Trenton

A couple of teenage pals named Jack and Chester kicked off spring and kicked up some dust in a gritty Trenton neighborhood Tuesday. The handsome pair of Belgian draft horses pulled a plow that furrowed the earth in the Garden of Three Points, delighting Gene Roberson and others eager for the start of planting season. "Watermelon, peanuts, field peas, collards, mustard greens, squash," said Roberson, 74, describing typical crops he'll be putting in "around Mother's Day, when the ground'll be good and warm.

TRENTON - Protesters in Revolutionary War costumes, environmentalists, and pink-shirted women's advocates were among those who filled the street in front of the Statehouse on Monday in a series of rallies, with the largest opposing a legislative plan to overhaul public workers' pensions and benefits. Behind the Statehouse, union members set up rows of tents and a mock graveyard for the "death of collective bargaining" alongside more than 50 state police cars and at least two armored vehicles at the ready in case the situation got out of control.

Flames consumed 14 rowhouses yesterday afternoon in Trenton's worst fire in 30 years. Only one person was injured, as most residents were at work or school. Jason Wright, 6, who was going to his sitter's home, is escorted away by Officer John Delli.

Chad Spann's home-run bat beat Trenton for the second night in a row in the Eastern League's Northern Division Championship Series. The Portland Sea Dogs beat the Thunder, 5-2, last night to take a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-five playoffs. Spann, whose grand slam won Wednesday's game, broke a tie last night with a two-run homer in the sixth. Trenton000200000 -240 Portland10100201x -5101 WP: Beam (2-0). LP: DeSalvo (0-1). Save: Mann (1). HR: T-Cabrera (1)

A fugitive from a Cumberland County halfway house surrendered without incident Tuesday night in Trenton, a state spokesman said. Lamont White, 36, had escaped overnight Sunday from Kintock House in Bridgeton, said Matt Schuman, a Department of Corrections spokesman. He was found in Trenton and was persuaded to surrender, Schuman said. White, of Chesilhurst, was serving time for criminal homicide and related offenses in connection with a 2004 robbery in which the 63-year-old victim, whose head hit the pavement after White punched him in the face, later died.

After a scrappy battle between the state's two teachers' unions, Trenton teachers voted 584 to 432 yesterday to continue their membership with the powerful New Jersey Education Association. The election confirmed the strength of the NJEA, the second-largest state affiliate of the National Education Association and a formidable lobby in Trenton. The American Federation of Teachers was vying for the loyalty of Trenton's 1,100 teachers. Nationally, the National Education Association's members outnumber those of the AFT by more than 3 to 1. With 125,000 members, the NJEA has a virtual monopoly on the bargaining rights of the state's teachers.

Jeff Martin homered in the ninth and Shayne Bennett earned his first Eastern League save as Trenton beat Reading, 4-3, last night. The win moved the Thunder within half a game of the first-place Phillies. CHARLOTTE 4, SCRANTON 0 MOOSIC, Pa. - Charlotte's Jerry Schunk cracked a three-run home run and Kurt Miller came within one out of a complete-game shutout in the International League. Miller also had two singles. LYNCHBURG 3, WILMINGTON 1 WILMINGTON - Ken Bonifay's two-run single keyed the three-run fourth and the Hillcats broke the Blue Rocks' four-game winning streak in Carolina League play.

Two former No. 1 draft picks of the Phillies - Jeff Jackson and Chad McConnell - helped Reading sweep an Eastern League doubleheader from Trenton last night. McConnell hit a three-run homer to lead Reading to a 5-2 win in the first game. Reading used Jackson's grand slam to win the second, 5-1. SCRANTON 6, PAWTUCKET 5 PAWTUCKET, R.I. - Dave Hollins, on a rehabilitation assignment, hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat in the International League game.

TRENTON - The New Hampshire Fisher Cats got home runs from Maikel Jova and Erik Kratz as well as seven strong innings from Shaun Marcum in a 6-2 win over Trenton last night in the Eastern League. The loss snapped the Thunder's four-game winning streak. Trenton's runs came on homers by Shelly Duncan, who has 10 this season and four in four games. Binghamton 6, Reading 0 READING - Brian Bannister allowed five hits over seven innings and struck out five as the Mets beat the Phillies in the Eastern League.

