How safe is your kid’s school — NJ Top News

Here are the top New Jersey news stories for Friday:

⬛ Dine-and-dash mom drives away with NJ diner owner on hood of car

EWING — Police are investigating two different thefts that happened within four days of each other at the Ewing Diner.

Peter Gromitsaris said two men wearing hats, dark glasses, masks and hoodies broke into the restaurant on Parkway Avenue in Ewing around 4:50 a.m Thursday.

The theft that seems to bother Gromitsaris more was a woman and a young girl who ran out on a $58 lunch check on Sept. 29.

"She almost hit me when she reversed the car. I went to the right side and approached. She cracked the window a little bit and she says 'get out of my way or I kill you,'" Gromitsaris said. "She drove the car twice into me. I was up front and jumped on the hood."

⬛ NJ schools can't keep students as safe as they'd like

Many schools in New Jersey want to be safer than they actually are.

School administrators suggest the Garden State is out of touch with its approach to promoting the security of students, in terms of both policy and finances.

"Our current existence is sort of leaving it up to 600 different districts to figure out their way to best do it," said Charles Sampson, superintendent of the Freehold Regional High School District.

⬛ Four people found dead inside Plainsboro, NJ home

PLAINSBORO - A quiet Central Jersey neighborhood is in shock after four people were found dead inside a house Wednesday afternoon. Police were called to the two-story home on Titus Lane late Wednesday afternoon for a wellness check and made the gruesome discovery, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone.

The prosecutor said the incident is being investigated as a homicide and there was no danger to the public.

⬛ Candidate sues NJ over its 'so help me God' pledge on petition

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — A New Jersey man who wants to run for Congress next year has sued the state over its requirement that candidates sign a nominating petition including the affirmation “so help me God.”

James Tosone, 70, plans to run for Congress in 2024 as a Libertarian. But as a nontheist, he said he cannot sign part of the petition required for candidates who run for office in New Jersey.

Tosone said he had "no choice but to sue" in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

⬛ How to pick the best pumpkins in New Jersey

It’s October and that means many people will be going pumpkin picking with their families to find that perfect orange fruit to adorn their doorstep and Halloween decorations.

We talked to a couple of New Jersey pumpkin farmers to get their take on the crop for the 2023 picking season.

And chances are, you've been carving a pumpkin wrong your whole life.

Start your day with up-to-the-minute news, traffic and weather for the Garden State.

New Jersey's First News with Eric Scott is the longest running news program in New Jersey. Eric Scott began hosting the program in 1991.

It airs live on New Jersey 101.5 each weekday morning from 5:30 - 6 a.m.

New Jersey's First News with Eric Scott is the winner of the prestigious National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast.

Eric Scott is the senior political director and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com

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