The defendants are alleged to have engaged in murders, robberies, drug dealing and more in central New Jersey. Watch video

NEWARK -- Jury selection began Tuesday in the cases of eight men alleged to be members of the deadly Salvadoran street gang MS-13, with charges ranging from killings and shootings to robbery and drug dealing. 

Potential jurors were brought into the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler Tuesday morning for a trial expected to take up to four months.

The defendants were part of the "Plainfield Locos Salvatrucha," an arm of the Salvadoran gang La Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, that emerged in the United States in the mid-1990s, according to court records. 

From at least 2009 until their arrests in 2013, authorities say gang members carried out killings of rival gang members as well as supposedly disloyal members of their own group.

One defendant, Mario Oliva -- at the time, the head of the local gang -- allegedly killed a female member in 2010, court records show. According to an indictment, Oliva went into hiding in Maryland, forcing him to give up control of the local gang. 

Plainfield chapter of MS-13 made violence its business

In other cases, gang members are alleged to have used machetes against their rivals. In at least two incidents, the local gang members used machetes in attacks on members of the 18th Street Gang and the Latin Kings, the indictment shows.

Other charges include coercing underage girls to have sex with gang members, robbery, drug distribution and conspiracy. In one example, two alleged members while in jail discussed firebombing the home of the mother of a Plainfield detective investigating their case, the indictment shows.

Although one member told authorities that gang rules forbade members from cooperating in investigations, five of the original 14 individuals indicted have pleaded guilty to some of the multiple charges filed against them. 

One defendant, Jose Romero-Aguirre of North Plainfield, pleaded guilty in November to one count of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering in return for a reduced prison sentence of 66 months, court records show.

A month later, Julio Adalberto Orellana-Carranza pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in return for a sentence of 72 months. Last month, three other defendants pleaded guilty to single counts of racketeering conspiracy and signed plea deals with prison sentences of 121-150 months, court records show. 

Members of other local MS-13 gangs, or "cliques," also face long prison sentences from other cases. For example, Carlos Andrew Valdez, the former leader of the "Hudson Locotes Salvatrucha," is facing as much as 30 years in prison for participating in an alleged murder plot. He will be sentenced June 1. 

He was among a group of 13 individuals charged in that case from 2014.

Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The average tax bill in New Jersey has gone up 41.78 percent from 2000 to 2015.

Given the Garden State's reputation as one of the most taxed states in the country, few residents will be surprised to learn that the tax bills New Jerseyans have been paying over the past 15 years have been going up. How high, and by how much the bills are increasing, however, are matters of geography.

The state Department of Community Affairs released data Thursday indicating the average tax bills for every municipality in the state, and how those rates have changed over the years.

Statewide, the average residential tax bill jumped 2.4 percent from 2014 to 2015. On average, New Jersey residents shelled out $8,353 in taxes last year.

With rates adjusted for inflation, the average tax bill in New Jersey has gone up 41.78 percent from 2000 to 2015.

Which counties have the highest, lowest property taxes?

A small town in Camden County recorded the highest average tax bill last year, at $30,723. See the average tax bill, and average increase over the past 15 years, in your town via the links below:

• Atlantic County
• Bergen County
• Burlington County
• Camden County
• Cape May County
• Cumberland County
• Essex County
• Gloucester County
• Hudson County
• Hunterdon County
• Mercer County
• Middlesex County
• Monmouth County
• Morris County
• Ocean County
• Passaic County
• Salem County
• Somerset County
• Sussex County
• Union County
• Warren County

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Allegations of ethics violations against Charlene Bathelus were unfounded, the New Jersey School Ethics Commission ruled.

Charlene Bathelus serves as the president of Elizabeth's school board. (Marisa Iati | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

ELIZABETH -- Ethics charges against the school board's now-president Charlene Bathelus were "frivolous," a state agency ruled. 

Elizabeth resident Paul Gaitens acted in bad faith and accused Bathelus of ethics violations in order to harass her, the School Ethics Commission said in its decision dismissing the charge.

Bathelus was elected president of the school board at January's reorganization meeting. This is her third term on the board.

