Mother daughter team bike to save the planet

Sometimes, the best defense against global warming is a good offense, and Hopatcong resident, Suellen Malloy and her daughter-in-law, Christine Rojas found that the best way that they can make a difference in this world is to get on their bikes and ride.

“You can see a lot of what we’re doing to the environment from your bike,” Ms. Malloy says in relation to passing garbage on her many trails.

But besides just saving on gas emissions and carbon, she’s also taken it a bit further by entering the Brita Climate Ride, a five day fundraising event that starts in Manhattan, snakes its way through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and eventually ends in Washington D.C., making for a 300 mile trek.

“I do about 100 miles a week for a race,” Ms. Malloy says in regards to her training for the big event that starts on September 20th.

Her daughter-in-law follows a similar path.

“She (Ms. Malloy) is like my mentor,” Ms. Rojas says, “I would call her up and say, I did 50 miles today, and she would say, ‘Oh, great.’”

Outside of the grueling training, which the mother-daughter team have been doing cross coastal via text messages, emails, and telephone calls since Ms. Rojas currently lives in San Diego with her husband, another one of their biggest challenges is the actual fundraising part.

Both have to amass $2,500 dollars apiece for the ride, with proceeds going to Focus the Nation and Clean Air-Cool Planet. At press time, though, they still had a bit to go with that number, with Ms. Malloy at $550 and Ms. Rojas at $1000. Both hope to get more sponsorships for the race, with Freedom Waterless Carwash, Mason Street Pub, and Lakeview Acupuncture, just to name a few, already chipping in. But The Malloy Girls, which they call themselves, are ready to eat the cost if they can’t make the rest of the money in time.

“We’re in it for the long haul,” Ms. Malloy says about paying for the rest of it if she has to. “We both really feel like it’s worth it,” Ms. Malloy says.

A trooper to the very end, this isn’t Ms. Malloy’s first race. It is her daughter-in-law’s, though, who wanted to do it to help save the planet and also spend some time with her mother-in-law.

“I was so up to do it,” Ms. Rojas says, “She said, ‘would you like to do it,’ and I said, oh yeah, I totally would.”

Ms. Malloy’s first race was for another beneficial cause, that one the fight against AIDs in an event called AIDS/LifeCycle. AIDS/LifeCycle is a bit more recognized than Brita Climate Ride since it has a few years under its belt, while this is Brita’s first year ever.

"In the AIDs race], you got to meet people who have AIDS who say, “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you,” Ms. Malloy says.

Who knows what anybody will say after this race? But there are still a few spaces available if you’re willing to join the cause. Sign up or donate to the Malloy Girls on the website today: http://www.climateride.org/.
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Hamburg School ahead of the game with security

Similar to how the 50s and 60s had Duck-and-Cover Drills in case of Soviet attacks, this generation’s current fear is the school shooting, which, while rare in its practice, is just as relevant and fear inducing as anything in America’s past.

But while some schools scramble to implement new precautions in case anyone wants to copycat the Virginia Tech incident, one school system is already a few steps ahead when it comes to protecting America’s youth—the Hamburg School District.

“We had security installed during the summer,” says Hamburg principal Steven Engravalle, who calls the new, beefed up security that allows the police to see inside the school from the station and even their own squad cars, an “eerie coincidence.

“Any advantage that we can give to the good guys is what we want,” says Engravalle.

The new security system, installed on April 17th, allows real-time video footage inside the school to be seen by police at the same time it’s happening, creating a shared link between the school and the station, which is a state first.

“The school has the most valuable resource in mind—the children,” Engravalle says.

It’s also helpful to police officers who can monitor what’s going on even after school hours, which hopefully creates a deterrent for any midnight marauders.
“With the recordings, the purpose is tri-fold,” says patrolman, Erik Aronson. “We can monitor any unlawful activities, one. Two, God forbid, if something happens, there will be an alarm call and we’ll be there right away. And three, we’ll have archives, so in case there’s criminal mischief after school, it will be captured right there, [on the cameras].”

But besides the police department and the school that benefits from these modifications, the ones, besides the students, who might benefit the most from these additions are the parents themselves.

“I’ll be carrying around a Blackberry,” says Engravalle.

And while this may not sound like anything that would make any parents do a back flip or swoon, Engravalle offers an explanation.

“This thing [the Blackberry] can be put to great use when there’s inclement weather,” says Engravalle, who’s talking about the ability to inform parents on whether there’s a snow day via phone calls, text messages, or email. “And the beauty of it is, they all receive the notice at the same time.”

This new system, which will go out in three different colors—red, yellow, and green—will vary depending on the importance of the matter, with red being the most important, an early school closing being an example, and green being the least important.

