High winds ahead. The National Weather Service is predicting gusts up to 55 mph tomorrow afternoon. Plus rain. With warnings that "poor drainage street flooding" is possible. Look out, Godfrey Road. And send pictures.

Posted by at 6:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Swashbuckling schoolbus drivers, slowpokes on the Garden State Parkway and piles of leaves in the middle of the road are the complaints that Bloomfield blogger Tom Biro has, now that the weekend is over and he's been released from obligatory thankfulness.

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Spotted outside the Glen Ridge High School cafeteria today, according to a source inside the school: recruiters from the U.S. Army. They were giving away pamphlets and pencils. Hey, dude, a free pencil. Sign us up.

Posted by at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (80)

Nineteen members of Montclair State's Delta Chi fraternity have been charged with hazing by the Rockaway Township police.

Making the pledges run and roll in the mud in the dark is funny, maybe. Having them do it near a 100-foot drop, not so much. The incident took place last week near the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management area.

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Word from the real estate community leaked out yesterday that Jay Schweppe, who sold his business last October to NRT, Inc., the parent company of Burgdorff, is stepping down from day-to-day operations of the merged Valley Road real estate firm.

Schweppe was named NRT's vice president of strategic initiatives for the northeast region last year when the acquisition was announced. He was also going to continue to manage the newly created Schweppe-Burgdorff ERA -- a role that has now ended.

According to reports, yesterday's role change for Schweppe was announced during a meeting that turned funereal, with Schweppe himself becoming choked up and many of his longterm associates crying.

It also coincided with the news that the commission structure for agents would be changed to align with the more generous Burgdorff system -- something that agents at the combined firm had been clamoring for. How or whether the two events are related is unclear. 

Schweppe himself was a major force in the local real estate business. He preached constantly to agents about his views, including the concept of "perception of value," which posited that it was important to price a property low enough to be attractive to the most buyers. "He would say you could never price a house too low," one agent recalled. If three houses on a block were for sale, the house with the lowest price would have the "perception of value" and would often gather multiple bids -- a strategy that, in the end, often yielded the highest selling price.

Schweppe's strategies were so successful that Schweppe's name was revered and feared in local real estate circles. His longterm associate Denise Riordan is also said to be stepping down.

Schweppe has not yet returned our calls.

Posted by at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Big Apple Circus will be the main attraction at this year's Montclair First Night -- the New Year's Eve celebration for families that features alcohol-free entertainment in venues spread across the downtown.

Clowns, stilt-walkers and other buskers wil bring the circus theme to Montclair's streets. Other acts will include Montclair pianist Robin Spielberg, blues and rock by Sweet Georgia Brown, a NYC subway violinist and a skateboard demo.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children -- with an additional $5 charge for those who want to see the circus. For more info, call 973.509.4958. A www.firstnightmontclair.com website, still under construction, provides a digital countdown to the new year.

Posted by at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Sometimes the news, Barista-style, just writes itself. If we hadn't been grabbed by the opening of this Boston Globe column,

I don't like to reveal that I live in Newton because it is so terminally unhip. It could be worse; I might live in some white-bread hell like Wayland, or Glen Ridge, N.J.

we surely would have perked up at the reference to suburban coyotes.

There is a small section of Newton called Waban. If Newton is like the Cote d'Azur, Waban resembles the Principality of Monaco: a tiny enclave of unimaginable wealth. Waban borders on precious "open space" -- you know, the kind of land rich people are always anxious to preserve, especially when it abuts their own homes. And guess who's moved in? Coyotes!

And they're desperate to get rid of them.

Wait! Coyotes? This is ringing a bell. It wasn't so long ago that Pat Kenschaft was telling us that coyotes would be good for Montclair because they'd bring the deer population down. Or maybe not.

And Glen Ridge terminally unhip? We beg your pardon. Do they serve sushi in the high school cafeteria in Newton?

Posted by at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Q: Who is Ken Jennings?

