BY Liz George | Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012 4:00pm | COMMENTS (2)
A tempting menu, elegant setting and the chance to dress up and get together brought a group of baristas out to Highlawn Pavilion to check out the restaurant’s new jazz menu. The field trip was a hit.
Highlights of Highlawn’s jazz menu ($29 prix fixe, offered Wednesdays and Fridays) included a tasting of tuna and salmon tartare, Wagyu hanger steak in red wine sauce, a sauteed striped bass with shallot sauce (pictured) and an off-the-hook chocolate tasting. Continue Reading
BY Debbie Galant | Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012 2:57pm | COMMENTS (9)
UPDATE: Thanks, we have our winners!
Haunting, dreamlike and winner of the 2011 Critics Circle National Dance Award for Best Modern Choreography, Akram Khan Company’s Vertical Road will be presented at MSU’s Kasser Theater Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Peak Performances has five pairs of tickets to give away to Baristanet readers for tomorrow night’s performance (Wed. Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.) Just be one of the first five to tell us in the comments. Continue Reading
BY Debbie Galant, Katherine Milsop | Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012 1:08pm | COMMENTS (9)
Montclarion editor-in-chief Katherine Milsop, reporting to us live via mobile phone, says police presence at MSU’s unity rally is heavy — with police snipers posted on rooftops, and police on motorcycles and horses. About 100 people have congregated, many wearing purple in solidarity with the threatened gay community, bearing signs that say “Human Rights are Sexy,” “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself,” “MSU Was Born This Way,” and “Conversation Not Confrontation.”
Read more background on the death threats to MSU here. Continue Reading
BY Debbie Galant | Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012 11:41am | COMMENTS (27)
My original job-hunting letter, framed and presented by my honey on our 25th wedding anniversary.
UPDATE: An extra prize!
Here’s my story: 1983. I had finished graduate school in North Carolina and was looking for jobs in New York, collecting names of everybody and anybody in the journalism business. Someone gave me the name of AP Radio’s correspondent in New York, who had worked at WCHL in Chapel Hill a few years before I got there. My very first Monday in New York I called him. Twice. When we met for lunch that Thursday, I asked if he knew anyone who used freelancers. He did. I started working for him, doing five-minute radio features for $25 a pop, and was charmed by the news poems he recited from memory in his radio studio. The rest, as they say, is history.
BY Mimi Michalski | 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
BY Debbie Galant | 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
BY Debbie Galant | Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012 9:45am | COMMENTS (23)
UPDATE: For school board reaction, read Barista Kids.
Frank Alvarez, superintendent of Montclair Schools, announced in a letter to parents today that he will step down in June after almost nine years in the district. He did not announce any future plans.
His resignation letter thanked parents, staff and fundraising organizations and cited “narrowing the minority student achievement gap” as the district’s biggest accomplishment.
Continue Reading
BY Debbie Galant | Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012 9:03am | COMMENTS (29)
The messages got increasingly menacing: “Die Fags” followed by “you will die soon Faggots” and then, on Jan. 30, scrawled on the wall of a ladies room in Montclair State’s student center, “Fags will die on 2/7.” MSU’s gay community has endured similar threats before, but in the era of Virginia Tech, no one can laugh off a death threat on a college campus.
BY Debbie Galant | Monday, Feb 06, 2012 3:30pm | COMMENTS (9)
BID's Luther Flurry in downtown Montclair.
Congratulations to the Montclair Business Improvement District, which turns 10 today. Its mission, now as ever, says executive director Luther Flurry, is “to make Montclair Center a vibrant place to shop, dine, work and live.” The BID is currently crafting a survey for downtown businesses and shoppers, which it will disseminate broadly. As a jumpstart, we’ll ask our readers: what’s great about Montclair Center and what needs work?
Monday, Feb 06, 2012 1:42pm | COMMENTS (0)
Here is the latest police blotter from Montclair.
Shoplifting
On 2/1/12 at approximately 9:55 PM, police responded to the Exxon Gas Station. Upon arrival, police spoke to an employee who stated that a shoplifting had just occurred. The employee told police that a black male, last seen wearing a black jacket and possibly a hat, had grabbed approximately five Bic lighters and exited the store without paying.
The employee followed the suspect southbound on Elm Street, but lost sight of the suspect in the area of Union Street. Anyone with further information is asked to contact Detective Joseph Anderson at 973-509-4706.
Burglary Attempt
On 2/1/12 at approximately 7:20 AM, police responded to a single-family residence on Heller Way in Upper Montclair on a report of an attempted burglary. The victim reported that sometime between the 27th of January and 2/1/12, someone had damaged the rear door and window to the residence. Nothing was reported as missing from the residence. There are no suspects at this time.
Vandalism
On 2/1/12 at approximately 12:45 PM, police responded to the Siena Building on South Park Street on a report of vandalism. Upon arrival, police spoke to an employee, who stated that sometime between 11:00 PM on the 27th and 8:30 AM on the 28th, a stop gate arm located on the Trinity Place side of the building had been damaged. There are no suspects at this time.
Drug Arrests
On 2/1/12 at approximately 3:45 Pm, police responded to Mountainside Park in Upper Montclair on a report of three individuals engaged in possible drug use. Upon arrival, police located three individuals sitting on a bench in the area provided by the caller. Upon seeing the officer, the three began to walk out of the park, but were ordered to stop by the officer. Upon approaching the three individuals, police noticed the smell of burnt marijuana.
Further investigation revealed that one of the individuals, later identified as Jelani Foster, was in possession of a zip-lock bag of marijuana. A sixteen year old Montclair male was found to be in possession of a bowl used for smoking marijuana, while a seventeen year old Montclair male was found to be in possession of rolling papers.
All three males were placed under arrest. Foster, 18, of Montclair, was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance. He was later released. The two juveniles were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and turned over to their guardians.
Anyone wishing to report drug activity is asked to call 973-509-4720.
