Roche Closing, Holmes Hires Livingston Lawyer in Top Essex County News

Roche Employees Devastated by Closure News

After 80 years of being Nutley’s main employer, pharmaceutical giant Roche announced the company would close. The news shook the community to the core. An estimated 1,000 workers were told on June 26 they would be laid off when the company ceases Nutley operations in December 2013.

Following the announcement that her five year marriage with Tom Cruise was ending, Katie Holmes has hired Jonathan Wolfe, a member of the Skoloff & Wolfe law firm in Livingston, to help her in what is sure to be a public and messy divorce.

Bloomfield Township Administrator Yoshi Manale Resigns

Bloomfield Township Administrator Yoshi Manale has resigned from his position, apparently forced out of office by the township’s lawmakers. 

At a special meeting Monday night, the town council convened to discuss whether they would accept his resignation.  They did, by unanimous vote after the council gathered for a closed-door session.

Lawmakers declined to disclose the reason for Manale’s resignation. However, in an interview with Patch, Manale said he felt he was dismissed because he wanted more accountability for Bloomfield’s spending.

Single Mother of Six Displaced by Fire

A single mom with six children was forced to vacate her home on Sunday after a fire at 5 Ella St. rendered her home “uninhabitable.”

“Everything’s gone,” said Norma Coppedge in dismay, staring at the charred façade of the house while her children wandered on the sidewalk nearby.  “People are saying it will be a couple of months till we can go back home.”

The fire began at about 5:50 p.m. on the second floor of a multi-family home at Watsessing Street and Ella Avenue, when residents noticed flames coming up through the walls of the house.

Couple Rushing Baby To Hospital Strikes Teen

A Millburn teenager was in critical condition Thursday after she was struck by the car of a Springfield couple rushing their baby to the hospital, police said.

Millburn's first aid squad transported the teenager to University Hospital in Newark, where she is in critical but stable condition, Millburn Police Capt. Michael Palardy said.

The 18-year-old, who will be a senior at Millburn High School in the fall, was hit in front of the Haagen-Dazs on Millburn Ave. at 11:20 p.m. Wednesday.

Millburn BOE Approves 5-Year Apple Contract

The Millburn Board of Education approved a five-year contract with Apple for $1,642,542 that will guarantee all computers and devices will be no older than five-years-old and will raise the number of units to 2,500 in a special meeting last week.

Thief Pawns Nutley School Computers

An investigation involving a pawned computer led Nutley police to arrest a Lyndhurst man for the theft of between 12 and 30 school computers, going back as far as 2011.

Nutley Police arrested Michael Ritacco, 28 of Lyndhurst on June 28 in the Nutley Board of Education Offices after Nutley detectives learned he was stealing computers from the school district, according to Police Det. Anthony Montaneri.

Anderson Vetoes Board Vote, Approves Charter Leases

In a historic move in her one-year tenure as Newark superintendent, Cami Anderson vetoed the  for space in public facilities.

"Approving these leases will increase the number of seats in high-quality schools and generate much needed revenue that we can invest in serving NPS students," Anderson said in a statement. "It is time that we put what is in the best interest of our children first."

UMDNJ Merger a 'Win for Newark'

State and local lawmakers gathered yesterday at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to celebrate the final version of legislation merging most UMDNJ assets with Rutgers University -- a merger that as originally conceived would have deprived Newark of its standing as a major medical research and training hub, those officials said.  

Instead, according to Mayor Cory Booker, Speaker of the Assembly Sheila Oliver and others present yesterday, the legislation leaves intact all of the academic and medical facilities that now call the city home, establishes a chancellor position based in the city, and will have no effect on the status of any employees within the current UMDNJ system. 

Montclair Loves Its Parade

Hometown parades are something extraordinary. And Montclair's Fourth of July parade was no exception. After all, where else would you find your neighbors shooting each other with Silly String, or the township council members waving because they actually know you?

The Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps marched in Montclair's 62nd annual Independence Day parade, as did Mayor Robert Jackson, Deputy Mayor Bob Russo and former Mayor Jerry Fried.