State Headlines From New Jersey Newsroom

It may not be $590.5 million, but some serious money came to a few New Jersey lottery players this past weekend.

A player from Monmouth County had one of two winning tickets in Friday’s $190 million Mega Millions drawing, while a Powerball ticket was worth $1 million to three other New Jersey players.

NJ.com reported that the Kwik Mart on Shrewsbury Avenue in Tinton Falls sold a winning Mega Millions ticket to a player who will split the $190 million grand prize with a player from Virginia. The store gets a $30,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

Consumer note to anyone who plans to see “Nikolai and the Others”:  Devote an extra five minutes to study the playbill in order to get a grip on how these many real-life Russian characters are related to each other.  Otherwise you may feel somewhat lost among the Slavic patronymics during the first act of Richard Nelson’s absorbing new play that is currently at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.

Ex-wives and best friends and nieces abound among such Russian legends as composer Igor Stravinsky, choreographer George Balanchine and artist Sergey Sudeikin.  Nelson brings them all together for a (fictional) spring weekend in the Connecticut countryside in 1948.

For the fourth straight year, the graduating class at Rutgers University has set a school record.

About 30,000 people saw 14,302 degrees awarded to graduates on a rainy day at High Points Stadium on Busch Campus in Piscataway.

Retired New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Virginia Long was the event’s keynote speaker. Long told a story of winning a ninth grade spelling bee, where the teacher wrote on the back of her prize, “To Virginia Long for being smart and good.’’

Someone has said that the greatest idea that the human mind has ever come up with is…the theory of evolution. Men (and women) are supposedly descended from other animals. A bold and far-reaching conclusion, certainly.

I’m not sure what the dumbest idea that has ever originated in the human mind is (apart from the notion that Governor Palin would make a good Vice Presidential candidate), but I have a strong candidate: the efficient-market hypothesis. The notion that stocks are always properly valued. If JNJ is selling for $90, it should be selling for $90. The explanation is that all information about JNJ is out there, and everyone interprets the information the same exact way.

What utter nonsense.

As moisture streams in from the Atlantic this morning, fog and low clouds will linger through 10 AM over the Philadelphia and New York City metropolitan areas.  As the stationary front to the south begins to wash out, winds will remain from the south and southwest at 5 to 10 mph, transporting a humid tropical Atlantic air mass into the region.  Scattered showers will be a threat this afternoon with variable cloud cover.  Temperatures will rise into the upper 70's to lower 80's over the Philadelphia and New York City metropolitan areas and lower to mid 70's along the immediate coast and Long Island.

In 2008, the media inundated us with such trivial questions implying if America was ready for a black president. Not as if voters were pondering whether they wanted a Morgan Freeman or a Spike Lee, but maybe it wasn't so ludicrous after all. If president Obama's first term proved anything, it's that there's still too many good old boys in many segments across America, and they don't like the N-word in the oval office. But, is our country so fractured and threatened by empowerment of minorities that such vile racism extends to a freaking local school election?

May 20 has the potential to be a notable date for humane policies in New Jersey, but cats, dogs and other domesticated animals face ongoing issues in the state.

In Trenton, the state Assembly is scheduled to vote on “Patrick’s Law,” which would increase the legal penalties for mistreatment of animals.

Named for a pit bull puppy found barely alive in March 2011 after being abused and thrown down a garbage suit in a Newark high rise, the bill passed the state Senate last fall and has wide bipartisan support. The effort has its own website.

High unemployment and soaring property taxes mean very little when you can continuously use your public office to remind voters that you did your job during a Hurricane. And that's precisely what Gov Chris "Hurricane Superfleece" Christie is doing.

Governor Christie is being criticized by Democrats after appearing with his family in a new federally funded commercial to boost tourism at the Jersey Shore following the destruction of Superstorm Sandy.

After Powerball’s $360 million jackpot drawing went by without a winner on May 15, the jackpot was raised to $475 million for the game of May 18.

But, the morning didn’t even end before another $75 million was tacked on to that total. Better yet, make the jackpot a game record $600 million.

The Powerball lottery web site reports that the drawing of May 18 will offer a grand prize of $600 million, with a lump sum payout of an estimated $376.9 million.

When asked what the most pricey hospital in the United States  is, one might answer with a variety of hospitals including zip codes in California ­– possibly Beverly Hills.  But, on the contrary the most expensive hospital in America actually is closer than we think, and hiding in the skyscraper shadows of New York City – its Bayonne Medical Center.

The government released data (May 8th) on what 3,300 different hospitals charge for the 100 most common procedures and the results show massive variation, reports the Washington Post.

The Big Ten 2014 schedule is now ready for all you college football fans out there, as Rutgers kicks off its inaugural season in the new conference.

The Scarlet Knights who accepted an invitation along with Maryland to join the Big Ten Conference back in November, thus leaving behind the Big East of which they were a part of since 1991. The addition of the two teams gives the Big Ten Conference a total of 14 schools and a presence in East Coast markets.

