Photos By Bill Bates

SERIOUS CRASH – The heavily damaged 2002 Chevy Tahoe that was headed North on the Black Horse Pike when it crossed the double line and into oncoming traffic when it collided with the tractor trailer that is seen in the background. The driver of the Tahoe had to be freed from the vehicle which took Mount Ephraim\’s Rescue crew approximately 45 minutes.

Victim Identified as Pennsauken Patrolman Thomas J. Soto, age 27

 Bill Bates

NEWS Correspondent

Acting Camden County Prosecutor Joshua M. Ottenberg, Mount Ephraim Police Chief Edward Dobleman and Pennsauken Police Chief John Coffey reported the death of an off-duty Pennsauken police officer in a pre-dawn car crash Saturday in Mount Ephraim.

Mount Ephraim and Haddon Heights Police were advised by Camden County Communications that there was a motor vehicle accident reported in front of the Pretzel Factory on the Black Horse Pike. Police arrived and advised communications of a motor vehicle accident with heavy entrapment, an SUV verse tractor trailer.

 

FUEL CONTAINED – The 75 gallons that ruptured during the crash can be seen to the right as it was contained by the fire department and haz-mat unit. Numerous debris can be seen scattered all over the roadway from the crash including the Tahoe\’s driver side front tire – seen at left. (click on photo to enlarge)

Mount Ephraim Fire and EMS along with Haddon Heights Fire and EMS and Virtua Paramedics were dispatched to the scene for a motor vehicle accident rescue assignment. Units arrived and Haddon Heights EMS transported one male passenger, a relative of Soto\’s from New York, to Cooper University Hospital in Camden for his injuries.

The male driver who succumbed from his injuries was identified as off-duty Pennsauken Police Officer Thomas J. Soto, 27, of Pennsauken. Pennsauken Police Chief John Coffey released that Thomas had been a member of the department since July of 2006. Prior to joining the force he had worked with the department as a civilian special officer for about two years.

Soto was heading north on the Black Horse Pike in a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe when his vehicle crossed into oncoming traffic and hit a Pathmark tractor trailer. The truck driver, Lawrence J. Bochard, of Fords, NJ, was uninjured.

The cause of the collision is under investigation. Preliminary investigation suggests alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Companies remained on scene well into the morning as they contained a rupture from the side saddle fuel tank of the tractor trailer. Approximately 75 gallons of fuel had leaked onto the roadway due to the crash. Clean-up of the hazardous material and removal of the un-operable tractor and trailer took several hours.

Other agencies that assisted at the scene were the Mount Ephraim and Camden County Emergency Management, Camden County Prosecutor\’s Office, Camden County Fire Police, NJ State Police, and NJ Department of Transportation.

The Black Horse Pike was shut down completely and traffic was re-routed onto side streets around the area. All four lanes of the pike were re-opened shortly before 1 PM.

Our sympathy is extended to the Soto Family and the Pennsauken Police Department that he so faithfully served. 

DAMAGED TRUCK – The tractor trailer that was hit by the SUV as it crossed the double line into oncoming traffic. The tractor trailer was un-operable and had to be removed from the highway by special heavy duty towing equipment which took several hours.

 

 

 

Collegeville, PA… The College of New Jersey wrestling team participated in the annual North/South Duals hosted by Ursinus College on Saturday and had a successful day as they finished the event with record of 3-1.

The ninth-ranked Lions opened the tournament with a pair of victories beating Plymouth State University by the score of 36-3 and then handled Messiah College, 32-9. Those two victories extended the team’s dual-meet winning streak to 19 before falling in their third match of the tournament. TCNJ suffered a 40-3 defeat at the hands of third-ranked University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and bounced back with a 46-0 win over Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Lions are now 7-1 in dual meets this season.

Freshman John Barnett (Oakridge, NJ/Jefferson Twp.) was perfect on the day going 3-0 at 149 pounds for the Lions. Also performing well for the Lions were junior Greg Osgoodby (Waldwick, NJ/Waldwick) at 174, sophomore Dan DiColo (Budd Lake, NJ/Mount Olive) at 157 and freshman Justin Bonitatis (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) at 165 as each grappler went 3-1.

One of the bigger wins for the Lions came in their final bout as senior heavyweight Steve Carbone (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) knocked off nationally-ranked Glenn Geesman of MIT by the score of 8-6.

The Lions will face another tough task next weekend competing in the two-day Budd Whitehill National Dual Meet Tournament hosted by Lycoming College.

