Without fail, one of the best things HS football is the throng of cheering students pulling for their classmates: The student section. They're loud. They can get wild. Sometimes, they're superorgan...

Without fail, one of the best things HS football is the throng of cheering students pulling for their classmates: The student section.

They're loud. They can get wild. Sometimes, they're super organized, with leaders, coordinated themes and a playbook of chants. The costumes can be elaborate. The rituals can be passed down for decades. Some fan sections even travel well on road games.

So we want to know - which N.J. school has the best student section? Here's how you can tell us. NJ.com is opening up nominations for the best student section. 

Nominating your school is a piece of cake. Just snap a photo of your school's student section, preferably in an excited state. Then upload your photo and answer a few questions using the form below. We'll add your photo to the gallery above and count your school as nominated - but after that, things get interesting.

Nominations will be open through Tuesday, Sept. 27. We will split the nominations into three N.J. regions - North, Central and South - and launch a poll for each region. Your voting in the regional polls will determine the schools that move on to an elimination bracket, with week-long head-to-head voting matchups to determine regional champs.  Champs from each region will compete in a three-way poll to determine THE best student section in New Jersey football. The whole thing will wrap up right around the beginning of November.

Additional notes:
• The form below will work with your cell phone - you can nominate your school at halftime!
• NJ.com staff will also make nominations with our own photography.
• Only upload photos you have shot or that you personally received permission to use. We can't use photos from other media outlets. Please don't grab and submit photos from other websites.
• Multiple nominations for a school are OK, but we may not use every photo.

So start talking and sharing - rally the troops to nominate, vote and make your student section officially the best in N.J.

Secaucus Police Det. Sgt. Mike Torres said the the woman, a Cherry Hill resident, is "recovering well" at Hackensack University Medical Center.

SECAUCUS -- The 84-year-old woman who was injured in a wrong-way crash on Route 3 Wednesday morning is now in stable condition at a Bergen County hospital, police said. 

Secaucus Police Det. Sgt. Mike Torres said the the woman, a Cherry Hill resident, is "recovering well" at Hackensack University Medical Center two days after she was taken to the hospital in critical condition following the 7:45 a.m. wreck on the Hackensack River bridge in Secaucus.  

Secaucus police said Wednesday that the woman was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of the busy highway, causing the crash with a BMW headed in the proper direction. The driver of the BMW, a Secaucus man, was also taken to Hackensack UMC in stable condition, police said previously. 

Few details have emerged as to why or how the woman was driving the wrong way on the heavily-trafficked bridge, which connects Secaucus and East Rutherford. Today, Torres stressed that the crash is still under investigation. 

"The traffic division is still working to obtain how or why she got onto Route 3 westbound," Torres said.

Torres said no summonses or charges have been filed.  

The 84-year-old woman had to be extricated from her Dodge Neon by the Secaucus firefighters, police said. The vehicle was mangled in the crash and the top of the car appeared to be cut off to remove the woman from the vehicle.

The crash kept all but one lane on Route 3 west closed for more than two hours, and caused major delays on both sides of the highway.

Journal staff writer Corey McDonald contributed to this report.

Shope Oluwu secured $27,000 in credit at three suburban St. Louis stores

A 32-year-old New Jersey man who used fake military identification cards to buy jewelry on credit in Missouri was sentenced to two years in prison.

Shope Oluwo showed ID which contained his picture but personal information of other U.S. military enlisted servicemen to secure a $27,000 line of credit, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri said in a news release on Wednesday.

Oluwo, a Fort Lee resident, made purchases at three jewelry stores in Chesterfield, Mo. on May, 25, 2014.

None of the victims know Oluwo or gave him permission to use their information to create counterfeit military identification cards or open lines of credit.

He pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft in April.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The Bronx boy told family he planned to jump from the George Washington Bridge

FORT LEE-- A 17-year-old boy from the Bronx who authorities believe was planning to jump from the George Washington Bridge was hospitalized after he was apprehended by Port Authority police, agency spokesman Joseph Pentangelo said Friday.

The NYPD called Lt. George Masouridis of the PAPD around 3:15 p.m. and advised him that the teen, who has a history of mental illness, had gone missing. The boy told family members he planned to jump from the bridge and had also posted a picture of it on social media, New York police told Masouridis. 

Masouridis searched the area around the Fort Lee side of the bridge and also called the teen's cell phone, discovering during their conversation that the boy was located at Center Avenue and Slocum Street. Other Port Authority officers were notified and found him before calling an EMS unit.

