By Elana Knopp on COUNTY NEWS
UNION COUNTY, NJ — With the recent news that eight additional Newark schools were found to have elevated lead levels in their water, New Jersey legislators are pushing for mandated lead testing in every school district throughout the state. Senator Ronald L. Rice and Assemblywoman Mila Jasey, co-chairs of the state Joint Committee on the Public […]
By Elana Knopp on HILLSIDE
HILLSIDE, NJ — Police department decor has changed these days, at least in Hillside. More than 20 buckets and garbage cans dot headquarters, collecting water from gaping holes in the warped and stained ceiling. Blue tarps cover computers and printers to shield from leaking water coming from a severely damaged roof. Garbage bags cover the leaking, […]
By Elana Knopp on COUNTY NEWS
UNION COUNTY, NJ — The Human Rights Institute at Kean University held a conference on prison reform, “Locked Up in America: The Business of Mass Incarceration,” which explored three major aspects of the United States prison system: the school-to-prison pipeline — the term referring to the policies and practices that pushes our nation’s schoolchildren out of […]
By Elana Knopp on UNION
UNION, NJ — Homeowners in Union are expressing concern about probable property revaluations within the next year or two. According to Union Municipal Assessor Paul Parsons, the municipality may be ordered by the state to conduct a complete revaluation of property assessments. “Property revaluations in Union within the next year or two are likely,” said Parsons. […]
By Elana Knopp on HILLSIDE
HILLSIDE, NJ — Former Chief of Police Louis Panarese has been dealt another blow at the hands of Hillside Mayor Angela Garretson. The April 5 workshop meeting of the Hillside council was standing room only, as members of the police department, police chiefs from surrounding municipalities, residents and friends came out to support Panarese, who was […]
By Elana Knopp on LINDEN
LINDEN, NJ — Kevin LaMastra and Michael D’Amato take a week off at the beginning of each August and travel south to the Dominican Republic. But they are not basking in the sun on the beaches of Punta Cana or wiling away the lazy summer days in a resort in Puerto Plata. No, LaMastra and D’Amato […]
By Elana Knopp on COUNTY NEWS
UNION COUNTY, NJ — Lisa Sepetjian’s brightly-colored blazer cannot compete with her dazzling smile as she walks briskly down the hall of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Union County, located in Union. Close by in the large gymnasium you can hear the sounds of a basketball game in progress. Darting back and forth across the […]
By Elana Knopp on COUNTY NEWS
UNION COUNTY, NJ — There is a crisis in New Jersey, but Gov. Chris Christie isn’t home — and he isn’t the only one. Recently it was revealed that 11 cities and two counties in New Jersey have higher lead levels than in Flint, Michigan, a city that was declared to be in a state of […]
By Elana Knopp on COUNTY NEWS
UNION COUNTY, NJ — Senator Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, has joined forces with environmental groups in urging New Jersey Attorney General Robert Lougy to join the governors of New York and California in launching an investigation into ExxonMobil, the Texas-based oil company once part of Standard Oil. Recent allegations have come forth that Exxon has been concealing […]
By Elana Knopp on UNION
UNION, NJ — Gold handprints in the shape of a ribbon adorn the playground at the Battle Hill Elementary School on Killian Place in Union. And often, the students come outside to take another look at the special masterpiece they have created. Alison Brehm, fourth-grade teacher and student council advisor at the school, says that the […]