October 15, 2014 • www.theobserver.com • Vol CXXVII, No. 21
COVERING: BELLEVILLE • BLOOMFIELD
A first for Kearny VFW Post
• EAST NEWARK • HARRISON • KEARNY • LYNDHURST • NORTH ARLINGTON • NUTLEY
2nd Harrison hotel
By Karen Zautyk Observer Correspondent KEARNY – When Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1302 elected its new commander in May, it also made local history. Jennifer M. Long, who was installed in office at the state VFW convention in June, is the first woman to head a veterans’ organization in this area. And before any chauvinists ask: Yes, she has the credentials. Impressive credentials. Long served in the U.S. Army for 30 years, retiring in August 2012 with the rank of Sergeant Major. Her last assignment was with the 101st Airborne in Afghanistan, where she spent nine months “in country” and received a Bronze Star. While there, she was assigned to the French Army as an adviser on Afghan affairs, overseeing the equipping and training of local police and military in anticipation of the transfer of power from the French to Afghan forces. She also served a combat tour in Iraq in 2008-09, worked security operations at Guantanamo Bay and is a veteran of the Gulf War. Asked to comment on all that, she simply said, “You do see VFW page
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Photo by Ron Leir Developers and operators of the Element in Harrison power-pedal an electronic ‘ribbon-cutting,’ marking the opening of the new hotel.
of years” in places like the United Kingdom and China. With the Element brand, “we want to tap into a focus on wellness and sustainability,” he said. Last Thursday in Harrison, the hotel’s builders and
HARRISON –
new location, 399 Somerset tarwood Hotels & ReSt., just off Frank E. Rodgers sorts Worldwide opened Blvd. South. its 14th Element hotel in Starwood CEO Fritz van Harrison last Thursday with Paasschen told visitors that members of the developthat the company is “looking ment team pedal-powering a to open 19 more” Element virtual ribbon-cutting at the hotels “in the next couple
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Latest snafu for troubled district By Ron Leir Observer Correspondent
BELLEVILLE – For the past few years, it has been nothing but Sturm und Drang at the Belleville public school district. In late 2012 the superinten-
dent of schools resigned in the wake of several lawsuits by former subordinates charging him with sexual harassment and discrimination. During 2013 and 2014, angry teachers lambasted the school board for spending $2 million on an elaborate security sys-
tem instead of fixing broken computer equipment and replenishing instructional supplies and the teachers’ union head narrowly avoided being fired for “conduct unbecoming.” This year, the state assigned the district a fiscal monitor
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managers mounted bicycles attached to bike generator stands and, as they worked the pedals, they generated enough electricity to power a flat screen plasma monitor to create an “official opening’’ see HOTEL page
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who initiated an administrative shakeup after a preliminary finding that the district may have overspent $4 million. Then, last week, came the coup de grace: the district see PHONES OFF page
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