The summer crowds are gone, the beaches are nearly empty and storm systems drive large waves to New Jersey beaches.
BAY HEAD -- It happens every fall.
The summer crowds are gone, the beaches are nearly empty and storm systems in the Atlantic drive large waves to New Jersey beaches - while the water is still warm.
A half-dozen surfers enjoyed those conditions Saturday in Bay Head.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Investigation suggests teen feel asleep at the wheel, according to police
Authorities responded to the wreck around 10:50 p.m. Friday on Route 530, near St. John Place, where they discovered a Nissan Altima had hit a tree head-on, off the eastbound side, Capt. Todd Malland said in a statement.
The Nissan was traveling westbound on Route 530 when it drifted over the center line, continued to the eastbound shoulder, off the road and hit the tree, police said, citing a witness and the ongoing investigation.
"The initial investigation suggests that the driver, and lone occupant of the vehicle, may have fallen asleep before leaving the roadway and crashing into a tree," Malland added.
The girl, a Manchester resident, was flown by medical helicopter to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, according to police. She was wearing her seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Officer Michael Anderson of the Manchester Township Police Department's Traffic Safety Unit was investigating the wreck.
Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Lee Parker and Ivan White have received constant attention since they discovered the explosives Sunday. Watch video
ELIZABETH -- Two men are being heralded as heroes after they stumbled upon a bag full of pipe bombs Sunday, alerted authorities and likely saved dozens from injury.
Just a week later, much is already different for them. For one thing, Lee Parker is no longer homeless.
Be the Change NJ, a group of Kean University students and staff, has set up the 50-year-old with an efficiency room at a local hotel. Norma Bowe, a Kean professor, is working with the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless to find him a permanent place to live.
Local non-profit At Heart's Length, meanwhile, has helped the public raise more than $25,000 to reward Parker and Ivan White for their good deed. That money will be split three ways between the two men and the coalition.
And media requests from across the country keep pouring in to get the pair on camera to tell their story.
But 56-year-old White, who has an apartment, is looking for something else.
"I hope the mayor gives me the key to the city," White said.
"Well, we don't have a key, but we have a plate," Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday.
The city council plans to honor Parker and White at a ceremony 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at city hall, where White may get his wish.
Councilman Carlos Torres said Thursday the city was making plans to create a key just for the two men.
"Should I shave and put a tie on?" White asked the councilman.
Parker and White found the five pipe bombs in a backpack at North Broad Street and Julian Place around 8 p.m. Sunday, the day after explosives went off in Seaside Park and New York City. In the Chelsea incident, 29 people were hurt. Authorities have charged Ahmad Khan Rahami, of Elizabeth, in all three incidents.
"These two people (Parker and White) were on the fringe of society, but they were clearly walking with angels that night," Bollwage said. Union County's freeholders plan to honor the pair Thursday, and the state legislature intends to recognize the duo Oct. 20.
In the meantime, the public is showering them with support.
Bowe took Parker food shopping Wednesday -- something Parker hasn't been able to afford for months.
"You know, superheroes got to eat," Parker said with a smile.
Be the Change NJ and the manager of Elizabeth's Stop & Shop also gave Parker gift cards for future groceries, but Bowe said he used almost half the funds to take his mother grocery shopping.
Before Parker and White's BBC interview Friday, Bowe and her group collaborated to buy Parker a new shirt, pants, shoes and a tie. One of the student members even donated a mountain bike.
"Lee almost cried," Bowe said.
At First Baptist Church on Thursday morning, White was the man of the hour -- but not because he alerted police to the bombs.
He's been running the show at the church's food bank twice a month since the spring, and this Thursday was no different.
Besides people thanking him for calling the cops, White said, it was business as usual. He organizes the outdoor portion of the operation, which provides canned goods and fresh produce to people who cycle through.
On Thursday, he ran over to show a woman where the potatoes were and asked patrons to stay on the right side of the table. After the customers were gone, he pushed around a rolling dumpster as he cleaned up the area.
He's the food bank's cheerleader, rule enforcer and recipe recommender, wrapped into one.
"All the corn you want!" he called out to two women standing by a bin.
A few minutes later, he was instructing a man on cooking zucchini: "Hit it with the Italian (seasoning), thyme and rosemary."
