Big interest payments for town in station lawsuit

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A Newark Superior Court trial decision in June set the price Bloomfield must pay for the historic train station property on Lackawanna Place, but that price is increasing because of interest payments. The 5-1 jury verdict, by a six-member jury, determined that the township, which condemned the property and holds title to it, […]

Media center opens at Brookdale Elementary

Media center opens at Brookdale Elementary

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Brookdale Elementary School unveiled a new media center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Sept. 9. The center is tucked away on the basement level. Last year it had been on the first floor but that area is now two first-grade classrooms. “This is not an isolation,” Principal Joseph Fleres said of the […]

Morse seeks to regain seat on BOE

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Independent Press is continuing its profiling of Bloomfield Board of Education candidates in the November elections. Profiled already were incumbents Shane Berger and Jill Fischman, and challengers Djanna Hill-Tall, Laura Izurieta and Lillian Mancheno. All are running for three, three-year seats. Not yet profiled are challengers Catherine Bumpus, Eileen Murray and Gladys […]

Education foundation considers term limits for it board members

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield Educational Foundation is in the process of reviewing its bylaws and will consider term-limits for its voting board members, according to longtime member Madeline Wollner. “We don’t have one now,” she said recently in a telephone interview in reference to term limits for the board members. “Now it’s a lifetime commitment […]

Prevent break-ins, use common-sense measures

NEWARK, NJ — On Sept. 7, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura issued a reminder to local motorists that statistics reveal a car is broken into every 30 seconds somewhere across the country. Fontoura added that Essex County is not exempt to that alarming statistic. “Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in […]

District loans laptop computers to 300 students

District loans laptop computers to 300 students

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Three-hundred laptop computers — Chromebooks — were distributed to two groups of Bloomfield Middle School students during August to initiate a pilot program which will link the students to their teachers and to students around the world. The pilot program launches an effort by the Bloomfield School District to equip all students with […]

Celebrate love, diversity, culture with the county freeholders

NEWARK, NJ — Join the Essex County freeholders on Saturday, Sept. 10, in Branch Brook Park,  the Prudential grove area off of Park Avenue in Newark, from noon to 6 p.m. for the Essex County Freeholder’s second African Caribbean Festival. This free event will celebrate, as Bob Marley said, “One love, one heart, let’s get […]

Immovable object meets Morris Canal

Discarded culvert impedes progress on the trail of a pocket park

Immovable object meets Morris Canal

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A discarded culvert is in the way of fully completing the extension of the Morris Canal pocket park, located on Oak Tree Lane. A culvert is a concrete water pipe placed under roadbeds. The origin of this partially-buried culvert is unknown, although the Garden State Parkway is a stone’s throw away. The effort […]

Essex County annual 9/11 memorial at Eagle Rock

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Essex County will host its annual Sept. 11 ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 8 a.m. — with chamber music playing until 2 p.m. — at the Sept. 11 Memorial in Eagle Rock Reservation off of Eagle Rock Avenue in West Orange. This year’s ceremony, which is held by County Executive […]