working families first.”

ANDREW KITCHENMAN 

Raymond J. Castro, senior policy analyst for the nonprofit New Jersey Policy Perspective.

NJ residents newly eligible under ACA will get services not available to most already in federal program.

Some low-income New Jersey residents will be eligible for treatment for drug and alcohol addictions, as well as some mental health services, under the upcoming Medicaid expansion.

But most Medicaid recipients won’t be eligible for the new benefits.

Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, states that choose to expand Medicaid – known as New Jersey FamilyCare in the state -- must cover these treatments for people who are newly eligible for the program. However, that provision doesn’t apply to those who are already eligible for the program.

By David Giambusso/The Star-Ledger 

NEWARK — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will travel to Jersey City on Friday to stump for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker, Booker's campaign said today.

Emanuel, along with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, will headline a rally for Booker at 5:30 p.m.

Booker, the Newark mayor, is facing Republican Steve Lonegan in the Oct. 16 special election to fill Frank Lautenberg's Senate seat.

Prior to becoming mayor of Chicago, Emanuel was President Obama's chief of staff. His police director, Garry McCarthy, used to head the Newark Police Department.

The exact location of the rally has not yet been released.

By David Giambusso/The Star-Ledger 

NEWARK — New Jersey Citizen Action, a coalition of progressive groups, endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Barbara Buono today, promising to deploy ground troops in Buono's underdog run against Gov. Chris Christie.

"Gov. Christie is holding New Jersey working families back," said Citizen Action executive director Phyllis Salowe-Kaye. "New Jersey needs a leader who will put New Jersey's working families first. Sen. Buono is that leader.

JOHN MOONEY | SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

Charter schools are nothing if not controversial, but what's beneath the chatter?

First launched in New Jersey in 1997, charter schools have in the past five years become a hot issue in New Jersey -- both for the alternatives they provide students and districts, and the debate they have fueled over the role of public education. Charter schools are public schools operated by private nonprofit groups that are outside the governance of the local district. Instead, they are overseen by the state through a “charter” or specific renewable agreement.

Their significance

The charter movement started with just 13 schools and grew slowly during the first decade. Now numbering close to 90 schools and serving 30,000 students, they have matured into a powerful force in the state, especially in urban districts where they are concentrated. In Newark, for example, close to 20 percent of public school students are in charter schools, including a few that are among the district’s highest-performing schools. They have also sparked some backlash in both urban and suburban communities that have resisted the schools and what they call “draining” of local funds and students, as well as the lack of local say in their expansion, among other reasons. National charter management organizations have also made major inroads in the state, including the nonprofit KIPP Network and Uncommon Schools, and for-profit management firms are also now helping run two new schools in New Jersey.

By Alexi Friedman/The Star-Ledger 

on September 16, 2013 at 4:18 PM, updated September 16, 2013 at 7:31 PM

PSE&G held the first of its public hearings today to field comments on its $3.9 billion infrastructure upgrade plans. Here PSEG equipment operator Joaquin Rodriguez rols up downed wires in Roselle Park after Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey.(John O'Boyle/The Star-Ledger)

NEWARK — Nearly 200 people have turned out this afternoon in Newark to voice support for and opposition to Public Service Electric & Gas' multibillion-dollar network upgrade proposal.

There are two public comment hearings in an Essex County College lecture hall scheduled for today, one which began at 3:30 p.m. and the other slated to start at 6:30.

By James Queally/The Star-Ledger 

WEST ORANGE — A West Orange woman and a Newark man have been charged with breaking into the home of a West Orange grandmother and stabbing her to death while the victim's granddaughter slept upstairs, prosecutors said.

Carline Inginac, 21, of West Orange, was arrested this morning and charged with murder, felony murder, robbery and weapons offenses in connection with the Sept. 3 death of Sandy Yuen, 57, inside her Chestnut Street home, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said.

By Eunice Lee/The Star-Ledger 

During the ground breaking ceremony at Turtle Back Zoo for the new education building to be built at the West Orange zoo, on Thursday September, 12, 2013. Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger

WEST ORANGE — Turtle Back Zoo is getting bigger, but this time it's not about adding more animals.

Officials gathered today to break ground on a new $7.8 million education building to bolster the rapidly expanding zoo's educational component and to handle the increasing traffic for a growing number of visitors at the county-run South Mountain recreation complex in West Orange.

"This is going to allow us to really jump start our education program," Brint Spencer, the acting zoo director, said. "This is going to be a huge push forward."

By Dan Ivers/NJ.com 

CARLSTADT — A 56-year-old Newark man died after being exposed to chemicals at the Carlstadt paint plant where he worked Wednesday.

Henry Campbell, 56, was found on top of a storage tankcontaining the chemical Toluene at the Hartin Paint & Filler Corporation at around 3:58 p.m., according to Det. John Cleary of the Carlstadt police.

Campbell was unresponsive, and was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Kalifi Thomas, a fellow plant employee from Elizabeth, had moved Campbell after finding him on top of the tank, and was also exposed to the chemical as a result, Cleary said. He was also taken to the hospital.