Match-by-Match Results

#9 TCNJ 36, Plymouth State 3
125: F. Wilkinson (Ply) won by dec 5 -3 over Dan Frank (TCNJ)
133: Ray Sarinelli (TCNJ) won by major dec. 17-3 over Chris Greenwood (Ply)
141: Brian Suozzo (TCNJ) won by dec 7 -5 over Joe McGowen (Ply)
149: John Barnett (TCNJ) won by technical fall: 4:28 over Adam Friend (Ply)
157: Dan DiColo (TCNJ) won by fall 4:53 over Jared Laganas (Ply)
165: Justin Bonitatis (TCNJ) won by technical fall, 5:00 over Mark Watts (Ply)
174: Greg Osgoodby (TCNJ) won by major decision 13-2 over Ryan Schieding (Ply)
184: Mike Denver (TCNJ) won by TB-2, 12-11 over Landon Nelson (Ply)
197: Adam Koziol (TCNJ) won by dec 8 -4 over Rob Phillips (Ply)
285: Steve Carbone (TCNJ) won by dec 5 -1 over Josh Stours (Ply)

#9 TCNJ 32, Messiah 9
125: Dan Hughes (TCNJ) won by major dec 20-9 over A. Clark (Mess)
133: J. Cragg (Mess.) won by fall 1:15 over Ray Sarinelli (TCNJ)
141: Mike Jacoutot Jr. (TCNJ) won by dec 9 -3 over L. Putnam (Mess)
149: C. Gin (Mess) won by dec 2 -0 over Ryan McCabe (TCNJ)
157: Dan DiColo (TCNJ) won by dec 9 -4 over M. Hojnacki (Mess)
165: Justin Bonitatis (TCNJ) won by fall 6:06 over T. Zampel (Mess)
174: Al Wonesh (TCNJ) won by dec 5 -2 over D. Jones (Mess)
184: Greg Osgoodby (TCNJ) won by major dec 9-0 over M. McHugh (Mess)
197: Jim Tomczuk (TCNJ) won by dec 5 -3 over T. Hopkins (Mess)
285: Steve Carbone (TCNJ) won by fall 0:58 over E. Arbiza (Mess)

#3 Wisconsin-La Crosse 40, #9 TCNJ 3
125 – Brandon Music (UWL) won by dec. Dan Hughes (TCNJ), 7-6
133 – Jordan Kolinski (UWL) won by dec. Ray Sarinelli (TCNJ), 7-3
141 – Kevin Barber (UWL) injury def. Mike Jacoutot, Jr (TCNJ)., 1:42
149 – John Barnett (TCNJ) won by dec. Eric Seppelt (UWL), 5-2
157 – Jay Milz (UWL) won by dec. Dan DiColo (TCNJ), 4-3
165 – Tim Palmer (UWL) won by major dec. Justin Bonitatis (TCNJ), 14-4
174 – Josh Chelf (UWL) pin Greg Osgoodby (TCNJ), 2:04
184 – Josh Zabel (UWL) pin Jim Tomczuk (TCNJ), 2:45
197 – Andy Moore (UWL) dec. Joe Bozzomo (TCNJ), 5-1
285 – Dan Laurent (UWL) pin Steve Carbone (TCNJ), 1:06

#9 TCNJ 46, MIT 0
125 – Dan Hughes (TCNJ) dec. Grant Kadokura, 6-1
133 – Dan Frank (TCNJ) dec. Greg Wellman, 3-2
141 – Brian Suozzo (TCNJ) dec. Keynan Tanote, 2-1
149 – John Barnett (TCNJ) forfeit
157 – Dan DiColo (TCNJ) forfeit
165 – Justin Bonitatis (TCNJ) forfeit
174 – Al Wonesh (TCNJ) forfeit
184 – Greg Osgoodby (TCNJ) medical forfeit over Travis Samuel
197 – Joe Bozzomo (TCNJ) major dec. Joe Silverman, 24-10
285 – Steve Carbone (TCNJ) dec. Glenn Geesman, 8-6

-30-

St. Mary’s, MD…The College of New Jersey men’s basketball team opened the 2008 portion of the season on the road as they faced St. Mary’s College of Maryland. TCNJ would come away with a 79-63 victory to improve to 3-6 overall, while St. Mary’s drops to 7-6. The Lions snap a two-game losing skid, while SMC’s has now lost three in a row. TCNJ led by only one at the break, 39-38 but cruised in the second half.
TCNJ’s sophomore Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) added a team-high 19 points off the bench to help the Lions on the night as five different players finished in double digits scoring in the contest. The 19 points marks a career-high for Frank, whose previous best came last year with 17 points in a win over Muhlenberg.

