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Responders Rescue Man Who Fell Into Trench In Old Tappan Responders Rescue Man Who Fell Into Trench In Old Tappan
Responders Rescue Man Who Fell Into Trench In Old Tappan A passerby was hospitalized with a leg injury after he fell into an open trench Thursday morning in Old Tappan. Borough police were joined by firefighters and members of the Old Tappan First Aid Corps after finding the man, who'd fallen into the nearly 9-foot hole at the site of a massive construction project on Old Tappan Road shortly before 10 a.m. A basket was needed to lift the 250-or-so-pound victim out. A regional rescue call was made and a medical chopper was briefly put on standby, but neither was necessary, responders said. "It's just a guy who fell into a hole," one said. "…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Tributes Mount: 'Gentleman, Class Act' Northern Valley Athletic Director Tom Kaechele Dies Tributes Mount: 'Gentleman, Class Act' Northern Valley Athletic Director Tom Kaechele Dies
Tributes Mount: 'Gentleman, Class Act' Northern Valley Athletic Director Tom Kaechele Dies TRIBUTE: It’s a measure of the man that tributes continued to mount – not just from his own school and district – as news spread of the death of Tom Kaechele. Thomas Kaechele, who was the athletic director at Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, was a gentleman, a class act, someone who cared not just for his players but those of their opponents, as well, those who knew him said. He died Sunday after battling an illness. “The light in Bergen County sports shines a little bit less bright today,” wrote Jim Tolomeo Sr. “[It] lost one of the best ADs in the business plus a fine…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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A Life Full But Too Brief: Beloved NJ Firefighter, IT Whiz, Dies At 57 A Life Full But Too Brief: Beloved NJ Firefighter, IT Whiz, Dies At 57
A Life Full But Too Brief: Beloved NJ Firefighter, IT Whiz, Dies At 57 TRIBUTE: The holiday season at the Emerson Fire Department won't be the same without Mark Brackenbury. Little else in town will be, either. The lifelong firefighter died peacefully at his Jersey Shore home surrounded by loved ones on Sunday, March 13, following a battle with cancer. He was 57. A Queens native, Brackenbury earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken before becoming an accomplished IT director. He began his professional career in 1993 as an IT manager with Health Management Systems in New York before joining Pfizer in 2002. Bracke…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Overnight Fire Severely Damages Norwood Home Overnight Fire Severely Damages Norwood Home
Overnight Fire Severely Damages Norwood Home Flames blew through the roof of a Norwood home near the Rockland County border. Firefighters battled extreme cold and slippery conditions to douse the upper-floor bedroom blaze, which broke out on Broadway just off Piermont Road around 2 a.m. Sunday. No serious injuries were immediately reported. Mutual aid responders either at the scene or in coverage included firefighters from Harrington Park, Closter, Demarest, Northvale and Old Tappan. Firefighters battled extreme cold and icy conditions in the overnight Norwood blaze.Closter FD

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Garage Fire Consumes Tesla, Severely Damages Old Tappan Home, Authorities Say Garage Fire Consumes Tesla, Severely Damages Old Tappan Home, Authorities Say
Garage Fire Consumes Tesla, Severely Damages Old Tappan Home, Authorities Say UPDATE: Used charcoal tossed into a garbage pail ignited a garage fire that ravaged an Old Tappan home near the Rockland border, authorities said. The Greenwoods Road blaze near the Rockland County border "was thought to have started from a charging Tesla, because the homeowner just arrived home and plugged the car in," Police Chief Joseph Tracy said. Responding officers learned that "they had used a charcoal grill the night before to cook dinner," the chief said. The homeowner "removed the coals from the grill and placed them into a plastic bag, then put the bag in a garbage pail in the …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Harrington Park Firefighters Make Quick Work Of House Blaze Harrington Park Firefighters Make Quick Work Of House Blaze
Harrington Park Firefighters Make Quick Work Of House Blaze Harrington Park firefighters quickly doused a house blaze Sunday afternoon. No injuries were reported in the two-alarm fire, which broke out in the attic of the two-story wood-frame home on Bogerts Mill Road around 1 p.m., firefighters said. No injuries were reported. "The fire was knocked within 15 minutes of arrival with no extension to the lower floors," the Harrington Park Fire Department reported. "A great stop by members. We want to thank neighboring companies for the assistance and coverage." These included companies from Emerson, Old Tappan and River Vale. PSE&G was also summ…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Quadriplegic Man Bedbound For 19 Hours After Airline Refused To Load $60K Wheelchair Quadriplegic Man Bedbound For 19 Hours After Airline Refused To Load $60K Wheelchair
Quadriplegic Man Bedbound For 19 Hours After Airline Refused To Load $60K Wheelchair A quadriplegic man was bedbound for 19 hours after the airline broke his wheelchair in Boston and then refused to load it onto a plane in Charlotte, NC, he and his New Jersey wife said on social media. Matt Wetherbee, 34, tweeted from a bed during a layover at Charlotte Douglas International Airport that American's crew at Boston Logan International Airport had damaged his chair.  Then, the crew in Charlotte refused to load it onto the plane he was boarding due to a lack of space. After my chair was damaged twice on 2 separate @AmericanAir flights, grounds crew in Charlotte refused to l…