He was taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center for observation and possible treatment.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.  

About 2 percent of New Jersey school children got religious exemptions from vaccines.

TRENTON -- The number of New Jersey school children who skipped vaccines for religious reasons topped 9,500 in the 2015-16 school year, according to the state health department. 

That number has been steadily climbing but represents just 2 percent of New Jersey's the 506,000 preschool, kindergarten, first and sixth graders in the state, according to state data. It's nearly 600 percent higher than the 1,641 whose parents requested a religious exemption a decade ago. 

Medical exemptions have steadily declined, with 1,303 requested in the 2014-15 school year compared to 1,592 the previous year.

Under New Jersey's religious exemption policy, parents and guardians can submit a signed statement indicating "immunization interferes with the free exercise of the pupil's religious rights." No other documentation is required. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently issued a statement saying that as a last resort, it's OK for doctors to stop seeing patients who refuse their shots. The Academy also urged states to repeal laws that have allowed parents to use religion as an excuse for not getting their children inoculated, saying this poses a health risk. 

Why some docs may not treat those who refuse shots

An attempt to make it tougher for New Jersey families to get the religious exemption by requiring they explain how vaccines "would violate, contradict, or otherwise be inconsistent" with their religion failed in the last legislative session. It was opposed by the New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice, which said lawmakers should not judge a parent's religious beliefs.

Among New Jersey counties, Hunterdon had the highest percentage of religious exemption requests (4.8 percent), while Hudson had the lowest (0.9 percent). 

Here is a county-by-county breakdown of how many school children have been granted exemptions from vaccines: 

Atlantic: 264, representing 1.8 percent of all students 

Bergen: 1,367, 2.5 percent

Burlington: 397, 1.6 percent

Camden: 343, 1.2 percent

Cape May: 115, 2.8 percent

Cumberland: 145, 1.5 percent

Essex: 770, 1.5 percent

Gloucester: 244, 1.6 percent

Hudson: 349, 0.9 percent

Hunterdon: 294, 4.8 percent

Mercer: 247, 1.1 percent

Middlesex: 545, 1.2 percent

Monmouth: 1,189, 3.5 percent

Morris: 783, 2.7 percent

Ocean: 715, 2.5 percent

Passaic: 520, 1.7 percent

Salem: 42, 1.3 percent

Somerset: 410, 2.2 percent

Sussex: 226, 3.4 percent

Union: 402, 1.2 percent

Warren: 139, 3.0 percent

State total: 9,506, 1.9 percent

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

At least 703 New Jerseyans died on Sept. 11, 2001. Here, for the first time, are all of their photos

Fifteen years ago, nearly 3,000 Americans lost their lives in the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history. More than 700 of those victims were from New Jersey. Most perished at the World Trade Center. Others were on hijacked planes. At least two worked at the Pentagon.

Their memories live on.

With today's anniversary, NJ Advance Media presents a tribute in photos to 703 victims known to have lived in or grown up in the Garden State.

Viewers can navigate through the entire gallery or jump to names using the alphabetical links below.*

For desktop users who would prefer to read the captions beside the photos, the gallery can be viewed here.

Acquaviva to Apollo* [?] Arczynski to Basmajian [?]  Bauer to Betterly

Bharvaney to Brady [?] Brandemarti to Callahan [?]  Calvi to Charette

Cherry to Colbert [?] Coleman to Cramer [?]  Crant to D'Ambrosi

Darling to D'Esposito [?] Devitt to Dudek [?]  Duger to Etzold

Evans to Ferrugio [?] Fersini to Fraser [?]  Frederick to Gilbey

Giordano to Grazioso [?] Green to Hargrave [?]  Harris to Horning

Houston to Jensen [?] Jerath to Keane [?]  Keene to Koo

Kopiczko to Lassman [?] Laszczynski to Lilore [?]  Lin to Maddison

Magnuson to Mattson [?] May to McHeffey [?]  McLaughlin to Mirpuri

Molisani to Murphy [?] Murphy to Niedermeyer [?]  Nimbley to Parandkar

Parker to Pham [?] Picarro to Pullis [?]  Pykon to Rescorla

Reynolds to Rodriguez [?] Rodriguez to Rowe [?]  Ruben to Schlag

Schlissel to Silverstein [?] Simmons to Stahlman [?]  Starita to Takahashi

Talhami to Tobin [?] Todisco to Vanacore [?]  Vandevander to Walsh

Warner to Woodwell [?]  Wortley to Zisa

* Joao A.D. Aguiar, 30, of Red Bank, and Jean A. Andrucki, 43, of Hoboken, were unintentionally omitted from the first photo collage and can be found on the final collage. 

