Regional Briefs – April 11, 2019

Bus Bursts Into Flames At High School; No Injuries Reported

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (AP) – Authorities say a school bus caught fire at a New Jersey high school just moments after several students had exited the vehicle.

The bus was in the driveway of Middletown High School North when it started smoking around 7:20 a.m. Thursday and soon burst into flames . But no injuries were reported.

Attorney General Units To Review Convictions, Cold Cases

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Thursday he has set up a new unit within his office to review wrongful convictions, along with a network aimed at solving cold cases.

Grewal announced the new efforts at his Trenton office, alongside State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan, former state Supreme Court Justice Virginia Long and other officials.

“[The] announcements are based on a simple premise: that those who are innocent should not remain in prison, and those who are guilty should not remain on the streets,” Grewal said.

The task force’s report estimated 1% to 5% of convictions nationwide are wrongful.

Handwritten Draft of NY State Constitution Going on Display

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – The handwritten manuscript draft of the New York state constitution, created during the Revolutionary War, is going on public display in downtown Albany.

The state Department of Education says the document will be on display April 15 through April 20 on the 11th floor of the Cultural Education Center, home of the New York State Museum and State Archives, which holds the draft among its collection of 250 million records dating back to 1630.

The complete, official text was published as the state constitution in Fishkill in 1777. It was officially adopted in Kingston on April 20, 1777, establishing New York as a state.

A final copy of the 1777 state constitution doesn’t exist. Historians say it’s possible the complete document was destroyed after it was sent to the printer in Fishkill.

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