Medellin razes Pablo Escobar's home in symbol of rebirth

A six-floor apartment building in Medellin that Pablo Escobar once called home was demolished Friday in an emotional ceremony that officials hope will dampen some of the fervor for the notorious drug lord's criminal life and instead showcase the city's rebirth.

Rogelio Gomez, the engineer in charge of the demolition, said that 180 detonators were used to topple the Monaco building and a 100 meter (328 feet) security zone was designated around the area.

"1,500 people who live nearby were evacuated for security," he also said.

Clouds of dust rise during the implosion of a six-floor apartment building that former cartel boss Pablo Escobar once called home, in Medellin, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Mayor Federico Gutierrez had been pushing to raze the building and erect in its place a park honoring the thousands of victims, including four presidential candidates and some 500 police officers, killed by Escobar's army of assassins during the Medellin cartel's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. (AP PhotoLuis Benavidez)

The explosion took place at 11:53 local time and sent a cloud of dust 10 meters (33 feet) into the air.

Colombian President Ivan Duque, who was still a teenager when Escobar was killed in 1993 in a rooftop shootout with police, said the explosion "means that history is not going to be written in terms of the perpetrators but by recognizing the victims."

The white concrete building in Medellin's leafy Poblado neighborhood was gutted by a car bomb in 1988 and has remained an unoccupied eyesore ever since, drawing mostly foreign tourists who sign up every day for tours of Escobar's former hometown haunts. The Netflix "Narcos" series has also popularized such attractions.

This photo shows the six-floor apartment building that former cartel boss Pablo Escobar once called home, before its demolition, in Medellin, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Mayor Federico Gutierrez had been pushing to raze the building and erect in its place a park honoring the thousands of victims, including four presidential candidates and some 500 police officers, killed by Escobar's army of assassins during the Medellin cartel's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. (AP PhotoLuis Benavidez)

But Mayor Federico Gutierrez had been pushing to raze the building and erect in its place a park honoring the thousands of victims, including four presidential candidates and some 500 police officers, killed by Escobar's army of assassins during the Medellin cartel's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.

"We are paying back a historical debt with our victims," Gutierrez said prior to the demolition.

Retired Gen. Rosse Jose Serrano, who for many years led the elite police squad that pursued Escobar, said the Monaco building was where the famous capo planned some of his most brazen attacks.

"It was his criminal fortress," Serrano told The Associated Press.

Still, some in Colombia remember him fondly as a Robin Hood-like father figure who gave away homes to the poor and railed against the nation's political elites.

Escobar built the Monaco for his wife, and the fugitive's family was living there when Escobar's rivals from the Cali cartel bombed it in 1988.

After his death, successive Colombian administrations burdened by red tape, legal challenges and perhaps fear of awakening Escobar's ghosts struggled to find a buyer to take over the abandoned property.

Once the murder capital of the world, Medellin, like much of Colombia, has seen major improvements in security over the past 15 years, although the murder rate has been inching up since its all-time low in 2015.

Nonetheless, the city's vibrant cultural scene, spring-like weather and entrepreneurial locals have converted it into one of the gems of the South American nation's tourism boom.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)