Mark Mueller may be reached at mmueller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJMueller. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

An appellate court overturned the bias convictions against Dharun Ravi on Friday and ordered a new trial. Watch video

NEWARK -- Legal experts agree the appellate court had no choice but to reverse the convictions of an ex-Rutgers student in the Tyler Clementi case and order a new trial after the state's highest court struck down part of the bias law used to convict him.

The portion of the law in question required jurors to look at the victim's state of mind -- as opposed to the intent and state of mind of the person accused of the crime.

The appellate decision arrived four years after Dharun Ravi's conviction on several counts of bias intimidation and other charges following a highly publicized trial in New Brunswick which put a national spotlight on cyber bullying.

Seton Hall law professor John Kip Cornwell said the appellate court's ruling hinged on the state Supreme Court's 2015 decision in a separate case that found part of the state's anti-bias statute unconstitutional.

"They just couldn't extricate those (bias) charges from others from the evidence that the jury weighed in reaching the verdict that it did," Cornwell said. "It was more prejudicial than probative."

Clementi, of Ridgewood, who was Ravi's dorm mate at Rutgers University when the two were freshmen, jumped off the George Washington Bridge several days after the bullying incidents in September 2010 in which Ravi set up a remote webcam that spied on Clementi while he was having an intimate encounter with another man.

"Tyler's private moments were stolen from him and used to humiliate him," the Clementi family said in a statement. "His life was forever affected and the lives of those who knew and loved him have been forever changed."

Ravi was not charged in Clementi's death and his defense maintained the webcam incidents had nothing to do with Clementi's decision to commit suicide. He was sentenced -- and has already served -- his 30-day sentence, three years of probation and 300 hours of community service.

The appellate court, in its decision, ordered a new trial saying Ravi could not have received a fair trial as the bias evidence "permeated the trial." 

Miles Feinstein, a criminal defense attorney and a past president of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said it was "common sense" the appellate court would order a new trial because the evidence presented resulted in "irreparable prejudice." 

"It was polluted by the great weight of the bias testimony, which was devastating to the defendant," he said.

Robert Bianchi, the former Morris County prosecutor and a current defense attorney, said the evidence presented about the victim's state of mind "poisoned the conviction."

"It's a very, very tricky area of law that prosecutors should generally stay away from," Bianchi said. 

State Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-19), who sponsored the anti-bias law at the heart of the case, said he's looking to fix the law "to comport with what the Supreme Court declared in 2015" and believes Dharun Ravi's other convictions -- on invasion of privacy and witness and evidence tampering -- should have been upheld.

"Everyone knows he tampered with evidence," Vitale said. "Everyone knows he tampered with witnesses. Everyone knows he invaded his privacy not once but tried to do it again. You don't do something twice and call it a mistake. He did all those things and whether he was motivated by bias or not is irrelevant. He shouldn't get away scot-free on this." 

He continued: "The underlying crimes should not have been affected by the bias evidence. All of those acts took place whether they were motivated by bias or not."

Bianchi, the former prosecutor, said the challenge of this type of evidence is that it can generate tremendous sympathy for the victim so it can "unduly prejudice" the jury, and the defendant can't cross examine the victim's state of mind -- both of which create significant problems for the prosecution on appeal.

"Trials aren't about feeling bad for people," Bianchi said. "They're about examinable proofs. Not prejudice, passion, bias or sympathy." 

It's important for prosecutors to win convictions and make sure "they're sustainable through the appellate process because the prosecution's case never gets better on retrial after a reversal on appeal," he said.

Ravi's attorney Steven Alterman has said the prosecution now has 20 days to decide whether or not to appeal to the state Supreme Court. Depending on what the prosecution decides, he said, it will then be a matter of whether "we can work something out in a mutually acceptable way."

The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office hasn't commented as to whether it'll appeal the appellate decision.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Julio Pina-Catena, 44, was convicted earlier this summer in the beating of his former boyfriend's father.

HACKENSACK - A Rutherford man was sentenced Friday to 21 years in prison for beating his former boyfriend's father nearly to death five years ago, according to NorthJersey.com.

