SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Ray Kienzle suspects he became Essex County’s lamplighter because he’s tall. An employee of PSE&G since 1988, Kienzle has been doing maintenance and upkeep on all 1,453 of South Orange’s gas lamps since 1990, in addition to the rest of the county’s 2,500 lamps. He repairs, repaints and restores the lights […]
WEST ORANGE, NJ — Residents gathered on the lawn in front of Town Hall on Dec. 7 for the town’s annual tree-lighting ceremony, after a full day of trolley tours of historic West Orange and breakfast with Santa Claus at Washington Elementary School. Musicians from the Vienna Music School performed before dancers from Unique Performing […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Students from Columbia High School and Maplewood Middle School, and residents of South Orange and Maplewood gathered at Maplewood Town Hall on Dec. 6 to protest climate change, skipping class before catching a train to Newark to participate in the student-led North Jersey Climate Strike. In an event organized by the CHS […]
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange Township Council approved an ordinance on first reading for a long-term tax exemption for the developers of the Executive Drive property near the center of town. This move, made at the council’s Nov. 26 meeting, begins a plan to relocate the West Orange Public Library and Animal Shelter […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — South Orange and Maplewood have set their sights on making 2,000 luminary bags for the towns’ annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in January, and the road to that goal started Dec. 5 at the South Orange Public Library as residents gathered to put the paper bag and candle kits […]
WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange School District social studies supervisor Mike Figueiredo presented the West Orange Board of Education at its Nov. 18 meeting with an update on the social studies curriculum for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and shared his vision for the future of the department. Figueiredo said the district’s seven-year […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange Board of Trustees heard a presentation from the South Orange Village Center Alliance about its 2020 budget at the Nov. 25 BOT meeting, hearing from SOVCA Board President Mark Murphy and Executive Director Julie Doran about their goals for South Orange’s downtown. The presentation highlighted placemaking and beautification […]
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange Chamber of Commerce, West Orange Lions Club, West Orange Rotary Club and Orange/West Orange UNICO hosted their annual Community Thanksgiving Luncheon on Nov. 27, bringing residents together at Mayfair Farms to celebrate the holiday and hear guest speaker Barbara Warter. Mayor Robert Parisi also spoke at the event. […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The Maplewood Township Committee unanimously approved on second reading at its Nov. 18 meeting an ordinance that restricts the sale of dogs and cats in town, preventing what animal advocates call “puppy mills.” According to the ordinance, many pet shops get cats and dogs from breeding facilities where they do not receive […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The Maplewood Planning Board unanimously approved the redevelopment plan for the site of the former Toomey’s Automotive garage on Baker Street, moving along the process to make the building part of Maplewood Village’s landscape. Iron Ore Maplewood LLC’s plan for a three-story mixed-use building was accepted with only one revision: to make […]