By Peter Fiorilla on UNION
Christmas light display in Union is 20 years in the making
UNION, NJ — Ask him about any one of the hundreds of Christmas decorations carefully placed on his lawn, located on Braun Terrace in Union, and Royce Duran has a story for how it got there. Duran and his wife, Naomi, bought that reindeer more than 20 years ago, he says, back when they lived […]
By Peter Fiorilla on HILLSIDE
Saxton, Hobbs offer kind words, optimism while adressing audience
HILLSIDE, NJ — In Hillside’s final public meeting of the year on Tuesday, Dec. 15, two outgoing members of the township’s council — including 2nd Ward councilwoman and council president Salonia Saxton — left with words of encouragement for their colleagues in office, saying there’s a lot left to be accomplished in order to move […]
By Peter Fiorilla on COUNTY NEWS
UNION COUNTY, NJ — At her first scheduled court appearance on Monday, Dec. 14, Kayla-Simone McKelvey, the 24-year-old woman police believe was behind Twitter death threats aimed at black Kean University students, plead not guilty to third-degree creating a false public alarm. In the brief proceeding at the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth, McKelvey, a personal […]
By Peter Fiorilla on COUNTY NEWS
UNION COUNTY, NJ — Sixteen Union County agencies are among the 176 New Jersey police departments which have been awarded body-worn cameras, to be paid for by the state, announced Acting State Attorney General John Hoffman on Monday, Dec. 21. More than 750 body-worn cameras, worth a combined $376,500, will be put to use across the […]
By Peter Fiorilla on UNION
Union Police Department officers dress as costumed characters for local youths
UNION, NJ — Ana Solano of Union wanted her son, 13-year-old Allen, to take a picture with Santa Claus for the first time this Christmas. A month after visiting Allen decked out in their superhero costumes, Sgt. Michael Boll and more than a dozen other members of the Union Police Department made the Santa Claus […]
By Peter Fiorilla on LINDEN
LINDEN, NJ — More than 1,700 students at Linden High School were unexpectedly sent home before lunch on Thursday, Dec. 17, and the 11 a.m. dismissal wasn’t an early Christmas gift from the district. Nineteen cafeteria employees reported feeling ill at around 10 a.m., which school officials later said was probably caused by pepper spray […]
By Peter Fiorilla on LINDEN
LINDEN, NJ — After 19 years of putting out fires as the Athletic Director for Linden Public Schools, and 37 straight years of service in the district, longtime Linden coach, teacher and administrator Stephen Yesinko can count the number of days until retirement on both hands. “I won’t miss the aggravation,” joked Yesinko, who began […]
By Peter Fiorilla on COUNTY NEWS
County employees to receive 2-percent raise
UNION COUNTY, NJ — Christmas is coming early this year for the Board of Chosen Freeholders. For the first time since December 2006, the Union County freeholders will be giving themselves a raise this week. During the final freeholder meeting of 2015 on Thursday, Dec. 17, the Board of Chosen Freeholders is expected to approve what’s […]
By Peter Fiorilla on COUNTY NEWS, FANWOOD
FANWOOD, NJ — October 1, 2015, Roseburg, Oregon: 10 lives lost. July 16, 2015, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Five lives lost. May 23, 2014, Isla Vista California, University of California, Santa Barbara: Six lives lost. Faith leaders, councilpersons, mayors, activists, a Union County freeholder and state legislators — including Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12) — united to remember the […]
By Peter Fiorilla on COUNTY NEWS
UNION COUNTY, NJ — On a highly visible stretch of Morris Avenue alongside Kean University’s main entrance, state lawmakers, civil rights activists, faculty members and a smattering of students marched with the coalition of black ministers calling for Kean President Dawood Farahi’s resignation, chanting slogans like “no more fear” and “Farahi must go” as thousands of […]