EO mayor introduces submits 2016 budget to council

EAST ORANGE, NJ — When East Orange Mayor Lester Taylor introduced his $138,194,520 Calendar Year 2016 Budget to the City Council at the regular meeting on Monday, March 28, he admitted that, while it is the third consecutive year his administration has produced a budget with a tax increase, at 1.9 percent, it is the […]

First Easter celebrated without Rev. Ron

IRVINGTON, NJ — The congregation of Christian Love Baptist Church celebrated its first Easter Sunday on March 27, since the death of its charismatic pastor, the Rev. Ron Christian, last year. The theme of the Easter Sunday sermon Rev. Alfreddy Fletcher delivered was “You can’t keep a good man down,” saying that the same can […]

Orange councilman questions 2 CPCs sharing same P.O. box

ORANGE, NJ — Orange West Ward Councilman Harold J. Johnson Jr. is up in arms regarding two political action committees allegedly linked to Mayor Dwayne Warren’s re-election campaign that share the same post office box: the American Future Leaders and the Friends of Dwayne Warren. American Future Leaders, which sent out an email blast March […]

Following holocaust, St. Mark’s stabilization efforts begin

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The effort to stabilize the former St. Mark’s Episcopal Church building, the nearly 200-year-old historic site severely damaged by a fire on New Year’s Day, has officially begun after township construction official Tom Tracey gave final approval to engineer Guy Lagomarsino’s proposed shoring plans earlier this month. Jack Sayers, the township […]

BOE votes to use banked cap in budget

SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Thanks to the approved use of banked cap, the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education was able to save four elementary school faculty positions, but big staffing reductions are still coming to Columbia High School. On March 21, the BOE passed the $125 million school budget on first reading with […]

East Orange man is one of three sentenced for carjacking

EAST ORANGE/NEWARK, NJ — Three men were sentenced to state prison on Friday, March 18, for their roles in a major international carjacking and stolen car trafficking ring that stole high-end cars in New Jersey and New York and shipped them to West Africa, by Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim in Union County: Kurtis Bossie, […]

EO mayor introduces city budget before settling union contracts

EAST ORANGE, NJ — East Orange Mayor Lester Taylor introduced his $134 million Calendar Year 2016 City Budget with a 1.9-percent tax increase at the City Council’s regular meeting Monday, March 28, despite the fact that contract negotiations are ongoing with the Police and Fire department unions. But 3rd Ward Councilwoman Quilla Talmadge, chairwoman of the […]

Former mayoral candidate Jean Lamothe dies

IRVINGTON, NJ — Jean Lamothe, a 2014 mayoral candidate, local Haitian community leader and longtime Irvington Building Department municipal employee died unexpectedly Saturday, March 19. His funeral will be Saturday, April 2, at 9 a.m. at Eglise Baptiste de la Nouvelle Jerusalem church on Nye Avenue, with a viewing scheduled for Friday, April 1, from […]

Pulaski Skyway traffic to shift to the northbound lanes next week

TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey Department of Transportation officials today announced that southbound traffic on the Pulaski Skyway is scheduled to be shifted onto two sections of the newly completed northbound lanes on Monday, April 4, as the rehabilitation of the historic 84-year-old bridge advances. The Skyway will be closed in both directions this weekend […]