Newark

NEWARK - Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark said Friday that he feared for his life as he rescued a neighbor from her burning house Thursday night. "There was a time when I didn't think we'd make it out of there," he said at a press conference outside his house Friday morning. "I didn't feel bravery; I felt terror. " The fire occurred in the mayor's Upper Clinton Hill neighborhood, as Booker was returning home from a television interview. He said a member of his security detail tried to restrain him, but Booker responded, "If I don't go in, this lady's going to die. " After ushering...

So what if Newark Mayor Cory Booker went off message? On "Meet the Press" Sunday, Booker, a supporter of President Obama's reelection bid, took issue with a recent Obama ad criticizing Mitt Romney's record at the private-equity firm Bain Capital. In truth, open debate on the issue shouldn't make Booker "uncomfortable," as he put it. A key question in this election is whether leveraged buyouts, as practiced by Bain Capital and other companies, tend to produce job growth and efficiency, or layoffs and weakened companies.

A key thoroughfare through Vermont's Northeast Kingdom should be easier to travel as of this weekend. A bridge in Newark on Vermont Route 114 was scheduled to reopen to traffic on Saturday. It had been closed since Aug. 1, forcing a detour. Officials with the state Agency of Transportation say construction on the bridge will continue, but it will now be re-opened to one-way traffic. Route 114 is the main road between Lyndonville, Island Pond, Norton and Canaan.

NEWARK - Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark said Friday that he feared for his life as he rescued a neighbor from her burning house Thursday night. "There was a time when I didn't think we'd make it out of there," he said at a press conference outside his house Friday morning. "I didn't feel bravery; I felt terror. " The fire occurred in the mayor's Upper Clinton Hill neighborhood, as Booker was returning home from a television interview. He said a member of his security detail tried to restrain him, but Booker responded, "If I don't go in, this lady's going to die. " After ushering...

‘Heart of Stone’’ is a heartbreaker: a documentary about an inner-city high school that shows how hard, how necessary, and how infinitely rewarding it can be to open doors for kids who didn’t know they were there. Technically the movie’s nothing much, but it makes Hollywood dramas like “Stand By Me’’ look tame and insipid. The location is the blast site known as downtown Newark, and the school is Weequahic High, located at the flashpoint where Blood meets Crip. A majority of male students are gang members; the city’s police director considers them all criminals, period.

NEW YORK - US Representative Donald M. Payne, a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus who achieved a long-held goal of becoming the first black congressman from New Jersey, died Tuesday in Livingston, N.J. He was 77. The cause was complications of colon cancer, his office said. Mr. Payne, a Democrat, announced the colon-cancer diagnosis in February, but ruled out taking a leave of absence, saying he planned to seek reelection because his doctors expected him to make a full recovery.

NEWARK, N.J. — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is about to make a lot of new friends: The 26-year-old tycoon is pouring $100 million of his staggering fortune into Newark’s blighted school system after hitting it off with the mayor of the poverty-stricken city. The donation, which is being announced today on Oprah Winfrey’s show, establishes Zuckerberg as one of high-tech’s biggest philanthropists and comes just ahead of the release of “The Social Network,’’ a movie that paints an unflattering portrait of the boy wonder of the Internet.

Whitney Houston was laid to rest Sunday at a brief private ceremony in New Jersey, the end of a weekend that saw the pop star's family and friends gather at a star-studded funeral to mourn her loss while celebrating her career. Fans and onlookers gathered in several places along the route the motorcade took from the Newark funeral home to the cemetery about 20 miles away in Westfield, where Houston was buried next to her father, who died in 2003. The 48-year-old singer died Feb. 11 in California, hours before she was to...

The New Jersey Nets honored the late Whitney Houston by playing her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the 1991 Super Bowl before their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The Newark-born singer died in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday at the age of 48. Her funeral will be Saturday in Newark at the New Hope Baptist Church, where she sang as a child. She will be buried in Fair View Cemetery in Westfield, where her father, John Russell Houston Jr., was buried in 2003.