As patrons trickled out and White finished cleaning, he reflected on last Sunday, a day he isn't likely soon to forget.
"Villainry was thwarted," he said.
Then, a beat later, with a smile: "That's a good quote, isn't it?"
Craig McCarthy may be reached at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
People paused this weekend to look at the memorial where a trash can exploded before a Marine Corps run Sept. 17.
SEASIDE PARK -- She didn't think it could happen here, in a tiny Jersey Shore town, minutes before the scheduled start of a Marines Corps charity run.
When a pipe-bomb style device exploded a trash can just off the beach around 9:30 a.m. Sept. 17, Margie O'Hara was devastated. The Toms River resident used to call Seaside Park home, and she couldn't picture the borough as the site of such ill-intent.
She had worried that something like this might happen in a big city or at a high-profile event -- but not in Seaside Park, population 1,500.
"To know that it happened here is scary," she said Sunday as she paused at a memorial at D Street and N. Ocean Avenue, where the blast occurred.
About two dozen miniature American flags and small, gray stones reading "Jersey Proud" and "United We Stand" drew people by foot, on bikes and in cars this weekend. Some took photographs; others just stared.
Ann Cutillo was on the beach when the explosion happened. She said police officers chased her off the boardwalk.
But, she said, she wasn't afraid.
"I'm not living in fear," the Seaside Park resident said. "There have always been horrors, if anyone knows history."
Other visitors worried about the possibility of more attempted violence. Ashley Tutzauer, 17, came from Toms River to see the memorial with two friends. She said she was nervous to know that although someone had been charged in the blast, other people might also seek to cause harm.
The flags and stones gave her some comfort, she said.
"I basically grew up here," Tutzauer said. "So it means a lot to see this."
Federal officials have charged Ahmad Khan Rahami, of Elizabeth, in the Seaside Park explosion, as well as a blast that evening in New York City and the placement of five pipe bombs near the Elizabeth train station the next day.
A Manchester man who paused at the memorial Sunday said he wasn't scared by the Seaside Park explosion. He was angry.
"I picture someone coming out here with their child and got to deal with this," said Vinnie, who didn't want to give his last name. "I'm glad nobody got hurt."
Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Police said the attendant at a Gulf Station in the Whiting section of Manchester reported being robbed of $1,500 in cash and a smart phone on Saturday night
MANCHESTER -- Police say a gas station attendant in Whiting told them he was robbed of $1,500 and a Samsung Galaxy smart phone on Saturday night by a man wielding a knife.
The attendant told officers it was about 10 p.m., when the assailant approached the Lacey Road Gulf station on foot, brandished a large knife, then placed the point against the attendant's stomach and demanded cash, police said.
Police said the attendant told officers the assailant fled on foot down Lacey Road somewhere into the Ocean County darkness.
The attendant described the assailant as a black male, 5-foot-10 with a medium build, about age 30, with a beard and mustache, and wearing a blue and yellow hooded sweatshirt, police said.
Police said the K-9 unit was being used to try to track down the assailant.
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Dogs and cats throughout New Jersey need homes.
If you're interested in helping homeless animals but aren't able to adopt one, there are a number of other ways you can be of assistance.
Realistically, not everyone can adopt. People who live in apartments or developments that have no-pets policies fall into that category, as do people with allergies or disabilities that will not allow them to care for pets of their own. Here are some suggestions for ways people who want to help can participate in caring for homeless animals.
* Help out at a local shelter. It's not glamorous work by any means, but it's vital and will be very much appreciated. You can do anything from help walk dogs to bottle feed kittens, help clean kennels or cat's cages or even help with bathing and grooming. Contact your local shelter to find out their policies regarding volunteers.
* If you're handy, you can lend a hand in many ways. Shelters usually need repairs of many kinds, so fixer-uppers can help out like that. If you sew, quilt or crochet, you can make blankets for your local shelter.
* Help out at an adoption event. Many shelters and rescue groups participate in local events by hosting a table with pets available for adoption. They also hold these program at malls, pet supply stores and banks, and can always use a helping hand.
* For galleries like this one and for online adoptions sites, often a shelter or rescue group doesn't have the time or equipment to shoot good photos of their adoptable pets, Something as simple as making yourself available to shoot and provide digital files of pet photos can be a big help.
