LINDEN, NJ — Mayor Derek Armstead will receive about a 36 percent pay raise retroactive to Jan. 1 despite protests by some council members and residents who characterized it as “greedy” and “excessive.” Armstead’s raise, which will push his salary to $100,000 a year, rankled many at the Dec. 18 Council meeting who said he […]
LINDEN, NJ — Joseph Bianco seemed to get choked up. The 98-year-old city resident dropped out of high school to get a job and help his immigrant parents make ends meet, and later enlisted in the Air Force, got married, had kids and worked to provide for his family. He has pursued his interests in […]
LINDEN, NJ — Mayor Derek Armstead is in line to reap the financial rewards of his landslide re-election victory three weeks ago. Armstead, who won the mayoral race with 70 percent of the vote, could receive a 40-percent pay raise starting next year. His current salary is $73,425, and he could earn as much as […]
LINDEN, NJ – The vice president of the local Board of Education, who was a vocal opponent of the mayor in the weeks leading up to the general election, said he is trying to get her fired from her job at the city library. Theresa Villani first made the claim that Mayor Derek Armstead was […]
LINDEN, NJ — Armed special law enforcement officers in uniform will soon be posted inside four schools as part of the city’s ongoing effort to increase security for its 6,100 students. The goal is to have the officers inside Linden High School’s Academy of Science and Technology, McManus and Soehl middle schools and School No. […]
LINDEN, NJ — A post on Mayor Derek Armstead Facebook and Twitter accounts has accused state Assemblyman Jamel Holley of trying to interfere with the city’s Board of Education elections and urged him to “stay out of Linden!” According to the post that appeared Oct. 22, Armstead alleged that Holley had paid children to distribute […]
LINDEN, NJ — The senior captain in the city’s fire department claimed he was “skipped” for a promotion in retaliation for filing two formal complaints against the chief. Fred Cassel, a 31-year member of the department, said he was “disappointed” when he was not promoted to deputy fire chief. The Linden City Council voted at […]
LINDEN, NJ — State ethics charges have been filed against two school board members stemming from the unauthorized release of internal communications that ignited controversy between school officials and Mayor Derek Armstead. Board of Education President Raymond Topoleski confirmed during an Oct. 19 phone interview that charges were filed against Gregory Martucci and Katarzyna Kozak […]
LINDEN, NJ — An off-duty Hillside police officer was killed and another person seriously injured in an early morning automobile crash Oct. 15 that closed U.S. Routes 1 & 9 in Linden in both directions for more than six hours. Hillside Police Officer Giovanni Esposito, 30, who joined the Hillside Police Department in November 2017, […]
WINFIELD PARK, NJ — On Aug. 12, 1970, Stephen Thorpe was aboard a transport helicopter known throughout the Army as a “Huey.” He had been in Vietnam for about 10 months and found himself approaching a landing zone near the South Vietnamese village of Khe Sanh to extract a reconnaissance patrol involved in a firefight. The […]