9 minute read
Opinion
Thoughts & Views
EDITORIAL
Murphy’s up for re-election soon. Don’t forget his 2019 inaction
It has never been the policy of this newspaper to endorse candidates for elected office. After all, endorsements get half the population angered and half the population smiling. And let’s be frank, when was the last time you heard someone say, “Oh this newspaper endorsed candidate “X,” so I am voting for her!”
It’s true. Newspaper endorsements rarely, if ever, swing voters and make a difference in elections and cause more angst than good.
But this upcoming race for governor, which pits the incumbent Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, against Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican, we vowed back in 2019 we would not soon forget all Murphy did to ensure the Keegan Landfill remained open when West Hudson was suffering through the worst health crisis it had seen until 2020 and COVID-19 rolled along.
And while we’re eternally grateful the Keegan is forever closed, we know it is because of the hard work of Mayor Alberto G. Santos, the Kearny Town Council, grassroots citizens like Cristina Montague and countless other residents who said “no way!”
The Keegan Landfill is closed, today, in no way, shape or form because of anything Murphy did or did not do. If anything, his stubbornness, his arrogance, his refusal to intervene only made the saga drag on substantially longer than it had to.
And while it seems, based on the number of Democratic votes he got in Kearny in an uncontested primary in June, that a lot of people here are still willing to give him four more years, we have to ask — have you already forgotten what he did and didn’t do for us during that fiasco?
It wasn’t that long ago, folks. If he had gotten his way, that landfill would still be open, generating income for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority. Fortunately, your voices were louder. So while we aren’t saying vote or don’t vote for Murphy, we’ll end it here, with a question.
How’d you forget so fast?
St. Stephen’s 9/11 Memorial
To the Editor:
The “911 Memorial” at St. Stephen’s, Friday evening, was moving and touching. The Boy Scouts of Troop 305 placed 2, 977 American Flags which formed an “aisle of remembrance” for those that died that day in N.Y., PA, and Wash. DC. The service began outside on the lawn, by the Cross that was made from a beam taken from the World Trade Center..... followed by a procession into St. Stephen’s church. Religious leaders from the community spoke and prayed. Honored specifically were those from Kearny that lost their lives: Patrick Dickinson, Antoinette Duger, Judith Reese, Michell Robothan, Antonio Rocha, George Strauch and Thomas Sullivan.
Judith Reese’s brother Joe spoke about her life growing up and the kind of person she was, loving, outgoing, comical and witty.... and to this day is missed so much by he, his wife and daughter. Mayor Santos spoke on the tremendous loss of lives that day and the affect it has had on all of us as well as thanked everyone that took part in helping to save as many lives as possible.
Father Joe, Pastor of St. Stephen’s deserves a word of praise for hosting and planning this memorial and I was proud to have shared in it.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Jo-Ann Dolan
CORRECTION
Last week’s edition contained an error in the spelling of Lenny Kaiser quote from Bergen County Commissioner Steve Tanelli.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the Kaiser family during this difficult time. Lenny demonstrated that there was no Democrat or Republican way to pave a street. He knew that once the elections were over, everyone needed to work together for our constituents. People in government today should take a page out of Lenny’s book and learn to work together – it can’t always be about campaigning.”
In Memoriam Mary A. Tortoreti 1942-2016
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Belleville’s solemn tribute to township residents, others lost on 9/11
Belleville paused to remember three of its residents lost on 9/11. The solemn ceremony, held on the 20th anniversary of the attacks, featured remarks from Mayor Michael Melham and Dr. Richard Tomko, the superintendent of township schools.
Members of the police and fire departments placed a wreath to remember those lost that day. Belleville High School’s Brianna Santos played “America the Beautiful,” and Will Pennola played “Taps.” Elisa Charters, who worked on the 21st floor of the World Trade Center and survived the attacks on 9/11, served as guest speaker.
The Better Belleville Civic Association, a volunteer-based group of residents, honored Antoinette Duger, Harry Ramos and Harvey J. Gardner III. In honor of the three lost on 9/11, three large flags of were placed at the top of Greylock Parkway - in view of the New York City skyline.
Better Belleville also placed smaller flags along the corridors that lead to the township’s 9/11 Memorial on Chestnut Street and Franklin Avenue to honor all Americans who perished that day 20 years ago.
Photos courtesy of Belleville Township TOP: Mayor Michael Melham with special guest speaker Elias Charters. Charters, who grew up in Essex County, worked on the 21st floor of the World Trade Center and survived the attacks on 9/11. BOTTOM: Belleville High School’s Brianna Santos played “America the Beautiful,” and Will Pennola played “Taps.” Belleville artist Athena Zhe painted a rendering of the famous photo captured by newspaper photographer Thomas E. Franklin of three firefighters raising the American Flag near Ground Zero.
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By Capt. Timothy Wagner Kearny Police Department
On September 10 at 4:29 a.m., Officer Anthony Oliveira was patrolling at Kearny Ave. at Hoyt St. and came upon a Honda Accord parked in front of a fire hydrant and angled into the roadway. A man and woman were asleep in the Honda. They had keys to the car but neither had a driver’s license on them. The two told a convoluted tale of staying locally with a friend after suffering losses during recent Hurricane Ida. Nationwide computerized law enforcement databases were down for maintenance at the time of the encounter, so officers could not check the status of the car or its driver. They cut the pair a break and moved their car to a legal parking space.
At 5:30 a.m., the computer databases came back online and the officers received a notification that the Honda had been reported stolen out of Newark before their encounter with the sleeping pair. The officers returned and impounded the car, but its occupants were in the wind.
Later, at noon, the pair who had been sleeping in the Honda came to police headquarters to retrieve the car from impound. The woman told cops that the car belonged to her ex-boyfriend and his reporting it stolen was all a big misunderstanding. Officers eventually confirmed the misunderstanding with the Honda’s owner; however, in the intervening time, they learned that the woman was wanted by Essex County Superior Court for failure to appear on an assault charge (no bail) and by Newark Court for criminal mischief ($5,000 bail).
Officer Alan Stickno then arrested Shakirah B. Hall, 21, of Newark, at police headquarters. Hall was turned over to the Essex County Sheriff’s Office.
•••
On September 10 at 4:50 p.m., Officers Ryan Brady and Ryan Stickno arrested a 48-year-old Kearny man for violating a domestic violence restraining order. It is alleged that the man pushed and screamed at his 49-year-old girlfriend, who declined to press charges for the assault. However, the man was restrained from being at the home by a judge’s order. The violator was charged on a warrant with contempt of court and held at the county jail in South Kearny.
•••
On September 11 at 11:13 p.m., several Kearny officers, supplemented by mutual aid officers from Harrison Police Department, responded to a report of a donnybrook near the corner of Garfield Ave. and Elm St. The officers arrived to find factions of a family engaged in ferine behavior in the street. In the course of taming the parties, the officers arrested a 33-year-old Belleville woman when she disregarded their commands and charged at several people in view of the cops. That woman was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but later released with a summons.
Once officers quelled the dustup and sorted out the facts, they also charged the Belleville woman’s brother, a 30-year-old Kearny man, with contempt of court. This charge was related to his alleged violation of a domestic violence restraining order at the start of the fracas.
That man was arrested the next day when he appeared at police headquarters to inquire about the incident. He was charged on a warrant with contempt and sent to the county jail in South Kearny.
•••
On September 12 at 9:47 p.m., Officers Bismark Karikari and Michael Ore, and Sgt. Pat Becker handled a report of a shoplifting at Shoprite. A loss
KPD: Blaming it on IDA
See KPD, Page 15
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