A.G.: Traffickers stored $23 million in cocaine at North Philly warehouse

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A.G.: Traffickers stored $23 million in cocaine at North Philly warehouse
A drug trafficking organization smuggled $23.2 million worth of cocaine from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic into Philadelphia and stored the drugs in a North Philadelphia warehouse, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

Pa. state police, records office battle over crime-scene videos
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records urged a judge Thursday to grant it access to State Police video footage, including from a March shooting on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that left a retired trooper and two others dead.

Bill would shield ‘Good Samaritans’ who rescue kids left in cars
HARRISBURG – Days after a heat wave blistered parts of the state, a Luzerne County legislator has introduced a bill that would bar individuals from being sued for breaking into a hot car to rescue a child inside.

2 charged with rioting at Wawa after dispute over cigars
A man and a woman were arrested Thursday and charged with rioting last week at a Wawa store in Tacony, police said.

Cooper Hospital wins right to keep providing Camden ambulance service
A three-judge panel on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of a law that enabled Cooper University Health Care to provide paramedic and ambulance service in Camden, overturning a lower-court ruling.

OSHA fines Solvay, says NJ plastics company was sloppy with worker safety
Solvay Specialty Polymers, a plastics company linked to contaminated water in several Gloucester County towns, was fined $115,000 this week by the federal workplace safety agency for exposing employees to flammable gas, among other charges.

Sweeney: No pension vote until transportation funding resolved
TRENTON – Without a resolution to a transportation funding stalemate, Senate President Stephen Sweeney said Thursday that he remained opposed to calling a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would require the state to make bigger payments into its pension system.

Leftover food app to continue after DNC success
An app created to lessen food waste during the Democratic National Convention will continue to serve the homeless after collecting more than five tons of food over eight days.

2 hurt in elevator mishap at Criminal Justice Center
A Philadelphia sheriff’s deputy was critically injured Thursday when a structural failure involving a pair of employee elevators shattered the morning with a boom that some feared was a bomb and forced evacuation of the Criminal Justice Center in Center City.

Judge sets May 1 for retrial of Msgr. Lynn in clergy sex abuse case
A Philadelphia judge has set May 1 for the retrial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first Catholic Church official in the nation to be convicted over his supervision of priests accused of sexually abusing children.

In Collingswood police call policy, communication issues on all sides, emails show
On June 3, a third grader at William P. Tatem Elementary School in Collingswood drew a zombie holding a gun. The 9-year-old was sent home with a “Think Sheet” – a routine form issued for student misbehavior – and had a lengthy discussion with his parents, who explained that his drawing had been inappropriate for school.

In ‘road trip’ around N.J., Booker presses criminal justice reforms
Calling the United States the “incarceration capital of the globe,” U.S. Sen. Cory A. Booker (D., N.J.) recounted his visit to a federal prison Thursday, telling a Camden audience about an inmate who told him of being locked up for decades for a drug crime.

Severe pest infestations close New Ocean City and several other Philly eateries
The city health department during the last week grounded several “frequent fliers,” its term for eateries with a history of failing numerous health inspections.

Charter school payments draw scrutiny from Pa. auditor
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s fiscal watchdog on Wednesday questioned millions of public dollars paid to charter school landlords and called for the state to monitor such lease payments more closely.

Free music tonight at Children’s Garden in Camden
The Camden Children’s Garden is hosting two free concerts this month, beginning Thursday with a performance by professional singer and Camden native Vedra Chandler.

Rain damage could delay start of Pitman elementary school
Water damage from a torrential storm last Thursday could delay the start of school for the more than 200 students in kindergarten through fifth grade who attend Elwood Kindle Elementary School in Pitman.

Biden urges support of White House’s ‘cancer moonshot’
Vice President Biden, during a speech Wednesday night in Center City, called for national urgency in speeding new research and treatments as part of the White House’s “cancer moonshot” initiative.

Sweeney accuses N.J. teachers’ union of extortion
New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney on Wednesday accused the state’s largest teacher union and the state Fraternal Order of Police of attempted bribery, saying each threatened to withhold campaign contributions if the Senate did not vote on a proposed pension-funding bill.

Prosecutors urge court to reject Kane’s bid to block trial
Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane’s bid to have her upcoming perjury trial forestalled is “a thinly veiled eleventh-hour attempt to stall the wheels of justice and avoid the public determination of her guilt,” prosecutors said Wednesday.

Geets, a ‘Williamstown staple,’ closes
Geets Diner, a landmark in Williamstown for nearly 75 years, abruptly closed its doors during a routine lunch hour Monday.

For man, 76, shot by N.J. trooper in 911 mix-up, ‘whole thing is just unbelievable’
Gerald Sykes, his wife, and their miniature pinscher, Sarah, never heard police knock outside their rural South Jersey home, according to the family, before a state trooper shot him Friday night while responding to a disconnected 911 call.

