cranford students noted for achievements ... · lobbied in their campaigns the last two years that...

OUR 127th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 07-2017 ONE DOLLAR (908) [email protected], February 16, 2017USPS 680020

Periodical – Postage Paid at Rahway, N.J.Published Every Thursday Since September 3, 1890

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Ad Populos, Non Aditus, Pervenimus

PPPPPAAAAAGE INDEXGE INDEXGE INDEXGE INDEXGE INDEXRegional ........ 2-3Editorial ........ 4-5, 15Police ............ 15Community ... 6-7Obituary ........ 6

Education ...... 16-17Sports ............ 9-14Real Estate .... 9-18Classifieds ..... 15A&E .............. 17-18

Town to Pursue CandidatesFor In-House Engineer

Cranford Students Noted forAchievements; Turf Field Delayed

By MICHAEL BONACCORSOSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

CRANFORD — Marilyn Birnbaum,interim superintendent of schools, statedat Monday night’s board of education,that she is excited about the progress inacademic and extracurricular develop-ment district-wide. Cranford studentshad notable achievements in academic,theatre arts, music, innovative technol-ogy, and foreign languages. Superin-tendent Birnbaum said each Cranfordschool provides the students a curricu-lum or tools to further their interests anddevelop their natural talents.

Cranford High School actors andactresses were recognized at the Speechand Theatre Association of New Jersey

annual competition held at RutgersUniversity. Niamh O’ Donovan andNoah Wohlsen achieved finalist in dra-matic monologue and comedic mono-logue, respectively. Lili Rebelo andBrenden Scalea achieved fourth placein dramatic pairs. THe superintendentsaid Grace Chen, a Cranford HighSchool senior, has continued to im-press. Grace was chosen as a candidatefor the United States Presidential Schol-ars Program. The program recognizessome of the nation’s most distinguishedgraduating seniors for their accomplish-ments in many areas such as academicsuccess, leadership, and service toschool and community.

Thomas Dineen, Adam Czysznic,

both seniors, and Jake Bradford, a jun-ior, both members of the Pre-Engineer-ing and Robotics Club, have progressedto the finals of the New Jersey Instituteof Technology (NJIT) Panasonic Cre-ative Design Challenge. Hillside Av-enue School eighth-grade chorus mem-bers, Gianni Vivas and Jacob Sokol,alongside Asher Shectman, a seventh-grader, were selected into the AmericanChoral Directors Association HonorChoir. The selected students will workwith fellow choristers from around NewJersey towards a culminating perfor-mance in May.

The sixth-grade mathematicians clubfinished planning out their JurassicWorld-themed amusement park, mak-ing decisions on dinosaur species, at-tractions, employment decisions, andguest-dining options. In upcomingweeks, the students will practice man-aging money, writings checks, and otherfinancial literacy skills.

In other business, SuperintendentBirnbaum said 2017 district goalsshould focus on student education to-wards professional development andutilize resources available to challengetheir faculty to teach with new andeffective strategies.

The math and literacy coaches willbe holding their second parent work-shop on Thursday, March 2, at 7 p.m. atthe Orange Avenue School. Parents willbe taught how to reinforce reading com-prehension and the progression of thefour mathematical operations and frac-tions.

Lincoln School conducted a seniorseminar. The seminar educates studentson the qualifications and skills mostneeded in career settings. Students meetwith guidance counselors monthly todevelop and implement a transitionalplan. Students explore career and edu-cational opportunities with their coun-selors. Cranford High School guidancecounselors and administrators have ini-tiated an advanced placement meeting

By CHRISTINA M. HINKESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

CRANFORD — Township Com-missioner of Public Works/Engineer-ing Ann Dooley recommended atMonday’s workshop meeting that thetownship committee seek candidatesfor a full-time in-house engineer. Thetownship switched from an in-houseengineering department to a consult-ing engineering firm almost threeyears ago, hiring Maser Consultingon an annual contract.

Democratic commissioners havelobbied in their campaigns the lasttwo years that they would revert backto an in-house engineer. RepublicansMary O’Connor and Andis Kalninsboth said the consultant engineer isthe better alternative.

Ms. Dooley said Maser Consultinghas had a budget of over $1 million,annually tallying up both the capitaland operating budgets. She said thatcost would be down to $400,000 byhiring an engineer, an assistant engi-neer and an administrative assistant,plus between $35,000 and $60,000for equipment and software. Havingthe engineer also be a certified landsurveyor would be “a big advantage,”she said, by saving on outsourcingthat service. Benefits would be anadditional cost.

In comparison, Ms. Dooley saidWestfield spends approximately$600,000, Summit $400,000 andMorristown $400,000 per year fortheir in-house engineering depart-ments.

Morristown has spent about thesame in road resurfacing as Cranfordhas recently, Ms. Dooley said.

Since she was sworn into office inJanuary, Ms. Dooley said the threecontracts that were awarded to Maser

for various projects were priced higherthan the other bidders, two were 100percent more and one was 54 percentmore, she said.

Also, the Request for Proposal(RFP) process would be “tightened”if an in-house engineer prepared theRFPs, Ms. Dooley said.

“My concern is we had that and itdidn’t work for Cranford,” Ms.O’Connor said.

“But it did for work for manyyears…we had the wrongperson…over a period of time,” Ms.Dooley said.

“It’s (the budget) skewed becauseof the amount of work we did,” Mr.Kalnins said, noting the road resur-facing expenditures over the last threeyears.

“When Rick (Marsden) was hereall the capital work was outsourcedbecause he didn’t have the experi-ence to design a bridge, a drainagesystem…he was good at flood con-trol,” Mr. Kalnins said.

“I’ve been pleased with the progresswe have seen with Maser,” Ms.O’Connor said. She said constituentshave told her they don’t want to seethe progress stopped.

The road resurfacing projects be-gan three years ago when money wasallocated for a bond by the townshipcommittee for those projects. “Wewere able to put more money in thecapital budget that previously wasn’tavailable…,” Mayor Thomas H.Hannen, Jr. said.

“I’d rather change the engineer andstay with a contractor…than pay ben-efits…,” Mr. Kalnins said. He saidalso with an in-house engineer thereare added capital expenditures foroutsourcing capital projects.

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Kristan McAliney for The Westfield LeaderPEACEFUL SETTING...Mindowaskin Park in Westfield looks peaceful following last week’s snowstorm.

Kristan McAliney for The Westfield LeaderAND YOUR WORD IS...A student is given her word to spell during the WestfieldSchool District’s Spelling Bee held February 9 at Westfield High School. Thecompetition is sponsored annually by the Junior Women’s Club of Westfield.

Paul Lachenauer for The Westfield LeaderFAMILY FUN ...The Kuzviwanza family sleds down a slope at Unami Park inCranford. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Hay Honored with Proc.For USMA Acceptance


CRANFORD — Cranford HighSchool (CHS) senior Cameron Eliza-beth Hay was honored with a procla-mation by the township committeeTuesday for being accepted for ad-mission for this summer into the(United States Military Academy)USMA at West Point.

Cameron has volunteered most ofher time with the Cranford HighSchool University Program, ModelUN, the Cranford High AssistanceProgram, and is captain of the CHSGirls Soccer Team and a coach for asoccer camp with young children.

Cameron had attended a USMA atWest Point pre-college program in2016, completed a junior internshipwith Congressman Leonard Lance’s(R-7th) office, and was nominated byfederal legislators to apply to WestPoint.

During its business portion of themeeting, the committee introducedtwo amended ordinances and passedmore than two dozen resolutions.

The code that outlays garbage col-lection was amended by ordinanceafter the township discovered that

haulers were collecting garbage fromcans left on the curb. In residentialareas, garbage is to be kept in the rearyard or can be left in the driveway, butnot beyond 10 feet from the closestwall of the dwelling, according to theordinance. Trash cans can also beplaced on the side yard (and is con-sidered the rear yard), Mayor Tho-mas H. Hannen, Jr. told The WestfieldLeader.

Timothy Meyer, Mark Willis andCarmen Giordino were advanced toFirst Class Firefighter with the Cran-ford Fire Department.

A $9.7-million bond anticipationnote was designated by the commit-tee as a Qualified Tax-Exempt Obli-gation.

Schenck, Price, Smith and Kingwas approved to provide labor attor-ney legal services at a cost not toexceed $20,000. Robert Renaud ofPalumbo, Renaud and DeAppoloniowas awarded a contract of $20,000 toprovide tax appeal legal services.

McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney &Carpenter, LLP was selected to pro-vide general litigation services at acost not to exceed $20,000.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Garwood Council Approves Bond,Discusses Police Dept. Policy

By BETSEY BURGDORFSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

GARWOOD — The GarwoodCouncil met on Tuesday night andapproved an award in the borough’saffordable-housing lawsuit, unani-mously approved a bond ordinancefor the purchase of a new garbagetruck in the amount of $200,000,introduced and approved an ordi-nance that establishes promotionprocedures for police chief andawarded proclamations to BrownieTroop 40920.

After meeting in executive ses-sion, the council awarded $5,800 toHarbor Consultants for conceptual

sketches to assist the borough inresolving its affordable-housinglawsuit with a vote of 4-to-2. Coun-cilwoman Ileen Cuccaro and Coun-cilman Joe Sarno voted against.

The bond ordinance to authorizethe acquisition of a new garbagetruck by appropriating the sum of$200,000 to pay for the cost wasunanimously passed.

“If we need it we need it,” resi-dent Bruce Paterson said, referringto the garbage truck during the pub-lic comment portion of the meeting.He stated that the borough has beenpaying for health benefits for anunidentified councilperson and thatthis money could have been used topurchase the truck. “I am very dis-appointed in that councilperson,”he said.

“We are there, we need the trucknow,” Councilman Sarno said.

An ordinance to establish promo-tion procedures for the rank of po-lice chief was unanimously ap-proved by the governing body.

“After the last council meeting,the Administrative Review Com-mittee met to discuss the promo-tional matters for chief of police,”Councilwoman Cuccaro said. Shestated that the committee met withlabor counsel and drafted an ordi-nance that would create a “processbased on scores, interviews andother related issues.”

“It is our responsibility to select

the best candidate for the boroughand the council needs to have thetools to make that selection,” statedCouncilwoman Cuccaro. “This or-dinance simply provides thosetools.”

According to the current ordi-nance regarding promotion proce-dures for the rank of police chief,the position was filled by mayoralappointment without council con-sent.

Councilwoman Cuccaro also saidthat she, along with other councilmembers, received an e-mail fromBorough Administrator ChristinaAriemma regarding “updates to therules and regulations for the policedepartment.” According to the e-mail, the updates were made byPolice Chief Bruce Underhill andwould be adopted by resolution ofthe council. The council received asecond e-mail from Ms. Ariemmathat was written by Municipal At-torney Robert Renaud that statedthe adoption of the resolution wasby the sole authority of MayorCharles Lombardo, not the council.

“I am vehemently against a lameduck chief, who is one step awayfrom retirement, to be making rulesand regulations and adjustments tothis very important matter concern-ing our police department and theguidelines going forward,” Coun-cilwoman Cuccaro said. “I also do

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Christina M. Hinke for The Westfield LeaderHEADED TO WEST POINT...Cranford High School (CHS) senior CameronElizabeth Hay, center, was honored with a proclamation by the township commit-tee Tuesday night for being accepted for admission this summer into the UnitedStates Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. Cameron is pictured with herparents, right, as Mayor Thomas H. Hannen, Jr., at the podium, reads theproclamation while Commissioner Andis Kalnins, at left, looks on.

Thursday, February 16, 2017 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES A Watchung Communications, Inc. Publication

Westfield Leader only

Freeholders OK $1.6 Mil.In Contracts for Bridges

By PAUL J. PEYTONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

COUNTY — The Union CountyFreeholder Board last Thursday hiredengineers for a half dozen projectsmostly involving replacement of smallor what are known as minor bridgestotaling almost $1.6 million.

The projects include: right-of-wayagreements for Gordon Street bridgereplacement from West First Avenueto Westfield Avenue in Roselle andRoselle Park, $203,720; rehabilita-tion of Springfield Avenue bridge inBerkeley Heights, Tony & Son, Inc.,of Colonia, $782,909; replacementof Stelle Avenue over Cedar Bridgein Plainfield, Remington & VernickAssociates of Secaucus, $144,184;design and construction administra-tion and inspection services for re-placement of Watchung Avenue mi-nor bridge over a stream in Plainfield,Alaimo Group Consulting Engineersof Mount Holly, $214,270; designand construction administration andinspection services for replacementof Shunpike Road minor bridge overa stream in Summit, Neglia Engineer-ing Associates of Clark, $124,828;and design and construction adminis-tration and inspection services forreplacement of Lawrence Avenueminor bridge in Mountainside,Remington & Vernick Associates ofSecaucus, $121,469.

Joseph Graziano, director of theDepartment of Public Works, Engi-neering and Facilities, said the cost ofthe Gordon Street bridge is covered bythe right-of-way agreements and thathe anticipates the county going out tobid on the project by this summer.

A $100,000 contract was awardedto the Union County Economic De-velopment Corp. (UCEDC) to pro-vide procurement training and tech-nical assistance to private businessesin the county.

“Union County businesses that areinterested in doing business with thegovernment can go there and get (in-formation) on how to do that. Just lastyear they provided assistance to 89clients, $116 million in governmentcontracts were awarded, and 440 jobswere created or retained as a result ofthose contracts,” said Amy Wagner,director of economic development.She added that UCEDC offered 35different training sessions “on vari-ous topics with different branches ofgovernment.” A total of 2,544 per-sons attended the sessions in 2016.

