November 2010 Highlights (25)

Deputy mayor to receive environmental award from governor

Deputy Mayor Fred R. Profeta Jr. will receive the 2010 Environmental Leadership Award next month from Republican Gov. Chris… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 30, 2010 at 4:37pm — No Comments

Vet's name barred from new plaque

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

The name of a Maplewood man will not go on a plaque listing local servicemen killed in Vietnam as the township confirmed Daniel J. Heffernan died stateside.

The decision, one that Heffernan’s family criticized, means only four names will be included as part of the new Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Memorial Park. The township had planned to include Heffernan’s name, which is listed in Maplewood Memorial… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 24, 2010 at 10:51am — No Comments

Report shows crime up in one town, down in another

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Maplewood had fewer motor vehicle thefts and robberies in a year when crime in the township decreased overall, according to the state’s 2009 survey of crime for every municipality.

The Uniform Crime Report released by Attorney General and Maplewood resident Paula T. Dow on Nov. 18, was filled with statistics for 10 categories of crime.

The township, which self-reports its numbers to the state, had 465… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 24, 2010 at 10:46am — No Comments

Resident tackles basics of bedding, towels

Editor’s Note: Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks and show gratitude. With that, the News-Record has met with one of the many volunteers in our communities to see how her year-old charity that provides used bedding and linens to various groups nationwide has flourished.

By Christina Hernandez, Managing Editor

Mary Marzano of Maplewood delivered her first batch of used-hotel linens to her sister,… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 24, 2010 at 10:44am — No Comments

2 men attempt to mug local woman

Two men tried to mug a local woman walking alone in the area of Highland Place and Ridgewood Road on Nov. 22, police said.

The woman, 33, told police two men approached her from behind around 11 p.m., with one of them grabbing her purse, authorities said. During the encounter, she was knocked to the ground in trying…

Continue

Added by News-Record on November 23, 2010 at 12:09pm — No Comments

Public helps police

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Maplewood police say the one positive to come out of the uptick in burglaries is that the incidents combined with the added media coverage has led to increased public awareness and a willingness to contact authorities.

Police Chief Robert J. Cimino pointed to an example of that from last week. A Baldwin Road man called police after confronting three males who had trespassed on his property Nov. 12 at noon,… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 18, 2010 at 12:47pm — No Comments

Extending the hospitality ...

By Christina Hernandez, Managing Editor

Art Christensen of Maplewood honored the nation’s veterans not just by attending a ceremony on Nov. 11, but by giving them a place to stay at his bed and breakfast on Elmwood Avenue.

Christensen, owner of Les Saison, offered men and women who served the country in battle a complimentary one-night stay at the four-bedroom inn on the eve of Veterans Day.

He said he also provided a Vets Day celebration… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 18, 2010 at 12:41pm — No Comments

Woman's Club is rich in history, service

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

During World War II, a group of women from Maplewood decided they would help the war effort.

They raised money to subscribe a fighter plane called the “Miss Maplewood.”

That is but one chapter in the long history of the Woman’s Club of Maplewood, an organization that is the focus of an exhibit at the Durand-Hedden House and Garden.

Opening Nov. 21, “The Woman’s Club of Maplewood: a Century of Service to… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 18, 2010 at 12:40pm — No Comments

MVA proposes all-day, permit parking in town

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Maplewood Village merchants and their employees should be allowed to park all-day in designated areas to free prime parking spaces for their customers, a local business group proposed on Nov. 15.

The Maplewood Village Alliance pitched the idea to the Township Committee, which signaled it was willing to go along with the pilot program starting in January.

Though Police Chief Robert J. Cimino still needs to… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 18, 2010 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Viet memorial plaque listing questioned

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Daniel J. Heffernan of Maplewood went to Vietnam like many men of his day, only to be one of more than 58,000 Americans killed in the war.

At least that’s what the plaque in Maplewood Memorial Library says, where Heffernan’s name is listed with the names of four other Maplewood residents who died in the Asian nation. But now, as the township puts the finishing touches on a Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Memorial… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 12, 2010 at 12:12pm — No Comments

Rally attracts residents: 83 from the area attend Stewart, Colbert event in D.C.

