Find out which teams have left a stamp on the state tournament so far.

NJ.com names its top, statewide, individual football performances from Week 8.

Colonia QB Taj-calvin Johnson fakes a pass during the first half of the football game between Woodbridge and Colonia at Woodbridge High School in Woodbridge, NJ on 9/8/17. (Chris Faytok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Chris Faytok 

Who made NJ.com's "Superhero Squad"?

Marva Fitzpatrick, 45, was riding a bicycle on Oct. 2 when she was hit by a city school bus at Sairs and West End avenues.

LONG BRANCH - The school bus driver who fatally struck a city woman riding her bicycle earlier this month was charged with careless driving, police said.

Marva Fitzpatrick, 45, was riding a bicycle in the afternoon on Oct. 2 when she was hit by a city school bus at the intersection of Sairs and West End avenues, police said. The school bus did not have any passengers inside of it. 

Her mother, Caroline Bennett, told the Asbury Park Press that Fitzpatrick died on Oct. 26 after suffering brain damage from the crash. Bennett is a member of the Long Branch Board of Education.

The driver of the bus, 47-year-old MaryBeth Corsentino, was charged with careless driving, according to Long Branch acting police Chief Jason Roebuck.

A memorial service for Fitzpatrick will be held 10 a.m. on Thursday at Salem Baptist Church, 116 3rd Avenue. 

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Here's the story of how a living legend wound up in the barrel of a brown slab of pounding New Jersey surf. Watch video

When local pro surfer Sam Hammer packed up his Subaru before heading to the beach on Monday to surf a massive swell, he brought with him some extra gear for a special guest.

Professional surfers on the elite World Surf League tour have graced New Jersey's waves before. The late great Andy Irons, who died in 2010, surfed Manasquan during a hurricane swell in 2009 and Hawaii native Dusty Payne, currently ranked No. 87 in the WSL, got barreled with local Pat Schmidt. Somers Point native Dean Randazzo, who is the only New Jersey surfer to qualify for the WSL tour, continues to live and surf in the state. 

But, Kelly Slater, that's a whole different level, said Hammer, who runs the Hammer Surf School in various locations at the Shore.

"He's the greatest ever," Sammer said in a phone interview on Tuesday. "You never get to see this in New Jersey. We get good guys coming through, we do, especially more recently. But when you get someone on that level ... it's just awesome. It's poetry in motion."

Slater has 11 WSL first-place finishes under his belt. The only other surfer to come close to that has five titles. Slater was the youngest to win a title at age 20, and the oldest to win one, at age 39. Now, at 45, the Cocoa Beach, Florida, native continues to surf at a high level, though he hasn't won a first-place trophy since 2011. 

A video clip of Slater, covered from head to toe in a wetsuit, surfing a massive wave in Monmouth County gained a ton of traction on the internet on Tuesday. Here's the story of how a living legend wound up in the barrel of a brown slab of pounding Jersey surf.

Hammer, who rides for Slater's surf company Firewire Surfboards, had been texting back and forth with Slater since Wednesday. Slater told Hammer he was scheduled to be in New York City at the beginning of the following week and asked him how the forecast was shaping up.

"I said it could be potentially pretty good, but you never know with forecasting," Hammer said. "On Saturday, I sent him a text and just said, 'Hey, you might want to clear some space, it's going to be good.'"

Kelly told Hammer to keep him posted. And on Monday, Hammer told Slater the waves were good and to come down.

"I told him where my car was, where my keys were and said there was stuff in there for you, take what you need," Hammer said.

Knowing Slater is a busy man and plans can change at any moment, Hammer didn't wait around for him. He paddled out in the ocean to take advantage of a perfect East Coast swell with a group of other local professional surfers and photographers.

"I had let two or three people know in the lineup there was a good chance Kelly was coming out here," Hammer said. "Everyone had the same response, 'Awesome.'"

Hammer did not want to disclose the exact location of where they surfed, but he said that spot does not always align the way it did on Monday.

"It's not always like that," Hammer said. "I have to make that clear. That's not always doing that. It just happened to be the perfect swell direction and a lot of times places are a lot better than that. It just happened to be the right moment."

Slater took the 65-mile trip from New York City to where Hammer told him he would be. He pulled up just before 4 p.m. and grabbed a Firewire Slater designed board, a wetsuit, a cap and booties for his feet from Hammer's car.

