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Weehawken Reporter NINE WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS SERVING HUDSON COUNTY • STORIES UPDATED CONTINUOUSLY AT WWW.HUDSONREPORTER.COM • A PUBLICATION OF THE HUDSON REPORTER
VOLUME 26, NUMBER 44 • SUNDAY, May 27, 2012
Green energy with green thumbs Weehawken man joins coworkers to plant 600 trees in the Amazon rainforest
SUMMER SCAM – Weehawken’s Director of Public Safety Jeff Welz advises residents to be aware of potential scam artists. To avoid being a victim of a scam, do not let unknown people inside your home, call the police if there is any doubt, and do not give out personal information.
‘Tis the season to be scammed Weehawken public safety director advises residents to stay safe, secure this summer By Gennarose Pope DOWN IN THE DIRT – Weehawkenite John LoPresto helped reforest the Amazon rainforest in Brazil on a five-day reforestation initiative with Viridian Energy in May.
By Gennarose Pope Reporter Staff Writer
ormally, John LoPresto returns to his home in Weehawken, where he’s lived for 14 years, from his day’s work explaining the benefits of switching to green and clean energy to New Jerseyans, and sleeps in a normal bed like most people do. On May 7, after grilling a fresh-caught meal under the Amazonian rainforest canopy, he and his fellow Viridian Energy independent associates decided to set up makeshift
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hammocks in the jungle and sleep under the stars. Five minutes in, as they all gathered in awe around what they thought was yet another harmless indigenous snake, their local guide flipped out, stabbed it dead with a stick of bamboo, and lifted it into the air with a machete. It was a bushmaster snake. One bite from the highly venomous pit viper – the most deadly in South America – and the victim is dead within 12 minutes.
see TREES page 4
Reporter Staff Writer
he temperatures are rising, lawns are growing, trees are blooming, and residents are coming out of winter hibernation. The time has come for gardening, and parties, and swimming, and…big fat holes in the roof, amongst other unfortunate and sundry home repair needs brought to light by the shining summer sun. What else comes out in warmer weather aside from birds and flowers? Scam artists, according to Weehawken Director of Public Safety Jeff Welz. “Obviously folks can’t do home repairs in the winter, so every time the weather turns, the home repair con artists come out,” he explained.
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Over the last five years, around two reported scams have been successfully pulled off in Weehawken per year, he said. But even that small number is too much, because they are absolutely preventable.
Contractor cons “Here’s how it goes,” Welz said. “Person comes to your door. ‘Hi, I’m such-and-such contractor. I’m repairing your neighbor’s house and they have a leak and we can’t see it. We noticed you have a window facing the leak and we just need to look out that window.’” The first mistake is to let them in, sort of like with vampires. You’re safe until you let them in, explained Welz.
see SCAM page 6
‘I have your back’ Union City-bred senator kicks off re-election campaign at local high school By Gennarose Pope Reporter Staff Writer
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.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) kicked off his re-election campaign against state Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-13) for a new term in the U.S. Senate at Union City High School (UCHS) the morning of May 21, surrounded by thousands of high school students waving campaign signs. “I went to high school in Union City, but it sure didn’t look like this,” Menendez announced. “Six years ago, I announced the start of my campaign for senate at Union Hill High School, which is my alma mater.” He received a few boos from Emerson fans – before the current high school
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complex opened, the students were split between two rival institutions. Menendez grew up on Hudson Avenue a few blocks from the school and raised his children Alicia and Robert Jr. in the city. His children, all grown up now, showed the students a video of their father eating breakfast at the Kennedy Boulevard IHOP and singing to the wait staff there. “I love them so dearly, even when they’re dissing on me on the video,” Menendez said. “I have been fortunate to have visited many places in this great nation and around the world, but I always hurry to come back home.” BACK TO HOME BASE – Sen. Robert Menendez chose to kick off his re-election campaign for U.S. senate at his hometown’s new high school.
see MENENDEZ page 7