Camden

Angelo J. Errichetti, 84, a former Camden mayor and state senator who was South Jersey's premier Democratic power broker in the decade before his 1981 bribery conviction in the Abscam scandal, has died after a long illness. He had been living in Ventnor, N.J. During two mayoral terms, starting in 1973, he built a reputation as an unflagging booster for his hometown, where his father, a Neapolitan immigrant, stoked coal at the shipyard to feed seven children. Mr. Errichetti's efforts to revive Camden's moribund economy were said to occupy 12 hours on a typical day, yet he took on a second office simultaneously.

EYEWITNESS NEWS anchor Susan Barnett is leaving CBS 3 and the CW Philly. Barnett has been at CBS since 2006, anchoring the evening newscasts since 2008. She anchored the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. broadcasts on CBS, and the 10 p.m. broadcast at the CW Philly, along with co-anchor Chris May . Her contract expired in March. "I have decided to not renew my contract with the stations at this time. I am incredibly thankful for having been a part of the CBS Philly family, but I feel that this is the right decision at this time," Barnett said in a statement yesterday.

In the end, Camden County Prosecutor Samuel Asbell built an air-tight case - against himself. When he was read his constitutional rights and questioned by state investigators into the wee hours yesterday at the Bellmawr state police barracks, Asbell's story of a high-speed chase and shootout on the streets of Camden on New Year's Day fell apart. Asbell, 46, resigned his office at the conclusion of the interrogation and voluntarily entered the Carrier Clinic, a pyschiatric facility in Somerset County.

The Rev. Jeff Putthoff is executive director of Hopeworks 'N Camden A few weeks ago, Camden had its deadliest July since 1949. That was the year that Howard Unruh, America's first serial killer, killed 13 people on one day. This year, 13 people were killed over the course of 31 days. At the time, I commented on how differently the violence in Camden would be covered by the news media if it had been done by a single serial killer as opposed to many killers. Amazingly, with the killings in the movie theater in Aurora, Colo., we see how gripping one killer of many is to the country.

Tough little Union City's public school test scores and graduation rates rival those of comfortable suburbs. But in the late 1980s, the only schools with which Union City could be said to "compete" were in troubled Camden. While public education in Camden has won a sad race to the bottom - Trenton is taking over the city's schools - the success of Union City has inspired a laudatory new book. Improbable Scholars (Oxford University Press) offers something of a guide for Camden and struggling school districts nationwide.

Two-Face was stoned-faced yesterday as a federal jury in Camden delivered a verdict that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. Juan "Two-Face" Rivera-Velez, 35, showed no reaction as the jury foreman announced four consecutive guilty verdicts, capping nearly eight days of deliberations in a high-profile narcotics trial in U.S. District Court in Camden. Rivera-Velez, nicknamed after his face was disfigured in an auto accident several years ago, was charged with carrying out one murder and attempting a second for convicted Camden drug kingpin Raymond Morales.

For quite some time, there have been legislative negotiations concerning a bill that would impose an enhanced degree of state control over the governmental affairs of the city of Camden. A number of the key points of this legislation have received public discussion. However, as one of the bill's principal architects is fond of pointing out, "the devil is in the details. " These details have not been shared with the city's elected representatives. Perhaps this is attributable to a paternalistic assumption that Camden's elected officials cannot know what is good for them and the city.

A state court ruled Tuesday that an arbitrator cannot force New Jersey taxpayers to pay for raises he awarded to firefighters in Camden. A three-judge appellate panel threw out a 2011 arbitrator's award giving the firefighters raises totaling more than $1 million from 2009 through last year. The decision shows just how complicated it is to pay for services in Camden, a city that ranks among the nation's most impoverished and that has a tiny tax base. About 70 percent of the city's $150 million budget is funded by state aid. When contract talks between the city's firefighters and government could not be settled, the case was sent to an arbitrator.

It might be going just a bit too far to say "Mmmm, mmmm, good!" but the Campbell Soup Co.'s decision to modernize operations in Camden is an encouraging long-range commitment. Campbell Soup was founded in Camden in 1869 and has been a significant part of the city's economy for more than a century. While there was never any doubt about company headquarters staying in Camden, speculation has been rampant for years about a possible closing of production lines. Campbell's main plant in Camden was built in 1907.

