Class of 2024 get their diplomas

Class of 2024 get their diplomas

It was anything but an uneventful ride for the Columbia High School Class of 2024. Their high school careers began amid the COVID-19 pandemic and included remote learning, a tropical storm that flooded the two towns and controversy involving both the school principal and district superintendent. It ended at Codey Arena on June 19 when […]

Raising funds for autism awareness

Raising funds for autism awareness

The South Orange Police Department began fundraising for autism awareness three years ago, selling patches and then T-shirts in April, which is Autism Awareness Month. They upped their game this year though with SOPD officers squaring off against members of the Seton Hall University Women’s Basketball Team for an Autism Acceptance Basketball Fundraiser Exhibition Game. […]

Sanchez returns

Sanchez returns

Columbia High School Principal Frank Sanchez made a dramatic entrance into Codey Arena Wednesday night to be part of the commencement exercises for the Class of 2024. Sanchez was placed on leave earlier this year after he was charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child in connection with an incident with a […]

Students back from 3 months in Israel

Students back from 3 months in Israel

Students from Golda Och Academy in West Orange returned home this month after spending about three months in Israel. Golda Och Academy is a private independent K-12 school with a dual academic curriculum in the culture and tenets of Conservative Judaism. The students who went to Israel were participating in Golda Och’s Neshama, which is […]

A little bit of West Africa comes to The Woodland in Maplewood

A little bit of West Africa comes to The Woodland in Maplewood

BBIA BurkinaBe In Action celebrated their second anniversary by holding a community resource exhibition and family fun day at The Woodland in Maplewood. The event was sponsored by the Maplewood Division of Art and Culture and several other organizations. It included music, dancing food, a variety of activities for children plus resources and information. BBIA […]

Artist and tech industry veteran new chair of SOPAC Board of Governors

Artist and tech industry veteran new chair of SOPAC Board of Governors

Aida Jones has spent most of her adult life straddling two worlds. She is an abstract painter whose work has been exhibited in shows and galleries but she’s also the vice president of a company that produces software used by millions of people in thousands of companies. “My focus, the work I’ve done, has always […]

Leadership changes at SOPAC

Leadership changes at SOPAC

SOUTH ORANGE — The arts helped Svetlana “Lana” Rogachevskaya assimilate. A native of Ukraine, Rogachevskaya moved to Brooklyn when she was 19 and art helped ease the transition. “The reason I dedicated myself to the arts is that feeling of community,” she said. “Through the arts, I found my way to assimilate.” The South Orange […]

Maplewood remembers those who gave all

Maplewood remembers those who gave all

Photos By Joe Ungaro The township held its annual Memorial Day Parade and ceremony on Monday despite the threat of rain. The line of march included students from township elementary schools, scouts, politicians and members of local clubs including the Elks. The parade ended at town hall, where the national anthem was sung, an invocation […]

The Mural opens in arts district

The Mural opens in arts district

The Mural apartment building’s name pays homage to the painting that adorned the exterior wall of the hardware store that stood in that spot for decades. A grand opening ceremony was held for the structure last week and among the amenities is an interior mural in the lobby of the building created by artist Dan […]