Author: ECCYC

MOUNT LAUREL — An 84-year-old man has been charged with murder and weapons charges in connection with what may have been a mercy killing of his own wife, authorities announced on Tuesday.

Dan Mook and his wife Sharon, 82, shared a room at an assisted living facility on Fernbrooke Lane, where he stabbed her and then turned the knife on himself, but survived, according to authorities.

Mount Laurel police were called to the facility just before 7:30 p.m. on May 15. Upon arrival, they found Dan Mook suffering from numerous cuts and stab wounds. His wife was already deceased — an autopsy ruled the cause of death to be multiple stab and slash wounds.

According to the police department and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, the defendant killed his wife because she was in poor health and he was concerned that she was suffering.

Dan Mook has been charged with first-degree murder, third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and fourth-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

He was transported to Cooper University Hospital in Camden after the incident and is in stable condition.

Dino Flammia is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

It’s the second half of May. Memorial Day weekend is days away. The weather will be getting hotter.

This is the time of year in places like New Jersey that the group Kids and Car Safety dread.

More than 38 small children are left to die every year in hot cars in the United States. Mostly by accident.

A change of routine. A distraction in an already chaotic life for a parent. These can and do lead to tragic results.

Here in New Jersey, 10 children died between 2003 and 2008 from being trapped in a hot car.

If you saw a young child left alone in a hot vehicle, what would you do?

Many would hesitate in calling police because they assume the parent will be back in one minute and they don’t want to get them in deep trouble. A number of people I asked said they would stand near the car and just keep an eye on things for several minutes before deciding on their next step.

Kids and Car Safety says that’s the wrong move.

What should you do? Here’s a new PSA they just put out. Watch this and ask yourself if you would react this way.

Could you do it? Call 911 immediately? Break a window of a car that’s not yours to pull out a child who is a stranger to you?

It’s asking a lot. Some states have good Samaritan laws protecting people who rescue a child this way from civil lawsuits. Alabama, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Florida and many other states have such a law. To the best of my knowledge, no such law exists in New Jersey but a bill was proposed in the Assembly seven years ago.

As far as how a parent can forget a child left behind in a hot car, Kids and Car Safety says it absolutely happens to good parents who get distracted. They put out this other PSA to warn all us parents it can happen to any one of us.

It happened here in a notable case in Lakewood in 2019. It was early May when Chaya Shurkin accidentally left her 21-month-old daughter in a car for two and a half hours. The air temperature was only around 70 degrees but the interior of the car grew much hotter. The child died.

She was sentenced to probation. At the time Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said,

“It should be noted that recommendation for probation is consistent with the manner in which the majority of these dreadful types of cases have been handled in Ocean County, as well as throughout this state and nation, and it represents an acknowledgment that the loss of a child – under these horrific circumstances – is tantamount to a life-sentence in and of itself.”

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

New Jersey’s license plate designs through the years

What do you see as the most pressing issue the county faces and how would you address it?

This questionnaire does an excellent job of allowing a deep dive on the county’s most pressing issues already, so let’s talk about what matters most, taking care of our people. How do we improve the lives of the people in the district and in the county? We serve them. We pick up phones and answer emails. We give people outlets to discuss the issues that are most troubling to them, and we concentrate resources where they can create the most positive impact. Every person I have spoken to in Odenton, Piney Orchard, the Waugh Chapel corridor, Two Rivers, Laurel and Crofton talk about kitchen table issues. For us as a Council to get it right, we have to focus, not on what we think is the most pressing issue, but on what our communities think. I will never stop listening, and we will get it right in District Four.

Will you invest in projects to unclog the county’s crowded roads?

Investment in public transportation and our roads is essential. We need to continue to make our Odenton MARC Station accessible, adding sidewalks and safe paths to reach it, while increasing our public transportation options, with additional routes and scheduling. With many of our greatest road challenges on our state highways, we must partner with state agencies to ensure that our roads are both traversable and safe. With so much of the buildup of traffic in District Four due to the significant increase in personnel at Fort Meade, we must also remind the federal government that such increases MUST be accompanied by federal infrastructure dollars to allow local governments to meet the newest residents and employees in the county and the travel challenges such growth inside the base creates outside of it.

