State funeral for Lt. Gov. Oliver

State funeral for Lt. Gov. Oliver

NEWARK — Lt. Gov. Sheila Y. Oliver was laid to rest Saturday, Aug. 12, after a state funeral that included remarks from governors, congressional representatives, ministers, county and locally elected officials, a Grammy award winning singer and the late lieutenant governor herself. After lying in state for a day in Trenton at the state house […]

Tradesmen lend their helping hands

Tradesmen lend their helping hands

MAPLEWOOD — Life became a lot harder for Julie Erickson after she was diagnosed with cancer. A self-employed career coach, chemotherapy sapped her strength and left her capable of only working about a quarter of the time she used to and also in need of help with formerly simple tasks she couldn’t perform anymore. “I […]

Chief living her childhood dream

Chief living her childhood dream

EAST ORANGE — East Orange Police Chief Phyllis L. Bindi was very young when she first got involved with public safety. Her grandmother and aunt both worked the Bingo games at St. Joseph’s School on Telford Street. Bindi would ride her Big Wheel tricycle to the games with her grandmother and they would come to […]

Irvington’s new clerk makes history

Irvington’s new clerk makes history

Shawna Supel thought she’d be working in the municipal clerk’s office for about a year when she took a job as a “computer operator” in 2001. “When I started, there was a typewriter on my desk. I was used to using computers,” Supel said. “I was only going to be here for a year but […]

Essex County mourns one of its own; Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, groundbreaking politician

Essex County mourns one of its own; Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, groundbreaking politician

Sheila Y. Oliver, lieutenant governor of New Jersey and the first African-American woman in state history to serve as assembly speaker, died on Aug. 1. She was 71. No cause of death was given but Oliver had been admitted to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston with an undisclosed medical condition, according to a statement […]

New principal has a plan for IHS

New principal has a plan for IHS

Irvington High School’s new principal doesn’t drink or smoke. “Coaching is my vice,” Principal Darnel Mangan said. “Coaching is the vehicle that drove me here.” Mangan is almost certainly the first person ever kicked out of an Irvington public school as a student to return and become principal of a school in the district. He […]

E.O. police chief honored at U.N.

E.O. police chief honored at U.N.

Township Police Chief Phyllis L. Bindi was one of 40 people from around the world to be awarded an honorary doctorate degree and a Humanitarian Platinum Leadership Award from the Institute of Public Policy and Diplomacy and the Humanitarian Focus Foundation. Bindi and the other winners, which included ambassadors, government ministers, a model and a […]

Baker Street park gets upgrade

Baker Street park gets upgrade

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The Maplewood Village Alliance is beautifying the small park at the corner of Maplewood Avenue and Baker Street. “It’s such a prominent location,” said Cat Delett, executive director of Maplewood Village Alliance. “It’s right at the gateway when you come into the village. We thought we could make this so much nicer.” […]