Morris County News

Local coverage of Morristown and more from The Star-Ledger

• Town keeps cop at Whippany Park High
Hanover officials have reached an agreement with the township police chief to keep a full-time police officer at Whippany Park High School, a position created two years ago following a prescription drug raid that netted more than 50 area teenagers.

• Vernon bear activist charged
An animal-rights activist from Vernon has been charged with interfering with state wildlife biologists who were trying to tranquilize a bear to change its radio collar, which tracks the sow for research purposes, police said yesterday.

• Teen drama with a real message
The abuse in Josh and Amy's teenage romance started gradually.

• Plainfield man convicted in violent home invasion
A Plainfield man was convicted yesterday of charges he participated in a violent home invasion during which a family of four adults and an infant was threatened with a gun by three armed men who also ransacked and robbed the victims' residence.

• Frelinghuysen backed by VFW, not Iraq, Afghan vets
11TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Rep. Rodney Frelinghuy sen has gotten the endorsement of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in his re-election bid for an eighth term. But he also earned negative points this week from a veterans' group that contends he has not supported health care and education benefits for veterans.

• Financial adviser tapped for Barron's top 100 list
In its April 21 edition, Barron's Magazine published a list of the top 100 financial advisers in the United States, as ranked by the Winner's Circle Organization.

• Hair on garden tool linked to slain boy
Morris County jurors deciding the fate of accused child-killer Porfirio Jimenez got a science lesson yesterday about a lesser-known type of DNA that linked hair stuck on a garden tool -- the suspected weapon in slaying -- to the 10-year-old victim, who was savagely beaten to death seven years ago.

• Convicted dealer arrested again on heroin charges
A 42-year-old career drug dealer who has been in and out of state prison since the late 1980s was arrested again last week, accused of selling heroin in Morristown and Dover less than three months after he was paroled.

• Prosecutor to reveal shooting probe result
MORRIS COUNTY: The Morris County Prosecutor's Office today will announce results of a grand jury investigation into whether a Denville police officer was justified in firing his gun five times and killing a 21-year-old motorist during a traffic stop in June.

• Vernon considers drug testing in high school
The Vernon school board is considering whether to have random drug testing in its high school next school year.

• Finance woes end money workshop
When Maureen Davis attends the women's financial education series sponsored by Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Morris County later this month, it will be her eighth time taking the popular program.

• Office to be open late for voter registration
MORRIS COUNTY: The county superintendent of elections office in Morristown will offer extended hours to accom modate county residents who want to register to vote in the Nov. 4 presidential general election by the Oct. 14 deadline.

• Peck School offers open houses for parents
The Peck School is giving parents a head start on the 2009 school year.

• Panera's Pink Ribbon bagels help raise cash to fight cancer
Eating breakfast is a healthy way to start the day. This month, the health benefits will reach a lot more people, thanks to the fundraising campaign by Panera Bread.

• Friends Meeting House celebrates 250th year
The Randolph Friends Meeting House, Morris County's oldest house of worship, will celebrate its 250th anniversary during open house from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday.

• More in well-off county seek public assistance
Welfare requests by needy families in affluent Morris County have risen almost 6 percent over the past year, the second-highest increase statewide, as many county residents seek government help to deal with the impact of the economic downturn and job losses, said county officials.

• Witness: Defendant had blood on jeans
Hours after police found the body of a 10-year-old Morristown boy, Porfirio Jimenez borrowed pants from a man squatting in a vacant Morristown apartment and left behind his soiled blue jeans, which authorities say had the child's blood on it.

• Her job is seeing for others
Ray Kornman was hanging out with friends on a recent Saturday evening when a Morristown bar employee stopped him from entering with his guide dog, Richie, a yellow Labrador retriever.

• The greening of a Florham Park playground
Seven-year-old Matthew Do herty can't recall the last time he played at his neighborhood park.

• Property vacancies increase in Morris
Morris County is plagued by a glut of vacant commercial office space, at 22.2 percent, but some steps are being taken to market a few huge properties that are partly responsible for the high rate, officials said yesterday.

• Man admits raping girl, 5, police say
DOVER: A 28-year-old resident told police he raped a 5-year-old girl, who contracted a sexually transmitted disease, according to the arrest affidavit.

• Search for schools chief comes down to two
MOUNT OLIVE: After a months-long superintendent search, the school board has narrowed its candidates to two finalists, board secretary Lynn Jones said.

• Jurors hear grim details of young boy's slaying
When Porfirio Jimenez learned police had DNA linking him to the savage beating death of a 10-year-old Morristown boy, he told investigators the third-grader tried to take his own life and then asked Jimenez to kill him because he didn't want to go home anymore.

• Amnesty program for permit-less work
Kathy DeFillippo says she has applied for numerous construction permits for her home over the years -- to put in a half-bath, redo a small bathroom and finish her basement.

• Parade and fair will mark Columbus Day
EAST HANOVER: The township will host Morris County's fourth-annual Columbus Day celebration this Sunday .

• Sobering punishment for Roxbury students
The Roxbury students drank beer at a party far from campus and during the summer. But when Roxbury school officials were alerted to Facebook photos of students at the private party, about three dozen of them faced disciplinary action.

• Growing teachers, bringing them home
Among Parsippany's new teachers this year were three who already knew their way around Morris County's biggest district.

• Families in need of a home drawn for 'green' apartments
Joe Meccia felt his chances of finding an apartment he could afford in Morris County, one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, were as good as picking the winning numbers in Lotto.

