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By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Columbia High School teachers considered time spent at the copy machine as time wasted.

Sometimes the machines have mechanical problems, other times there are lines of people waiting to use them.

“So much of the teacher’s day is spent doing things that aren’t actually teaching,” said Scott Stornetta, a Columbia math teacher who, along with some of his students, came up with a solution called “ScanStation.”

Since September, a small but growing number of faculty members are using a mostly automated system that makes copies of the tests, quizzes and other printed materials they need.

All teachers need to do is send an email with a portable-document format of what needs printing, and volunteers from the…

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Maplewood is expected to become the latest town to ban smoking in all its parks and playgrounds.

The restriction, contained in an ordinance that the Township Committee introduced by a 5-0 vote Feb. 7, also applies to recreation areas, the municipal pool and the area immediately around the entrances to municipal buildings.

Repeat offenders could face fines of up to $500. Officials are scheduled to vote Feb. 21 to make the ban effective this spring.

“I think it is long overdue, especially in our town,” Vice Mayor Kathleen M. Leventhal said after the meeting. “The health and environmental issues are going to be helped tremendously.”

A resident helped bring the issue to the attention of the town. Steven Erde said that he contacted officials after…

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

The Woman’s Club of Maplewood is required to make its annual financial payment to the town this month, even as the sale of the club’s property is held up by a lawsuit.

Based on a 2010 agreement between the township and the all-volunteer organization, the nonprofit was supposed to pay $8,500 by Feb. 1.

The township, however, has given the club until the end of this week.

“The agreement is the agreement,” Mayor Vic De Luca said.

In 2010, the club was sued when the township challenged the tax-exempt status of its clubhouse on Woodland Road.

To end the suit, the club agreed to pay $55,000 in incremental amounts throughout five years, starting in…

A man charged with killing a Maplewood resident he had met in a chat room is due back in court later this month.

John Staten was scheduled to go before a Superior Court judge Tuesday morning for a status conference, but the appearance was postponed until Feb. 23.

Staten was indicted last year in the March 15, 2010 slaying of Arthur Downey inside Downey’s apartment on Henry Place. An autopsy determined the 27-year-old was bludgeoned and asphyxiated to death, authorities said.

Peter Guarnino, the assistant Essex County Prosecutor handling the case, declined to elaborate on any plea offer or other details.

He said if the case is not resolved at the next court appearance, a judge will pick a trial date.

Staten, 32, has been held in lieu of $1 million bail in the Essex County Correctional Facility since Oct. 20, 2010, jail records showed.

Charged with murder, the resident of…