1. $1.00 Final Edition Saturday, June 11, 2011
NJ.COM
In SPOrtS StartInG tOMOrrOW
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baseball, lacrosse the debut of PolitiFact
Hotline got call about girl 9 days before she died
No connection made to previous complaints about her family to DYFS no action by investigators, she said.
The girl was found dead inside the
failures were — we will make this in-
formation known as well.”
By Susan K. Livio said she was investigating whether brother and sister had been beaten apartment May 22. Authorities said Blake said the call was not detected
StateHOUSe BUreaU operators of the child abuse hotline and neglected by their mother. she died from malnutrition and com- on the logged recordings of the hotline
Nine days before an 8-year-old handled the May 13 call improperly. DYFS investigated each time but plications from a broken leg. until Wednesday because the caller
girl was found dead in her Irvington Blake said the hotline staff did not determined the complaints were Her mother, Venette Ovilde, 29, is did not identify the family by name.
home, child-welfare workers received link the caller’s tip to the family’s “unfounded.” charged with aggravated assault and Agency officials said they found the
an anonymous call about “the appear- history with the Division of Youth “The case was not linked to the ex- child endangerment. A roommate, call by matching the family’s address
ance and well-being” of children in and Family Services. She declined to isting history, and I am concerned Myriam Janvier, 23, faces child en- to the four previous investigations,
the apartment, but the report was elaborate on what the hotline opera- that connection was not made,” said dangerment charges. she said.
never acted on, state officials con- tor was told. Blake, whose department oversees “We want the public to know we are “While the handling of this referral
firmed yesterday. From 2006 to 2008, the Division of DYFS. coming forward with what we have raises concerns, this should not serve
In a stunning admission, Allison Youth and Family Services respond- The hotline staff coded the call in now learned, and we are doing an in- as an indictment of the entire child-
Blake, commissioner of the state De- ed to four separate complaints that the automated system as an “infor- vestigation,” Blake said. welfare system, nor does it reverse
partment of Children and Families, the child, Christiana Glenn, and her mation and referral” entry, requiring “And as soon as we know what our SEE Child, PAgE 6
Slumping “In all my years, I haven’t seen this outpouring of support.”
stocks put Bradley Beach Police Chief Leonard Guida, who has been with the squad for 31 years
investors
on alert
Some say decline
heralds economy
going off the rails
By Renae Merle
and Cezary Podkul
WaSHingtOn POSt
Wall Street limped to a six-
week losing streak yesterday,
its longest since 2002, reflect-
ing a gathering sentiment
among investors that the eco-
nomic recovery is going awry.
The losses, which pushed the
Dow Jones industrial average
below 12,000, have piled up af-
ter an exuberant eight-month
run in which corporate prof-
its and share prices soared.
Retirement accounts of ordi-
nary Americans began to look
healthy again. The unemploy-
ment rate remained high but
started to inch down.
Now, momentum from that
stretch is fading fast, posing
a headache for the Obama ad-
ministration as it seeks to tout
its record on the economy. Noah K. Murray/The STar-Ledger
Recent data appear to con- Naisere Nelson’s family and friends hold a moment of silence yesterday at the edge of the Bradley Beach waters where the teen was last seen.
firm the turn for the worse.
Linked by grief for teen presumed dead
The jobless rate is rising.
Housing prices have fallen be-
low their financial-crisis lows.
Gridlock in Washington over
the nation’s debt is tying the
hands of policymakers. Eu-
rope’s fiscal problems seem to
Friends, relatives gather could see he was panicking and that
he was scared.”
moment of silence.
