Love At First Bloom: Mom's Alzheimer's Gives Life New Meaning For Clifton Flower Truck Owner Love At First Bloom: Mom's Alzheimer's Gives Life New Meaning For Clifton Flower Truck Owner
Love At First Bloom: Mom's Alzheimer's Gives Life New Meaning For Clifton Flower Truck Owner Vanessa Vargas says the point of having flowers is to enjoy them while they are still alive. It's a lesson that the Clifton business owner learned from her own mother, Rosie Vargas, 66, a longtime gardener living with the final stage of Alzheimer's Disease. It's a lesson she's applied to her own life. "Flowers are about embracing the beauty of the moment," Vanessa Vargas said. "When my mom was okay, I took it for granted. I never thought she'd have Alzheimer's. I should've lived in the moment, and the same goes for flowers." Vargas is the owner of Love at First Bloom, a mobile flower busi…
MURDER: Ex-Con Charged With Cold-Blooded Killing Of Popular Paterson Street Vendor MURDER: Ex-Con Charged With Cold-Blooded Killing Of Popular Paterson Street Vendor
Murder: Ex-Con Charged With Cold-Blooded Killing Of Popular Paterson Street Vendor 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A dragnet was tightening when an ex-con surrendered to Paterson police for shooting and killing a beloved street vendor in broad daylight, authorities said. Jimmy Mercedes, 39, was charged with murder and weapons offenses in the 10:22 a.m. May 5 shooting of 62-year-old Daryle Robinson Sr. Mercedes turned himself in at police headquarters around 8 p.m. Friday, May 10, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Officer-In-Charge Isa Abbassi announced Saturday afternoon. Mercedes shot Robinson multiple times, they said, at East 24th Street and Broadway -- exactly …
Montclair Shooting Leaves Two People Wounded, Police Say Montclair Shooting Leaves Two People Wounded, Police Say
Montclair Shooting Leaves Two People Wounded, Police Say Two people were wounded in what police believe was been a drive-by shooting in Montclair on Friday, May 10. Police were called to Mission Street and Bloomfield Avenue around 5:50 p.m. where they found a 43-year-old man from East Orange and a 32-year-old man from Montclair, both suffering from gunshots in their hips and legs. Montclair EMS and paramedics responded, taking both victims to University Trauma Center in Newark for treatment. Witnesses on scene reported seeing a grey or silver minivan in the area prior to the shooting. Preliminary investigation suggests that the shooter was …
FedEx Driver Points Police To Bronx Thief On Quiet Bergen Street: Authorities FedEx Driver Points Police To Bronx Thief On Quiet Bergen Street: Authorities
FedEx Driver Points Police To Bronx Thief On Quiet Bergen Street: Authorities An alert FedEx driver pointed police in Waldwick to a Bronx man waiting on a quiet dead-end street for packages that he fraudulently had delivered there, authorities said. Officers Chris Sanchez, Dillon Sherman and Jake Wanamaker responded to her call and found the dark-colored sedan with Florida plates on Lee Court, just off Wyckoff Avenue, around 2 p.m. Friday, May 10, Lt. Troy E. Seifert said. They arrested the driver, Juan Soriano, 34, after Detective TJ Palaia discovered that he'd gone there to collect fraudulently ordered packages, the lieutenant said. Soriano, who lives 25 mile…
Ridgefield Senior Hospitalized In Accidental Bedroom Fire Ridgefield Senior Hospitalized In Accidental Bedroom Fire
Ridgefield Senior Hospitalized In Accidental Bedroom Fire A Ridgefield senior was hospitalized early Saturday following an accidental bedroom fire, responders said. A mattress in her second-floor bedroom on Elm Avenue caught fire after the tenant fell asleep with a lit cigarette around 6:30 a.m. May 11, a family member said. An oxygen tank the woman uses also caught fire, the relative said. EMS tended to the victim before transporting her. Firefighters contained the fire and quickly doused the flames. Mutual aid was provided at the scene and in coverage by firefighters from Cliffside Park, Fairview and Palisades Park. Damien Danis took the pho…
Parent Picking Up Child At NJ School Arrested After Showing Up Hammered: Police Parent Picking Up Child At NJ School Arrested After Showing Up Hammered: Police
Parent Picking Up Child At NJ School Arrested After Showing Up Hammered: Police Police were called and a Montvale mom arrested when she showed up at her son's school hammered, authorities said. Mayowa Kubikisha, 28, "seemed a little off," according to staff, after she pulled into the parking at Memorial Elementary School after the end of the school day on Thursday, May 9, Montvale Police Chief Douglas McDowell said. They became concerned and called his officers, the chief said. They had reason to be: Kubikisha registered a blood alcohol level of 0.33%, he said, more than four times the legal limit to drive in New Jersey. "The child was never in danger and was no…
