EDISON, N.J., Sept. 12 (ZFJ) — State-run veterans homes at Menlo Park and Paramus have failed to adequately respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide medical care to their residents, announced the Justice Department on Thursday, Sept. 7. The feds said that the conditions at the veterans homes, which provide long-term nursing care to veterans and their families and are under the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMAVA), violate the Fourteenth Amendment right to reasonable safety when in the state’s care.

Sept. 11 (ZFJ) — The 1,648th and 1,649th victims from the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, have been identified, announced the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner on Friday, Sept. 8. These two victims are the first new identifications of 9/11 victims since September 2021. About 1,104 victims, or 40% of the 2,753 who died, remain unidentified. This year, the OCME also identified 60 human remains connected to previously identified individuals.

Sept. 10 (ZFJ) — Cecilia Xie Birge was appointed principal of Princeton High School on Thursday, Aug. 31. The Princeton Board of Education voted unanimously for her at a special meeting. Board member Michele Tuck-Ponder was not present. “With Cecilia’s appointment tonight, we are turning a page and we are looking with excitement to the future,” said Dafna Kendal, president of the school board. Birge thanked the board and search committee for entrusting her with the position and recognized the school staff’s work for Princeton High.

EDISON, N.J., Aug. 30 (ZFJ) — Edison middle school teacher Julius Coaccioli, 55, was arrested and charged with third-degree possession of child pornography on Wednesday, Aug. 30, announced Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Woodbridge Police Department Director Robert Hubner. Coaccioli taught science at Woodrow Wilson Middle School at the time of his arrest. According to public payroll records, he has worked for the Edison Board of Education since September 1992.

Aug. 23 (ZFJ) — AI art generated “absent human involvement” is not eligible for copyright, ruled U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell on Aug. 18, Friday. In her ruling for the federal district court in Washington, D.C., Howell upheld the U.S. Copyright Office’s denial of registration to computer scientist Stephen Thaler for the work he calls A Recent Entrance to Paradise. BACKGROUND Thaler, the plaintiff, owns an AI called the “Creativity Machine” that can generate visual works of art.

Aug. 21 (ZFJ) — President Joe Biden, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol, and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to increase defense and economic cooperation among their countries at a Camp David summit on Friday, Aug. 18. This meeting is the first-ever standalone summit between the leaders of Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Japan and South Korea continue to have disputes over former Imperial Japan’s colonial rule from 1910-1945.

Aug. 14 (ZFJ) — July 2023 was the hottest month on record globally, confirmed the Copernicus Climate Change Service on Tuesday, Aug. 8. The monthly average temperature worldwide was 16.95 degrees Celsius (62.51 degrees Fahrenheit), exceeding July 2019’s previous record of 16.63 C (61.93 F) and meeting the Paris Agreement threshold of 1.5 C (2.7 F) warming above preindustrial levels. The 29 days from July 3-31 were the hottest days on record, exceeding the previous daily global mean surface air temperature record of 16.

EDISON, N.J., Aug. 12 (ZFJ) — To celebrate its trademark battle win, Taco Bell will fund Taco Tuesday celebrations in all U.S. states except New Jersey, the company announced on Tuesday, Aug. 8. On Tuesday, Sept. 12, Taco Bell, partnering with DoorDash, will spend $5 million to cover orders from participating Mexican food vendors. “Taco Tuesday belongs to all who make, sell, eat, and celebrate tacos, and this Free-For-All will not only thank taco fans who supported the cause, but also spotlight local restaurants and vendors who can now embrace Taco Tuesdays without fear of legal action,” said Taco Bell U.

Aug. 7 (ZFJ) — Robert Bowers, 50, was sentenced to death by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville on Thursday, Aug. 3, for killing 11 congregants, wounding two others, and injuring five police officers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. “I have nothing specific that I care to say to Mr. Bowers,” Colville said, according to The Associated Press. “I am however convinced there is nothing I could say to him that might be meaningful.

Aug. 3 (ZFJ) — Rafaela Vasquez, 49, pled guilty to endangerment on Friday, July 28, for failing to stop a fully self-driving car from hitting and killing a 49-year-old woman. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David W. Garbarino sentenced her to three years of supervised probation. Her charge will be designated a misdemeanor once she completes her sentence. On March 18, 2018, Vasquez was the backup driver for a test vehicle belonging to Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group (ATG).