January 2017

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—On September 13, the city's Planning Board unanimously approved the extension of the Rutgers Chi Psi fraternity house at 114 College Avenue.

The fraternity expressed an interest in expanding the house to include a new entrance that would offer an accessible ramp to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The addition would be constructed along Bartlett Street, behind the existing structure that has stood on College Avenue since 1872, and it would also add 10 new beds to the facility.

WOODBRIDGE, NJ—Authorities announced that Margarita Bukhmil, a 33-year-old East Brunswick resident died after being struck by a vehicle on Route 9 South in Woodbridge on December 27, the same day she was killed.

Bukhmil was walking on the highway at 3:25 a.m. when she was struck by a 1998 Nissan, according to a press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office (MCPO).

She was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where she was pronounced dead 27 minutes later.

PERTH AMBOY, NJ–On Christmas Eve, authorities announced they are searching for a Woodbridge man who allegedly abducted two kids in Perth Amboy, "but later safely returned them to their home," according to a press release.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office (MCPO) did not include a photo of Frank John, the 41-year-old Woodbridge resident that police are looking for, in their press release posted on the county website.

PROVIDENCE, RI–Hub City-based Johnson & Johnson plans to hire as many as 75 people for a new health technology center in Providence, Rhode Island.

The pharma giant plans to launch its new analytics and health center by the spring of this year, and will be able to take advantage of a deal providing temporary space at no cost to the company while the building in question is remodeled.

Dozens of high-skilled information technology workers will develop software and analyze datasets, among other tasks, at the new office.

PERTH AMBOY, NJ—A 54-year-old man from Howell Township was charged with second-degree "theft by extortion" in connection with his work as a drug treatment counselor at a Perth Amboy clinic called "Journey to Wellness."

Anthony Trimble, who also earns $63,470 working for the state performing a similar function at the Special Treatment Unit of East Jersey State Prison in Avenel, according to NJ.com's Craig McCarthy.

PISCATAWAY, NJ—A housing facility on Rutgers University's Livingston campus has seen its heating and hot water infrastructure repeatedly fail during a tumultous semester for the school's aging infrastructure.

The failures came on the heels of a prolonged  power outage that forced thousands of student on the school's Cook/Douglass campus to be relocated in September.

EDISON, NJ—A 61-year-old man from Elizabeth is facing serious charges after being arrested for beating up a 30-year-old woman who he allegedly kidnapped from Newark, and left to die in Edison.

Mickey Vanderpool is charged with the alleged attack, which took place in June 2016, against a woman who he knew, according to authorities.

Vanderpool allegedly met the unidentified woman in Newark before beating her and leaving her in an Edison business park.