Child Porn Arrest, Plea Deal For Assemblyman, Original Pizza Top This Week's News

Hillsdale Man Arrested in Statewide Child Porn Bust

A Hillsdale resident was one of 24 men and one juvenile arrested in a statewide child porn bust, Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced Wednesday.

David Laidlaw, 36, was charged with second degree distribution of child pornography and fourth degree possession of child pornography.

Assemblyman Schroeder Offered Plea Deal

State officials offered New Jersey Assemblyman Robert Schroeder a plea deal for the charges that he swindled $1.8 million from investors and wrote bad checks worth $3.4 million for loan payments during an arraignment hearing Friday morning.

Deputy Attorney General Veronica Allende offered Schroeder a sentence of five years in state prison if he pleads guilty to the second degree offenses of writing bad checks and theft by deception.

As conditions of the plea, Schroeder would have to agree to pay back about $5 million in restitution, forfeit his State Assembly seat and agree to be barred from ever holding public office again.

The Washington Township Planning Boardunanimously approved applications for Original Pizza and Dunkin Donuts to return to theWashington Town Center during a meeting Wednesday night.

Dunkin Donuts franchisee Keith Rasquinha and Original Pizza owner Dominick David both said they planned to open on or near May 1.

McCourt Will Not Seek Permanent Westwood Superintendent Job

Rory McCourt, the popular acting superintendentof the Westwood Regional School District, said Thursday that he would not apply for the position permanently when his role ends June 30.

The Board of Education recently took the first steps in searching for a replacement for Superintendent Geoffrey Zoeller, who resigned effective April 25 and is currently out on a paid leave of absence. McCourt, the district's director of elementary education and technology, has been filling in as acting superintendent for several months.

McCourt said that leading the district had been "a rewarding experience," but he ultimately believed it was not the right time for him to take a permanent superintendent job, adding that he still intends to pursue a doctorate degree.

Lawsuit is Next Hurdle For Woodcliff Lake Dam Project

A lawsuit filed by United Water against Hillsdale stands as the next step in the legal battle over a proposed project to upgrade the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir dam.

Hillsdale has asserted that its Planning Board should review United Water's plans because of concerns that the project could worsen flooding along the Pascack Brook downstream from the reservoir.

The borough passed two ordinances last year which create additional borough oversight for tree removal and utility projects in order to "protect the public health, safety welfare and property" of the borough and residents.

United Water sued the borough last June to have the ordinances declared "invalid and unenforcable." The case is still pending.

Assemblyman Schroeder Banned From Doing Business With Feds

State Assemblyman Robert Schroeder wasbanned from doing business with the federal government this month, according to a report on NJ.com.

In a letter to Schroeder, Army Suspension and Debarment Official Uldric Fiore wrote that he decided to debar the assemblyman and the two businesses until September 20, 2015.

Schroeder had been suspended from doing business with the government last fall because he and two of his businesses, All Points International and Hercules Global Logistics, allegedly failed to deliver tents to a military base in Afghanistan. They also allegedly failed to pay a subcontractor $158,000.

Memorial Field Not Ready For Lacrosse Season

Washington Township's youth lacrosse teams are supposed to begin practicing this week, but they still don't have a place to play, Eamonn Twomey, the program's director, said Monday.

Memorial Field is still not ready, township Administrator Catherine Navarro-Steinel said. The contractor who installed new sod last fall estimated that it would not be ready until mid-to-late April because it was installed late in the fall and is still dormant, according to Navarro-Steinel.

Hillsdale Board Questions Tenant Selection For Sober Living Home

The Hillsdale Planning Board began hearing a controversial application Tuesday for a sober living home on Magnolia Avenue near George G. White Middle School.

The plan calls for the upper three-bedroom portion of a two-family home to be rented out to as many as four "professional" men age 30 or older and recovering from addiction, according to Donna Lally, the applicant and homeowner

Some Westwood residents were surprised to learn that there are 36 properties in the borough where chickens are kept, but those who keep the birds say there's nothing to worry about.

Cecilia Brennan has been keeping chickens since 2011. It was Brennan's son, Kevin, who first had the idea to get the chickens because of his interest in permaculture. He built a "roving coop" which they can move around to different parts of the yard, preventing any one spot from getting too torn up by the chickens' feet.

None of their neighbors have ever complained — the birds don't make much noise — and there have been no problems with rodents or any kind of sickness, she said.

Westwood Regional Schools and Hillsdale Schools will receive the same amount of state aid next year that they received this year.

Pascack Valley Regional Schools will see a $2 increase in state aid.

Westwood Regional will receive $1,652,524, according to figures released by state officialsThursday. Hillsdale will receive $802,759. Pascack Valley Regional will receive $1,069,242.

Washington Township Getty Closed

The Getty gas station in Washington Township closed this week.

Garage owner Ted Foundopoulos previously told Patch he would be leaving the business because he lost of $58,000 security deposit when Getty Petroleum Marketing went bankrupt. There are plans to turn the station into a BP, but the company wanted an additional $30,000 security deposit for a 14-month contract, according to Foundopoulos.