Who made NJ.com's "Superhero Squad"?

Along with handguns, the suspects arranged for the import of two AK-47s assault rifle and one AR-15 assault rifle, authorities allege Watch video

New Jersey law enforcement agencies on Wednesday announced the arrests of seven members of a cross-state gun ring that was purchasing weapons in Ohio and driving them to Camden.

Many of the weapons seized by investigators were tied to violent crimes that occurred in Camden in the last few years, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said at a press conference at the Camden County Metro Police Department.

Grewal said 17 weapons were discovered to be transported from Columbus, Ohio to Camden between April 2016 and July 2017, including 14 handguns, two AK-47s assault rifles and an AR-15 assault rifle.

New Jersey law enforcement agencies discovered the gun trail while investigating Eduardo Caban, 40, of Camden for heroin distribution. During the investigation, authorities found that he was also marketing and selling illegal weapons around the city.

Authorities traced guns seized from Caban back to Columbus, Ohio, where they discovered Chucky Scott, 25, who was leading the illegal weapons deal. Scott would text photos of available weapons for purchase to his middlemen in Camden who would place orders, authorities sais.

Anthony Hammond, 26, of Columbus, Ohio -- who had no criminal record -- would purchase guns legally at gun stores and online, then transport them to Camden, Eli Honig, director of New Jersey's Division of Criminal Justice said.

Scott and Hammond would drive the guns from Columbus to Camden where five men - Caban; Eric Moore, 47 of Camden; Tymere Jennings, 35, of Marlton; James Folk, also known as Abraheem Abdullah, 33, of Camden; and Darren Harville, 51 of Camden - would market and sell the weapons to criminals for a high mark-up, Honig said.

Honig estimated that some weapons were sold for up to $2,000 in cash.

"Once discovering Caban's involvement, our goal was to identify and cut off a major supply line of illegal weapons into Camden," Honig said. 

Ten weapons were seized directly from Caban, while seven others were traced back to Ohio over the course of the investigation.

Scott and Caban were arrested charged late last year, while Hammond, Moore, Jennings, Folk and Harville were arrested on warrants after the indictment was returned last week.

The Attorney General's office has charged all seven defendants with first-degree racketeering, second-degree conspiracy and transporting firearms into the state for illegal sale.

Scott has also been charged with first-degree leader of a firearms trafficking network and promoting organized street crime. 

Grewal noted Ohio's more lenient gun purchasing laws as one of the prime reasons the gun trafficking ring was able to successfully operate for more than a year.

"We are doing our part in trying to make it more difficult to purchase guns," he said. "The fear of guns and fear of gunfire never really goes away."

Camden County Police Chief J. Scott Thomson echoed the Attorney General's concerns.

"In some states folks are just allowed to carry, despite whatever background they may have," Thomson said. "We know what's good for us in New Jersey. I won't propose that what works in Florida works well here. But our law works well for us here."

While the judicial process will move forward with the seven arrested for this gun trafficking ring, the Attorney General said he can predicts similar arrests will take place in the future.   

"Each gun taken off the street is a life or multiple lives saved in the process," Grewal said.

Scott and Caban have been detained in New Jersey without bail since late last year, while Hammond, More, Jennings, Folk and Harville will appear in court in the upcoming days, where the state will move to detain them without bail until their trials. 

Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

We don't always assign proper value to some of the relationships in our lives.

I had a conversation with an old high school friend recently and we bemoaned the fact that so many of us spent SO much time and effort on finding a boyfriend or girlfriend back in the day that we almost certainly missed out on some truly wonderful friendships.

"Mom! I don't have enough for the whole class!" Well, yeah, when there were 55 KIDS in your class ....Courtesy of Distejon 

We joked about how we were probably better off in our pre-teen days when we gave a Valentine's Day card to everyone in the class instead of focusing on one person.

This is to say that perhaps we didn't assign proper value to some of the relationships in our lives at that time.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

In this gallery, we illustrate a variety of important pairs - sweethearts, parent and child, best friends, co-workers, brother and sister, and the list goes on. And, here are links to other galleries you may enjoy as well as a vintage New Jersey Valentine's quiz.

Vintage photos of Valentine's Day couples in NJ

Vintage photos of couples in N.J.

Stop, in the name of love ... and take our Valentine quiz on Jersey couples

Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.