And costing only three dollars a student, this—coupled with the grants and Homeland Security funded $23,000 security plan—means parents will be paying next to nothing for all the benefits they’ll be seeing with these new additions, a feat Superintendent, Robert McCann, would like to thank the board of education for.

“Without the support of the Board and the public, our project would not have happened” says McCann.

Hopefully, there will never, ever be another incident like Virginia Tech, but if there is, Hamburg School is about as about as ready as it will ever be.

***

Fire From Above

It’s been a whirlwind weekend for Jefferson resident, Cheryl Angle (or just “Cher,” as her friends call her), the mother of Cassandra Gadow, whose roof was blown right through by a projectile shot from Picatinny Arsenal last Friday, on April 11th.

“I’m overwhelmed…exhausted,” Angle says over the phone, her voice tired and rough from lack of sleep and constantly being interviewed since the event occurred.

“I was up at a quarter to six this morning, Angle says, talking about her visit to The Morning Show on April 14th. “CBS picked me up.”

It was around 2:30 PM last Friday when the piece of artillery went hurdling through Cassandra’s ceiling and landed on her bed, where she just might have been if she hadn’t been picked up twenty minutes early for a sleepover that night.

“She spends a lot of time in her room,” says family friend and neighbor, Tammy Kersten, who has a personal connection to Cassandra when she saved her own daughter’s life from a copperhead snake, “It just goes to show you how precious life is,” Kersten says in reference to how close the shell came to landing directly on Cassandra.

Angle and her 14-year old son, Brandon, were downstairs when the 5 ½ inch long projectile went through the roof of their house. Angle likened the sound to the crash of a door being slammed.

“It was a close call,” says Kersten, who heard the entire story straight from Angle once she had gotten home from picking up her daughter, who is also named, Cassie.

“Cher said, you won’t believe what just happened,” Kersten says.

Still, while Cassandra luckily made it out of harm’s way, the family cat, Sarah, had to be euthanized after it was in the room and struck by some of the scorching shrapnel.

In a press release sent out on the very next day, Picatinny Arsenal apologized for the incident, and added that they were “extremely sorry that the family’s cat, Sarah, was put to sleep after being injured.”

The voice behind the press release is Picatinny Arsenal Commanding General, Brig. Gen. William N. Phillips, who was first to respond with his sentiments for the cat and also for the fact that such a horrible mistake could even occur.

“The investigation team headed by the general officer will determine what caused the fragment to leave the installation,” he said.

Not in the mood for just waiting around for answers, though, Angle’s picking up where her life left off before the incident, as at press time, she was taking her son to Pequannock for a game he was about to play.

“[I] need to lay down,” Angle said in between the phone making clicking noises from people trying to get through to her on the phone.

Looks like she won’t be getting that much needed sleep.

Not anytime soon, at least.

A Sad Saturday as Dog Owners Mourn the Loss of their Pets

On a windy Saturday morning, a parking lot slowly filled up with cars and trucks in front of Candi’s Scissors & Suds II Pet Palace Inn in Lake Hopatcong where a memorial was held at 10:00 AM. This was following a recent fire that killed nine dogs there on December 30th, shortly before the New Year began.

“I don’t think some people understand that dogs [can become] an extension of the family,” says Trish Dancy, who worked the late shift at Candi’s store, but wasn’t there when the incident occurred at 5:30 in the morning. She said this aptly in front of a poster filled with the pictures of the deceased dogs that read, “To Our Beloved Children.” And to all who lost a pet, or even for those who didn’t and just came to pay their respects, the animals were just that to them—beloved children to the community at large.

Their names were Belle, Gypsy, Olaf, Jet, Eros, Ruby, Yentil, May, and Cocoa, and all of them passed when smoke filled the room due to a malfunction in the building.

“The fire wasn’t because of a space heater like everybody is saying,” said Gary Cirincione, who is the owner of the shop and fiancé of Candi Coon, “It was because of a wall-mounted [detector] that the smoke alarms didn’t go off.”

He said this as he looked over at Candi, who cried uncontrollably staring down at the memorial, and then he walked slowly into the tent that was set up for the people who showed up to pay their condolences to the dead.

Inside the tent, a warm sort of air filled the place as people huddled inside the small area. Some people brought their dogs, while others just stood there with their hands in their pockets, surveying the area. One such of the latter was Chris Villanova who has a Siberian Husky at home named Cyrus. Cyrus is named after the constellation, Sirius, which is part of a band of constellations that actually make up what is known as Canis Major in the solar system, or, the Great Dog due to its shape.

Mr. Villanova never brought his dog to Candi’s, due to the fact that he’s constantly worried about leaving his dog with other people, but he still thinks highly of the place and the owners of the animals.

