A Burlco town recently banned paintball, dirt bikes, ATVs and hunting at the Dunes, a popular Delaware River hang-out and the subject of a court battle. 

Paintball enthusiasts, linked by cellphone, Facebook and other social media, had been converging on the 35-acre Delanco site for big competitions, said Mayor Marlene Jass.  In the middle, the town's leaf compost piles became bunkers for guys in camoflauge, while towering trees provided them with perfect cover.  

"The paintballers came here from three states," she said. 

Worried about accidents and liability, Delanco created nature trails and posted rules and regulations to keep everyone but hikers out.  But on May 4, the day before the ribbon-cutting of the park, the state Department of Environmental Protection took Delanco to court.

Now, DEP wants hiking banned too.  The area has been designated as a dump for river dredge spoils.  

Superior Court Judge Karen L. Suter ruled that the land can be used as trails - for now.  She will hold another hearing June 1. 

Jass said the DEP's plans will destroy the sanctuary and solace that town officials have created on the parcel.  Before this, she said, people would use the land to hunt with bows and arrows; ride motorcycles, dirt bikes, and ATVs, and just party.  Now, she said, police have the authority to go in and enforce the regulations. 

A sex tape played during the trial of a Moorestown cop accused of sexually assaulting girls is expected to be key to the verdict.

Assistant Burlington County Prosecutor Kevin Morgan told a jury last week that Robert Melia Jr. filmed his girlfriend as she repeatedly molested a teen, in his Moorestown bedroom, as she lay on his distinctive cloud-dotted sheets.  At one point in the tape, there was a glimpse of a man's arm and the sound of a man coughing.  The girl, who was blindfolded and bound, was incapacitated, the prosecutor said, and did not respond to the attacks. 

But Melia does not appear on the graphic 35-minute tape. Defense attorney Mark Catanzaro argued that his client was not there.  And, he said that the 3 accusers lied about assaults that allegedly took place over an 8 year period beginning in 2000.

When Catanzaro asked Judge Charles Delehey to throw out the charges on Monday, Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Raymond Jr. argued that there was enough evidence to let a jury decide the facts.  "A jury could certainly infer Mr. Melia was the one shooting video," he said.  The girls had testified that he assaulted them in his room on numerous occasions. 

The trial, in Superior Court in Mount Holly, is expected to conclude this week.  A jury, which had to watch the sordid film, will have to decide on more than 40 charges lodged separately against Melia, and his former girlfriend, Heather Lewis.  They could face life in prison if convicted. 

A medical marijana business that just got the first permit in New Jersey to begin growing weed will keep the location of its indoor cultivation center under wraps.

"We’re not at liberty to tell you where the growing facility is.  The state requires that for security reasons," said Julio Valentin, an owner of the Greenleaf Compassion Center.

But Valentin freely says the dispensary will be located on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair in a former head shop.   

"It used to be Inner Eye Boutique.  It was a head shop, ironically," said Valentin, a onetime Newark cop.  The shop, which sold marijuana paraphenlia, had been vacant a year or two and had to be renovated, he said.   

Valentin says he and and his longtime friend, Joseph Stevens, the CEO of Greenleaf, will be meeting with state officials next week to "get a timeline" of the program before they start planting seeds.  The two-year-old program has had false starts and they don't want to be stuck with a plant harvest the state won't allow them to readily sell.  

Out of frustration with past delays, Stevens recently threatened to quit, even after investing $280,000 in the buildings.  

 At a press conference this week, Gov. Christie's response was   “I wish he would just stop complaining. We’re making progress."  Christie said in the past that he never would have signed the legislation, which created the program in the final days of the Corzine administration. 

 Last week, Rich Caporusso, a patient with Crohn's Disease and severe muscle spasms, sued the state Department of Health and Senior Services, saying the delays were intentional and sick people are suffering.   

Then, earlier this week, the state published a physicians registry.  It lists more than 100 doctors who are eligible to dispense the drug to patients suffering from terminal cancer, HIV-AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's Disease and several other qualified ailments.  The registry is available here:  https://njmmp.nj.gov/docs/homepage/Physician_Registry.pdf

A jury was selected Wednesday to hear testimony in the high-profile case against a suspended Moorestown cop charged with sexually assaulting three girls.  Robert Melia Jr. made headlines in 2010, months after a judge dismissed animal cruelty charges that were lodged against him after police seized videos that allegedly showed him having sex with 5 calves. 