The New York Jets are in the news again, but this time it does not have anything to do with the team releasing former college sensation, Tim Tebow. This time, Jets running back Mike Goodson was arrested on drug and weapons charges early Friday morning, based on reports released by News 12 New Jersey.

Goodson, who signed a three-year, $6 million contract on March 15 and is slated to compete for a starting job this season, was found intoxicated in a parked SUV along Route 80 in Denville, New Jersey, along with Garrett Evans. According to the New Jersey State Police, a loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun was found in the car, as well as hollow point ammunition was found in the grey Yukon. Once evaluated in the hospital, marijuana was also found in Woodson’s possession (under 50 grams).

Atlantic County Superior Court has ruled against PokerStars, in their efforts to purchase the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, after the online company failed to gain New Jersey’s approval for ownership by late April.

The ruling meant that the Atlantic Club was within its legal rights to terminate a contract agreement they had reached with PokerStars for intent to purchase back in December.

Semi-auteur J.J. Abrams returns to the cineplex on the second leg of his ongoing mission to dumb-down “Star Trek,” with the new “Generic Space Shoot ’Em Up: Into Darkness.”

“Star Trek” is the James Bond of space operas, and as it approaches its 50th anniversary, Abrams’ recent contributions often get positioned as a “re-boot.”

But “Star Trek Into Darkness” is more like an old boot, one of the many bits and pieces that screenwriters Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof have scavenged from previous episodes and movies, notably “The Wrath of Khan.”

Thousands of commuters stream through Grand Central Terminal every day, and while most coming from New Jersey have Penn Station as their terminus, on Wednesday, two elite Garden State natives used Grand Central as their choice to continue their journey, albeit one to athletic glory.

Camden’s Jordan Burroughs and High Bridge native and Blair Academy grad Kellen Russell were two American wrestlers who took part in “Rumble on the rails,” a  unique fundraiser for the grassroots organization “Beat the Streets” that raises millions of dollars for inner-city wrestling programs in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania among other places. And while previous years' activities have taken place in spots like Times Square and the Intrepid, the Grand Central event took on even added significance given wrestling’s current tenuous place in the Olympic Games.

A lot of decision making goes into choosing the right college or university to attend, and once you find that institution that is the right fit to your academic needs and future aspirations the results will be insurmountable.

Thanks to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British-based higher education consulting firm, whose annual World University Rankings list was put out this week, choosing a top academic institution just got a little bit easier.

The list, which was published by The Christian Science Monitor online, shows a strong presence in United States and United Kingdom universities which are dominating the top of the elite list. But don’t fret Garden State residents, because Ivy-league Princeton is sitting pretty in position number nine.

A lot of decision making goes into choosing the right college or university to attend, and once you find that institution that is the right fit to your academic needs and future aspirations the results will be insurmountable.

Thanks to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British-based higher education consulting firm, whose annual World University Rankings list was put out this week, choosing a top academic institution just got a little bit easier.

The list, which was published by The Christian Science Monitor online, shows a strong presence in United States and United Kingdom universities which are dominating the top of the elite list. But don’t fret Garden State residents, because Ivy-league Princeton is sitting pretty in position number nine.

Superstorm Sandy destroyed so many low lying areas of New Jersey along the shore that, still seven month later, victims are looking for answers to put back the pieces. On Thursday, Governor Chris Christie had some answers for those victims in the communities of Sayreville and South River – a new federally funded buyback program.

As reported by the Associated Press, properties that have flooded repeatedly since the hurricane will have the opportunity to sell their homes during the first phase of this $300 million buyback program. According to the Governor, who returned to Sayreville to announce this voluntary program, the money will be enough to buy back 1,000 in the communities along the Raritan River, Passaic River basin and the Jersey Shore, as well as a second round of funding to be expected sometime in September.

Superstorm Sandy destroyed so many low lying areas of New Jersey along the shore that, still seven month later, victims are looking for answers to put back the pieces. On Thursday, Governor Chris Christie had some answers for those victims in the communities of Sayreville and South River – a new federally funded buyback program.

As reported by the Associated Press, properties that have flooded repeatedly since the hurricane will have the opportunity to sell their homes during the first phase of this $300 million buyback program. According to the Governor, who returned to Sayreville to announce this voluntary program, the money will be enough to buy back 1,000 in the communities along the Raritan River, Passaic River basin and the Jersey Shore, as well as a second round of funding to be expected sometime in September.

Things could have turned out entirely different for Caleb "Kai" McGillvary, otherwise known as “Kai, the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker.”

For a time, things were different. In February, McGillvary, 24, saved a California utility worker when a man he had hitchhiked a ride with hit the worker’s car, and then got out and attacked the person.

The Fresno Bee reported that Jeff McBride got out of his car and began assaulting Rayshawn Neely, saying, "I am Jesus and I am here to take you home." Kai then came to Neely’s aid by hitting McBride with the hatchet he happened to be carrying.