Two 17-year-old boys hanging around behind Arturo’s Pizza in Montclair obviously weren’t undercover, but a detective responding to a complaint about suspected drug activity was. Here’s what was happening last night around 7pm, in the Bellevue/Lorraine parking lot according to the MPD:
An undercover detective who was sent to investigate juveniles loitering at the back of Arturo’s Pizza watched as a group of kids appeared to be exchanging money for small objects. Two of the individuals then left the group to enter their parked Red Hyundai.
Deputy Chief of Police Perry Mayers told us: The detective observed the passenger taking out a plastic bag and inhaling a white powdery substance. How could the detective see juveniles? He was sitting in his car, parked right next to them!”

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Find out about the exotic new hottie of Bloomfield Avenue, opening tonight, on Food.

Many of us are feeling like our last week of summer was ripped off with this week’s unusual chill out. No shorts, no shades, no sunscreen needed… And over the holiday weekend? We’ll feel Ernesto’s wet touch. Accuweather.com tells us what’s ahead:

Once Ernesto makes landfall as a strong tropical storm, or possibly as a category 1 hurricane, the storm will slowly slide northward through the Carolinas and into the mid-Atlantic states. The combination of a stalled front and Tropical Storm Ernesto will result in widespread heavy rain, potentially flooding, from northeastern Georgia to Virginia. As Ernesto heads northward, it will encounter a strong area of high pressure. Since the high will be reluctant to give way to Ernesto, the storm will move slowly, just spreading rain into central parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the afternoon. Since the rain will only creep northward, rainfall amounts will be higher, increasing the flooding threat

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Earlier this week, an argument over bulky waste pick up ended in the arrest of a Montclair resident. MPD Deputy Chief of Police Perry Mayers tells us that a township employee was picking up garbage on Ward Place, when Deborah Taliaferro came out to ask why the bulky waste was left behind. The township employee, Luis Nieves, explained it wasn’t a pick up day for that kind of trash. Taliaferro’s husband, Cesar Ilato came out to the curb and began to argue with Nieves, then picked up his leftover trash and threw it in the garbage truck. Nieves says the angry homeowner pushed him, and that’s when the cops were called.
The push, considered an assault, was witnessed by a passing driver, and was also confirmed by Ilato’s wife. Cops arrested Mr. Ilato, charging him with simple assualt, obstruction of justice (Ilato first gave a false name), and a town ordinance violation for tossing his junk on town property ( the garbage truck).

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Just as the teens involved in last year’s vandalism of Presby Iris Gardens issued their public apology, a new flower attack was reported to police (and Baristanet) this morning. Joel Tabor of Montclair Feed wrote to tell us that the two planters in front of his pet supply store were toppled overnight. And that wasn’t all. Vandals also upended trash cans in a mini-microburst of maliciousness all around the intersection of Forest St. and Glenridge Ave. in Montclair.
Not that we’re saying it’s kids, but anybody else ready for school to start?

One of the two teens charged with vandalism of the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens, Gideon Korn-Wyatt, made a public apology to the township of Montclair and to the gardens’ friends, asking for forgiveness. From The Montclair Times.

I would like to apologize for the destruction I caused to the Presby Iris Gardens, and for all the pain I caused to the friends of the gardens and the Township of Montclair.
It was an ignorant senseless act, and I did not mean to hurt anybody.
I’m really sorry for the trouble that this has brought to my family, my friends and my neighbors. I wish I could take that night back.
I would like to thank the administrators and members of the Presby Gardens for their understanding and I hope, that in time, they can forgive me for my actions.
I now realize the seriousness of what I did, and will be making restitution to help fix the destruction that I caused. I hope that the Presby Gardens will soon be back to the way they were before all this happened. I hope that the people and town of Montclair can forgive me.
GIDEON KORN-WYATT

At last week’s court hearing, Judge Booker ordered both teens to write a public apology and to send it to newspapers. Will Poris, are we going to hear from you?

The new location opened on Monday.

I guess these kids aren’t sitting around watching Spongebob and getting fat, but maybe that would be a better thing. Whether real or staged, there is something very, very disturbing here.

The Battle of Montclair

Since everyone here has at least one opinion on what comprises good writing and more than a few seem to have opinions on fine dining and not so fine drinking, here’s a chance to write your piece:

Hey Writers and Bar Patrons,
On December 8, 2006, DREW’S GUIDES will be launching the first and only 2007 DREW’S GUIDES, New Jersey Bar, Lounge and Club Guide, just in time for the holidays—but we need your help.
Instead of surveying each and every establishment in the State, Drew’s Guide reviews are going to be compiled by those of you who actually spend hours of your time and your precious pesos in these places. We want reviews from the type of people who are going to be reading and using these reviews—people who live and work in New Jersey. And while we would like them to be accurate, it’s also important that they’re clever and well-written.

Tell ‘em Deirdre sent you.

MKA graduate, Alexa Aron, who still comes to Montclair every now and then to visit her parents, was riding her bike through the streets of Copenhagen when she got the idea for Lille Hus (Little House).
“For as long as I can remember,” Alexa writes, “I’ve had a deep passion for all things domestic—furniture, food, design, homekeeping—and Denmark’s beautiful products made me feel more inspired than ever.”
Alexa returned from her hip and trendy life in Denmark to her hip and trendy life in NYC to start her own business of bringing “hygge”– a Danish concept that has to do with things being both cozy and uncluttered– back to America.

*NOT a typo