County deer management program culled 139 cervids

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The county announced on March 2 that a total of 139 deer and 73 unborn deer were removed from South Mountain Reservation and Hilltop Reservation during the 11th annual Deer Management Program. The program was held over 11 days between Jan. 16 and Feb. 27. “Controlling the population by removing deer […]

Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra concert on March 11

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Music director Israel Herman will conduct the Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra in its second concert of the 2017-2018 season on Sunday, March 11, at 3 p.m. with an exciting program that will include Rossini’s Overture to “Il barbiere de Siviglia,” the Felix Mendelssohn Concerto for Violin in E minor, Op. 64, and Franz […]

DiVincenzo presents 15th annual State of the County Address

CEDAR GROVE, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. presented his 15th annual State of the County Address on Monday, Feb. 26, in the Essex County Hospital Center in Cedar Grove. The multimedia presentation outlined county achievements and improvement projects completed in 2017, highlighted the services and programs offered by Essex County and announced […]

Bloomfield High hosts major STEM competition

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Twenty schools from the NJ Interscholastic STEM League participated in a competition held at Bloomfield High School on Thursday, Feb. 22. It was quite a showing with five students per team working at cluttered tables while teachers and curious STEM judges roamed. The event was held in the first-floor gym called the Pit. […]

Benitez trial: Judge tossed out alcohol evidence

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The DUI-trial acquittal of Bloomfield Municipal Judge Wilfredo Benitez was based only on the roadside observations of a NJ state trooper and not alcohol/blood level test results, which were ruled inadmissible. Benitez had been discovered asleep in the early morning hours of Nov. 12, 2016, on a Route 80 shoulder in Tenafly, by […]

Bloomfield trucks are out and filling early potholes

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield Department of Public Works and Parks should be done with its pothole repair work by the end of next month. “We’re out there every day with the asphalt machine,” Anthony Nesto, the department director said earlier this week. “We are repairing every pothole we can get to.” Where potholes are located […]

Interlibrary loans are slowly but surely coming back

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Jennifer Breuer and Holly Belli, the Glen Ridge and Bloomfield public library directors, respectively, explained last week the reasons why there have been no interlibrary services since the end of last year. Because of the lack of service, both libraries, and many others, stopped accepting requests for interlibrary loans. Breuer and Belli […]

Plea deal is possible for Donaldson case

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — An Essex County prosecutor told a judge on Friday, Feb. 16, that the defense counsel for former Bloomfield High School teacher and running coach Leo Donaldson has taken contradictory positions on whether a plea deal or a trial was imminent. Donaldson has been indicted on 36 counts stemming from alleged sexual contact with […]

Bloomfield High to present the musical ‘Pippin’

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield High School will present “Pippin” as its winter musical next week, in four performances scheduled Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 22 to 25. It will be staged in the high school auditorium. The show has a cast of 32 students including four freshmen, according to Brandon Doemling, the BHS theater instructor directing the […]

Benitez defends his actions during traffic incident

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield Chief Municipal Court Judge Wilfredo Benitez filed a formal response Feb. 9 to three ethics violation charges against him following his DUI arrest after being found asleep in his car, on a westbound shoulder of Route 80, by two NJ State Troopers. This occurred Nov. 12, 2016, in Teaneck. Included in his […]