Bloomfield Council Stalled on Open Space Change

BY  |  Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012 11:11am  |  COMMENTS (1)

The Bloomfield Council failed to pass an amendment to the township’s Open Space Trust Fund at last night’s council meeting, with the vote tied 3-3.

The amendment would have allowed the township to use funds from the Open Space Trust Fund for maintenance of town parks and historical sites within the township, in addition to the acquisition and maintenance of new property for open space. The amendment to the ordinance would set aside $265,000 per year to be used for maintenance of public parks. The establishment of the Open Space Trust Fund was approved by public referendum in 2001, and currently holds approximately $1.9 million. Continue Reading

Bloomfield Crime: Shoplifter Threatens Home Depot Guard With Knife

BY  |  Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012 10:19am  |  COMMENTS (1)

Just in from the Bloomfield Police, last week in crime in 07003:

ROBBERY

2-6-2012 60 Orange Stree [Home Depot]. At 0755 hours, a suspect threatened a security guard with a knife as he was fleeing the store with stolen merchandise.

2-06-2012 Washington street at Lackawanna Plaza. At 2235 hours, the victim stated that he was approached and surrounded by three male suspects, one of which demanded his cell phone. Two of the suspects were apprehended minutes later by patrol officers responding to a 9-1-1 call from the victim. Continue Reading

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Bloomfield Edition

BY  |  Tuesday, Jan 31, 2012 2:25pm  |  COMMENTS (6)

Sure, it’s brave to go on a national quiz show and risk humiliation in front of a national television audience. You know what’s even braver? Inviting your colleagues, landlord and friends to the Town Pub to watch the show over pizza, even when you know how it’s going to turn out. Which is exactly what happened today, when Gsell’s episode aired at lunchtime. At the end his round, taped in the fall, he walked away with $1,000 — and several very nice mentions of his Field Station: Dinosaurs theme park, scheduled to open in May, by game show host Meredith Vieira. Continue Reading

Go(d) Giants!

BY  |  Thursday, Jan 26, 2012 3:30pm  |  COMMENTS (16)

Take that, Tim Tebow!

Bloomfield May Charge “Crash Tax” to Non-Residents

BY  |  Thursday, Jan 26, 2012 2:15pm  |  COMMENTS (28)

Baristaville drivers beware: Bloomfield may soon join the ranks of cities and towns across the country that are imposing fees on non-residents who have car accidents in their towns. Such fees are referred to as a “crash tax,” and they’re quite controversial.

In Bloomfield’s case, the town is considering sending a $100 bill to any non-resident motorists involved in an accident, to help defray police and, in the case of a cleanup, fire department expenses.

The idea was discussed at the council’s Monday night meeting. The town administrator and attorney are drafting an actual resolution to be considered Feb. 6.

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Playing With the Snow

BY  |  Monday, Jan 23, 2012 3:00pm  |  COMMENTS (4)

Panorama of Bloomfield's redevelopment by S.J. Streeter

Snow has a way of making everything prettier — even the hole in the ground that will some day be Bloomfield’s shining downtown. Our photographer S.J. Streeter has been playing around with panoramic shooting and caught this shot over the weekend. See it full size here. See more of her panoramas here. Continue Reading

Bloomfield’s Penna Starts Small Government Movement

BY  |  Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 12:38pm  |  COMMENTS (19)

Sue Ann Penna, who won 33 percent of votes in her unsuccessful bid for Bloomfield’s 3rd Ward council seat last November and who founded the Essex County Tea Party Coalition, has started Citizens for Limited Government, an educational organization to promote the values of “Limited Government, Individual Rights and Free Markets.”

She is applying for non-profit 501(c)3 status for the organization, which she describes as non-partisan. She intends for it to have statewide reach.

Penna, who ran as a Republican last fall, describes herself as a lapsed Democrat and former staffer for Steve Adubato Jr., who has become a fiscal conservative. “I don’t push the social conservative issues,” she told us in a telephone interview today. “At the end of the day, people’s personal preferences and how they choose to live their lives is fine with me.” Continue Reading

Bloomfield Drinking Water Contains Excess Trihalomethanes

BY  |  Friday, Jan 13, 2012 10:54am  |  COMMENTS (48)

Bloomfield residents are being warned that their drinking water, which is supplied by Newark, exceeds the federal limits for trihalomethanes, chemical contaminants that are byproducts of chlorination. Some are carcinogenic.

The standard for trihalomethanes in drinking water is 80 ug/l. Bloomfield water averaged 83 ug/l in the third quarter and 86 ug/l in the fourth quarter.

The letter from the township suggested that the elderly, people with severely compromised immune systems and people with infants should seek medical advice.

The full letter follows. Continue Reading

Pianos, Sued by BMI, to Close

BY  |  Friday, Jan 13, 2012 8:46am  |  COMMENTS (28)

Thanks partly to a pending lawsuit with BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc) and partly  to unrealized redevelopment plans for the surrounding area, Pianos Bar & Grill in Bloomfield will shut its doors at the end of this month. Melissa Hathaway, wife of owner Rick Hathaway, told Baristanet that the club is looking for a buyer. A “for lease” notice is posted here.

The club began its life as Hathaway’s Pub, shifting to the name Pianos in the summer of 2007. It has hosted dueling piano acts, open mic nights with live accompaniment, local theater and improv shows, including Lunatic Fringe, which will hold its last show there tomorrow night. Continue Reading

Attacks on Rutherford Synagogue Put Jewish Community on Alert

BY  |  Thursday, Jan 12, 2012 10:44am  |  COMMENTS (11)

Bergen County officials are warning the Jewish community to be on alert after the firebombing of a synagogue in Rutherford yesterday put a rabbi and his family perilously close to danger.

The attack on Congregation Beth El was the fourth incident in just over a month where a Bergen County synagogue was the target of vandalism or arson, reported NJ.com. In December, synagogues in Maywood and Hackensack were vandalized, and one in Paramus was set fire.

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Featured Comment

Perhaps yesterday's heavy police presence would have been better applied to Mission Street than to the Montclair State campus.
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cathar

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