A section of Route 17 southbound was closed in the city as firefighters battled a truck fire on the highway Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Route 17 southbound was closed, near the Lodi border, in Hackensack Sept. 8, 2015511nj.org 

The fire was reported on the highway's ramp to Route 80, the fire department said. 

All southbound lanes of Route 17 were closed as of around 2:30 p.m., according to the state Department of Transportation. 

One person suffered minor injuries, according to the fire department.

In an online alert, Maywood police warned motorists to "expect major delays" in the area.

Lodi police said the highway was closed near Summit Avenue and asked drivers to avoid the area.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

A 26-year-old North Bergen man was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl, authorities said Tuesday.

Kevin Quiroz Bergen County Prosecutor's Office 

Kevin Quiroz faces charges of sexual assault, child endangerment and criminal sexual contact, according to Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.

Fairview police and prosecutor's Special Victims Unit detectives arrested Quiroz on Monday, Molinelli said in a statement. He allegedly "engaged in inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature" with the girl multiple times.

The girl knew Quiroz, according to the prosecutor.

Authorities said Quiroz was ordered held at the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. 

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

The six charged in the scheme are accused of defrauding investors to purchase multiple homes, pay for restaurant bills, finance vacations and buy seven luxury cars, officials said.

Less than a week after a father and son were arrested in an alleged short sale scheme in Bergen County, the pair was among six charged in a scam that authorities say defrauded investors of more than $3 million, officials said Tuesday.

George Bussanich Sr., 56, of Park Ridge, and George Bussanich Jr., 35, of Upper Saddle River, are accused of launching the alleged multi-million-dollar fraud scheme in 2014 weeks after settling a civil action lawsuit with the New Jersey Bureau of Securities for $5.5 million, the state Attorney General's office said.

"The audacity of these defendants is astounding," said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. "After the Bureau of Securities exposed how this father and son deceived investors, securing a $5.5 million settlement against them, the defendants allegedly went right back to their old game, defrauding investors of another $3 million and even using some of the new funds to make payments under the settlement. The game is up for these con artists, who potentially face very long prison sentences."

After Bussanich and his son settled the suit last year, which accused the two of defrauding 26 investors out of more than $4 million, authorities say the father and son solicited millions more from 15 of the same investors for a "new bogus investment."

Investors would receive monthly returns but the money was never invested, according to Hoffman.

Instead, the money was used to purchase multiple homes, pay for restaurant bills, finance vacations and buy seven luxury cars, including two Maserati Quattroportes, a Ferrari F430 Spider and a Mercedes ML350, Hoffman said in a release.

The monthly returns, which made the investment seem legitimate, were paid out from the original principal investment, according to the state Attorney General's office.

Additionally, the father and son were barred from selling securities in New Jersey as a result of the settlement, Hoffman said in the release.

Also charged in the scheme was George Bussanich Sr.'s wife, Wilma Bussanich, 54, as well as Heidi Francavilla, 56, of Park Ridge, Robert G. Schooley, 64, of Park Ridge and Brendan M. Byrne, 44, of Paterson.

The New Jersey residents all face first-degree charges of conspiracy, racketeering and money laundering, which carry sentences up to 20 years in state prison and up to $200,000 in fines.

Bussanich and Bussanich Jr. were held on $350,000 bail while the other four's bail was set at $300,000.

Craig McCarthy may be reached at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

After more than 18,000 votes, NJ.com readers have chosen the Top 5 tattoo shops in New Jersey. See them here!

After more than 18,000 votes in the semifinal round of the search for New Jersey's best tattoo shop, it's time to reveal our five finalists.  

Each of these tremendous shops -- three from South Jersey, one Central and one North -- will be visited, interviewed, written about and photographed in the coming weeks. 

They will be judged on the parlor's breadth and quality of work, cleanliness and safety, professionalism and atmosphere. 

Then finally, a winner will be chosen, and named New Jersey's best tattoo shop. 

See the finalists below, and check out more of their artwork in the photo slideshow above. 