UCEDC was approved for a sec-ond $100,000 contract to providegeneral economic development ser-vices to private businesses in UnionCounty. Ms. Wagner said UCEDCthrough the contract providesmentoring training and finds loanproducts specific to the business seek-ing assistance. In 2016, 18 loans wereprovided to Union County businessesin excess of $1 million, 34 jobs werecreated and 103 positions were re-tained as a result of the services theyreceived, 417 mentoring hours werecompleted and reports filed for thecounty such as development projects.

Kenilworth resident John Bury saidthe county has given UCEDC “al-most $4 million” since 2014.

The board approved a resolutioncongratulating Undersheriff Gerald

Green, Jr. upon his retirement fromthe Union County Sheriff’s Office.According to a list of county employ-ees published on the Union CountyWatchdog Association website, he hasbeen a county employee since De-cember 16, 1989.

The board also passed a resolutionremembering former freeholder FrankLehr of Summit, who passed away onFebruary 8. He had been a freeholderin the 1980s and 1990s during twodifferent stints on the board.

Freeholder Al Mirabella said Mr.Lehr “made significant contributions,not only to this county, but to the Cityof Summit.”

“He was a gentleman, he workedhard for the county and the City ofSummit, and I always enjoyed myconversations with him. He’ll bemissed,” Mr. Mirabella said, notingthat he ran against Mr. Lehr for free-holder in 1997. Mr. Lehr was also aformer Summit mayor.

The board also passed severalmemorandum of understanding reso-lutions with First Tee of AmericaRaritan Valley Chapter regardingyouth golf programs at the GallopingHill Golf Course in Kenilworth.Armando Sanchez, director of recre-ational facilities, said 1,100 young-sters participated in First Tee pro-grams last year at Galloping Hill.

Mr. Mirabella said First Tee teachesUnion County youth “not only golfskills but life skills.”

A $1,725 livestock mortality policyfor the county’s Watchung Stable wasrenewed with the Great American As-surance Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.Mr. Bury questioned the amount perhorse.

“I noticed it is also for unforeseencircumstances. So I assume if theydie of natural causes it doesn’t payoff, which is a dumb way to buyinsurance,” Mr. Bury told the board.“Is this a accidental policy on horsesthat will probably never pay off?”

Department of Administrative Ser-vices Director Michael Yuska saidthe policy pays $2,875 per horse inevent of death. “The replacement of ahorse is anywhere from $3,000 to$5,000....So we consider this a fairlyequitable” policy, noting that mostcounties that operate horse facilitieshave similar policies. He said thepolicy covers injuries like attacks byan animal or a broken leg.

Mr. Mirabella, chairman of theboard’s fiscal affairs committee, an-nounced that the committee will holdbudget hearings on the following datesand with the following departments:Tuesday, February 28, Galloping HillGolf Course Clubhouse inKenilworth: departments of engineer-ing, public works and facilities; hu-man services; parks and recreation;public safety and corrections; Thurs-day, March 9, Union County Admin-istration Building, Elizabeth, officeof county clerk, prosecutor’s office,county sheriff, and county surrogate;Monday, March 13, Union CountyVocational-Technical Schools Ad-ministration Building in ScotchPlains, administrative services, countycounsel, economic development, andBoard of Elections.

All of the meetings begin at 5 p.m.The public is invited to attend butmay not ask questions.

“The freeholder board will thenconduct their review before voting tointroduce the budget later this year,”Mr. Mirabella said.

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LEADER IN CUBA...Westfield resident Deborah Enix-Ross displays a copy ofThe Westfield Leader in front of the Ernest Hemingway Museum in Havana, Cuba.In February 2017 Ms. Enix-Ross visited Cuba as part of a delegation of lawyersfrom the American Bar Association.

Courtesy of Jonathan DelanoA SIGHT TO SEE...Cranford resident Robert Schott stands next to this eight-foot-tall snow Minion that he built. The snow Minion, in the front yard of hisSpringfield Avenue home, took him 16 hours to build. He started on Saturdaynight and finished on Sunday. Minion characters were featured in the DespicableMe movies.

Rec. Panel Backs WildflowerMeadow at Zoo Property

By FRED T. ROSSISpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

SCOTCH PLAINS — The recre-ation commission reacted enthusi-astically to a proposal from the en-vironmental commission to plant awildflower meadow at the formerzoo property.

Chrissy Szpond, chairwoman ofthe environmental commission, out-lined the idea at the recreationcommission’s meeting on Mondaynight, saying the plan is for themeadow, which will be about a quar-ter-acre in size, to be located on agrassy field at the northwest cornerof the six-acre park. She explainedthat a wildflower meadow is a mixof hardy flowering plants andgrasses that recreate a natural habi-tat, similar to ones that havesprouted up in recent years alongthe Garden State Parkway and inWarinanco Park in Roselle.

She told the recreation commis-sion that maintenance of themeadow, once planted, is minimal.“Once you put it into place, you

never have to touch it again,” shesaid.

One question yet to be determinedis whether a fence of some type willbe needed to ward off the local deerpopulation. Mayor Al Smith, whoattended Monday’s meeting, in-quired about the risk from deer,which are particularly prevalent inthat area of Scotch Plains. Ms.Szpond said she expects the meadowto be so dense with plantings thatdeer may be able “to pick off a few”plants, but not too many. She said asimilar, unfenced garden at RamapoCollege in Mahwah has not had anyproblems with deer.

The cost of putting the meadowinto place is minimal, Ms. Szpondsaid. The township’s recreation de-partment and public works person-nel would prepare the soil for plant-ing, with the seeds costing slightlymore than $100 while water wouldrun about $45. Among the benefitsof the meadow, she said, is that itcould lead to certification from anon-profit environmental groupcalled Sustainable Jersey, a desig-nation that could help the townshipapply for and secure certain grants.

Recreation commission membersbacked the idea, with township Rec-reation Director Matt Mercurio call-ing it “a no-brainer” and adding thatpublic works personal were “ec-static” about the proposal.

In other business, Mr. Mercurio— along with Commission Chair-man Mike Walsh and townshipcouncil liaison Rose Checchio —have begun holding quarterly meet-ings with officials from the variousindependent sports leagues to dis-cuss matters such as playing fieldissues and permit requests. Mr.Mercurio called the most recentmeeting held last week “extremelypositive.”

During a brief discussion of parksand recreation budget issues, Mr.Walsh said he wanted to also for-mulate a long-term plan for issuesthat will need to be addressed sev-eral years in the future, includingthe eventual replacement of the ar-tificial turf at the southside soccerfield — and, possibly, the develop-ment of a community center. Alsodiscussed, briefly, was the idea of acommunity swim club and how sucha facility might be operated.

Mr. Mercurio also told the com-mission that the summertime Fri-day night movies and Thursday nightconcerts will be under the purviewof the recreation department afterhaving been sponsored in recentyears by the cultural arts commit-tee. He said he will strive to broadenthe appeal of both events so that awider range of ages will attend. Healso announced that the annual Eas-ter egg hunt will take place on Sat-urday, April 8, at 11 a.m.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Turf Fieldprogram. Superintendent Birnbaumsaid the goal of the program is to helpstruggling students achieve exemplaryscores on test day.

The program is backed by statisticaldata retained on each student’s perfor-mance to date. The superintendent saidall students must be reinforced in be-coming excellent residents of the com-munity. Hillside Avenue School third-grade students won the 2016 StudentsChange Hunger Food Drive, sponsoredby the Community FoodBank of NewJersey. The students donated over 1,000pounds of canned and boxed food. Thefood was collected from Octoberthrough December.

Policy changes were prepared forfirst reading and will be confirmed ordenied by the board of education. Thepolicy changes will address smokingprohibition, admission, conduct and dis-cipline, married and pregnant students,illness, and guidance services.

The baseball turf field has been de-layed. The project will not be com-pleted by March 1. The infield will bea darker brown turf and a blue andyellow C will be emblazoned behindhome plate. A main factor pendingproject completion is the weather.


EngineerThe committee also heard budget

presentations from the DowntownManagement Corporation (DMC), thetownship assessor’s office and themunicipal court.

Judge Mark Cassidy said the court’srevenues have increased in the lastfive years from $996,266 in 2011 toalmost $1.3 million in 2016, just un-der a 30 percent growth rate. Parkingand moving summonses and criminaland code enforcement cases have in-creased. Driving while intoxicatedoffenses are down.

Criminal cases will continue to in-crease since the state constitution wasamended this January, Mr. Cassidysaid. The amendment, in part, hasresulted in drug possession cases be-ing remanded from the county court-house to the municipal courts, he said.

The DMC requested to replace 396Victorian street lamps in the down-town, and switch them with an LEDstreet lamp in a style that would re-semble the original lamps. The cost

not believe that the mayor shouldbe the only decision maker when itcomes to rules for said department.”

Councilwoman Cuccaro stated thatthe council should be given the 79-page rules and regulations documentthat was modified by Chief Underhill,as well as the original, “to see thepertinent changes that were made.”

Mr. Paterson asked if the depart-ment heads had sent in their sugges-tions on how to trim their budgets,referring to a comment made by Coun-cil President Sara Todisco at the Janu-ary 24 council meeting. At that meet-ing, Council President Todisco statedthat she has asked all departmentheads to “come up with three ways tosave money” and asked them to giveher a short summary about their bud-gets. She stated she had not yet re-ceived those reports. Two more de-tailed budget discussions, open to thepublic, will take place on Thursdays,March 9 and March 23, at 7 p.m., atBorough Hall.

In other news, Brownie Troop40920 members were awarded proc-lamations from Mayor Lombardo formaking candy sleds for the GarwoodSenior Citizen Club’s Christmas party.It was reported that the new light atthe intersection of South Avenue andCenter Street is now functional and itno longer offers left-turn arrows. Thetemporary pavement on the four cor-ners of the intersection will be re-placed in the spring with cement.

The next meeting of the GarwoodCouncil will be held on Tuesday, Feb-ruary 28, at 7 p.m., in Council Cham-bers, located at 403 South Avenue.


GW Council

would be over $550,000. The town-ship would see a reduction in electric-ity costs by between 70 to 80 percent,DMC Board Member Paul LaCortesaid.

In other business, the townshipcommittee agreed to go out to bid forbanking services. Investor’s Bankrepresentatives attended the meetingand said the township could save$5,000 per month by switching toInvestor’s Bank. Currently, the town-ship banks with Two River SavingsBank.

The committee also agreed to re-pave a resident’s driveway onHerning Avenue. The township re-cently had Herning Avenue repavedand as a result led to damage of theresident’s driveway where it meetsthe road.

Resident Michael Mason of Wal-nut Avenue inquired about the dam atDroescher’s Mill and cleanup of treelimbs along the walking path fromLincoln Park to South Avenue.


HayRogut McCarthy was awarded a

contract to provide general litigationlegal services at a cost not to exceed$20,000.

Commissioner Andis Kalnins an-nounced he would host two budgetworkshops for residents who wish tohave input or ask questions. The firstworkshop will be held Monday, Feb-ruary 20, and the second March 5, at7:30 p.m. in Room 108 of the munici-pal building.

Township Administrator TerenceWall announced the township hascompleted the transaction of purchas-ing the land at 215-235 BirchwoodAvenue. On December 28, the com-mittee voted, by a 4-to-1 tally, topurchase the 16 acres of land for $18million from S. Hekemian Group.Next, the township is to develop aRequest for Proposal to sell the landto a developer, Mr. Wall said.

During the conference session heldprior to the public meeting, LibraryDirector John Malar said he is toretire at the end of the year afterserving 29 years to the library. Healso said the library is to begin offer-ing patrons online access to “hoopla”via the library online resources andwould require a library card login.Patrons can have access to music,movies, e-books, comics, TV showsand more for two weeks. The libraryplans to launch it Friday.

Benjamin B. Corbin for The Westfield LeaderLOVE NOT HATE...These youngsters stand in front of a newly constructed"Wall (of Love)" that's blooming on a homeowner’s fence in Westfield alongRahway Avenue. Westfield residents have been encouraged to put up conversationhearts with quotes and decorations, and to decorate the fence with love, as amessage about love and respect in Westfield in time for Valentine's Day. Thefamily offered free coffee, hot chocolate and doughnuts for the community and forstudents heading to school on Valentine’s Day on Tuesday.

Cranford Man Arrested forBank Robbery In Ohio

CRANFORD — A 60-year-oldCranford man has been arrested andcharged with robbery at an Ohio bank.

According toan online pressrelease from theG r a n d v i e wHeights, Ohio,police depart-ment, KarlSchlenker wasarrested as a re-sult of an investi-gation into a rob-bery that oc-curred at PNCBank, at 1530 West First Avenue inGrandview Heights, on January 31.

Grandview Heights Police detec-tives filed an arrest warrant forSchlenker. Detectives fromGrandview Heights and CranfordPolice apprehended Schlenker with-out incident at his New Jersey homeon Monday.

Schlenker allegedly walked into

the PNC Bank and passed a note to abank employee that demanded cash.The suspect stated that he had a bomb

in a bag that hewas holding. Thebank employeecomplied withhis demands, andthe suspect lefteastbound afterplacing the bagby the exit doors.

The ColumbusFire BombSquad was calledto the scene, and

after inspection, it was determinedthat there were not any explosive de-vices at the scene, according toGrandview Heights Police.

Schlenker is currently awaiting anextradition hearing, so that he can bebrought back to Franklin County,Ohio, and face the charges againsthim, according to Grandview HeightsPolice.

Photos Courtesy of Grandview Police

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Periodical – Postage Paid at Rahway, N.J.Thursday, February 16, 2017

Rec. Panel Backs WildflowerMeadow at Zoo Property Park

By FRED T. ROSSISpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

SCOTCH PLAINS — The recre-ation commission reacted enthusias-tically to a proposal from the environ-mental commission to plant a wild-flower meadow at the former zooproperty.

