Answers about Keyport cancer cluster?—NJ Top News
Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show on Friday:
🔗 Empty shelves at Foodtown? NJ supermarket owners break silence
🍅 Empty shelves at three Monmouth County Foodtown stores sparked closure rumors, but the family-owned supermarket chain says the stores are staying open amid a supplier dispute.
🍅 Foodtown’s CEO apologized to shoppers and blamed the shortages on problems with the company’s primary grocery supplier, promising shelves will soon be restocked.
🍅 Viral TikTok videos and comparisons to recently shuttered Monmouth County stores fueled panic online, prompting local officials to reassure worried customers.
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS — Let’s be clear: Three Monmouth County Foodtown supermarkets are not closing despite social media posts reporting empty shelves and sparking chatter that the next move would be permanent closures.
That’s the word from Circus Foodtown President and CEO Lou Scaduto Jr., who owns the three Foodtown locations in Red Bank, Atlantic Highlands, and Wall.
Shoppers have reported empty shelves at these three Foodtown supermarkets and said they looked like the stores in Middletown and Port Monmouth right before they closed.
But despite what people have read on social media, the Foodtown stores are not closing, Scaduto Jr. wrote in an apology to shoppers.
“On behalf of the Azzolina and Scaduto families, please let us apologize for the unacceptable conditions you are currently seeing in our stores. It is not our intent to operate this way, but our family-owned business is currently in a dispute with our primary grocery supplier that we are actively trying to work through,” Scaduto Jr. said.
🔗 Judges: Jersey City wrongly forced out cops over legal marijuana
🗄 Jersey City cops who used legal weed off-duty were offered other civil service jobs
🚫 Previous mayor said federal law bans cannabis users from legally carrying guns
🏛 Appellate court says the officers should never have been fired
JERSEY CITY — Two off-duty police officers who used legal cannabis should never have been fired, a state appellate panel recently ruled on a years-long case in Hudson County.
New Jersey made recreational cannabis legal in 2021, with the signing of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act.
Part of the law bans employers from taking any adverse action against any employee solely for testing positive for cannabis.
The state’s first legal, recreational sales of cannabis began in April 2022.
While random drug testing for law enforcement has since been changed, that year it was still very spontaneous.
In September 2022, the Jersey City Police Department administered random drug tests, during which five different officers tested positive for cannabis use.
Two of those officers, Norhan Mansour and Omar Polanco, were separately interviewed by Internal Affairs — and said they had only made regulated purchases of legal cannabis, which they had only used while off-duty.
Mansour even kept the receipts for three purchases made in June, July, and August 2022, according to court documents.
The city wound up offering them other civil service positions, instead of their previous jobs as firearm bearing law enforcement — and a court battle followed.
🔗 Town hall Sunday may bring Keyport answers about cancer cases
☑️There are more than 40 cancer cases near a contaminated Keyport landfill
☑️State officials say testing at the former Aeromarine site could begin within weeks
☑️A public town hall at Keyport High School is scheduled for Sunday
KEYPORT — More than 40 cancer cases linked to one neighborhood near a toxic Monmouth County landfill are now fueling fears across New Jersey about what could be lurking beneath longtime industrial sites in their own backyards.
State officials say testing could begin within weeks at the former Aeromarine landfill in Keyport, where residents have spent years demanding answers about contamination that has sat unresolved along Raritan Bay for more than a decade.
The growing concern is no longer just about one street or one town. It’s about whether aging polluted sites around New Jersey are putting families at risk while cleanup efforts drag on for years.
The controversy exploded after a report identified over 40 cancer cases near the site, including 28 on a single block of First Street. Now, frustrated residents want to know whether toxins from the uncapped landfill may have played a role, and why the site was allowed to remain in limbo for so long.
The DEP discovered the testing wells on site are in better condition than anticipated, which will allow sampling on the site to begin “within the next few weeks” and be completed in two months. Acting DEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak has also visited the site, according to the legislators.
On Sunday, the DEP will host a town hall meeting at 4:30 p.m. at Keyport High School. A presentation about their investigation will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
🔗 Red Bank Regional student killed by NJ Transit train
🚨A 16-year-old Red Bank Regional student was struck by an NJ Transit train
🚨Authorities say he was wearing headphones at the time of the accident
🚨The teen was remembered as a beloved athlete whose kindness 'touched everyone'
RED BANK — A teen was struck and killed Wednesday morning by a train on the North Jersey Coast Line.
The agency said New York-bound train No. 3218 from Long Branch struck the male at the Red Bank station around 6:20 a.m. None of the crew and the 55 passengers on board were injured. Service was suspended between Long Branch and Matawan for several hours.
New Jersey 101.5 has confirmed the victim was a 16-year-old Red Bank Regional High School student. His name and the circumstances of the incident have not been disclosed by NJ Transit police, which is leading the investigation. Red Bank American Youth Football identified him as a former player named Terry.
Authorities have refused to officially identify the teen. The Asbury Park Press is reporting he was wearing headphones at the time he was struck.
"This is a time of immense loss for our school community. We are holding the family close in our hearts. We will continue to do all we can to support our students and school community during this difficult time," superintendent Louis Moore said.
Grief counselors and support staff were available at the school on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Red Bank Green.
Red Bank Deputy Mayor Kate Triggiano said a memorial was held on Wednesday evening for the teen she said touched countless lives with his “kindness and personality."
"He is loved by his family, his peers, his teammates, his coaches, his neighbors, his classmates, his teachers, everyone," Triggiano said.
🔗 South Jersey church carnival adds rules after Maple Shade chaos
🚨St. Mary of the Lakes Carnival increased security after teen fights
🚨Organizers worked closely with police to keep the Medford carnival family-friendly
🚨 Concerns grew after the Maple Shade Tigers Youth Football Carnival shut down
MEDFORD — After a large crowd forced the cancellation of a charity carnival, a South Jersey church is prepared for a similar occurrence.
Organizers of the St. Mary of the Lakes Carnival in Medford worked with police to be ready for this week’s carnival, which started Monday and runs through Saturday. So far things have gone well at the carnival with disruptions.
St. Mary follows a similar schedule, followed by the Maple Shade Tigers Youth Football Carnival, which was canceled the night of Friday, May 1, after a large number of teens arrived and began fighting. There were also rumors online and in the crowd of some teens carrying weapons.
"Carnivals are meant to be fun, family-friendly fundraising activities held within the communities," the church said in their announcement. "We are hoping the measures will prevent anything unwanted."
The carnival is the church's largest fundraiser of the year and is expected to raise $100,000. Father Dan Swift, pastor of St. Mary of the Lakes, partially blamed parents for the unruly behavior.
"We have these bad actors that are coming in and trying to ruin every event in South Jersey for families who want to enjoy themselves. For what? What's your point? And moms and dads, where are you?" Swift told 6 ABC Action News.
ICE arrests: 'Worst of the worst' in New Jersey
Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5
High expenses necessary to raise just one kid in NJ
Gallery Credit: Mike Brant
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