Hurricane Sandy Cleanup, Elections This Week

Cleanup of damage caused by Hurricane Sandy will continue this week as thousands of local residents still do not have power back nearly a week after the storm hit.

As of 10:45 p.m. Sunday, between 2,001 and 5,000 customers in Westwood were still without power, according to PSE&G. Hillsdale and Washington Township each had between 501 and 2,000 customers without power.

Westwood Regional and Pascack Valley Regional schools were set to reopen Monday, with plans to make up some of the missed days during previously-planne days off for the NJEA convention. Hillsdale K-8 schools were still closed Monday.

Local officials also announced they were canceling Halloween for the second time in less than a week due to hazardous conditions on local streets, though several more "trunk or treats" were planned for Monday.

Numerous warming centers have been set up for residents without power to get out of the cold and charge their electronic devices. Westwood also opened an overnight warming center in the Community Center.

Patch will have more updates about the cleanup and ongoing power outages as they become available.

Elections

Tuesday is election day, and Westwood and Hillsdale both have seats open on their respective councils.

Two seats are up for grabs on the Westwood Council, with four candidates running for the positions.

In Hillsdale, four of the six council seats are up for election. There are nine candidates in the race.

Washington Township has no council seats up for election this year, but updated polling locations are available here.

Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Jim Leggate at Jim.Leggate@patch.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.