Chrissy Szpond, chairwoman of theenvironmental commission, outlinedthe idea at the recreation commission’smeeting on Monday night, saying theplan is for the meadow, which will beabout a quarter-acre in size, to belocated on a grassy field at the north-west corner of the six-acre park. Sheexplained that a wildflower meadowis a mix of hardy flowering plants and

grasses that recreate a natural habitat,similar to ones that have sprouted upin recent years along the Garden StateParkway and in Warinanco Park inRoselle.

She told the recreation commis-sion that maintenance of the meadow,once planted, is minimal. “Once youput it into place, you never have totouch it again,” she said.

One question yet to be determinedis whether a fence of some type willbe needed to ward off the local deerpopulation. Mayor Al Smith, who at-tended Monday’s meeting, inquiredabout the risk from deer, which areparticularly prevalent in that area ofScotch Plains. Ms. Szpond said she

expects the meadow to be so densewith plantings that deer may be able“to pick off a few” plants, but not toomany. She said a similar, unfencedgarden at Ramapo College in Mahwahhas not had any problems with deer.

The cost of putting the meadowinto place is minimal, Ms. Szpondsaid. The township’s recreation de-partment and public works personnelwould prepare the soil for planting,with the seeds costing slightly morethan $100 while water would runabout $45. Among the benefits of themeadow, she said, is that it could leadto certification from a non-profit en-vironmental group called SustainableJersey, a designation that could helpthe township apply for and securecertain grants.

Recreation commission membersbacked the idea, with township Rec-reation Director Matt Mercurio call-ing it “a no-brainer” and adding thatpublic works personal were “ecstatic”about the proposal.

In other business, Mr. Mercurio —along with Commission ChairmanMike Walsh and township councilliaison Rose Checchio — have begunholding quarterly meetings with offi-cials from the various independentsports leagues to discuss matters suchas playing field issues and permitrequests. Mr. Mercurio called the mostrecent meeting held last week “ex-tremely positive.”

During a brief discussion of parksand recreation budget issues, Mr.Walsh said he wanted to also formu-late a long-term plan for issues thatwill need to be addressed severalyears in the future, including the even-tual replacement of the artificial turfat the southside soccer field — and,possibly, the development of a com-munity center. Also discussed, briefly,was the idea of a community swimclub and how such a facility might beoperated.

Mr. Mercurio also told the com-

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Fred T. Rossi for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesHARDY SOULS...A few hardy commuters who trekked in to work during lastweek's snowstorm made it home to the Fanwood train station.

Fred T. Rossi for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesENJOYING THE FIRST SNOW STORM... Last week's snowstorm left enough of the white stuff for residents young andold to go sledding at Scotch Hills Country Club in Scotch Plains.

Fred T. Rossi for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesSNOW BLOWERS AT WORK... The February 9 snowstorm dumped enough ofthe white stuff that Scotch Plains residents, including a public works employee onPlainfield Avenue, had to haul out their snowblowers.

Freeholders OK $1.6 MillionIn Contracts for Bridge Work

By PAUL J. PEYTONSpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

COUNTY — The Union CountyFreeholder Board last Thursday hiredengineers for a half dozen projectsmostly involving replacement of smallor what are known as minor bridgestotaling almost $1.6 million.

The projects include: right-of-wayagreements for Gordon Street bridgereplacement from West First Avenue toWestfield Avenue in Roselle and RosellePark, $203,720; rehabilitation ofSpringfield Avenue bridge in BerkeleyHeights, Tony & Son, Inc., of Colonia,$782,909; replacement of Stelle Av-enue over Cedar Bridge in Plainfield,

Remington & Vernick Associates ofSecaucus, $144,184; design and con-struction administration and inspectionservices for replacement of WatchungAvenue minor bridge over a stream inPlainfield, Alaimo Group ConsultingEngineers of Mount Holly, $214,270;design and construction administrationand inspection services for replace-ment of Shunpike Road minor bridgeover a stream in Summit, Neglia Engi-neering Associates of Clark, $124,828;and design and construction adminis-tration and inspection services for re-placement of Lawrence Avenue minorbridge in Mountainside, Remington &Vernick Associates of Secaucus,$121,469.

Joseph Graziano, director of theDepartment of Public Works, Engi-neering and Facilities, said the cost ofthe Gordon Street bridge is covered bythe right-of-way agreements and thathe anticipates the county going out tobid on the project by this summer.

A $100,000 contract was awarded tothe Union County Economic Develop-ment Corp. (UCEDC) to provide pro-curement training and technical assis-tance to private businesses in the county.

“Union County businesses that areinterested in doing business with thegovernment can go there and get (infor-mation) on how to do that. Just last yearthey provided assistance to 89 clients,$116 million in government contractswere awarded, and 440 jobs were cre-

ated or retained as a result of thosecontracts,” said Amy Wagner, directorof economic development. She addedthat UCEDC offered 35 different train-ing sessions “on various topics withdifferent branches of government.” Atotal of 2,544 persons attended the ses-sions in 2016.

UCEDC was approved for a second$100,000 contract to provide generaleconomic development services to pri-vate businesses in Union County. Ms.Wagner said UCEDC through the con-tract provides mentoring training andfinds loan products specific to the busi-ness seeking assistance. In 2016, 18loans were provided to Union Countybusinesses in excess of $1 million, 34jobs were created and 103 positionswere retained as a result of the servicesthey received, 417 mentoring hourswere completed and reports filed forthe county such as developmentprojects.

Kenilworth resident John Bury saidthe county has given UCEDC “almost$4 million” since 2014.

The board approved a resolutioncongratulating Undersheriff GeraldGreen, Jr. upon his retirement fromthe Union County Sheriff’s Office.According to a list of county employ-ees published on the Union CountyWatchdog Association website, he hasbeen a county employee since De-cember 16, 1989.

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PPPPPAAAAAGE INDEXGE INDEXGE INDEXGE INDEXGE INDEXRegional ........ 2-3Editorial ........ 4-5, 15Police ............ 15Community ... 6-7Obituary ........ 6

Education ...... 16-17Sports ............ 9-14Real Estate .... 9-18Classifieds ..... 15A&E .............. 17-18

Garwood Council ApprovesBond, Discusses Police Policy

FIRST RESPONDER EXPERIENCE...On February 1, Officer Gerald Rites ofthe Scotch Plains Police Department, Fanwood Firefighters Kristopher and BrianPiccola, and EMT Eileen Ochsner from the Scotch Plains Rescue Squad visitedBrunner Elementary School to teach the pre-school students about the roles of firstresponders, as well as their vehicles, as part of the pre-school study of transpor-tation. Students were able to put on the gear of the first responders, access thevehicles, hear the sirens, see the lights, and experience many other aspects of thefirst responder experience.

By BETSEY BURGDORFSpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

GARWOOD — The GarwoodCouncil met on Tuesday night andapproved an award in the borough’saffordable-housing lawsuit, unani-mously approved a bond ordinancefor the purchase of a new garbagetruck in the amount of $200,000,introduced and approved an ordi-nance that establishes promotion pro-cedures for police chief and awardedproclamations to Brownie Troop40920.

After meeting in executive ses-sion, the council awarded $5,800 toHarbor Consultants for conceptualsketches to assist the borough inresolving its affordable-housing law-suit with a vote of 4-to-2. Council-woman Ileen Cuccaro and Council-man Joe Sarno voted against.

The bond ordinance to authorizethe acquisition of a new garbagetruck by appropriating the sum of$200,000 to pay for the cost wasunanimously passed.

“If we need it we need it,” residentBruce Paterson said, referring to thegarbage truck during the public com-ment portion of the meeting. Hestated that the borough has been pay-ing for health benefits for an uniden-tified councilperson and that thismoney could have been used to pur-chase the truck. “I am very disap-pointed in that councilperson,” hesaid.

“We are there, we need the trucknow,” Councilman Sarno said.

An ordinance to establish promo-tion procedures for the rank of po-lice chief was unanimously approvedby the governing body.

“After the last council meeting,

the Administrative Review Commit-tee met to discuss the promotionalmatters for chief of police,” Coun-cilwoman Cuccaro said. She statedthat the committee met with laborcounsel and drafted an ordinancethat would create a “process basedon scores, interviews and other re-lated issues.”

“It is our responsibility to selectthe best candidate for the boroughand the council needs to have thetools to make that selection,” statedCouncilwoman Cuccaro. “This or-dinance simply provides those tools.”

According to the current ordinanceregarding promotion procedures forthe rank of police chief, the positionwas filled by mayoral appointmentwithout council consent.

Councilwoman Cuccaro also saidthat she, along with other councilmembers, received an e-mail fromBorough Administrator ChristinaAriemma regarding “updates to therules and regulations for the policedepartment.” According to the e-mail, the updates were made by Po-lice Chief Bruce Underhill and wouldbe adopted by resolution of the coun-cil. The council received a second e-mail from Ms. Ariemma that waswritten by Municipal Attorney Rob-ert Renaud that stated the adoptionof the resolution was by the soleauthority of Mayor CharlesLombardo, not the council.

“I am vehemently against a lameduck chief, who is one step awayfrom retirement, to be making rulesand regulations and adjustments tothis very important matter concern-ing our police department and theguidelines going forward,” Council-


By CHRISTINA M. HINKESpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

CRANFORD — Cranford HighSchool (CHS) senior CameronElizabeth Hay was honored with aproclamation by the township com-mittee Tuesday for being acceptedfor admission for this summer intothe (United States Military Acad-emy) USMA at West Point.

Cameron has volunteered mostof her time with the Cranford HighSchool University Program, ModelUN, the Cranford High AssistanceProgram, and is captain of the CHSGirls Soccer Team and a coach fora soccer camp with young children.

Cameron had attended a USMAat West Point pre-college program

in 2016, completed a junior intern-ship with Congressman LeonardLance’s (R-7th) office, and wasnominated by federal legislators toapply to West Point.

During its business portion of themeeting, the committee introducedtwo amended ordinances and passedmore than two dozen resolutions.

The code that outlays garbagecollection was amended by ordi-nance after the township discov-ered that haulers were collectinggarbage from cans left on the curb.In residential areas, garbage is to bekept in the rear yard or can be left inthe driveway, but not beyond 10feet from the closest wall of the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Scotch Plains - Fanwood Times onlyPage 8 Thursday, February 16, 2017 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES A Watchung Communications, Inc. Publication

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Robyn Or-Gioffre for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesNO SCHOOL... These youngsters in Clark enjoy their day off from school duringlast week's snowstorm.

Town to Pursue CandidatesFor In-House Engineer

dwelling, according to the ordi-nance. Trash cans can also be placedon the side yard (and is consideredthe rear yard), Mayor Thomas H.Hannen, Jr. told The WestfieldLeader.

Timothy Meyer, Mark Willis andCarmen Giordino were advancedto First Class Firefighter with theCranford Fire Department.

A $9.7-million bond anticipationnote was designated by the com-mittee as a Qualified Tax-ExemptObligation.

Schenck, Price, Smith and Kingwas approved to provide labor at-torney legal services at a cost not toexceed $20,000. Robert Renaud ofPalumbo, Renaud andDeAppolonio was awarded a con-tract of $20,000 to provide tax ap-peal legal services.

McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney &Carpenter, LLP was selected to pro-vide general litigation services at acost not to exceed $20,000.

Rogut McCarthy was awarded acontract to provide general litiga-tion legal services at a cost not toexceed $20,000.

Commissioner Andis Kalnins an-nounced he would host two budgetworkshops for residents who wishto have input or ask questions. Thefirst workshop will be held Mon-day, February 20, and the secondMarch 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 108of the municipal building.

Township Administrator TerenceWall announced the township hascompleted the transaction of pur-chasing the land at 215-235Birchwood Avenue. On December28, the committee voted, by a 4-to-1 tally, to purchase the 16 acres ofland for $18 million from S.Hekemian Group. Next, the town-ship is to develop a Request forProposal to sell the land to a devel-oper, Mr. Wall said.

During the conference sessionheld prior to the public meeting,Library Director John Malar said heis to retire at the end of the year afterserving 29 years to the library. Healso said the library is to begin offer-ing patrons online access to “hoopla”via the library online resources andwould require a library card login.Patrons can have access to music,movies, e-books, comics, TV showsand more for two weeks. The libraryplans to launch it Friday.


Hay

By CHRISTINA M. HINKESpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

CRANFORD — Township Com-missioner of Public Works/Engineer-ing Ann Dooley recommended atMonday’s workshop meeting that thetownship committee seek candidatesfor a full-time in-house engineer. Thetownship switched from an in-houseengineering department to a consultingengineering firm almost three yearsago, hiring Maser Consulting on anannual contract.

Democratic commissioners have lob-bied in their campaigns the last twoyears that they would revert back to anin-house engineer. Republicans MaryO’Connor and Andis Kalnins both saidthe consultant engineer is the betteralternative.

Ms. Dooley said Maser Consultinghas had a budget of over $1 million,annually tallying up both the capitaland operating budgets. She said thatcost would be down to $400,000 byhiring an engineer, an assistant engi-neer and an administrative assistant,plus between $35,000 and $60,000 forequipment and software. Having theengineer also be a certified land sur-veyor would be “a big advantage,” shesaid, by saving on outsourcing thatservice. Benefits would be an addi-tional cost.

In comparison, Ms. Dooley saidWestfield spends approximately$600,000, Summit $400,000 andMorristown $400,000 per year for theirin-house engineering departments.

Morristown has spent about the samein road resurfacing as Cranford hasrecently, Ms. Dooley said.