Man Taken Into Custody In 'Active Distress'In Brick Township Dies At Hospital: AG Man Taken Into Custody In 'Active Distress'In Brick Township Dies At Hospital: AG
Man Taken Into Custody In 'Active Distress'In Brick Township Dies At Hospital: AG A man who police in Brick found "in a state of active distress" died at Ocean University Medical Center nearly 90 minutes later, authorities said. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office is reviewing the incident because state law and his own guidelines require him to investigate any death that follows an encounter with law enforcement. Preliminarily, Platkin said, it appears Brick Township officers handcuffed the man after finding him in the street in the area of Wisteria Drive and Vermont Drive, then brought him to a grassy area nearby and summoned EMS, shortly before 4:…
Wildwood Plans For Large Crowd, Protests At Trump's Campaign Rally Amid Hush Money Trial Wildwood Plans For Large Crowd, Protests At Trump's Campaign Rally Amid Hush Money Trial
Wildwood Plans For Large Crowd, Protests At Trump's Campaign Rally Amid Hush Money Trial Wildwood leaders are looking to keep rallygoers and protesters safe when former President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally on the Jersey Shore city's beachfront. Trump's rally will be held on the beach in Wildwood on Saturday, May 11. It will be his second campaign rally in the Cape May County city and his first of the 2024 election cycle. The city posted on Facebook on Friday, May 10, saying there would be "ample time" for rally attendees to find a spot in a space twice the size of what's needed for the expected crowd. "There is zero need to line up for the rally early," the city wrote…
GOTCHA! Ex-Con With 30-Year Rap Sheet Charged With Robbing Maywood Dry Cleaners (UPDATE) GOTCHA! Ex-Con With 30-Year Rap Sheet Charged With Robbing Maywood Dry Cleaners (UPDATE)
Gotcha! Ex-Con With 30-Year Rap Sheet Charged With Robbing Maywood Dry Cleaners (Update) You’d be hard-pressed to find a law enforcement officer who didn't recognize the strong-arm robber who assaulted the owner of a Maywood dry cleaners for all of $400. Didn’t take long for Maywood police to find 53-year-old ex-con Shawn Todd of Hasbrouck Heights, who authorities said accosted the owner of Timely Cleaners & Furriers on West Pleasant Avenue late Thursday afternoon. Todd has a rap sheet nearly 30 years long, with arrests and convictions for robbery, aggravated assault and assaulting police. Suffice to say it was no surprise for many who know him to see Todd on surveillance …
Three Men Charged In New Year's Elizabeth Homicide: Prosecutor Three Men Charged In New Year's Elizabeth Homicide: Prosecutor
Three Men Charged In New Year's Elizabeth Homicide: Prosecutor Three Elizabeth men have been charged with a homicide that occurred in the city on New Year's Day 2023. On the early morning hours of the New Year, Elizabeth police responded to 4th Street and found Vladmir Martinez suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and he was pronounced dead at the scene, Union County Prosecutor William Daniel, Elizabeth Police Director Earl Graves, and Elizabeth Police Chief Giacomo Sacca said.  An investigation identified Jofrandy Diaz-Ramirez, 25, Albenys Soto-Fernandez, 25 and Yoel Sanchez, 22, as the men responsible, authorities said. Diaz-Ramirez …
Elizabeth Man Convicted Of Shooting Newark Resident In Back of Head: Prosecutor Elizabeth Man Convicted Of Shooting Newark Resident In Back of Head: Prosecutor
Elizabeth Man Convicted Of Shooting Newark Resident In Back of Head: Prosecutor A 20-year-old Elizabeth man was convicted on Wednesday, May 8, of fatally shooting a 25-year-old Newark man in 2022, authorities said. On Feb. 16, 2022, Mahdi Wright shot James Shaw. Jr. in the back of the head as he was standing on the curb talking with two people on the corner of Shephard Avenue and Maples Place, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said. Wright was found guilty of murder in the first degree and various weapons offenses following a month-long trial. He faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced in June.
Truck Veers Off I-287 In Central Jersey (UPDATED) Truck Veers Off I-287 In Central Jersey (UPDATED)
Truck Veers Off I-287 In Central Jersey (Updated) A vehicle veered off of Interstate 287 in Central Jersey, authorities said. The crash occurred at about 7:30 a.m. on Friday, May 10 northbound near Exit 4 (Durham Road) in South Plainfield, according to New Jersey State Police. Troopers responded to a motorist aid, said Sgt. Jeffrey Lebron, a State Police spokesman. Upon the trooper’s arrival, a Freightliner box truck ran off the road and into a ditch, he said. There were no injuries reported, Lebron said. Two right lanes of three lanes were closed causing traffic delays, 511nj.org reported.