Julio Pina-Catena, 44, broke into the Wallington home of his former lover, Adrian Martin, in May 2011 and spent hours cutting out the eyes of family photos, trashing a bedroom and hacking a computer. When he encountered Martin's father, Nelson, he brutally beat him, according to prosecutors.

As a result of the attack, Nelson Martin suffered severe brain damage and lasting injuries, including loss of sensations and reconstruction of his jaw, according to NorthJersey.com.

N.J. man charged with forging landlord's name

Pina-Catena was acquitted of an attempted murder charge but convicted of aggravated assault, burglary, criminal mischief and other charges. His attorney said Pina-Catena maintains his innocence and will appeal, according to the report.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Join the NJ.com football writers for their first chat of the season, Sunday, 7:30-8:30 p.m.

WOODBRIDGE -- The first full week of high school football is in the books and there's plenty to talk about.

The NJ.com football writers -- Jermey Schneider, Pat Lanni, Bill Evans, Braulio Perez and Joe Zedalis will host their first Sunday night chat, 7:30-8:30 p.m. right here. Come prepared with questions, comments, thoughts.

MORE: Results and links for Sat., Sept. 10

The newest NJ.com Top 20 will be released at 6 p.m. Could there be another new No. 1?

What about the upsets, the big performances, Player of the Year candidates, the Week 2 games? It is all on the table and open for discussion.

Just enter your opinions or questions in the comments box below and be part of the conversation.

The NJ.com football writers will be here at 7:30 p.m. We hope you will be, too.

Joe Zedalis may be reached at jzedalis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @josephzedalis. Like NJ.com HS sports on Facebook.

No one was hurt.

EAST RUTHERFORD -- Hot coals sparked a fire Sunday that spread to six cars in the MetLife Stadium parking lot, police said.

The coals had been left on the ground after a tailgating session ahead of a game between the New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals, New Jersey State Police Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Williams said.

Three of the cars had to be towed from the scene. No one was hurt.

The fire started at 12:53 p.m., so most people were inside the stadium for the 1 p.m. kickoff, Williams said. No one has been charged, but the incident is under investigation.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Dozens gathered Sunday to honor victims of the World Trade Center attacks.

Despite the heat, dozens gathered Sunday at a public park to honor the victims of the World Trade Center attacks, remembering the day 15 years ago when 147 Bergen County residents died.

The crowd sat in a tent set up near the WTC memorial in Overpeck County Park in Leonia to remember the lives lost in the worst terrorist attack in the history of the nation. Speeches were given by local clergy, TAPS was played by a retired sheriff officer, "Amazing Grace" performed by a bagpiper and a 21 gun salute was given.

"We do not forget them, we will never forget them. We will always be here for them and we will always be here for the loved ones that pray for them," said James Tedesco, Bergen County executive.

As a number of children sat in the crowd, Tedesco said he thought it was important to tell the stories of what happened on 9/11 to children who weren't yet born or don't remember the events of the day.

The New York Classical Youth Orchestra performed as the names of the victims were read off by public safety representatives, officials within the community and family members of the victims. As the names were read, local girl scout troops placed carnations on the memorial.

Elaine Asciak was the first to begin reading names, ending by saying her late husband's, Michael A. Asciak.

"Michael, we miss you. We love you dearly and we wish you were here with us each and every day," she said.

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.

Dogs and cats throughout New Jersey need homes.

Sometimes, it seems our dogs just don't listen to us; we bark commands and our canine companions just don't respond.

Courtesy of Distejon 

For those dog owners who are hoping to improve communication with their pets, OneMind Dogs (oneminddogs.com) has a method that may be worth trying.

The OneMind Dogs training method concentrates on forging the dog-human bond and works in concert with the dog's natural instincts. The method follows the philosophy that dogs do not make mistakes, their behavior is a direct response to the signals they get from us humans.

So, here are OneMind Dogs' tips on how to speak dog:

1. MOTION OVER VOICE
"While vocal cues are useful in training, your dog naturally responds first to body language. If you teach your dog to sit and lie down using words and accompanying hand gestures, and then you tell your dog to "sit" but use the gesture for "lie down," your dog will lie down - following the gesture, not the word. Therefore, use your body language to really communicate meaningfully with your dog."

2. TREAT 'SMALL'
"From a dog's perspective, a large treat is no greater a reward than a small one. When training with large treats as rewards, your dog will become full and lose motivation more quickly. So treat often using small bits. The timing of when you treat is crucial, too. For example, if you reward your dog for sitting too late, after she has already gotten up from the position, the next time she will naturally get up in anticipation of her reward."

