NJ counties graded on air quality – NJ Top News

Here are the top New Jersey news stories for Thursday, April 25

NJ Cop Kept Child Porn Images From Local Investigation, Cops Say

VINELAND — A police sergeant accused of uploading child porn is now charged with taking images from a police investigation.

Christopher Ortiz of Estell Manor was charged and arrested in March 2023 by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office after Synchronoss Technologies reported the upload of 76 files identified as apparent sexual exploitation of children both males and females.

A grand jury indicted Ortiz on charges of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, by possessing child sexual exploitation/abuse material, 100 or more items, second-degree official conduct and third-degree tampering with public records.

Ortiz was suspended without pay, the Vineland Solicitor's Office told Platkin.

What Are You Really Breathing In? NJ Counties Graded On Air Quality

A 2024 report from the American Lung Association suggests air quality is improving in New Jersey, but there are still parts of the state that see pollution data moving in the wrong direction.

According to the "State of the Air" report, which looked at ozone smog and particle pollution (aka soot), more than 131 million people in the U.S. live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution.

Air quality is measured in 16 of New Jersey's counties.

In the Garden State specifically, nine counties posted their best results for ozone smog, which is typically formed in the atmosphere through pollutants emitted by vehicles and factories.

Democratic Officials Get NJ School To Cancel Pro-Palestinian Walkout

VOORHEES — A walkout in support of Palestine by students at Eastern Regional High School has been canceled following an outcry by top Democratic officials in Camden County.

In its stead, a broader peace rally has been scheduled.

The lunchtime walkout that district administrators had approved would have happened Friday afternoon in the football stadium.

Camden County Commissioners Jeffrey Nash and Melinda Kane called on Superintendent Robert S. Cloutier to cancel the event, arguing that it would happen during the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Gamechanger: NJ Reacts To Law Affecting Cancelled Flights

By October, U.S. travelers should expect a refund if a flight gets canceled or is significantly delayed.

On Wednesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg helped outline the new protective law for airline passengers.

Flights being "significantly" delayed would be defined as three hours or more domestic, and six hours international.

The new regulations also cover bag fees being refunded if baggage is lost or severely delayed from arriving with a traveler at their destination.

NJ Gas Station Worker Accused Of Scamming Thousands From Victims

A 48-year-old gas station worker has been accused of stealing thousands of dollars from over a dozen customers at a popular business along Route 9, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago.

Patrick A. Brown, of Newark, has been indicted by a Monmouth County Grand Jury on 52 third- and fourth-degree counts — 13 counts each of credit card fraud, false uttering, theft and credit card theft.

Last summer, Freehold Township Police, led by Sgt. Sean Foley, found a pattern of thefts for a “limited amount of time in August 2023” at the Wawa gas station along the northbound highway.

Brown allegedly would take a credit card or debit card from a customer and swipe it through an “attached device on his personal phone,” before using it to pay for the actual gas order.

Each time, he funneled hundreds of dollars at a time into a bank account that Brown controlled, police said.

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