Pat Burrell celebrated his first minor-league playoff game with two home runs to back Adam Eaton's pitching as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons defeated the Charlotte Knights, 15-5, last night in the International League. Burrell, who was promoted from double-A Reading last month, was 4 for 5 with two homers and two RBIs. Billy McMillon also was 4 for 5 with a homer and three RBIs. The second game of the best-of-five semifinal series is scheduled for tonight in Charlotte.

An accused getaway driver in the slaying of Levittown musician Danny DeGennaro testified Thursday in Bucks County Court that defendant Jermaine Jackson was the mastermind of a plot that left DeGennaro dead. Danasia Bakr, 19, of Falls Township, has been cooperating with authorities and was considered a key witness. Jackson, 20, of Trenton, is being tried for murder, with prosecutors saying he organized a group to go to DeGennaro's home in December 2011 to rob him. When the robbery turned bad, prosecutors say, one of Jackson's coconspirators fired a shotgun into DeGennaro's chest.

Pedal power goes wild in the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby, a design competition and parade of wild and woolly, human-powered sculptural/mechanical marvels. Kicking off at noon Saturday at Trenton and Norris streets, this KKSD will be easier to enjoy as Philly In Focus (a Comcast/NBC Universal media platform) offers video close-ups of floats on a 25-foot-tall LED screen.

Convicted sex offender Gerald Tyrone Murphy had barricaded himself in a Trenton apartment house Friday, saying he was armed with guns and explosives. That was just part of the horror inside the two-story dwelling on Grand Street. There were the decomposing bodies of Murphy's girlfriend, Carmenlita Stevens, 44, and her 13-year-old son, whose name police did not disclose. Murphy had killed them two weeks earlier, police said Sunday. There was also a foul odor and an infestation of maggots.

TRENTON, N.J. - More than 28 hours after police first arrived on the scene of a home on Grand Street in the city's South Ward, hostage negotiators continued attempting to coax an armed man into releasing the three children he is believed to have inside. The man, who was not identified but is known in the neighborhood as "Skip," killed his girlfriend and one of her five children, said South Ward Councilman George Muschal, based on information from his former law enforcement colleagues.

TRENTON - Assembly Democrats and a cabinet official bickered Thursday over whether the Republican governor's policies have produced real property tax relief and whether the administration has given sufficient guidance to towns on spending for affordable housing projects. Richard Constable, commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, told the Assembly Budget Committee that Gov. Christie's reforms, including changes to pensions and benefits and an annual 2 percent cap, are helping to slow property-tax increases.

Sister Clare Naughton, 87, a hospital nurse, supervisor, and administrator in the Philadelphia area for many years, died Sunday, April 7, of cancer at Assisi House in Aston, Delaware County. "Sister Clare was a gifted woman who never hesitated to use those gifts for others - whether it be in actual hands-on nursing, in hospital administration, or in actually overseeing the building of a new hospital," said Sister Ann Marie Slavin, a spokeswoman for the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia.

A couple of teenage pals named Jack and Chester kicked off spring and kicked up some dust in a gritty Trenton neighborhood Tuesday. The handsome pair of Belgian draft horses pulled a plow that furrowed the earth in the Garden of Three Points, delighting Gene Roberson and others eager for the start of planting season. "Watermelon, peanuts, field peas, collards, mustard greens, squash," said Roberson, 74, describing typical crops he'll be putting in "around Mother's Day, when the ground'll be good and warm.

TRENTON - When Democrats went looking for records about possible political shenanigans involving Sandy cleanup contracts, they asked for correspondence from everyone they could: Gov. Christie's "chiefs of staff, deputy chiefs of staff, unit directors, and their secretaries. " Democrats hope to chip away at Christie's greatest political strength in his reelection campaign - his handling of Sandy - by questioning whether the Republican governor gave a lucrative cleanup deal to a politically connected company, AshBritt.

A South Jersey doctor will be sentenced in July for overbilling Medicare for home visits with seniors. Lori Reaves, founder and owner of Visiting Physicians of South Jersey in Hammonton, charged Medicare for an unspecified number of 2.5-hour house calls even though she typically spent only 30 to 45 minutes with the patients, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Reaves, 52, of Waterford Works, pleaded guilty last Thursday in Trenton. The fraudulent visits, costing $511,068, occurred from 2008 through Oct. 14, 2011, according to a court document.