Rumors of Jennings' impending loss have circulated for weeks. Kotke.org has audiotape of the Final Jeopardy question he missed.

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Baristanet correspondent Suzanne O'Connor, of Douglas Road in Glen Ridge, sends this picture of the giant, 100-year red oak that toppled in her yard around 4 am Sunday. "The tree was said to be 'old but in good health' in March when it was trimmed," she writes. "Upon post mortem exam it was noted that the tree was rotted inside." The fallen timber took out power to much of Douglas Road yesterday. No one was hurt.

&ETC. According to this story, Douglas Road in Glen Ridge wasn't the only street to lose power locally. PSE&G reported outtages across Montclair yesterday.

Posted by at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that we reported that someone had started a Yahoo message board for Glen Ridge? Actually, it turns out that the Yahoo Glen Ridge Forum was the second such forum in town. It was preceded by the little-known Glen Ridge Tax Discussions.

Sound arcane? Don't forget, tax discussions can lead to big things.

Speaking of big things, and taxes, look for a forum next Thursday night, when the Glen Ridge Board of Ed and the Garden State Coalition invites taxpayers, parents and school board reps from across the county to discuss the implications of S1701 -- a bill passed by the McGreevey administration last summer to limit school spending. At the heart of the issue are questions about why schools are funded through property taxes in New Jersey, and the long-range implications of the Abbott school funding case.

The forum is called "Schools are Not the Culprit" and will be held in the Ridgewood Ave. auditorium, 235 Ridgewood Ave., Glen Ridge, Thurs. Dec. 9 at 7:30 pm.

&ETC: Lex points out that the New York Times covered the Essex County secession story in the Jersey section on Sunday. The article is not online, so you have to dig it out of your recycling or go to the library. Section 14, page 6.

Posted by at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

Straight from the Township of Montclair's website:

Santa's Mailbox

Kids can mail a letter to Santa and will receive a personalized letter in return.

Letters can be mailed to:

SANTA CLAUS
205 Claremont Ave.
Montclair, NJ 07042

Letters may also be dropped off at the PRCA office. Please remember to include a return address.

NO LETTERS AFTER DECEMBER 17

Presented by the Montclair Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs In conjucntion with the Montclair Fire and Police Departments, & B.I.D.

OK, kids, here's your chance. Let's see your Letter to Remsen Santa. What do you want in your Montclair stocking? Historic designation for the Marlboro Inn? Valet parking at the high school? Having your leaves picked up by Christmas? All you have to do is ask.

Best letter to Santa wins a Barista mug or t-shirt!

Posted by at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

After the deluge, a glorious sunset.

Posted by at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Baristanet reader Sharon Gill sent us this photo of flooding this morning on Godfrey Road in Montclair.  Gutter and street work in the area (which went on for months) was no match for the torrents.

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Yes, you could go to a big box store this weekend, get trampled by the crowds and wait for hours in the checkout line. But that was, like, so 24 hours ago.

You could, on the other hand, consult Baristanet's Thrills page for something else to do this weekend.

Here's a novel idea. Get out and enjoy the sunshine.

This is the last week that the Montclair Hawk Watch is open to the public.  Visitors can expect to see red-tailed and red-shouldered Hawks or golden eagles.  There are guided hikes at Sandy Hook, Pyramid Mountain Natural Historic Area in Montville, and The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Basking Ridge.  Tomorrow, Bike Montclair will be meeting at Watchung Plaza for a short ride through Montclair’s South End.

A new show at the Dreyfuss Planetarium in the Newark Museum opens this weekend, “Tis the Season," which features the Winter Solstice and traces the development of holiday customs around the World.  Lambert Castle is decorated for the holiday season and is having a sale of handcrafted gifts.  A little farther away, The Garden State Wine Growers Association is sponsoring a Holiday Wine Trail Weekend with 18 wineries offering wine tastings and seminars.

The kids might enjoy Aladdin at 12 Miles West Theater Company this afternoon.  Lunatic Fringe Comedy Improv is at 12 Miles West this evening.  Luna Stage is presenting Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen.