Gaitens's complaint, filed in August, alleged Bathelus had voted on the school district's 2015 budget without disclosing that she had used services from the district's automotive tech program two years earlier.

Gaitens claimed Bathelus had gotten her car repaired by the program for free and that the program's director knew Bathelus was a school board member.

Bathelus responded that any member of the public can use the program's services and that she had been charged for some of the supplies as anyone else would have been. She added that she had voted against the district's 2015 draft budget, had no role in crafting the budget and was absent at the meeting when the board voted to adopt the final budget.

The commission sided with Bathelus, saying Gaitens had failed to prove she had gotten any special advantage by being on the school board or had lacked objectivity when considering the district's 2015 budget. The commission also ordered Gaitens to pay a $500 fine for filing a frivolous complaint.

Neither Gaitens nor Bathelus responded to requests for comment on the decision.

Elizabeth school board members are no strangers to state ethics complaints. 

In 2014, the School Ethics Commission recommended then-president Tony Monteiro be chastised for voting to reappoint his business partner as the board's auditor. 

Months later, five Board of Education commissioners accused then-vice president Jose Rodriguez of having an unethical affiliation with the union that represents Elizabeth teachers. The complaint against Rodriguez remains pending. 

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Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

Jurors in the trial of a man accused of slashing three people heard an interview in which he admitted to chain smoking synthetic marijuana.

ELIZABETH -- Jurors in the "portal to hell" attempted murder trial heard a recording of the defendant in which he claimed to have chain-smoked synthetic marijuana the day before he allegedly attacked three people.

"That day and that night, I probably smoked 20 'blunts' or more, or less, I don't know," Morgan Mesz is heard saying on the tape, referring to smoking cigars into which synthetic marijuana had been inserted.

His comments were made to Dr. Robert Pandina, a psychologist who the Union County Prosecutor's Office hired as a consultant to interview Mesz.

Mesz, 30, faces three counts of attempted murder for the Jan. 7, 2011 stabbing of two women in the backyard of their Union Township home and the stabbing of a neighbor who came to the women's rescue.

Police and the victims say Mesz was spouting religious comments during the assaults, saying he was digging a "portal to hell" in the women's backyard shed and that he had to kill the women because they were killing children.

Mesz attorney, Michael Robbins, has argued that Mesz was suffering psychotic intoxication from smoking synthetic marijuana.

Pandina, who up until January had been director of the Center for Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University and still teaches and writes about the psychological effects of drugs, said he interviewed Mesz in 2011.

Under questioning from Union County Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas on Tuesday, Pandina testified that he does not believe Mesz was feeling the effects of the drugs during the attacks. Pandina said the drugs would have wore off before the stabbings occurred.

Mesz was smoking the drug late on Jan. 6, and the attacks occurred shortly before 6 a.m. Jan. 7, 2011. Pandina said the effects from synthetic marijuana peak within the first hour after use and dissipate within 4 hours.

Pandina also said he reviewed many cases studies about people under the influence of drugs and found none in which a person using synthetic marijuana had attacked another person.

Under cross examination from Robbins, Pandina admitted that he had never written about the effects of synthetic marijuana. He also admitted that he was not a licensed physician or psychiatrist, and did not treat patients.

Pandina, when asked about several articles written on the effects of synthetic marijuana, acknowledged that other researchers found aggression to be one side effect of the drug, and that in some cases the psychotic effects had been found to last for weeks or months.

Two psychiatrists who examined Mesz after the attack previously testified that they diagnosed him with psychosis caused by the fake drugs.

Ribbons and Union County Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas will give their summations in the trial on Wednesday.

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Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The fire on Park Avenue was isolated to one unit but likely will displace several of the building's residents, authorities said.

A Plainfield police car is shown in this file photo. 

PLAINFIELD -- An eleventh-floor apartment fire Tuesday left a man severely burned, police said. 

Emergency officials responded to the Cedarbrook Apartments at 1272 Park Ave. around 5 p.m., according to police Director Carl Riley.

The fire remained isolated to one unit but sent the sole occupant to Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, where he is in critical condition, Riley said. 

A firefighter also received treatment on scene for minor smoke inhalation and went to JFK Medical Center in Edison for observation, Riley said.