* Donate. It doesn't have to be money; shelters need cleaning supplies, pet food, toys for the animals and often even things we don't think twice about getting rid of like old towels and newspapers. Every little bit helps.
If you don't know where your local animal shelter or rescue group is, a quick online search will reveal a number of results. It doesn't take a lot of time or effort to get involved but it provides immeasurable assistance.
Here's a gallery of pet in need of adoption. More homeless pets can be seen by clicking here and here.
Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find The Star-Ledger on Facebook.
Four of the top teams in the poll play each other while fifth-ranked No. 6 Middletown South plays one of its toughest game of the season against No. 9 Rumson-Fair Haven. Who survives?
See how development transformed the landscape of the Garden State between 1930 and 2013.
The landscape of New Jersey has been drastically altered by development.
Residential communities were carved out of marshland. Shopping malls sprouted up where farms once stood. Stadiums were built in the Meadowlands.
Sprawl withdrawal: Young NJ residents push toward cities and away from suburbia
While the transformation of open space in the Garden State is visible on the street, a bird's eye view offers a different perspective, one that truly reveals the breadth of change New Jersey has undergone. Aerial maps from the state Department of Environmental Protection's NJ-GeoWeb allow us to see what communities throughout the state looked like from above 80 years ago compared to today.
Drag the sliders back and forth over the maps from 1930 and 2013 to see how residential and commercial real estate development has changed New Jersey.
NEW BRUNSWICK
EAST RUTHERFORD
FAIR LAWN/PARAMUS
CHERRY HILL
TOMS RIVER
ATLANTIC CITY
MORRISTOWN
MARLBORO
CAPE MAY
JERSEY CITY
While the aerial photos show a stark change in landscape in many parts of the state, there are also regions where not much has changed since 1930.
Shamong Township, a community of nearly 6,500 people spread out 44.4 square miles that all fall within the boundaries of the Pinelands National Reserve, is one such example.
SHAMONG TOWNSHIP
Erin O'Neill may be reached at eoneill@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LedgerErin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.A look at 20 big N.J. performances in college football this weekend.
One of the swimmers was hospitalized. Police warned against swimming on unprotected beaches
HARVEY CEDARS -- One person was hospitalized Sunday afternoon after authorities rescued three swimmers who got caught in a rip current on Long Beach Island.
The rescue happened shortly after 2 p.m. in the ocean off 77th Street in Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, according to the borough's beach patrol.
That specific portion of the beach was unguarded, but Harvey Cedars police Chief Robert Burnaford said lifeguards do patrol rounds on quads in the off-season.
"We always urge people to swim near a lifeguard," Burnaford said. "After Labor Day ... the weather is beautiful and the water is 70 to 71 degrees, it's very inviting. People go in thinking the ocean will be calm but there's always a good chance of rip currents."
Burnaford said Sunday's rescue was a "great team effort."
Lifeguards were at the scene "within minutes," and were able to rescue the swimmers. Also responding to the scene were members of the Harvey Cedars Police Department, High Point Volunteer Fire Company, Barnegat Light Volunteer Fire Company and the Barnegat Light First Aid Squad.
"We work so well together," Burnaford said. "Thankfully everyone was pulled from the water successfully."
Lifeguards will be on the Middlesex Avenue beach all this week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the beach patrol said.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The man was charged with bias intimidation Watch video
LAKEWOOD -- A Jackson resident is facing bias intimidation charges after he went on a profanity-laced, anti-Semitic tirade following a three-vehicle crash, police said.
The aftermath of the collision, which occurred on Wednesday near the intersection of East Kennedy Boulevard and Clifton Avenue, was caught on video and widely spread on social media websites.
The video shows a man, who police identified as Elijah Chandler, 34, of Jackson, lashing out at several bystanders who appear to be Orthodox Jews. On the video, he used anti-Semitic epithets while shouting at the men.
Near the end of the video, Chandler shouts at the bystanders: "Go back to your country."
Lakewood police Detective Sgt. LeRoy Marshall said, after exiting his car, Chandler assaulted the driver of one of the other vehicles involved in the three-vehicle crash while "shooting bias statements."
Chandler also kicked that same vehicle involved in the collision, Marshall said.
