There was no shortage of football head coaching changes across New Jersey during the off-season. NJ.com introduces fans to the 40 new head coaches across the state in 2018.

A volunteer at the Associated Humane Society location in Tinton Falls found the dog next to the road without food or water around 10 a.m.

An elderly poodle was found abandoned in a cardboard box outside a Monmouth County animal shelter on Wednesday as temperatures hovered around 90 degrees.

A volunteer at the Associated Humane Society location in Tinton Falls found the dog next to the road without food or water around 10 a.m., the agency said in a Facebook post. The female poodle was left with a note saying she was found in Howell.

"Unfortunately we have been inundated lately with abandoned animals in addition to our regular influx of strays and owner surrenders," the shelter's post said.

Earlier this month, two dogs were found abandoned and tied to a fence near the shelter without identification or any sort of medical record.

The shelter pleaded with the owners to provide information about the poodle and for locals to donate to her "growing medical care."

The Humane Society charges a fee of anywhere from $50 to $200 for surrendering a dog, but the fee can be waived when a family can't pay.

Cassidy Grom may be reached at cgrom@njadvancemedia.com Follow her at @cassidygrom. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

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The woman used a heroin/fentanyl concoction the suspect sold, authorities say

A Neptune man with a lengthy history of drug dealing convictions has been charged with selling the heroin a Long Branch woman overdosed on in May, authorities said.

Jomell Brathwaite, 36, is charged with first-degree strict liability for a drug-induced death and a drug dealing count for the death of a 49-year-old woman. The victim's boyfriend found her dead on on the morning of May 15, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said.

The prosecutor's office said their investigation shows Brathwaite sold a heroin and fentanyl concoction at a local business located in Ocean Township on May 14. The office did not elaborate on the business.

Brathwaite was already in the Monmouth County jail on other charges when he was charged with the woman's death. 

At the jail, seven towns and the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office have charges against Brathwaite, including aggravated assault in Neptune and assault on police in Long Branch.

His criminal conviction record in New Jersey shows numerous felony convictions, mainly for drug dealing in Monmouth County, for most of his adult life.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

With summer's unofficial end on the horizon, beachgoers head to Seaside Heights, one of many popular beaches at the Jersey Shore to enjoy the last days of beach time before Labor Day.

Find out which teacher from your county made the cut.

The National Weather Service says the weekend is getting off to a soggy start for parts of New Jersey and northeaster United States.

Planning a barbecue this Labor Day weekend?

Not so fast. The National Weather Service says the weekend is getting off to a soggy start for parts of New Jersey and the northeastern United States.

The rain chance follows a long stretch of sunshine and accompanying heat wave that settled in earlier in the week. Heat is expected to make a return next week.

On Friday, some residents in New Jersey woke up to overcast skies and a few raindrops, and some woke up to torrential downpours when a storm cell moved very slowly across the central-southern region of the state.

Trent Davis, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, said there wasn't much of a steering flow this morning, such as strong winds or a cold front to push the storms through quickly. As a result, the heavy rain lingered over small areas.

Hit or miss

The storms this weekend will be hit-or-miss, drenching some communities but missing others just a few miles away, forecasters say.

While the holiday weekend is probably not a total washout, AccuWeather says a completely dry day will be hard to come by across the mid-Atlantic from Saturday to Labor Day.

Residents farther south are at greater risk to have their weekend dampened by spotty showers and thunderstorms, according to weather reports. Some sunshine is expected in the Northeast - and most of the Jersey Shore - on Monday.

A cluster of showers and storms has led to heavy rainfall over portions of Burlington Co. this morning. There have been several reports of 4-5 inches over Pemberton and South Hampton Twps. The storms have diminished, but motorists could encounter localized flooding. #NJwx pic.twitter.com/qWIAhgGMcX

-- NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) August 31, 2018

Heavy rain in South Jersey

Some parts of South Jersey got drenched Friday morning, with the National Weather Service receiving reports of as much as 4 to 5 inches of rain in several towns in Burlington County. The New Jersey Weather & Climate Network, based at Rutgers University, reported 1.71 inches of rain this morning in Dennis Township in Cape May County, 1.52 inches in Columbus in Burlington County and 1.14 inches in Egg Harbor Township in Atlantic County.