Clubs and restaurants in the area are also offering entertainment this weekend: Chaz DePaolo at Tierney's Tavern, Dog Voices Just Jake’s, and Lynn Rosenthal at Sesames Brunch Show, to name a few.

Details on these and many more events are listed on our Thrills page.  Do you have an event to list?  Please email us at thrills@baristanet.com.

Posted by at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Montclair Times has a story about the $35 million school planned for Washington Street in Montclair. The school is expected to open in 2008, and will likely be an elementary school.

According to the story, an architectural firm has been hired to figure out the transportation and parking issues problems posed by the location.

Good luck. We remember parking at the old Washington St. "Y" as its own special circle of hell. Or maybe, to be fair, we're just remembering that special hellish combo of finding a parking space on the narrow one-block street, taking an infant seat out of the car, setting infant down in chaotic locker room and trying to dry off and dress a squirming wet four-year-old after swim lessons.

Posted by at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

There's a blood shortage in New Jersey, particularly of the universal donor O variety. At some centers, the state health chief says, there's less than a one-day supply.

Here's how to give locally:

Wednesday, Dec. 1

Montclair State University – Student Center

1 Normal Avenue Student Center Ballroom/1st Floor

Hours: noon to 6 pm

Register online at: http://www.pleasegiveblood.org/donating/index.php

Or call: 1-800-GIVE-LIFE

Every day

American Red Cross - Metropolitan Community Donor Center

209 Fairfield Road Fairfield, NJ 07004

Hours

Monday through Thursday, 12:30-7:30 pm.

Friday, 8 am to 2:45 pm.

Saturday and Sunday, 7 am to 1:45 pm.

To schedule an appointment, please call 1-800-GIVE LIFE

Posted by at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday, food. Today, food for thought. Click here for EPIC: 2014, a dystopian view of what things like Baristanet can lead to.  (Via Deanland.)

Posted by at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

And they're off! The weather cooperated for Glen Ridge's big Thanksgiving Day race, the A8K.

Below: Horace Ashenfelter, who won a gold medal 3,000-meter steeple-chase in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics; the crowd; winner Stephen Ondieki, 30, of Hackensack, who ran the 8K in a record time of 25:10. Heather Gardiner, 26, of Morristown was the winner among women, with a time of 30:07. More results here. (Photos by Warren Levinson and Carl Bergmanson.)

Posted by at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It looks like chunky Pepto-Bismol, but the Barista swears: left-leaning, blue-state, NPR-listening, Baristanet-reading cooks will love this famous recipe, offered up every year by Susan Stamberg of "All Things Considered."

Really, who wouldn't like cranberries, onions, horseradish and sour cream mixed together?

Posted by at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (39)

About 700 runners are already registered, and 300 more are expected, for the A8K Classic -- the traditional Thanksgiving Day race in Glen Ridge. The race, formerly called "The Turkey Trot," will go on no matter the weather. "You just can't turn off something like this," said Dan Murphy, the organizer, who says that registrants can still come pick up their t-shirts, even if they feel it's too wet to run.

The A8K starts at 9 am. A 1-mile "Ridger Romp" takes place at 8:30 am. Registration is tonight from 6-9 pm and tomorrow starting at 7:30 am. in the Glen Ridge High School cafeteria.

Proceeds benefit Glen Ridge High School athletics. More information on the race, including a map of the course, here.

Posted by at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Best to lay off the holiday schnapps the next few days -- at least if you plan to get behind a wheel. A small battalion of unmarked state police cars (used Crown Victorias, to be exact) will be out patrolling New Jersey highways throughout the Thanksgiving holidays, starting tonight. And they're specifically looking for drunk and aggressive drivers.

According to a story by the "Road Warrior" in today's Record, there were 10 Thanksgiving road fatalities in New Jersey last year.

In addition to the unmarked cars, the state has contributed $150,000 to local police departments to crack down on drunk drivers over the holidays. Bloomfield and Montclair are both included in the program.