Chandler was charged with bias intimidation, terroristic threats, simple assault, criminal mischief and harassment. He remains at the Ocean County Jail as of Monday morning where he is being held on $41,000 bail.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Ivan White and Lee Parker became national heroes last week when they found a bag of pipe bombs by a city train station. Watch video
ELIZABETH -- City council on Tuesday will honor Ivan White and Lee Parker for alerting police after they found a backpack full of pipe bombs near the Elizabeth train station the night of Sept. 18.
"These two people were on the fringe of society, but they were clearly walking with angels that night," Mayor J. Christian Bollwage said last week.
The Elizabeth men will be honored at a 7:30 p.m. ceremony on the third floor of city hall.
White and Parker saw the bag sitting on top of a garbage can while they were on a trip to buy beer after they watched the day's NFL games. Parker, who was homeless, planned to keep the backpack and throw away its contents.
When the men realized the shiny devices in the bag might be explosives, they walked to the Elizabeth police station and alerted officers. Authorities responded, and a bomb-squad robot accidentally detonated one of the bombs. No one was injured.
Since then, the community has rallied to support White and Parker. A local non-profit is raising money for the men and for the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless, which is helping find Parker permanent housing. Meanwhile, the duo has been hit with media requests for interviews from across the country.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, of Elizabeth, faces federal charges related to the devices found in Elizabeth and to explosions in Seaside Park and New York City the same weekend. A law enforcement source said Rahami was in critical condition at University Hospital as of Sunday, due to a gunshot wound to his stomach.
Police captured Rahami on Sept. 19 after a shootout in Linden, sparked by a local tavern owner who saw Rahami sleeping on the steps of the bar.
State authorities also charged the 28-year-old Afghanistan native with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. His bail is set at $5.2 million.
Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
George LaRosa, of GL Construction, walked off projects, failed to do any work or performed 'shoddy' work that didn't meet standards, officials say.
OCEAN COUNTY -- A Manahawkin contractor has been accused of bilking more than $280,000 in federal Hurricane Sandy relief aid from six homeowners along the Jersey Shore, authorities said.
The contractor, George LaRosa of GL Construction, took payments for home improvements and home elevations but performed work that didn't meet standards, abandoned projects or failed to do any work, according to a press release from the state Division of Consumer Affairs.
The homeowners all received money from the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation Elevation and Mitigation Program, which is one of the state's primary programs intended to get residents displaced by Sandy back in their homes.
He allegedly bilked $280,750 from homeowners.
Officials say LaRosa did not register with the state as a home elevation contractor, as required. He also violated the Consumer Fraud Act, the Home Elevation Regulations, the Home Improvement Regulations and the Advertising Regulations.
Along with failing to complete or begin work on homes, officials say, LaRosa ceased communications with customers, lied about inspections being completed and failed to pay subcontractors who performed work.
A complaint filed by the state in Ocean County Superior Court seeks restitution for the victims, cancelling the certificate of formation for GL Construction and preventing LaRosa from operating any home improvement businesses in the state.
"GL Construction advertised on its website that its work would exceed customers' expectations. In reality, the defendants exceeded customers' worst nightmares by allegedly walking off with their money, leaving behind unfinished projects, shoddy workmanship, and/or construction that was not up to code," Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a statement. "What makes the defendants' alleged actions all the more repugnant is that they preyed on people relying on federal grant money to help them recover from Superstorm Sandy."
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Sandipkumar Patel admitted to falsely claiming he had temporarily sheltered victims of Hurricane Sandy.
TRENTON -- An Ocean County motel owner pleaded guilty Monday to stealing federal disaster relief funds by falsely claiming he had sheltered Hurricane Sandy victims.
Sandipkumar Patel, of Edison, admitted to a second-degree charge of theft by deception for fraudulently taking $81,567 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's program that paid hotels and motels for rooms temporarily occupied by victims.
Patel, 43, and his wife own American Motel on Route 166 in Toms River. The federal program paid the motel $133.28 per day for each room, the state Attorney General's office said.
Patel falsely billed FEMA for 11 supposed victims, eight of whom never stayed at the motel and three of whom stayed for shorter periods than were billed or shared a room that Patel had already billed to FEMA, authorities said.
Patel sometimes fraudulently billed for stays lasting weeks or months, and more than $50,000 worth of the bills were in the names of his relatives who were not displaced by Sandy, according to authorities.
