Garage Burglar Nabbed?

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 12:00pm  |  COMMENTS (7)

Montclair police believe they have caught the man responsible for several garage break-ins over the past few weeks.
On Sunday afternoon, they picked up Daniel Moore, a 44-year-old from East Orange, as he rode his bike along Willowdale Avenue. Police say he was carrying burglary tools, including a crow bar, ice pick and a pair of black gloves.
Moore– who has 15 arrests and 30 felony convictions to his name– has just been charged with stealing from a garage on High Street earlier this month, but detectives are looking into other recent garage heists to see if he is responsible.
UPDATE: As a result of the arrest and continued investigation by detectives, Moore has been charged with a total of 12 counts of burglary. 14 bikes and several power tools, with a combined value of more than $5,000 were stolen by Moore over the past three weeks from High Street, Lincoln Street, Pleasant Avenue, Sutherland Road, Howe Avenue, Graham Terrace, Enfield Avenue, and Ward Place. Moore will be sent to county jail today. “These items were being sold in neighboring towns for drugs,” says Lt. James Carlucci.

New Parenting Column Cuts the Nonsense

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 11:08am  |  COMMENTS (0)

Who doesn’t need a little parental guidance sometimes? Barista Kids has got your back with a new, no-nonsense advice column. What would you do if the PTA president excluded your child from a birthday party? Click over to Parental Guidance to find out.

Join Mayor Fried For A Little “Bike” Art

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 9:00am  |  COMMENTS (25)

Yes, Montclair Mayor Jerry Fried has found another way to get residents pedaling around town. The man behind Bike Montclair and the Tour de Montclair will be on two wheels for this Friday’s “A Little Night Art” gallery walking tour and is inviting all taxpayers to squeeze onto their banana seats and join him.
Says Fried: “Gallery hopping on a bike is a perfect example of what makes Montclair unique.”
I wonder if there’s a town where you can pop in and out of antique shops on a skateboard?
Anyway, if you want to ride with the mayor, be in the parking lot of the Montclair Art Museum at 6 p.m. And don’t forget your helmet, light and bikelock.
If you need some wheels, Diamond Cycle has a dozen bicycles available for rent on Friday night, including some electric assist bikes.
If you’re in a rush, you can also take the Art Bus– a free shuttle provided by the Montclair Arts Council which will run a loop between the 11 galleries until 9:00.
And of course, you can use old fashioned feet as well. For a map of participating galleries and other info, click here.

Strange Police Activity At Exit 148

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 4:00pm  |  COMMENTS (17)

A reader sent us a tip last week detailing a strange incident at exit 148 of the Garden State Parkway. A state patrolmen pulled him over, berated him, then after about five minutes let him go. And apparently he’d been doing the same to a long row of cars.
A spokesman for the state police in Trenton had no comment, and said that the tipster could file a complaint. But read the story and tell us if you were in that line of cars at exit 148 last Tuesday night, or have had any strange encounters with cops lately.

did any other barista-folk experience a bit of strange behavior at exit 148 last night? it was just after 11 pm and the right northbound lanes had been closed in the 1/2 mile before the exit. as I approached the exit I was carefully watching for an opening in the cones to allow exiting. as the exit neared things became a little touchy. the two through lanes were stopped, so there was a flurry of breaklights and nervous glances in the rear view mirror for any unwary drivers. I saw a break in the line of cones and a dozen or so cars already were taking the exit and were also stopped. I was relieved to pull off of the through lanes and took my place in line and waited for traffic to creep forward. after a few minutes the trough lanes opened up and I noticed a police car flasher up ahead. the exit lanes were not moving so I concluded that perhaps there was an accident ahead. while we barely crept forward, a number of cars decided to pull back out into traffic and there were numerous close calls. then I saw a state trooper pointing his flashlight into a car that was waiting in line in front of me. a DUI stop?
each car that rolled up to him spent easily 4 or 5 minutes there before he waved them on. I rolled my window down and pulled up to the trooper and asked what was up. he then demanded to know why I was driving in the “closed lane.” surprised by the question, I replied that I saw the opening in the cones and pulled into line behind the dozen or so cars already “exiting.” his reply was “that’s a STUPID answer.” he then repeated the question and I once again tried to explain in the calmest voice I could conjure how the lane I was appeared to be the exit lane, noting that I followed the line of traffic. he then asked me would I follow them if they drove off the overpass or maybe if they ran him over?