“Even though this place is on the cutting edge of boarding places,” Chris said, smiling over at another Siberian Husky that he says looks just like his own at home, “And granted everybody takes care of the animals here, you just can’t tell [what’s going to happen when you leave them].”

And he’s right when he says that the shop is on the cutting edge of boarding houses, as there are no cages and also cameras sprinkled about inside so people can see their animals online when they’re on vacation.

These are all factors that make pet owners agree that Candi’s is the best place in town to leave their dog when they’re away.

“This was the only kennel where my dogs didn’t get sick,” Margie Mills says as the mayor of Jefferson walked up front to introduce the priest from St. Teresa’s who came in to say a sermon.

“I don’t know where we’re going to take them now,” Mills said.

“Oh, God, this is so terrible,” another said regarding the situation as the priest went up and read a poem called, “Just a dog.”

But while tears and tissues were a major part of the ceremony, it wasn’t all about sadness and remorse, as comfort was also a part of the proceedings.

“This was needed for closure,” says Jefferson Mayor, Russell Felter, who has three dogs named Oreo, Cookie, and Sandi, and is also married to Tami who works at the store and helped set up the event. “There’s an amazing turnout here.”

And in that turnout, people hugged, cried, and said thank you, making it so nobody was left alone in their suffering and heartache on that windy Saturday morning, when patrons huddled inside a tent.
***

Motivational Speaker Comes Back To Jefferson For A Second Go Around

Growing up is tough. Whether it be on the rough side of town in Los Angeles or even the humble suburbs of Jefferson, the years between childhood and adulthood are some of the most trenchant and trying times for teenagers, no matter what area they happen to grow up in.

And that’s why motivational speaker extraordinaire, Keith Hawkins, who’s been traveling to schools across the county for the past 15 years now, has been called in to work his magic at Jefferson High School and Middle School on the 14th and 15th respectively.

“When we get somebody like Keith to come to our school, I know the PTA is doing their job,” says Michelle Cannorozzi, Vice President of Programs for the High School Parent, Teachers, and Student Association, and Program Liaison for the Middle School.

“We really wanted to get more character based [activities] for leading your own life,” says Cannorozzi.

And Mr. Hawkins will be doing just that with his Stepping Up To The Challenge presentation, which he’ll be presenting to the kids when he swings by this year.

“The title might sound the same, but the content is different,” says Mr. Hawkins.

He says the title might sound the same because this actually isn’t his first time talking at the high school and middle school. Five years ago, he actually came by before, teaching the students about how to stay motivated and afloat of the problems that may be plaguing their lives.

“[It’s all about] the challenges they face in regards to education,” Keith says.

And Keith is definitely the right person to do it since he knows all about what it takes to exercise one’s demons.

Growing up on the harsher side of LA in a single parent environment, Keith was a leader even back when he was a child. Unfortunately, it was for the opposite side of society.

It actually wasn’t until he met a motivational speaker of his own named, Phil Boyte, that Keith decided to change his ways and get on track with where he wanted to go with his life.

And fifteen years later, he’s definitely moved on. Having spoken from everywhere to Newark to Columbine after the school shootings, Keith, who originally worked with the motivational group Learning for Living with his mentor before he moved on, has since gone on to become one of the leading speakers to the youth of America.

“I interacted with [the kids of Columbine] as if it were any other school,” says Keith on the experience of handling a tragedy. “While others were treating it as this huge thing, I went there and treated them like regular students.”

And in that way, Keith helped to make them feel normal again and not like the nation’s pariahs, which is always the case when put in the spotlight on a national scale.

“[I want to] get rid of doubt in their lives, and how they deal with fear,” says Keith, with fear being an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real (Keith likes to use acronyms a lot).

The speech on doubts and fears will especially press on an aspect at Jefferson’s school as one of the students last year actually committed suicide.

“There was a death of a student [last] year,” says Cannorozzi, “and Keith asks, ‘Do you want me to touch on it? Do you want me to leave it alone?’”

Keith will of course touch on it and other aspects of the teenagers’ and parents’ existence when he comes by and speaks on the 14th and 15th, (a parent session will also be held at night on the 14th at the high school). That is his job after all—the job of a motivational leader.
***

Picking up the trash, cleaning up the streets

Just look on the side of the road on your drive to work and you’re likely to find all sorts of refuse laying in the wake of driver’s passing by and tossing their trash out the window. Soda bottles, White Castle wrappers, and even whole garbage bags can be seen littering the landscape of New Jersey, making the once appraised garden state look like the garbage state.

But not everybody is standing idly by on the sidelines while our world goes to waste.