"This FEMA program enabled motel owners to shelter Sandy victims while still collecting a reasonable room rate, but Patel was more interested in stealing relief funds than helping victims," Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a press release. "We'll continue our aggressive efforts to prosecute greedy individuals like Patel who committed fraud and diverted relief funds from deserving recipients."
The state plans to recommend a three-year state prison sentence. Superior Court Judge Wendel Daniels, who accepted Patel's guilty plea, scheduled sentencing for Nov. 4.
Patel's lawyer, Robert Stahl, said his client had acknowledged overcharging the government during Sandy relief.
"He's acknowledged his responsibility, and he's already made full restitution for the dollar amount," Stahl said.
The state has filed criminal charges against 71 people since March 2014 for allegedly falsely applying for federal Sandy relief funds. Most cases allege those people tried to steal funds from FEMA, but others claim individuals fraudulently applied for funds from other state and federal agencies.
The state Division of Criminal Justice operates a toll-free tip line for confidential reports of fraud, corruption and other illegal activities: 1-866-TIPS-4CJ. People can also report suspected wrongdoing at www.njdcj.org.
Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Arrested in Florida, builder faces theft charges
The official name of the charge is "Theft by Failure to Make Required Disposition."
The unofficial name is "scam."
Sometimes, contractors or other service providers rob Peter to pay Paul. Or buy a Mercedes. Or a speedboat. Or go to Rome. Or Aspen. Whatever. The victim's money is gone, and so is the thief.
In the case of Hurricane Sandy victims, this "theft" was especially egregious because the people allegedly scammed had already lost so much.
Last March, I wrote about several New Jersey people who trusted a contractor named Richard Woodard to make them whole again after Sandy had turned their lives upside down in the turbulent tidal surge that destroyed their homes.
Last week, Woodard was arrested in Dunedin, Fla., by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department at the request of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Economic Crimes Unit.
The Ocean County unit's detectives are the people sorting out almost all the Sandy fraud. This is painstaking work, like any forensic accounting. It's like looking in a forest to see where the squirrels have buried the acorns, because many contractors operate and are licensed under different LLCs and have multiple bank accounts.
Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said the arrest of Woodard is "the beginning, not the end" of his office's apprehension of Sandy-fraud contractors.
"He's one of just several contractors we've been investigating," Coronato said. "You're going to see us bring a series of these people to justice in the near future."
MORE: Recent Mark Di Ionno columns
Woodard, who was listed as president of Willwood Builders of Clearwater, Fla., is charged with taking more than $75,000 from seven victims. He had been under investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office and prosecutors in Ocean and Mercer counties. The state Division of Consumer Affairs also had seven registered complaints against Woodard and Willwood Builders since July 2015.
It is not known if more charges are pending. Woodard was charged not only with taking client's insurance money and savings, but also absconding with their state Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) grants without ever finishing the work he was paid to do.
According to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, bail was set at $150,000, without a 10 percent option. He is being held in Florida and extradition proceedings are underway.
Calls to Woodard's attorney, Anthony Sodano III, were not returned immediately, but in a March interview, Sodano said his client did not finish the contracted jobs because he was sick.
"From what I know, there isn't a whiff of deception," Sodono said. "He got sick and couldn't work ... He was devastated by not being able to complete these projects.
""He was in the hospital for 45 days," Sodono said."I don't want to go too far into what was wrong with him for privacy reasons, but he was debilitated from multiple conditions. He lost much of his physical abilities and some of his cognitive abilities. He was impaired.
"I feel horrible for the people and feel horrible for Rick," said Sodono. "This is a tragedy on every level."
As tragedies are measured, none might compare to that of Mickey and Marilyn Hannon of Forked River, even though they were not Sandy victims. The septuagenarian couple claimed they gave Woodard $207,000 to renovate their home to accommodate their handicapped son, James.
"What he did to us was unconscionable," Mickey Hannon said in March. "He took our life savings and disappeared. He destroyed the house. He took out two bathrooms and the kitchen then disappeared. That was long before (Woodard) says he got sick."
James Hannon died at age 42 in March 2015, while the house was ripped apart.
Mickey Hannon said that while his son was dying, he saw Woodard posting pictures of himself at the Philadelphia Phillies Phantasy Camp in Florida last February.
