Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $37M: This week in Central Jersey history, Sept. 9-15

A Middlesex County jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay a total of $37.3 million to four sets of plaintiffs who said they developed mesothelioma from asbestos in baby powder.

The decision on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, came after more than two months of testimony that ended with the judge striking J&J's closing argument.

Here's a look at events that happened in Central Jersey from five, 10, 25, 50 and 100 years ago this week.

Five years ago

Sept. 10, 2019: It was reported a family with three school-age children was displaced from their home on Kory Drive in South Brunswick on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, following a gas leak and fire that caused extensive damage. By late Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, more than $7,000 had been raised by more than 157 donors to help the family.

Sept. 11: It was reported that while on a late-August family vacation in Orlando, New Jersey State Trooper Charles Travis, 36, of Old Bridge, revived an unconscious 7-year-old girl who was found face down in a pool at the Hilton vacation resort in Orlando, where he and his family were staying.

Sept. 12: It was reported Verano Holdings, one of the nation's largest cannabis companies, would turn the vacant Walmart on Route 22 in Readington into a marijuana garden and medical marijuana production facility.

Sept. 12: After eight months in federal prison for tax evasion, MTV's "Jersey Shore" star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino left the Federal Correctional Institute Otisville in New York.

Sept. 13: In high school football, Scotch Plains-Fanwood beat Carteret, 19-14, in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. It was Scotch Plains-Fanwood's first regular-season win since a 35-20 triumph over Warren Hills on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014.

Sept. 13-15: "Paul Robeson," starring Nathaniel Stampley Jr. in the title role, was Crossroads Theatre's inaugural production at New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.

10 years ago

Sept. 10: It was reported Carlos R. Marroquin, 52, of Los Angeles., was sentenced to 32 years in state prison by state Superior Court Judge Joseph S. Conte in Bergen County for operating a cross-country narcotics network and using a Metuchen warehouse to store 40 kilos of cocaine and more than $1 million.

Sept. 12-14: The 2014 Central Jersey Jazz Festival, featuring trombonist Emily Asher and Garden Party, the New Brunswick District Jazz Band, and more, was presented in downtown Flemington, New Brunswick and Somerville.

Sept. 13: It was reported the Sayreville Borough Council banned the sale of tobacco products to those younger than 21 on Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, by a vote of four to two.

Sept. 13: It was reported more than 28 tons of food, including fresh produce and fruit, were collected in the 2014 Curbing Hunger campaign, a joint effort of the Somerset County Board of Freeholders, the Somerset County Recycling Center, county and municipal public works departments, the Food Bank Network of Somerset County and Curbing Hunger Inc.

Sept. 15: The Spotswood High School boys soccer team beat Metuchen High School, 2-1, handing them its first loss of the season.

1999

Sept. 10: The Spinners, known for such songs as "I'll Be Around" and "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love," performed at The Theater at Resorts Atlantic City.

Sept. 11: The Rev. Al Sharpton and attorney Alton Maddox Jr. appeared in front of City Hall in Plainfield for a rally that was billed as a rally for thousands, but attracted only about 100 people, mostly neighbors concerned about the proliferation of illegal drugs in the city and those worried about the possibility of city employee layoffs.

Sept. 12: The Somerset Patriots beat the Bridgeport (Conn.) Bluefish, 36-24, receiving a playoff berth, then went on to beat the Nashua (N.H.) Pride, 6-2, advancing to the Atlantic League Championship Series.

Sept. 13: William Eatman, 58, of Edison, was sentenced to life in prison by Superior Court Judge Barnett Hoffman in New Brunswick for stabbing to death his longtime girlfriend, Dorothy Nicholson, in front of their 9-year-old son.

1974

Sept. 9, 1974: The Plainfield City Council was ordered by the state commissioner of education's office to restore $259,833 of the $429,000 it cut in March 1974 from the school budget.

Sept. 10: State Environmental Commissioner David J. Bardin urged continued motor vehicle exhaust checkups at New Jersey's inspection stations, citing substantial reductions in smelly air at carbon monoxide monitoring stations in Central Jersey.

Sept. 11: It was reported that in New Brunswick, 17 suspects were in custody in the wake of a 10-month undercover investigation by county, local and federal narcotics officers.

Sept. 15: It was reported Ken Berry would star as the Music Man in the revival of Meredith Willson's show, "The Music Man," opening Tuesday, Sept. 17, 1974, at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, and running through Sunday, Oct. 27, 1974.

Sept. 15: In the Northern Division of the Central Jersey Pop Warner Football League, North Edison beat Fords, 46-0,

1924

Sept. 10, 1924: The Mack baseball team won the Plainfield championship by beating the Merchants, 4-3, in a seven-inning game on Mack Field in Plainfield.

Sept. 11: It was reported a final tabulation of the registration figures filed at the office of the New Brunswick City Clerk Eugene J. McLaughlin showed the voters of New Brunswick went to the polls in large numbers, despite a storm on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 1924.

Sept. 12: The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Junior Ku Klux Klan, the American Crusaders, and the Women of the Ku Klux Klan, forming a party of more than 2,000, held an open air demonstration on the Herbert property at Milltown that was witnessed by 1,500 visitors, besides members of the order.

Sept. 12-13: The movie, "Wanderer of the Wasteland," starring Jack Holt and Billie Dove, was presented at Reade's Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.

Sept. 14: James Casserly, the caretaker of St. Joseph's College, Kingston, discovered the body of a woman in a clump of brush near the west bank of Carnegie Lake, who was identified the next day as Elizabeth Johnson of Kingston.

Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $37M: This week in Central Jersey history, Sept. 9-15