Assembly approves giving Judiciary Committee subpoena power to investigate NJ Transit

TRENTON, NJ — The N.J. Assembly on Oct. 20 voted 71-0 to launch an investigation into the safety and financial practices of NJ Transit, giving the Assembly Judiciary Committee subpoena power to conduct an inquiry, according to a press release. The Judiciary panel is working on the inquiry with the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee; this […]

Husband and wife to receive community-service award

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — On Tuesday, Oct. 18, the United Way of Bloomfield presented its first-ever “Cornerstone of Excellence Award” to a husband and wife for their generous contributions to the township during the years. The event was held at The Manor, in West Orange. The honorees, John and Gerry Generazio, are the owners of Generazio Associates […]

GOP mayoral candidate challenges Venezia to a debate

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Republican mayoral candidate Dave Tucker, on Tuesday, Oct. 18, emailed a letter to Mayor Michael Venezia challenging him to a debate. Tucker had originally issued the challenge for a one-on-one debate at the council meeting Monday, Oct. 17. Venezia asked to have the challenge emailed to him. As received by The Independent Press, […]

Judges rule Joanow had conflict of interest

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — An Appellate Division court ruled in favor of four Bloomfield residents who alleged that 2nd Ward Councilman Nicholas Joanow had a conflict of interest when he voted for a $10 million bonding ordinance to finance the purchase by the town of property contiguous to his own. This ruling reversed a lower court decision […]

#itscalledatanktop — a ‘wife beater’ is very different

Don’t normalize domestic violence; help to end it instead

#itscalledatanktop — a ‘wife beater’ is very different

EAST ORANGE, NJ — October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and much has been done to bring awareness to the disease so far. But this is also National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and more should be done to combat this insidious killer lurking in our society. FAMILYConnections, a nonprofit organization based in East Orange […]

Carteret School celebrates their grandparents

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Carteret Elementary School recently held its annual Grandparents Day in the school gym. Organized by special education teacher Rachael Ciliento, the event dates to 1989. Ciliento said about 150 grandparents were in attendance this year. “It promotes togetherness,” she said, “having conversations between grandparents and the children.” Sixth-grader Sami Kabakibi, in a […]

Columbus Day tradition: student essays and pancakes

Columbus Day tradition: student  essays and pancakes

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield UNICO, the Italian community-service organization, held its 21st annual Columbus Day observance Monday morning, Oct. 10. The event took place on the Green, at the sculptured relief of Christopher Columbus. An award ceremony was held for fourth-grade essayists followed by a pancake breakfast in the Civic Center. The Columbus Day ceremony is […]

OPMA violations might void a 2014 town bond ordinance

BLOOMFIELD, NJ  — The appellate judges who will rule if whether of not a Bloomfield bonding ordinance is void because of a conflict of interest claim will also determine if the same ordinance is void because of a Open Public Meetings Act violation. On Wednesday, Sept. 21, a three-judge panel heard from an attorney representing four Bloomfield […]

Pilot program: high-tech parking meters on Broad Street

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield Parking Authority will have a second pilot program using high-tech parking meters that record license plates and automatically ticket violators. According to Anne Prince, the BPA operations manager, the seven parking meters currently in use during the first pilot program, on Washington Street, will be moved to the east side of […]