What plans do you have to help the county and its businesses successfully emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic?

Local businesses are an essential part of the county’s ecosystem. Having spent the last 18 years bringing businesses together with the community to forge successful relationships, I am ideally suited to aid all our communities, including the business community. We have to sit down with businesses in the county and treat like them are part of the community. We can learn what they need, gaining understanding of their challenges, while informing them of ours, and fairly considering how to aid them. A significant number of programs already exist through the Economic Development Corporation to assist with new and existing businesses. We must educate the business community to take advantage of these resources. We can also use our pulpit to highlight those businesses who positively impact the community, hire our residents and give back. We must use data to target federal dollars for businesses where they can provide the most impact.

What steps should the county government take to address opioid overdoses and deaths?

Partnerships are key to finding those responsible for the sale and distribution of opioids, as we’ve already seen this year, with a major ring taken down with elements in Anne Arundel and Baltimore City. Federal, state and inter-jurisdictional communication and partnerships are imperative to ending the criminal enterprises responsible for pushing product out. Locally, we have to educate the community on treatment plans and addiction risk factors. Treatment programs must be readily available and funded by county government. Growing the brand-new Safe Stations program in the county should be considered paramount, removing the stigma of drug usage, while providing medical care if needed and providing treatment care plans beginning almost immediately with Crisis Response teams in place. We must work with local providers to have them encourage alternative treatments, rather than opioids, when battling chronic pain.

What role can the county government play to improve education in county schools?

We must make certain the county follows the Blueprint for Education, meeting the local funding needs of the program. We must also encourage partnerships with local businesses to adopt schools and assist them in meeting their needs. We must work to change the culture and respect level we see for educators, administrators and staff in the community. Four of my in-laws are educators in Germany where they are revered for their impacts in the community and the work they do helping to raise our children. We must work with the public to encourage understanding of the demands our educators face in their days. As the father of a first grader and a 15- month-old, I will be depending on the success of the system for some time, and I will never stop working on its behalf, from a seat on the County Council, or in my community.

What efforts does the county need to make to address systemic racism in government services?

We must make certain, through analysis and civic inputs, to bring county resources and funding to chronically underserved communities. That is only step one, though. Follow-up will be essential, as will getting input from members of the affected communities. To provide lasting positive impact to the community, the changes must address every essential category impacting quality of life; schools, access to healthcare, public safety, economic and job opportunities, transportation and more. County contracts must be examined to make certain that there is equity in the process. We must encourage minority participation in bidding and encourage larger firms partnering with those who have been disadvantaged in the past. Existing programs should be comprehensively reviewed to ensure there are no unintended elements of racism in county government. Racism must not be tolerated in any form, inside or outside of government, and it will not be when I am on the County Council.

What steps must the county take to improve public safety?

Plus-ups in staffing for first responders are a must. We must also make certain we’re competitive with our neighbors so that we’re not losing staff to other jurisdictions. We must, as I have done throughout my professional career, bring the public and first responders together for frank conversations about how they can work together to best serve the communities they are a part of. County government can lead the way on this, providing facilities and fostering these conversations to create solutions together. We cannot improve public safety unless we hear from those most in need of these services. We must also find the funding to employ technology, whenever possible, to aid law enforcement. We must ensure our fire stations are adequately staffed and that their equipment is up to the demands of the job. This will be a team effort, and it will happen.

How is climate change impacting the county and what can be done locally to address the effects?

Before I go on, I want to thank both the County Executive and County Council for their work protecting the Chesapeake Bay and the county’s natural resources. They have shown the state how to do it. I will follow their path, continuing efforts to protect our forests and avoid stormwater runoff into the Bay. Climate change is obviously affecting the county, a great deal in and near the Bay, and in smaller impacts throughout the county and our district. We have already seen, here in Odenton, with the Blue Oaks project, turning an abandoned shopping center into affordable housing, the county can work with engaged partners to better our community, and, in redevelopments such as this one, our environment as well. We will work on protecting our climate, legislatively, and through smart partnerships to ensure the future of our climate for all.