The trial is scheduled to begin Thursday morning at 9 a.m. in the courthouse in Mount Holly.  Superior Court Judge Charles Delehey will preside over what is expected to be a 2-3 week trial.   

Melia, 42, is accused of molesting 3 children in his Cottage Avenue home dating back to 2000.  Police said that when Melia was arrested in 2008, they seized pornographic materials and  his computer which also contained images.   

His former girlfriend, Heather Lewis, 36, of Pemberton, is being tried with him.  Police said she was present during the assaults.

The case gained notoriety after Gov. Christie decided not to reappoint Judge James Morley, who had dismissed the animal cruelty charges in September 2009.  Morley said in an interview that the governor's chief of staff cited the ruling as one reason he lost his job. 

There is no law against bestiality in New Jersey, and the judge had questioned whether the sex acts with the calves had actually tormented the animals, a requirement under the state's animal cruelty laws.  Morley said there was not enough evidence especially since the prosecutor never played the videos for the grand jury, relying instead upon the testimony of a detective who had examined the tapes. 

A stalled redevelopment plan that is subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit is moving forward on two fronts - but just barely. 

Mount Holly officials now say they want to settle - rather than fight - with the residents of a blighted area who had sued to keep from being evicted.  The residents are mostly minorities and claimed the town's plans to raze their homes and build apartments for wealthier people was discriminatory.

Officials now say they plan to offer affordable replacement homes to the more than 20 hold-outs.  The residents may even be able to stay in the neighborhood, but in a different area.  

Meanwhile, after years of inactivity, the redeveloper is taking steps to begin building apartments and townhomes in the section where many of the rowhomes in the Mount Holly Gardens were demolished years ago. 

Michael Sencindiver, president of Keating Urban Partners, said in an interview last week that the Philadelphia-based company is seeking approvals to construct 220 apartments and 60 townhomes.  "We're ready to go," he said.  He hopes groundbreaking will be this spring. 

Among the apartments, he said, are 22 that will be classified as affordable.  The townhomes, however, are "market rate" and will go for about $200,000 or $210,000, he said.  The company also plans to do infrastructure for the development. 

The delay, he said, was due to the economic conditions, wetlands issues and the approval process.  

The man who calls himself NJ Weedman is upset that his April 10 trial and planned courtroom spectacle has been delayed by  court officials.  

Ed Forchion, a nationally-known marijuana activist, traveled cross-country in a hippie van last month to get here in time for the start of his drug trial.  He says he never got official word of the delay.

Along the way, he had begged people via Twitter and You-Tube  to send donations for gas so he could get to court in Mount Holly.  He wants to regale the jury with arguments that marijuana laws should be decriminalized. 

"I'm so broke I wanted this case over so I could restart my life!" he told me in a message via Twitter after learning of the delay on Thursday.  His Twitter name is NJweedman. (watch the capitals.)   

Forchion, who operated a popular medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles the past 4 years, rolled into New Jersey on March 30 ready and eager to face trial on charges he possessed marijuana.  He said that he didn't want authorities to issue a search warrant for him and has never missed a court date. 

His dispensary was shut down in December but he wants to return to California after the trial - if he wins.  The prosecutor's office isn't commenting on the case.    

During his journey, he tweeted about his stops, inviting potheads in the area to meet up with him to smoke some dope with him.  He tweeted that he was "outta gas in Eagle, Colorado" and asked that money be deposited into a bank account he had set up for donations.  Someone gave him $100 and he motored on.

Later, he tweeted that the police harrassed him in one state.  A few days later, he proudly announced: "The most important marijuana case/trial is set to begin on April 10." 

He urged supporters to "occupy his courtroom" and posted a picture of himself standing in a courtroom surrounded by marijuana plants.   

But now, he must bide his time.  

"I'm disappointed, mad and stuck in jersey now for awhile!" he wrote in an e-mail. 

