December 14, 2017

Daily News Roundup

December 14, 2017 Snow with high temperatures in the mid-30s and lows in the teens. NJ TRANSIT PAID $4.4 MILLION TO BUY EMPTY FLOOR IT HAD LEASED NJ Transit paid $4.4 million to buy office space in Newark that it had leased but had not used, Curtis Tate reports for The Record. The agency had leased the 10th floor of Two Penn Plaza East in Newark for two years. The purchase of 34,423 square feet of space was recorded on Oct. 11. EX-RUTGERS STUDENT ADMITS ROLE IN CRASHING THE INTERNET A former Rutgers student pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Trenton to helping create computer code that caused internet outages around the world in 2016, Kelly Heyboer and Ted Sherman report for NJ.com. Paras Jha, 21, of Fanwood, also admitted that he repeatedly disabled the internet network at Rutgers then taunted school officials on social media. The disruptions at Rutgers cost the school millions of dollars. NJ HAS LARGEST BLACK-WHITE INFANT MORTALITY GAP IN NATION In New Jersey, babies born to African-American women are more than three times as likely to die before their first birthday than those born to white women, no matter what their mothers’ income level or educational attainment, Lindy Washburn reports for The Record. The racial disparity is larger in New Jersey than in any other state and shows no sign of shrinking. JACKSON TOWN COUNCIL OKS INTERIM AGREEMENT ON ERUVIN By a vote of 4-1, the Jackson town council agreed Wednesday to allow Orthodox Jews to seek permission from utility companies to place eruvin on utility poles, Austin Bogues writes for the Asbury Park Press. Eruvin – wires strung between utility poles – symbolically extend the area considered to be part of the homes of Orthodox Jews, allowing them to perform certain tasks on the Sabbath and religious holidays. In Mahwah, the council will consider tonight the repeal of an ordinance that bans eruvin, Daniel Hubbard writes for Patch.com. PAT DINIZIO, LEAD SINGER OF THE SMITHEREENS, DEAD AT 62 The New Jersey rock band The Smithereens announced that its lead singer, Pat DiNizio, died Tuesday at the age of 62, Daniel Kreps reports for Rolling Stone.