Since she was sworn into office inJanuary, Ms. Dooley said the three con-tracts that were awarded to Maser forvarious projects were priced higher thanthe other bidders, two were 100 percentmore and one was 54 percent more, shesaid.

Also, the Request for Proposal (RFP)process would be “tightened” if an in-house engineer prepared the RFPs, Ms.Dooley said.

“My concern is we had that and itdidn’t work for Cranford,” Ms.O’Connor said.

“But it did for work for manyyears…we had the wrong person…overa period of time,” Ms. Dooley said.

“It’s (the budget) skewed because ofthe amount of work we did,” Mr. Kalninssaid, noting the road resurfacing expen-ditures over the last three years.

“When Rick (Marsden) was here allthe capital work was outsourced be-cause he didn’t have the experience todesign a bridge, a drainage system…hewas good at flood control,” Mr. Kalninssaid.

“I’ve been pleased with the progresswe have seen with Maser,” Ms.O’Connor said. She said constituentshave told her they don’t want to see theprogress stopped.

The road resurfacing projects beganthree years ago when money was allo-cated for a bond by the township com-mittee for those projects. “We wereable to put more money in the capital

budget that previously wasn’t avail-able…,” Mayor Thomas H. Hannen, Jr.said.

“I’d rather change the engineer andstay with a contractor…than pay ben-efits…,” Mr. Kalnins said. He said alsowith an in-house engineer there areadded capital expenditures foroutsourcing capital projects.

The committee also heard budgetpresentations from the Downtown Man-agement Corporation (DMC), the town-ship assessor’s office and the municipalcourt.

Judge Mark Cassidy said the court’srevenues have increased in the last fiveyears from $996,266 in 2011 to almost$1.3 million in 2016, just under a 30percent growth rate. Parking and mov-ing summonses and criminal and codeenforcement cases have increased. Driv-ing while intoxicated offenses are down.

Criminal cases will continue to in-crease since the state constitution wasamended this January, Mr. Cassidy said.The amendment, in part, has resulted indrug possession cases being remandedfrom the county courthouse to the mu-nicipal courts, he said.

The DMC requested to replace 396Victorian street lamps in the down-town, and switch them with an LEDstreet lamp in a style that would re-semble the original lamps. The costwould be over $550,000. The townshipwould see a reduction in electricitycosts by between 70 to 80 percent,DMC Board Member Paul LaCortesaid.

In other business, the township com-mittee agreed to go out to bid for bank-ing services. Investor’s Bank represen-tatives attended the meeting and saidthe township could save $5,000 permonth by switching to Investor’s Bank.Currently, the township banks with TwoRiver Savings Bank.

The committee also agreed to repavea resident’s driveway on Herning Av-enue. The township recently hadHerning Avenue repaved and as a resultled to damage of the resident’s drive-way where it meets the road.

Resident Michael Mason of WalnutAvenue inquired about the dam atDroescher’s Mill and cleanup of treelimbs along the walking path from Lin-coln Park to South Avenue.

Betsey Burgdorf for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesSWEET TREAT...Garwood Brownie Troop 40920 poses with Mayor CharlesLombardo after being awarded Proclamations at the council meeting on Tuesdaynight. The troop made candy sleds for the Garwood Senior Citizen Club’sChristmas party.


County Bridges


CRANFORD — A 60-year-oldCranford man has been arrested andcharged with robbery at an Ohio bank.

According to an online press re-lease from theG r a n d v i e wHeights, Ohio,police depart-ment, KarlSchlenker wasarrested as a re-sult of an investi-gation into a bankrobbery that oc-curred at PNCBank, at 1530West First Avenue in GrandviewHeights, on January 31.

Grandview Heights Police detec-tives filed an arrest warrant forSchlenker. Detectives fromGrandview Heights and CranfordPolice apprehended Schlenker with-out incident at his New Jersey homeon Monday.

Schlenker allegedly walked intothe PNC Bank and passed a note to abank employee that demanded cash.The suspect stated that he had a bombin a bag that he was holding. The bankemployee complied with his demands,

and the suspect left eastbound afterplacing the bag by the exit doors.

The Columbus Fire Bomb Squadwas called to the scene, and after

inspection, it wasdetermined thatthere were notany explosive de-vices at thescene, accordingto GrandviewHeights Police.

Schlenker iscurrently await-ing an extraditionhearing, so that

he can be brought back to FranklinCounty, Ohio, and face the chargesagainst him, according to GrandviewHeights Police.

Photos Courtesy of Grandview Hgts. PD

LEADER IN CUBA...Westfield resident Deborah Enix-Ross displays a copy ofThe Westfield Leader in front of the Ernest Hemingway Museum in Havana, Cuba.In February 2017 Ms. Enix-Ross visited Cuba as part of a delegation of lawyersfrom the American Bar Association.

mission that the summertime Fridaynight movies and Thursday night con-certs will be under the purview of therecreation department after havingbeen sponsored in recent years by thecultural arts committee. He said hewill strive to broaden the appeal ofboth events so that a wider range ofages will attend. He also announcedthat the annual Easter egg hunt willtake place on Saturday, April 8, at 11a.m.


Zoo Property

woman Cuccaro said. “I also do notbelieve that the mayor should be theonly decision maker when it comesto rules for said department.”

Councilwoman Cuccaro stated thatthe council should be given the 79-pagerules and regulations document thatwas modified by Chief Underhill, aswell as the original, “to see the pertinentchanges that were made.”

Mr. Paterson asked if the departmentheads had sent in their suggestions onhow to trim their budgets, referring to acomment made by Council PresidentSara Todisco at the January 24 councilmeeting. At that meeting, Council Presi-dent Todisco stated that she has askedall department heads to “come up withthree ways to save money” and askedthem to give her a short summary abouttheir budgets. She stated she had not yetreceived those reports. Two more de-tailed budget discussions, open to thepublic, will take place on Thursdays,March 9 and March 23, at 7 p.m., atBorough Hall.

In other news, Brownie Troop 40920members were awarded proclamationsfrom Mayor Lombardo for makingcandy sleds for the Garwood SeniorCitizen Club’s Christmas party. It wasreported that the new light at the inter-section of South Avenue and CenterStreet is now functional and it no longeroffers left-turn arrows. The temporarypavement on the four corners of theintersection will be replaced in the springwith cement.

The next meeting of the GarwoodCouncil will be held on Tuesday, Feb-ruary 28, at 7 p.m., in Council Cham-bers, located at 403 South Avenue.


GW Council

The board also passed a resolutionremembering former freeholder FrankLehr of Summit, who passed away onFebruary 8. He had been a freeholder inthe 1980s and 1990s during two differ-ent stints on the board.

Freeholder Al Mirabella said Mr.Lehr “made significant contributions,not only to this county, but to the City ofSummit.”

“He was a gentleman, he workedhard for the county and the City ofSummit, and I always enjoyed my con-versations with him. He’ll be missed,”Mr. Mirabella said, noting that he ranagainst Mr. Lehr for freeholder in 1997.Mr. Lehr was also a former Summitmayor.

The board also passed several memo-randum of understanding resolutionswith First Tee of America Raritan Val-ley Chapter regarding youth golf pro-grams at the Galloping Hill Golf Coursein Kenilworth. Armando Sanchez, di-rector of recreational facilities, said1,100 youngsters participated in FirstTee programs last year at GallopingHill.

Mr. Mirabella said First Tee teachesUnion County youth “not only golfskills but life skills.”

A $1,725 livestock mortality policyfor the county’s Watchung Stable wasrenewed with the Great American As-surance Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.Mr. Bury questioned the amount perhorse.

“I noticed it is also for unforeseencircumstances. So I assume if they dieof natural causes it doesn’t pay off,which is a dumb way to buy insurance,”Mr. Bury told the board. “Is this a

accidental policy on horses that willprobably never pay off?”

Department of Administrative Ser-vices Director Michael Yuska said thepolicy pays $2,875 per horse in event ofdeath. “The replacement of a horse isanywhere from $3,000 to $5,000....Sowe consider this a fairly equitable”policy, noting that most counties thatoperate horse facilities have similarpolicies. He said the policy covers inju-ries like attacks by an animal or a bro-ken leg.

Mr. Mirabella, chairman of theboard’s fiscal affairs committee, an-nounced that the committee willhold budget hearings on the follow-ing dates and with the followingdepartments: Tuesday, February 28,Galloping Hill Golf Course Club-house in Kenilworth: departmentsof engineering, public works andfacilities; human services; parks andrecreation; public safety and cor-rections; Thursday, March 9, UnionCounty Administration Building,Elizabeth, office of county clerk,prosecutor’s office, county sheriff,and county surrogate; Monday,March 13, Union County Voca-tional-Technical Schools Adminis-tration Building in Scotch Plains,administrative services, countycounsel, economic development,and Board of Elections.

All of the meetings begin at 5 p.m.The public is invited to attend but maynot ask questions.

“The freeholder board will then con-duct their review before voting to intro-duce the budget later this year,” Mr.Mirabella said.

Kristan McAliney for The Westfield LeaderBEAUTIFUL SCENE...Thursday’s snow storm created a post card setting at thePresbyterian Church in Westfield shown here from East Broad Street.

Courtesy of Jonathan DelanoA SIGHT TO SEE...Cranford resident Robert Schott stands next to this eight-foot tall snow Minion that he built. The snow Minion, in the front yard of hisSpringfield Avenue home, took him 16 hours to build. He started on Saturdaynight and finished on Sunday. Minion characters were featured in the DespicableMe movies.

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Thursday, February 16, 2017 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION

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Johnson Vows to CreateImmigration Council

STATE — Democratic guberna-torial candidate Jim Johnson saidhe would create a New Jersey Im-migration Council to assist legalimmigrants in navigating the immi-gration landscape under the Trumpadministration. The council wouldassist immigrant families in find-ing competent and adequate legalrepresentation, ensure equal accessto healthcare and education, andprotect federal funding for NewJersey’s sanctuary cities.

“It’s clear that over the next fouryears the Trump administration andRepublican Congress will continueto attack our immigration system,tear families apart, and attempt tostrip resources from immigrants whoare trying to create a better life forthemselves and their families. InNew Jersey, we must protect immi-grant communities from these at-tacks, as well as make them feelwelcome and secure in our state,”Mr. Johnson said.

The candidate said the council wouldbe comprised of representatives fromthe New Jersey Attorney General’sOffice, Department of Children andFamilies, Department of Education,Department of Health and Division ofConsumer Affairs. As one of its firstactions, the council, in conjunctionwith nonprofit organizations and legalgroups, would oversee a continuedincrease of the number of pro-bonolawyers available to families facinguncertain immigration situations. Mr.Johnson said he first called for such anincrease in November, shortly afterthe election of President DonaldTrump.

Additionally, the council wouldwork with the State Legislature onenacting a bill to prevent predatorylawyers from taking advantage ofimmigrant families seeking assis-tance. The council also would workin conjunction with the attorneygeneral to provide technical assis-tance and protect federal fundingfor municipalities consideringwhether or not to become sanctu-ary cities.

Mr. Johnson previously served asundersecretary of the treasury forenforcement in President BillClinton’s administration in the 1990s,where he oversaw the operations ofmultiple federal law enforcementagencies, including the United StatesSecret Service, Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco and Firearms, and UnitedStates Customs Service.

“Throughout my career, I’veworked to not only protect the Con-stitution, but also to implement solu-tions that work. These solutions havenever involved closing the doors onour American values. Now more thanever, New Jersey needs a leader thathas experience both bringing com-munities together and keepingAmericans safe,” the candidate said.

The Montclair resident is the son ofa legal secretary and church organist(his mother) and a small businessowner and ex-Marine (father).

Wisniewski Wins DemsSupport In PrincetonSTATE — New Jersey State As-

semblyman John Wisniewski (D-19th, Sayreville) said in an e-mailblast on Monday he has won theendorsement of the Princeton Com-munity Democratic Organization.

“..When all was said and done, I’mexcited to tell you we won in a land-slide against our Goldman Sachs-funded opponent (John Murphy) –earning 62 percent of the vote,” Mr.Wisniewski said. “This was a hugevictory for our campaign.”

“Democrats in Princeton ran anopen and democratic endorsementprocess that generated a huge turn-out of people wanting to be a part ofthe political process. This is howDemocrats win elections — notthrough backroom deals and riggedconventions, but with enthusiasm andstrong participation from grassrootsactivists,” the candidate said.

Internships Being OfferedFor Youth With DisabilitiesSUMMIT — The Union County

Board of Chosen Freeholders is co-sponsoring an internship programcalled Project Search with OverlookMedical Center in Summit that as-sists youth with disabilities by pro-viding them with employment train-ing and with independent living skills.

“Overlook is only one of four loca-tions statewide that hosts ProjectSearch, and we are proud to be co-sponsoring this program for our resi-dents,” Freeholder Chairman BruceBergen said. “Project Search providesteens with the opportunity to becomeself-sufficient and transition into thework force, which is a very worth-while goal.”

The announcement is one of Mr.Bergen’s Freeholder initiatives for 2017.Vice-Chairman Sergio Granados, whospoke at last year’s kick-off for ProjectSearch, concurred with Mr. Bergen.

“We look forward to working withour partners in ensuring the UnionCounty program is the leader and amodel for all other Project Searchprograms to follow across the state,”

Mr. Granados said. “We’re happy tobe part of an initiative that helps oth-ers, and we are committed to makingit grow.”

The Freeholder Board announcedthat the Project SEARCH-OverlookMedical Center program currentlyis recruiting for the 2017-2018school year.

