WEST ORANGE, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. introduced Essex Edwina as the county’s new weather prognosticator during the Groundhog Day event at Turtle Back Zoo on Wednesday, Feb. 2. Essex Edwina took over for Essex Ed, who has entered retirement after having Edwina as his apprentice during the pandemic. During the […]
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield Board of Health has a new program it wants residents to know about and utilize called the Healthy Homes Initiative, already in its second year. But many residents are unaware of the program or have been reluctant to take advantage of it because of pandemic precautions, according to Bloomfield Health […]
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Martin Luther King Jr. Day was observed by the township on Monday, Jan. 17, via a Zoom presentation, with Bloomfield Council members and invited guests participating from their own safe space. The emcee was Councilwoman Wartyna Davis. The first speaker was U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, of the 11th Congressional District, who represents […]
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield High School graduate Sal Festa, Class of 1980, will be retiring at the end of this month, after 14 years as a Bloomfield School District employee. Festa, 59, worked as a custodian for the district — for two years at the high school, 10 years at Oakview Elementary School and, finally, […]
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Despite upheavals caused by the pandemic, the Rev. Susan Dorward of the Brookdale Reformed Church was certain about one thing. “I didn’t want the pandemic to close the church,” she said in a telephone interview the last week of December. The pandemic, she said, made her a better listener. But another change […]
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — It came as a surprise to departing school counselor Sybilree Fitzgerald of Bloomfield’s Fairview Elementary School on her last day, Thursday, Dec. 23, when Principal Ginamarie Mignone told her there was a situation on the playground. “I thought I had to talk to a student,” Fitzgerald said. She did not. Instead, she […]
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Thirty-six years as a district educator came down to one afternoon, Thursday, Dec. 23, for Bloomfield High School counselor Manuela Gonnella. Growing up in Newark’s Ironbound section, attending East Side High School and Montclair State University, Gonnella did her college practicum and student teaching at BHS. And although she was hired as […]
TRENTON, NJ — On Dec. 15, acting N.J. Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck announced criminal charges against Department of Corrections Associate Administrator Sean St. Paul and four correctional police officers — a major and three senior officers — related to an incident in which inmates were assaulted and seriously injured at the Edna Mahan Correctional […]
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A few years ago, Charles Lopez Bruns wrote a blog post about the move he and his family made from New York City to Bloomfield when he was in sixth grade. Now it’s a book. During the pandemic, Bruns had the time to expand on the post and turn it into a […]
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — On Monday, Dec. 6, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. announced a joint initiative with the Essex County Correctional Facility Civilian Task Force to review operating procedures at the Essex County Correctional Facility. The review will be undertaken by The Ambrose Group LLC, an independent management consulting organization led by […]