Domestic Affairs

Grand jury clears Edison cops for April 2022 fatal shooting

Grand jury clears Edison cops for April 2022 fatal shooting

EDISON, N.J., Oct. 15 (ZFJ) — A state grand jury declined to criminally charge two Edison police officers who shot Merrill Rambarose, 49, of Edison on April 12, 2022. Witness interviews, photographs, video footage of the shooting, and autopsy results were presented to the grand jury, which concluded deliberations on Sept. 25 and voted “no bill”—meaning Officers Daniel Bradley and Joseph Elqumos will not have criminal charges filed against them.
Raritan Valley EMS rebrands to Edison EMS

Raritan Valley EMS rebrands to Edison EMS

EDISON, N.J., Oct. 7 (ZFJ) — Edison Emergency Medical Services has officially rebranded from Raritan Valley Regional EMS, the agency announced in a Sept. 28 Instagram post. Edison EMS is the non-profit volunteer first aid squad serving Edison and its surrounding areas for free. RVREMS was formed in 2009 when Edison First Aid & Rescue Squad #1, Edison First Aid Squad #2, and Clara Barton First Aid Squad merged. Edison EMS continues to operate out of the original stations, which have been renamed to Edison EMS Station 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
FEMA to conduct nationwide emergency alert test

FEMA to conduct nationwide emergency alert test

EDISON, N.J., Oct. 2 (ZFJ) — The federal government will test two national emergency alert systems on Wednesday, Oct. 4, starting at about 14:20 (2:20 p.m.) EDT. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission, will conduct the two-part test. The first portion will test Wireless Emergency Alerts, which are directed at cell phones. For 30 minutes, cell towers will broadcast the message “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System.
NJ requires schools to provide students grades 6-12 free menstrual products

NJ requires schools to provide students grades 6-12 free menstrual products

EDISON, N.J., Sept. 10 (ZFJ) — School districts in New Jersey are now required to provide menstrual products for free in public schools that teach students of any grade from six through twelve. Applicable schools will have to provide tampons and sanitary napkins (pads) in at least half of all their female and gender-neutral bathrooms. The state government will shoulder the costs for doing so. The law addresses period poverty—one in four students in the U.
DOJ: Menlo Park, Paramus veterans homes violated civil rights with inadequate medical care

DOJ: Menlo Park, Paramus veterans homes violated civil rights with inadequate medical care

EDISON, N.J., Sept. 12 (ZFJ) — State-run veterans homes at Menlo Park and Paramus have failed to adequately respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide medical care to their residents, announced the Justice Department on Thursday, Sept. 7. The feds said that the conditions at the veterans homes, which provide long-term nursing care to veterans and their families and are under the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMAVA), violate the Fourteenth Amendment right to reasonable safety when in the state’s care.
NYC authorities identify two new 9/11 victims

NYC authorities identify two new 9/11 victims

Sept. 11 (ZFJ) — The 1,648th and 1,649th victims from the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, have been identified, announced the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner on Friday, Sept. 8. These two victims are the first new identifications of 9/11 victims since September 2021. About 1,104 victims, or 40% of the 2,753 who died, remain unidentified. This year, the OCME also identified 60 human remains connected to previously identified individuals.
Cecilia Birge appointed Princeton High principal

Cecilia Birge appointed Princeton High principal

Sept. 10 (ZFJ) — Cecilia Xie Birge was appointed principal of Princeton High School on Thursday, Aug. 31. The Princeton Board of Education voted unanimously for her at a special meeting. Board member Michele Tuck-Ponder was not present. “With Cecilia’s appointment tonight, we are turning a page and we are looking with excitement to the future,” said Dafna Kendal, president of the school board. Birge thanked the board and search committee for entrusting her with the position and recognized the school staff’s work for Princeton High.
Edison middle school teacher charged with possession of child pornography

Edison middle school teacher charged with possession of child pornography

EDISON, N.J., Aug. 30 (ZFJ) — Edison middle school teacher Julius Coaccioli, 55, was arrested and charged with third-degree possession of child pornography on Wednesday, Aug. 30, announced Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Woodbridge Police Department Director Robert Hubner. Coaccioli taught science at Woodrow Wilson Middle School at the time of his arrest. According to public payroll records, he has worked for the Edison Board of Education since September 1992.
US federal district court judge rules AI art not copyrightable

US federal district court judge rules AI art not copyrightable

Aug. 23 (ZFJ) — AI art generated “absent human involvement” is not eligible for copyright, ruled U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell on Aug. 18, Friday. In her ruling for the federal district court in Washington, D.C., Howell upheld the U.S. Copyright Office’s denial of registration to computer scientist Stephen Thaler for the work he calls A Recent Entrance to Paradise. BACKGROUND Thaler, the plaintiff, owns an AI called the “Creativity Machine” that can generate visual works of art.
Pittsburgh synagogue shooter sentenced to death

Pittsburgh synagogue shooter sentenced to death

Aug. 7 (ZFJ) — Robert Bowers, 50, was sentenced to death by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville on Thursday, Aug. 3, for killing 11 congregants, wounding two others, and injuring five police officers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. “I have nothing specific that I care to say to Mr. Bowers,” Colville said, according to The Associated Press. “I am however convinced there is nothing I could say to him that might be meaningful.