The five finalists are: 

12 oz Studios, Brooklawn and Deptford

A tattoo inked by 12 oz Studios in Brooklawn and Deptford. (Courtesy of 12 oz Studios)

Rorschach Gallery, Edison

Two tattoos inked by artists at Rorschach Gallery in Edison. (Courtesy of Rorschach Gallery) 

Pure Ink Tattoo, Ledgewood

A tattoo inked by Pure Ink Tattoo in Ledgewood. (Courtesy of Pure Ink Tattoo) 

South Vineland Firehouse Tattoo, Vineland 

A tattoo inked by South Vineland Firehouse Tattoos in Vineland. (Courtesy of South Vineland Firehouse Tattoos) 

Eternal Ink, Williamstown

A tattoo inked at Eternal Ink in Williamstown. (Courtesy of Eternal Ink) 

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

Local students are studying from southern California to New England and everywhere in between.

Last month, we asked NJ.com readers to tell us where New Jersey college students are matriculating this semester. Lots of you answered our call, and we plotted the info you gave us on the map below.

Each point on the map shows where a New Jersey high school grad is studying. Click the points to find out a little about each student, including their college and major.

If you're in college and you're not on our map, we want to see you there. Fill out the form below to get us your information.

John Shabe may be reached at jshabe@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johndshaber. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

NEWARK--Sam Topaz, who grew up in Fort Lee, was a talented singer who had hopes of studying at a prestigious Boston music school.

On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty of planning to join ISIS.

The 21-year-old was arrested by the FBI in June with several friends--including a former classmate from Fort Lee High School who had converted him from Judaism to Islam.

In court before U.S District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark, Topaz admitted he had conspired to travel overseas with his friends, with the intent to join the Islamic State, known as ISIS or ISIL. He pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiring with others to provide services and personnel to ISIL

Topaz, in a black skull cap, shackled and wearing a yellow prison-issue jumpsuit from the Essex County Correctional Facility, also indicated he would cooperate in providing further testimony if called upon to do so by federal prosecutors.

An attorney for Topaz said his friends had plans to stage an attack on the lawn of the White House because they were unable to leave the country. Federal prosecutors have not commented beyond the charges outlined in a string of indictments filed in Newark and Brooklyn.

When sentenced in November, he could face 20 years or more behind bars.

"The crimes Samuel Topaz admitted today threatened the safety of Americans here and abroad," said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said. "Our efforts to cut off the flow of fighters and resources to known terrorist organizations will not stop with his guilty plea. We have charges pending against his conspirators and remain vigilant against these terrorist operations."

The case against Topaz and five others--including an unnamed juvenile--grew out of an FBI/Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation spanning New Jersey and New York, sparked by a call from the mother of Topaz, according to his attorney, Ian Hirsch of Hackensack.

In court filings, the FBI said the mother had expressed concerns that his friends were trying to convince him to "do something stupid." She told them that those friends were "preying on his insecurities and pain."

Charged with Topaz was Nader Saadeh, 20, who went to high school with him and converted him; Saadeh's older brother, Alaa, 23, of West New York; Munther Omar Saleh, a 20-year-old engineering student fom Queens who the FBI said it believes was planning on building a deadly pressure cooker bomb; Fareed Mumuni, 21, of Staten Island, who is charged with attacking federal agents who came to arrest him with a kitchen knife; and the unnamed 16-year-old.

All are being held awaiting trial.

The case marks a growing string of similar arrests nationwide of U.S. citizens charged with seeking to join ISIS.

Since March of 2014, nearly 60 men and woman have been charged with conspiring to aid ISIS, which now controls a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq, according to the Center on National Security at Fordham Law. Those numbers have soared in recent months, with 42 cases filed in U.S. courts just this year.

Topaz lived at home with his mother and a younger brother, friends have said. A singer and musician, he had been accepted to Boston's Berklee College of Music, but was unable to go because of financial reasons. Instead, he enrolled in Bergen Community College after graduation but dropped out after a semester.

He played on the varsity football team as a junior and graduated from Fort Lee High School with Nader Saadeh in June 2013.

"He was just a teenager. He's not a terrorist. He just went the wrong way," said the attorney. They were all friends."