Marilyn Hannon said, "The very day my son died, he came and asked us for more money. He preyed on us because he knew we were desperate to get these renovations done."
Mary Lou Mickiewicz, of South Amboy, said Woodard deposited her full state elevation grant of $117,000 into his accounts, along with a $10,000 resettlement grant and a $5,000 insurance check.
Mickiewicz acknowledges Woodard was sick, but trusted him so much, she brought him soup in the hospital.
"He was like an angel to me," she said in the March column. "When I called, he came right away. He handled all the paperwork. He called the banks. He called the insurance companies. He filled out all the forms."
Then he disappeared.
Even worse for the Sandy victims is that the state now has liens against their homes until they return the RREM grant money or get the ordered repairs done.
"So not only did he steal $117,000 from my mother, now she owes the state $117,000," said Robert Mickiewicz, Mary Lou's son.
Patty McCourt, of Lavalette, gave her $111,000 RREM grant to Woodard and now also has a state lien against her house.
"I feel so stupid," she said last March. "My daughter wanted to have me committed when I told her what happened."
Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.
Authorities say Richard Woodward stole more than $75,000 from seven clients after not finishing work he was paid to do following Hurricane Sandy.
TOMS RIVER - A Florida-based contractor has been arrested on charges he stole from several victims following Hurricane Sandy by allegedly not finishing work he was paid to do, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Monday.
At approximately 2 p.m. on Wednesday, officers from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department located and arrested 63-year-old Richard Woodard on Friar Tuck Lane in Dunedin, Florida at the request of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Economic Crimes Unit.
Woodard and his company - Willwood Builders of Clearwater, Florida - are alleged to have taken in excess of $75,000 from a total of seven known victims in New Jersey, the prosecutor's office said.
Authorities said Woodard never finished worked he was paid to do through his clients' savings, insurance money and state Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation grants after Hurricane Sandy.
The prosecutor's office's Economic Crimes Unit charged Woodard with theft by failure to make required disposition on behalf of the seven known victims.
His bail was set at $150,000 with no 10-percent option.
Efforts to extradite Woodard to Ocean County have already begun, the prosecutor's office said.
Anyone who may have experienced issues with Richard Woodard's Willwood Builders Construction Company is asked to contact OCPO Economic Crimes Unit Detective Lindsay Llauget at 732-929-2027 Ext. 3462.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
It's easy - just send a pic
Update, Sept. 26, 8:45 a.m.: Shortly, we will process the nominations from this weekend's games, but the news bulletin is this - nominations close at 11:59 p.m. tomorrow, Sept. 27. We will have an up-to-date list of nominated schools below later today, along with the latest submitted pics in the gallery above.
But don't wait for that. There's only one sure way to be a part of the fun in the weeks to come, and that's to send in a pic and get your school nominated.
As of Friday, we were up to 63 schools, all of whom have photos in the gallery above. The photo gallery above was re-organized last week and is now alphabetical by school. Note that after photo No. 100, you'll get a link to Part 2 of the gallery.
Here is the list of currently, officially nominated schools, with the list expected to grow later today:
Bergen Catholic, Boonton, Brick, Brick Memorial, Bridgewater-Raritan, Caldwell, Cedar Creek, Cedar Grove, Cherokee, Cherry Hill WestCranford, Demarest, DePaul, Don Bosco, Edison, Emerson, Glen Rock, Hanover Park, Hillsborough, Holy Cross, Hunterdon Central, Indian Hills, Jackson Liberty, Jackson Memorial, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Kittatinny, Lawrenceville, Lenape, Lyndhurst, Mainland, Middletown North, Middletown South, Montclair, Morris Hills, Morris Knolls, New Egypt, North Arlington, North Hunterdon, Northern Burlington, Oakcrest, Ocean Twp., Parsippany Hills, Passaic Tech, Pennsville, Point Pleasant Beach,Point Pleasant Boro, Pope John, Rancocas Valley, Red Bank Catholic, Ridge, Roxbury, Seneca, Somerville, St. Augustine, St. Joseph (Mont.), St. Peter's Prep, Steinert, Toms River East, Toms River North, Toms River South, Voorhees, Wayne Hills, Wayne Valley, West Morris, West Windsor-Plainsboro South, Westfield, Williamstown, Wood-Ridge.
