State Briefly
Amusement park damaged by fire set to reopen March 27
OCEAN CITY, N.J. >> An amusement park in southern New Jersey that was severely damaged by a fire earlier this year will reopen later this month.
The Jan. 30 fire at Playland’s Castaway Cove in Ocean City destroyed a building that housed the park’s arcade and offices, a fast-food restaurant, a juice bar and a construction company office. But no injuries were reported in the early morning blaze, and the fire did not damage the park’s outdoor area or its rides.
Investigators determined that the fire was accidental, saying it was caused by “an undetermined electrical source” near the front of a building that was destroyed.
The park’s owner says it will reopen March 27.
NJ police: state senator in violation of DWI law, arrested
JERSEY CITY >> A New Jersey state senator has been arrested after police found she violated the state’s driving while intoxicated law, law enforcement documents revealed on Friday.
Democratic state Sen. Sandra Cunningham was driving in Jersey City Thursday morning when she struck two legally parked vehicles from the side, according to a police incident report. Cunningham told police she was about to make a turn but hit a snowbank, according to the report.
The document says she was found to be in violation of the state’s DWI law and arrested. But it is unclear how officers determined she was intoxicated and whether she has yet been formally charged.
Cunningham’s spokesperson declined to comment.
A message seeking more information was left with the Hudson County Prosecutor’s office.
Cunningham has represented the 31st Legislative District, which includes Bayonne and Jersey City, since 2007.
Suspected Proud Boy arrested for harassment of researcher
PHILADELPHIA >> A Philadelphia man who prosecutors say is a self-identified Proud Boy faces criminal charges after allegedly threatening an antifascist researcher.
Detectives with the District Attorneys Office arrested Kyle Boell on Thursday four months after he allegedly sent harassing Twitter messages to a West Philadelphia community organizer who researches and exposes members of far-right organizations, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Boell faces charges for harassment and making terroristic threats. Boell did not have an attorney at the time of his arrest.
Firefighters save bride’s wedding from going up in flames
BLUE BELL, PA. >> Firefighters in Pennsylvania saved a bride’s wedding, already postponed by COVID-19, from going up in flames.
The fire broke out Thursday night in the ceiling of a building at the historic Normandy Farm Hotel. Inside the building was Caitlin Kerezsi’s wedding dress.
She was eating at a restaurant across the street when she saw the smoke and started running, she told WPVI-TV.
“The dresses were in there and the firefighters did an incredible job. They got everything out. Got the dresses out, my brother-in-law’s suit, luggage, money,” Kerezsi said.
She had canceled the wedding last March because of the coronavirus pandemic and feared she’d have to postpone it again.
The bride-to-be said her Friday wedding was “destined for greatness.”
“If we can get through COVID and we can get through a fire, I think we can get through just about anything,” she said.
The fire heavily damaged a nine-room guest house dating to the 1800s, Normandy Farm owner Bud Hansen said. But the hotel remained open and the wedding would take place as planned.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Man sentenced for raping, killing jogger in New Jersey park
JERSEY CITY, N.J. >> A man who immigration authorities said was twice deported from the United States is going to prison for raping and killing a jogger in a New Jersey park.
A judge on Thursday sentenced Jorge Rios, 35, of Jersey City, to 30 years in prison for the 2019 attack on Carolina Cano, 45, in Liberty Park. The judge also imposed a 10-year sentence to run concurrently for aggravated sexual assault.
According to Hudson County prosecutors, Rios admitted to sexually assaulting and strangling Cano, who was from Peru. She had been in the U.S. for about two years and worked as a nanny.