The man testified that he was beaten unconscious and woke up when the K9 bit him. Watch video

Steven Stadler, 49, was calm in federal court Wednesday as he told jurors he was punched and kicked by three Atlantic City police officers until he lost consciousness as they arrested him in 2013.

But he struggled to get the words out when it came to the police dog. He later appeared to wipe away a tear when he looked at photographs of his own bite wounds from that night.

"When I came to, I had a dog on my thigh, pulling me down the street, as I was still being hit," he said. "I was scared. I was confused. I thought I was going to die that day."

Stadler is suing Officers Glenn Abrams, John Devlin and William Moore as well as the city, alleging that Atlantic City Police Department has a culture and practice of allowing officers to use excessive force and then ignoring any complaints about it.

In the first day of the trial Wednesday, in federal U.S. District Court in Camden, Stadler testified that he was not resisting arrest when he was beaten by officers, who were arresting him after catching him breaking into a carwash.

But defense attorneys said in their opening statements that the story Stadler tells does not mesh with what the officers say happened, or even with some of his own previous statements.

Plus, he pleaded guilty to resisting arrest in the March 13, 2013 incident, and has now reversed his position. He said he pleaded guilty just to get a lesser sentence that would send him to a drug treatment program.

"Mr. Stadler's story evolves. It starts to change," Tracy Riley, the attorney representing the three officers, said in her opening argument.

She said officers had to resort to force because Stadler, who had used crack cocaine, was struggling and trying to get away. "The officers in this case didn't use any more force than was reasonably necessary," she said.

Stadler testified that he had consumed beer and used crack cocaine earlier on March 13, 2013, and by 10 p.m. was walking through Atlantic City, trying to figure out how he was going to get bus fare back to his hotel room in Egg Harbor Township.

At the car wash, he tried to pry open the compartment that held the change, using a screwdriver and a wrench he found there, he testified. Then, he said, a man in a dark SUV pulled up and asked what he was doing, so he picked up the tools and fled.

The man was Abrams, who was off-duty but had spotted Stadler in the car wash, which according to testimony was owned by a sergeant in the police department.

Riley told jurors that he identified himself as a police officer, but Stadler maintains he never did. Morrison Fairbairn, who is representing the city, said in his openings that Stadler and Abrams scuffled there, while Stadler was holding the tools.

Stadler testified that Abrams followed him to an alley, where he dropped the tools, and then around a corner, where Moore pulled up in a cruiser. He said that when Moore ordered him to put his hands on the hood, he did.

He testified that Moore had cuffed one of his wrists when Abrams spun him around and punched him in the face. He told jurors that all three officers punched and kicked him in the head and torso until he lost consciousness, and that he came to when the dog bit him the first time.

Riley told jurors that Stadler knew he was fleeing police and did not suddenly comply when the cruiser arrived. She said it wasn't, "You got me, it's over," putting her hands up like a compliant crook.

Steven Stadler (Provided photos) 

Fairbairn said that before Devlin let loose his K-9, Clancy, he warned Stadler twice to stop resisting or he would be bitten by the dog.

Stadler said he never punched the dog, but Devlin wrote in his report that he did, according to Jennifer Bonjean, Stadler's attorney.

Bonjean showed Stadler pictures of his injuries in the hospital, and he recalled the officers "laughing and high-fiving" while he was in agony. He said he felt "less than human."

The dog's bite severed a nerve in his leg and causes numbness, pain and limited mobility, he testified. He also said he has "vivid nightmares" about the dog.

While in jail, Stadler testified that he filed a federal lawsuit against the two officers whose names he knew, and also filed an internal affairs complaint with the police department.

In cross-examination, Riley pointed out that Stadler never said anything in the two filings about being kicked, or being handcuffed while he was beaten. Those details did not appear in any complaint until Bonjean took on the case and filed an amended complaint, according to testimony.

"I did it to the best of my ability," Stadler said of the paperwork. "I didn't put everything in."

Riley also questioned Stadler about things he left out of his testimony Wednesday, including his earlier claim that he told Moore that he'd recently had rotator cuff surgery while he was being handcuffed.

Stadler was also confronted with his sworn statements from when he pleaded guilty to resisting arrest in 2013. Riley said he told the judge, "I resisted. I pushed away. I tried to run."

Stadler testified that he was clean after the ordered drug treatment program until 2016, and has now been clean for 18 months.

Also during opening statements, Bonjean's colleague, Ashley Cohen, told jurors they would hear evidence that the Atlantic City Police Department has an unusually high number of excessive force complaints and has an internal affairs process is a "sham" that exonerates officers without really investigating.