Without fail, one of the best things about HS football is the throng of cheering students pulling for their classmates: The student section.
They're loud. They can get wild. Sometimes, they're super organized, with leaders, coordinated themes and a playbook of chants. The costumes can be elaborate. The rituals can be passed down for decades. Some fan sections even travel well on road games.
So we want to know - which N.J. school has the best student section? Here's how you can tell us. NJ.com is opening up nominations for the best student section.
Nominating your school is a piece of cake. Just snap a photo of your school's student section, preferably in an excited state. Then upload your photo and answer a few questions using the form below. We'll add your photo to the gallery above and count your school as nominated - but after that, things get interesting.
Contest format:
Nominations will be open through Tuesday, Sept. 27. We will then split the nominations into three N.J. regions - North, Central and South - and launch a poll for each region. Your voting in the regional polls will determine the schools that move on to an elimination bracket, with week-long head-to-head voting matchups to determine regional champs. Champs from each region will compete in a three-way poll to determine THE best student section in New Jersey football. The whole thing will wrap up right around the beginning of November.
Additional notes:
• The form below will work with your cell phone - you can nominate your school at halftime!
• NJ.com staff will also make nominations with our own photography.
• Only upload photos you have shot or that you personally received permission to use. We can't use photos from other media outlets. Please don't grab and submit photos from other websites.
• Multiple nominations for a school are welcome, but we may not use every photo.
• Submitted photos will be added to the gallery after some processing time; nominations will be compiled and listed on top of this post after the weekend's play.
So start talking and sharing - rally the troops to nominate, vote and make your student section officially the best in N.J.
Her Pontiac Vibe collided with a Ford F-150
A Point Pleasant woman was seriously injured in a head-on collision in New Hampshire on Monday evening, according to a report.
Helen Schwoerer, 51, was driving a 2009 Pontiac Vibe east on Derry Road in Chester when her car crossed the center line and struck a westbound Ford-150 pickup truck, UnionLeader.com said.
The 17-year-old driver of the pickup and two passengers were taken to a local hospital, while Schwoerer was flown to Mass General Hospital in Boston following the 7:44 p.m. collision, WMUR.com said.
Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
There have been 120 drug overdose deaths in Ocean County, with 93 of them have been related to heroin.
TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie and former Gov. Jim McGreevey Tuesday are expected to announce a medicine shown to help addicts break their dependence on opioid drugs will be offered to inmates at the jail in Ocean Country - one of the regions in the state hardest hit by drug overdoses.
Inmates will be given Vivitrol, the brand-name drug that blocks the neurotransmitters in the brain which produce the euphoric feeling associated with using heroin and other opiates, McGreevey told NJ Advance Media.
The treatments will continue after they leave the jail to help them maintain their sobriety, said McGreevey, the chairman of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation, a nonprofit that works with employers and social service agencies that helps prisoners in Jersey City, Newark, Paterson and Toms River to stay sober and out of jail.
The introduction of medically assisted treatment to the jail is the latest in a series of strategies the Christie administration, law enforcement and treatment providers have used to contain the widespread addiction to heroin, fentanyl and prescribed drugs like oxycontin. Other steps include making the drug Narcan widely available because it can halt and reverse drug overdoses.
"This is a big step," McGreevey said. "We are providing for medically assisted treatment within the jail, and will be continued as people return to general society."
"The pernicious quality of fentanyl - it is 50 times more addictive than heroin - makes medically assisted treatment an important instrument against the battle against addiction," McGreevey said.
N.J. remains wary of addiction treatment drugs
An analysis by NJ Advance Media last year showed that the heroin overdose death rate in New Jersey was more than triple the national rate. It eclipsed homicide, suicide, car accidents and AIDS as a cause of death in the state.
There have been 120 drug overdose deaths in Ocean County, with 93 of them have been related to heroin, McGreevey said. The county is on track to far surpass last year's death total of 118 people last year, he said.
Christie and McGreevey will be joined at the Statehouse 11:30 a.m. press conference by Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato, who has launched the Angel program that allows addicts to to turn themselves in to the police department with the opportunity to get placed in a treatment facility or to establish a treatment plan.
Other participants include a client in the reentry program, and a representative from Woodhaven Lumber in Ocean County, which has hired 13 people who left jail and were placed by the reentry program.
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