“Two weeks ago, we had a clean-up,” says Jefferson Township recycling coordinator, Gino Recksiek (“But just call me Gino”), “We all help each other out with it.”

The “we” Gino is referring to are the various groups that go with him to pick up trash along the roadways—this “we” in particular being a Cub Scout organization in Hackettstown.

“I have to give credit for what they do,” says Gino, “and the younger groups are getting better knowledge of everyday recycling. Hopefully they remember it.”

And assistant Cub Master and den leader, Joe Terrezza, from Bud Lake aims to be the man to help them remember.
“We do it [clean up the roads] every year as a community service project,” says Mr. Terrezza, who took his pack this year, along with their parents, to clean up Berkshire Valley Road.

“We’re trying to teach the kids to respect the environment, and leave no trace,” says Terrezza.

The Cub Scout group, which had to actually get permission to clean up the road from the Boy scouts of America, isn’t the only organization taking time out of their busy schedules to handle some community service.

Only about a week ago, supervised children from the Oak Ridge Martial Arts Academy went out to clean Dover-Milton Road, and on Saturday, May 12th, a volunteer group of 20-30 members went to clean up Taylor Road. by Berkshire Valley.

“This area (by Taylor Rd.) is technically not something I would normally do, as I normally do public roads, not private property,” says Gino, who contributes not only to make the environment a cleaner, greener place, but also to teach a well deserved lesson to anyone who thinks that cleaning up the environment can be done in just one day.

“People will throw bottles right at you,” says Gino, who thinks it’s sad, but a good wake-up call to show these groups just how little concern some people have for the environment.
“I think Jersey is probably the worst when it comes to trash.”

Be that as it may, at least some people are doing something about it; other than just rolling down their window and throwing out more garbage.

Local Teacher travels to Egypt for a meeting of the minds

Lake Hopatcong resident and teacher, Dr. Nancy Westerband is a people’s person in more ways than one. Currently working in New York as what she calls an “Intervener,” Dr. Westerband will soon be traveling to Egypt in November for a discussion among fellow teachers around the world in the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program.

It will be the good doctor’s first trip to Egypt, and also her first experience participating in something so grand and beneficial to the worldly educational system: “I’m really looking forward to this,” says Dr. Westerband, who sounds as if she’s smiling over the phone, “It’s a new experience in my educational career.”

New experience as it might be, it actually wouldn’t be the first time she’s been outside the fifty states of America, as she’s actually spent time across the seas in another location, this one much closer to home.

“I’ve done 32 years of teaching,” says Dr. Westerband, “ten years in Puerto Rico before I [finally] came to New York in 1985.”

Receiving her doctorate in 2005 in Supervising and Curriculum Development, Dr. Westerband currently assists her principal in New York City (“It’s better if you think of me as a mentor”), and works the supervisor support program. Still, the prestigious opportunity the People to People program granted her just didn’t land on her doorstep like a strewn newspaper. She actually had to be accepted for it, the letter coming to her in her mailbox just last summer.

“You have to apply [for it], and they either accept you or they don’t,” says Dr. Westerband.

And luckily for her, with the amount of experience she had under her belt, they took the bait and accepted her, a cruise up the Nile just being one of the many fringe benefits that comes along with the package.

As new and exciting as the People to People Program sounds, though, it actually dates back to the Dwight D. Eisenhower days, as his granddaughter, Mary J Eisenhower, is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the highly influential group that’s been in existence since the 1950s.

The original purpose of the program, according to a message given my Mary Eisenhower herself, is for ordinary people of a similar profession to travel to other places around the world to get a better understanding of how people operate underneath different cultures. This is all with the intention of discovering that while they might have a different mindset or a different way of seeing the world, they’re really not so different after all when it comes to how they would like to see the future—a better and safer place for all.

And with Dr. Westerband’s people and teaching skills, hopefully she can add to that universal mission, she’s one heck of a people’s person after all.

A Tale of Two Towns

It’s the best of times, and it’s the worst of times for Jefferson Township, as the mayor’s motto, “one town, one future,” might have an overwhelming crux against it—recreational basketball for the youth.

And that’s because there are actually two sides to this story, one from Lake Hopatcong, and the other from Oak Ridge.

In one corner, you have the Milton Recreation Association (MRA), and on the other side, you have the Jefferson Sports League (JSL) in Lake Hopatcong.

For all intents and purposes, though, with the possibility of unity and a merging of both clubs to form one individual group, some people are for it, while others are not as supportive of the merge.

Mr. Brad Ferguson, the equipment manager for the MRA and girls director of travel, happens to be for it.