Passenger trains could be running again between Camden and Glassboro by 2019, if someone comes up with $1.6 billion and the current construction schedule doesn't slip. Those are big ifs. South Jersey residents got an update Monday evening on the latest plans for a long-discussed 18-mile light-rail line that would restore passenger service to a corridor now used only for freight trains. At a show-and-tell session at Woodbury High School, about 100 area residents talked to officials of STV Inc., the engineering firm conducting an $8.1 million environmental-impact study for the Delaware River Port Authority.

For several years, even as the Camden city administration warned that it was unable to financially support its police department, more than half of $12 million in federal and state grants that poured in during that time lay unused. Most of that money couldn't be used because the city failed to keep police staffing at levels required by the grants. But more than $500,000 in grant money that the city was free to use sat around for two years until recently when the police department purchased various items, including new cars, portable radios, and tires, according to an Inquirer analysis of police-related grants the city has received since 2009.

Connie Williams, 72, a community activist who worked with children and police to keep her East Camden neighborhood safe, died early Saturday, May 18, of lung cancer. Ms. Williams ran after-school and summer crime-prevention programs in an effort to keep children active and away from drugs. For the last decade, she had been president of the East Side Civic Association in Camden. "It's a sad day for the city," Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said. "Miss Connie was a mother hen to the children of East Camden.

Colan Miller waited his whole career for Camden Catholic to push into South Jersey baseball prominence. Maybe that's why the senior righthander worked so quickly and efficiently in Saturday's Diamond Classic quarterfinals. Miller pitched a three-hitter with five strikeouts as Camden Catholic beat Pitman, 2-1, in a game that took just 74 minutes at Washington Township. "The tempo was perfect for me," Miller said. "I love to work fast. " With the victory, Camden Catholic (16-8)

Angelo J. Errichetti, 84, a former Camden mayor and state senator who was South Jersey's premier Democratic power broker in the decade before his 1981 bribery conviction in the Abscam scandal, has died after a long illness. He had been living in Ventnor, N.J. During two mayoral terms, starting in 1973, he built a reputation as an unflagging booster for his hometown, where his father, a Neapolitan immigrant, stoked coal at the shipyard to feed seven children. Mr. Errichetti's efforts to revive Camden's moribund economy were said to occupy 12 hours on a typical day, yet he took on a second office simultaneously.

Camden Catholic senior Shannon McCormick scored three goals in the first half on Thursday afternoon, and it appeared that, once again, the Irish would ease to victory over Collingswood in girls' lacrosse. The Panthers defense clamped down in the second half, though, and it wasn't until the second overtime when McCormick's fourth goal found the net that sixth-seeded Camden Catholic eked out a 9-8 win over No. 11 Collingswood in a South Jersey Group 1 first-round game. McCormick ripped the game-winner after beating her defender to the right.

Dominique Reid played in just five games last season for Timber Creek because of a knee injury. But the 6-foot-8 forward still earned a Division I basketball scholarship. Reid on Wednesday signed with Niagara University, according to Timber Creek coach Rich Bolds. "Once Dom gets healthy, he can dominate that league," Bolds said of Reid, who averaged 20.2 points as a junior. Reid suffered the knee injury in the spring of 2012. He didn't take the floor for Timber Creek until late February.

A 42-year-old Camden man was killed Friday morning when a concrete partition at a city recycling center fell on him. It was the second fatal accident at the facility this year. Keith Rainer was pronounced dead at Cooper University Hospital shortly before 8:30 a.m., officials said. The accident happened around 8 at ReCommunity Camden in the industrial complex on the 2200 block of Mount Ephraim Avenue, Camden County Police spokesman Michael Daniels said. He said a front-end loader knocked over a concrete barrier, which fell on Rainer.

Rutgers-Camden announced Thursday that it has hired Annette Reiter, who played on four state championship teams at Gloucester Catholic, as its women's basketball coach. Reiter, a 21-year coaching veteran at the college and high school levels, had been the Penn State Abington coach. She spent three seasons as an assistant at Rowan. Her Nittany Lions team posted a 9-16 record a year after going 0-23. Reiter also starred as a player at Widener. Baseball. Fifth-seeded Neumann (30-14)