Junior guard Jeff Molinelli (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) added 17 points, while senior forward Mark Aziz (Hackettstown, NJ/West Morris Central) put up 16 points for TCNJ with a 7-12 effort from the floor.
Senior guard Jeff Warner (Jackson, NJ/Jackson) added a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, all on the defensive end of the floor. Senior guard Corey Gilmore (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) added 10 points as well for TCNJ with four assists and a steal.
SMC’s freshman Mike Bowden (Columbia, MD/Long Reach) added a game-high 23 points for the Sea Gulls, while senior guard Tyson Lesesne (Edgewood, MD/Edgewood) finished with 10 points.
TCNJ returns to Packer Hall on Monday, January 7 hosting Buffalo State College at 8 p.m., just following the women’s home 6 p.m. match-up with Salisbury University.

source The News Observer

January 3, 2008

Mike Zlotnicki, Staff Writer

The club as a whole tallied 27 deer, including six bucks. I took two deer — a doe and a decent 10-point buck. There were many other memorable hunts as well.

One bow hunt in Lee County stands out. As I was perched in a climbing stand about 18 feet up a red oak, four nice does foraged around me. Two were yearlings, and two were mature mama does, wary as most bucks and trophies, to me, with the bow.

As I bided my time, they finally made their way into a logging road. The two older deer knew something wasn\’t right, and for nearly an hour they stared at me, heads bobbing and feet stamping. I couldn\’t move. Finally, a maniacal squirrel scampered through, spooking them and ending the evening.

continue on……….

Men’s College Basketball

LAWRENCEVILLE–The \”Rider Basketball Radio Show\” featuring Rider University men\’s basketball coach Tommy Dempsey, will begin on Tuesday, January 8, at Joe\’s Crab Shack in Lawrenceville.

The show starts at 7:00pm and can also be heard live on WBUD radio, 1260AM.

Hosting the show once again will be the voices of Rider basketball, Daryl Fein and Steve Rudenstein. 

The weekly show gives an inside look to Rider basketball, and will occasionally feature Rider players and other guests. Fans are invited to be part of the live audience and submit questions for Coach Dempsey.

The half hour show is open to the public and is scheduled for the following nights:
Tuesday, January 8
Tuesday, January 15
Tuesday, January 22
Tuesday, January 29
Tuesday, February 5
Tuesday, February 12
Tuesday, February 19
Tuesday, February 26
Tuesday, March 4

GILLESPIE, RICHARD \’MUFF\’

Of, West Deptford, NJ on December 31, 2007. Aged 38 years.
Muff\’s fierce passion and accomplished artistic ability lead him to forge a career in custom painting. He was also known in the area for his meticulous interior designs of which he was most proud. He was a member of the Painters Union in Philadelphia.

Muff graduated from West Deptford High School in 1987, then attended Antonelli Art Institute in PA. A former high school and semi-pro football player for the West Deptford Redskins, he also enjoyed basketball and baseball. Muff was an avid and loyal Philadelphia sports fan. Muff enjoyed spending time on the golf course, especially with his brother, Shawn. He also enjoyed spending time with his niece, Brooke and visiting his nephews, Will and Shane in Connecticut.
Beloved son of Joan German. Dear brother of Shawn Gillespie, Katie Gillespie and Joan Reiner and her husband, William. Loving uncle of Brooke, Will, and Shane. Loving boyfriend of Angela. Faithful companion of his dog, Guinness. Also survived by loving aunts, uncles, cousins, and countless friends.

Viewing Sunday 6PM-9PM in the McGUINNESSFUNERAL HOME, 34 Hunter St., Woodbury, NJ. Funeral Mass Monday 10 AM directly at St. Patrick\’s R.C. Church, Euclid & Cooper St., Woodbury, NJ. Interment Woodbury Memorial Park, West Deptford, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pivot Ministries, Inc, 495 Jane St., Bridgeport, CT 06608. Tributes may be shared at www.mcgfuneral.com

Robert Wayne \”Duke\” Mead Jr., age 33, of Upper Deerfield Township died suddenly Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007 the result of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident in Pittsgrove Township.

Born in Elmer on May 31, 1974, he was the son of Robert W. Mead Sr. and Beverly Fooks Mead. He had lived at his present address for two years and prior to that had resided in Margate and Ventnor for 13 years.

