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.

June 19 (ZFJ) — Starting from 2024-2025, College Board will revise the course content and exams for its four AP Physics courses for better alignment with corresponding introductory college courses and better communication of the knowledge required for the exams. One of the most notable course updates for AP Physics 1 is the addition of a new unit: Fluids, which was previously part of AP Physics 2. As such, Fluids will no longer be part of the AP Physics 2 curriculum.

EDISON, N.J., June 8 (ZFJ) — James “Diamond Jim” Muldowney, 68, an Edison High School baseball coach and athletic director, died on Tuesday, May 21, after briefly battling cancer. “Jim dedicated his life to the betterment of students and athletes, leaving an indelible mark on the community,” reads his obituary. He was a mentor to countless students and coaches alike. Muldowney was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Edison. He graduated from Edison High in 1973 and lived in North Brunswick for 33 years.

May 21 (ZFJ) — Nintendo will announce the successor to its Switch console by the end of the current fiscal year—so, by March 31, 2025. The confirmation came from Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa in an X post on the same day the company released its fiscal year 2024 (year ending March 31, 2024) earnings report. This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., April 22 (ZFJ) — Jacob Beacher, 24, of North Plainfield, has been charged with a federal hate crime for breaking into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU) on 122 College Avenue in New Brunswick, announced federal authorities on Monday, April 22. Beacher, not affiliated with Rutgers, was arrested this morning and federally charged with one count of intentional or attempted obstruction of religious practice and one count of making false statements to federal authorities.