Prior to today, most areas of South Jersey have received far less rain in August than much of North Jersey, according to data from the office of New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson at Rutgers. 

Depending on how much rain falls throughout the entire day on Friday, this month could turn out to be among the wettest Augusts on record in North Jersey.

Latest forecast for Labor Day weekend

Here's the latest forecast, day by day, for Labor Day weekend in New Jersey, from Friday through Monday. It was last updated Friday morning, Aug. 31.

 

 

 

 

NJ Advance Media staff writer Len Melisurgo contributed to this report. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Who will be the top players and teams in 2018? We'll take our guesses as to who will finish on top.

This week's two-day heat wave combined with Wednesday's west winds brought on an infrequent but decades-old nuisance in Manasquan, where the beach was abuzz with biting black flies.

With this week's scorching weather cooling down as we head into the Labor Day weekend, Manasquan's mayor is hopeful that the skies will also be clear -- of flies.

Pesky black flies with a bite bigger than their buzz seemed to swarm the Monmouth County borough's beaches on Wednesday, then linger somewhat on Thursday, in an insect invasion coinciding with the two-day heat wave and strong westerly winds blowing onto the beach from the mainland toward the ocean.

Manasquan Mayor Edward Donovan said the phenomenon is not common but not new, either, dating back decades and coinciding with a combination of westerlies and very warm weather.

"I've been living in Manasquan for more than 60 years, and not every summer, but a lot of times when it's especially warm, you'll get these flies," Donovan said. "It s very inconvenient when you're down there trying to cool off and they're flying about."

Temperatures in Manasquan soared to a blistering 96 degrees on Wednesday, followed by a high of 90 on Thursday, according to Accuweather.com.

Wally Wall, manager of the Manasquan Beach Department, said conditions were so uncomfortable Wednesday that he sent the beach badge checkers home at 2 p.m.

"The heat was over 100 degrees," said Wall. "And the flies."

Friday's forecast calls for a high of just 75 degrees, with clouds and rain, which the mayor hopes will clear the air of the flies. That will be followed by similar temperatures on Saturday, but with the sun peaking out from behind the clouds.

Finally, Sunday and Monday are expected to cap the summer season with  temperatures in the 80s and partly sunny skies.

The state climatologist at Rutgers Unviersity, Dr. David Robinson, said the mayor and others were right to relate the combination of soaring beach temperatures and strong westerly or southwesterly breezes to flies on the beach.

"I think you can equate hot weather right on the breaches with the flies, because the hot weather right on the beaches indicates there is no sea breeze," Robinson said, adding that the equation is a little tricky.

Normally, Robinson said, easterly winds, or ocean breezes, blow cooler air in from the Atlantic onto the beach, moderating beach temperatures and keeping inland flies at bay.

But unusually strong westerlies and southwesterlies this week had the effect of offsetting those easterly ocean breezes, allowing both the warm air and the flies to linger above the sand. Rather than a conspiracy between the westerly winds and high temperatures to attract the flies, Robinson explained, it was actually the wind alone that was the culprit, while the unusually high beach temperatures and fly population were the symptoms.

"This was not a great week for sea breezes," Robinson said. "It was actually quite the week for very warm beach temperatures and fly bites."

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Longtime fan Katie Hewko says she was sexually assaulted at a recent Stone Pony concert.

The Gaslight Anthem is Katie Hewko's favorite band. She's been with the New Brunswick alt-rockers since their 2006 inception, having seen them more than 20 times in concert over the past decade. She even has a Gaslight tattoo.

But her fandom was sullied last month when, during one of the band's performances, Hewko says, she was sexually assaulted by another fan and then, as she attempted to report the assault, she "wasn't being taken seriously" by the New Jersey venue or local police. 

Hewko, a 30-year-old Philadelphia resident, was thrilled to visit The Stone Pony in Asbury Park on Aug. 18 to watch the band play a sold-out anniversary performance at the legendary venue's outdoor Summer Stage, alongside 4,000 other fans.