While he said some of the others had talked about "going to the White House lawn and killing whoever they could because they could not get out of the country," Hirsch said Topaz played no role in any such plot. But he acknowledged he took no steps to report it.

The case was handled in court by Assistant U.S. Attorneys L. Judson Welle, Dennis C. Carletta, and Francisco J. Navarro of the U.S. Attorney's Office National Security Unit in Newark.

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

 

Monica Mogg(Bergen County Prosecutor's Office) 

HACKENSACK--A New York woman faces two life sentences for killing her ex-boyfriend and his then-girlfriend in October 2012, authorities said. 

Monica Mogg, 51, was sentenced on Wednesday to two consecutive 75-year prison sentences for killing Arthur Noeldechen, 52, and Lillian Kim, 42, in Kim's River Edge bedroom in 2012, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. Mogg admitted in June that she stalked Noeldechen in the months leading up to the murders. On Oct. 30, 2013, she shot Noeldechen with a .22-caliber rifle and then stabbed Kim with a hunting knife, authorities said. 

RELATED: Prosecutor: N.Y. woman accused of River Edge double murder stalked victims for months

Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said on Wednesday that he was grateful that the judge imposed two consecutive life sentences. 

"The two victims were the subject of a planned and cruel execution with Mogg firing six rounds and then using a knife on her female victim," Molinelli said in a statement provided to NJ Advance Media. "The victims and their families are entitled to justice and to have made them concurrent would have sent the message that neither of them would solely receive their day of justice."

Mogg's attorney, David Goldstein, told The Bergen Record that his client never intended to kill Kim. He said Mogg grabbed the knife during a struggle with Kim.  

Kathryn Brenzel may be reached at kbrenzel@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @katiebrenzel. Find NJ.com on Facebook

 

DUMONT - Firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze at a dry cleaning shop in the borough Wednesday morning, fire officials said.

There were no injuries and a dog was rescued from the building on Grant Avenue, according to the fire department.

Multiple 9-1-1 calls came in reporting the fire around 10:15 a.m. and crews found thick smoke and heavy fire at the scene, the department said. Responders arrived within seconds of the reports. 

Firefighters initially searched for people possibly trapped on the structure's second floor apartments, but found everyone was out of the building, officials said.

A police officer carried the dog out to its owner, said Fire Chief Matthew Banta, who was in command at the scene, NorthJersey.com reported. 

Tenafly and Cresskill firefighters responded to the scene, along with the Dumont Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Haworth ambulance service.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

WASHINGTON -- With the Capitol dome behind them, hundreds of Orthodox rabbis gathered Wednesday as Rabbi Shmuel Goldin of Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood sounded the shofar, the ram's horn heard in synagogue during the Jewish high holidays that begin Sunday evening.

Golden's blasts this time were not a call to worship but a call to Congress to reject the agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program for more than a decade in exchange for relaxing sanctions. He blew the shofar as Congress began debating the deal.

While enough Senate Democrats have endorsed the agreement to ensure that Congress will not be able to override President Obama's expected veto of any resolution rejecting the deal -- and may be able to prevent the Senate from getting the 60 votes it needs to pass the measure -- the Orthodox rabbis said they weren't going to remain silent.

"We continue to lobby our legislations, and as religious Jews we lobby God," said Rabbi Shalom Baum of Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, president of the Rabbinical Council of America. "When you have an opportunity to scream and dissent and you are silent you have done wrong. We scream out today in protest and prayer."

RELATED: Trump leads Tea Party rally against Iran agreement at U.S. Capitol

White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters Wednesday that the likelihood of Congress rejecting the deal had become more remote.

"We've been gratified that over the past few weeks, as more lawmakers learn and study this complicated deal, the passing or overturning a veto on a resolution like that has become less and less likely,'' he said.

The rabbis' protest was led by the advocacy arm of the Orthodox Union, whose OU on grocery packages is the gold standard for kosher products, and drew rabbis from across the country. It preceded a much larger rally against the agreement staged across Constitution Avenue, which featured Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

The Orthodox Union's executive vice president, Allen Fagin, said the deal will give international recognition to "the most evil and dangerous regime in the history of the world" and therefore the group must push for additional military support for Israel. Iran leaders have threatened to destroy the Jewish state.