“With the kids under one umbrella, it would remove animosity between the two towns,” says Mr. Ferguson,

On the flip side, though is Mr. Bob Rubel from Lake Hopatcong who didn’t want to really speak to the paper about the issue while negotiations were still being handled.

“Let’s get the facts straight,” said Mr. Rubel, “I’m not against the vote. Once all the matters are settled, though, I’ll be happy to speak with the paper.”

But which side is right in their beliefs? This article is not here to pick sides or point fingers but rather to open up a discussion that will hopefully further advance the matter.

Should there be a merge of the Oak Ridge and Lake Hopatcong recreational basketball teams, or should the two remain separate?

It’s a matter that could probably be better decided if more people came to the table, as at the last Jefferson Basketball Association (JBA) meeting, a mere twelve people showed up to vote on the merge. Eight were in favor (All Oak Ridge residents) of it, three abstained (Lake Hopatcong), and one (Mr. Rudel, also from Lake Hopatcong) voted no to merge the two teams together.

One thing leaning in the merge’s favor though is that basketball is the only sport in Jefferson that has yet to bring Lakeside and Oak Ridge together into one group, as every other sport in the township has already done so.

But there are other reasons that Mr. Ferguson feels that the merge should occur, too.

“[With two separate sides], there’s a lack of coordination. And when there’s snow involved, some kids might lose six or seven practices because they don’t know which gym to go to,” says Mr. Ferguson.

Separation or not, though, Mr. Ferguson just wants to see more butts in the seats when they have meetings about certain issues.

“It seems like the MRA is really cramming this down people’s throats, but a lot of people want it to happen. And if they don’t, they should come down and vote,” says Mr. Ferguson.

The phrase “one town, one future,” all depends on how you look at it. But we here at AIM think it’s a far, far better thing that we do by staying as objective on this matter as possible.

The Play's the Thing...In the Library, That Is

After doing two performances of Twelfth Night in one day, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey NextStage Ensemble is tired. But you wouldn’t be able to tell from the performance of Henry IV, Part I, they put on in the Jefferson Township Public Library. Brandishing fake black swords like light sabers and giving very real stares of vengeance and honor towards each other, the small group probably spoke louder than anybody else has in the history of the Jefferson Township Library.

And though there were only twelve cast members to portray the nearly forty roles that make up this sprawling spectacular of a play, all your favorite characters (if you’re a Shakespeare fan, that is) were there, including the heroic King Henry, the mischievous Prince Hal, and even the bumbling braggart Falstaff. All of whom usually found themselves darting behind the metal braced “curtain” hanging in the back only to return with different wardrobes and an accent thick with tension.

“I think more libraries are trying to have events [like this] because if gives the area more ‘cultcha,’” joked Senior Librarian, Christine O’ Brien, who pronounced “culture,” like “cultcha” while raising her chin as if she were a YALE alum speaking of her Alma mater.

“We have activities all throughout the summer, like foreign films, musical groups, photography classes…it gives people something to do in the town.”

While she talked, the crew practiced a big fight scene on the “stage” and was told to stop a few times by Jack Moran (“It’s Irish”), who played Hotspur, among others. He warned them not to thrust too far off to the left because people would soon be sitting in the seats they were waging war next to. Careening out of character for only a few moments, once they started up again, they all began clacking their fake, black swords together as if they were actually swinging around swords of real steel.

And as the clacks continued, over in the corner crouched tour manager, Meghan Conda,, who set up the sound and shifted from left to right on her haunches while she made sure the auditory boomed just as loud (if not louder) than the actors themselves.

“I help them pack the van, drive, contact venues, and took over the paperwork,” says Meghan, who’s part of the intern program at NextStage and looking to be a stage manager after she works at a few more places.

“I didn’t study theater in college, and we’re all mostly interns,” says Meghan, who calls her fellow van mates, “aspiring actors.”

Aspiring actors or not, every cast member acted like a professional, swinging their arms, spinning around, and ignoring the audience while delving deep into their characters, not one of them stumbling on their words; or, for that matter, even breaking a sweat.

“We really run a lot,” says Matthew Simpson, who played King Henry and donned a makeshift crown throughout a majority of the play. “We probably do up to 20 miles a week and sleep in the van [when we travel].”

A pretty hectic schedule indeed, but luckily, one they don’t have to keep up with for the entire year. This particular Shakespearean group performs throughout the summer, while the other Shakespearean group, Shakespeare Live, takes over during the school year, which some of these students have to return to once the summer’s over. One of whom being Pressly Coker, who probably had the most menacing scowl on his face throughout the entirety of the play.

Performing mainly as the Earl of Westmoreland, Pressly hails all the way from the University of South Carolina and joined NextStage (everybody had to audition, mind you) just because he really “likes the theater.”