He said the fire's cause is unknown and under investigation.

Some of the building's residents likely will be displaced due to water damage to several apartments below the eleventh floor, Riley said. He said the city's fire division, the American Red Cross, building management and family members are coordinating to provide housing to everyone affected. 

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Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Elizabeth resident Brady J. Davion put one television in a shopping cart and hid another under his jacket, according to police. Watch video

Brady J. Davion 

LINDEN -- A man tried to walk out of Wal-Mart on Tuesday without paying for two televisions, police said. 

Elizabeth resident Brady J. Davion attempted to take the TVs from the store at 1601 W. Edgar Rd. around 11:15 a.m., Capt. James Sarnicki said. 

Davion, 59, put a 42-inch TV in a shopping cart and hid a 19-inch TV under his jacket before he tried to walk out the door, Sarnicki said. He said the devices had a total value of $336.

Sarnicki said Davion was arrested and booked at police headquarters, where officers found he also had a contempt warrant in Rahway. 

Davion is being held at Union County Jail with bail set at $1,500 and a Feb. 19 court date.

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Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The parents discovered their daughter was having a relationship with the man after looking through her cell phone.

Rodrigo VasquezSussex County Jail 

SPARTA -- An Elizabeth man was arrested recently after he was busted for having a year-long sexual relationship with a teen, police said.

Officers were called to a home last Thursday after parents discovered their 15-year-old daughter possibly having sex with an adult after they went through her cell phone, Sgt. Dennis Proctor of the Sparta Police Department said in a news release.

Police later discovered that 21-year-old Rodrigo Vazquez, of Elizabeth, had been sexually involved with the teen since she was 14-years-old. Police did not disclose how the two met. 

Vazquez was charged with second-degree sexual assault and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child. He was sent to the Sussex County Jail on $100,000 bail with no 10-percent option pending a court appearance. 

Fausto Giovanny Pinto may be reached at fpinto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @FGPreporting. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The man was hit on the Northeast Corridor Line near the Elmora section of Elizabeth on Monday evening, authorities said. Watch video

An NJ Transit Train is shown in this file photo.Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com 

ELIZABETH -- A  man who was struck and killed by a train on the Northeast Corridor Line on Monday has been identified as an  Elizabeth resident, an NJ Transit spokeswoman said. 

Hiram Serrano, 38, was struck by a train near the Elmora section of Elizabeth around 6:50 p.m., spokeswoman Lisa Torbic said.

Service on the NEC and North Jersey Coast Lines was delayed for about two hours.

Torbic said the cause of the incident is under investigation.

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Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Three men, one a confirmed street gang member, were indicted for the murder of a

From left, Quincy Oliver, 22, of Rahway, Tyrell Dekle, 22, of Woodbridge, and James C. Sears, 23, of East Orange were indicted for the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Rahway man last June. (Union County Prosecutor's Office) 

ELIZABETH -- On an early June night last spring, 21-year-old Nigel Morton answered a knock on the door of his Rahway home and faced a gunman who shot him once in the chest.

Morton was rushed to University Hospital in Newark where he was pronounced dead hours later, authorities said.

On Wednesday, a Union County grand jury indicted three men, one of them a known street gang member, on charges stemming from the fatal shooting, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park said in a statement.

Quincy Oliver, 22, of Rahway, Tyrell Dekle, 22, of Woodbridge, and James Sears, 23, of East Orange, are each charged with murder, a first-degree crime. All three men are also charged with first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, and two second-degree weapons offenses, Park said.

She said Sears is a confirmed member of the Piru set of the Bloods street gang.

Union County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Henn said that shortly after 10 p.m. on June 8, 2015, Morton opened the door of his home on the 1200 block of Westfield Avenue in Rahway and was wounded by a single gunshot.

Police responding to calls of a shooting arrived at the home about 10:10 p.m. and found Morton inside the house on the first floor, authorities said.

They said Morton was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8:45 a.m. the next morning.

A joint investigation involving the Union County Homicide Task Force, Rahway police, and Union County Sheriff's Office Identification Unit led to the arrest of Oliver about a month after the shooting, Park said.

She said Dekle and Sears were arrested last October.