Slater surfed the Jersey swell for about and hour and a half, Hammer said. And as word spread around town, there was suddenly a crowd of almost 200 people gathered on the beach to watch Slater, according to Hammer.

"It's just special when you see people at that level come to your home break," said Hammer, who grew up in Lavallette. "It's not like watching them on video or watching them on TV. It's different 'cause they're in your backyard surfing waves you surf."

What was equally amazing as watching Slater surf, Hammer said, was watching him interact with the people outside of the water. Hammer said Slater answered every question and posed in every photo.

"He was extremely gracious to every person," Hammer said. "It was a true character of how to act out of the water. I got a text from a town official who said, 'It was awesome to see him surf, but what was even better was to see his actions on land.'"

Hammer said he grabbed some dinner with Slater and then he headed back to New York.

NJ Advance Media has attempted to reach Slater for an interview through Twitter and his PR team but has not received a response. He did post a thank you note to Jersey on his Instagram page with some photos from the epic day at the Shore.

Thanks Jersey...you and yours were good to me today. Sorry I don't have everyone's tags but I appreciate the photos and warm welcome (cold wind though) and hospitality. Been waiting for one of those great NJ days for decades. Remarkable conditions albeit short-lived. I've missed the easy coast hospitality. Fun surf with a mellow crew. [?] [?] [?] [?] [?]

A post shared by Kelly Slater (@kellyslater) on Oct 30, 2017 at 7:16pm PDT

"Jersey gets good talent," Hammer said. "But when you get the guy who rewrote everything, it's just a different level."

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Jake Pascucci, 28, was driving his 2016 Jeep on Ocean Boulevard when he fatally struck Karen Borkowski. Watch video

LONG BRANCH - An off-duty Long Branch police officer who was allegedly drunk when he hit and killed a woman who was crossing the street in the city last month was charged Tuesday with vehicular homicide, authorities announced.

Jake Pascucci, 28, was charged Friday with DWI, adding to his municipal charges of reckless and careless driving in the Sept. 22 death of Karen Borkowski, according to the summonses obtained by NJ Advance Media through an Open Public Records Act request.

Long Branch police Officer Jake Pascucci. (Long Branch Police Department)

The upgraded criminal charge of third-degree strict liability vehicular homicide caused by driving while intoxicated or under the influence was filed by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, which is handling the investigation. The investigation shifted hands from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office after that office realized Pascucci had worked with them on an investigation.

Borkowski, 66, of Stanhope, was crossing Ocean Boulevard at Broadway in Long Branch around 8:15 p.m. to go to the CVS store for some bandages for her husband when she was struck by Pascucci's 2016 Jeep, according to her husband, Ed Borkowski, and police.

Pascucci told officers at the scene he had a green light and that Borkowski was jaywalking, according to dashboard camera video from police at the scene.

"She walked right in front of me, jaywalking," he can be heard saying in the video. "I have a green light, going this way, southbound. She walked right out in front of me."

The report from Long Branch police, obtained by NJ Advance Media, and the complaint summons filed on Tuesday contains no information about the speed Pascucci was traveling or his blood alcohol level.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office rejected NJ Advance Media's OPRA request for the results of Pascucci's toxicology test.

Long Branch acting police Chief Jason Roebuck said on Friday that discussions are still ongoing about Pascucci's job status and a decision on his employment would be made this week.

Roebuck did not immediately respond to a request for that information on Tuesday afternoon. 

The investigation remains ongoing. 

Authorities urged anyone with information to call Detective Donald Heck of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at 732-745-8842.

Pascucci is scheduled to appear in Middlesex County court on Dec. 12. He faces between three to five years in prison. 

The new crime of third-degree strict liability vehicular homicide was created in July in response to the outcry over light sentences that some drunken drivers have received because their crimes didn't rise to the level of the state's first- or second-degree offenses addressing driving under the influence. Until this new law, the only other offense jurors, judges and prosecutors could consider was drunken driving, which carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail.

Third-degree crimes generally do not require jail or prison time for a first-time offender but Ralph and David's Law calls for mandatory incarceration of between three and five years.

The new law allows prosecutors to charge offenders with strict liability vehicular homicide or reckless vehicular homicide, depending on the circumstances. Reckless vehicular homicide would involve negligence on the part of the driver or boat operator.

