Plates

TRENTON - Two state troopers, charged Friday with records tampering, turned a state highway into a "virtual speedway" in March when they gave a caravan of luxury cars a high-speed escort while taping over their own license plates to conceal their involvement, the state attorney general said. "No one is above the law," Jeffrey Chiesa said. "We will not tolerate officers who endanger the public they are sworn to protect. " Administrative charges also were brought against four other members of the state police in connection with a similar high-speed escort of luxury cars in 2010, and a fifth trooper for his handling of a ticket issued to the driver of a Lamborghini clocked at 116 m.p.h., also in 2010.

A SOUTH JERSEY police officer's clever — but creepy — scheme to flirt with a woman on Facebook could land him in jail for up to 10 years, officials in the Camden County Prosecutor's Office announced Monday.   Jeffrey Tyther, 44, was on duty in Voorhees on Sept. 9 when he saw a woman pass him on the highway then pulled his police cruiser up behind her car, said Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the county prosecutor. Tyther pulled up beside the woman and waved, although the two did not exchange words.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Carlos Ruiz hid behind a wall in the visitors clubhouse at Atlanta's Turner Field. This was two months before the Phillies catcher became an all-star, before he hit .350 in a first half that defied reason, before he earned the praise of baseball's best. He wore a lucha libre mask and a title belt. Charlie Manuel was still in his office, and Ruiz wanted to surprise his manager. He was entertaining an entire room. "No, no, not yet," a few players told Ruiz.

With the help of a technology that scans license plates to track down criminals, police in Camden County arrested a pair of suspected bank robbers Tuesday. Adam P. Cybulski 3d, 55, and Michele L. Fidanza, 31, were charged with robbing a PNC Bank branch Monday in Gloucester Township, police said. Cybulski, a former Berlin resident now described as homeless, entered the bank around 11:20 a.m. and threatened a teller by saying he had a weapon, police said. He left with an undisclosed amount of money and fled in a black 1998 Mercedes-Benz driven by Fidanza, of Pine Hill, police said.

We were in search of pie for dessert for a big family dinner in Stone Harbor last week. And as it was still pre-Fourth of July, many of the shops were open only on weekends. Someone directed us to a bakery called the Painted Pie, and we found it, with the door ajar, but clearly not open for business. A baker emerged from the back, his bicycle in the middle of the shop. Could he recommend any place we could buy a pie for dessert? "None will be as good as mine," was his reply. "Well could you bake one by 6 o'clock?"

Joey Gorman, Joe Kinee, Joe Jaep, and John LaMotta have put up solid pitching numbers for Neumann-Goretti this baseball season. The X-factor in their success has been catcher Nicky Nardini, a four-year starter who calls all the pitches. "He's been fantastic," Saints coach Mike Zolk said. "I just can't say enough about what he does for us. He rarely makes a mistake. " Nardini is far from your prototypical high school catcher. At 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, the senior is undersized for the position.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 4 slices bacon, chopped 1 yellow onion, chopped 1 teaspoon juniper berries 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds 3 bay leaves 2 12-ounce bottles of lager, such as Spaten or Warsteiner 2 16-ounce cans sauerkraut 1 large smoked pork chop 2 links bratwurst 2 links bauernwurst or kielbasa   1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. 2. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the oil, bacon, and onion.

PORTLAND, Maine - Scores of Maine churches will pass the collection plate a second time at Sunday services on Father's Day to kick off a fund-raising campaign for the lead opposition group to November's ballot question asking voters to legalize same-sex marriages. Between 150 and 200 churches are expected to raise money for the Protect Marriage Maine political action committee, said Carroll Conley Jr., executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine evangelical organization and a member of the PAC. Conley is also trying to get support from religious leaders around the country.

SAN DIEGO - Another day of failure complete, John Mayberry Jr. plopped down at a laptop and began scrolling through the video. He saw the 87 m.p.h. fastball he popped to second base with the bases loaded in the first inning. Then there was another fastball he skied to right to begin the fourth. He swung and missed at a curveball and fastball in the sixth and then took a 93 m.p.h. fastball for strike three. And to top it off, he swung through another fastball in the ninth. But he at least took one pitch in that at-bat, a fastball that skipped past the catcher and allowed the Phillies to score an insurance run in Thursday's 2-0 victory.

Audubon senior Derek "Boomer" Wickersham hasn't been a catcher very long, but he's sure making up for lost time. Wickersham didn't begin catching until the eighth grade and says there are things he learns every day about this complicated position, which requires brains and grit as no other position in baseball does. One aspect of the game that Wickersham has a true feel for is working with pitchers. "He's 100 percent positive and is never negative," said Audubon lefthander Andrew Schorr, an East Carolina recruit and a potential Major League Baseball draft choice.