No details were released about the motive for the shooting, or which of the suspects fired the fatal shot.

Murder charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years to life in prison upon conviction.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Dr. Labib Riachi was charged with billing for diagnostic tests he allegedly did not perform over a five-year period.

NEWARK -- Federal prosecutors Wednesday filed civil charges against a Westfield obstetrician gynecologist who they say billed Medicare and Medicaid for millions of dollars worth of diagnostic tests that he allegedly did not perform. 

Attorneys for the U.S. Attorney's Health Care and Government Fraud unit filed the complaint against Dr. Labib E. Riachi and two businesses he operates, Riachi, Inc. and the Center for Advanced Pelvic Surgery, both in Westfield. 

N.Y. doctor admits role in bribe-for-blood scheme

According to the complaint, Riachi from January 2006 through September, 2011, billed the agencies for rectal tests used to diagnose fecal incontinence in patients but did not perform the test.

The complaint says Riachi was an "extreme" outlier in billing for the process -- racking up more than the amount of the next 10 highest billers in New Jersey.

Bruce Levy, a Newark lawyer representing Riachi, said Riachi never knowingly submitted false claims. 

He said Riachi immediately stopped billing for the procedures four years ago when he learned of "issues" about his billings. 

Prosecutors said they reviewed Medicare and Medicaid bills, subpoenaed medical records and interviewed "dozens" of patients, who said they had not undergone the test. 

The procedure, called an anorectal manometry, involves inserting a probe with a balloon that can be expanded in the patient's rectum. Patients listed in the complaint, it said, unanimously said they hadn't undergone the procedure, which was "something that most patients would not soon forget -- had it happened."

In addition, the complaint said Riachi billed numerous times for individual patients, which should not have been allowed, since the test is diagnostic, not therapeutic. 

Furthermore, Riachi billed Medicare and Medicaid 570 times for procedures in 2008 and 2009 while travel records indicated he was in Germany and Paris, the complaint states. 

Riachi also submitted claims to Medicare for physical therapy services that should not have been paid because they were not performed by a qualified therapist, it said.

Levy said Riachi performed the procedures "at the specific direction of a medical device manufacturer that provided the diagnostic testing and therapy equipment."

He also said Riachi also offered to "return every penny he was paid in connection with these claims," adding that Riachi "has been fully cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office."

Riachi is "saddened" that the office filed the complaint "while negotiations were continuing," Levy said. 

The complaint seeks triple damages sustained by Medicare and Medicaid, punitive damages, repayment of alleged improper reimbursement, interest and legal fees. 

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." --Theodor Geisel, 'Dr. Seuss' Watch video

Some thoughts on love ....

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
--Marilyn Monroe

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."
--Theodor Geisel, 'Dr. Seuss'

"Love is" comics were created by New Zealand cartoonist Kim Casili in the 1960s, and began appearing in newspapers in the U.S. in 1970.courtesy of loveiscomics.com, all rights reserved 

"It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages." - Friedrich Nietzsche

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
--Lao Tzu

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."
--William Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever."
--Alfred Lord Tennyson

"Love, American Style" was an anthology series that aired on ABC-TV between 1969 and 1974.courtesy of imdb.com 

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment." - Jane Austen, "Pride and Prejudice"

"Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold." - Zelda Fitzgerald

"He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
--Emily Bronte, "Wuthering Heights"

"And, in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." --Paul McCartney

Here's a gallery of vintage photos of couples in New Jersey. Want more? Here's a link to our last Valentine's gallery. 

Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find The Star-Ledger on Facebook.

A pair of peregrine falcons have been making their nest on top of the county courthouse since 2006. Watch video

ELIZABETH -- Two guests have been living on the roof of the Union County Courthouse since 2006. Within the next few weeks, the public will be able to watch them.

A camera will soon stream video of the pair of peregrine falcons, one of 26 nesting couples in New Jersey, who raise their chicks on top of the iconic Elizabeth building.

Earlier this month, workers installed the pinhole camera in the round, white doghouse where the falcons make their nest. The county will add a controllable outer camera and an audio feed this summer.

The footage will be available on the county's website, ucnj.org. Both cameras were funded by the county.