Hewko, her partner John Kitzmiller, and a friend had worked their way to the near-front of the Jersey Shore stage, and as the band came on to play, all seemed well.

But a few songs into the set, amid the bopping crowd, Hewko says a man she didn't know reached into her shirt, grabbed her bare breast, and was gone back into the audience before she could see him.

"I was just stunned that it had happened," Hewko told NJ Advance Media in an interview Friday. "I wish I could say I know what he looked like."

The Gaslight Anthem, New Jersey's most popular rock band of the last 10 years, posted a series of messages on Twitter Wednesday night, nearly two weeks after the incident, condemning "this kind of abhorrent behavior" and saying sexual assault and harassment will not be tolerated at their concerts. 

To our Gaslight family:

We've been angered and saddened to hear reports of sexual assault and harassment in the audience at our shows. From the very beginning of this band, we have strived to create a positive and safe environment for our fans--

-- The Gaslight Anthem (@gaslightanthem) August 29, 2018

"It's clear that this disturbing trend is on the rise in our industry, and that ignoring or dismissing the problem sends a very clear message to perpetrators that they can get away with their behavior," the band wrote as part of its statement.

But according to Hewko, she was, in fact, somewhat dismissed as she and her partner tried to report her assault that August night.

Following the incident in the crowd, Hewko says she was shaken, and Kitzmiller left to find security and make them aware of what just happened.  

But as Kitzmiller quickly made his way through the packed crowd, he collided with a female concert-goer, and security swarmed him before he could ever report the attack on Hewko. 

After Kitzmiller sent a text message to Hewko to alert her that he'd been kicked out, she moved away from the crowd.

"I was trying to explain to security what had just happened to me, and they said 'All we can do is take you to the cops,' and treating me like I was a nuisance," Hewko says.

"They said 'You're sure want to go all the way downtown to file a report?' And I said 'Yeah, a report needs to be filed because I was sexually assaulted at your show at this venue and it needs to be on paper.'"

Hewko left the venue to speak to Asbury Park police officers, who she says "rolled their eyes" at her request to file a report.

"The officer I was speaking to goes on his radio and says 'There's a retaliatory report being filed,' acting as if I was filing a report to be retaliatory for (Kitzmiller) being kicked out," Hewko says. "My sexual assault wasn't being taken seriously. I felt so invalidated."

Hewko eventually provided a brief statement to a second officer -- no charges were filed as she could not identify her attacker -- and, as she puts it: "I'm walking away, listening to my favorite band play my favorite song and I'm in tears."

Asbury Park police did not respond to comment on this story.

Hewko immediately took to social media to recount the details of her nightmarish evening.

@thegaslightanthem @thebrianfallon

A post shared by katie plus dogs and a cat (@dontstopbeingasillygirl) on Aug 18, 2018 at 7:21pm PDT

"A lot of women have reached out to me and said, 'This has happened to me at shows,'" she says. "Unfortunately, I'm not alone in these actions. This is not the music community I got into."

The next day, after her Facebook post had been shared with a Stone Pony staff member, she was contacted by the venue, who invited her to the band's concert that night, again at the venue, to discuss what had happened with venue General Manager Caroline O'Toole and the space's head of security.

"Sexual assault is not tolerated here," O'Toole said in a statement Friday. "We vigorously work to maintain a safe environment for all concert-goers. If a guest feels unsafe in the crowd for any reason, we strongly encourage them to report it to management or to one of our many security specialists. We urge anyone who may have any information regarding this incident to please speak up and report it to the Asbury Park Police Department."

The Gaslight Anthem then addressed Hewko's experience on social media Aug. 29. 

"I'm glad (the band) finally posted something, and I really hope that they and The Stone Pony do live up to keep their venues safer, and do understand that this is a problem on the rise," Hewko says. "At this point I consider them allies. I just wish that this was a more pressing matter and they hadn't waited 12 days to say something."

Hewko says that while this was the most serious offense she's experienced at a concert -- she had never had any problems at a Gaslight Anthem show before -- such behavior is nothing new in the music scene.