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Ellen Greenfield was a few hours and a couple hundred miles away from a recent rally in the nation’s capital that the Maplewood woman had helped some residents to attend.

Two buses carrying 83 people, mostly from Maplewood and South Orange, traveled Oct. 30 to Washington for the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.”

The local contingent helped swell the crowd,… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 12, 2010 at 11:30am — No Comments

Maplewood receives $151K from block grant

Township Engineer Thomas Malavasi, second from right, accepted Maplewood’s portion of the $7.1 million from the

Community Development Block Grant and Emergency Shelter Grant programs for infrastructure improvements, homeless shelters and community outreach at a recent awards ceremony.

Maplewood received $151,000 and was one of 14 Essex County municipalities and 48 nonprofit community organizations to receive a grant. With Malavasi is Deborah Collins, county liaison to Maplewood,… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 11, 2010 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Homeowners see green by winning tax appeals

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Maplewood has paid out more than $600,000 this year to refund property owners who succeeded in their tax appeals, the township reported last week.

For Maplewood, 230 tax appeals were filed with the Essex County Tax Board and 178 were successful.

In such cases, property owners seek to have their assessments lowered, believing they are more than the market value. According to the township, there is negotiated… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 10, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Schools business adminstrator set to retire in January

Karla Milanette, South Orange-Maplewood business administrator and board secretary, has announced her retirement after more than 18 years of working for the school district, the district announced via e-mail on Nov. 9.

Milanette’s retirement will be effective on Jan. 1. Her annual salary is $173,092. As for her reason for retiring, it was time for a change, the district noted.

Milanette was hired by the district as finance director in the summer of 1992, after earning an M.B.A, with… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 9, 2010 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Springfield Avenue business, employee robbed

Two suspects — one brandishing a handgun — entered a Springfield Avenue convenient store on Nov. 9 at midnight, stealing money from the store register and a number of items from the lone employee on duty.

The suspects removed approximately $250 in cash from the register, then proceeded to remove the victim’s personal laptop, MP3 player and $72. The suspects then ordered the employee into a bathroom, then they fled.

The suspect brandishing a long barrel revolver handgun is described as… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 9, 2010 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Owner of market admits health code violations

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

The owner and operator of the Maplewood Market, cited for health code and other violations, took a plea deal on Oct. 25 with the township’s municipal prosecutor.

Aiman Abujudeh admitted frozen chicken sold in September at the Springfield Avenue business was not properly packaged and that he allowed garbage to overflow.

He also pleaded guilty to two charges related to the sale of cigarettes, resolved two… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 4, 2010 at 4:40pm — No Comments

Town OK's environmental cleanup at ex-police station

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Maplewood will pay to remove contaminated soil from the former police station site, the place where a developer hopes to construct a residential building.

The contamination was traced to two underground tanks that since have been removed, according to the township. Oil leaked into the ground, also spreading underneath part of a garage on the Dunnell Road property, the township said.

There was no… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 4, 2010 at 4:33pm — No Comments

Mural adrift: Resident upset Ricalton painting is off the wall

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

The donor who paid to restore one of the historical murals in Maplewood Town Hall is not happy the artwork still remains in storage after two years.

The James Ricalton mural, depicting the first teacher in Maplewood, was taken down after a severe rainstorm in 2008 damaged Town Hall.

Ever since, there has been a blank space where the Ricalton mural should be. The work is in an alcove in the… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 4, 2010 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Police: Number of burglaries are 'high'

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Home burglaries are on the upswing in South Orange as police find themselves confronting the same problem as neighboring Maplewood.

Police Chief James M.Chelel said Monday that the number of burglaries townwide for October is “high.” He ruled out the weak economy as the reason.

Last week, his department issued a crime alert to residents living in the area of East Clark Street, West Montrose Avenue and… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 4, 2010 at 4:29pm — No Comments

3 murder suspects arraigned

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

One of the men charged in the shooting death of a transgender woman in Maplewood had been indicted less than three months earlier for a weapons offense, court records showed.

Marquise L. Foster, whose adult criminal record goes back to 2003, was charged with second-degree unlawful possession by a certain person. A grand jury returned a one-count indictment against him on June 17, court records… Continue

Added by News-Record on November 4, 2010 at 4:24pm — No Comments