3. LEAD BY EXAMPLE
"When dogs learn new skills, they automatically associate the emotion surrounding the experience with the skill itself - so if you're having a bad day, it's not the best day for a training session. If you approach the training session with a positive outlook, your dog will be enthusiastic about what you're teaching him, both during the session and in the future. You'll find that keeping an upbeat attitude will also lengthen your dog's attention span for longer sessions."

OneMind Dogs was developed in Finland in 2003, when top-performing agility dog Tekla suddenly lost her hearing. From then on, her trainer could only rely on physical cues to communicate and had to see the world from Tekla's perspective in order to make the dog understand her. What could have been a crushing road block for Tekla's agility career turned into a groundbreaking way for all dogs and their humans to become more in sync than ever before.

Here's a gallery of dogs and cats in need of adoption from northern and central New Jersey. Make sure captions are enabled to get all the information for each homeless pet.

More galleries of adoptable pets can be seen here and here.

It's the third top 20 and our third No. 1 team. Will this one hold down the throne?

Ready to drop nearly $700,000 on a home in New Jersey? Here are 10 options for you.

Homebuyers armed with a budget of $675,000 -- more than double the amount of the median home value in New Jersey -- have a range of residences in which they can choose to live, including a home on a lagoon at the Jersey Shore and a waterfront condo on the Hudson River. 

In-ground pools, outdoor kitchens and finished basements with wet bars are among the amenities found inside properties in the Garden State that are on the market for less than $700,000. 

That limit on price won't get you close to affording one of the priciest homes up for sale in New Jersey (you'll need at least $12 million to buy your way into that exclusive club) but a $675,000 budget can still net a one-of-a-kind property in the state.

See what $175K buys in these 10 N.J. towns

Head to Hopewell in Mercer County, where a home first built in the 1800s (and extensively renovated) is up for sale for $675,000. In addition to the three-bedroom historic home, the property also features a two-story barn, a detached garage and a converted chicken coop that's been outfitted with air conditioning, heat and electricity. 

Roughly 50 miles away in Summit, a "perfectly maintained" split level home with four bedrooms and a price tag of $675,000 is looking for a buyer. The Butler Parkway home is within walking distance to a nearby elementary school and a little more than a mile from the train. 

Take a tour through those properties and others that were on the market as of Friday for around $675,000 in the gallery above. 

Erin O'Neill may be reached at eoneill@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LedgerErin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

A look at how some of the N.J. natives in college football fared this weekend.

The School of Visual Arts student alleges police began punching and kicking him when he began recording them

WEST NEW YORK -- A Bergen County man who says he was assaulted and then arrested by police three years ago for refusing to show identification while taking pictures on the street has settled his lawsuit for $50,000.

West New York police allegedly roughed up a photography student who refused to show identification while taking pictures of a bodega.Jersey Journal file photo 

The news was first reported by NJ Civil Settlements, which provides a partial list of settlements paid by New Jersey government agencies and their insurers to those who have sued them.

Rene A. Berdugo of Hackensack, a student at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, says he was photographing a bodega on the corner of 62nd Street and Monroe Place in West New York when two officers approached him, according to court papers.

When Berdugo refused to produce ID after being asked, he was told he'd be arrested if he didn't comply, the suit said. Berdugo then took out his cell phone to begin recording.

The two officers then allegedly tried to take the phone and began punching and kicking Berdugo before taking him into custody, the suit says.

They eventually released Berdugo, but not before erasing the recording of the run-in, according to the suit. They also failed to return $40 and a necklace that Berdugo had on him when he was taken into custody, court papers says.

The incident took place on April 27, 2013; the lawsuit was settled on July 27.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The ticket was purchased in Bergen County

A seven-figure Jersey Cash 5 ticket was sold at a Bergen County supermarket for Saturday's drawing.

Someone won a $1,114,664 Jersey Cash 5 prize Saturday night.New Jersey Lottery 

The ticket, worth $1,114,664, was purchased at Foodtown on Old Tappan Road in Old Tappan, state lottery officials announced Monday.

The winning numbers were: 3, 7, 8, 21 and 33. It was the only ticket in the state to match all five numbers.

The jackpot swelled to more than $1 million following six straight days without any ticket being sold that matched five numbers. No one had a first-prize ticket for last night's drawing, pushing tonight's top prize to $156,000.

The odds of a single ticket matching five numbers are 962,598 to 1.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

More than 100 potential jurors have already been knocked off for various conflict issues, before the task of actually picking a panel of 12 has even begin.