Jersey City also has a falcon camera atop its 101 Hudson St. skyscraper. The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey has operated that live stream since 2000.

Watch our video of the camera installation on top of the courthouse:

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Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The union organizers pointed to Union Township-based Deep Foods as an example of a company they say should not receive state funding. Watch video

UNION -- Labor leaders on Tuesday asked a state agency to take back tax breaks from companies that violate labor laws. 

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and the New Jersey AFL-CIO urged the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to create rules that would force companies to return the agency's funding if they broke major laws. 

The labor organizers used as an example Indian food company Deep Foods, which got approval in 2012 to earn up to $26.9 million in state tax credits and which the organizers say has broken labor laws.

The Union Township-based firm is the 38th largest private company by global revenue in New Jersey and the fifth largest in Union County, according to NJBIZ.

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint alleging Deep Foods fired four employees because they tried to join a workers' union. An in-house judge will hear the case in March. 

"The basic call that we are making to the Economic Development Authority is with future grants or companies that receive subsidies, that they include in there 'clawback' procedures acknowledging that major labor violations aren't acceptable," union organizer Garrett O'Connor said.

Deep Foods vice president Deepak Amin said in a statement that the company has "always ensured that our workers are treated fairly."

"The baseless and false allegations made against our family during the last few weeks have been incredibly hurtful," Amin said. "While we are limited in what we can say due to pending litigation, we flatly deny all allegations of improper conduct and, in each instance, had legitimate cause to undertake the actions that are now under review."

The labor organizers also encouraged the state agency to investigate whether Deep Foods had created the 175 jobs the tax credits are meant to reward.

But Deep Foods spokesman Benjamin Feldman said the company has until July 2017 to report to the state on how many jobs it had created. The state will then grant Deep Foods a tax credit of up to $26.9 million, based on that number of jobs. 

O'Connor said the state agency told the labor organizers it would report back on both topics at its March 10 meeting.

Virginia Pellerin of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority said all companies approved for tax credits have to comply with certain requirements, including generating new tax revenue, completing investments, and hiring or retaining employees. She said the agency will alter an award if a company does not meet those conditions.

"The EDA takes any legal matter pertaining to a company approved for EDA assistance seriously and would review any matters of concern to identify the potential impact on the approved assistance," she said.

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Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Jurors in the trial of a man who stabbed three people while making wild religious statements heard widely varying arguments on whether he suffered drug intoxication.

ELIZABETH -- Jurors in the trial of a man accused of stabbing three people heard attorneys give widely differing assessments of whether the man was still intoxicated from smoking synthetic marijuana at the time of the violent attacks.

Morgan Mesz, now 30, faces three counts of attempted murder for stabbing two women behind their Union Township home in 2011, and stabbing a neighbor who rescued the women. Witnesses said that during the attack, Mesz made claims of having a religious motive for the attacks.

Mesz' attorney, Michael Robbins repeatedly stressed that two psychiatrists diagnosed his client as suffering psychosis caused by synthetic marijuana, a claim the prosecution disputes.

"For three week the (prosecutor) has been trying to dispute, to deny the conclusions (of the doctors)," Robbins said in his closing arguments on Wednesday. He has argued that Mesz suffered from pathological intoxication, a legal defense that drugs prevented a defendant from forming the intent to commit a crime. 

Union County Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas countered that Mesz smoked the synthetic drug more than 10 hours before the attack, that he knew enough to dress for the cold winter weather, and was coherent enough to comply with police officers directions immediately after attacking the three people.

"He's not high on synthetic marijuana at the time he attacked these two women," Cernadas told the jury in his summation.

Cernadas recounted how Carolyn Bunnell, 58, and her partner, Barbara Perrine, 53, were attacked when they found Mesz in their backyard shed about 6 a.m. on Jan. 7, 2011. The women were critically injured. A doctor testified during the trial that she was surprised the women survived.

"They opened the door of the shed and they released hell," Cernadas said of the attacks.

The prosecutor said Mesz had not been violent when he smoked the drug in December, and that even after smoking a large quantity on evening of Jan. 6, 2011, he had calmly spent two hours talking with a his next door neighbor in Union, hours before the attack on Bunnell and Perrine behind their home on Longview Road.

