Students Stage Walkout and a Former Mayor Mugged on Newark Street

Here's a roundup of some of the most popular local stories apearing on Patch in the past week:

An East Orange man was shot and killed early Friday in Newark.

A 20-year-old city resident was arrested several hours after he allegedly robbed former mayor Sharpe James, 78, of a gold chain on Bergen Street.

Newark police and the Essex County Sheriff’s K-9 unit quickly found a 15-year-old girl who had gone missing after school.  The girl, who suffers from epilepsy, was unconscious when she was tracked down by “Mac,” a K-9 bloodhound.

The airline Virgin America launched flight service between Newark Liberty International Airport and two West Coast airports, in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

A former Newark police officer was sentenced to four years in jail for attempting to defraud a bank from which he was seeking a $1.9 million commercial loan.

Hundreds of Newark high schoolers walked out of class and rallied downtown during a hearing of the state Assembly Budget Committee. The youth were protesting proposed reductions to Newark’s school budget, which is controlled by the state.

The New Jersey Hall of Fame, which honors prominent state residents or those with ties to the Garden State,  released its list of 2013 nominees, which include Newarkers Ray Chambers, a philanthropist; singer Whitney Houston; actor Joe Pesci, and basketball great Willis Reed.