Cherry Hill woman’s an artist in beard balm and body soap
When founder and CEO Maria Mavromatis says the Hercules Beard Co. “is all me,” she’s being modest. The Cherry Hill resident, 42, designs, makes, markets, distributes, and hand-sells a line of nine men’s grooming products – while holding down a full-time job in advertising.

Wolf: Cost-cutting saved Pa. $156 million
HARRISBURG – Gov. Wolf said Tuesday that state agencies saved more than $156 million in the 2015-16 fiscal year through a cost-cutting initiative.

Kane’s office settles ex-worker’s whistle-blower suit
The office of embattled Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane will pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former employee who alleged that Kane fired him in retaliation for recommending that she dismiss a top aide for sexual harassment.

Man pleads guilty to beating Fishtown block captain to death
One of two people charged in the December beating death of a longtime block captain in Fishtown has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder.

Caught in a crossfire, a young father dies
A 25-year-old man died last week after he unknowingly drove through a gun battle on Germantown Avenue, police and family said.

Giant mola mola – ocean sunfish – found dead at JerseyShore
While Edward Briese and his uncle were clamming in Reed’s Bay in Atlantic County on Saturday, they came across something else – a giant, odd-looking fish floating dead in the water.

Msgr. William Lynn freed on bail until retrial in church sex abuse case
After almost three years in prison for a conviction that has been reversed, Msgr. William J. Lynn went free Tuesday on $250,000 bail pending a new trial over his handling of Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children.

Pa. high court rejects bid by legislators to join case on judge retirement age
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by two high-ranking GOP lawmakers to intervene in a legal battle over the retirement age of judges.

NE Philly man to stand trial in drag-race crash that killed 3
A second Northeast Philadelphia man has been ordered to stand trial on charges of vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter in the drag-racing crash last summer that killed three people and critically injured a fourth.

City, Franklin Institute agree: Museum can keep digital sign
The city has reached an agreement to allow the Franklin Institute to convert a sign on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to digital, officials said Monday.

Three killed in Philly overnight, adding to violent weekend
Three men were killed in separate incidents in Philadelphia Sunday night and Monday morning, a violent end to a weekend in which at least eight people were killed, according to police.

Teen indicted for murder in Camden killing
A 17-year-old Camden girl charged in the killing of a 13-year-old boy has been indicted, officials said Monday. A grand jury indicted Casche Alford on a charge of first-degree murder, as well as weapons offenses, in the killing of Nathanial Plummer Jr. of Camden. Plummer was the city’s first killing of 2016, and the youngest homicide victim in several years.

It’s now up to Gov. Christie on whether medical pot can be used for PTSD
A bill that would let victims of post-traumatic stress disorder use medical marijuana passed the New Jersey Senate on Monday. An identical bill was approved by the Assembly on June 16, so the measure now awaits Gov. Christie’s consideration.

CBS drops ‘conspiracy’ motion to delay Alycia Lane lawsuit over email snooping
Lawyers for CBS have dropped an emergency motion alleging a “judicial conspiracy” that asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to delay former CBS3 anchor Alycia Lane’s negligence lawsuit against the network.

On eve of perjury trial, Kane asks state Supreme Court for reprieve
A week before Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane is set to face criminal trial, her lawyers filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court on Monday asking that the charges against her be dismissed.

New N.J. attorney general confirmed
The state Senate confirmed Christopher Porrino as New Jersey’s attorney general Monday. Gov. Christie had nominated him in June.

Ex-Treasurer Barbara Hafer and Chester County businessman Richard Ireland say they’re innocent of corruption charges
HARRISBURG — Former Pennsylvania Treasurer Barbara Hafer and Chester County businessman Richard W. Ireland told a federal judge Monday that they were innocent of corruption charges.

Private school closure leaves behind 15 acres and a very public rift in town
The closure of a small Quaker school in Westampton, Burlington County, has led to a very public rift between members of the town’s school district and town committee.

Two former Temple University cops charged with killing
Two men connected with the Temple University Police Department have been charged with murder, according to court records. Aaron Wright, 47, and Marquis Robinson, 41, are charged with six criminal counts including murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy, and abuse of a corpse. Their addresses were unavailable Sunday.

What Alex Law has been doing since being clobbered in his run for Congress
On June 7, in a funky upstairs office at the SoHa Arts Building in Haddon Township, Alex Law choked back tears – not entirely successfully – as he thanked a room full of volunteers for their efforts on his congressional campaign, an effort that he had just learned failed by 40 points.

Camden house linked to MLK gets demolition notice
In the back of the house at 753 Walnut St. in Camden, back through a small gravel alley that glitters with broken glass, over piles of debris and under a crumbling roof, you can just make out the boarded-up window of a bedroom that may have been where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed in 1950, when he was a student at the now-closed Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland.

E. Passyunk Ave car show: Hopeless wrecks into chromed-out wonders
Gregg Deininger from Folsom, N.J., smiled proudly at “Pinky,” his gleaming pink-and-cream ’55 Chevy 210, and pulled out a photo of the gutted, rusted wreck it used to be.

Camden house linked to MLK gets demolition notice