What do you see as the most pressing issue the county faces and how would you address it?

This questionnaire does an excellent job of allowing a deep dive on the county’s most pressing issues already, so let’s talk about what matters most, taking care of our people. How do we improve the lives of the people in the district and in the county? We serve them. We pick up phones and answer emails. We give people outlets to discuss the issues that are most troubling to them, and we concentrate resources where they can create the most positive impact. Every person I have spoken to in Odenton, Piney Orchard, the Waugh Chapel corridor, Two Rivers, Laurel and Crofton talk about kitchen table issues. For us as a Council to get it right, we have to focus, not on what we think is the most pressing issue, but on what our communities think. I will never stop listening, and we will get it right in District Four.

Will you invest in projects to unclog the county’s crowded roads?

Investment in public transportation and our roads is essential. We need to continue to make our Odenton MARC Station accessible, adding sidewalks and safe paths to reach it, while increasing our public transportation options, with additional routes and scheduling. With many of our greatest road challenges on our state highways, we must partner with state agencies to ensure that our roads are both traversable and safe. With so much of the buildup of traffic in District Four due to the significant increase in personnel at Fort Meade, we must also remind the federal government that such increases MUST be accompanied by federal infrastructure dollars to allow local governments to meet the newest residents and employees in the county and the travel challenges such growth inside the base creates outside of it.

What plans do you have to help the county and its businesses successfully emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic?

Local businesses are an essential part of the county’s ecosystem. Having spent the last 18 years bringing businesses together with the community to forge successful relationships, I am ideally suited to aid all our communities, including the business community. We have to sit down with businesses in the county and treat like them are part of the community. We can learn what they need, gaining understanding of their challenges, while informing them of ours, and fairly considering how to aid them. A significant number of programs already exist through the Economic Development Corporation to assist with new and existing businesses. We must educate the business community to take advantage of these resources. We can also use our pulpit to highlight those businesses who positively impact the community, hire our residents and give back. We must use data to target federal dollars for businesses where they can provide the most impact.

What steps should the county government take to address opioid overdoses and deaths?

Partnerships are key to finding those responsible for the sale and distribution of opioids, as we’ve already seen this year, with a major ring taken down with elements in Anne Arundel and Baltimore City. Federal, state and inter-jurisdictional communication and partnerships are imperative to ending the criminal enterprises responsible for pushing product out. Locally, we have to educate the community on treatment plans and addiction risk factors. Treatment programs must be readily available and funded by county government. Growing the brand-new Safe Stations program in the county should be considered paramount, removing the stigma of drug usage, while providing medical care if needed and providing treatment care plans beginning almost immediately with Crisis Response teams in place. We must work with local providers to have them encourage alternative treatments, rather than opioids, when battling chronic pain.

What role can the county government play to improve education in county schools?

We must make certain the county follows the Blueprint for Education, meeting the local funding needs of the program. We must also encourage partnerships with local businesses to adopt schools and assist them in meeting their needs. We must work to change the culture and respect level we see for educators, administrators and staff in the community. Four of my in-laws are educators in Germany where they are revered for their impacts in the community and the work they do helping to raise our children. We must work with the public to encourage understanding of the demands our educators face in their days. As the father of a first grader and a 15- month-old, I will be depending on the success of the system for some time, and I will never stop working on its behalf, from a seat on the County Council, or in my community.

What efforts does the county need to make to address systemic racism in government services?

We must make certain, through analysis and civic inputs, to bring county resources and funding to chronically underserved communities. That is only step one, though. Follow-up will be essential, as will getting input from members of the affected communities. To provide lasting positive impact to the community, the changes must address every essential category impacting quality of life; schools, access to healthcare, public safety, economic and job opportunities, transportation and more. County contracts must be examined to make certain that there is equity in the process. We must encourage minority participation in bidding and encourage larger firms partnering with those who have been disadvantaged in the past. Existing programs should be comprehensively reviewed to ensure there are no unintended elements of racism in county government. Racism must not be tolerated in any form, inside or outside of government, and it will not be when I am on the County Council.

