Central Jerseyans in TV show's semifinals: This week in Central Jersey history, Feb. 19-25

Central Jerseyans Dr. Brad Schaeffer and Kara Lazauskas competed in "The Titan Games" semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019.

Schaeffer, a podiatrist with Hillsborough and Piscataway offices, and Lazauskas, a Somerville High School graduate, participated in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's inaugural season of the NBC show.

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

Feb. 20, 2019: The athletic department at Rutgers announced it would expand beer and wine sales at sporting venues, beginning in the fall.

Feb. 21: In his State of the Township address, Edison Mayor Thomas Lankey said an $811 million agreement with a new water and sewer provider, Suez Water, would help the township to build a $40 million community center.

Feb. 22: It was reported African American justice and faith leaders had launched the Movement for the 94 Percent initiative to put political pressure on Gov. Phil Murphy and Legislature to pass reforms important to their communities.

Feb. 22: Freddy S. Garcia Jr., 22, a Piscataway drag racer, was indicted in the hit-and-run death of New Brunswick High School Vice Principal Tyrone Harrison, 49, of the Somerset section of Franklin.

Feb. 22: It was reported political satirist Lewis Black would perform on Thursday, March 7, 2019, at the State Theatre in New Brunswick.

Feb. 23: The top-seeded Gill St. Bernard's boys basketball team won its fifth straight Somerset County Tournament title, beating third-seeded Watchung Hills, 73-53, in the championship game.

Feb. 25: It was reported Superior Court Judge Thomas Miller upheld Hillsborough's zoning board decision to deny a Verizon proposal to erect a cell tower at the Woods Road Firehouse in the township.

10 years ago

Feb. 19, 2014: Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney's Sandy Bill of Rights tour kicked off in Perth Amboy. Sweeney was joined by Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, and Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz.

Feb. 20: Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said 15 people had been arrested in a seven-month investigation into the distribution of heroin and the party drug "Molly" in Watchung and Franklin.

Feb. 21: Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School graduate and Princeton University student Terry O'Shea won the Jeopardy! College Championship, which aired that day, claiming $100,000 and a berth in the next Tournament of Champions.

Feb. 23: The South Plainfield wrestling squad wrapped up its unprecedented 30th consecutive District 12 title at the Anthony Cotoia Gymnasium in South Plainfield, winning seven weight classes in the tournament.

Feb. 24: It was reported that according to Rutgers' financial report filed to the NCAA the previous month, Rutgers athletics department received nearly $47 million in subsidies from the university's allocation fund to make up for a shortfall in the approximately $79 million athletics budget during the 2012-13 season.

Feb. 25: It was reported L-Mani Viney, a Piscataway High School social studies teacher, was invited to participate in a group that would work closely with President Barack Obama's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

1999

Feb. 20: In the Group II boys wrestling state championship match, Delaware Valley High School beat Sterling, 26-25.

Feb. 22: Michael Lawrence Sopko, 75, of Woodbridge, who killed Helen Rapach Sopko, his wife of 50 years, because he mistakenly thought she was having an affair, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Superior Court Judge Joyce Munkacsi.

Feb. 23: Marcelina Baluch, of Edison, convicted of reckless manslaughter for beating Imelda Ritua, 28, her live-in housekeeper, to death, received the minimum sentence ― 5 years and 9 months in jail ― by Superior Court Judge Mathias Rodriguez, who said her crimes were not "heinous."

Feb. 25: Legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin discussed "The Making of Sgt. Pepper" at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank.

1974

Feb. 20: A baby boy believed to be less than five days old was found abandoned near the front doorsteps of the house owned by Eugene Gilbert, a Franklin Township special policeman.

Feb. 22: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," presented by The Parish Players of Plainfield, opened for a two-weekend run at the First Unitarian Church in Plainfield.

Feb. 23: Edison High School repeated as Middlesex County Wrestling champion at Madison High School with 64½ points, with Pete Jennings and Dick Banos winning their second straight titles.

Feb. 25: It was reported that service station operators abandoned a movement for a statewide shutdown to protest short supplies and dwindling profits, having been satisfied at least for the time being with the latest actions by federal and state energy officials.

1924

Feb. 20, 1924: Playing their best game of the season, the North Plainfield High School girls basketball team beat Somerville High School, 18-10, in a Somerset County championship contest on the new Somerville High School court.

Feb. 21: It was reported New Brunswick suffered no ill-effects from the worst storm it had experienced in years. Slush on the streets froze overnight, but the street department prevented any serious consequences.

Feb. 22: Rare first volumes and originals of inestimable value belonging to Recorder Harry E. Pickersgill were destroyed in Perth Amboy in the largest fire in the last 10 years when the Dana Building on Smith Street was burned to the ground.

Feb. 25-28: The movie, "Little Old New York," starring Marion Davies and Harrison Ford, was shown at Reade's Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.

Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ history for Feb. 19-25