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by Cecilia Levine
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Mahwah Man, 20, Struck, Killed On Route 17 Mahwah Man, 20, Struck, Killed On Route 17
Mahwah Man, 20, Struck, Killed On Route 17 A 20-year-old Mahwah man was struck and killed overnight Thursday on Route 17 in Ramsey, authorities confirmed. Erik Eidner had been with a group of people at his home late Wednesday and apparently went out for food sometime after midnight, Ramsey Police Chief Bryan Gurney said. The 2019 Mahwah High School graduate had gotten out of the vehicle and was in the left lane of the northbound highway outside Wendy's, the chief said, when he was struck and killed by what responders said was a tractor-trailer. His body was then run over by a passenger car. What Eidner was doing in the roadway wa…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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AFTERMATH OF IDA: Passaic Passenger, 70, Drowns In Floodwaters, North Jersey Begins Cleanup AFTERMATH OF IDA: Passaic Passenger, 70, Drowns In Floodwaters, North Jersey Begins Cleanup
Aftermath OF IDA: Passaic Passenger, 70, Drowns In Floodwaters, North Jersey Begins Cleanup A 70-year-old passenger drowned in the overflowed Passaic River, despite furious efforts to save him, authorities said, as North Jersey took stock Thursday of the damage from Tropical Storm Ida. Firefighters and police rescued other members of his victim’s family, Passaic Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said, as the region surveyed the aftermath in the sun-drenched light of day. “I believe just like every other municipality in the state as a whole and the tri-state area, we were caught by surprise,” Lora said. “No one could have predicted the storm would have taken such a turn for the worst.” Th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Police: Rockland Patron Assaults Old Tappan Restaurant Employee Over Request For Water Police: Rockland Patron Assaults Old Tappan Restaurant Employee Over Request For Water
Police: Rockland Patron Assaults Old Tappan Restaurant Employee Over Request For Water A Rockland man surrendered to police who charged him with beating a worker at a Bergen County Italian restaurant, authorities said. Luca Saggio, 46, of Stony Point asked the passing Bosfa Restaurant employee for water and didn’t like the response, witnesses told responding officers, Old Tappan Police Chief Joseph J. Tracy said. Saggio then “followed the employee into the kitchen of the restaurant and punched him in the head,” Tracy said. The employee suffered “a significant injury to his eye and head area,” the chief said. Responding officers rendered medical aid before an Old Tappan Ambu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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HEROES: Bergen Mom, Son Rescued From Rising Floodwaters HEROES: Bergen Mom, Son Rescued From Rising Floodwaters
Heroes: Bergen Mom, Son Rescued From Rising Floodwaters Floodwaters had reached the bottom of their SUV's windshield when heroes from Norwood rescued a Demarest woman and her young son during Tuesday's downpour. It was one of several saves throughout the late-afternoon thunderstorms that rocked North Jersey. First, DPW Supt. Robert Tracy grabbed hold of the Mercedes to keep the swollen brook from sweeping it under a Walnut Street bridge, Police Chief Jeffrey Krapels said. Then Police Officer Daniel Sullivan and Detective Perry Duelfer got the mom and her 10-year-old boy out, assisted by Sgt. Sal Russino, the chief said. Both were fine, he sai…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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SEEN THIS CAR? New Photos Released In Smash-Grab Theft From Old Tappan Woman Followed Home SEEN THIS CAR? New Photos Released In Smash-Grab Theft From Old Tappan Woman Followed Home
Seen This CAR? New Photos Released In Smash-Grab Theft From Old Tappan Woman Followed Home Police issued new surveillance photos of a vehicle whose driver stole an Old Tappan woman's handbag after following her home. The Toyota Camry had no front license plate and its rear license plate covered when the thief followed the victim’s SUV into the parking lot of a Russell Avenue complex shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday, Police Chief Joseph Tracy said. He parked next to her and got out as she headed into her home, then walked around the SUV, looking inside, before breaking the rear passenger window and snatching a large Coach bag, the chief said. Hearing her alarm, the owner…

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by Jerry DeMarco