NEWARK -- When it comes to the brew of choice for Samuel A. Alito Jr., the jury is in -- and it likes caffeine. When Alito was nominated to the Supreme Court in November, reporters and customers flocked to a Broad Street coffee store that sells a potent blend named after the judge. Two months later, sales of "Judge Alito's Bold Justice" are still going strong. "We've been selling a lot more ever since he got nominated," said Vera Barbosa, a clerk at T. M. Ward Coffee Co. who has been serving as the blend's unofficial spokeswoman since Alito's nomination put the small storefront on the...

Newark Mayor Cory Booker was treated and released from the hospital Thursday night after suffering from smoke inhalation while helping to rescue his neighbors from a fire. Booker arrived home Thursday night to find the house next door on fire, according to spokeswoman Anne Torres. Booker and two of his security detail entered the home to help its residents escape, Torres said. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, and was released around midnight. Booker, a prolific social media user, tweeted late Thursday that he was fine and thanked his followers for their...

The NBA draft will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., for the second straight year. With Madison Square Garden again unavailable while undergoing offseason renovations, the draft will return to what no longer will be an NBA arena. The Nets will play their final game there in April before moving to Brooklyn. Commissioner David Stern calls the Prudential Center a "state-of-the-art" facility. The draft is scheduled for June 28 at 7 p.m.

NEW YORK - US Representative Donald M. Payne, a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus who achieved a long-held goal of becoming the first black congressman from New Jersey, died Tuesday in Livingston, N.J. He was 77. The cause was complications of colon cancer, his office said. Mr. Payne, a Democrat, announced the colon-cancer diagnosis in February, but ruled out taking a leave of absence, saying he planned to seek reelection because his doctors expected him to make a full recovery.

Newark Liberty Airport has reopened after a United Express flight from Atlanta made an emergency landing, forcing an hour-long shutdown. There were no reports of injuries among the 71 people aboard. Authorities say Flight 5124 landed around 6:20 p.m. Monday, shortly after the pilot was approaching the airport to land as scheduled and noticed a landing gear problem. Newark firefighters were called to the scene, but found no smoke or fire aboard the plane. A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says the airport was closed...

New Jersey's largest city is preparing to cut the ribbon on the first large-scale food market to open in a long time. Newark Mayor Cory Booker is expected to officially open the Food Depot Supermarket on Tuesday. It's located in a heavily traveled area a few blocks from Route 280. City officials say it's the first major supermarket to open in the city in decades and will give Newark residents high quality, affordable food options they don't currently have. The 30,000-square-foot store has cost $8 million to build and has created 100 jobs.

WESTFIELD, N.J. (AP) — Whitney Houston is being laid to rest at a private ceremony in New Jersey. Houston died Feb. 11 in California at age 48. No cause of death has been determined. She is being buried today at the cemetery in Westfield where her father was interred in 2003. Onlookers were gathering along the route to her gravesite as the police-escorted motorcade headed toward it and the hearse carrying her casket entered the cemetery. The pop star was mourned at a funeral Saturday at the church in Newark where she sang in the choir as a child.

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons is looking for ways to encourage Delaware job creation in technology-related businesses. Coons says Delaware's most innovative new businesses can help drive the next generation of the state's manufacturing economy. He will be hosting a roundtable discussion on Thursday at Delaware Technology Park in Newark to listen to what local experts have to say on how lawmakers in Washington can help Delaware's young high-tech firms grow and create jobs.

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- Mary Lutz, director of competitive riding for the physically challenged at the US Equestrian Federation, has died following a fall from her horse. She was 55. Ms. Lutz died June 9 after being hurt when she fell from her black gelding on a trail in Bedminster, Allison Kopf, a spokeswoman for the federation, confirmed. Ms. Lutz was wearing protective headgear while riding, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Monday. A former riding instructor, Ms. Lutz started working in 1994 as an assistant for the US Equestrian Team at its center in Gladstone.

Whitney Houston was laid to rest Sunday at a brief private ceremony in New Jersey, the end of a weekend that saw the pop star's family and friends gather at a star-studded funeral to mourn her loss while celebrating her career. Fans and onlookers gathered in several places along the route the motorcade took from the Newark funeral home to the cemetery about 20 miles away in Westfield, where Houston was buried next to her father, who died in 2003. The 48-year-old singer died Feb. 11 in California, hours before she was to attend a pre-Grammy Awards party.