Project SEARCH-Overlook is look-ing for students who meet the follow-ing criteria: must be 18 to 20 years oldand plan to still be in high school nextschool year; diagnosed with a devel-opmental or intellectual disability in-cluding those with Autism SpectrumDisorder; Basic and effective commu-nication skills (verbal or supported bytechnology); ability to take directionand change behavior if necessary; andthe desire to work competitively in thecommunity.

An informational session and tourwill be held on Wednesday, March 1,at 7 p.m., at Overlook, 99 BeauvoirAvenue, Summit. For more informa-tion, see projectsearch-unioncountynj-org.

Lance 41st Town HallSet For February 22

COMMUNITY CHALLAH BAKERS....Union County Freeholder ChairmanBruce H. Bergen and Freeholders Bette Jane Kowalski and Christopher Hudaktake part in the Jewish Federation of Metro West’s third annual CommunityChallah Bake at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside. They arejoined by Senator Tom Kean, Jr. (R-21st, Westfield) and AssemblywomanAnnette Quijano (D-20th, Elizabeth). The event’s mission was to help feed theneedy and raise awareness of the hunger crisis in New Jersey. Highlights of the dayincluded braiding and baking 800 challahs for local clients and helping withprojects for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

FLEMINGTON — Rep. LeonardLance (R-7th) will host his 41st in-person town hall meeting on Wednes-day, February 22, beginning at 7 p.m.,at Raritan Valley Community Col-lege in Branchburg.

According to a press release fromthe Congressman’s office, during thetown hall meeting, “Mr. Lance is ex-pected to discuss the important issuesfacing Congress and the Americanpeople.” He will take questions andshare his views on issues like strength-ening the economy, tax reform, bor-der security, international affairs andrepealing and replacing Obamacare.

Additionally, members of Mr.Lance’s staff will be available to assistresidents who are experiencing diffi-culties with federal agencies such asthe IRS, Social Security Administra-tion, Veterans Affairs, the State De-partment or any other federal agency.

The meeting will end at 8:30 p.m.and will be held at the college’s Ed-ward Nash Theatre, 118 LamingtonRoad, Branchburg.

The event is free and open to 7thCongressional District residents only.To help ensure seating, RSVPs arerequested via Mr. Lance’s website atlance.house.gov/townhallrsvp.

A petition on change.org from NJ7Forward had been requesting that Mr.Lance hold a public town hall meet-ing “as soon as possible.”

“The election of Donald Trump,along with his agenda, has causedconcern and even alarm among manyof us in the 7th Congressional Dis-trict. Rep. Lance will be voting on

issues of deep concern to citizens inthe 7th District, including the fate ofthe Affordable Care Act, funding ofwomen’s health, climate change is-sues, and privatization of Medicare.

“As a new member of the HouseEthics Committee, Rep. LeonardLance also will play a pivotal role inwhether members of Congress upholdstandards of transparency and avoidconflicts of interest and corruption.”

For more information on the town hallmeeting, call Mr. Lance’s district officesat (908) 788-6900 in Flemington or(908) 518-7733 in Westfield.

Wright to ReceiveChester Holmes Award

COUNTY — The Union CountyBoard of Chosen Freeholders willhonor Freeholder Vernell Wright withthe Chester Holmes HumanitarianAward on Monday, February 27, at6:30 p.m., according to a posting onthe website of the New Jersey Asso-ciation of Counties.

The honor is being bestowed as partof Black History Month and will takeplace at a ceremony at the Union CountyPerforming Arts Center in Rahway.

Mr. Holmes, a Rahway resident,served as a Union County freeholderfor four terms from 1998 through 2009.He previously served eight years onthe Rahway City Council, and 29 yearsas a Rahway police officer and detec-tive. He passed away in 2012.

Ms. Wright is serving her sixth yearon the board. A retired teacher, shewas first elected in 2011.

Clark Resident Pleads GuiltyIn Drug-Induced Death

COUNTY — Two Union Countyresidents who provided a Linden manwith the drugs that killed him in 2015have admitted to the crime, accord-ing to the Union County Prosecutor’sOffice (UCPO).

Alexandria Marcino, 25, of Clarkpleaded guilty to one count of strictliability for a drug-induced death andaggravated assault against a policeofficer for physically attacking aUnion County Homicide Task Forcedetective during the course of theinvestigation. Joseph Colatrella, 27,of Elizabeth pleaded guilty to a singlecount of distribution of a controlleddangerous substance within 1,000 feetof a school zone, according to a UCPOpress release.

The Homicide Task Force and Lin-den Police Department launched ajoint investigation into this matterwhen the 31-year-old overdose vic-tim was found dead in his home by afamily member shortly before 11:30a.m. on Thursday, August 6, 2015.Drug paraphernalia and narcoticswere recovered at the scene.

The narcotics later were determinedto have been acetyl fentanyl, a syn-thetic opioid similar to heroin, but farmore potent. Investigators determinedthat the victim contacted Marcinoregarding the drugs and acquired themfrom Colatrella mere hours before his

death.A multi-agency search for the two

defendants ended last March inWoodbridge, with members of theClark Police Department, UnionCounty Police Department and UnionCounty Sheriff’s Office assistingHomicide Task Force detectives inlocating Marcino and Colatrella andmaking the arrests.

Prosecutors will request state prisonsentences of five and three years forMarcino and Colatrella, respectively,when they are sentenced Friday,March 31, before state Superior CourtJudge Robert Kirsch, according tothe press release.

PA Could Not EnforceTravel Ban Under BillTRENTON — Bi-state legislation

to prohibit the Port Authority (PA) ofNew York and New Jersey – whichadministers both New York’s and NewJersey’s airports – from utilizing any ofits resources in support of the enforce-ment of an executive order by PresidentDonald Trump to ban travelers to theUnited States from seven countries inthe Middle East and Africa, has beenapproved by the State Senate.

The bill passed by a vote of 22 to13. It now goes to the State Assemblyfor consideration.

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County Again OfferingCommunity Garden GrantsCOUNTY – The Union County

Means Green Community GardenGrants program is now acceptingapplications for matching grantsto start a community garden, or toexpand or improve an existingcommunity garden in UnionCounty.

The new round of funding followson the success of the 2016 UnionCounty Means Green CommunityGarden Grants program.

The county provided funding for19 different garden projects in 10different municipalities in 2016. Thegrants program is funded by the Free-holder Board with the goal of en-abling more county residents to enjoythe benefits of growing fresh producegarden in their neighborhoods.

A minimum grant request of $800and a maximum of $3,000 are sug-gested. Pre-budgeted grant packagesare also available. All applicants mustbe prepared to match their award withan equivalent amount from othersources, in cash or in the value ofsupplies, equipment or professionallabor.

Funding from the Union CountyMeans Green Community GardenGrants program is available to non-profit organizations with 501(c)(3)tax exempt status, and to municipaldepartments or entities including pub-lic libraries, senior centers and com-munity centers.

Other volunteer groups may applyfor a grant by partnering with theirlocal municipality or a 501(c)(3) or-ganization. The grant partner willaccept the award on behalf of thegarden and ensure that the funds aredisbursed in accordance with the grantguidelines.

Only gardens that grow produceare eligible for grants. Gardens thatapplied for a grant in 2016 are wel-come to apply for a 2017 grant. Ap-plications for a 2017 grant are due by5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7. UnionCounty will notify grant recipients no

later than Thursday, March 16.The program covers produce gar-

dens including vegetables, fruits, nuts,berries, herbs and spices, and plantsthat are used in pest management orto attract pollinators. It does not in-clude ornamental plants or non-pro-ducing gardens.

Funding is available to start a newraised-bed garden, or to improve orexpand an existing raised-bed gar-den, including but not limited to: bedsand soil, compost/composter, fenc-ing, irrigation, sheds, tools and equip-ment, benches and tables.

More details and downloadableapplication forms are available on thecounty website, at ucnj.org/garden-grants. To view the 2016 CommunityGarden Grants recipients, visitucnj.org/green-connection.

Peek at the Week

By Paul Peyton of The Leader/Times

In Politics

Peyton's

Christie Vetoes UEZExtension for Cities

Non-action by Governor ChrisChristie on a bill that would have ex-tended the duration of five designatedUrban Enterprise Zones (UEZs) for anadditional two years will cause the salestax to double in those communities.

According to a NJ Advance Media/nj.com report, the sales tax will doublein cities as UEZ zones have been able tocharge half the state’s sales tax rate forthree decades. As a result the sales taxwent up to the full 6.875-percent staterate on January 1 in Bridgeton, Camden,Newark, Plainfield and Trenton.

The governor has said New Jerseywould lose $40 million in “retail sales taxalone” if the UEZ was extended for twoyears under the bill (S-2670/A-4189), NJAdvance Media/nj.com reported.

Bill Would Aid SanctuaryCities That Lose Fed. Funds

Three lawmakers from HudsonCounty, all Democrats, have an-nounced a bill to provide state aid tosanctuary cities that lose federal fund-ing per an executive order signed byPresident Donald Trump.

The bill, introduced in both housesof the State Legislature, is sponsoredby Senator Brian Stack and Assem-blyman Raj Mukherji and Assembly-woman Annette Chaparro of the 33rdLegislative District.

“Sanctuary jurisdictions across theUnited States willfully violate fed-eral law in an attempt to shield aliensfrom the United States,” according tothe executive order. Under the statelawmakers’ bill, (these cities) wouldreceive a “dollar-for-dollar” matchfor any federal dollars they lose perthe executive order.

Sen. Stack said Union City “techni-cally has always been a sanctuarycity,” saying the community has“never turned away anybody, docu-

mented or undocumented, when theycome in looking for help.”

Pres. Candidates Would HaveTo Release Returns Under BillThe Assembly Judiciary Commit-

tee has advanced legislation (A-4520)to require presidential and vice-presi-dential candidates to submit their in-come tax returns to run on NewJersey’s General Election ballot.

This bill requires candidates forPresident and Vice-President of theUnited States to submit their federalincome tax returns to the Division ofElections in the New Jersey Depart-ment of State for at least the five mostrecent taxable years for which the can-didate has filed such a return with theInternal Revenue Service. Presiden-tial and vice-presidential candidate taxreturns would have to be filed at least50 days prior to a General Election.

Essex Dems Pick Speight forAssembly Seat in 29th Dist.

Essex County sheriff’s officerShanique Speight has been tapped torun for State Assembly in the 29thLegislative District, Tap Into Newarkhas reported. The district includesBelleville and large sections of New-ark. She was previously appointed toan at-large seat on the Newark CityCouncil held by now CongressmanDonald Payne, Jr. (D-10th). But theappointment caused an uproar in Coun-cil Chambers and was overturned fol-lowing a legal challenge.

Lottery Tickets Now CanBe Delivered By Couriers

Governor Chris Christie has signeda bill that will allow for New Jerseyresidents to pay to have private cou-riers deliver lottery tickets to theirdoor. The bill is to make the lotterymore accessible to people who areconstrained to their homes or find itinconvenient to visit a store, NJ Ad-vance Media/nj.com reported.

Housing Summit to BeHeld March 15 At

Springfield ChurchSPRINGFIELD — A “Build a

Thriving Union County Housing”Summit will be held at Holy CrossLutheran Church, 695 Mountain Av-enue, Springfield, N.J., on Wednes-day March 15, at 7 p.m.

The event provides an opportunityfor all Union County residents to at-tend and learn more about the Hous-ing and Community DevelopmentNetwork for New Jersey’s “Let’s Builda Thriving New Jersey” campaignand how Union County civic, faith-based, non-profit leadership can makea thriving Union County.

Currently, Union County has anaffordable homes crisis which im-pacts everyone, according to a pressrelease submitted by Cranford-basedMonarch Housing Associates.

“A family needs an annual incomeof $52,960 to rent a two-bedroomapartment in Union County,” accord-ing to the release.

The Housing Summit’s sponsorsinclude: Elizabeth Coalition to Housethe Homeless, Homefirst, FamilyPromise Union County, CommunityAccess Unlimited, Union County In-terfaith Coordinating Council andMonarch Housing Associates.

Bill Would Allow TestOf Electronic Poll Books

TRENTON — The State Assem-bly Judiciary Committee on Mondayapproved legislation to test the feasi-bility of replacing expensive paperpoll books at voting sites with elec-tronic “books” to save money in thelong-term.

The measure (AJR-59) would per-mit each county commissioner of reg-istration, in consultation with theirrespective boards of elections, to con-duct an “Electronic Poll Book Dem-onstration Project” in certain elec-tion districts during the 2016 electioncycle, upon review and approval ofeach project’s plan by the New JerseySecretary of State.

The technology, known as an elec-tronic poll book, provides access tothe registration record, eligibility, sig-nature, and other information of eachregistered voter in the election dis-trict, and enables the same function-ality currently provided by the paperpolling record to be accomplished byelectronic means in the conduct of anelection.

Lance Supports ReturningPower to School Boards

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep.Leonard Lance (R-7th) has supportedstriking down two new standards onpublic teacher education and prepa-ration imposed in the waning days ofthe Obama Administration.

“Education decisions should bemade by local school boards, not of-ficials in Washington. When theschool board is in charge of decision-making, students, parents and teach-ers have control,” Mr. Lance stated ina press release. “When a governmentofficial in Washington issues costlydecrees there is little community in-volvement and accountability. Con-gress is now stepping in and using thepowers under the Congressional Re-view Act to strike down this rushedObama Administration order thatwould have diverted more funds tocompliance and fewer funds to stu-dents.

One of the accomplishments ofthe 114th Congress, he said, was thereplacement of ‘No Child Left Be-hind’ with reforms that reduces one-size-fits-all Washington policies andrestores local control and decisionmaking. President Obama signedthat reform package into law, but inthe closing days of his Administra-

tion, the federal government’s De-partment of Education issued twocompliance orders “the educationcommunity found overly burden-some and expensive,” according tothe release.