He was a 1988 graduate of Seabrook School and graduated with the Cumberland Regional High School Class of 1992, where he had varsity letters in soccer. He then attended Cumberland County College for a short time and transferred to the Atlantic Cape Community College where he received his Associate Degree in Math and Science. While attending college Robert worked as a waiter at Periwinkles Restaurant, tended bar, was a lifeguard and did carpentry work.

An avid surfer and fisherman he was currently working at Polumbo¹s in Atlantic City while attending Nursing School. He also enjoyed traveling and had been to Florida, California, Puerto Rico and had lived for six months in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

Besides his parents he leaves to cherish his memory one sister, Rochelle E. Wroniuk and her husband, Ron, of Williamstown; one nephew, Hunter J. Wroniuk; one niece, Summer R. Wroniuk; maternal uncles, Albert B. Fooks Jr. and his wife Deb of Millville, Richard A. Fooks of Pennsville and Ronald E. Fooks and his wife, Theresa, of Pittsgrove; paternal aunts, Beverly Warzbok and her husband, Bob, of Millville and Josephine Mead of Bridgeton along with several cousins. He was predeceased by a brother, Allen Ronald, and his maternal grandparents Albert Sr. and Emma Fooks and paternal grandparents George Mead and Julia Carr.

Friends may call at the PADGETT FUNERAL HOME, 1107 State Highway # 77, Upper Deerfield Township on Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon.

Cremation and inurnment will take place at Laurel Lawn Crematory in Upper Deerfield Township.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that contributions in Robert¹s memory be made to the charity of one¹s choice.

Written condolences may be sent to the family through the funeral home Web site at www.padgettfuneralhome.com. Published in the Gloucester County Times on 1/3/2008.

January 4, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Wrestling

 

LAWRENCEVILLE—Two years is a long time. Due to a Colonial Athletic Association rule, that is how long Ed Bordas had to sit out when he transferred from Binghamton University to Rider. The long wait is over, and everyone is happy about that. \”Now that I’m back, the two-year wait was worth it,\” said heavyweight Ed Bordas (Montgomery, N.Y./Valley Central), \”but to be honest I was doubting myself at times.\”

On Friday Bordas jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period and won 7-1 in Rider’s loss to Purdue. \”I got a little winded in the third period because I’m not in compete match shape yet,\” Bordas said. \”No matter how much you practice it is different in a match. It feels good to get my first win here. I didn’t want to disappoint the fans.\”

\”It’s nice to have him in the line-up,\” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. \”Ed is very competitive, he doesn’t like to lose, and he’s a heavyweight who is tough on top. Any heavyweight who is tough on top usually does well. It has been a while since we’ve had a heavyweight who could consistently win the conference title, and I think Ed could do that.\”

Bordas was 6-3 as a freshman in his first semester at Binghamton before leaving school and coming to Rider. \”Waiting two years, it was pretty tough,\” Bordas said. \”I got pretty aggravated with it last year, feeling like I wasn’t contributing, and my grades started to dip. This year I’ve got my grades back up about 3.5 and now I feel pretty good.\”

After his two year hiatus, he wore the Rider singlet for the first time last week at the prestigious Midlands tournament and won two of four bouts. His first match was against the eighth seed, former collegiate star Nik Fekete of the Hawk Wrestling Club.

\”The first match I got beat up pretty good (17-4),\” Bordas remembers. \”He was about 27 years old, on the Olympic circuit. He was way more ready than I was for my first match coming back. I was nervous and he took it to me.\” After that Bordas defeated Mike Sprigg of Army 7-4 and defeated Dustin Bauman of Northern Iowa 2-0 in the consolations before losing to Dave Benner of Northern Illinois 5-2. \”Beating the Army kid felt good and the Northern Iowa kid was pretty tough,\” Bordas said. \”In the fourth match of the day I felt I could have beaten the Illinois wrestler.\” \”Not bad for his first time out,\” Taylor said. \”He’s been out for two years and the people he lost to are pretty good.\”

Bordas is already the top ranked heavyweight in the CAA. \”The top seed surprised me a little bit,\” Bordas said. \”There are some good heavyweights in the CAA. But that is my goal this year, to win the weight class at the CAA championships and win a match or two at Nationals. I beat the eventual CAA Champ from Drexel and the Hofstra kid when I was at Binghamton, so I guess that carried some weight. I’m a lot bigger now and better on my feat. I was smaller and quicker back then.\”

Another transfer, junior 165 Jason Lapham (West Chazy, N.Y./Beekmantown), won in his Alumni Gymnasium debut. A transfer from Penn State, Lapham won by fall. \”It is nice to have Jason and Ed in the line up,\” Taylor said.

