Day: February 1, 2020

Why is ICE at the Super Bowl?

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has been a constant presence at the Super Bowl for many years, having built and maintained a

successful partnership with the National Football League. This year, HSI personnel in Miami will work with a range of federal, state and local law enforcement partners throughout Super Bowl week to provide essential public safety measures in and around the city to help combat many of the criminal threats the league and host city might face leading up to and throughout the big game February 2, 2020.

Why is HSI involved in preventing the sale of counterfeit products?

The illegal manufacture and sale of counterfeit goods is one of the primary concerns of HSI, as it is for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the HSI-led

National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center)

, which includes many additional federal and international partners. It is criminal activity that endangers public health, harms the economy and restricts the competitiveness of U.S. products in the global market.

As part of those efforts, Operation Team Player, an ongoing effort developed by the IPR Center to crack down on the illegal importation of counterfeit sports apparel and merchandise, has worked through the year to identify warehouses, stores, flea markets, online vendors and street vendors selling counterfeit and game-related sportswear and tickets throughout the country. The IPR Center leads coordinated efforts with many of the United States’ major sporting leagues to target contraband that negatively impacts the economy, enables additional criminality and poses health and safety hazards to the public.

As in years past, effective teamwork will be the key to success on and off the field during Super Bowl LIV. For HSI, the size and scope of the task will again be met with personnel who are prepared to successfully execute the agency’s game plan and safeguard the city and everyone traveling to and from the Super Bowl.

With Super Bowl week winding down, the men and women of HSI remain hard at work, focused on ensuring the safety and security of everyone who has come to Miami for the game itself and all of the surrounding festivities.

As the Chiefs and the 49ers are finalizing their game plans with an eye on bringing home the coveted Lombardi trophy, members of HSI’s elite Special Response Teams are standing by at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, ready to move out at a moment’s notice and join their law enforcement partners throughout the region to provide whatever assistance may be needed.

Special agents and investigators with HSI’s IPR unit will also be busy until the opening kickoff, protecting fans by looking out for and arresting counterfeit ticket sellers and continuing to confiscate phony, sub-standard team merchandise in the parking lots and other areas around the stadium.

As the pre-game festivities wrap up Sunday afternoon, all that’s left are the words of country music legend Hank Williams, Jr. hanging in the air – “are you ready for some football?!”

Gloucester Catholic Principal Ed Beckett Selected as Grand Marshal For St. Patrick\’s Day Parade!

Gloucester Catholic Principal Ed Beckett has been selected as the Grand Marshal for the Fifth Annual St. Mary\’s Parish and Gloucester City St. Patrick\’s Day

Parade. The parade will be held on  Sunday, March 1 starting at 1:00 pm.

Mr. Beckett will receive his Grand Marshal sash from Bishop Sullivan at the 9:30 am Irish Mass at St. Mary\’s Church..

Mr. Beckett has served as Gloucester Catholic\’s Principal since August 2013 and is highly regarded for his work with youth and his devotion to the Catholic Community. Mr. Beckett also served the school as Assistant Principal for Spiritual Formation for 8 years. An alumnus of the Gloucester Catholic Class of 1978, he previously taught at St. Joseph\’s Preparatory School and served as an  administrator at Boston College High School.

The Parade begins at Martin\’s Lake (Baynes Ave and Johnson Blvd) and continues down Monmouth Street, and will feature String Bands, Bagpipes, Irish Dancers, Irish Music. Memorabilia, and Community Organizations.

Gloucester Catholic alumni are encouraged to attend the parade, and are invited to march with the school\’s contingent as we salute

Mr. Beckett as well as celebrate Irish Pride and the great city of Gloucester!

Local parade officials also announced that Mr. Beckett will receive the First Community Impact Award on Friday, March 6, at Elizabeth Ballroom in Gloucester City. Doors will open for the event beginning at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased by calling the Rectory at (856) 456-0052.

Link to St. Patrick\’s Day Parade Festivities

For further information please contact St. Mary Rectory at  (856) 456-0052. You may also click on the link below for general information and a sponsorship registration form!

General Information on St. Patrick\’s Day Parade and Activities

Thank You from St. Mary\’s Parish and Gloucester Catholic

Isaac Destin’s 40-point Game Lifts Scarlet Raptor Men

UNION, N.J. (Feb. 1, 2020) – Senior forward

Isaac Destin

notched a career-high 40 points and added 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season to power the Rutgers University-Camden men’s basketball team over Kean University, 79-75, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Scarlet Raptors improve to 7-13 overall and 4-9 in the NJAC under first-year Head Coach

Stuart Pradia.

It is the most overall and conference wins for the program since going 14-12 overall and 8-10 in the NJAC during the 2014-15 season.

Kean falls to 5-15 overall and 2-11 in the NJAC with its second loss against Rutgers-Camden this season. The Cougars lost in Camden, 68-63, on Dec. 14. Kean still leads the all-time series, 59-27.

Rutgers-Camden led by as many as 12 points in the first half (16-4 and 19-7) and was ahead, 23-12, before Kean went on a 20-7 run to grab its first lead of the day, 32-30. A pair of foul shots apiece

by sophomore forward

Jake Petrik

and junior guard

Arian Azemi

put the Raptors back in front, 34-32, but Kean took the lead right before half on a three-point play by sophomore guard Jared Latane.