The city has something called an Early Warning Alert System, meant to trigger a notice to the police chief if any officer gets three or more internal affairs complaints in a year. Cohen said that the evidence will show this has happened to many officers in the department, including some of the defendants, and no retraining, monitoring or other action was taken.

In denying a motion for summary judgement last fall, Judge Robert B. Kluger wrote that the three officers have more than 69 internal affairs complaints in a 10-year period. Of those, 38 claimed excessive force but none were ever substantiated, the judge wrote.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

NJ.com looks at its choices for the 10 toughest districts statewide in N.J. wrestling.

Who could break records at the championship meet?

40 of the top seniors in the state will compete in annual North-South game

The Burlington County Farm Fair took the action after protests from patrons and county officials.

The display or sale of the Confederate flag will be prohibited at the Burlington County Farm Fair this summer after organizers acted on the ban at the request of county freeholders and patrons.

Fair organizers approved the measure last month and county freeholders announced the action at a meeting this week.

"I felt very sad that anyone was offended by something that occurred during our wonderful fair," Rosemary Kay, the fair manager said Thursday. "This occurred in the last hour of the last night of five days. We don't want to offend anyone of any race, creed or nationality."

Kay said the incident occurred during a tractor parade which is held daily during the five-day annual farm fair in July. She said two teenage boys decided to fly a Confederate flag on their tractor.

When some patrons objected to the display, Kay said the teens said a relative of theirs had fought for the flag in the Civil War.

County officials said they support freedom of speech but not when it turns to symbols of hate.

"While I greatly respect the right to free speech, there is no place in our society for images depicting intolerance and hatred," said Burlington County Freeholder Director Kate Gibbs. "I am pleased the fair's organizers have taken action to prevent this from ever happening again."

The fair is not a county event, but it is held on 68 acres of county property near Route 206 in Springfield. The freeholders urged fair organizers to take action after the flag incident in July. Kay said her group was already aware of the situation after at least two patrons who saw the flag that night complained.

"The Burlington County Farm Fair is one of the county's proudest traditions, providing our residents with an opportunity to celebrate and recognize our vibrant agriculture industry and history as a rural community," Gibbs said. "With the policy now in place, fair-goers can take solace knowing that this summer and beyond they will be able to comfortably enjoy all of the offerings at the fair."

Officials said the event is the fair is the largest annual gathering in the county and draws "tens of thousands" of patrons. Fair events include the 4-H meat, fiber and dairy goat show; skillet-throwing contests; a cow-milking contest; pig races and children's tractor pulls.

Kay said the fair's board of directors voted unanimously to ban the Confederate flag from the fair grounds. She said her group has not received any comments criticizing the action.

But social media channels registered some descent last summer after news reports surfaced about the flag incident.

"Since when is a "confederate flag" sighting at the Burlington County Farm Fair news?" a Facebook comment attributed to Jason Pippen said. "Let's start a controversy where there isn't one, shall we?"

Another Facebook comment attributed to Jenny Miller Leitinger said, "Are u kidding me? They've always been there? WTF?"

Which is the matchup you should be sure to be in your seats for? Check out our list.

The 84-year-old driver of the car and a man sitting on the steps of a home were also injured

An 8-year-old girl riding a bicycle on a Camden sidewalk was struck and killed Thursday by a car, officials said.

The 84-year-old driver and a 40-year-old man sitting on the steps of a home also suffered injuries, but they were not considered life-threatening, city spokesman Dan Keashen said.

Both are in stable condition, according to Alexandra McVeigh, a spokeswoman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

Cops say they found driver who killed bicyclist - and he fled country

Authorities didn't identify the girl, but a family member told CourierPost.com her name was Jaligza Cruz.

The crash occurred on the 400 block of State Street around 4:15 p.m.

No charges have been filed, though the investigation is ongoing, McVeigh said. 

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

Carly Novell's grandfather, Charles Cohen, was 12 when he hid in a closet to survive the first mass shooting in the U.S.

The shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida that killed at least 17 people, including a 14-year-old who once lived in Woodcliff Lake, is dredging up memories of a long-ago massacre in Camden in 1949.

Carly Novell, a 17-year-old senior, hid in a closet with several classmates and survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday, HuffPost reports. 