Even if opponents of the deal don't have the votes to kill it, Fagin said, "we gather to lobby for the narrowest of margins and pray that saner heads will prevail."

Baum joined Gov. Chris Christie at a press conference at Rutgers University last month to urge U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to vote against the deal. Booker announced Sept. 3 that he would support the agreement, albeit less than wholeheartedly.

"We're disappointed in Senator Booker,'' Baum said before Wednesday's protest. "He's voting for the deal but with a great deal of ambivalence. I wish he would have paid more attention to the ambivalence."

MORE POLITICS

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Michelle Hong, 15 (New Jersey State Police) 

DEMAREST -- A 15-year-old girl who had been reported missing has been found, police said Wednesday.

Michelle Hong was located in stable condition, Demarest Police said on Facebook.

Police on Friday asked for help locating Hong. She had last been seen in Demarest Sept. 1.

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

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state's largest health insurer, announced Thursday that it plans to offer new lower-priced insurance policies that offer discounts for care provided at 34 selected hospitals.

Individual and employers who buy new Horizon policies that rely on those hospitals can save money on premiums, deductibles and co-pays, according to Horizon. Prices and coverage details of those policies will not be announced until next month, however.

In return for providing quality care at a lower cost, 22 of those hospitals will receive higher reimbursements from Horizon, the company said. 

The OMNIA Health Alliance, which Horizon said is the first of its kind in the state, moves away from a fee-for-service model to one that offers "fee-for-value," a Horizon spokesman said.

Horizon CEO Robert A. Marino said the collaboration with hospitals will require "a new level of trust" between two groups that have often wrestled over hospital bills, with insurers feeling they're being over-billed and doctors and hospitals complaining they're being short-changed.

"There has always been angst between payers and providers," Marino said. "With this collaboration, we are truly partners." 

Under most insurance policies, patients are billed based on the services they receive - whether it's a heart bypass, hospital stay, stint at a rehab center, or home health visits. That means any complication - a wound that won't heal, or a rocky convalesce that puts the patient back in the hospital - costs patients and their insurers more money.

Under this new alliance, participating hospitals and physicians will be rewarded for quality care that results in speedy recovery, Horizon said. OMNIA will also emphasize preventive care that heads off health problems before they snowball into crises.

Quality care that avoids problems is not only better for the patient, but is almost always less expensive, Marino noted.

The 22 participating hospitals include some of the titans of the health care landscape - at least in the northern part of the state: Hackensack University Health System, Atlantic Health System, Barnabas Health, and Robert Wood Johnson Health System. The OMNIA rolls also include Summit Medical group, a multi-specialty physician group.

They were chosen for their quality, their willingness to embrace a different pay structure, their location, their infrastructure, and their reputation among Horizon customers, said Kevin P. Conlin, Executive Vice President for Healthcare Management at Horizon.

Customers with OMNIA policies will be able to get care at any of Horizon's in-network hospitals. However, they will receive added savings if they stick with one of the 22 on the list, or any of the hospitals in the insurer's network, which includes all but three of the hospitals statewide.

Left out of the group are many of the hospitals serving the inner cities, Catholic hospitals, and some of the major hospitals in southern Jersey - including Cooper University Medical Center in Camden. 

Also not included were any for-profit hospitals, whose policy of charging highest-in-the-nation fees for emergency care has been a bone of contention with the state's insurers. A bid earlier this year by some state legislators to impose an arbitration system on such fees went nowhere in Trenton.

As always, people who require emergency care should go to the nearest emergency room without fear of any financial penalty, Marino said. 

Although OMNIA will not be a separate company, it will trigger the creation of about 200 new jobs to service the new portfolio of products. Marino said that customers who choose an OMNIA policy can expect to receive more pre-sale and post-sale education about how the plan works. 

Horizon is betting that the new arrangement will allow it to give its customers access to top hospitals while at the same time lowering premiums and deductibles, said Joel Cantor, director of the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University, who was briefed on the plan by Horizon. 