• Bridge to the past
Conjuring the spirit of the 1960s civil rights movement, white stu dents from West Morris Central High School boarded a bus in April with students from a Harlem high school, most of whom were African American.

• Making affordable housing a reality
The Morris and Sussex branches of Habitat for Humanity recently collaborated on the construction of a condominium complex in Stanhope, where it plans to build a multifamily home next year.

• Local nonprofit celebrates anniversary
A local artist helped celebrate a nonprofit's first year.

• Women's networking to begin
Women on the Fast Track, a national organization for business and professional women, will hold an introductory meeting Oct. 27 in Morristown.

• Trial opens in slaying of Morris boy, 10
Lust drove Porfirio Jimenez to lure a neighborhood boy to a secluded spot on a Morristown riverbank, where he tried to rape the 10-year-old child and then bashed his head with a gardening tool dozens of times so the boy could never tell anyone what had happened to him, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. said yesterday as the long-awaited murder trial got under way.

• Rivals criticize incumbent over bailout vote
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen made a major mistake in voting this week against a proposed $700 billion federal economic bailout, his two opponents in the 11th Congressional District race charged yesterday.

• Their marching orders
Rows of high school marching band members moving in sync to their music will fill the Randolph High School athletic field this weekend, as more than 1,000 students from 17 high schools gather to compete at the 35th annual Under the Stars Marching Band Festival.

• Murder trial moved to avoid appearance of bias
The trial of a 19-year-old man accused of murdering a friend's mother in Jefferson Township will be heard in Union County to avoid any appearance of bias against the defendant because the victim's brother-in-law runs the courthouse's criminal division, a Superior Court judge in Morristown decided yesterday.

• Charges are added in sex-with-teen case
MORRISTOWN: A 53-year-old mother arrested in January for allegedly having sex with her son's 15-year-old friend was indicted yesterday on additional charges.

• Star-studded event to help planetarium bolster fundraising
Bill Chegwidden is planning a big Morris County party filled with stars. No, not Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie. We're talking stars like Antares and Regules and Vega. There may be a sighting of Andromeda and Cassiopeia, too.

• Boonton priest joins school teaching staff
The start of a new school year usually brings about anticipation and excitement, but this year brought something really new to Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Boonton.

• Fun Day offers a blast from Ralston's past
The Ralston Historical Association in Mendham Township will host a Fun Day from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday to celebrate the history of the Ralston section of the township.

• Birds of prey are aerial stars of raptor fest
It's fall, which means hawks, falcons and eagles may be visiting a football field near you. But a local wild bird rehabilitation center will offer visitors the chance to see the real thing -- the birds of prey -- as they fly overhead during their winter migration.

• Voters OK top school spending requests
Pequannock and Butler residents approved school ballot questions yesterday, clearing the way for a $12.9 million upgrade of Pe quannock schools and $3 million in improvements to Butler's athletic facilities.

• Staying connected to old country
Marianne and Lothar Edmueller, who moved to America from Ingolstadt, Germany, wanted their daughter Inge to stay fluent in the language of her parents' homeland. So, they enrolled her in the German Language School of Morris County.

• County educating public on MRSA
Morris County is making a concerted attempt to educate the pub lic about MRSA, targeting schools, day care centers and athletic programs and facilities in what health officials call a "pro-active public health effort" aimed at those most susceptible to the often difficult-to- treat infection.

• MORE help on way for orphans
Maureen Strenk saw a newspaper picture eight years ago of a Sparta man surrounded by African orphans, and instead of just despair she noticed something hopeful about the photo.

• Man admits stabbing outside go-go bar
MORRISTOWN: A Wharton man yesterday admitted stab bing another man in a go-go bar's parking lot 15 months ago.

• Bottle Hill Day is this Saturday
MADISON: On Saturday the borough is hosting Bottle Hill Day, an annual downtown street fair that celebrates the area's history.

• Jimenez murder jury is chosen
The trial of Porfirio Jimenez, accused of killing a child, will begin tomorrow, after the prosecution and defense yesterday agreed on a jury of seven women and seven men.

• CCM reflects on 'radical' start 40 years ago
They came to Randolph yesterday to say thanks and reminisce a bit.

• Conservation group changes name, raises stakes
A preservation agency that started out three decades ago by focusing on saving parkland in Morris County has now gone statewide. The Morris Land Conservancy has become the Land Conservancy of New Jersey.

• Grand jury to convene in police shooting
DENVILLE: A special grand jury will convene Wednesday to begin investigating whether a Denville police officer was justi fied in firing his gun five times at a 21-year-old motorist and killing him during a traffic stop in June.

• County appoints health officer
MORRIS COUNTY: A state health planner, who was assigned to Morris and Somerset counties since 2003, has been hired as the county's new health officer to run the county Office of Health Management.

• Ramps at 10, 53 to be replaced
Long a sore spot for driver confusion and delays, the antiquated ramps at the interchange of Routes 10 and 53 are in for a $17.7 million makeover to begin next year.

• Preparing preschoolers for life
The reading corner in Betsey Tiernan's preschool classroom was packed on a recent morning.

• More research needed on student drug testing
Members of the Kinnelon Board of Education have much to consider before casting their final vote regarding randomly drug-alcohol testing high school students who choose to participate in extracurricular activities and/or have parking permits.

• Parsippany teen explores law enforcement
RYAN TAYLOR