The Congressional Review Actwould allow Congress to step in andstrike down such provisions whenneeded.

Fanwood Irish Fest onMarch 11 And 12

FANWOOD — Sheelen’s Cross-ing in Fanwood will present the sixthannual Fanwood Irish Festival onSaturday, March 11, from noon until10 p.m., and Sunday, March 12, fromnoon to 5 p.m..

The event will be held on the southside of the Fanwood Train Stationand will include: Irish-themed food,drink and vendors; Irish dancers, Irishbagpipers and bands; activities forthe kids; all-day 50/50 drawings, anda large Tricky Tray event.

Advance tickets are available atSheelen’s Crossing, located at 200South Avenue in Fanwood.

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State LD-22Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D)

1514 E. Saint Georges Ave.Linden, N.J. 07036(908) 587-0404

Asm. Jim Kennedy (D)34 E. Cherry St.Rahway, N.J. 07065(732) 943-2660

Asm. Jerry Green (D)17 Watchung Ave.Plainfield, N.J. 07060(908) 561-5757

State LD-21Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr. (R)

425 North Ave. E.Westfield, N.J. 07090(908) 232-3673

Asm. Jon Bramnick (R)251 North Ave. WestWestfield, N.J. 07090(908) 232-2073

Asm. Nancy Munoz (R)57 Union Place, Suite 310Summit, N.J. 07901(908) 918-0414

LD-21 includes Westfield,Mountainside, Garwood,Summit and Cranford.

7th Congressional DistrictRepresentative Leonard Lance (R)425 North Avenue E., Westfield, NJ 07090(908) 518-7733

LD-22 includes Scotch Plains,Fanwood, Plainfield, Clark andLinden.

[email protected], [email protected]@njleg.org, [email protected]@njleg.org, [email protected]

12th Congressional DistrictRep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D)850 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 201, Ewing, N.J. 08628(609) 883-0026[Fanwood, Plainfield and most of Scotch Plainsare in the 12th Congressional District]

[Westfield, Mountainside, Garwood, Summit and Cranfordare in the 7th Congressional District]

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Legal Newspaper for the County of Union, New Jerseyand for Westfield, Mountainside, Scotch Plains, Fanwood, Cranford and Garwood

Letters to the EditorABCDICTIONOPQRSTDECEPTIONUVWXYZ

TM

DDDDDiction Deception

Letters tothe Editor

Union County FreeholdersElizabeth, New Jersey

(908) 527-4200Al Faella, Mgr. [email protected]

Bruce Bergen, [email protected]

Sebastian D’Elia, Public Info.(908) [email protected]

Watson Coleman’s Decision Not toAttend Inauguration Was Petty

New Zoning Board And The ChanceTo Really Make A Change

Obamacare: Affordable Care ActShould Be Repaired, Not Repealed

Snow Plows andFireplugs

I cleared the fireplug of snow infront of my house at 648 ArlingtonAvenue at the corner of South Chest-nut, between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.

At 2 p.m. I was out cleaning upmore snow when I saw the town snowplow truck pushing the snow aroundand against the fireplug. I tried tospeak with the driver, but he droveoff.

Are there problems between thetwo departments that should be ex-posed?

James PulliamWestfield

Editor’s note: Town AdministratorJim Gildea reports that this specifichydrant was examined by the FireDepartment and determined to beaccessible. The plows are only ca-pable of pushing the snow, not re-moving it, so snow buildup aroundfire hydrants is common. In cases ofvery large snow falls, the town en-courages residents to shovel out hy-drants in front of their homes afterplowing operations. The Fire Dept.also assesses hydrant access afterlarge snow storms and if needed willsend clearing crews to address theapproximately 750 hydrants inWestfield. The Public Works Dept.and Fire Dept. work cooperatively.

Don’t Lock the Deer Out ofThe Fanwood Nature Center

I recently learned of a 10-foot deer-proof fence to be erected around theperimeter of the Fanwood NatureCenter through a Green Acres Stew-ardship application filed by the bor-ough council for a grant at the lastcouncil meeting in January.

I have talked to many people intown about the absurd idea to lock thedeer and other nature out of theirhome and cut off their water supplyand none of them were aware of thisplan. They are as outraged and bewil-dered as I am. Those of us who livenear the Nature Center already have ahuge problem with the deer in ouryards morning, noon and night. I havepicked up who knows how many gal-lons of deer scat simply so I can walkin my yard without stepping in some.

I can’t even fathom how much worseour problem will become. I am agardener and it is a full-time job pro-tecting my plantings not to mentionexpensive to buy netting and replace-ment shrubs.

I imagine there will be more acci-dents on Terrill Road from deer cross-ing and the number of residents con-tracting Lyme disease will increase. Iam afraid all this will decrease ourproperty values as well.

I encourage you to join me at thenext council meeting on February 21,at 7 p.m. at Borough Hall [Fanwood]to discourage this proposal.

Denise RowbothamFanwood

I write in response to the letter onFebruary 2 about the peaceful protestsin front of Congressman Lance’s of-fice on Wednesdays. I do not speak forthe group. These thoughts are mine.

Yes, I did vote last November andno, I am not looking for a differentform of government. I feel stronglythat the Affordable Care Act shouldbe repaired, not thoughtlessly re-pealed, leaving millions withouthealthcare. I also wish to show oppo-sition to President Trump’s recentexecutive order on immigration,which has created chaos at home andaround the world because there wasno consultation with government

agencies. Even Congressman Lance,a Republican, has stated that it was,“rushed and poorly implemented.”

The writer of that letter wondersabout “shady” motives and if thereare “‘key words’ with no substantiat-ing value that are stirring their pas-sion?” No, there are words with sub-stantiating value. Those key wordsare: freedom of peaceful assemblyand freedom of speech. There’s noth-ing “shady” there!

Finally, I assure the writer of theletter that I am not being paid forstanding there.

Gale JacobWestfield

Last year at a long town hall zoningboard meeting [Scotch Plains], manylocal residents were stunned by theold zoning board’s approval of a gasstation and 7-Eleven store at the cor-ner of Hetfield Bridge and NorthAvenue. This was a residential-zonedproperty (which many residents toldthe old board) and had a better chanceof being turned down than the Wawaapplication on Route 22. Yet, thatzoning board voted for it after hear-ing dubious traffic studies (done bythe applicant and not the town) anddisregarding long-term residentialowners real input into the traffic flowduring peak times. The only thingresidents got was that one of the twostores requested was removed by theapplicant and that the Hetfield sidewould be an entrance only meaningthat the property had three entrancesand only one exit. One resident actu-ally heard a zoning board member

profess to not knowing it was residen-tially zoned after the vote — so werethey even listening?

Now comes a new zoning boardand the chance to really make achange. The approval for the initialcommercial stores was based on traf-fic flows specific to those commer-cial activities. The old studies shouldbe dismissed and new studies shouldbe conducted because it looks like aneven greater traffic flow will damagethe quality of life and value of theresidential neighborhood that is adja-cent to the stores. Blanket approvalwould be unacceptable so anotherround of residents speaking beforethe board should go forward, but let’snot accept bait and switch tactics.

So, what will it be, Slurpees orDonuts?

Robert FoxScotch Plains

In response to a “letter to the edi-tor” from Nancee Novak on February2, Ms. Novak states that Congress-woman Bonnie Watson Coleman, whorepresents us in Scotch Plains, deci-sion to boycott the inauguration ofour newly elected president was, “Inline with the sentiments of her con-stituents.” I do not believe this. Theymay have voted against Donald Trumpto be our president, but did not expecttheir Congresswoman to disregardthe will of the people by declining toattend his inauguration.

She outlines varied Constitutionalexplanations of why she did not haveto attend. Nobody said she had to. Iask Ms. Novak, what did the Con-gresswoman possibly gain by snub-bing this event? Could she not haveput politics aside and respected the

office of the new president that thepeople elected? I cannot believe thatthe majority of her constituents joinedher in this dishonor to the newlyelected leader of our country. BonnieWatson Coleman’s decision to ignorethe people’s will by conveniently find-ing an excuse not to attend the eventwas petty and mean spirited.

Ms. Coleman’s decision to join with70 other Democratic members ofCongress who decided not to attendthe ceremony, positions her with the“sore losers” who have lost sight ofthe word “fairness.”

We can only pray that, Ms.Coleman, along with these 70 electedofficials, will put this in the past andfocus on what is good for our country.

Richard DobynsScotch Plains

Bd. of Adjustment Member ShouldStop Talking And Start Listening

I’m writing in response to the re-cently published letter, “Westfield DoesCommunity And Public Matters VeryWell.” What a pat on the back from theboard of adjustment to the board ofadjustment! Edward Stellingwerf musthave taken a page out of the TrumpAdministration handbook for this one –deny, whitewash, gaslight, act like ev-erything is going great.

To call a constituent out by nameabout her concerns, and publiclyshame her about those concerns andfeelings in print is an absolute dis-grace to his position. He may not

agree with her concern, but the arenain which her concerns were presentedwere appropriate, that’s what thesemeetings are for. His job is to pointher in the right direction. Was he sooffended by the criticism that he sawneed to publish an op-ed about howbrazenly well the town is doing?

Stellingwerf’s letter is a personalattack against a concerned local – it isblatantly not “doing community andpublic matters very well,” rather quiteembarrassingly doing the opposite.Seems like the board would rather nothave feedback. In this political cli-mate, when the public is finally pay-ing attention to local politics, repre-sentatives had best be on their bestbehavior. Good luck silencing ourquestions and opinions. Your con-stituents are not going anywhere. Stoptalking, and start listening.

Nicole BonaccorsoCranford

Answers to last week’s arcane words.1. Vedro – A Russian liquid measure

equal to 3.249 gallons2. Crassamentum – The thick red part

of the blood3. Pandiculation – The act of stretch-

ing and yawning4. Jager – A hunter or rifleman

Below are four arcane words, eachwith four definitions – only one is cor-rect. The others are made up. Are yousharp enough to discern this deception ofdiction?

If you can guess one correctly – goodguess. If you get two – well-read indi-vidual. If you get three – word expert. Ifyou get all four – You must have a lot offree time!

All words and correct definitionscome from the board game DictionDeception.

JAGAT1. In Hinduism, animate beings2. A swordsman3. A dwarf or pigmy4. A fish net

PROTIST1. An enduring conflict2. An extra seat behind the driver’s

saddle on a motorcycle3. A religious sect of the early church,

the Aguarians4. Any one-celled plant or animal

RIEF1. A claw2. Robbery3. Treason4. Starvation

CURMUDGEON1. A miser; cantankerous fellow2. A boil of the gums3. An instrument for boring4. A mendicant or homeless person

Washington and Lincoln ShouldRemain Vital to All Americans

Our nation commemorated President AbrahamLincoln’s birthday on February 12, and this Mon-day will celebrate Presidents’ Day. Observed eachyear on the third Monday of February, Presidents’Day jointly recognizes Presidents Lincoln andGeorge Washington, whose birthday is February22.

Many anticipate Presidents’ Day for the three-day weekend it provides, or for the highly-toutedretail sales, while often overlooking the lives andlegacies of these two pivotal leaders. To us this is asad and critical oversight, particularly for childrenwhose familiarity with American history and itsarchitects may not be as substantial as it once was.

While the Broadway blockbuster Hamilton hasmade the founding fathers cool to packed audiencesdaily, and offered a unique forum to introduce thepatriots to new generations, we need to do our parton the local level to highlight the vital roles theseearly Americans and their successors played inshaping the United States’ destiny over two-and-a-half centuries, from 13 colonies to world super-power.

We encourage individuals and families, schoolsand public institutions such as local libraries andhistorical societies to help keep alive for eachgeneration the achievements of Washington andLincoln, along with those of other American presi-

dents and forefathers. Among those who took thelead in such efforts is former Mountainside residentBill Sanders, who nearly 20 years ago launched thePortraits of Patriots project to return portraits ofGeorge Washington back into schools nationwide.

Eight years ago, a flurry of commemorative eventsand activities in our area accompanied the 200thanniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Milestonesnaturally generate special attention for their sub-jects, but each Presidents’ Day can be a freshopportunity for all ages to revisit Washington andLincoln and their respective accomplishments onour country’s journey toward liberty for all.

Parents can initiate conversations with even youngchildren about these distinguished presidents, per-haps coupled with age-appropriate books or televi-sion/DVR programming. We hope such lessonsalso will be a strong component of school curricu-lums and community activities.

The volume of American and world history span-ning just the past quarter century alone can fill anentire year of classroom study if not more, yet it isimperative that we not let Washington and Lincolnfade into distant memory or simply become syn-onymous with a day off in February. The leadership,wisdom and actions of these commanders in chiefformed the foundation of our society today and willcontinue to resonate in our nation’s future.

State Senate Bill Would EstablishCode Blue Programs Statewide

The New Jersey State Senate last week passed abill to establish a Code Blue Program in the state. Ifsigned into law by the Governor, towns, socialservice agencies and non-profits would seek outhomeless persons on brutally cold nights and offerthem a chance to stay in a warm shelter.

“In our review of county programs, we learnedthat some are doing an exceptional job. But we wereastounded to learn that some, including ones pub-licly identified as Code Blue resources, were notaware of that designation or had no idea what CodeBlue is. One told our researcher that homelessnessis not even a problem in their area. Clearly, state-wide standards are desperately needed,” said StaciBerger, president and chief executive officer of theCommunity Development Network of New Jerseyin a press release submitted to this newspaper.