A theater major back home, Pressly also performed Richard III (playing Richard, but not for the entirety of the play as many people portrayed the hunchbacked megalomaniac in this rendition) and studied the mannerisms of crippled people to nail the challenging character to a tee.

Still, Pressly, who’s also minoring in advertising and public relations, isn’t positive he’ll make it in acting, but he’d certainly like to try.

“Who knows?” he says, smiling a half-smile, “One day, I might be driving a potato truck for a living.”

Potato truck or not, if he works his butt of like he does on a library carpet (a far cry from the Globe Theatre, but a better conduit for static electricity) he’s sure to go far. And that’s not just because he’d be driving in a truck.

Teacher of the year stands out after 32 years of service

It’s not every day that Milton Elementary speech therapist, Mrs. Barbara Winson-Riedel is given the best teacher of the year award by the Jefferson school board. But it is every day that she feels like the luckiest teacher in the world, “I’m so privileged to have this job—it’s quite an experience to work with handicapped children.”

On June 18th during a school board administration meeting, Mrs. Winson-Riedel (formally just Ms. Riedel, she recently got married), received the prestigious award from the school board after colleagues nominated her for her stellar work with preschool disabled, three, four, and five, and kindergarten disabled, four, five, and six.

One of the people who gladly nominated her was Angie Carney, the school nurse who has many times watched on as Mrs. Winson-Riedel taught her classes.

“You can see her success with the kids. It’s measurable,” says nurse Carney, who has known Mrs. Winson-Riedel for the past 12 years of her service at the school. “She’s dedicated to the children.”

Mrs. Winson-Riedel, a Montclair St. alum who has worked in Jefferson for the past thirty-two years, attributes her work with the kids as a one on one experience that she calls, “a journey.”

“Whatever I’m doing is good,” said Mrs. Winson-Riedel, who received the message that she was the best teacher of the year from her Principal, Tim Plotts, a couple of months ago.

“She’s a constant professional,” says Principal Plotts who also nominated Mrs. Winson-Riedel for her service with the school. “The way that she takes every student and empowers them to want to speak…she’s outstanding.”

Nurse Carney also adds that it’s not only how hard she works but also the way she works that’s been so effective in the past.

“It’s all how she runs the program,” says Nurse Carney, who says Mrs. Winson-Riedel teaches every child specific to their needs. “There are 30 to 35 children in each class [and she gets] very personal [with them].”
***

Former Janitor Cleans Out School, Stirs up Trouble

It was a bitingly chilly morning on October 27, 2006. And if anyone can attest to that, it’s the students of the Jefferson school system who had to stand outside in the cold after a bomb scare was called in to the Morris County Sheriff’s Dept. Communications Center.

But after an eight month investigation by the Jefferson Township Police, it turns out that former school janitor, John Weigel III, 24 of Parsippany, stirred up the trouble by making a false call. Charged by Det. James Caruso with terroristic threats, false public alarm, and a false 9-1-1, Mr. Weigel was released on a $10,000 bail. A motive as to why he made the threat in the first place is still up in the air.

“We issued a complaint and had a warrant written up,” says Lt. Eric Wilsusen.

It all occurred when Mr. Weigel called from a payphone at the Green Valley Shopping Center. He said that a bomb would go off at the high school at 10 a.m., which forced the police to move into action. A bomb squad was sent to the school to sniff it out.

The threat, which turned out to be completely spurious, stirred up some commotion with parents. Some were merely upset that the school wasn’t better prepared for such a scenario since it made the students stand outside while the bomb search took place. Others—a select few—were downright furious when their children were suspended after they left the school grounds prematurely before the school sent all the students home.
Still, at a school board meeting on April 30th that quickly followed the bomb scare, Superintendent Kathleen Fuchs didn’t apologize for her decision to suspend certain students from the school.

“I did it so similar threats don’t happen again on later occasions,” said Superintendent Fuchs at the meeting.

A trial date has yet to be determined.

Up In Smoke

Flames engulfed an Extreme Scapes truck on Wednesday, May 30th, sending its driver, Samuel Burlum, out and into the street until assistance came to extinguish the fireball. The fire trucks came roaring in about two or three minutes after the incident.

Taking place on Barber St. in Oak Ridge at 10:30 in the morning, Mr. Burlum was servicing his client, Dr. Robert Ashman, the owner of the West Milford Animal Hospital, when it all occurred.

“There was a flash under the driver’s seat and then came a plume of smoke. I grabbed my briefcase and jumped out the car as quickly as possible,” says Mr. Burlum.

The truck was totally destroyed in the fire.

