FRANKLIN, NJ—About 130 workers at more than a dozen Dollar Express stores will be without jobs by June 30, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The Dollar Express banner is only two years old and was created in 2015 by a private equity group so that Family Dollar could sell about 323 stores, and thus satisfy Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) antitrust concerns — paving the way for it to merge with Dollar Tree.

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ–“Welcome to the start!” Race Director, Lou Ann Benson, told about 175 runners and walkers in North Brunswick Community Park at the 38th Annual Memorial Day 5K on Monday.

“Bring the sunshine with you out on the course today,” said Benson.

As the director of parks, recreation and community services for North Brunswick Township, Benson has overseen the event many times before.

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ—Levin Management Corporation (LMC) “ultimately prevailed in securing Trader Joe’s for the North Village Shopping Center,” confirmed Michael Hritz, Director of Community Development for North Brunswick Township.

All the development partners shared a common interest: bringing a popular grocery store to the area, said Hritz.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—RWJ-Barnabas Health suddenly appointed a new CEO to lead Hub City’s Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, amid the recent resignation of Michael Antoniades.

While scant information is being released by the hospital organization, Antoniades was the CEO for about 14 months before he stepped down, and his resignation leaves many unanswered questions.

TRENTON, NJ–New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced on May 24 that the State will receive $1.04 million from a 42-state civil settlement with Johnson & Johnson.

The Garden State participated in the settlement to resolve allegations that J&J's McNeil-PPC unit "made false or misleading representations about its over-the-counter [OTC] products," while also distributing products that were "adulterated as a matter of federal law," according to Porrino. 

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–A building at 777 Jersey Avenue formerly occupied by the Middlesex County Board of Elections, is now the new, 42,000 square foot, “Spectrum Pharmacy Institute (SPI).”

SPI, a unit of Spectrum Chemical Products, manufactures and distributes pharmaceutical compounding chemicals, equipment, supplies.

BRIDGEWATER, NJ—When Valeant, the scandal-ridden pharmaceutical giant, acquired Johnson & Johnson’s Shower to Shower body product in 2012, it didn’t foresee being up against more than 30 lawsuits claiming that talc—an ingredient in the product—could cause cancer.

But news broke on May 9 that Valeant believes J&J is obligated to pay for its legal defense and compensate Valeant, according to a transcript of Valeant’s first quarter earnings call.