Posted by at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Could free taxpayer-subsidized pre-K become a thing of the past in Glen Ridge? The school district dropped a hint of the possibility in the Fall 2004 GRPS Report Card.

Pre-K is not state-mandated, except in Abbott districts, but we have always believed that it is an important part of our educational program. As with other non-mandated programs, we have maintained Pre-K even in the face of greatly reduced state aid. Now, however, our legislators have imposed severe caps on our budget, fund balance (rainy day money) and administrative expenditures. We are also faced with an impending state budget crisis that may cause our state aid to be further reduced.

In our experience, nothing gets uglier than a fight over pre-K. We know a book group that broke up years ago over whether the question of whether working mothers should get priority in getting their kids in the highly coveted a.m. pre-K slots. And rumors, over the years, of the district dropping pre-K seem to divide quite neatly over demographic lines -- the demographics being who still has kids in diapers, and who doesn't.

Our prediction: tantrums are coming. And not just from the 4-year-olds. Please weigh in.

Posted by at 6:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Alliance Repertory Theater, locked out of its old space in Bloomfield and waiting for its new theater in Montclair to be renovated, has scrapped its entire fall schedule. But the theater company has found a home for its upcoming production of "The Country Club," opening Jan. 21, at Playhouse 22 in East Brunswick.

Alliance hopes to be treading the boards in Baristaville again with its February production of "Flyin West."

Posted by at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And speaking of shopping (see below), apparently those who ventured to the Short Hills Mall yesterday got swept up in a "24"-like anti-terrorism training simulation.

While shoppers bustled in and out of Macy's and Bloomingdale's, about two dozen squad leaders from the county's Rapid Deployment Team practiced techniques ranging from searching a tractor-trailer for contraband to sweeping a large public building for a bomb.

Searching a tractor-trailer for contraband? The writers for "24" did much better than that last season, when Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), chasing a virus-infected teenager in an LA mall, got shot at the top of the escalator.

Heck, try waiting in the checkout line during a Macy's one-day sale. Now that can be scary.

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Even as preservationists gear up for a Dec. 3 court date on the fate of the Marlboro Inn, furniture, fixtures and bedding are being removed from the structure piece by piece by piece.

Today's Star-Ledger reports that owner Steven Plofker, who wants to tear down the inn and build 10 houses, has been opening the property for a kind of private estate sale for select shoppers -- who must pay for the booty by writing checks to charity.

Without electricity or heat, the Marlboro Inn Bazaar is not exactly a shopper's paradise. "It was," said one shopper quoted in the article, "a little like being in a Stephen King novel."

Posted by at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A reader reminds us that we almost closed out the day without mentioning the 41st anniversary of the JFK assassination. Indeed -- but only because we lost track of the calendar, not because we don't feel the date is important.

Nov. 22, 1963 was -- like the Challenger explosion and now Sept. 11, 2001 -- one of those definitive how-old-were-you and how-did-you-find-out events. For the Barista, it was during third-grade, in an elementary school in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. Our memories of the day itself are a little vague. That day blends into all the black-and-white hued days that followed and somehow seem linked: the non-stop TV coverage, the grave mood of all the grown-ups, the procession of mourners just a few miles away, John-John's brave salute, the deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland, the RFK assassination, the shooting of Martin Luther King ...

Posted by at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

For all the indignation, in certain quarters, that Paris Hilton chose Glen Ridge as a place for slumming earlier this month, Barista respectfully submits this picture of some stained and duct-taped seats in the Ridgewood Avenue School auditorium. The 600+ seat venue is home to all the theater projects in town, including this weekend's "Oliver!"

In an announcement before each of showing of the Gas Lamp Players musical this weekend, theaterista Jessica Sporn told the audience that the Glen Ridge Education Foundation is finally taking an auditorium reno on this year -- and the audience could honor any member of the cast by sending in a contribution.

This is, by the way, the same auditorium where Tom Cruise was discovered during a performance of "Guys and Dolls."

