A difficult week

It was a difficult week for Newark high school students.

First 15 year old John Warren was fatally shot outside his Seymour Avenue home.
Two days later Sujeti Ocasio was shot through the neck during an argument with another girl in front of her home. Just hours earlier Ocasio graduated from Barringer High School.

Save Our Sisters

I spent the last few weeks following a group of cancer survivors as they formed a dragon boat racing team called Save Our Sisters.

The group first practiced at an indoor pool, then as the spring arrived they moved to Lake Parsippany. At their first racing festival this team of rookies managed to win one of the races.

I tried balanced to my time between shooting video for the website and stills for the newspaper. If an event was only going to happen once, like a race, I shot video and pulled still frames from the video.

A visit by John McCain

Today John McCain made a visit to Burlington County College in Pemberton.

The McCain press staff was very accommodating and allowed photographers great access to the Senator.
Most of the photos were shot from the buffer zone around the stage. After I had a variety of photos I was escorted to the main press riser at the back of the room where I transmitted 8 photos that were immediately posted on nj.com.

Pete, the pet therapy dog

Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation is utilizing a specially trained dog named Pete, a part Lab, part Golden Retriever, to help patients recuperate from stroke and other medical conditions.
I shot the story with the intention of pulling stills from the video. The stills held up well and one was used as the main photo on the New Jersey page.

A newborn

Union County’s Watchung Stable got a surprise delivery recently when one of its mares, Miss Piggy, gave birth to a healthy baby colt, the first foal to be born at the stable in eight years. Now, county freeholders are conducting a contest to find a name for the stable’s newest member.

Locks of Love

When scanning the day's assignments looking for an event that would make a good video Locks of Love stood out.
About 25 young girls donated their hair to make wigs for cancer patients.
The scene was crowded, chaotic and lots of fun.

The Pope at St. Patrick's

Today Pope Benedict visited Saint Patrick's Cathedral.
After a Mass at St. Patrick's the Pope traveled up 5th Avenue in the Popemobile.
This was the third Papal visit to the United States that I have covered and each one has been very special.

Watching her home burn

I noticed smoke as I was driving home after a long day of jury deliberations in the trial of former Newark mayor Sharpe James.
Since the fire was very close to the highway exit I arrived with the first fire trucks.
As the firefighters went to work Tisha Rodriguez watched the flames destroyed her home.

Oasis for the homeless closes

For six years the FAITH Foundation storefront in Hackensack took in people no one else wanted. Their clients were the hardcore homeless — mentally ill patients without medication, alcoholics and drug addicts. The all volunteer staff tried to find them food, housing, transportation, medication and mental health programs, Now the organization, ordered closed by the city for operating without a valid permit, has no place to call home.

Holy Garage Sale

The Unitarian Church in Summit has been holding a charity garage sale for decades. The items for sale are plentiful, the volunteers are enthuastic and the crowd of shoppers is large.
The photos are ok but the audio is pretty good. Definitely an example of the finished audio slideshow being better than the sum of it's parts.

Hundreds of angry farmers

Hundreds of farmers descended on the state capital to protest the planned elimination of the agriculture department.
I set the alarm clock for 5am and met up with a group of farmers as they began their journey to Trenton. Once the convoy of tractors was on the road I sped ahead to catch their arrival outside the Statehouse.

Students raise their voices

Central High School students, frustrated by the slow pace of construction on their new school, marched on Newark City Hall.
In a surprise move they were invited inside City Hall and met with the Mayor and members of the city council.
They left with the promise of thousands of dollars in scholarships if the construction timetable is not met.
Sometimes the best civics lessons are learned from real life experiences.

An emotional day

So far this year I have been in court as three different killers have been sentenced for their crimes.
Today was by far the most emotional.
The Gonzalez family shared their home with Richard Toledo when he needed a place to stay.
Despite the family's kindness Toledo used a hammer to bludgeon 7 year-old Zabdiel and 14 year-old Carlo. He then kidnapped their mother Wanda in an attempt to steal money from the family.
Wanda and her husband Carlos brought a courtroom packed with family and law enforcement officers to tears as they recalled memories of their two children.
Judge Barbara Villano then sentenced Toledo to two consecutive life terms plus 30 years ensuring that he will never leave prison.

Perfection

If Scott Winston wins the 160 pound weight class at this weekend's state high school wrestling tournament he will finish his career undefeated with 138 victories. That's something no other wrestler has ever accomplished.
As part of the Star-Ledger's wrestling preview I spent an afternoon with Scott and his Jackson High School teammates.

UPDATE - Winston won the championship match.

A corpse plant blooms

I had never heard of a corpse plant until we got word that one was about to bloom in the basement of a Summit restaurant, the first ever in New Jersey.

So I set up a remote camera that captured a photo every four minutes. It took three days before the plant bloomed. A photo every four minutes for three days, that's a lot of photos.

The bloom only lasted an hour instead of the normal day or so but the experts were surprised that an amateur growing a corpse plant in a basement got a bloom at all.

A smiling killer

Frances Mells' family was sitting in the courtroom waiting for her killer to be sentenced to state prison.
As officers escorted 17 year old Bryant DeGraffenreid into the courtroom he flashed a wide smile.

His lack of remorse did not go unnoticed by Mells' family or the judge. DeGraffenreid was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Canyon of Heroes

There really is nothing like it. A ticker tape parade up New York City's Broadway, the Canyon of Heroes.
After the Giants stunning Super Bowl victory over the Patriots the team and it's fans were treated to the unforgettable event.

Smart kids make for good video

I have noticed a few things in the two years I have been shooting video for the Star-Ledger. One of them is that smart kids make for good video. They are well spoken and usually doing something interesting.

NJIT hosted hundreds of middle and high school students during the Science Olympiad. The teams spend hours constructing their robots, airplanes, catapults and other projects then they compete against fellow students.

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A last good-bye

Nearly a thousand mourners crowded into North Stelton AME Church in Piscataway church today to say good-bye to a veteran police officer, Jerry Mahoney.
Mahoney was found dead in his home on Dec. 27. That afternoon, his son was arrested and charged with the murder.

Fellow Star Ledger photographer Patti Sapone and I covered the funeral.

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Ball in the House

Ball In The House, a men’s a cappella group from Boston, is in Berkeley Heights to work with the boy’s chorus of the middle school. In October, Ball In The House performed for the Columbia middle school and membership in the boy’s chorus jumped from five to over 30.

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