This is actually not the first time sabotage has been suspected, as a post St. Patrick’s Day incident sent another one of Mr. Burlum’s trucks to an early grave, that incident involving nuts and bolts placed in the engine, something that Mr. Burlum said was possibly the work of somebody looking to bring down the company.

Not wanting to point any fingers before the police finish their investigation, Mr. Burlum still candidly admits that there are those he thinks it almost might definitely be.

“There is a history with one or two people [who could possibly be the arsonists].”
All the same, Mr. Burlum doesn’t lose hope and sees this as another loss the company can bounce back from.

“Basically, we’ve been in business for fifteen years. We’ve done work for Northern New Jersey, and Southern New York, and we’ve had our ups and downs,” says Mr. Burlum, offering a personal statement.

“We’ve faced adversity in the past, [but] this will not prevent future business. We ask for our clients to be patient. We just need to recoup our loses.”

“He did report it as suspicious,” adds Jefferson Lieutenant, Eric Wilsusen in an email. “It is currently under investigation.”

Picture can be found here: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lawrenceroadfire.org/news%2520stories%2520html/images_news/2005.07.19%2520Lawrence%2520Truck%2520Fire%2520(1).jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lawrenceroadfire.org/LRFC_news.html&h=320&w=480&sz=36&hl=en&start=6&um=1&tbnid=nZQGh9Ml6huhLM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTruck%2Bon%2Bfire%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ie%3DUTF-8

Note: This is not the truck that set fire but rather a picture I found on a website.

Voters in Jefferson are lower than ever

By: Rich Knight—Correspondent

Now here’s a story with a headline that practically writes itself. The votes for June 5th’s elections are in, and boy, are they low. With 12,003 registered voters in Jefferson alone, an astonishingly small percentage actually went out to vote—4.29% to be exact. That’s only 515 people.

Coming out the victor in the Freeholder position was Jim Murray, who defeated John Inglesino in the Republican ballot. Murray will be joining incumbents Douglas Cabana and Jack Schrier for a three year term.

But if you think this low turn out at the ballot is something new for Jefferson, think again, as 2003’s election posted similar results—a pathetic 6.28%.

But Municipal Clerk, Lydia Magnotti, thinks she may have the answer as to why the numbers keep getting lower and lower: “Without researching, [I’d have to say] it could be low because there’s no local election, no council or mayor running, that makes it low.”

Checking out 2005’s stats, her story seems to hold weight. In the 2005 primaries, there were 12,142 registered voters, and 1,292 people voted, which is “much better,” says Magnotti, but still leaves room for improvement.

“And it’s a primary,” Magnotti adds of this year’s low turnout Democrats or Republicans [could vote]. The only people affected were the freeholders.”

And that’s just one of the reasons why voters didn’t turn out. Here are two more.

One: the ballots were pretty much uncontested, meaning, all of the candidates were pretty much running against themselves (Turns out voters aren’t going to leave their houses when they could just as easily sit at home and watch Pro Wresling on television and get the same results).

And two: People just don’t vote anymore. At least not until the National 2008 elections roll around. Now THAT’S a different story.

Pump’s Gentleman’s Club Steps into Hot Water with Prostitution Sting

A stripper looks to be baring more than just her skin at the Pump’s Gentleman’s club on route 15.

On March 1st, after an approximate two month investigation, the Jefferson Township Police Department assisted the NJ Division of Criminal Justice Alcohol Beverage Commission (ABC) in an undercover prostitution sting.

Dancer Rozilda Flusa Braganca, 39, of Newark, offered up her services to an undercover officer for a fee and was arrested, processed, and released pending a March Court Appearance. The manager of the club, who refused to give his name, said amidst loud music in the background: “This is a first.”

Though, police from the Jefferson Police Department admit that this ISN’T the first time they’ve been eyeing the place, as there have been murmurs of this nature regarding the club, as well as other establishments in the area, for quite some time.

“There have been complaints in the past about solicitation of prostitution,” said Police Spokesperson, Lt. Eric Wilsusen, “And somebody made a complaint just recently, so we forwarded it to the ABC.”

On the day of the arrest, the club was shut down at 2 p.m. for a thorough investigation by the Jefferson police and the ABC, and re-opened at 4:30 p.m. for business after they had concluded their search. “We made our arrest, closed it down, and were back out,” said Lt. Wilsusen.

Being a 4th degree crime, the stripper herself will have to go through the winding court system on the county level, and much is determined on whether she’ll plead guilty or not guilty.

But whether the club itself is in trouble is still up in the air, as the ABC has to do their own investigation to see if this could affect their license.

Lt. Wilsusen speaking on behalf of the ABC: “That’s what they do, that’s their job.”

