Local Girl Scouts exemplify giving-back in service project

MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Girl Scout Troop 20245 completed a monthlong service project, collecting more than 4,000 travel-size toiletries and assembling more than 230 kits for Bridges Outreach, a Summit-based nonprofit organization that provides food, clothing and basic necessities to thousands of homeless people in New York City, Newark and Irvington. The kits included items […]

Annual Community Appreciation Holiday Dinner will continue

IRVINGTON, NJ — D. Bilal Beasley, a former president of the Municipal Council, former Essex County freeholder and founder of the Team Irvington social and political organization, may be gone, but the annual Community Appreciation Holiday Dinner he began will take place Wednesday, Dec. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the M.W. Garden State Grand […]

WOHS dances into new year in class schedule for fall 2016

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A longtime dream of both the West Orange School District’s department of visual and performing arts and the West Orange Arts Council became a reality when the Board of Education approved the first dance class at West Orange High School during its Nov. 9 meeting. “Elements of Dance,” open to students in […]

‘Colorblindness’ is not the answer for adolescents

MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Columbia High School graduate Joanna Lee Williams, a developmental psychologist and associate professor at the University of Virginia, returned to her alma mater Nov. 20 to discuss how ethnicity influences teenagers in forming friendships; Williams was the latest guest of the Hamingson Literary Showcase speaker series. In her speech “Finding a Place […]

Yogi Berra’s Presidential Medal of Freedom

Perseverance from local family and friends leads to deserved recognition

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — It was a closer call for Yogi Berra than people might think. But as to whether the Hall of Fame baseball player, humanitarian and phraseologist was to be considered for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, time nearly ran out. According to his granddaughter, Lindsay Berra, 100,000 signatures had to be collected on […]

Nicholas wants name to be removed from recall efforts

McDaniel insists Nicholas’ actions won’t have any effect on committee’s effort to recall mayor

IRVINGTON, NJ — It’s official. Local businessman and former Municipal Council candidate Destin Nicholas is no longer interested in being a part of the effort by Elouise McDaniel, Candy Southerland and Dee Fuqua to recall Mayor Tony Vauss. In a letter dated Monday, Nov. 30, with his name and signature on it, addressed to Municipal Clerk […]

EO motorcycle club serves Thanksgiving dinner to community

EAST ORANGE, NJ — The members of the East Orange-based Jerzee Trendsetterz Motorcycle Club and their friends and fellow bike enthusiasts spent Thanksgiving feeding the hungry and homeless in the parking lot of the Western Beef Supermarket on Main Street. Jose Valencia, who ate there, said he was thankful they did. He was one of the […]

BDH becomes first NJ accredited health department

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield Department of Health was notified Friday, Nov. 13, that it had been accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, a nonprofit, national health organization attempting to standardize public-health services. According to the PHAB, 45 percent of the United States population is currently provided health service by a PHAB-accredited health department. According […]

OFD hosts 10th annual Thanksgiving Community Dinner

ORANGE, NJ — The Orange Fire Department’s 10th annual Thanksgiving Community Dinner at the Chief Martin DeMarzo Fire Headquarters on Thursday, Nov. 26, was a family event in every sense. Firefighters attended with their immediate families and their extended department family, as well as the extended family of the Orange Township community they serve throughout the […]

Prism pays taxes — with 18-percent interest in late fees

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Township Business Administrator Jack Sayers informed the West Orange Township Council during its Nov. 24 meeting that Edison Village redeveloper Prism Capital Partners has paid everything it owed in fourth-quarter taxes on its redevelopment properties following the township’s issuance of a Nov. 11 default letter — the third in two tax periods. […]