One of the most successful programs, in ouropinion, is the one run by Union County. As a resultof the success of the program, Union County CodeBlue received the 2009 Achievement Award fromthe National Association of Counties. The countystarted the program on its own, not because of statelegislation.

Under the auspices of the Department of HumanServices in concert with the Division of EmergencyManagement, the program is marking its 10-yearanniversary in 2017. The county program is acti-vated when the National Weather Service reportsthat the temperature is to go below 25 degreesFahrenheit or will be 32 degrees or below accompa-nied by precipitation. All 21 municipal police de-

partments are alerted by the Union County PoliceDepartment. Communities are then instructed toidentify people who might be in danger and in needof shelter. All placements in shelters are done throughthe county’s social services division.

Code Blue in Union County was started followinga survey which indicated that 842 adults and 320children were homeless daily in Union County,according to an August 2010 Union County pressrelease. During the first year of the program, 150persons were placed in shelters. That number rose to500 persons in the second year of Code Blue.

“Homelessness is an emergency every day acrossNew Jersey and especially on bad weather days likewe’ve had recently,” Laura Rodgers, chief programofficer for Jewish Family Service of Atlantic andCape May Counties, said in the Network pressrelease. “With Code Blue legislation in place, ourcitizens experiencing homelessness will be betterprotected from exposure in extreme weather situa-tions.”

While homelessness likely is more of an issue inour cities, there also are isolated cases where peoplewander off in freezing temperatures that likely couldprove fatal. Code Blue is simply a coordinated effortto ensure that available resources are explained toour at-risk population.

We would have hoped all New Jersey countieswould have been educated on Code Blue without theneed for state legislation. But with that said, weencourage Governor Christie to sign this piece oflegislation as it likely will save lives.

See more letters onpages 5 and 15

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Letter by Bd. of Adjustment MemberAmounted to A Public Shaming

We Need to Listen to All WestfieldResidents In Polite, Respectful Way

How Should We Judge PresidentTrump’s Efforts To Protect Us?

The English philosopher ThomasHobbes in “Leviathan” described aworld without security.

“In such a condition, there is noplace for Industry; because the fruitthereof is uncertain; and consequentlyno Culture of the Earth; no Naviga-tion, nor use of the commodities thatmay be imported by Sea; no commo-dious Building; no Instruments ofmoving, and removing such things asrequire much force; no Knowledge ofthe fact of the Earth; no account ofTime; no Arts; no Letters; no Society;and which is worst of all, continualfear, and danger of violent death; andthe life of man, solitary, poor, nasty,brutish, and short.”

We should judge President Trump’sefforts to protect us from terroristattack in light of Hobbes’ famousstatement.

Furthermore, the courts under thepolitical questions doctrine recognizethat issues directly affecting nationalsecurity are not justiciable.

For example, The United StatesSupreme Court in Oetjin v. CentralLeather Co., 246 U.S. 297 (1918) heldthat the conduct of foreign relations isthe sole responsibility of the Presi-dent! The Court in Baker v. Carr, 369U.S. 186 (1962) held that the federalcourts may not decide questions theConstitution makes the sole responsi-

bility of the other two branches.National security falls within the

purview of the President as the Com-mander-in-Chief. And by extension,the deadly serious responsibility ofensuring the safety of the United Statesfrom terrorist attack.

The President must have the su-preme authority in matters of nationalsecurity because he, not the judges,the courts, the lawyers, nor the pub-lic, has the massively detailed topsecret national security informationabout threats facing the country.

No war was ever won by a courtdecision or by a lawyer’s memoran-dum of law or oral argument.

Benjamin Franklin opined on No-vember 11, 1775, “Those who wouldgive up essential Liberty, to purchasea little temporary Safety, deserve nei-ther Liberty nor Safety.” But it is theother way around! Liberty withoutsecurity cannot exist.

Franklin lived when the terrorismwe are witnessing today was non-existent.

In short, a country that puts up legalbarriers to defending itself from for-eign and domestic attack will fulfillThomas Hobbes’ dreadful prognosti-cation.

Stephen SchoemanWestfield

We were appalled and incensedafter reading Mr. Stellingworth’s op-ed article in The Westfield Leader. Weare residents of this town for 26 yearsand while we have seen the townrevitalize since the 90s, we have thesame eery feeling, now as we had inthe past, about stores closing andbeing empty for long periods of time.

My husband and I did find theclosing of Panera very surprising anddisturbing. It was a popular place andcertainly a stable one for at least 10years. So why can’t questions likethis be asked in a town hall meetingwithout fear of being ridiculed,mocked, bullied, or schooled by some-one who does not share the sameopinion as members of the town coun-cil or the Mayor? The referencing toNorth Korea was over the top. Freespeech from the other side of the islein a democracy is important. We allpay taxes in this town and we have aright to be heard and answered re-

spectfully, without referencingsomeone’s economic intelligence orpolitical affiliations.

In case the members of the towncouncil hadn’t noticed, Westfield ischanging and we need to listen toALL of its residents in a polite andrespectful manner. Mr.Stellingworth’s article did not meetthat standard. He does not representthe feelings of this household. TheMayor and town council could workwith the Chamber of Commerce andothers like Ms. Bandelli, who obvi-ously has passion for her town, everybit as strong as Mr. Stellingworth, tofind a solution to this problem. Weneed to be united not divided. Allvoices need to be heard whether it’s adiffering opinion or not. Personal at-tacks are not necessary, That is whatdetracts from the beauty of our town.

Jessica RinaldiJohn BeilWestfield

I just had the pleasure of readingMr. Stellingwerf’s letter regarding theJanuary 24 town council meeting.Interestingly, he felt the need to men-tion how well our town council doescommunity and public matters, thenattacked one of our citizens for hav-ing the audacity to question that. Hespecifically mentions her by name inwhat amounts to a public shaming.This is particularly amusing consid-ering, by virtue of the title of hisletter, that he feels they are doing astellar job.

It would seem that for a long time,there has been some inertia amongstour citizens. I, too, have been guiltyof complacently allowing our electedofficials do whatever they find expe-dient or in our public interest withoutcomment or complaint. It also seemslike the time for this has past. I ap-plaud Marci and the rest of our con-cerned citizens for taking the time outto see our town’s council in actionand voice any concerns they have. I,too, have been saddened and frus-trated by the inability of our down-town to maintain some of our store-fronts because of exorbitant rents.When we moved here, the town wasfull of locally-owned stores. Now,few such places remain and our townhas the same big name brands youfind in any and every mall. It costs ourtown in terms of identity and unique-ness. And while I don’t bemoan theloss of another such store, Panera, Ido feel badly when businesses whichemploy our local community cannotkeep their doors open.

It also seems that Mr. Stellengwerf’stone is incredibly derogatory. Whilein may be in vogue for our electedofficials to demean their constituents,I would argue that our little townneeds to rise above such provoca-tions. Our common goal is the well-being of our town. To belittle in apublic letter sends a message thatopen dialogue and communication isnot welcome in our town councilmeetings. It sends a threat to the nextcitizen who has a concern. While I’msure that is not Mr. Stellengwerf’s

agenda, I would ask that from ourelected representatives maintain amore neutral tone which encouragesmore open participation in our com-munal discourse. I feel the bullyinghe mentions is actually not the inten-tion of Ms. Bandelli, but it may bemore reflective of the tone of theletter.

He is absolutely correct in sayingthat we have done a great job atelecting our public servants and wewill continue to do so. But if hewants “all of us in the community toarticulate our wants and needs in atone that shows other communitiesthat we are struggling through simi-lar issues how we solve an economicproblem,” then perhaps we could alldo well by elevating our respect foreach other.

One of the best thing about living inWestfield is the neighbors, the friend-liness with which we greet each other,the feeling of a tight community will-ing to listen and help each other. I feelour community transcends politicsand pettiness. Let us all do our part tomodel this behavior towards eachother.

Meredith DardiaWestfield

Taxpayers! Say No to Hudson CountySanctuary City Money for Illegals

I am once again appalled by thedesire to suck as much money out ofthe taxpayers as possible. However,this is especially grievous in that itpenalizes American citizens and le-gal immigrants to support people thatshould not be here in the first place.This time it is State Sen. Brian Stack,Assemblyman Raj Mukherji and As-semblywoman Annette Chaparro, allDemocrats from the 33rd District(Union City area) who introduced abill (S-3007/A-4590) to our StateLegislature to provide replacementfunding for any monies that PresidentTrump may withhold because theyrefuse to obey the law and are harbor-ing illegal immigrants.

Union City was one of the initialAbbott Districts that resulted in tak-ing our tax dollars for their schools.This resulted in our property taxesbeing one of the highest in our countyand approximately 65 percent of ourentire property tax bill.

Now they want more of our money!This is beyond belief and cannot be

tolerated and is not even consideringthat it could be a contributing to somefuture terrorist action.

Should Union City and these threeselfish elected officials succeed it no

doubt will take more of our tax dol-lars for something that many of usdisagree with and will already makeour tax burden worse. This is on topof other tax sucking items such asCOAH and property tax reassessmentwe in Scotch Plains are facing.

This situation I understand is espe-cially horrendous, taking into consid-eration that at this past week’s Leagueof Municipalities meeting when thetopic was mentioned some mayorscheered it on. This is very disturbingto say the least.

I hope that the taxpayers of NewJersey stand up and tell these threeand their elected Legislators NO! Donot take any more of my hard earnedtax dollars for this purpose.

Should someone not know how tocontact here elected officials, here isthe website: www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp

I will make every effort of sendingthis letter to or call the above offi-cials, and my elected representatives,the media, but I suspect, The Star-Ledger will not print it, but I antici-pate others will.

Albert MullerScotch Plains

Is There Any Logic to RenovationAnd Expansion of Fanwood Library?

Letters to the Editor

We are members of the FanwoodLibrary. This week we received amembership email advising us of the“Wildly Successful Petition Drive”regarding the plans for renovationand expansion of the library. We werealso informed that the results hadbeen presented to the Fanwood Coun-cil in November and that in Januarythe Council approved the repair andexpansion of the Fanwood Library.

The point that concerns us is thatthe membership email also advisedthat only 14 percent of the adult resi-dents of Fanwood signed the petition.Why would this even be taken to theCouncil for consideration? We pur-posely did not sign the petition. Weare definitely FOR repairs to the li-brary, but renovations and expansionwe are not in favor of at this time. Alarge renovation to the children’s de-partment was undertaken after Super

Storm Sandy. What will happen to allthat work?

We feel that the taxpayers’ moneyshould be going to road and infra-structure issues. The roads are notonly a hazard to cars, but also tohumans walking in areas of our bor-ough that do not have sidewalks (es-pecially for seniors!)

We were dismayed to see the per-centage of signatures collected, andthen seeing the result of the Councilvote.

We sent an email to Mayor Mahrregarding our concerns after receiv-ing the email from the library, buthave not received a response.

Is there any logic to this? Whatabout the other 86 percent of us thatdo not want our taxes to go to thisproject? Are we missing something?

Leslie and Mark SchmalfeldFanwood

Garwood Holds Town Hall MeetingTo Discuss Upcoming Property TaxesThank you to all the Garwood resi-

dents who came out on February 7 tocheck out the first ever BreakingDown the Budget Town Hall meetingat Lincoln School. If you were unableto make it, please feel free to checkout the slideshow presentation onwww.garwood.org. - on the home pageunder “Announcements.”

It was a privilege to lead the meetingthat discussed important budget topicsfrom the state’s 2 percent cap law toproperty revaluation, and more. Webroke down last year’s tax bill into itscomponents: 45 percent school, 34percent municipal, 19 percent county,1 percent library, .05 percent open

space. Additionally, information pro-vided by our Police, Fire, and PublicWorks Departments as well as Plan-ning Board and volunteer committeeswere shared.

The conversation on the municipalbudget will continue, as it has in pastyears, with two special budget meet-ings. Each meeting will start promptlyat 7 p.m. at Borough Hall on March 9and March 23. The Mayor and Councilwill discuss the budget line by line andwill open each meeting up for inputfrom the public. Hope to see you there.

Sara TodiscoCouncil President

Garwood

Why is New Loading Zone ProposedFor Lenox Avenue In Westfield?

Editor’s Note: The following letterwas sent to Westfield CouncilmenKeith Loughlin and Doug Stokes andcopied to The Westfield Leader.

Hi Keith and Doug, I saw in TheLeader that there is a new loading andunloading zone proposed on LenoxAvenue that based on its description,seems to be very close to if not infront of my building. If this is thelocation, why not call it out as “aka220 Lenox Ave.?” Could you pleaseexplain?

I have expressed serious safetyconcerns related to large deliverytrucks blocking sight lines from ourdriveway, making it very dangerousfor our tenants, their employees, pa-tients and customers to pull out aroundthe large delivery vehicles. This ap-plies to both sides of our driveway.

While I enjoy having the UPS storeso close by, 98 percent of the non-compliant truck parking/loading isrelated to the UPS store and, as I havesuggested in prior communicationsto you, consolidating pickups and

adjusting delivery/pick up timeswould go a long way toward com-pletely solving or at the very leastgreatly improving this situation.

Another easy solution, which I havementioned before, is to have the UPStruck use the post office lot, which isempty all day while the mail trucksare out on delivery.

It feels like the town council is nega-tively impacting a property owned byone long-time taxpayer in favor of arelatively new tenant, who moved inmuch more recently. Since the UPSstore was a change of use over theretail shop and is a much more inten-sive use than a retail shop, was thereany planning board involvement inthis change of use? Was the lack ofparking, loading, etc. considered?

Could a loading zone be placed infront of the UPS store?

Please reach out, because if I havethis correct, which I hope I do not, itis certainly not what I has hoped for.