Posted by at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Thom Kennon is a better man than we are. He's made good on his election bet with Montclair's token Republican, Jerry Mosier, and coughed up the $100 he vowed to contribute to two of Mosier's political causes after Kerry lost the presidential election. (Kennon will now get mail from the NRA and the Republican National Committee for life eternity.) Shown here, in an exclusive photo captured by Raymmmondo this past weekend in a secret undisclosed location, is Kennon barely touching "1st Freedom," the magazine of the National Rifle Association

Posted by at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The Montclair Art Museum has launched a new advertising campaing under the theme "Face to Face with the American Spirit." Left, a portion of the "Face to Face" poster, now featured at area train stations, which bears portraits from the museum's permanent collections. As part of the campaign, MAM has purchased radio spots on WNYC and WBGO; on-screen advertising at the Clairidge Theater starts next month.

Posted by at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is no news to readers of the Montclair Watercooler, but late last week environmentalist Pat Kenschaft admitted to the general membership that her idea of importing coyotes to keep the local deer population down was... well... not such a good idea.

Kenschaft's coyote proposal inspired many comments when we first ran it last month.

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A warning to the 50 percent of Baristanet's readers who come to us via Comcast high-speed internet. Beware phishers who try to get credit card or password information from you by e-mail. More information here.

Posted by at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chess makes the Barista's head hurt, but this Saturday morning open chess playdate strikes us as a cool thing anyway.

The Montclair Learning Center is pleased to offer a FREE Open Chess "Playdate" for student players and their families and friends as part of its scholastic chess program. Saturdays, 9am-12pm, 24 N. Fullerton Avenue (rear of First United Methodist Church), Montclair.

Children under 13 must be accompanied by a parent. For more info, call 201.306.5868 or write to contactus@mlcplus.com.

Posted by at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our coverage of the Short Stop Diner's conversion into a Dunkin' Donuts reminded our friend and reader Brooke Allen of a radio piece he heard about the diner several years ago. He looked it up and it turned out to be a Jane and Michael Stern segment on "The Splendid Table" from 2000. Here's a link that will take you to the show. (RealPlayer required.)

Fast forward about 8 minutes in, and hear all about the little diner famous for "eggs in the skillet."

Posted by at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gregory Mitchell, a dancer who played the angel in "Forbidden Christmas or the Doctor and the Patient" in the debut performance at the Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University, died yesterday after collapsing onstage during a Kennedy Center performance last week. The featured performer in the show, now cancelled, was Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Posted by at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Proof that the Barista's attention span is (sometimes) longer than the life of a fruit fly. From PublishersMarketplace.com (subscription required), news that the Barista's novel has been sold to St. Martin's:

FICTION: GENERAL/OTHER

Former NYT New Jersey columnist Debra Galant's RATTLED: A Comedy of Bad Manners, pitched as "in the spirit of Carl Hiaasen meets Susan Isaacs," soccer moms, farmers and other endangered species vie for dominance in the rapidly developing NJ countryside, to Dori Weintraub at St. Martin's, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).

Posted by at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)

The demolition of the Hahne's building in downtown Montclair began at noon today after an hour of speeches. With about 100 people watching, including children from Montclair's community pre-K, Mayor Ed Remsen gave the signal to start the wrecking, and within minutes he was holding a piece of the crumbling building and smiling for pictures.

"To quote the late great Jerry Garcia," Remsen said before the demolition began. "What a long, strange trip it's been." He called the Hahne's building a "monstrosity" whose demolition "allows us to generate new tax revenues" for Montclair.

(Clockwise from top left) The wrecking begins; Mayor Remsen poses with Pinnacle's Brian Stolar, holding a piece of debris from the Hahne's building; speeches; pre-K children leaving the ceremony.

The pressing question: when does the first piece of Hahne's debris go up on eBay and what does it go for?