"They're taking a bold move - and not without risk," he said. Should the arrangement fail to deliver the projected savings, the lower premiums will be unsustainable.

Horizon is the largest provider of health insurance in the state, with market shares ranging from half to two-thirds depending on the category.

Without plan details, it's hard to know what kind of insurance OMNIA customers will be getting for their premiums, said Linda Schwimmer, vice president at the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. 

"The changes are going to happen, and there's a lot of good stuff in some of these products," she said. "They're much better than the high deductible products of the past, where consumers were afraid to see a doctor at all because of the high co-pays."

The hospitals participating in OMNIA are:

• Chilton Medical Center
• Clara Maass Medical Center
• Community Medical Center, Toms River
• Hackensack UMC Mountainside
• Hackensack University Medical Center
• Hackensack UMC at Pascack Valley
• Hunterdon Medical Center
• Inspira Medical Center Elmer
• Inspira Medical Center Vineland
• Inspira Medical Center Woodbury
• Jersey City Medical Center
• Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus
• Monmouth Medical Center
• Morristown Medical Center
• Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
• Newton Medical Center
• Overlook Medical Center
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton
• Saint Barnabas Medical Center

Hackettstown Medical Center, which is in the process of being acquired by Atlantic Health, will ultimately be folded into the OMNIA group, according to Conlin. 

Meridian Health, the Shore-based hospital system that is merging with Hackensack, will also be incorporated into the new alliance at some point, he said.

Twelve other hospitals will not be part of the OMNIA partnership, but will be considered Tier One hospitals where care will cost the same as at the OMNIA facilities.

One long-term concern, said Schwimmer, will be the impact the OMNIA arrangement might have on the hospitals that are not included in it - particularly those that see a lot of uninsured or Medicaid patients. If they start to see a large drop in privately insured patients, their fiscal health could be imperiled. 

"One of government's charges is to make sure we have a system that takes care of these individuals," she said. "You have to make sure your essential hospitals are there because if they aren't, the state is going to have to step in to support them financially."

OMNIA does not need approval by the state's regulators, said Marino. State officials had been briefed about the collaboration, though. "They're fully aware of what we're doing and have not seen a problem from any regulatory perspective," he said. 

Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

Darius Ghahary, 46, of Upper Saddle River. (Bergen County Prosecutor's Office) 

HACKENSACK -- An Upper Saddle River man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to an indictment charging him with running a drug mill and manslaughter in the overdose death of a teenager, the Record reported.

Darius Ghahary, 46, allegedly sold a drug to Daniel Lajterman tainted with the potent synthetic opiate fentanyl in February. The 19-year-old was found dead Feb. 23, 2014 in his Ramsey home.

Investigators found fentanyl, oxycodone, Xanax, Adderall, Hydromorphone, synthetic THC, steroids, MDMA, marijuana and other drugs in Ghahary's home and storage units, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said after Ghahary's arrest.

Members of Lajterman's family shouted "murderer!" at Ghahary's 23-year-old daughter Allyn Gahary, who pleaded not guilty Tuesday to hindering prosecution by destroying electronic evidence.

Lajterman was a Ramsey High School graduate who played football with Ghahary's son.

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

NEWARK -- Dawn drug raids across north and central New Jersey resulted in several arrests, NJ Advance Media has learned.

The Thursday morning police raids were a part of a joint-investigation by multiple Essex County law enforcement agencies into a heroin distribution ring operating primarily in Newark's South Ward, a law enforcement source said.

Teams of officers, including New Jersey State Police SWAT teams, Essex County Prosecutor's Office officials and Newark police, participated in the execution of the search and arrest warrants, the source said. 

On Thursday morning, several officers could be seen bursting through the doors of two separate Newark residences.

Officers appeared to take two suspects -- one male and one female -- into custody outside an apartment residence in the 100 block of Spruce Street in Newark.

At a similar raid at a home in the 100 block of Hobson Street, authorities led a male suspect wearing handcuffs into a waiting car while neighbors looked on.

In Rahway, investigators could be seen removing bags and boxes after a team of officers entered a town home in the 400 block of Hancock Street. Hours later, authorities led a man from the home in handcuffs.