NJ Advance Media reporter MaryAnn Spoto contributed to this report.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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FREEHOLD-- A Neptune Township man has been accused of killing another man after a post-funeral gathering last year, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday. Calvin Johnson, 40, was charged with murder, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon while prohibited. Man shot and killed at VFW hall ...

FREEHOLD-- A Neptune Township man has been accused of killing another man after a post-funeral gathering last year, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday.

Calvin Johnson, 40, was charged with murder, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon while prohibited.

Man shot and killed at VFW hall 

Around 8 p.m. on April 18, 2016, authorities say gunfire broke out following a funeral repast at the VFW hall on Corlies Avenue in Neptune Township. When police arrived, they found Corey Basden, 33, of Neptune City, lying in a parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead minutes later.

Johnson, also known as "Little C," was charged following an 18-month investigation by the prosecutor's office and Neptune police, the prosecutor's office said.

Johnson faces up to 30 years in prison on the murder charge and up to 40 years total on the weapons charges. He is being held at Northern State Prison on an unrelated charge and is scheduled to appear in court on the murder charge Wednesday.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.  

The employee held onto the miniature pinscher for 5 months before returning the dog and allowing it to be euthanized

HOWELL - A veterinarian tech accused of taking a sick miniature pinscher that was supposed to be euthanized and keeping the dog alive for five months without the owner's knowledge has been charged with animal cruelty, officials said.

The Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty signed a complaint against Andrea Oliveira, of Upper Freehold, last week, county SPCA Chief Ross Licitra said. 

Oliveira had worked at Briarwood Veterinary Hospital in Howell, Licitra said.

Freehold Township resident Keri Levy previously told NJ Advance Media that her family reached the difficult decision to euthanize their dog of 15 years, Ceaser, in May after veterinarian Dr. George Menez determined the miniature pinscher was suffering from Cushing's disease, an endocrine disorder

SPCA slammed in scathing report

Five months later, the family got an anonymous call reporting that the dog hadn't been put to sleep and Levy confronted the workers Briarwood Veterinary Hospital, which had since changed to new management. Menez and the vet tech no longer worked there, Levy said. 

Police intervened and Caesar was returned to the hospital where he was finally euthanized after being briefly re-united with Levy, who said the dog appeared to have been suffering.

Howell police said the employee took the animal "out of compassion for the dog and a desire to rehabilitate his health, albeit without the owner's consent." 

The dog did not appear neglected over the past five months, Howell police said earlier this month. Messages left for numbers listed for Oliveira were not immediately returned Monday.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

After racist comments surface on social media from a pair of officials, coaches from urban and suburban schools alike said they would have second thoughts about them working their games.

A pair of New Jersey high school football referees who walked off the field in protest after seeing players kneel during the national anthem came under fire this week when it was revealed they made racist comments on their social media accounts.

The referees — Ernie Lunardelli, 54, and his son, Anthony Lunardelli, 27 — will plead their cases Wednesday during a hearing to determine if they face punishment or expulsion from their local officials chapter.

But whether or not the Lunardellis are punished, New Jersey football coaches — black and white, urban and suburban — said they would be uncomfortable if they ever officiated one of their games in the future. Some coaches even said the Lunardellis should never be allowed to referee in the state again.

RELATED: Refs walk off in protest after players kneel during national anthem

“They shouldn’t be allowed to officiate because they don’t have the moral capacity to do that,” said Robert Hampton, the coach of Lincoln High in Jersey City. “For you to have those type of viewpoints and you’re around children, that’s not cool.”

On two separate Facebook posts from Jan. 20 — President Donald Trump’s inauguration day —  and Jan. 21, Ernie Lunardelli wrote “Back to the zoo!” on posts about President Barack Obama. Anthony Lunardelli also described Giants quarterback Eli Manning as having “jew luck” in a Facebook comment from February 2012.

Ernie Lunardelli claimed his account was hacked and he did not make those posts, and Anthony Lunardelli did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.

“The Obamas were in the highest office in the land, so it makes you wonder what they think about our regular kids just out here trying to play the game the right way,” said Darnell Grant, the coach at Shabazz High in Newark. “Now that these guys were exposed on feeling how they feel, I don’t think any team with any diversity on it — or any team, period — can feel like you’re getting objective decision making during the game.”

Bernards coach Jon Simoneau, who is white, said he felt “weird knowing that anybody made racist statements and was involved in any type of student activity.”

