press of atlantic city
NEWS
GRIEVING FRIENDS: IRAQ VET WASN'T VIOLENT MAN
As he sat clutching a drink at a local bar Friday afternoon, Victor Sanabria stared blankly toward the door, thinking about his brother German's final, delirium-wracked moments Wednesday morning.
The image was a painful and haunting one: His little brother, a 26-year-old Army veteran who had served two tours of duty in Iraq, had finally buckled under the weight of two years of psychological distress.
It was before 7 a.m. Wednesday. German had attacked his 79-year-old stepfather, Frank Garcia, with a steak knife in a fit of paranoid panic, and police were yelling at him to drop his weapon. When German didn't comply and turned back toward his stepfather, Patrolman Anthony Keller shot him once in the torso, and German soon fell to the floor.
"His last words were, 'They got me. ... They got me,'" Victor said. "Frank was asking German if he was all right, if he was OK, and he just said, 'They got me.'" read story.
EDUCATION
BRIDGETON STUDENTS ALSO CHAMPS IN SCIENCE
Emmanuel Mercado knows that people don't expect much from him, at least when it comes to school.
To a certain extent, the 17-year-old used to hold himself to that same low standard, which is often applied, by students and adults alike, to other Bridgeton High School students. That stereotype, though, might be on its way out.
Recent academic victories by several students — which include high scores in state business, science and health competitions — are making it clear that the Bulldogs can be more than just athletes or ne'er-do-wells. read story.
GOVERNMENT
STATE ORDER TO DEFOREST PARK ANGERS BRIDGETON
The mere mention of a years-old state plan to remove hundreds of towering sycamores from this city's expansive public park is enough to get some local blood boiling — and perhaps one old ghost in particular stirring.
At a City Council meeting Tuesday night, an ordinance was introduced to authorize the floating of a $1.2 million bond to repay a low-interest state loan that was issued to the city last year as an incentive to fix the historic Sunset Lake spillway. Current city officials described the project as inevitable, saying the state was mandating that the city either repair the earthen dam or face the drainage of two large adjoining bodies of water.
The rub, however, is this: Fixing the berm, colloquially called the Sunset Lake Raceway, would require the removal of many old trees that were planted directly on the levee. read story.
PROFILE
PHILANTHROPIST HAS NO TV OR PHONE,BUT MILLIONS TO GIVE AWAY
Although he was only schooled to the eighth grade, 78-year-old city resident Paul Navone has had a lifelong love affair with numbers.
It was that passion for math — or "figures," as he likes to call it — that saved him from getting bored with his longtime factory job as a quality control technician at a local manufacturing plant. Aside from keeping the drudgery at bay, it also proved to be a considerably lucrative relationship.
Although he never made more than $11 per hour in the 62 years he worked, Navone — who has neither a phone nor a television at his home — is a multimillionaire. read story.
ANALYSIS
WHEELS OF JUSTICE DRAG IN CUMBERLAND
Getting arrested ruined Luis Flecha's life.
Flecha, 45, of Vineland, was charged in November 2006 with threatening to kill a coworker at the factory where he worked for about 20 years. While his case dragged through the county's court system, Flecha's life collapsed — his wife's cancer relapsed, he lost his job and he fell behind on his mortgage payments, prompting his lender to repossess his house.
Almost a year later, prosecutors dropped Flecha's charge, apparently for lack of evidence.
For 48-year-old Levi Lusby, of Millville, his wait for justice ended with his life. Lusby, who spent a good deal of his adulthood in and out of courtrooms, was arrested in early 2006 on a string of minor drug charges and thrown in jail. He died March 4 while incarcerated, after more than two years of waiting for an outcome.
What happened to Flecha and Lusby are extreme examples, but they show a trend that has become common in Cumberland County. On any given Monday or Friday at the county courthouse, the days when the majority of motions and sentencings take place, courtrooms are packed with defendants, a number of whom end up having to come back because there is no time to hear their case. read story.
BUSINESS
TEMPERATURE SWINGS MAY PROVE TOUGH FOR NURSERIES TO WEATHER
There are times when Chris Ruske stays up late at night fretting about hydrangeas.
Normally, Ruske's concerns revolve around the uncertainties growers commonly face, such as if there will be enough public demand for his plants or if they'll grow enough to be sellable to fickle retailers. Lately, though, his mind has been focused on something altogether different and much more devastating: Mother Nature.
The record-breaking warm temperatures earlier this month -- which reached almost 70 degrees Jan. 7 -- essentially tricked Ruske's plants into thinking that spring has arrived, causing many to begin their spring growth. While we might know better, they don't. The young hydrangeas have sprouted either bright green buds or fully developed leaves, which may be damaged if the onset of winter is severe enough.
"I haven't seen the cold kill anything yet," Ruske said. "But it could keep me from hitting the marketplace when I want to." read story.
ARTS
PHOTOGRAPHER FOCUSES ON THINGS HUMANS CAN'T NORMALLY SEE
For the past four years, Chuck Van Zyl has been taking pictures of the invisible— objects that undoubtedly exist, but in ways that humans cannot see.
Armed with a standard film-based camera, the 50-year-old Philadelphia radio personality captures images that are outside a person's normal range of vision.
"We take sight for granted," Van Zyl said Thursday evening while pointing to one of his pictures at Brenner's Brew, a city coffeehouse that will show his work throughout March. "Almost all the visible light is removed from this. This is a real spot, but it's not." read story.
GENERAL ASSIGNMENT
CHICKENS, DUCKS AND GEESE NOT WELCOME AT COHANZICK ZOO
Zoo curator Kelly Shaw is not a big fan of counting chickens. Or ducks. Or geese. If she wanted to, Shaw could probably spend days taking inventory of all the waterfowl that roam the city's Cohanzick Zoo.
The problem, quite frankly, is that she doesn't want to know. "I'm afraid to count," Shaw said.
The number of animals that either quack, honk or cluck has reached critical mass at the Cohanzick Zoo, which — quite literally — is bursting at the seams with them. And it's not because zookeepers are hoarding them. It's because people with unwanted animals drop them off at the zoo hoping the staff will offer sanctuary.
Now, as Easter Sunday approaches, Shaw is bracing for another onslaught. read story.