Cernadas also argued that the psychiatrists who diagnosed in Mesz in the hours and days after the assault testified that they might have changed their diagnoses if they had more of Mesz' medical history.

The prosecutor also said none of the doctors and experts who testified during the trial could identify another instance when somebody using synthetic marijuana had attacked another person.

Jury deliberations began Wednesday and are expected to continue today.

MORE UNION COUNTY NEWS

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Find out how these New Jersey couples got together, in some cases long after they first met.

Valentine's Day is almost here, and to celebrate we asked New Jerseyans to share their love stories. We wanted to know how they met, where they had their first date, when they knew they were in love: all the good stuff.

All of those Jersey love stories are below. Some couples had an online connection, others met in school, on the job, or down the shore. Others reconnected after years apart, and some of these are just stories of true love. Click the boxes below to read each couple's story. We used initials to respect everyone's privacy.

Share your Valentine's Day love story in comments.

John Shabe can be reached via jshabe@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter and find NJ.com on Facebook.

Mary Lou Landwehr and Bill Weller were married on Feb. 18, 1961.

BERKELEY HEIGHTS -- Mary Lou Landwehr and Bill Weller posed for this photo on the steps of the Union Village Methodist Church in Berkeley Heights in 1960.

Engaged at the time of the picture, they were married at the church on Feb. 18, 1961.

If you would like to share a photo that provides a glimpse of history in your community, please call 973-836-4922 or send an email to union@starledger.com. And, check out more glimpses of history in our online galleries Thursdays on nj.com.

Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find The Star-Ledger on Facebook.

 

Emergency officials from Elizabeth and at least 10 other fire departments went to the scene on Magnolia Avenue in November.

ELIZABETH -- When a house exploded in November, emergency personnel from Elizabeth and at least 10 other fire departments responded to the scene.

On Tuesday, the city council recognized them for their efforts before their families and friends.

"Sometimes we think that they are taking the job lightly," Councilman William Gallman, Jr. told the crowd. "No, they're not. They're doing their jobs how they were trained to."

Gallman praised the police, fire and EMS officials for running toward the blast on Magnolia Avenue, instead of away from it, and for supporting one another that day.

"We love you, and ain't nothin' you can do about it!" he told the first responders with a laugh.

Elizabeth firefighter Fredy Roldan was one of more than 40 emergency officials who received a plaque at the ceremony. He said the house explosion was an unusual and stressful situation.

"It takes a lot of cooperation, a lot of team effort," Roldan said.

Fire Chief Thomas McNamara echoed Roldan's praise of the responders' teamwork and said the recognition ceremony meant a lot to the officials. 

"Sometimes we take this job for granted, but ... being acknowledged gives a little pride for the members working," he said.

The crowd observed a moment of silence to remember the four people who have died from injuries sustained in the blast. 

Twenty-four-year-old Femi Brown was killed in the explosion. Kimiyha Henderson, 26, died in November. Tyquan Henderson, 11, and his sister Tavasha Henderson, 36, died in January.

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Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

A man accused of slashing three people while spouting religious statements was convicted of attempted murder charges today.

ELIZABETH -- A Union Township man accused of stabbing three people in what he claimed was a religious mission was convicted today of two counts of attempted murder.

A jury of eight women and four men found Morgan Mesz guilty of attempting to kill Carolyn Bunnell, 58, and her partner Barbara Perrine, 53, on Jan. 7, 2011 when the women found him in the back yard shed of their home on Longview Road in Union.

Mesz, armed with a knife and hatchet, told the victims he was digging a "portal to hell" in their shed, and said he had to kill the women because they were killing babies.

The jury found Mesz not guilty of attempted murder of the third victim, Hernan Agudelo, 42, the women's next door neighbor. Jurors found Mesz guilty of the lesser charge of third-degree aggravated assault on Agudelo. Authorities say Agudelo rescued the women during the attack.

Bunnell and Perrine, after hearing the verdict, hugged each other and their relatives and Union County Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas, who tried the case.

"Good," Perrine said of the jury's decision. "We waited a long time for this. It was very nerve racking. Justice was served," Perrine said. According to testimony in the trial, Perrine was stabbed and slashed and needed 25 units of blood during surgery, having lost so much that she suffered a stroke.