Pennsylvania professor goes the distance for disabled

Doctor Diane Cavanagh doesn’t mind the once a week drive down to Lake Hopatcong’s Gruenert Center, which is a branch off of the ever bearing tree that is the Department for Person’s with Disabilities, or, DPD for short, in Paterson. In fact, she actually likes it: “Once you get to the Gruenert Center and meet the people there,” she says, pausing to recollect her experience for the past three years, “It’s just a wonderful group.”

And it’s a group that has only benefited enormously from her continued support. So much so, that the center actually awarded her as Person of the Year for 2007, and held a party in her honor this past February at the Brownstone in Paterson. It’s an honor that she says is the greatest award of all.

The Gruenert Center, nudged in along the edge of route 15 near Pathmark and Jefferson Diner, and right above Frank’s Pizza, works to orientate the mentally disabled and place them in society so they can live happy and healthier lives. And what better person to aid in the process than the good doctor, who has been teaching special education at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania for the past 16 years.

“[Helping the disabled] has been a passion of mine since I was 7 or 8 years old,” says Dr. Cavanagh.

One of the ways she’s made a difference is by getting the attendees, who she refers to as “clients,” up and out of their seats. “I gave them ceramics and physical fitness to do. They’re adults, and this keeps them active.”

It also makes them a more appealing group to the workforce looking to hire employees for relatively simple, but important, jobs, like packaging and labeling. And Dr. Cavanagh fully understands the unbridled potential of the mentally disabled, helping to garner jobs for many of the clients who come to the center: “I put together some job training kits to develop their fine motor skills and build their attention span,” she says, and in this way, she has already made them a more efficient group to the public.

This is mainly because she is changing the idea of what an intellectually developmentally disabled person can do, which is something that Kathy DeYoung, who has been with the DPD for the past 22 years, has seen for herself first hand: “[Dr. Cavanagh’s] philosophy is to have a person centered environment where each of our people are stimulated and challenged to work to the best of their individual talents.”

Since many members of the mentally handicapped community still live with their parents or in group homes, a great deal of the time, special education only reaches so high for them, fostering the idea that the mentally disabled can only handle so much. But the DPD feels otherwise.
As Rick DeYoung, the Developmental Assistant for Public Relations and Kathy’s husband puts it: “The vision for the DPD is for it to be recognized by all as a ministry for people with disabilities where they are fully accepted with love and encouraged toreach their full potential.”

It’s a place that offers them the opportunity to feel like a part of society just like everybody else, and Dr. Cavanagh strives to make that mission a reality: “I see it really as a calling.”
And Kathy DeYoung agrees: “Overall, our people appear to be happier than ever before.”

To find out more about the center or to visit the site, contact either Rick or Kathy, at http://dpd.org/. Or just stop on by. As Rick puts it, sometimes, it can get a little crazy, but you couldn’t meet a nicer batch of people. Not even if you tried.

Picture found at: http://www.dpdinfo.org/

Defeat of budget leaves Jefferson School’s in a sore spot

With almost every blue seat occupied, the April 30th school board meeting last night at the Jefferson Middle School library was a bit more packed than last they met to discuss the budget. But the reveal the school board had to give wasn’t as auspicious as they had hoped it would be, as the budget, for the second year in a row, didn’t pass.

“It’s just a disappointment that our budget was rejected,” said Louis Cerny from behind the table he had been sitting at with the other board members, “It’s important that we get the funding that we need.”

With 859 votes yes, and 974 votes no, this is a tough defeat for the board, which had high hopes for the $1.4 million they had hoped to gain if the bill had passed, such as more advanced placement courses, more teachers, and more money allotted to the athletic department. Many members stressed just how important it is for these kinds of bills to get passed if parents want what’s best for their kids at the school.

“It’s important that we get the money because if we don’t, we’ll never, ever see it again,” said Judy Castiglione, who was speaking about how the current A-1 law that was passed by Governor Corzine, makes it so any cuts in funding can never be recovered.

But all hope is not lost for the bill, as it now rests in the hands of others who might decide to keep some of the improvements that were not voted in.

“When the budget is defeated, it goes to the town council,” said Bob Feldmann, who doesn’t think every thing they worked for will go in vain. “They [the town council] decide how much should be cut. It could be left the way it is.”

One of the reasons the bill might not have passed, though, was the tax boost Jefferson residents were set to see if everything turned out in the Board of Ed’s favor. For residents with a house assessed at the average value of $368,700, they would have seen a $182 annual tax boost, which would have equaled $15.06 a month. This excluded municipal and county taxes.

Whether the results of the votes were good or bad, at least the board finally had the bodies in the seats to hear the determined future of both the budget and the children who attend the schools.