Batman Filming in Newark in Top State News

"The Dark Knight Rises," the third installment of the Batman franchise,  Thursday in downtown Newark for the first of its two-day shoot. Film crews and white movie trucks dotted streets outside city hall and Morgan Freeman and Marion Cotillard were spotted inside.

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Bergen County Police Department officers have taken 21,574 hours in paid sick leave during the past three years. [NorthJersey.com]

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A Rider University student  Wednesday in connection with the hit-and-run death of a man in Ewing Township, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office announced. Laura Gallagher, 19, of Flanders, was charged with death by auto and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in death, both second-degree crimes, the prosecutor's office said. After surrendering to Ewing police and being processed Wednesday, Gallagher was lodged in the Mercer County Correctional Center in Hopewell Township in lieu of $250,000 bail, according to the prosecutor's office.

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A Montclair man is running the New York City Marathon two years after having his stomach removed. [NJ.com]

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Melanie Amoroso's homemade Halloween costume  on Monday. Amoroso, a 9-year-old Freehold Township resident, was one of five people featured on the costume contest segment of the news program's Halloween show. Amoroso's dad, Freehold Township Board of Education member Michael Amoroso, helped make the spinning brush Oral B toothbrush costume.

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New Jersey was worse off at the end of 2010 than it was at the start of the decade, a study finds. [Bloomberg Businessweek]

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A bumper sticker  in an accident reported Sunday in Toms River. The accident involved an overturned Jeep, with the bumper sticker, "If you can read this, flip me over." A 1999 Ford Escort driven by Michael Palmieri, 36, of Toms River, collided with a 1996 Jeep, said Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy.

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A Neptune man pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting of an Asbury Park teen. [Asbury Park Press]

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Two workers were safe after being successfully  Thursday afternoon. They'd gotten stuck seven stories up as the equipment they were using to renovate the steeple of the United Methodist Church locked into place. More than two hours after the ordeal began, the workers were lowered to the ground in a large cage, attached to a giant crane.

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Several West Deptford Township professionals have  to Democrats Hunter Kintzing and Denise DiCarlo, nearly all of it coming in a single day—a fundraiser that brought in just under $32,000 in September, according to Election Law Enforcement Commission filings. Most put in $1,000 that night, but several added more significant amounts. Their opponents call it pay-to-play.

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State Marine Police responded early Wednesday evening to a report of a vessel  in Ocean City. The description: a 58-foot paddlewheel boat called the Crystal Queen. The search didn't take long.