Bunnell, who suffered a skull fracture, multiple stab wounds and a severed jugular vein in the attack, echoed her partner's feelings.

"(Mesz is) going to be punished for what he did," Bunnell said. "Barbara and I have been through a lot of pain. Now we can get on with our lives," she said.

Cernadas, while saying he was happy to see justice for the women, stressed that Agudelo had been a hero in saving his neighbors.

"I can't say enough about Hernan. He's just a hero in every sense of the word," Cernadas said.

Mesz sat still in his seat when the verdict was announced. His attorney, Michael Robbins, when approached minutes later, declined to comment. Mesz sister, Amanda Nixon, who sat through the trial with other relatives, also declined to comment on the verdict as she wiped away tears.

Robbins contended that Mesz had been intoxicated from smoking synthetic marijuana and was unable to understand his actions.

According to police and the victims, Mesz removed all the items in the back yard shed shortly before 6 a.m. When Bunnell and Perrine saw the items in the yard, they went to the shed, opened the door and discovered Mesz, who attacked them.

Bunnell and Perrine were slashed and stabbed about the head, neck and chest. An emergency room doctor who treated them testified during the trial that she was surprised the victims survived.

Agudelo ran from his house in the snow dressed in a tee-shirt and pajama pants, and confronted Mesz in the women's back yard. Agudelo struck Mesz in the head with a miniature baseball bat to get him off Bunnell. Mesz then attack Agudelo, who wrestled Mesz to the ground, forced him to drop the weapons, and held him until police arrived.

Robbins had argued that his client had become psychotic from the synthetic marijuana he had been smoking. During the trial, two psychiatrists who had examined Mesz in the hours and days after the attacks testified to diagnosing him as suffering from psychosis brought on by the designer drugs.

Robbins presented a defense that his client suffered from pathological intoxication, contending drugs made him unable to form the intent to commit the crimes.

Cernadas disputed that claim, noting that Mesz had claimed to hear messages from God since he was a child, and that he had smoked the synthetic marijuana for about four weeks prior to the attack but had not been violent until the assault on the women and Agudelo.

Mesz was also found guilty to two weapons offenses.

Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim scheduled sentencing for April 15.

An attempted murder charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

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Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

No injuries have been reported in the fire at the three-story home, a city spokeswoman said.

ELIZABETH -- Firefighters are battling a three-alarm blaze at 76 Marshall St.

No injuries have been reported, city spokeswoman Kelly Vence said. 

Firefighters are pouring water on the burning three-story building from an aerial hose.

Thick smoke spread across Marshall Street. At times, the smoke engulfed a ladder truck and obscured it from view.

Police had closed off Marshall Street at First Street. 

People were looking out their windows from a few houses away, watching the smoke billow from the home.

Other details about the blaze were not immediately available.

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Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

A disaster declaration would enable the state to receive federal aid Watch video

WASHINGTON -- Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday sought federal disaster aid for the 17 New Jersey counties hit by last month's winter storm.

Christie asked President Barack Obama for a disaster declaration, which would make the state eligible for federal funds to cover costs incurred in responding to the storm.

The storm brought up to 30 inches of snow, plus high winds and flooding, and cut power to around 270,000 homes. Christie said the counties in question suffered around $82.6 million in damages.

Christie cut short a presidential campaign trip to New Hampshire to return to New Jersey but quickly went back to the first primary state once the storm passed.

"This incident is of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected county and local governments, and that federal assistance is necessary," Christie said in his announcement.

High tides caused coastal flooding in the southern part of the state, contributing to beach erosion and damaging dunes. 

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May), who asked Christie to request disaster aid as soon as the storm ended, praised the governor's action.

"I truly appreciate the governor taking the action necessary to reduce the financial burden on our communities," Van Drew said. "We hope the federal government acts swiftly to approve a disaster declaration."

Christie said he was seeking a disaster declaration for Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Somerset, Union, and Warren counties.

He also sought federal funds to help cover the costs of removing and dumping the snow and salting and sanding roads in Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Somerset, Union, and Warren counties.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook