2013 Most-Read Stories on Newark Patch

Here's a list of the most-read stories on Patch in 2013: 

Mayor Cory Booker suffered a setback when a judge ruled that his vote during a raucous meeting of the municipal council in November 2012 was improper. The vote involved selecting a replacement for Donald Payne Jr., who left the governing body to become the congressman for the 10th District.

The judge’s ruling set the stage for a special election in November, when Newark voters elected John Sharpe James, the son of former mayor and Booker nemesis Sharpe James, to the council.

A Florida jury’s decision to acquit neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American teenager, touched off protests across the country, including in Newark. Protesters here rallied at the state’s busiest intersection, Broad and Market streets,  for five consecutive days during rush hour to register their disapproval of the verdict.

Sharpe James, the former mayor, was mugged on a city street. Shortly afterward, a suspect turned himself in.

Hundreds of Newark Public School students walked out of class and rallied downtown where officials were meeting to discuss the school budget. The youths --- along with other groups rallying in solidarity -- were protesting proposed cuts to the budget.