RELATED: Refs: Why we walked on kneeling players and what we want next

“The kids shouldn’t be subjected to that,” Simoneau added. “After you’ve said that publicly, if you had a mostly one race team versus another mostly one race team and you make a call, what’s everybody’s reaction going to be? I don’t know how you come back from that and officiate.”

The situation with the Lunardellis exploded Friday night, when they walked off the field after seeing players from Monroe High kneel during the national anthem before their game against Colts Neck. Ernie Lunardelli said this weekend he’s against “anyone disrespecting our country, our flag, the armed forces.”

Two days later, on Sunday, the racist comments from the Lunardellis came to light, and the following day the pair was removed from officiating any more games this season.

Scott Heiser, chairman of the Central Jersey chapter of the New Jersey Football Officials Association, said the hearing Wednesday will investigate the situation and determine punishment or course of action for the Lunardellis. Heiser said the officials could be reinstated this year and also could face permanent expulsion from the chapter.

Regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s hearing, New Jersey coaches said it would be hard to imagine the Lunardellis officiating one of their games down the line. The coaches said they think of officials as unbiased observers and the social media comments plant seeds of doubt.

“You’re there as an impartial grownup at a football game with a black and white uniform to make sure nothing gets out of line,” Hampton said. “You’re the most important guy on the field next to the players.”

THE LATEST: H.S. refs walk out of game, spark national firestorm

Hampton also pointed to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s strict rules against biased and discriminatory language at high school sports events. Before every game, officials read the rules to players and coaches, and the same message often is delivered over the loudspeakers for spectators.

If anyone utters a racial slur during the game, they face immediate ejection.

“You’re reading stuff to the kids, but you’re engaging in stuff in social media that they would get kicked out of the game for saying,” Hampton said. “It doesn’t add up.”

Boonton coach Bryan Gallagher, who is white, said one of his favorite parts of football in New Jersey is the diversity. Race and ethnicity doesn’t factor in when teammates are counting on each other to execute plays, he said. He also said he relishes the opportunity to play a diverse schedule that includes games against Newark schools Shabazz and Weequahic.

“It comes down to being able to have some sort of empathy, to be able to understand that not everyone’s experience is the same as yours,” Gallagher said. “The world that the officials were raised in and live in, it might be very different from those players from Monroe.”

Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

See what the biggest wins and most surprising results were through the first round of the boys soccer state tournament.

County and conference tournament play shifts the state order once again.

Crucial contests to make the state tournament and determine seeding

Andrea Oliveira was charged with animal cruelty for delaying the euthanization of a miniature pinscher afflicted with an endocrine disorder.

MONMOUTH COUNTY -- A New Jersey woman charged with animal cruelty was well-intentioned when she brought home a dog scheduled to be euthanized from a veterinary hospital earlier this year, her attorney said Wednesday.

Andre Oliveira, who was charged by the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals last month, is scheduled to appear in municipal court in Upper Freehold Township on Dec. 7, according to her attorney, Anthony Marchetti.

Why ailing dog was kept alive after vet told owner it would be put down

"She took a dog that she thought had more life and gave it loving and humane care," Marchetti said by phone Wednesday. "The dog was happy, active, alert and well-cared for the entire time he was with my client."

He called the charge, "disconcerting," "disappointing," and "utterly without merit in statute and in fact."

Oliviera, a former tech at Briarwood Veterinary Hospital in Howell, kept the miniature pinscher for five months after bringing the dog home in May.

She returned the animal to its owner of 15 years, Keri Levy, of Freehold Township, after Levy's husband got an anonymous phone call to inform him that Caesar was never euthanized.

Levy has said Dr. George Menez, the former veterinarian at Briarwood, told her the dog had Cushing's disease, an endocrine disorder, when she brought him there in May. 

Menez recommended the dog be euthanized and Levy gave her consent, she told NJ Advance Media last month. Instead of putting the dog to sleep, Menez let Oliveira keep the dog.

Oliveira's attorney disputed the notion that the dog was chronically ill.

"The dog wasn't suffering, period," Marchetti said. "Everyone agrees my client's heart was in the right place. From her standpoint, maybe she did the right thing for what some would say were the wrong reasons but that doesn't equate with cruelty," Marchetti said. 

Marchetti added that Oliveira and her husband held a rescue fundraiser at their farm in September with attendees noting that the dog "appeared to be in good health."

In a statement last month, Howell police acknowledged the dog was taken without permission but said the animal didn't appear neglected.