This is my grandpa. When he was 12 years old, he hid in a closet while his family was murdered during the first mass shooting in America. Almost 70 years later, I also hid in a closet from a murderer. These events shouldn't be repetitive. Something has to change. #douglasstrong pic.twitter.com/nDctTNlUNs

-- carly (@car_nove) February 15, 2018

Her grandfather, Charles Cohen, was only 12 years old when he hid in a closet to escape the first mass shooting in America.

Both of Cohen's parents and his grandmother were killed when Howard Unruh, then 28 and a World War II veteran, killed 13 people with a Luger pistol as he walked down River Road near 32nd Street. 

He shot people in the street, in their houses and local businesses, seeking out neighbors who he thought knew he was a homosexual and were talking about him. The night before, Unruh had arranged to meet a man with whom he was having an affair, at a theater in Philadelphia, but the man never showed. 

Unruh was finally captured after a shootout with police. 

He never stood trial after a psychiatrist diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, and died in a Trenton nursing home in 2009 when he was 88, after 60 years of confinement.

Cohen appeared on major networks including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC when a sniper was terrorizing the Washington D.C. area in 2002.

Cohen kept a suitcase full of articles about his parents.Julie Pena/The Star-Ledger file photo 

"He knows how it is when someone tries to kill you for no apparent reason," the Newhouse News Service wrote in 2004. "He knows how it feels to lose a loved one to a binge killer. And he'll tell you there is no such thing as getting back to normal after living through that kind of trauma. The wounds run so deep that they still smart more than half a lifetime later."

Cohen didn't tell anyone what he saw until nine years after the shooting, on his honeymoon with his wife.

He died about a month before Unruh in 2009. He was the last survivor of the mass shooting.

Carly Novell told the Huffington Post she squeezed into the closet in the school's newspaper room with her classmates during the shooting, and stayed there until police found them. 

"These events shouldn't be repetitive. Something has to change," she said on her Instagram post.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips 

Police said the owner of a Berlin diner was arrested Friday, more than a month after the eatery went up in flames.

The owner of a South Jersey diner that burst into flames last month set the blaze, along with his longtime friend and handyman, according to police. 

Thomas Giannisis, 51, was arrested Friday along with 56-year-old Robert Zbikowski for setting fire to The Country Town Diner in Berlin, which was owned by Giannisis, said Detective Sgt. Mike Scheer of the Berlin Borough Police Department. 

Both face charges of arson and conspiracy, he said. 

Those stem from a fire that broke out around midnight on January 11 at the diner. Berlin Borough Police Chief Michael Miller called the inside of the building "a disaster" last month and said it was likely "a total loss." 

Water damage caused the drop ceiling to disintegrate, he said. From the roadside, gaping holes were visible on the charred roof. 

The fire broke out not long after the diner had closed for the night, and no employees or customers were inside at the time, police said. 

Diner a 'total loss' after overnight blaze, cops say

An investigation into the fire began that day and lasted until Friday, when Scheer said his department arrested Giannisis, of Bellmawr, and Zbikowski, of Mount Holly. The investigation also involved the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

Giannisis was a relatively new manager of the eatery, formerly known as the White Horse Diner. It had opened for business on Mother's Day of last year.

He was leasing the property, Miller said last month. Tax records show a group called Sunrise Equities based in Great Neck, New York, has owned the property since at least 2010.

Zbikowski was at the scene following the fire, and said he planned to help Giannisis, who was using a walker after sustaining injuries in a car crash last year, to start cleaning the diner as soon as authorities deemed it safe to enter. He said he often helped Giannisis with projects around the restaurant, and that the two had been friends for more than 20 years. 

"This is all they have," Zbkowski told NJ Advance Media that day, looking at the diner where holes were visible through the charred roof. He said that Giannisis ran the diner while also caring for his parents. "I don't know what they're going to do now." 

Giannisis, who had owned a diner in the past, has a history of financial troubles, records show. 

In January of 2009, he was sentenced to 180 days in jail and four years probation after pleading guilty to third-degree theft by failure to make required disposition of property in relation to fraud at the Yellow Rose Diner, according to the Attorney General's Office. He agreed to pay $73,400 in restitution. 

Then the owner of the Middletown Diner, Giannisis had become involved in series of mortgage and investment scams run primarily by the Yellow Rose Diner's owner, Spiro Pollatos, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for money laundering, authorities said. 

Giannisis filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010, records show. His total assets were listed at just over $21,000 and his business had more than $1 million in debt, owing tens of thousands of dollars to various produce, coffee, ice cream and other food providers, a bankruptcy filing shows.  