What steps must the county take to improve public safety?

Plus-ups in staffing for first responders are a must. We must also make certain we’re competitive with our neighbors so that we’re not losing staff to other jurisdictions. We must, as I have done throughout my professional career, bring the public and first responders together for frank conversations about how they can work together to best serve the communities they are a part of. County government can lead the way on this, providing facilities and fostering these conversations to create solutions together. We cannot improve public safety unless we hear from those most in need of these services. We must also find the funding to employ technology, whenever possible, to aid law enforcement. We must ensure our fire stations are adequately staffed and that their equipment is up to the demands of the job. This will be a team effort, and it will happen.

How is climate change impacting the county and what can be done locally to address the effects?

Before I go on, I want to thank both the County Executive and County Council for their work protecting the Chesapeake Bay and the county’s natural resources. They have shown the state how to do it. I will follow their path, continuing efforts to protect our forests and avoid stormwater runoff into the Bay. Climate change is obviously affecting the county, a great deal in and near the Bay, and in smaller impacts throughout the county and our district. We have already seen, here in Odenton, with the Blue Oaks project, turning an abandoned shopping center into affordable housing, the county can work with engaged partners to better our community, and, in redevelopments such as this one, our environment as well. We will work on protecting our climate, legislatively, and through smart partnerships to ensure the future of our climate for all.

TRENTON — Saying it will hold drunken drivers in New Jersey financially accountable, state Sen. Edward Durr has introduced legislation that would require courts to make any driver convicted of reckless vehicular homicide while under the influence pay financial support to the children of parents or guardians killed in the crash.

The legislation (S2679) sponsored by Durr, R-Gloucester, is inspired by similar measures in states such as Missouri and Tennessee, according to a release from Durr’s office Tuesday.

It stipulates that financial support be provided until a child reaches the age of 18, or graduates from high school.

In cases of mental or physical disability, the release said, the support must be provided until the child is 21 years old.

“Since parents are ultimately responsible for the upbringing and education of their children, if a parent is killed by a drunk driver, that driver should be held responsible for the financial well-being of those children,” Durr was quoted as saying in the release.

According to the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, in 2020, driving while intoxicated was listed as a contributing factor in 29.5% of the 550 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the state, the highest percentage in two decades.

There was no immediate word on when Durr’s bill might be considered.

Patrick Lavery is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

See the Must-Drive Roads in Every State

New Jersey on Tuesday reported 18 more COVID-19 deaths and 3,590 new confirmed positive tests as the FDA approved booster shots for healthy children between the ages of 5 and 11.

U.S. regulators boosters for kids hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections once again creep upward.

Everyone 12 and older already was supposed to get one booster dose for the best protection against the newest coronavirus variants — and some people, including those 50 and older, can choose a second booster.

New Jersey’s seven-day average for confirmed cases increased to 3,928 on Tuesday, up 34% from a week ago and up 129% from a month ago as the virus continues to spread.

There were 829 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported at 70 of the state’s 71 hospitals as of Monday night. One hospital did not report data. Hospitalizations still remain significantly lower than when they peaked at 6,089 on Jan. 10 during the Omicron wave.

There were at least 89 people discharged in that same 24-hour period ending Monday, according to state data. Of those hospitalized, 94 were in intensive care and 36 were on ventilators.

New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 1.27 Tuesday. When the transmission rate is over 1, that means each new case is leading to at least one additional case and the outbreak is expanding.

The positivity rate for tests conducted on Thursday, the most recent day with available data, was 12.05%.

The state on Tuesday also reported 1,364 probable cases from rapid antigen testing at medical sites.

The BA.2 strain of COVID-19 has been spreading in New Jersey for weeks, though at much lower rates than the Omicron surge in December and January. Officials have said the Omicron “stealth” sub-variant appears to spread more easily but generally does not cause more severe illness.

