Fair 21°
Police & Fire
Essex County Sheriff's K9 Unit To Be Disbanded By End Of Year Essex County Sheriff's K9 Unit To Be Disbanded By End Of Year
Essex County Sheriff's K9 Unit To Be Disbanded By End Of Year A petition has been created urging officials in Essex County to reverse a decision to shut down the sheriff's K-9 unit by the end of this month.  The sheriff's office stressed that homes will be found for all the dogs when the unit is closed down.  "Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura has announced that on December 31, 2019 he will disband the Essex County K-9 Unit," the petition reads. "The busiest county in New Jersey! Getting rid of Narcotic K-9 , Tracking K-9, Search and Rescue K-9, and Weapon/bomb detection K-9! Essex County is one of the ONLY COUNTIES IN THE STATE OF NEW …

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by Paul Milo
News
After Racist Comments Surface, Calls For Renaming Elizabeth's Reagan Academy After Racist Comments Surface, Calls For Renaming Elizabeth's Reagan Academy
After Racist Comments Surface, Calls For Renaming Elizabeth's Reagan Academy A college student and Democratic Party activist has started a petition calling for the Ronald Reagan Academy in Elizabeth to be renamed after a recording of the 40th president referring to Africans as "monkeys" emerged a few weeks ago.  Ricky Castaneda, 21, launched the petition on Change.org and hopes to have it signed by 1,000 people in time for the next Elizabeth Board of Education meeting Aug 22.  "In [the] wake of the damaging October 1971 racist phone conversation between Governor Ronald Reagan and President Richard Nixon that recently surfaced, outraged human/civil rights a…

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by Paul Milo
News
County Executive: Hackensack BOE Trustee Who Called LGBTQ Teaching 'Repugnant' Should Resign County Executive: Hackensack BOE Trustee Who Called LGBTQ Teaching 'Repugnant' Should Resign
County Executive: Hackensack BOE Trustee Who Called LGBTQ Teaching 'Repugnant' Should Resign Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco on Monday called for the resignation of a Hackensack School Board trustee who called new state laws that require teaching about LGBTQ history “repugnant.” “Bergen County’s diversity is one of our greatest strengths, and the thousands of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender help make us all stronger, and help make all of our 70 communities stronger," Tedesco said. “It is important that we stand in solidarity against bigotry, violence, and discrimination and continue to reaffirm our commitment to equal rights for everyone, especiall…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Hackensack BOE Trustee Responds To 'Homophobic' Emails Hackensack BOE Trustee Responds To 'Homophobic' Emails
Hackensack BOE Trustee Responds To 'Homophobic' Emails A Hackensack Board of Education trustee stirred controversy when she told district officials that she was not only disturbed by the state's new LGBT school curriculum law -- but felt it would be a waste of time for students, a new report reveals. The words "repugnant" and "disgust" were used by Frances Cogelia in emails to district officials expressing her sentiments toward the new state LGBT laws, which requires LGBT history be incorporated in middle and high school curriculums, OutInJersey reports. Cogelja sent several emails to Acting Superintendent Rosemary Marks saying the law was shoc…

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by Cecilia Levine
Schools
Bergen County Teens Fight To Keep Madison Church Music Director In Classroom Bergen County Teens Fight To Keep Madison Church Music Director In Classroom
Bergen County Teens Fight To Keep Madison Church Music Director In Classroom If not for Anna D'Achille, Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest would not have a men's choir. The women's choir that disbanded in 2017 would not have been reestablished. There would be no NVD District Vocal Music Day and the school productions of "Footloose" and "Mamma Mia!" would have been entirely different. So when it came to light that D'Achille -- a music director a the Presbyterian Church of Madison --  would not be returning to the high school for the 2019-20 year, many students and parents were heartbroken. More than 600 signatures were garnered on a Change.o…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
BIAS CRIME? Hindus Demand Justice For Mahwah Priest In Alleged Ramsey Parking Lot Assault BIAS CRIME? Hindus Demand Justice For Mahwah Priest In Alleged Ramsey Parking Lot Assault
Bias Crime? Hindus Demand Justice For Mahwah Priest In Alleged Ramsey Parking Lot Assault His young daughter cowered in the back seat as a Hindu priest was attacked by a Mahwah man during a road-rage incident in the parking lot of a Route 17 shopping center in Ramsey, according to a police complaint. Members of the Hindu community are now demanding justice in the alleged attack. Ramsey police charged Nicholas Dow, 30, who lives next door to the Hindu Samaj Temple of Mahwah on West Ramapo Avenue, with simple assault and burglary following the April 3 incident at the Interstate Shopping Center. They then referred the case to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to be considered…

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by Jerry DeMarco