ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — To express their grief and anger over the death of Tyre Nichols, area residents gathered in Newark on Jan. 28 to demand justice for Nichols, who was beaten to death by five police officers in Memphis, Tenn. On Jan. 7, five police officers from the Memphis Police Department severely beat 29-year-old […]
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — On Sunday, Jan. 29 — just two days after International Holocaust Remembrance Day — antisemitism was on clear display in Essex County, when an unknown individual hurled a Molotov cocktail at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield. A Passaic County man was arrested Feb. 1 for the crime, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — On Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 16, the Meadowland Park Conservancy partnered with the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race to present the largest installation of CCR luminaries, as well as professional lighting installations throughout the park’s 45 acres. The hundreds of luminaries were spread around the pond as […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration returned in person to the Columbia High School auditorium for the first time in three years, bringing the community together to celebrate the holiday. The keynote speaker was Robt Martin Seda-Schreiber, chief activist at the Bayard Rustin Center […]
Engel to serve as deputy mayor; township committee has female majority for first time
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — At the Maplewood Township Committee’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 1, Mayor Dean Dafis was unanimously selected to chair the committee, aka continue as mayor, for 2023. “I’m deeply humbled and honored by your confidence and faith in me. I will continue leading us with the strength, conviction, commitment and collaboration that you’ve […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The Maplewood Township Committee meeting on Dec. 20 was bittersweet, as the committee bade farewell to Committeeman Frank McGehee and looked back on his service to the township. The Dec. 20 meeting was McGehee’s final meeting on the committee, as he concludes his second three-year term. McGehee did not run for reelection; […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Maplewood Police Chief Jimmy DeVaul, 53, died Oct. 21 at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa. DeVaul will be remembered in Maplewood as a stabilizing force who became chief of the police department following an upheaval, a man who worked to improve the department’s culture and relationship with the community. DeVaul, […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Facing unprecedented and unexpected increases in health care premiums approved by the State Health Benefits Commission last month, elected officials in South Orange and Maplewood joined with local unions, employees and school officials to ask the governor and Legislature to provide immediate relief. The two towns held a rally in Spiotta […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — On Friday, Oct. 14, Maplewood police Chief Jimmy DeVaul suffered a medical incident and was transported to the hospital, where he remains with his family, according to an Oct. 17 press release from the township. Deputy Police Chief Albert Sally has been named acting police chief of the Maplewood Police Department effective […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Maplewood broke ground on its soon to be new and improved library on Oct. 1, kicking off an 18-month renovation at the main branch that will see a near complete overhaul of the building. Funded by the town, private donations and the state Library Construction Bond Act, the Maplewood Public Library will […]