"I wish I could say this was the first time I was groped or propositioned or approached sexually at a show, but it's not. It's happened many times," Hewko says. "It needs to not be normalized.

"Take women seriously," Hewko says. "This needs to change, I need to feel safe going to shows. Everyone does."

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.   

NJ.com visited many of the beaches down the shore this summer and here are our best and favorite pictures.

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Artificial surfing is all the rage in the world of surfing. And you can do it in New Jersey. Watch video

You've seen them on cruise ship commercials, or maybe at a water park.

It looks like a surfing machine.

It looks like fun.

That would be a cool way to start surfing, you're thinking, right?

It's called a "FlowRider," and it is fun, but it's not as easy as it might seem. And while they're marketed as "The Ultimate Surf Machine," it's not really surfing.

New Jersey has two of the machines, so NJ Advance Media sent two reporters who surf, Alex Napoliello and Kevin Shea, to try one out - the Flow House at Thundering Surf Water Park in Beach Haven. (The other one is in Wildwood.)

Here's their report:

Alex:

When an editor came to me with an assignment that involved surfing, there's no way I could say no.

First, let me get this out of the way: I surf, but I wouldn't say I'm good at surfing, nor do I pretend I am. 

Like many North Jersey residents, I spent my summers as a child vacationing at the Jersey Shore - in Lavallette. My love for the ocean pulled me to the Jersey Shore full-time after I graduated from Rutgers in 2009.

I started surfing with one goal in mind -- to have fun. And I've managed to get myself to the skill level where paddling out in the ocean is no longer frustrating - it's enjoyable and soothing. 

When I arrived at the Flow House on Long Beach Island, with my surf board and wet suit in the back of my car, I was taken aback when the instructor said: "This is nothing like surfing. It's more like wakeboarding and snowboarding." 

Great, I thought to myself.

I can at least pass as a surfer. But snowboarding and wakeboarding? I've never even attempted those activities.

So, here I am, clenching a rope like my life was on the line trying not to fall off this tiny board atop a perpetual, angry wave.

I fell. A lot.

In fact, the next morning I could barely walk.

Kevin:

I've been surfing since 1995, and like Alex, did not grow up at the Jersey Shore. I'm a Maryland native who, also like Alex, vacationed at the Shore growing up. And when I moved here, also after college, (you see a theme here?), I also started surfing for fun.

(Yes, all you non-surfers should really try ocean surfing. Put it on the bucket list. Take a lesson. Really, do it. OK, back to the Flow Rider.)

I call myself a weekend surfer, but I have paddled into a few hurricane swells.

Would you like to try to the Flow Rider and shoot a video? Hell yeah, I told the same editor.

Us surfers, even the shortboarders, ride boards that are at least six feet, usually. This little thing was like a skateboard. On a rushing wave.

But at least it was water, so, yeah, I can do this.

Austin Ogule, our guide and a pro rider (see below) schooled us the best he could, but we had to get out there, drop in, and be humbled.

The biggest difference: you start riding while already standing, which is a huge brain switch for surfers - no need to pop up from the belly. There's bodysurfing on the flow rider, which most casual riders prefer.

I also fell, a lot. And the surface, while bouncy, is not as forgiving as a Jersey Shore wave. But don't let that make you not go and try this. It's not exactly surfing, but it's not bad, either.

The Future? 

While's it's not technically "surfing," - it's sometimes called artificial surfing - man-made waves are all the rage in the surf world.

Legendary surfer Kelly Slater created a wave pool in California that is the hottest thing in the sport right now, and it's nowhere near the ocean. Check out the videos here.

And in Waco, Texas there's a wave pool that's also attracting a lot of attention from pro surfers. Ocean City pro Rob Kelly was one of the big testers earlier this year. Check out this video.

Jersey surfers were a big part of the early testing of the technology in the Texas pool, so could that mean one day they'll build one here? Probably not, cause of those darn winters.

Until then, catch the Flow House - there's still time left this summer.