“In all my years, I haven’t seen this
have no solution in sight. as rescuers end search What seemed like a perfect late- outpouring of support,” said Bradley
Given the news, many Amer-
icans no longer feel confident
for Neptune 15-year-old afternoon escape from Thursday’s
100-degree heat had gone terribly
Beach Police Chief Leonard Guida,
who has been with the squad for 31
that the nation’s economic By Julia Terruso wrong. In an instant. years. “It’s really impressive.”
problems will work them- Star-Ledger Staff A rip current dragged Naisere away The Coast Guard called off the
selves out, analysts said. Shayna Meggs thought her boy- about 5:30 p.m., setting off a frantic search for Naisere at midday yester-
“I don’t see any catalyst for friend was clowning when he flailed search for the 15-year-old sophomore day, shortly before family and friends
rapid economic growth in the his arms at her, then slipped under that night and a powerful show of gathered. He is presumed dead.
near future, and other inves- the waves at Bradley Beach. support from family and friends on A man and woman from Elizabeth
tors share my opinion and they Naisere Nelson was always kidding the beach yesterday. who were in the water at the same
are deciding to deploy their as- FaCeBooK around, Meggs said, so this seemed Hundreds of schoolmates and time as Naisere on Thursday were far
sets elsewhere,” said Matt Mc- A Facebook page like more high jinks from the resident relatives stood on the sand, watch- more fortunate.
Cormick, portfolio manager created in memory of cutup at Neptune High School. ing the ocean, waiting for it to return Stephanie Crespo, 28, was able to
and banking analyst at Bahl Naisere Nelson of “I thought he was playing because Naisere’s body. pull herself onto a jetty, police said.
Gaynor Investment Coun- Neptune has attracted he wanted me to come out to him,” They lined up ankle deep in the wa- Victor Pierez, 27, was rescued by
sel. “This is a natural reaction hundreds of viewers. Meggs said yesterday. “But then, I ter, forming a 100-person chain for a SEE BeaCh, PAgE 6
to a weakening economy and
geopolitical concerns and a
lack of political leadership in
Washington.”
Even senior policymakers
say the pace of recovery has not
matched their expectations.
Wet winter costs Kearny Kardinals a field, but not a season
S
Federal Reserve chair- ix state championship games Digesere blames the construction snow melted and work resumed in
man Ben Bernanke said at a are being played today, mark- delays on the weather. Parents say March, a problem developed with
policy speech in Atlanta this ing the end of the high school there was no backup plan and they’re the electrical system for the lights
week that the economy’s set- baseball season. still upset. and scoreboard. When that problem
backs are temporary, but he It’s a season the Kearny Kardinals Nine of the players are seniors and was fixed, another popped up: The
SEE Market, PAgE 6 want to forget. the new turf field they were promised concrete base to support the light
“This has been a year from hell,” would have been a nice tribute to the stanchions couldn’t be poured because
superintendent Frank Digesere said. fellas — who have played together the ground was too wet.
in OThER nEWS
He is not talking about the team’s since Little League. “It just seemed like every time it got
Jersey’s top court gets won-lost record, which, at 15-10, was Work on the field began in late going, something else would happen,”
a new temporary judge pretty good. November. But then it snowed — and said David Stevenson, a former board
Dorothea O’C. Wefing will take Kearny’s 2011 season will be re- snowed — and work stopped. What of education member.
the spot on the bench vacated by membered for what the Kardinals did should have been done by February Then it rained — and rained — mak-
Judge Edwin Stern. Page 5 without. was finally completed last week. ing it impossible to lay rubberized
They had no opening day festivities Field, their usual home, but it was “I just want to know: Where was pellets that cushion the turf. “Nobody
Outline reveals N.J. plan and not a single home game. Heck, under construction for what seemed plan B when they saw the field was not wanted to see this field done more
for cuts to Medicaid most of the time, they never had a like forever. going to be finished?” said Stephanie than I did,” Digesere said.
The Christie administration place outside to practice. For so long, in fact, that the Kardi- Kelly, whose son, John, is Kearny’s Nobody more than the players.
released how it will slash more They should have been roping nals’ season ended before work on the catcher. Instead of having a home crowd to
than $300 million. Page 8 singles through the infield at Franklin field was completed. School officials say that once the SEE Carter, PAgE 6
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