Posted by at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

At the 11th hour and 59th minute, architect prof Petia Morozov sends her own rendering of the Siena, the planned replacement for the Hahne's building... which will enter into history today. (The demolition ceremonies get underway at 11 am.) This image is actually part of a larger document that she sent to the Montclair Times this morning. Morozov charges that the developer's rendering of the 7-story mixed use tower to replace the Hahne's building is misleading. The actual tower, she says, will eclipse the church tower and cast a long shadow over downtown Montclair.

The full text of her letter to the Times (and us) follows:

Dear Mark:

This week's Montclair Times coverage of Hahne's Redevelopment is highly provocative: on the one hand, the front-page article seems to make light of the environmental issues that many churches, schools, businesses and residents in the area will be subjected to during demolition. On the other hand, the side-by-side images of the building and rendering (on page A5) cleverly demonstrates the very same concerns that Planning Board member Sally Ross entered with her "no" vote, in opposition of the redevelopment project. She pointed out the discrepancies that the developers' rendering depicts, perhaps because she is trained in design. To think that this was the only image that was submitted in Herod's application that attempts to put the proposed building in context!

I am a practicing architect and professor of architecture and urban design, teaching at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. I also teach at Mayor Ed Remsen's and Manager Joe Hartnett's alma mater, Fordham University, where I am also artist-in-residence. Your articles prompted this academic exercise: using the plan and elevation drawings that were submitted to the Planning Dept, I wanted to test the implication of your side-by-side photos, so I built an accurate computer model of the proposed development, and I set up the same views of the building. It's astounding what I discovered.

Attached is a compilation of images that begin with a simple analysis of your side-by-side images. The church tower is an excellent reference common to both images that helps illustrate this inaccuracy. It effectively outlines the implausibility of the rendering. Then, I carefully aligned views in the computer model to help create the same snapshot as the one in Herod's rendering; I offer the accurate version of the building they plan to build. Finally, the model allows me to study shadows based on summer and winter sun positions, to illustrate how long and prevalent these shadows on Church and South Park Streets will be throughout the year.

Your spread is very effective in proving Sally Ross' point so clearly, and now I wonder: given the conflicting tones of the two articles, what common ground does the paper stand on with regard to this project?

Best,

Petia Morozov

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

Posted by at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (50)

The Gas Lamp Players present "Oliver!" at Ridgewood Ave. School in Glen Ridge this weekend. Shows Friday and Saturday nights at 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 2 pm. Tickets $8 and $10.

Posted by at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When Glen Ridge High School report cards came in the mail yesterday, some eagle-eyed students thought their cumulative grade point averages looked a little off. Confirmation came from the guidance department came today: the students were right, and the cumulative GPA's are wrong. The averages will be corrected on the permanent record, but new report cards will not be issued, we hear. 

Posted by at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Hahne's may be going down tomorrow, but downtown Montclair's Christmas tree went up today. Secured in its place of honor at Church Street and North Fullerton, the hulking blue spruce debuts more than a week ahead of Thanksgiving. The rest of Church Street as well as Bloomfield Ave have been wreathed, with most local store windows reflecting visions of sugarplums. If strolling downtown isn't enough to get you singing deck the halls, the folks at Van Vleck House are doing just that, today through Saturday, with their annual fundraising festival of trees, weaths and topiaries decorated by talented volunteers and local celebrities. Planned contributions include a tree adorned with cosmetics by makeup mogul Bobbi Brown and a tree decorated with miniature bulldozers by Steven Plofker. OK, maybe we're making that last part up, but it would be cute, wouldn't it?

Posted by at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's outer Baristaville, but we still thought you might be interested to know that the Maplewood-South Orange Schools have banned all musical references to Christmas this winter -- even in instrumentals. The story appeared in yesterday's Star-Ledger and the school system was flooded with calls.

A long-standing policy banning the singing of Christmas songs with religious references in the South Orange/Maplewood School District has come under scrutiny after the administration clarified the policy recently, saying that it also includes instrumental concerts.

This means the 40-member brass ensemble, which in years past has played Christmas carols with references to Santa Claus, Jesus, or other religious symbols, will not be played this year.

