Monday, Oct 31, 2011 8:21am | COMMENTS (2)
Montclair Democratic Party Chairman Brendan Gill is inviting area residents who lost power during the weekend storm to Montclair Democrats’ campaign headquarters to recharge their cell phones or laptops, have some coffee or just come in front the cold.
The Essex County Freeholder candidate lost power in his Montclair home during the storm.
BY Debbie Galant | Sunday, Oct 30, 2011 2:26pm | COMMENTS (16)
You can't cross on Cross Street.
Here’s the latest on the October blizzard aftermath:
Safety First:
Whether you call it Mischief Night, Goosey Night or Cabbage Night, tonight is a dangerous night for children to engage in this pre-Halloween ritual. There are many downed wires that may not be visible at night. Children and teens should stay in tonight for their safety, and parents should ensure they do so.
Downed wires should always be considered “live.” STAY AWAY FROM ALL DOWNED LINES. Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything that it might be in contact with. To report a downed wire and other visible equipment damage, call 1-800-436-PSEG and tell PSE&G the nearest cross street.
Check in on your elderly neighbors to see if they are alright and to see if they need extra blankets or additional assistance. Contact local officials if assistance is needed.
Do not try to use a gas oven or range to heat a room. The appliance will deplete oxygen from the air, causing asphyxiation or deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.
Be cautious when using space heaters. Read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions and heed warning labels. Be sure all members of the household understand how to operate space heaters safely.
Upper Mountain, north of Normal Ave.
BY Debbie Galant | Sunday, Oct 30, 2011 12:49pm | COMMENTS (1)
Like everyone else, the crew at Baristanet has had its share of blizzard woes. But we’re pulling out all the stops, and with the help of a few extension cords, planning Booo-ristanet to go on tonight from 6 to 10 p.m. We may have to crank up our solar-powered credit card machines, so please bring cash if you can.
The door price has dropped to $10, and anybody who had pre-paid and can’t come tonight is eligible for a 100 percent refund. (Just call 1-800-838-3006). Continue Reading
BY John Acevedo | Sunday, Oct 30, 2011 11:00am | COMMENTS (0)
Earlier this month, Afrocuba Band, a Cuban band from Montclair, played at the benefit concert for Xiomara Fuentes, who is basically immobile due to Rhett’s Syndrome. Her family’s van was vandalized once, and then finally destroyed by vandalism a second time. Her mother, Betzaida Mercado, has started a non-profit organization called A Dream For Xiomara, whose goal is to raise money for a specialized van. This will allow her to do ONE important thing………….Leave the apartment she’s been confined to for YEARS in the same room. She can go to the park, she can go to the city………..basically anywhere a normal person who doesn’t see being at a park, or driving in the city as a luxury. You can read about Xiomara here.
You can donate to her by contacting:
A Dream for Xiomara
Betzaida Mercado, President
A Dream for Xiomara,
57 Overlook Ave, Belleville, NJ 07104
(862) 237-5050.
busymom2875@yahoo.com
John Acevedo is the founder, musical director and bass player for Afrocuba, a Montclair-based Cuban music band. In February 2007, Afrocuba recorded seven of its most popular covers and released its first CD, “Hermandad.”
BY Debbie Galant | Sunday, Oct 30, 2011 10:34am | COMMENTS (6)
Photo of Upper Mountain Ave. by Laura Torchio.
This is the scene all over Baristaville this morning. Sunshine, crusty snow and branches and limbs down everywhere. There are traffic signals out throughout the area — leaving drivers to their own devices, and tempers. Continue Reading
BY Debbie Galant | Sunday, Oct 30, 2011 8:56am | COMMENTS (19)
This is how it looked at John Mutter’s house in Upper Montclair last night, and in thousands of houses across Baristaville, the state and the region. But after a cold night, Mutter reported on Facebook this morning that the power came on shortly after 8, and the heat is finally cranking up.
According to PSE&G, as of this morning, there were still 5,000 to 10,000 homes without power in Montclair, 500 to 2,000 in Glen Ridge, 5,o00 to 10,000 in Bloomfield, more than 10,000 in West Orange, 500 to 2,000 in South Orange and 2,000 to 5,000 in Maplewood.
Customers are furious — not just because of the inconvenience and discomfort, but because PSE&G’s communication apparatus on outages has apparently been off the hook. A twitter account set up to communicate with customers about outages — @psegoutageinfo — was mostly silent during the storm, and people noticed.
One Norman Road resident, who was able to report the outage online, got the astounding message that their power would return by January 20, 2009.
“PSEG is awesome,” the Norman Road tipster wrote. “you can’t get them on the phone and if you register an outage on-line, you get the below message. Wow, January 2009. Amazing. They need to get back to the future.”
As usual, the cosmic dice roll of power outages seemed to pick its victims arbitrarily — with some streets that lost power during Hurricane Irene basking in the glow of flat screen TVs, and others darkened once again.
Montclair’s New York Times media guru David Carr was among the losers in the dice roll, tweeting:
Am one of 1.8M in NE w/o power. Took 7 hrs to report lines down in backyard to @PSG&E. How long to fix? Days? Weeks? #thisSuburbanLife
How did you fare? Take our poll and see how other locals are doing on our Snow Map.
BY Liz George | Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 6:44pm | COMMENTS (8)
This update from Montclair:
STORM ACTIVITY UPDATE FROM MONTCLAIR OEM:
All township resources are currently deployed taking care of emergency situations. At the present time emergency services can only respond to calls involving injuries. If you have property damage only, the Office of Emergency Management asks that citizens hold off contacting emergency services until tomorrow.
Meanwhile Tapastry on Church Street says they will be cooking tonight (I’m staying in — except for a quick walk across the street to borrow a stick of butter to make an apple cobbler). Walleroo dubbed it Snoctogedden — now we just need a drink from Holly. From our Facebook page — folk without power on Highland Ave in Montclair.
How are you managing? Continue Reading
Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 3:46pm | COMMENTS (17)
It’s a mess out there — with trees snapping and power lines falling — and officials in Montclair, Bloomfield and Essex County are asking everybody to stay home. Power is reported out in parts of Glen Ridge and BNN reports a fire at 408 Upper Mountain Ave., Montclair. Even Booo-ristanet has been postponed.
Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 3:20pm | COMMENTS (9)
We didn’t want to do this, but the streets are treacherous and tree branches are snapping right and left. Booo-ristanet has been postponed until tomorrow night from 6 to 10 p.m.
Montclair Mayor Jerry Fried and the Montclair Office of Emergency Management have asked citizens to stay off the road.
But the party goes on tomorrow night, Sunday Oct. 30, at Montclair Station, from 6 to 10 p.m.
If you’ve got pre-paid tickets and you can’t come, you will get a full refund. Just call Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838-3006.
BY Debbie Galant | Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 3:00pm | COMMENTS (0)
Gregory Allen is known to audiences in Baristaville as an actor, director, producer and managing director of Westminster Art Center. Now he’s an author too, with the release of his debut novel, “Well With My Soul,” which tells the story of two brothers from Tennessee in the 1970′s and 80′s.
This Sunday, Oct. 30, Allen will make an appearance at the Music at the Mansion concert series at Oakeside Cultural Center. This Sunday will feature jazz singer Audrey Silver and Broadway performer Sarah Rice, who was the original Luisa in The Fantasticks off-Broadway as well as the original Johanna in the first Broadway production of “Sweeney Todd.” Allen will speak about the importance of music to his writing and have copies of his book to sell and sign. 3 p.m. $10, light refreshments.