Similar raids were conducted in Monmouth, Essex, and Bergen Counties, the source said.

The total number of those arrested in the takedown was not immediately made clear.

Staff writer Dan Ivers and staff photographer Andy Mills contributed to this report.

Vernal Coleman can be reached at vcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vernalcoleman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

A woman bit another woman in a robbery at Van Saun County Park on Sept. 9, 2015, a Bergen County Sheriff's Office spokesman said. (NJ.com file photo) 

PARAMUS - A woman bit and robbed another woman in Van Saun County Park, authorities said Thursday.

The victim was walking her dog in the park around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday when the assailant stole her cellphone and bit her several times, Bergen County Sheriff's Office spokesman Anthony Cureton said.

The woman, a Hackensack resident in her 50s, also suffered scratches and bruises in the attack, the spokesman added.

Authorities described the robber as an Asian woman, in her late 20s to 40s, 5-foot-3, about 110 pounds with dark hair in a ponytail and wearing athletic clothing.

Investigators believe she frequents the park, according to Cureton.

Anyone with information was asked to call Detective David Saldana of Sheriff Office's Bureau of Police Services at 201-646-2700.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

TEANECK - About a year after a bus rider forum where commuters packed a room to vent about third-world like conditions at the Port Authority bus terminal, some had a different message for NJ Transit and other officials Wednesday night.

There was some praise for work done since last summer to reduce lines, waits and improve conditions.

That doesn't mean it was a total love fest at Wednesday's forum held by State Senators Loretta Weinberg, Robert Gordon and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen). Commuters brought up concerns about delays, problems with the express bus lane, issues with local bus service and a request for downtown service.

"Personally I want to say thank you to (NJ Transit bus general manager) Dennis Martin because I can get home in a half hour," said Carol Skiba of Hasbrook Heights.

GOT QUESTIONS?

Ticked off about mass transit? Wondering about road construction? E-mail your questions to NJ.com's transportation expert Larry Higgs. He'll answer your questions on Tuesdays and Thursdays on NJ.com. You can also Tweet @CommutingLarry.

While praising efforts of getting buses in and out of the terminal, Skiba said nothing has been done to improve operation of the Xclusive Bus Lane in the 39 years she's been commuting. She suggested creating a second bus lane in the mornings.

"There is tons of traffic. My commute from Hasbrook Heights takes 20 minutes (to get to the XBL) and another hour in the bus lane," she said. 

The XBL problems are physical obstructions that prevent it from being expanded and traffic incidents that cause back-ups, said Diannae Ehler, bus terminal manager.

RELATED: Why do private companies get 612 free buses from NJ Transit?

"Something goes wrong every single day that backs up traffic through the toll lanes and makes it difficult for buses," she said.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority and transportation department are working with the Port Authority on ways to improve traffic flow on the XBL, Martin said.

Adam Rothschild of Teaneck was one of several commuters who asked NJ Transit for bus service to downtown New York. He said there are times when he has ditched the bus for his car.

"On occasions, I'll drive to Manhattan when I'm time crunched and I see an alert about major transit delays to the city," Rothschild said. "If there was bus service downtown, I'd definitely use it."

That requires permission from New York City transportation officials to drop-off and pick-up passengers on the street and NJ Transit tries not to duplicate service provided by NYC Transit, Martin said.

After the forum, Martin said he wasn't surprised to hear compliments from riders.

"The team at NJ Transit and the Port Authority have worked hard, it's gratifying to hear it, especially after what we heard a year ago," Martin said.

Other riders asked when work would be finished at the George Washington Bridge bus terminal. That could be completed in the first or second quarter of next year, said Cedrick T. Fulton, Port Authority Director of bridges, tunnels and terminals. 

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

A fire destroyed two vehicles and a shed in River Vale, Sept. 10, 2015. (File Photo) 

RIVER VALE -- A fire destroyed two vehicles and a shed Thursday morning, police said.

Firefighters responded to a Prospect Avenue home at 12:21 a.m. after a 911 caller reported a car fire, River Vale Detective Sgt. John DeVoe said.