"This employee wanted to (keep the dog) out of compassion and a desire to rehabilitate his health, albeit without the owner's consent." 

Caesar was finally euthanized after Oliveira returned him. Levy said she was able to spend about an hour with her dog before he was put to sleep. 

Neither Menez nor Oliveira still work at the clinic. 

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

I don't know about you, but I'm having serious trouble keeping up with acronyms associated with texting. The "B" ones alone are like learning a new language. BAE, BOO, BRB, BTW ... and our topic today, BFF, otherwise known as Best Friends Forever. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines BFF as an informal term for "a very close friend," and say its...

I don't know about you, but I'm having serious trouble keeping up with acronyms associated with texting.

The "B" ones alone are like learning a new language. BAE, BOO, BRB, BTW ... and our topic today, BFF, otherwise known as Best Friends Forever.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines BFF as an informal term for "a very close friend," and say its first known use was in 1987, providing a sentence to show its usage: "A BFF doesn't gossip about or lie to you. She doesn't share your secrets on her MySpace page."-- Girls' Life

MySpace ... heh, heh.

In a Sept. 18, 2017, article in Business Insider, Merriam-Webster associate editor Emily Brewster was quoted as saying, "Our job as lexicographers is to follow the development of language, defining the words people are likely to encounter." She noted that words are added to the dictionary "because they have established themselves in the English language, and are part of the current, active vocabulary of America." BFF is certainly a part of our vernacular.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart sang "Because a friend would never doubt you or ever put you uptight," and grammar aside, that's the definition of BFF long before the acronym came into use.

We, of course, really can't tell for sure if all the people we've pictured were truly 'BFFs' ... but there's something about their facial expressions and body language that makes us think they were.

Same gender or different, pairs, trios or large groups, even dogs and cats -- BFFs are those you know will always be there when you need them.

Here's a gallery of New Jersey BFFs. And here are links to other galleries you might like.

Vintage photos capturing candid slices of life in N.J.

Vintage candid photos and photobombs in NJ

Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.

Lessons from Sandy showed up last weekend

The electricity is working. Heat is on and hot water is available. The TV and internet are connected.

This was the experience of millions on Sunday as high winds and heavy rain lashed the state, with gusts continuing to accelerate Monday.

Power outages for the four major utilities ranged from 1 percent to 3 percent for the state's 3.5 million electricity users.

And for this, we can thank Hurricane Sandy, which five years ago left most of New Jersey dark for weeks.

Sandy was actually a successive 1-2-3 punch from Mother Nature that taxed the state's power companies.

First, was Hurricane Irene on Aug. 28, 2011, which knocked out power to 1.5 million people in New Jersey. It was a short-term loss for most, but a few thousand were out for nearly a week.

Then came the Halloween blizzard two months later. The freak storm of heavy wet snow, caught by the leaves still on the trees, turned suburban streets into broken-branch jungles. Powerlines came down with those tree limbs, and 500,000 people statewide lost electricity, some for as long as a week.

The next gut-punch, Sandy, set records - and prompted a stronger utility response. Between the sustained 80-mph winds that brought down branches and trees, and the storm-surge flooding that swamped substations, 2.4 million lost power and the outages dragged on into weeks.

The tree fall during Sandy resembled a logging forest, especially in the state's older leafy suburbs, which were developed in the 1910s, 20s and 30s. The trees planted along sidewalks and loomed over powerlines were old, and their root structures, like geriatric bones, were weakening.

Tom Ombrello, the Union County College biologist and state expert on trees, said the oaks and beech trees that made the suburbs attractive and homey were "reaching the end of their lifespans" and their roots were crowded by street pipes and pavement.

So, when Sandy came along ... timber!

After the storm, the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) studied the tree maintenance guidelines for utility companies and several new rules were imposed. They included new trimming specifications for higher voltage lines, two-foot trims of branches above and below power lines, and more severe trims between a substation and the first re-closure switch, which can help isolate outages. The board also asked the utilities to cut down hazardous trees - those dead or weakened -- that could crash down on lines.

Ron Morano, the spokesman for Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), said the company has trimmed trees along 17,000 miles of lines in the five years since Sandy, as part of $1.5 billion in upgrades.

Those upgrades include putting flood barriers, permanent walls and raising equipment in 20 low-lying substations, mostly in coastal Monmouth and Ocean counties, upgrading lines and installing automatic control devices that can stop outages from spreading through a damaged system.

