EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., ZFJ (July 19) — The Dream Food Fest has again returned to New Jersey this summer. Hosted in partnership with the American Dream Mall, the food festival was held from July 12-15 in Lot 26 of the mall in East Rutherford, N.J., gathering 120 street food vendors—including Tojo’s Kitchen, Cozy Tea Loft, and Dumpling N’ Dips—selling a variety of cuisines from around the glove: Korean corn dogs, Neapolitan pizza, Jamaican jerk chicken, and much more.

July 14 (ZFJ) — Former President Donald Trump was shot in the upper right ear in an assassination attempt while he was at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13. At about 6:15 p.m., several minutes after Trump began addressing the audience, a shooter fired towards the stage “from an elevated position outside of the rally venue,” said Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service, in a statement.

July 12 (ZFJ) — T1 became the first-ever League of Legends champions in the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) after emerging victorious against Top Esports (TES) 3-1 in the grand finals on Sunday, July 7, at the Qiddiya Arena. The EWC is an annual international gaming tournament organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation, succeeding the previous Gamers8 festival. This year, the EWC 2024 is being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, spanning from July 3 to August 25.

July 9 (ZFJ) — Raymond Maldonado, 34, of Perth Amboy has been charged in connection with a June 30 homicide in Perth Amboy, announced authorities on July 1. According to a criminal complaint, on June 30, at about 1:12 p.m., the Perth Amboy Police Department received a 911 call from a relative who said that she went to the victim’s home to check on her and found her unresponsive on the living room floor with bruising and blood around her face.

July 9 (ZFJ) — Gelsenkirchen has temporarily renamed itself to Swiftkirchen ahead of Taylor Swift’s concerts there, announced the German city on July 2. Swift will be performing in three concerts at the VELTINS-Arena from July 17-19 as part of her Eras Tour. Local Swiftie Aleshanee Westhoff of Emmerich started a petition for this change, which Mayor Karin Welge thought was “a great idea.” The Swiftkirchen sign. CITY OF GELSENKIRCHEN/Handout

WOODBRIDGE, N.J., July 3 (ZFJ) — Two officers were shot and one suspect was killed at the Raritan Hotel on King Georges Post Road in the Fords section of Woodbridge on June 13, according to the N.J. Attorney General’s Office. On June 12, Edison police officers using an automated license plate reader found that a vehicle sought by New York City authorities in connection with a shooting that left its victim with life-threatening injuries was in the area.

EDISON, N.J., July 2 (ZFJ) — Edison unveiled a new sign commemorating the Battle of Short Hills at Oak Tree Pond Historic Park on Wednesday, June 26. The sign, installed 250 years after the American Revolutionary War battle, was a gift from the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners. The Short Hills Battlefield Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

July 2 (ZFJ) — This one’s mainly for the class of 2024, with some exceptions, I suppose. If you used your free AP score report send, those have been sent out now. The AP Students dashboard, under “View Past Score Sends,” indicates that reports were sent out on June 30. So what? Well, you may be able to view all of your AP scores, including those from this year’s exams, on your college’s unofficial transcript—a minor boon to students like me who prefer not to stay their curiosity.

EDISON, N.J., July 1 (ZFJ) — Edison’s first splash park is now open to the public at Papaianni Park, announced Mayor Sam Joshi. The opening was kicked off with a first ever youth league pep rally on June 29, and the park was made available to the general public the following day. In keeping with inventor Thomas Edison’s history with the township, the splash pad is shaped like a lightbulb. The park also features a 20 foot replica of the Edison light tower, globes, and water guns shaped like classic film cameras.

EDISON, N.J., June 30 (ZFJ) — Edison police opened a substation in Menlo Park Mall on May 24. It is located in the former Jos A. Bank store between Barnes & Noble and a parking garage. Police officials celebrated the opening, which Deputy Chief Robert Dudash said had been “a brainchild of the police department and the mall for a lot of years now.” “This substation will actually enhance our services to the public and to the mall,” said Chief Thomas Bryan at the ribbon cutting.