Our final thoughts:

Says Alex: I'd like to think we were better than most people who attempt the Flow House - until I saw kids half my age flipping around on boards like it was nothing. I turn 31 in September. Maybe this is what getting old feels like.

And Kevin: I was sore the next day. Walking was tough, but my ribs took a shot and I had trouble brushing my teeth!

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

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

These sisters live modestly in a nice neighborhood surrounded by lots of poverty.

Imagine serving lunch for 30 to 40 people three days a week when you're not sure what food you will have so the menu is decided at the last minute and some of the staff may not show up. 

Mother's Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Asbury Park takes it in stride. Or, perhaps they just trust in God providing. 

"We have a prayer life and live simply," Sister Thea, the newest missionary in the house of four sisters, said. 

On a warm Monday morning by 8:30, seven volunteers help her and Sister Rose Therese, the superior of this local community, prepare a hearty chicken soup so full of fresh vegetables that it's more like a stew. They heat up some pizza, butter some bread, toss a mixed salad, chill some lemonade, and cut chocolate boxed cake. 

The guests are already arriving even though they will not eat until after 10:30.

Tanya, 48, from Neptune, has been coming a couple of years. She feels welcome, she said. "Everyone is nice." 

Tanya had only had coffee since she woke up. Sometimes, the missionaries also have clothing, which the guests can take, she said.   

Steve, 61, lives in Asbury and besides coming to the sisters to eat, he will take dinner at the Rescue Mission a few blocks away. They serve a meal at 6 p.m. 

Bernadette, 50, is quite vivacious and talkative. Originally from Montclair, she now lives in Asbury. 

"I like that there is something spiritual,'' she said. "I get something out of it."

Before lunch, Sister Rose prays with the guests in the dining room. She reads a Bible passage, gives a sermon and then leads the group in prayers ending with the grace before meals. Most of the guests do not seem to be Catholic, but she begins and ends with the sign of the cross. 

It takes several hours for the volunteers to get the meal ready. 

Alina Sellinger is the chef along with her daughter Emelia; they have been coming for five years. 

"Before coming here, I would never trust my daughter with a knife," exclaimed Alina about here autistic daughter, who was chopping the carrots, celery and other vegetables.

"The sisters brought us closer to Jesus," Alina added. 

And you could see the confidence in her daughter, who relishes her contributions.

Michelle Bixby and Nancy McMahon, two senior citizens, prepare the salad, drinks and desserts. Amelia Dionisio washes and dries the pots as soon as they are ready.

Henry Donofrio sorts through the foods that come from Uncle Barney's in Middletown, a center for salvaged food from restaurants and supermarkets. He then put bags of bread, rolls and bagels on a table near the entrance for the guests to take as needed. 

Donna Tomaino brings bread, cake and other food donated by the West Long Branch Shop Rite.

If the sisters are short on food for the menu, Sister Rose will buy what is needed. 

Before they serve the now 30 guests assembled in the dining room, the volunteers and sisters retreat to the chapel between the kitchen and dining room for their prayer. The serving of everyone is done in 10 minutes and you can see the guests are hungry. No one rushes to leave since the center is air-conditioned comfortable.

Not so for the attached convent where the sisters live. 

No computers or TV or a/c. While I did not go inside, I know that Mother Teresa's Constitutions requires the sisters to live as simply as possible. They typically give away whatever is donated as quickly as possible. 

These sisters live in a nice neighborhood surrounded by lots of poverty; there are metal grates on some of their windows. They have two vans to transport people and themselves. The land is well-kept with blooming flowers all around.

The sisters rise at 5 in the morning for one-hour meditation, followed by breakfast, and then they begin their ministries. They attend daily Mass and pray at midday and before bed. They ran a summer camp for children and visit people in the area. 

The day I visited, Aug. 27, was the birthday of Mother Teresa, now St. Teresa of Calcutta, who would have been 108 if she were still alive. In a way, she is because her thousands of sisters continue working with "the poorest of the poor" all over the world.      

Details ...

Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity is located at 144 Ridge Ave., Asbury Park.  Lunch is served Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Donations of food, clothes and money are accepted. Volunteers are welcome. For information, call 732-775-1101.