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In today's newsletter:
Also on today's calendar: Art, Memory, Immigration and Plants with artist Jimena Vega and 15 more events.
Today's riddle: What is clean when it is black and dirty when it is white? 🤔 (Answer below!)
1. ICE Seized NJ Immigrant While He Was Buying Diapers. They Just Set Him Free (patch.com) — Newark-area readers learn how Kearny resident Martin Soto, once held at Newark's Delaney Hall and later the Elizabeth Detention Center, is now home with an ankle monitor after eight months in ICE custody. His case galvanized immigration advocates protesting alleged conditions at the Newark facility, and his release is being hailed by supporters as a hard-won example of community organizing and persistence.
2. Newark Teens Get Valuable Life Lessons From Puerto Rico Cops (patch.com) — Newark students at Barringer High School heard powerful life lessons from visiting Puerto Rico police officers, who shared stories about discipline, education and staying away from drugs and negative peer pressure. The exchange, supported by a Newark firefighter and school leaders, aimed to connect local teens with Spanish-speaking role models while highlighting public safety career pathways in the city.
3. Affordable Food for Every Ward: Newark Launches Permanent Community Grocery Stores (thenewarktimes.com) — Newark has opened five permanent community grocery stores, one in each ward, offering fresh food at near-wholesale prices and aiming to erase the city's food deserts. Run by local nonprofits and soon accepting SNAP and WIC, the stores target neighborhoods with the highest food insecurity and chronic health risks, serving more than half of Newark's residents.
4. What a new state audit found about Newark Public Schools (news12.com) — Newark families should know a new state audit found Newark Public Schools overstated enrollment, received excess state aid, and made several questionable spending and contracting decisions, even as most transactions were deemed reasonable. The report flags issues from background checks to a delayed museum project and an underused staff fitness center, with a follow-up compliance review planned for 2028.
5. NJ Grocery Bills Are Getting Ridiculous, And Newark Proves It (catcountry1073.com) — If your Newark grocery bill feels out of control, you're not imagining it: a new WalletHub study ranks Newark fifth-worst in the nation for grocery costs compared with household income. With groceries eating over 3% of median monthly income, residents are feeling squeezed even before rent and property taxes. The piece underscores how everyday necessities are straining Newark families' budgets.
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-- The Patch AM Team
P.S. The answer to today's riddle: "What is clean when it is black and dirty when it is white?" — A chalk board (Thank you Charlie H. for sending it in!)
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