NEWARK--The task of selecting who will sit on the jury in the high-profile Bridgegate trial finally gets into full gear on Tuesday, when prosecutors and defense attorneys begin interviewing potential panel members for the first time.

Already, 114 people out of a pool of 253 men and women have been taken off the list--those with conflicts, or time or job issues dealing with the length of the expected six-to-eight week trial, assistant U.S. attorney Lee Cortes told U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton, who is presiding over the case in Newark.

The pool of potential jurors came in last week to fill out questionnaires and review a list of names of people who may be called as witnesses, or mentioned at trial. None of them have been directly questioned yet.

Of those who made the first cut, Cortes said 60 are people who both prosecutors and the defense said they had no immediate cause to reject. Another 79 are jurors who one side or the other indicated that they would challenge.

"That's almost anticlimactic," remarked Wigenton on Monday of the quick agreement, and the equally swift hearing. She said the remaining potential jurors will be brought to the courtroom Tuesday morning, one-by-one, and questioned.

The defense will have 14 preemptory challenges to remove any potential juror without cause. The prosecutors have eight.

Who was John Doe? Court rules against media

Charged in the case are Gov. Chris Christie's former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, and Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the George Washington Bridge.

The two were indicted in May 2015 on nine counts of conspiracy and fraud, in connection with the deliberate shut down of local toll lanes at the bridge in September 2013--an operation prosecutors said was aimed at causing massive traffic jams in Fort Lee in an act of political retribution targeting Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich over his decision not to endorse Christie for re-election.

David Wildstein, a political appointee to the Port Authority who orchestrated the scheme, has already pleaded guilty and is expected to be a key witness in the case.

Baroni and Kelly say they are innocent and attorneys for both said Monday they will each testify in their own defense.

In February, Wigenton denied a defense request to move the trial outside the state, rejecting a defense motion that it would be impossible to find 12 impartial jurors from the region involving a trial that has been so politically charged.

The judge said that out of a court region covering 1,700 square miles with millions of residents, "this court is not convinced that twelve impartial individuals cannot be found from such a sizable pool of potential jurors."

Meanwhile, attorneys for Baroni have filed a new motion in the trial on Sunday, claiming that the government's case has shifted. They said the U.S. Attorney's office is now arguing for the first time, that "Baroni was motivated to commit the charged crimes, in part, because he believed that Governor Christie would appreciate him for wanting to send a message to Mayor Sokolich."

Attorney Michael Baldassare, who represents Baroni, said the indictment never made such a claim of currying favor with the governor, nor did Wildstein, and asked that any such evidence be disallowed.

"The government's legal theory has impermissibly morphed," Baldassare said in his filing, pointed out the charges only allege an intent to punish Sokolich.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

In a close win over Hawthorne, New Milford DB John Burger made an Obell Beckham-type catch in the second quarter.

HAWTHORNE- How did he catch that?

That's a question you might be asking yourself when you see the catch that New Milford defensive back John Burger made on Friday night.

In a see-saw battle with Hawthorne, Burger made the play of the game with a head-turnng interception. On the play, Hawthorne tried to air the ball out deep down the left sideline on the first sequence of the second quarter.

RELATED: Send us videos for NJ.com’s Top Football Videos of the Week contest

However, Burger, who made his first career start, backpedaled and dove full extension to make a play on the ball. He reached out with one hand and brought the ball into his body to complete the interception.

Hawthorne was up 7-6 at the time and threatening to add on to its lead. Burger came up big, though, and New Milford went on to win the football game, 21-14. 

Burger's play looked nearly identical to Odell Beckham's famous one-handed grab from two seasons ago on Sunday Night football.

To see Burger's INT, check out the video below.

Braulio Perez may be reached at bperez@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BraulioEPerez.

The vessel was located Monday shortly before 6 p.m.

ALPINE-- Marine units from Westchester County, N.Y. and the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police responded when a boat containing about 35 passengers became disabled while sailing on the Hudson River Monday afternoon, Parkway police said in a Twitter alert. 

The vessel was found shortly before 6 p.m. near the New York state line. 

No one was injured, News 4 New York reported. 

Authorities identified the craft as the Clearwater, operated by a nonprofit in Beacon, N.Y., that hosts sailing trips along the Hudson to promote environmental awareness. The 106-foot sailing vessel was launched in 1969. 

It was not immediately known why the boat became stranded. A call placed to Clearwater was not immediately returned. 

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.