Preserve Summer While You Still Can

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 12:00pm  |  COMMENTS (0)

Summer has left the building, but you can still savor its flavors well into fall. Find out how on Food.

Election Day: 41 Days And Counting

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 10:00am  |  COMMENTS (43)

New Jersey will be choosing a governor in just 41 days. Recent numbers show Corzine’s approval rating down at 34%, with 58% disapproving of the current governor. The good news for Corzine? He wasn’t asked to leave the race like New York Gov. Paterson, who has gone from a 32% to a 29% approval rating this month and was reportedly pressured to not run for election from both President Obama and President Clinton. (It makes you wonder if the NJ elections were a year from now, would Corzine be asked not to run, too?)
Republican challenger Chris Christie maintains a 48% lead over Corzine. Then there’s the other guy: Chris Daggett, the independent who has tried to build campaign buzz as the candidate you would want with you on an escalator, but his name still eludes many voters. Some 45% of voters don’t know enough about him to have even a soft opinion. Daggett, who happens to be born in Orange, is a former Environmental Protection Agency official who headed the state’s Department of Environmental Protection under GOP Governor Tom Kean. Daggett does have a seat at two October debates. Unlike a lot of voters, I’ve run into Daggett twice — once handing out literature at a battle of Monmouth reenactment, and more recently at Halcyon in Montclair. Could Daggett do more than be a spoiler in this race? Which candidate will he take votes from — Corzine or Christie? Tell us in comments what you think of the candidates and their chances. Then vote in the jump…

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H1N1 Vaccine: Coming To A School Near You

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 9:00am  |  COMMENTS (0)

Montclair has sent out a survey to parents about vaccinating for swine flu. The story on Barista Kids.

Meet Nicolle Rochelle

Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 4:00pm  |  COMMENTS (7)

Nicolle Rochelle currently stars as Josephine Baker in Jerome Savary’s production of “Looking for Josephine” at Montclair State University’s Alexander Kasser Theater. Nicolle attended Glenfield Middle School and graduated in 1996 from Montclair High. Yesterday, Nicolle talked about her career as an entertainer, past, present, and future, over lunch at Raymond’s.
Nicolle Rochelle, 30, exudes energy, enthusiasm, joie de vivre – not only on the stage, but while munching on a BLT at Raymond’s, discussing her ties to Montclair and her role as Josephine Baker in the internationally acclaimed musical “Looking for Josephine.”
As Josephine, Nicolle has played to sold-out audiences in Europe over the last three years, and most recently is packing houses at Montclair’s Kasser Theater during the musical’s American premiere. “I don’t take my success for granted, and won’t get spoiled by the good reviews,” she says. “Every show is different, and I worry how well it will be received.” But the Montclair run is a homecoming for Nicolle.

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School Board Petition May Have Enough Signatures

Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 2:19pm  |  COMMENTS (42)

After a weekend petition blitz, Pegi Adam of Montclair Watch may have enough signatures to put a referendum seeking an elected school board on the Nov. 3 ballot. Her previous referendum campaign ran aground when township attorney Alan Trembulak ruled that a duplicate petition was flawed.
Adam says she submitted 600 new signatures to Montclair town clerk Linda Wanat yesterday. Of those, at least 501 will have to be verified by Wanat for the measure to go on the ballot. Adam says that she already has 410 verified signatures of the 911 required for the referendum to appear on the ballot.
“It is exciting,” says Adam. “I think maybe we’ll make it.” Adam said about 20 people were out with clipboards this weekend and that collecting signatures was easy because supporters are “reinvigorated and they’re angry.” She now is preparing for a “hurry-up campaign” to win the referendum and is collecting stories from parents who are disappointed with the way schools are run.
Mayor Jerry Fried, meanwhile, is floating a plan to create a school board nominating committee, and will speak about it at a series of community meetings starting next week.

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Set Your Watch: It’s Almost Autumn

Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 12:44pm  |  COMMENTS (28)

For some of us, it felt like summer never really happened. There was one hot week in August and that was about it. Well, ready or not, it will officially turn from summer to autumn at 5:18 pm. Even without the calendar, though, you can always tell it is fall when you see this many chrysanthemums in bloom.

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TV: Off or On?

Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 12:00pm  |  COMMENTS (35)

kitty tv.jpgWhat, they call another TV Turnoff Week just as the fall TV season starts, the week Obama makes five television appearances, the week the Emmys celebrate television itself?
Well, apparently they do. And this time, the chicks over at Barista Kids aren’t falling for it. They’ve officially forsworn the forswearing of television.
Go over to Barista Kids to talk about television as nanny. Or stay right here and tell us what you thought of “Bored to Death”, the latest episode of “Mad Men” or Turtle’s predicament on “Entourage.”
Warning: if you record TV shows for later viewing, the comments may contain spoilers.
Kitty TV by Dom H.

Think of All That Wasted Time

Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 10:41am  |  COMMENTS (27)

old courthouse.jpgIf you’ve ever done jury duty in Essex County, you know what it’s like to sit in a courtroom for hours, waiting for the judge to call you and (if you’re like most people) hoping he or she will believe your explanation as to why it is absolutely impossible for you to sit on this case. You might remember that the hours of voir dire are boring beyond belief, especially if the court marshall that escorted you down to the courtroom told you that books or newspapers are not allowed. The last time I was there, to keep myself from going crazy, I sketched pictures of the courtroom on the back of my jury questionnaire, erased them, then sketched them over and over again.
I immediately thought of this experience when I saw a story in American Medical News a few weeks ago about the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously tossing out a $72 million verdict against St. Barnabas Hospital — all because of flaws in the voir dire.

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Essex County Senior Wellness Day

Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 9:43am  |  COMMENTS (0)

It’s free and it’s taking place today, Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 10 to 2 at the Essex County Richard Codey Arena at 560 Northfield Avenue in West Orange. You’ll find health screenings, free food, a farmers’ market, musical entertainment, exercise demonstrations, free admission to the Turtleback Zoo for all seniors. For more info, call 973 621 4400. And for info about other services that Essex County offers to seniors, go here.

Operation Orange Crush

Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 9:00am  |  COMMENTS (14)

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office says it has taken 15 Bloods members off the streets following a nine-month multi-agency investigation called Operation Orange Crush. Named Orange Crush because most of the suspects are from Orange or East Orange, the law effort yielded an assault rifle, a sawed-off shotgun, five handguns,1,900 glassine envelopes of heroin, 153 grams of heroin, and 41 grams of marijuana with an estimated street value of $31,000. Altogether 33 people were arrested.
“The objective of these takedowns is clear-cut; remove the most violent gang members from society, while restoring the quality of life in the affected neighborhoods,” said Prosecutor Paula Dow. “Together, we will remain relentless in our efforts to cripple these gangs through our aggressive investigations and prosecutions aimed at disrupting their command structures and the removal of their members from the streets of Essex County.”
Fifteen of the suspects are affiliated with either the Brick City Brim Bloods or MOB Piru sets of Bloods, the prosecutor said.

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Oh I get it now ....A meat and greet.
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