SOPD once again holds its Junior Police Academy

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange Police Department Youth Aid Division will again hold its Junior Police Academy. The academy is open to all South Orange residents, as well any South Orange-Maplewood School District student, between the ages of 10 and 13. The Junior Police Academy is designed to show students the training and […]

Get to know your SOPD officers at barbecue event

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Join village President Sheena Collum and the Board of Trustees for a “Police in the Park Community Barbecue” on Sunday, May 21, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Grove Park, next to South Orange Police Department headquarters at 201 South Orange Ave. Attendance is free. Join your neighbors during National Police […]

County to participate in Drug Take Back Day on April 29

County to participate in Drug Take Back Day on April 29

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The Essex County Division of Community Health and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. joined April 13 with the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team, the Essex County Police Chief’s Association and the Essex County Crime Prevention Officers Association to announce plans for Drug Take Back Day and raise awareness about […]

Resident, village go back and forth over pedestrian safety

Trustees: Crosswalk isn’t feasible at West End, Wyoming

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Pedestrian safety has remained a hot-button issue in the two towns for a long time now, with the towns struggling to implement measures that keep pedestrians and drivers safe without breaking the bank. One Lenox Avenue resident spoke out at the March 13 South Orange Board of Trustees meeting, criticizing the […]

Racism and insensitivity in our schools

Threats to lynch black people, swastikas, slave auction posters appear in SOMSD buildings

SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — It has been a rough couple of weeks for the South Orange-Maplewood School District in regard to tolerance and cultural competency. Last week, South Orange Middle School reported two incidents of racist graffiti scrawled in bathrooms. The first incident, using the N-word, said that “Naughty (blacks) Get Lynched”; while […]

Communities respond to anti-Semitism

Religious and government leaders take a firm stand following hateful graffiti, JCC bomb threat

Communities respond to anti-Semitism

MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE / WEST ORANGE, NJ — Things have certainly been tense in America in the last few months, with organizations like the ACLU showing a marked increase in anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and racist incidents. Unfortunately, Essex County has also experienced some of this hatred. Residents and officials in Essex County were disheartened during […]