Rather than try to respond to all the various religions and try to balance them, it's best to stay away from that and simply have a nonreligious tone to them and have more of a seasonal tone," Superintendent Peter P. Horoschak said.

The Maplewood-South Orange district's policy on religion can be found here. It's #2270.

What's going on in your local school this year? Christmas-Chanukah-Kwanzaa? Christmas-Chanukah? Winter Stolstice? Talk back to the Barista.

Posted by at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

Big yellow machines and guys in hard hats are busy converting Bloomfield's Short Stop Diner into a Dunkin' Donuts. The sign and the color scheme are going to change, but the chrome will stay.

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According to this story, actor Ben Gazzara is planning to revive his one-man show, "Nobody Don't Like Yogi."

Posted by at 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A story in today's Montclair Times explains how the Hahne's department store will come down tomorrow, and those of us looking for a big Hollywood-style building collapse will be disappointed.

Imagine several praying mantises nibbling away at a giant leaf. Now, for the leaf, substitute the 54-year-old Hahne’s building. For the insects, substitute two or three excavating machines — big tractors with long booms ending in hydraulic jaws capable of severing steel and concrete as if it were plant material.

The big issue is protecting Christ Church, whose tall stain-glass window stands only 10-feet away from Hahne's. But come to think of it, post 9/11, who wants to see a building suddenly pancake into dust anyway?

Posted by at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

But it could have. Just your average, ordinary, late fall, suburban case of Leaf Rage.

Thanks to A Socialite's Life, via Tom.

Posted by at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No more flirting across the aisle on long bus rides to Pennsylvania to register voters. Guess if you're still looking for that special someone, you've got to be more inventive. Co-ed touch football anyone?

Posted by at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Our pal Soprano Sue, who never travels anywhere without her Barista mug, went on another trip last week. First person to correctly identify the backdrop wins a Barista mug. Otherwise, you'll have to buy one online.

UPDATE: Lex wins, correctly guessing Yosemite as the place that Soprano Sue visited last week, Barista mug in tow. But since he's using a fake e-mail address, he'll have to write back with real contact information in order to claim his prize.

Posted by at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

If you've got any goodbyes to say, any pictures to take, any lawsuits to file, you better do it quickly. The wrecking ball is scheduled to knock down the Hahne's Building this Friday.

The Hahne's building was designed by Roland Wank of the architectural firm Fellheimer & Wagner. Wank also had a hand in designing Cincinnati's Union Terminal, which bears an uncanny resemblance to Hahne's. That building eventually became a museum.

Posted by at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. But he comes down your chimney, not through your e-mail box. If you've gotten an e-mail promising free $35 GAP gift certificates for every seven people you forward the e-mail to, hit delete instead. It's a scam.

UPDATE: The Save NPR e-mail, also making the rounds again, another hoax.

Posted by at 7:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So much for gay Americans. Now it's time for depressed Americans.

New Jersey's new acting governor, Richard Codey of West Orange, started his first day as gov at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. Codey is a longtime advocate of mental health and his wife has gone public about having depressive episodes.

The governor also set up a mental health task force. Yippie! Let's start by putting Prozac in the drinking water. Then, let's cut property taxes in half. That'll help our mood.

Posted by at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Bloomfield vet Amy Miller, about to be kicked out of her Washington St. office because of the redevelopment of Bloomfield Center, is joining with the gris eminence of Baristaville veterinarians, Montclair's Dr. George Cameron. Dr. Miller plans to make the transition in Janaury.

Posted by at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Star-Ledger reports today that a priest at St. Valentine's Roman Catholic Church in Bloomfield has stepped down from his duties, due to charges of sexual abuse that go back about 30 years.

According to the article, Monsignor Robert Chabak, 58, is accused of molesting a teenage boy over a period of three years, while assigned to St. Mary of the Assumption in Elizabeth.

Because the alleged crime took place in Elizabeth, the case has been handed over to the prosecutor's office in Union County.

Posted by at 8:46 AM | Permalink |