Improving attendance in all Newark Public Schools is a major part of superintendent Roger Leon’s plan to bring up grades across the district. And while an elementary school has the best overall attendance with around 97 percent of students, Leon is challenging high school kids to match that goal. “On standardized achievement, in classroom work, the students who are coming to school are going to outperform those who do not,” Leon said. In steps the New York Red Bulls who play their home games in

Michael Bapis has used his sports background to help him give financial advice to many professional athletes and entertainers. He's the Managing Director for Vios Advisors, the wealth management firm that is part of Rockefeller Capital Management. Vios Advisors specializes in working with high-net-worth individuals and families, preserving and optimizing their wealth. As Head of Sports & Entertainment for Vios-Rockefeller Capital Management, Bapis has gained the trust of not only his clients

Not only is more and more theatre happening off Broadway, more new theaters also have opened. Theater critic Michael Bourne reviews The Wrong Man , a musical about a man wrongly convicted, and (A)loft Modulation, a play with jazz. Click above to hear both reviews.

Pain and Glory is writer-director Pedro Almodóvar’s 21st film in a career spanning nearly 40 years. I caught it at this year’s resplendent Toronto film Festival, but it touched down briefly at the ongoing 57th NY Film Festival, which ends this weekend after 17 days with a reprise of some of the festival’s 40 films. There’s always been something so personable about Almodóvar that almost no one calls him Almodóvar. Everyone calls him Pedro, as if they know him. His films seem about you:

Last night's Ask Governor Murphy call-in show on WBGO covered a range of topics including lead in the drinking water, vaping, the Meadowlands power plant and NJ Transit. WBGO News Director Doug Doyle filled in for regular host Nancy Solomon of WNYC. Ask Governor Murphy is a WBGO News production in collaboration with WNYC in New York and WHYY in Philadelphia.

Newark’s Black Media Story Summit follows a similar event at Google’s New York headquarters last year. “This is our second regional summit,” said Gregory Warren, Black Media Story Summit regional program director. “Some of the challenges are the same, funding, distribution, there’s a need for platforms specifically dealing with that black content. But we need to start the conversation somewhere and these Summits are meant to do just that.” Gregory says the Black Media Story Summit aims to bring

It may come as a surprise to some Garden Staters that there is an election this year. In the General Assembly, all 80 seats are up for grabs, and there is one special state Senate election in South Jersey on Nov. 5. New Jersey is one of just five states that hold elections for statewide office in odd-numbered years. To understand why you have to go back to 1947. In that year, John Kolesar was just starting out as an undergraduate at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. One day, he went to pick

NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is probably the most decorated athlete in history, dominating during his high school days, his amazing 3-time championship career at UCLA and his 20-year, six championship NBA career. Now Goldin Auctions is offering 48 items from Kareem Abdul Jabbar's personal collection. Kareem and Frank Dinote, controller with Goldin Auctions, joined SportsJam host Doug Doyle to share memories and talk about the items up for auction through October 19. One of the items

Sunday, a play off-Broadway by Jack Thorne, is running at the Atlantic Theater Company. Theater critic Michael Bourn says while Broadway shows are already opening for the holidays, he's been spending several week mostly OFF-Broadway. Click above to hear Michael's review of Sunday.

Late last month, a new sculpture was unveiled in Times Square. Entitled ”Rumors of War,” the latest work by the African-American artist Kehinde Wiley. is a response to the many monuments honoring Confederate war heroes in Richmond, Virginia. WBGO's Jon Kalish was on hand for the unveiling and filed this report. Click above to hear the feature.