However, with three starters out of the line up due to injuries, the Broncs lost to Purdue Friday. \”I knew it was going to be tough with 125, 133 and 184 out, particularly 184,\” Taylor said. \”Their 184 is real tough and Doug (nationally ranked junior Doug Umbehauer of Shamong, N.J. who was sidelined with a concussion) had already beaten him this year. To beat good teams you have to be able to beat some of their best people.\”

Rider senior T.J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) also won by fall, and sophomore Fred Rodgers (Perkiomenville, Pa./Boyertown) won at 141 to get Rider on the board. \”Freddie is a real competitive kid,\” Taylor said. \”Being a Pennsylvania State runner-up in high school, he is used to being competitive and fighting hard. He’s just going to keep getting better.\”

Last week Rider placed a best-ever 12^th of 50 teams at the Midlands tournament, where Purdue (3-2) placed eighth.

Rider travels to Boyertown (PA) High School January 8 to take on Bloomsburg.

source blog.markmatthews.com

I guess it was a little over a year ago that I decided to get more involved with my town, Bellmawr NJ. Wasn\’t looking to run for office… but was looking to contribute in some way. Being a \”computer guy\”, and having a decent amount of writing ability… I decided to write a blog.

The original intent was to be more like an independent web site for the town. Stories about the town. Upcoming events. History. New developments. And then also offer areas for residents to publish photos, and town organizations to set-up there own pages (which was supported by my web site).
read on

Ewing, NJ…The College of New Jersey\’s 2008 baseball team has been tapped for the No. 14 spot in the 2008 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper\’s Division III Pre-Season Poll. The 2008 Lions will be led by interim head coach Dean Glus, who replaces Rick Dell who resigned this past summer to accept a position with Major League Baseball.

Glus inherits a squad that has earned three straight New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships as well as NCAA bids in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. The Lions went 34-11 in 2007 and had two players tapped as National All-Americans adding to the program\’s long list of accomplishments and honors.

The Lions will open up the 2008 season with an ambitious schedule. For the third straight year, TCNJ will head West with a spring training trip to Arizona. While in Arizona, the Lions will play 11 contests, including three match-ups against nationally ranked opponents. Pre-season second ranked SUNY Cortland will give the Lions an early test as will games with No. 13 ranked Wheaton College (MA), and No. 30 ranked Keene State College. When they return to New Jersey, the Lions take on a handful of non-conference opponents before jumping into an extremely tough conference schedule since the NJAC has produced seven NCAA Division III Champions since 1978.

Traditional tough NJAC rivals include William Paterson, the 1997 NCAA Division III Champions and Montclair State University, the 2000 NCAA Division III Champions as well as defending NCAA Division III Champions, Kean University. Additional NJAC competition will come from Rowan University, Rutgers University-Newark, Kean, Rutgers University-Camden, Richard Stockton and New Jersey City University.

Non-conference match-ups for the Lions will include contests with contests with nationally ranked opponents such as No. 29 ranked Gwynedd-Mercy College and No. 10 ranked Johns Hopkins University. Additional non-conference contests with Haverford College, Arcadia University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Ursinus College, Neumann College, Moravian College, and Messiah College help complete the 2008 schedule for the Lions, all helping to give TCNJ some tough independent competition that should prepare the Lions for a return to the NCAA tournament.

At season\’s end, the Lions will look to four-peat as the NJAC Champions with an eye on returning to the College World Series after taking fourth place six years ago.

No stranger to TCNJ\’s baseball program and TCNJ\’s department of athletics, Glus enters his 17^th season with the College this fall after serving as the baseball program\’s assistant coach for the past 16 years. In addition to his role as TCNJ\’s baseball assistant coach, Glus was tapped as the College\’s director of athletic and recreational facilities and scheduling after the retirement of Frank Harris in the spring of 2006.

Glus is a former three-year letterwinner for the Mountaineers at Division I West Virginia University. As WVU\’s top reliever, Glus helped his teams earn NCAA Tournament bids in 1985 and 1987.

Since arriving at TCNJ in 1990, Glus has been involved in many facets of the game on and off the field for the Lions ranging from pitching, catching, infield play, strategies of the game, and recruiting. In addition to his involvement with numerous TCNJ baseball camps and clinics, Glus also served as a national coach in Estonia, for the Junior and National baseball teams in the Baltic States in 1991. In 1996, Glus was tapped to serve as a coach with the Roberto Clemente All-Stars in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the summer of 1997, he traveled to Guam and the Philippines while participating in Major League Baseball\’s International Asian tour.

see schedule and rankings