April 9, 2014 • www.theobserver.com • Vol CXXVI, No. 46
COVERING: BELLEVILLE • BLOOMFIELD
Mayoral election challenge
Drug store supplants shop, homes
By Ron Leir Observer Correspondent HARRISON – A newly minted Republican has thrown his hat in the ring for Harrison’s mayoralty. In November, Erik Brachman, the president of the Harrison Board of Health, will oppose the Democratic nominee James Fife, who was appointed mayor by the Town Council after the sudden death of Raymond McDonough Feb. 12. Three years ago, Brachman, 53, ran in the Democratic Primary as a candidate for a Second Ward seat on the Town Council and was defeated by Victor Villalta. Now a registered Republican – one of a dwindling breed in Harrison (of roughly 6,000 registered voters in Harrison, there are reportedly just 269 on file) – Brachman said that it appears that the last known local GOP chairman has moved out of town and, with the lack of a party leader, there was no formal nomination process by the Republican County Committee. Brachman said he has reached out to the Hudson County and New Jersey State Republican Party headquarters, notifying them of his intentions to file and, as of last week, had heard nothing from either. see FILINGS page
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• EAST NEWARK • HARRISON • KEARNY • LYNDHURST • NORTH ARLINGTON • NUTLEY
Image courtesy Bannett Group architects
A rendering of the new Walgreens approved for the old Lynn Chevrolet site on Kearny Ave.
By Ron Leir Observer Correspondent KEARNY –
D
evelopers had reason to cheer but also jeer in the wake of separate decisions by two of the town’s regulatory boards
Zoning Board of Adjustment voted 5-2 to approve an application filed by Mark Development Co., of New York and Massachusetts, to build a Walgreens Pharmacy at 453-467 Kearny Ave., partly on the site of the old Lynn Chevrolet property.
last week. Kearny will be getting a new chain drug store on its main business district but the proposed conversion of a vacant box factory to residential lofts won’t be happening. Last Tuesday, the Kearny
To make way for the 12,670 square foot, one-story building, including a drive-thru, and 41-space parking lot, the contractor will be tearing down the old auto showroom/service center, the see WALGREENS page
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Now, there’s a ‘jury duty’ scam By Karen Zautyk Observer Correspondent Recently, The Observer warned readers of a nationwide phone scam in which fraudsters pretending to be IRS agents are bilking money from unsuspecting taxpayers.
Well, there’s another phone scam out there, one that should be of specific interest to our readers in the Bergen County communities of North Arlington and Lyndhurst. However, everyone should be wary. The fraud is spreading to other areas.
Authorities have reported that Bergen County residents have been receiving calls from phony “Sheriff’s Office” employees threatening them with arrest because they allegedly failed to show up for jury duty. It’s all a fraud. The callers tell the targets that, because they missed
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jury duty, there is a warrant out for their arrest. In lieu of being arrested, they are advised, they can pay a fine via a credit card or debit card. But once you’ve provided your card number to these phonies, you’re in bigger see JURY page
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