The Middletown Diner shuttered around that time. 

It was not immediately known when the two men would appear in court. 

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

The Camden County teen had allegedly been making false threatening claims during school hours to multiple students on Feb. 9.

An 18-year-old Eastern Regional High School student has been arrested for claiming he was going to "shoot up the school," Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colallio said in a press release.

Jacob Finkelstein, of Voorhees Township, was arrested on Feb. 15 and charged with second-degree false public alarm and third-degree terroristic threat, authorities said.

The Camden County man had allegedly been making false threatening claims during school hours to multiple students on Feb. 9, police records show.

Voorhees Police was made aware of the incident on Feb. 15, according to the press release.

No weapons were found in Finkelstein's home at the time of the arrest, Colallio said.  

Finkelstein is being held in Camden County Correctional Facility pending a court appearance.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Two education professionals who have know each other as kids connect in order to share experience of Florida tragedy. Watch video

Jim Gard recognized the sound of gunshots as  Nikolas Cruz opened fire on Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday, eventually killing 17 people. Just a few weeks before, the teacher had been through a drill to prepare for a moment like this. 

Less than 48 hours after Gard survived the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., he recounted the terrifying ordeal on Friday to a group of 50 educators in N.J. at the request of lifelong friend, Mount Ephraim Superintendent Leslie M. Koller-Walker.

Koller-Walker said the two grew up together in Pennsylvania and have known each other since they were five years old. They went to school together from kindergarten until they graduated from Mount Carmel High School in 1978. The duo even followed the same career path, both selecting an occupation in the education field.

When Koller-Walker learned of the shooting on Wednesday, she feared for her friend who had moved to Florida after college and taught in the state for 36 years. 

Gard spoke to 50 teachers and paraprofessionals at the district's building Friday through a video call to share his experience of what occurred Wednesday. Gard was in lockdown with six other students while Cruz committed the shootings, which killed 17 students and faculty members at the school.

Koller-Walker said the district initially had planned to use the in-service day to go through PARCC data, but those plans changed after the shooting occurred. She reached out to her friend and asked if he could share his experience with the members of the school district Friday.

"I likened it as if they are in their classes with their kids," the superintendent said. "They are always trying to come up with lessons for students so they can make a personal connection because we all know that that is what they will learn and retain the best. My goal (Friday) was to have them make a personal connection to something that was very timely in our society this week as well as connect it to our superintendent as well as a teacher. They were pretty riveted."

According to Koller-Walker, Gard told the teachers he recognized the sound of gunfire was real because he had gone through training just a few weeks before in which a police officer played a video of different gunshot sounds -- sounds that helped him identify the shots being fired Wednesday were real.

Gard said someone had knocked on the door of the room he was in, which he did not open because of prior training the teachers had received. Some of the victims he knew well, including another teacher, three students who, he taught, as well as two other district employees. 

When asked by the teachers in Mt. Ephraim what he would do differently, one thing he said was to never leave a door propped open. 

"When you close that door folks, just keep it closed. Keep it closed and be quiet. You might lose a couple of kids, but if you have a room with 30 you might lose 30 kids," Gard told them, according to 6ABC.

Besides the school staff, Mount Ephraim Police Chief Brian Conte, as well as the head of the S.W.A.T team, were in attendance for the Skype session. Koller-Walker said the two come twice a year to observe the lockdown procedures and recommend changes that will help the district.

"It is important to have these conversations," she said. "That is why these communications are important. We do a lockdown once a month. I invite them at least twice a year to go through our weaknesses. I take no offense, and I want them to tell we what we are doing wrong."

The superintendent also added the school had recently changed the doorknobs as a result of a drill after seeing some of the teachers have trouble locking the doors from the outside, taking approximately 30 seconds to complete the task, time that can be vital. The school board also approved the installation of a new communications system to alert students in case an emergency arose.

Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Everything you need for a full day of districts.