Sophomore guard Jailen Jamison paced Kean with eight first-half points, while senior forward

Isaac Destin

had 10 points and Petrik added eight on the opening half for Rutgers-Camden.

Kean opened the second half with a 12-6 run to grab seven-point leads of 45-38 and 47-40, but a 10-point Raptor run was fueled by six points from Destin, giving the Raptors a 50-47 lead. After the teams swapped leads for a stretch, the Scarlet Raptors build their lead to as many as eight points, 72-64, on a trey by Petrik with 2:58 remaining and a layup by Destin with 2:20 left.

Although the Cougars closed within 75-72 with 38 seconds remaining, Destin hit four foul shots down the stretch to clinch the victory and end his career-high performance with 40 points. His previous high was 33 against Rosemont College on Nov. 10, 2019. With his 40 points, he became only the 12th Scarlet Raptor to reach the 40-point plateau. The program record is 46 by Dan Rucker against Southeastern on Feb. 4, 1978. Destin is the first Raptor to hit 40 since Dane Nicholson also reached that total on Jan. 6, 2005 against Arcadia.

The 40 points hiked Destin’s career total to 1,190, allowing him to move past Pete Vearling (1,151 from 1964-68) and into eighth place on the program’s all-time list. Seventh place belongs to Ray Pace (1975-77) with 1,201 points.

For the game, Destin went 14-for-23 from the floor and 12-for-14 from the foul line. He added 12 rebounds for his double-double and also collected three assists, two steals and two blocked shots. His points, rebounds and blocks were all game-high totals.

Azemi added 12 points, six rebounds and game-high totals of 10 assists and seven steals. The 10 assists tied his Raptor career high set in the same game against Rosemont where Destin had his previous high point total.

Petrik finished with 11 points for the Scarlet Raptors.

Jamison and Latane led Kean with 28 and 21 points, respectively. Jamison added seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals to lead the Cougars.

Rutgers-Camden shot 26-for-52 (50 percent) from the floor and 21-for-30 (70.0) from the foul line to overcome a 20-19 deficit in turnovers. The Raptors held a 32-31 edge off the boards.

Kean went 29-for-61 (47.5) from the floor and 11-for-16 (68.8) from the foul line.

Rutgers-Camden returns to NJAC action Wednesday when it hosts The College of New Jersey at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Fatimah Williams collected a career-high 43 points; Scarlet Knights Take Kean U. 84-75

UNION, N.J. (Feb. 1, 2020) – Senior guard

Fatimah Williams

collected a career-high 43 points for the fourth-highest single-game total in program history to power the Rutgers University-Camden women’s basketball team over Kean University, 84-75, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday.

Rutgers-Camden improves to 11-9 overall and 4-9 in the NJAC. Kean, which entered the day one game behind the NJAC tri-leaders Rowan, Montclair State and The College of New Jersey, falls to 13-7 and 9-4. Although Kean leads the all-time series, 50-23, the Scarlet Raptors are 4-2 in their last six games against the Cougars.

Williams became only the second player in program history to notch a 40-point game, an accomplishment that the program’s all-time scoring leader, Terry Cole, did four times. Cole has the three top-scoring games above Williams, notching 53 points against Ramapo (Feb. 26, 1983), 45 against Rutgers-Newark (Jan. 26, 1983) and 44 against Jersey City (Jan. 23, 1980). She also had a 40-point game against Spring Garden on Feb. 13, 1980.

Williams passed her previous career high of 32 points, set against Cairn University on Nov. 16, 2019. The game marked the 11th time she has scored 20 or more points this season and raised her career total to 1,139, 11th on the program’s all-time list. She is 15 points behind 10th-place Maureen McGovern (1994-99).

Williams also passed the season 400-point plateau, raising her total to 407 and her scoring average to 20.4.

Williams scored 24 of her points in the first half, helping the Scarlet Raptors take a 45-35 lead at the break. Rutgers-Camden trailed, 22-21, after one quarter and 24-21 early in the second quarter before taking the lead for good, 25-24, on a layup by sophomore forward

Breanna Ettrick.

That basket was part of a 14-0 run for the Raptors, who led by as many as 26 points (70-44) in the second half. The closest Kean came after the break was seven points (82-75) with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Williams shot 18-for-30 from the floor, including 2-for-4 from three-point range, and was 5-for-9 at the foul line. She added nine rebounds, one steal and a team-high four assists.

In addition to Williams, the Raptors received another outstanding game from freshman guard/forward

Jalissa Pitts,

who scored 19 points and almost notched her second double-double of the week, finishing with nine rebounds. Freshman center

Kayla Newton,

meanwhile, collected a double-double with 12 points and a game- and career-high 19 rebounds. Her previous rebounding high was 10, accomplished four times this season.

The double-double was the third of Newton’s rookie season.

Junior guard

Shane Holmes

added three assists, three steals, three points and three rebounds, while Ettrick had five rebounds to go along with her three points.

Rutgers-Camden held a 51-39 advantage off the boards and shot 34-for-64 (53.1 percent) from the floor, while winning the Cougars were 27-for-83 (32.5) from the floor.

Senior guard Payce Lange and sophomore guard Shannon McCoy scored 22 and 21 points, respectively, for Kean.

The Scarlet Raptors return to NJAC action Wednesday with an 8 p.m. home game against The College of New Jersey.