A shed and three vehicles parked in the driveway were on fire when they arrived, DeVoe said. The fire destroyed the shed, a Jeep and a BMW before it was distinguished. Another Jeep was also damaged.

The fire was kept from reaching the home, DeVoe said. No one was hurt.

River Vale detectives, as well as the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Arson Squad and the Sheriff's Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating the fire. DeVoe said the Arson Squad is assisting because the damage was significant and the cause isn't clear.

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

A Glen Rock man pleaded guilty in Newark federal court on Thursday to his role in a $3 million real estate investment scam. Star-Ledger file photo 

GLEN ROCK--A Glen Rock man pleaded guilty on Thursday to his role in a $3.4 million real estate investment scam. 

Paul Mancuso, 49, admitted to posing as a real estate developer, broker and investor to get financing for bogus projects, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a release. Mancuso pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in Newark federal court, shedding five wire fraud charges as part of a plea agreement.   

Mancuso and Pasquale Stiso, 52, a disbarred attorney, were indicted in August 2014 for allegedly defrauding 15 people of $3.4 million. The two convinced their victims to invest in developing a pizzeria in the Bahamas, a casino in Atlantic City, a commercial shopping center and a property in Matawan, Fishman said. In reality, the money was used for their personal expenses and illegal gambling, he said.

RELATED: N.J. man, disbarred attorney from N.Y. accused of duping investors out of $3.4 million

The conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge carries up to 20 years in prison. Mancuso is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 12, 2016. An attorney for Mancuso, Stacy Biancamano, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. 

Stiso's charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud are still pending.  

Kathryn Brenzel may be reached at kbrenzel@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @katiebrenzel. Find NJ.com on Facebook

 

City police on Wednesday asked for the public's help in identifying two males they said stole spray paint and used it to vandalize school district property.

GARFIELD -- City police on Wednesday asked for the public's help in identifying two males they said stole spray paint and used it to vandalize school district property.

Police on Sept. 3 discovered graffiti at the Board of Education building at Passaic Street and Marsellus Place, Capt. Darren Sucorowski said in a statement. Officers found a construction tarp at the building defaced with tags, including "MASTO," "IKC" and "LA."

The two suspects shoplifted the paint from the Passaic Street Walmart store around 2:15 a.m. and committed the vandalism about 15 minutes later, according to Sucorowski.

City officials offered a $100 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the pair, police said.

Anyone with information was asked to call Sgt. John Lesica at 973-478-8500, ext. 4140.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

Have you gone to school on New Jersey news, or will you get schooled?

Kids across New Jersey headed back to class this week as lazy summer days were replaced by the rigors of academia. Similarly, it's time for you to tighten up your game in NJ.com's weekly news quiz. The seven questions below will snap you out of your idyllic summer haze with a cold dose of reality. Once you're done, share your score in comments to establish your class rank among NJ.commers. And remember, you're not being graded on a curve.

Philip Cise, 51, of Dover, pleaded guilty this past July to vehicular homicide while under the influence for the crash that killed 20-year-old Gabrielle Reuveni as she was jogging near her parents' vacation home in July 2012, The Record previously reported.

Phililp Cise, 51, of Dover, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide Friday, The Record reported. (File Photo)

The man who admitted to fatally striking a Paramus woman in the Poconos three years with his pickup truck while he was using painkillers was sentenced on Thursday to three to six years in state prison, according to The Record.

Philip Cise, 51, of Dover, pleaded guilty this past July to vehicular homicide while under the influence for the crash that killed 20-year-old Gabrielle Reuveni as she was jogging near her parents' vacation home in July 2012, the newspaper previously reported.

After he serves his prison sentence, Cise, who has a history of mental illness issues and run-ins with police, must also complete four years of supervised probation, the newspaper reported. Based on his time served, Cise could be eligible for parole in about a year, the newspaper reported.

As reported by NJ.com, Reuveni, the 2010 valedictorian of Paramus High School, was a rising junior at Washington University in St. Louis, studying international affairs with a concentration in regional sustainability and a minor in Spanish.

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