For the week ending April 30, BA.2 accounted for 91.4% of the positive tests sampled (slightly up from 89.4% the previous week), while the BA2.12.1 omicron subvariant accounted for 6% of positive tests sampled (down from 6.7% the previous week).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now lists nine New Jersey counties with “high” transmission rates – Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Gloucester, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean and Sussex. Those in high-risk areas are recommended to wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation and stay up-to-date on vaccination, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Eleven counties are in the medium risk category: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, Union and Warren. Cumberland County is at low. Masks are not recommended in the medium and low regions.

TOTAL NUMBERS

New Jersey has reported 2,003,480 total confirmed COVID-19 cases out of more than 17.7 million PCR tests conducted in the more than two years since the state reported its first known case March 4, 2020.

The Garden State has also recorded 326,664 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases. And there are numerous cases that have likely never been counted, including at-home positive tests that are not included in the state’s numbers.

The state of 9.2 million residents has reported 33,571 COVID-19 deaths in that time — 30,513 confirmed fatalities and 3,058 probable.

New Jersey has the seventh-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. — behind Mississippi, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia — as of the latest data reported Tuesday. Last summer, the state still had the most deaths per capita in the country.

The latest numbers follow a major study that revealed even a mild case of COVID-19 can significantly affect the brain. Long COVID — the term commonly used to describe symptoms stemming from the virus long after a person no longer tests positive — has been found to affect between 10% and 30% of those who contract the infection, regardless of whether they have a mild or serious case.

VACCINATION NUMBERS

More than 6.89 million of the 8.46 million eligible people who live, work or study in New Jersey have received the initial course of vaccinations and more than 7.8 million have received a first dose since vaccinations began here on Dec. 15, 2020.

More than 3.73 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one.

SCHOOL AND LONGTERM CARE NUMBERS

For the week ending May 8, with about 59% of schools reporting data, another 8,923 COVID-19 cases were reported among staff (2,461) and students (6,462) across New Jersey’s schools.

Since the start of the academic year, there have been 116,771 students and 34,685 school staff members who have contracted COVID-19 in New Jersey, though the state has never had more than two-thirds of the school districts reporting data in any week.

The state provides total student and staff cases separately from those deemed to be in-school transmission, which is narrowly defined as three or more cases linked through contact tracing.

New Jersey has reported 725 total in-school outbreaks, including 5,063 cases among students and staff. That includes 72 new outbreaks.

At least 9,049 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.

There were active outbreaks at 297 facilities, resulting in 3,222 current cases among residents and 2,961 cases among staff, as of the latest data.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of Tuesday, there have been more than 522 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, and more than 6.2 million people died due to the virus.

The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 82 million) and deaths (at least 999,883) of any nation.

There have been more than 11.4 billion vaccine doses administered globally.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Deion Johnson may be reached at djohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DeionRJohhnson

CEDAR GROVE, NJ — Essex County residents are encouraged to participate in the Essex County Computer and Electronics Recycling Day, sponsored by the county and the Essex County Utilities Authority, on Saturday, May 21, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Essex County Public Works, 99 W. Bradford Ave. in Cedar Grove.

“Recycling computer hardware and electronic devices helps remove lead and other dangerous chemicals from our waste stream, which is important for us and our children. With your participation, we can do our part to protect the environment,” Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. said. “Our collection days are very popular and I am glad our residents understand the importance of recycling. I encourage everyone to participate in our fall Computer and Electronics Recycling Day.”

Items being accepted at the recycling event are computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, scanners, telecom equipment, speakers, televisions, keyboards, mainframes, VCRs, stereos, DVD players, toasters, irons and cellular telephones. Not being accepted are smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms.

This event is for Essex County residents only. Residents are not charged when they bring materials, but they must provide proof of residency at the site. Commercial businesses may not drop off materials. For more information, call the Essex County Utilities Authority at 973-792-9060 or visit www.ecuanj.com.

  County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., Essex County DPW

TAP Into Another Town’s News:

TAP Into Another Town’s News:

TAP Into Another Town’s News: