Irvington opens STEAM academy

Irvington opens STEAM academy

IRVINGTON, NJ — The Rita L. Owens STEAM Academy staff and community participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new school on Sept. 15. The Irvington school is dedicated to and named after Rita L. Owens, a beloved art teacher in the Irvington School District for more than two decades. The academy is a […]

Glen Ridge biographer dives into the life of Martha Graham

Glen Ridge biographer dives into the life of Martha Graham

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — “Martha Graham: When Dance Became Modern,” a biography of the seminal 20th-century dancer and choreographer, and a 14-year undertaking by Glen Ridge resident Neil Baldwin, began for Baldwin with probably the same experience as anyone else experiencing Martha Graham choreography for the first time: an epiphany.  Baldwin, an emeritus professor of […]

State purchases land for Essex-Hudson Greenway

State purchases land for Essex-Hudson Greenway

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — In a major milestone in the long-sought effort to create a multiuse recreational trail spanning Essex and Hudson counties, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Sept. 15 that the state has successfully acquired the inactive Norfolk Southern Railway Co. railway that stretches nearly 9 miles from Montclair to Jersey City, passing through Glen […]

Longtime running coach recalls his tenure at Bloomfield High School

Longtime running coach recalls his tenure at Bloomfield High School

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — One afternoon last week, Paul Williams, 85, related his experiences serving as Bloomfield High School’s running coach. He had been head coach for cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track from 1961 to 2002. Born in Jersey City, he moved with his family to Dearborn, Mich., due to his father’s employment with Ford […]

Two towns rally against plea deal in Fofana case

Two towns rally against plea deal in Fofana case

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Members of the Maplewood and South Orange community came together on Thursday, Sept. 15, to protest the purported plea deal between the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and Yohan Hernandez, 21, of Newark, the defendant in the Moussa Fofana murder case. The rally and march, which began at Columbia High School and concluded […]

Essex County remembers the Sept. 11 attacks 21 years later

Essex County remembers the Sept. 11 attacks 21 years later

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Essex County held its annual ceremony to honor the lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the 21st anniversary of the attacks. At the ceremony at Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, organizers read aloud the names of all 57 people from Essex County who died in the […]

Orange BOE member creates space for community engagement

Orange BOE member creates space for community engagement

ORANGE, NJ — Orange Board of Education member Fatimah Turner, a licensed clinical social worker, has created a community center for residents of Orange and surrounding communities in her cafe on South Essex Avenue. Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Turner realized the community was lacking a space where all members of the community […]