May 7, 2014 • www.theobserver.com • Vol CXXVI, No. 50
COVERING: BELLEVILLE • BLOOMFIELD
Protecting yourself from ID theft
• EAST NEWARK • HARRISON • KEARNY • LYNDHURST • NORTH ARLINGTON • NUTLEY
Ups & downs of Kearny industry
By Karen Zautyk Observer Correspondent NUTLEY – Last week, we reported on a recent Neighborhood Watch meeting focusing on various scams -- and we put the spotlight on the information about unscrupulous homerepair “contractors.” This week, as promised, we’re reporting on other vital info that was provided, this about higher-tech fraud, the kind in which the scamsters utilize phones, ATMs, email, etc., to separate you from your money. In some cases, it’s a one-shot deal, an attempt to get a lumpsum payment by fraudulent means. In others, the criminals are engaged in identity theft, designed to drain your credit and your bank accounts. At the meeting, held April 24 at Town Hall under the auspices of the Nutley Police Department, Det. Tom Perrota covered a multitude of topics, part of the effort to circulate the warnings throughout the township via Neighborhood Watch members. “We want you to spread the word to your friends and neighbors,” Perrota said. “We need to get the information out and let everyone know what to look out for.” Mayor Alphonse Petracco introduced the program and admitted that he had been a see SCAMS page
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Main photo courtesy Dan Moran; inset photo by Ron Leir
Dan Moran is enjoying a revival of his Custom Steel business thanks to an EDA grant. Meanwhile, the owner of the old Spartech plant is clearing the property (inset photo) in hopes of attracting a developer.
By Ron Leir Observer Correspondent KEARNY –
A
South Kearny business sent reeling by super-storm Sandy has rebounded quite well,
computer-controlled equipment and six trucks, wrecked by five feet of storm surge in late October 2012. “A very specialized drilling machine critical to our operations was destroyed,” said Daniel Moran, president
thanks, in part, to a little help from the state. Custom Steel Contractors, one of several tenants at the Kearny Point Industrial Park, on the Hackensack River Peninsula, saw much of its machinery, including
of Custom Steel, which has served a variety of corporate clients including NJ Transit, UMDNJ, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Schering Plough, the Newark Renaissance Building, along with local governsee BUSINESS page
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Municipal campaign gets ugly BELLEVILLE – Belleville Raymond Kimble, who is seeking re-election in the May 13 municipal election, and his political allies have called on his opponent, Councilwoman Marie Strumolo Burke to step down in the wake of a racial slur that Kimble claims Burke uttered.
they placed in one of their elected officials has been violated in the most offensive manner. National and local revelations this week have reminded us all that racism and bigotry is alive and well, but they have also shown that it cannot and will not be tolerated, and that swift and decisive
Burke denies making the remark and has refused to resign. A press release issued by Kimble, his running mate Councilman Kevin Kennedy, and Councilman Steve Rovell on May 1 reads as follows: “It’s a sad day for the people of Belleville. The trust that
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action is required when it is exposed. “As the representatives of the Township of Belleville and of its 36,000 residents, we have no choice but to call for Councilwoman Burke’s immediate resignation from the see RACIAL page
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