Bears in West Caldwell and Cedar Grove, Newark Shooting Top County News

Black Bear and Cubs Spotted in Cedar Grove

Cedar Grove Police are monitoring a family of black bears, spotted by residents Wednesday morning. The mother and three cubs are thought to be the same black bear family found foraging through West Caldwell on Sunday.

The initial call came in at 6:43 a.m. Wednesday morning from a resident on Eileen Drive, said Cedar Grove Police Chief Richard Vanderstreet. 

One Dead in Shooting in Newark Restaurant

A shooting inside a popular family-owned Newark restaurant Thursday morning has left one dead and two others wounded, including an 81-year-old woman, authorities have confirmed.

Shots were fired in a nondescript breakfast spot at around 10:40 a.m. on 18th Avenue near S. 13th Street, injuring two people and killing a man in his 40s, said Katherine Carter, spokesperson for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Tow Truck Crashes Through Two Businesses

An out-of-control tow truck careened down Eagle Rock Avenue and plowed through the outer wall of a store and then through an adjacent store at the intersection of Main and Washington streets at around 2 p.m. Wednesday.  

Tory Corner was closed and cordoned off with yellow police tape after a tow truck drove through the outside wall of Machado’s Tailors, and then continued to drive through the business into Financial Services LLC right next door.

Two people were treated for minor injuries, according to the West Orange Police Department. The tow truck driver and someone from inside one of the businesses were taken to Saint Barnabas Medical Center to be treated for their injuries. 

Belleville Names Interim Superintendent

The former director of the Belleville Special Education Department, Helene Feldman, was unanimously named interim superintendent of schools by the school board Monday night.

Feldman’s appointment came after the existing superintendent, Joseph Picardo, was placed on paid leave after being sued for sexual misconduct.

Though the meeting was moved to a larger venue to accommodate the public, the meeting was relatively quiet with an audience of less than 50 people.

Armed Robberies and An Assault in Maplewood

A woman and a man were robbed at gunpoint in two separate incidents in Maplewood recently, according to the Maplewood Police Department.

In the first armed robbery, a 42-year-old woman reported she was approached by a man on Irvington Avenue who pointed a handgun at her and demanded her belongings at around 10 p.m. on Saturday. After she gave him her purse and a bag, the man got into a dark car and drove toward Newark on Tuxedo Parkway.

The second armed robbery took place on Sunday shortly before 10 p.m., when a man on Brookwood Drive reported a man wearing a mask got out of a car and pointed a handgun at him, demanding his belongings.  The man fled in a car occupied by other men.

Newark's First New Hotel Open for Business

Downtown Newark's first hotel in more than 40 years is open for business, hosting its first guest Sunday night.

Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Courtyard by Marriott Newark Downtown, located on Broad and Lafayette streets near the Prudential Center. The new, mixed-used hotel has 150 rooms and 14,000 sq. ft. of retail space on the ground floor. The retail space will soon house a 6,000-sq. ft. restaurant, to be announced next month, as well as four smaller stores.

South Orange-Livingston Shuttle Starts Monday

Starting Monday, South Orange residents will be presented with more options in their travels to the Livingston Mall. 

The Livingston Primetime Shuttle will be in service on Monday, Oct. 1.  The new shuttle will be offering non-stop, round trip express service from the Livingston Mall to the South Orange train station.

BOE Approves Marshall School Principal

Marshall School will have a new principal on Monday. The Board of Education unanimously approved the hiring of  to replace Angelica Allen as principal of the K - grade 2 school. Samuels is currently Assistant Principal at South Mountain School.

Spirited Defense Given for Demoted Principal

It's been more than a month since Samantha Morra, former assistant principal at Mount Hebron Middle School, was demoted. Yet the fate of Morra — who's been suspended with pay — is still a hot topic.

At Monday night's school board meeting, Morra's attorney, William Nossen, offered a spirited defense of his client during the public comment portion of the meeting.

He said that Morra has been unfairly attacked in the local media.

"There have been allegations of fraud without full knowledge of the facts," he said.

Millburn BOE Changes Public Comment Agenda

The Millburn Board of Education approved to change its agenda to allow public comment on any issue earlier in its meetings. The new format will only be for the first meeting of the month.

"We got feedback that sometimes people can't get to meetings at a specific time  or they can't wait until the end of the meeting" Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield said. "We need to counter balance that with the board conducting it's buisness." 

The board made this change as a way to accommodate parents who've been unable to voice their opinion in meetings because the unrestricted public comment was too late. 

Essex Freeholders OK Orange Reservoir Lease

Essex County Freeholders voted to approve a $1.6-million agreement with the city of Orange to lease the Orange Reservoir for 20 years. The vote passed last week despite freeholders Bilal Beasley, Leonard Luciano and Donald Payne Jr. being absent. 

The agreement will allow the county to incorporate the reservoir into its South Mountain Recreation Complex, which borders the reservoir. The complex already includes the Turtle Back Zoo, McLoone’s Boathouse, Safari Mini-Golf and Codey Arena.

Brookdale Park 5K a Cause for 'Comfort'

Hundreds of walkers and runners will get in the zone Saturday to benefit the nation's largest bereavement camp for children.

Comfort Zone Camp will host its third annual fundraising 5K walk/run at Brookdale Park this weekend to help support grieving campers from across the nation. The nonprofit organization, which has sites in California, Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey, provides free weekend camp for children ages 7-17 who have lost a parent, sibling or caregiver.

Menendez Slams '47 Percent' Remarks

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez held a rally in Belleville Tuesday on behalf of “the 47 percent,” the slice of the American voting public disparaged in secretly taped remarks made by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney during a May fundraiser. 

Speaking at the Disabled American Veterans post, Menendez, a Democrat seeking a second Senate term, was joined by what he described as some typical members of the 47 percent, including a senior citizen, a military veteran and a young college student. Menendez also touted his own blue-collar roots as the son of Cuban immigrants growing up in Union City. 

Displaced Parakeets Seen at South Orange Pool

Just days after New Jersey Transit (NJT) removed a nest of monk parakeets from the overhead wires at the Maplewood train station, residents report seeing the same or similar birds at the South Orange pool.

"There has always been at least one bold bird at the pool," reports Kathy Keegan. "Now, when I walk past the pool area in the morning, I see more than one." Keegan speculates that the birds migrated from Maplewood, along the train line, to the South Orange pool area.

Daffodil Day Kicks Off Livingston Bicentennial

When Livingston celebrates its bicentennial in 2013, the township will be covered in thousands of blooming daffodils to mark the occasion.

Arlene Johnson, co-chair of the Livingston Bicentennial Committee, has arranged for 20,000 daffodil bulbs to be sent to the township for residents and businesses to plant in the next month. The committee's plan is that if the bulbs are planted in October, they will be in full bloom in March.