But in heavy winds and lashing rains, the tree-trims pay obvious dividends.

"Everyone realized the serious damage that trees can have on infrastructure following Hurricane Sandy and the significant storms in the two years prior to Sandy," Morano said. "In maintaining proper clearance around its equipment, JCP&L helped reduce the number and frequency of tree-related power outages."

During this past weekend's storm, 79,000 of JCP&L 1.1 million customers lost power. But as evidence that the tree-trimming practices were working, 99.9 percent were restored within 24 hours. Repairs from tree-related outages - which entail chainsaws to free lines and bucket trucks to re-string them - always take more time, utility officials say.

Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) also has made substantial investments since Sandy, spending $1.2 billion in the past five years to buoy the system against strong storms. The utility said it is "more aggressively patrolling and removing dead or diseased trees" already covering 4,000 miles this year.

Brian Hartel, the manager of vegetation management for PSE&G, said the company has trimmed and maintained trees along 18,100 miles of lines.

"Going after dangerous and hazard trees has dropped our 'preventable' outages from 9 percent in 2013 to 2.5 percent in 2015," he said.

Hartel explained a 'preventable' outage was one caused by trees that should have been on the company's radar as hazardous.

"If a storm blows down a healthy tree and one that's been maintained, we don't classify that as 'preventable,' " he said. 

Gary Lovallo, the town forester for Old Bridge, Monroe and several other communities, said there is both "good and bad" in the extensive tree-trimming by the utilities.

"Line clearance has helped maintain reliable electrical service, and that's good," said Lovallo. "Maintained trees are less likely to fail.

"The downside is sometimes a tree can become unbalanced and an aesthetic nightmare," he said. "With long-term improper trimming, the entire weight of the canopy shifts to the property owner's side. If the tree comes down, it comes down on that side."

Trees on private property remain an issue for the utilities. So do individual municipal shade and tree commissions, which have say in some towns about what residents - and utilities can do with trees.

Hartel says PSE&G created a division after Sandy to send foresters and other experts into communities to "educate them on how we can keep the lines safe" to alleviate fears that companies want to clear-cut around the lines.

"It's about removing or cutting back the right tree in the right place," he said.

How did 9 new county champs jostle the rankings?

We have a potpourri of questions from readers about Garden State Parkway projects and future New Jersey Turnpike projects.

We have a potpourri of questions from readers about Garden State Parkway projects and future New Jersey Turnpike projects.

Since they're short, we've combined them. The questions are about plans to rebuild Parkway Exit 109 in Middletown, two Parkway projects in Bloomfield and if there are future plans to widen the turnpike, where it's now two lanes in South Jersey. NJ Turnpike Authority spokesman Thomas Feeney provided the answers.

Q: When will work start on the project to rebuild Parkway Exit 109?

A: A construction contract is scheduled to be awarded in the spring of 2018 for the $60 million Exit 109 work, Feeney said. A contract to design the project was awarded in 2015. That project will replace four Parkway bridges at Exit 109 over Newman Springs Road and build a flyover ramp between Newman Springs and the Parkway. It will also expand the commuter bus park-and-ride lot near Exit 109.

Q: When will construction be completed on two sites on the Parkway in Bloomfield in front of the State Police barracks and over Bloomfield Avenue?

A: The work on the bridge in front of the Bloomfield State Police station on the Parkway north is scheduled to be completed in mid-to-late November, Feeney said. Work on another Parkway bridge over Bloomfield Avenue is scheduled to be done by the end of 2017, he said. Both dates are based on no construction delays due to bad weather, he said.

Q: Is there any hope for adding one lane each direction on the Turnpike from Exit 1 (bridge) to Exit 2?

A: The quick answer is not now. There is no money in the current capital plan for widening the Turnpike south of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Extension, Feeney said. The current $7 billion capital plan financed the Turnpike widening between Exits 6 and 9, which opened in October 2014. That plan runs out in 2018.

"That is an issue the Turnpike Authority continues to study to determine whether the work should be included in a future capital program," Feeney said.

Have a commuting question?  We recently got answers about why the Parkway has two privately owned service areas and whether the DOT forgot to pave half a state highway. What's yours?

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

A look at the playoff picture.

Who moves on in the 2017 NJSIAA tournament? NJ Advance Media makes its picks

Who will have huge performances with playoff berths on the line?