Continue Reading

Jeff Jarvis to Speak in Montclair

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 3:06pm  |  COMMENTS (0)


Depending on your point of view, Jeff Jarvis is either a new media visionary or a blowhard. Since he was the person who gave us the idea for Baristanet, we hold him in pretty high esteem. Long before newspapers were in the kind of trouble they are in now, he had spotted their weaknesses and encouraged them go online and make journalism a two-way street. To some, that makes him the enemy of print. Actually, he’s more a facilitator of the discussion.
In February, Collins Business published Jarvis’s first book, “What Would Google Do?” In it, he “reverse engineers” the search engine behemoth to find out what makes it, as the Times of London says, “the fastest growing company in the history of the world.”
This Thursday night, May 28, he’ll be at the Montclair Public Library at 7 pm to discuss his ideas.

Continue Reading

It’s All About the Supremes

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 2:06pm  |  COMMENTS (36)

Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court has upheld the ban on same-sex marriages in that state, but allowed pre-ban gay marriages to stand. Time for an open thread.

Farmer’s Market Dodges a Bullet

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 12:07pm  |  COMMENTS (25)

The Montclair Farmer’s Market will be back in the Walnut train station on June 6, but if you think it’s there automatically, as summer follows spring, think again. The market was run by the Montclair Economic Development Council, which ceased to exist after the council cut its funding to zero this winter. Despite its history and momentum, the market could have died.
But town arborist Steve Schuckman decided to save the 16-year-old Saturday gathering place, putting together a volunteer committee to run the market outside of town or MEDC auspices. He’d been running it under MEDC’s umbrella for years anyway. But now all the funds will have to come from fees charged to the farmers.

Continue Reading

Falafel Hut Owner Robbed

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 10:53am  |  COMMENTS (14)

On Sunday night around 9:30 pm, the owner of the Falafel Hut on Bellevue Avenue in Upper Montclair was walking through the parking lot when a man came up to him and asked for directions to Route 46.
While the business owner was pointing him in the right direction, the man punched him in the face and then demanded money.
The thief took off with an undetermined amount of cash and hopped in the backseat of a waiting four-door black car, possibly a Pontiac, police say.
Montclair Police say the suspect is a Hispanic man about 20 years old, standing around 5-foot-11, with a dark complexion and clean shaven face. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Adam Topps at 973-509-4717.

Is Bloomfield Really Montclair Lite?

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 9:00am  |  COMMENTS (132)

The weekend, a headline in the New York Times Real Estate section declared Bloomfield “A Starter Spot for Suburbanites.” The article cited cheaper house prices, lower taxes, Brookdale Park, Midtown Direct and even Holsten’s Sopranos connection as attractions.
The article only skims the subject of the Bloomfield schools, which are compared quantitatively with statewide averages but not the neighboring towns of Montclair and Glen Ridge. The differences are huge. In New Jersey Magazine’s 2008 high school rankings, Glen Ridge rated 5th in the state, Montclair 85th and Bloomfield 181st. School board politics, if ranked, would probably be even worse. And Bloomfield is just getting full-day kindergarten, for the first time, next fall.

Continue Reading

Glen Ridge Does Memorial Day

Monday, May 25, 2009 1:53pm  |  COMMENTS (1)


And it does it right. From the parade of old cars to the playing of Taps, it’s old-fashioned, vibrant and a reminder of everything small towns can be.

Featured Comment

I was very glad to see this post. The running in the street around here drives me crazy, mostly because the the majority of the runners I've encountered (not every runner)seem to think that it's their right to take up half the street when what they are doing is in fact illegal. And let's not be silly. Yes, concrete is hard on the joints, but the pavement isn't that much better. It's not like the roads are made of track rubber.
Posted by
sadie07

Tip, Follow, Friend, Subscribe

Links & Information

Baristanet on Flickr

Browse all photos...