Haggis, kilts and all-around good time at Burns Night

MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Two South Orange-Maplewood School District parents turned a Scottish tradition into an opportunity to benefit the local nonprofit Achieve Foundation, raising more than $3,500 through a Burns Night celebration at the Woodland in Maplewood on Feb. 6. Piers and Adrienne MacWhannell brought the customary festivity honoring renowned Scottish poet Robert Burns to […]

Snow removal becomes a campaign issue in Orange

ORANGE, NJ — In an election year, even something as basic as snow removal following a big winter storm can turn into a political football to be tossed around by candidates and their supporters. Last year, residents came to an Orange City Council meeting to complain about the city’s response or lack to a series of […]

Mayor gives town a B-minus for snow removal

Some residents give much lower marks for township’s handling of Winter Storm Jonas

IRVINGTON, NJ — According to township officials, although Winter Storm Jonas dumped almost 3 feet of snow on Irvington and most of New Jersey on Saturday, Jan. 23, they were happy with their response. “We had 31 inches of snow and it had to be picked up and moved, because there was no place to put […]

Two towns’ girls learning to stand up and speak out

MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — One local group of 7- to 10-year-old girls from Maplewood and South Orange proves the value of girl power each day through lessons learned from Stand Up Girls, an organization that empowers its young participants to stand up for both themselves and others. Entering its third season in February, Stand Up Girls, […]

Nutley family is zoo visitor No. 750,000 for 2015

Prizes awarded to Zuniga family as annual total of visitors continues to grow

NUTLEY, NJ — Each year, Essex County keeps track of the number of people who visit Turtle Back Zoo in South Mountain Reservation. Each year that number gets bigger, and the county always celebrates when the previous record is broken. This year, the record-breaking visitors were members of the Zuniga family of Nutley, Melissa and […]

Burn center honors Orange firefighters at Valor Awards dinner

ORANGE, NJ — The Burn Center at Saint Barnabas Medical Center presented members of the Orange Fire Department with a Valor Award during the 28th annual Valor Awards on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at Mayfair Farms in West Orange. Capt. Matthew Kohaut and Firefighters James Antoine and Leonard Stewart were honored for their involvement in a […]

Orange Elks Lodge hosts Holiday Celebration

ORANGE, NJ — The Nassan’s Place autism awareness and family support organization hosted its third annual Holiday Celebration at Orange Elks Lodge 135 on Main Street on Sunday, Dec. 13. “This is the third time that we’re having it and our second time having it at the Elks Lodge,” Nassan’s Place President Nadine Wright-Arbubakrr said Sunday, […]

GRHS basketball team gets ‘The Gun’

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Glen Ridge High School Varsity Basketball Coach Liam Carr — with not one senior-year player on the squad — believes something has come his way that will make his young team better, and that is a gift given in memory of a former GRHS basketball player. The gift is a computer-operated machine […]

Bloomfield teacher is Essex County Teacher of the Year

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The New Jersey Department of Education has named a Bloomfield educator its 2015-2016 Essex County Teacher of the Year. Oak View Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Jessica Picciuto accepted her award at the Wednesday, Oct. 28, meeting of the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders. In an interview at the school earlier this week, […]

Patented invention parked on Broad Street

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The United States Patent Office must have forgotten to padlock all the windows or pat down its agents at quitting time because on Saturday afternoon, something from its files had escaped and was parked on Broad Street. Er, excuse me? No, a Scootus. That’s right, a Scootus — a first-ever, vehicular rearrangement, which […]