The U.S. Supreme Court says you can be strip searched even if you are arrested for not wearing a seatbelt.  Or you didn't leash your pooch. Or you   forgot to use your turn signal. Or your muffler is too noisy. 

Seriously. 

It's enough to scare you straight.

There are some chilling true-life tales tucked into the 40-plus pages that the high court published Monday after it ruled that strip searches may be necessary to ensure safety in the jails across the land.  Otherwise, the court said, people who are arrested and placed in the general jail population may smuggle in weapons or drugs.  Or, they may have contagious diseases or lice that would spread to other inmates.  Or, they might have tattoos that show they are in a violent gang and should be segregated. 

Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority in the 5-4 decision, said the court should defer to corrections authorities because it's their job to keep control of the jails.  To be fair, the swing justice wondered why anyone would be arrested for some of the more minor offenses and then placed into the general population.  But he said that's an issue for another day.  

The case came to the Supreme Court when a Burlington County man was erroneously arrested on a bench warrant - for an unpaid fine that he had indeed paid.  Albert Florence, of Bordentown, was then jailed for one week and strip-searched twice before an Essex County judge angrily ordered him to be freed.   

Writing the dissenting opinion, Justice Breyer said strip searches for minor offenses are a violation of a person's constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.  He mentioned real examples of strip search cases around the country that convinced him it is time to put an end to the practice.  The searches should take place, he said, only if there's reasonable suspicion a person may be trying to bring in contraband.

Among the examples he cited were the case of an older nun who was ordered to disrobe and be inspected by a guard after she was arrested for trespassing during an antiwar demonstration.  Then, there was the case of the person who was detained and strip-searched for riding a bicycle without an audible bell.   

Hoping to break Republican domination over county government, the Burlington County Democratic Committee is announcing two politically-experienced candidates for the Board of Freeholders.

Aimee Belgard, who serves on the Edgewater Park Township Committee, and Joanne Schwartz, who has served as an elected officer of the Mount Laurel Fire Commission, will vie against incumbents Bruce Garganio and Mary Ann O'Brien.  Before Garganio and O'Brien began their 3-year terms on the board, in 2010, they also held local office.  Garganio was a former Florence Township Councilman, while O'Brien served on the Medford Township Council. 

The GOP has controlled the board for more than 35 years. Currently it's members are all Republicans.   

Belgard, a lawyer, ran for freeholder as a Democrat in 2010.  Democratic Committee Chair Joe Andl said that she "came very close" to winning a seat that year.   

Andl said Belgard and Schwartz, who also is a volunteer with the Hampton Lakes Emergency Squad in Southampton, will campaign to bring jobs back to Burlington County. 

"There's been one-party rule in Burlington County for 35 plus years.  It's time for a change," he said.  The Democratic candidates, he said will "be watchdogs for working class families of Burlington County." 

The skatepark at the Moorestown Mall ended its 10-year ride this week to make way for a new 12-theater cineplex that will offer more sedentary thrills.    

Dan McCollister, owner of the Black Diamond Skatepark, said the wooden ramps and rails are being dismantled and placed in storage until a new location can be found.  "All options are on the table, including looking at buying our own building," McCollister said. 

Tentative plans to relocate to the Plymouth Meeting Mall or the Voorhees Town Center fell through, he said, because the mall owners decided it would be too expensive to carve out a custom space for another skatepark.  A vacant fitness gym in Cinnaminson that he had also considered ended up being too costly, he said. 

Diehard fans who rode skateboards, BMX bikes and scooters at the skatepark were disappointed when they learned the skatepark's lease was terminated early for the theaters.  When voters in dry Moorestown voted last November to allow liquor sales, the Moorestown Mall owners announced plans to open a Regal cineplex and four restaurants with liquor licenses at the Route 38 shopping center.  

More than 100 fans showed up for a final ride, McCollister said.  The skatepark was formerly known as Vans.

McCollister said the retail operation of the skatepark will open in a vacant shop across from the Community House on East Main Street in Moorestown ,on Sunday, April 1.  He said the shop will sell skateboards, snowboards, sneakers and apparel.