DISTRICT TOURNAMENT ESSENTIALS
• Seeds for all 32 districts | Schedule
• The top matchups from all 32 districts
• The 10 toughest districts in N.J.
• Individual rankings | P4P rankings
• Final team ranks:  Top 20 | group and conference

FEATURED DISTRICTS
District 1 at Pascack Valley 
• Live Updates
• Recap
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 5 at Bergen Catholic 
• Live Updates |   Live video 
• Recap
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 7 at West Essex
•   Live video  

District 9 at Phillipsburg
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 11 at Morristown
• Live updates
• Recap
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 12 at Livingston 
• Live updates
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

RELATED: Seeds for all 32 districts

District 13 at Scotch Plains 
• Live updates | Brackets
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 17 at Middletown South 
• Live updates
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 18 at Red Bank Regional 
• Live updates
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 22 at Howell
• Live updates
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 26 at Rowan College-Gloucester
• Live updates
• Recap

District 27 at Lacey
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 28 at Collingswood
• Live updates
• Recap
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 29 at Kingsway
• Live updates
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 30 at Clearview 
• Live updates
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 31 at Absegami
• Live updates
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 32 at Williamstown
• Live updates
• Recap
•  photo gallery
• Finals | 3rd place | Semis

COMPLETE RESULTS BY DISTRICT
District 1 |  photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 2
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 3
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 4
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 5
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 6
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 7
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 8
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 9 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 10 
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 11
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 12 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 13 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 14
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 15
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 16
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 17 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 18 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 19
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 20
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 21
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 22 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 23
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 24
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 25
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 26
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 27 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 28
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 29 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 30 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 31 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

District 32 |  Photo gallery
• Recap | Finals | 3rd place | Semis

Nearly 9 million dogs and 4.5 million cats in the U.S. have health insurance.

Some pet stats for the day:

 A 2017-2018 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association found that 68% of U.S. households, or about 85 million families. This is up from 56% of U.S. households in 1988, the first year the survey was conducted.

The kinds of pets owned? Dogs account for just over 60%, with cats at 47% (bear in mind, the total can exceed 100% because some households, like mine, have cats AND dogs, as well as other possible pets). Fish, freshwater and saltwater, account for 15%, birds 8%, and small animals like hamsters and gerbils 7%.

The survey also found that 10% of dog owners and 5% of cat owners have health insurance for their pets. Based on the total number of dogs and cat in the US that equates to nearly 9 million dogs and over 4.5 million cats with insurance.

And some completely random pet facts:

Three dogs (from first-class cabins) survived the sinking of the Titanic - two Pomeranians and one Pekingese.

Dogs and humans have the same type of slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) and during this REM stage dogs can dream. The twitching and paw movements that occur during their sleep are signs that your pet is dreaming

Cats make more than 100 different sounds whereas dogs make around 10.

Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.

Property tax prepayments for bills due in 2018 in some towns jumped more than 1,000 percent compared to prepayments for 2017, ahead of limits on deductions from federal income taxes in 2018, a boon for towns collecting interest on the money

A Gloucester County police department is training officers to use de-escalation tactics to defuse potentially violent encounters.

NJ.com's latest boys basketball rankings

2018 NJSIAA region wrestling tournament brackets are below. Each weight class within each region is a separate bracket. Each bracket is printable. Click through the brackets below for each weight c...

2018 NJSIAA region wrestling tournament brackets are below. Each weight class within each region is a separate bracket.

Each bracket is printable. Click through the brackets below for each weight class.

NOTE: Brackets will be added all day on Monday, please check back for the latest.
We will be updating the brackets throughout the tournament, so check back as the results flow in on Wednesday and Friday nights -- and all day on Saturday.

Region 1 brackets
106 | 113 | 120 | 126 | 132 | 138 | 145
152 | 160 | 170 | 182 | 195 | 220 | 285

Region 2 brackets
106 | 113 | 120 | 126 | 132 | 138 | 145
152 | 160 | 170 | 182 | 195 | 220 | 285

Region 3 brackets
106 | 113 | 120 | 126 | 132 | 138 | 145
152 | 160 | 170 | 182 | 195 | 220 | 285

Region 4 brackets
106 | 113 | 120 | 126 | 132 | 138 | 145
152 | 160 | 170 | 182 | 195 | 220 | 285

Region 5 brackets
106 | 113 | 120 | 126 | 132 | 138 | 145
152 | 160 | 170 | 182 | 195 | 220 | 285

Region 6 brackets
106 | 113 | 120 | 126 | 132 | 138 | 145
152 | 160 | 170 | 182 | 195 | 220 | 285

Region 7 brackets
106 | 113 | 120 | 126 | 132 | 138 | 145
152 | 160 | 170 | 182 | 195 | 220 | 285

Region 8 brackets
106 | 113 | 120 | 126 | 132 | 138 | 145
152 | 160 | 170 | 182 | 195 | 220 | 285