Jon YounghansWestfield

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Designer Bag BingoOn Tap March 24

CRANFORD — Saint MichaelSchool in Cranford will host its Sec-ond Annual Designer Bag Bingo onFriday, March 24. The event will beheld at the Kenilworth Veterans ofForeign Wars headquarters, locatedat 33 South 21st Street, Kenilworth.Doors will open at 5 p.m., with call-ing beginning at 7 p.m.

Admission is $25 per person andincludes 10 games with three facesper game, plus dessert, coffee andtea. Participants are welcome to bringtheir own snacks.

There also will be a Tricky Trayraffle, 50/50 and a “Super Sassy” high-end handbag raffle. Additional Bingopackets will be available for purchase.

Participants are asked to bring apersonal care item donation, such astoothbrushes, shampoo, deodorantor other such essentials, to benefitSt. Joseph Social Service Center inElizabeth, and be entered to win a“Mystery Gift.”

Advance registration forms andpayment in full must be received byMonday, March 20, to reserve a spot.

For additional information, con-tact [email protected] or(908) 276-9425.

– Obituaries –Anne Dunbar Yearley, Was BelovedLongtime Westfield Resident

Anne Yearley

Anne Dunbar Yearley of Westfieldand Osterville, Mass. died on Tues-day, February 7, 2017.

Born in Plainfield, N.J., she was thedaughter of the late Eliza-beth Barlow Dunbar andWilliam Kuhn Dunbar.

A 1955 graduate of theHartridge School inPlainfield, she attendedWells College in Aurora,N.Y., from 1955-1957.She enrolled in Cornell,N.Y. Hospital School ofNursing in 1957 beforemarrying Douglas C.Yearley in 1958.

Anne lived with herhusband, Doug, inWestfield for over 50years, where they raisedtheir four children, Sandy, Doug, Pe-ter and Andrew, all graduates ofWestfield High School. For the past20 years, she has also enjoyed hersummers on Cape Cod in charmingOsterville, Mass., where most of thefamily also summered. Anne is re-membered as a woman of great com-passion, deep intellectual curiosity anda strong and direct will. She relishedher family including her beloved fif-teen grandchildren. Her days were de-fined by voracious reading (with arange that spanned culture, politics,sports and business!), gardening andfrequent trips and get-togethers withfamily and friends.

She loved the town of Westfieldand celebrated the passing genera-

tions by building strong bonds withnew families and their children in theneighborhood. In her husband’smemory she managed The Yearley

Family Foundation, acharity dedicated to sup-porting underprivilegedchildren in education.Through this pursuit sheestablished a collegescholarship program forWestfield High Schoolgraduates in need. As withall things, her involve-ment became very per-sonal as she interviewedall the student candidatesand followed many intheir successful collegecareers.

Anne is survived by herbrother, William K. Dunbar III of OldLyme, Conn.; her daughter, SandyYearley, and husband, Mark, ofHamilton, Mass.; her sons, Doug andhis wife, Susan, of Wayne, Pa., Peterand his wife, Mia, of London, En-gland, and Andrew and his wife,Suzanne, of Scarsdale, N.Y.; her formerdaughter-in-law, Alison PrudenYearley; and her fifteen grandchildren,Tyler, Paige, Benjamin, Peter, Cara,Sarah, Alex, Emma, Rowan, Campbell,Petra, Marin, Mackay, Jack and Carter.

The family is accepting donationsin Anne’s memory for The YearleyFamily Foundation, c/o 301 St.David’s Road, Wayne, Pa. 19087.

February 16, 2017

Warren H. Victor, 86, Executive;Was Proud Resident of Westfield

Warren H. Victor, 86, belovedhusband of Carol K. Victor, whopredeceased him, passed awayWednesday, February 8,2017, surrounded by hisloving family.

Warren was born onLong Island on June 2,1930. He was raised andlived as a proud residentof Westfield, N.J., forover 80 years.

Warren was a graduateof Bradley University,where he was an accom-plished track and fieldathlete. He joined theU.S. Air Force during theKorean War and, follow-ing his service to ourcountry, he returned to Union Countywhere he was the CEO and Presidentof the Amity Lamp Corporation,which was a successful business forover 50 years.

In 1980, Mr. Victor was appointedby Governor Thomas Kean and be-came chairman of the New JerseyEnvironmental Infrastructure Trust(NJEIT). Mr. Victor also had servedunder six governors as the Commis-sioner for the New Jersey Water Sup-ply Authority, which supplies cleanwater for more than two million people.

He also was a founding trustee forthe New Jersey Stem Cell Researchand Educational Foundation, formerpresident of the New Jersey TennisFoundation, as well as former chair-man of the Passaic River Coalition.

Mr. Victor was a longtime activemember of the New Business and

Industry Association. He also was atireless advocate for Kidney Dis-ease and Organ Transplantation.

Warren enjoyed sportsand played many yearsof competitive tennisand golf.

He was a lifetimemember ofShackamaxon CountryClub and Temple Emanu-El of Westfield, N.J.

He was a dedicatedadvocate and supporter ofcommunity college edu-cation and was recentlyhonored by the UnionCounty College Founda-tion as the 2016 Man ofthe Year for the impor-

tance of his role in our community.He leaves behind his daughters,

Jill Morton of Boca Raton, Fla. andTerri Seeley and son-in-law, John, ofShort Hills, N.J., along with his sevencherished grandchildren, Ben andJamie Seeley, Mark and Jen Morton,Jessica Seeley, Michael Morton andJack Seeley; a great-granddaughter,Myla Bernard Seeley, and his be-loved Great Dane, Princess.

A memorial service was held onSunday, February 12, 2017, at Con-gregation B’nai Jeshurun, 1025South Orange Avenue, Short Hills,N.J. Interment followed at BethDavid Cemetery in Kenilworth, N.J.

Donations may be made in Mr.Victor’s memory to The Arbor DayFoundation at https://www.arborday.org/.

February 16, 2017

Warren H. Victor

Summit Old Guard to EnjoyBarbershop Singing Feb. 21

MUSIC MEN...The Morris Music Men, pictured above, will visit with andentertain the Summit Old Guard with barbershop singing at the Old Guard’sTuesday, February 21 meeting.

SUMMIT — Albert Nittolo, co-ordinator for the Morris MusicMen, Morristown, will speak tothe Summit Old Guard at its Tues-day, February 21 meeting. TheMorris Music Men will sing selec-tions from their extensive collec-tion of barbershop melodies.

How did the barbershop quartetget started? Some say it started inthe 1830s. During that era, the lo-cal barbershop was a common gath-ering place for “average guys,” theones who could not afford poshsocial clubs. Often, a barber wouldstart crooning a tune; patrons addedtheir own harmonies. By 1890, theproliferation of printed sheet mu-sic made barbershop-style singinga popular fad.

How did the oversized mous-taches, striped jackets and strawhats become a part of the fad? Itstarted with vaudeville. Minstrelshows featured barbershop quar-tets, who sang in front of the cur-tain while performers and stage-hands prepared for the next act.The moustaches and other accou-terments provided modest enter-tainment for the audience. Today,barbershop music, with its close,unaccompanied (no instruments)four-part harmonies and ringingchords, has become a uniquelyAmerican folk art.

Typically, the barbershop quar-tet consists of an ensemble of foursingers; however, choruses rang-ing in size from 15 to 150 or moresingers have used this singing style.Eight are expected for the MorrisMusic Men presentation.

Barbershop vocals are usuallysung by the second tenor (the“lead”) carrying the melody, with

the first tenor singing harmonyabove him. The lowest voice, thebass, provides the foundation, andthe baritone fills in the middlespaces. All of this is done acappella.

All active men age 50-plus areinvited to attend the Tuesday morn-ing meetings of the Summit AreaOld Guard. Meetings are held atthe New Providence MunicipalCenter, located at 360 ElkwoodAvenue, New Providence. A coffeehour starts at 9:15 a.m., followedby a 10 a.m. business meetingbrightened by singing and humor.Guest speakers begin their talk at10:30 a.m.

Old Guard members participatein sports, bridge, hikes, trips, plays,concerts and other cultural events.For more information, call JimHewitt at (908) 233-5507 or logonto the websitesummitoldguard.org.

Imagine Open House EventSet Feb. 22 at New LocationMOUNTAINSIDE — Imagine

invites the community to attend anopen house and tour of its newfacility at 244 Sheffield Street,Mountainside on Wednesday, Feb-ruary 22. Open House hours are7:30 to 9 a.m.; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.,and 5 to 8 p.m.

“Moving into this new space willallow us to double the number ofchildren and families we are ableto serve in the years to come,” saidMary Robinson, executive direc-tor and founder of Imagine, A Cen-ter for Coping with Loss. Ms.Robinson was inspired to createImagine by the loss of her father tocancer in 1974 when she was 14.

Imagine currently serves morethan 230 children and adults everytwo weeks from 48 New Jerseytowns at its new center inMountainside. “The Imagine boardbegan planning over two years agofor a space of our own as we saw theprojector of our growth,” said Dr.Jennifer Simpson, board treasurer.“We developed a plan and launchedour Sustainability Campaign to putus in a position to lease a dedicatedspace of our own and expand ourservices. The community has beenincredibly supportive of our cam-paign and mission.”

In 2011 Imagine was made pos-sible through the vision and finan-cial support of Dr. Gerald Glasser,who wanted to ensure grief supportwas available for children and fami-lies in Westfield and surroundingtowns. The Glasser Foundation hascontinued to provide generous an-nual financial support to Imagine.

Imagine is a free, year-roundgrief support center for children,parents and adults coping with theloss of a family member due todeath or life-altering illness, de-signed to help children and teensdevelop healthy coping skills and

foster resiliency and emotionalwell-being for all those who grieve.

Imagine provides grief supportand education throughout the yearfor children, parents and adultsthrough its bi-weekly peer supportgroups, youth workshops and in-service workshops in the schools,community agencies and work-places, community-wide days ofremembrance, and on-site peer sup-port in schools and workplaces af-ter any traumatic loss. For moreinformation, contact Administra-tive Manager Val Stierhoff [email protected] or (908) 264-3100.

Lions Club SchedulesPancake Breakfast

SCOTCH PLAINS — TheScotch Plains Lions Club will onceagain hold a Pancake Breakfast onSunday, March 5. It will take placefrom 8 to 11:30 a.m. at the ScotchHills Country Club, located atJerusalem Road and Plainfield Av-enue in Scotch Plains.

This “All-You-Can-Eat” break-fast will feature pancakes, eggs,ham and sausage. Beverages willinclude juice, coffee, tea and milk.The cost for the breakfast is $8;children under age 6 may attendfor free. Tickets can be purchasedat the door or in advance from aLions Club member.

This event is one of manyfundraisers for this Lions Club, pro-ceeds of which are distributed tolocal charities and community ac-tivities, with a special emphasis onthe many organizations throughoutthe area that serve the blind andvisually-impaired. For more infor-mation on the Scotch Plains LionsPancake Breakfast or to reserve aplace, call Pancake Breakfast Chair-man Ron Kelly at (908) 753-8218.

Trinity Episcopal HelpingSeamen’s Church Institute

CRANFORD — The Trinity Epis-copal Church, located at 119 ForestAvenue, Cranford, will hold a BakeSale fundraiser for the Seamen’sChurch Institute (SCI) on Sunday,February 26. Additionally, Trinity iscollecting trial-size shampoo, two-to four-ounce bottles of hand lotion,lip balm, soft packs of facial tissue,packs of chewing gum and micro-wave popcorn, for SCI’s “Christmasat Sea” program.

“Ninety percent of everything con-sumed is brought over by containership,” said Marion Nechuta, Trinityoutreach chairperson, describing thekey role mariners play.

The bake sale will take place duringthe coffee hours following the 8 and 10a.m. services, at which time StevenLyman, director, and the ReverendJames Kollin, chaplain, of SCI’s PortNewark Center will present informa-tion about SCI’s work. For additionalinformation, call (908) 276-4047.

The SCI, founded in 1834 andaffiliated with the Episcopal Church,is the largest mariners’ supportagency in North America. It pro-vides professional mariners withspecially tailored education, free le-gal advocacy for mariner welfare,and pastoral care. It operates Sea-farer Centers in Port Newark, thePort of Oakland, Houston, Tex. andPaducah, Ky. Its chaplains visit morethan 2,400 vessels a year. The Sea-farer Centers provide mariners andport workers with Internet accessand personal computers, Interna-tional calling and cheap phone cards,recreational activities, worship andpastoral care regardless of their reli-gious affiliation, and free shuttlesfrom terminal gates to the center andlocal stores. For more information

about SCI, visit seamenschurch.org/or call (973) 589-5828.

Trinity Episcopal Church is a fam-ily church that has been servingCranford area families since 1872.Sunday services at 8 a.m. and 10a.m. are celebrated by the ReverendAndy Kruger, Trinity’s Priest-in-Charge. For more information aboutTrinity, call (908) 276-4047 or visittrinitycranford.org/.

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Doris M. Wyckoff, 95, Was LovingWife, Mother and Grandmother

Dr. Stanley G. Moum, 89, WasFormer Resident of Westfield

Dr. Stanley Gordon Moum, 89,passed away peacefully on Monday,February 6, 2017, in Midlothian, Va.He was born October 14, 1927 inStanley, Wis., to the late Erick O.Moum and Karen (Aas) Moum, bothof whom emigrated from Norway.Dr. Moum achieved many goals dur-ing his lifetime. He served in theNavy at the end of World War II. Heattended Iowa State University, wherehe graduated from Veterinary Schoolin 1964, and later co-founded “TheVeterinary Class of 1964 ScholarshipFund” at ISU, which provides annualveterinary scholarships.

Dr. Moum worked as a veterinar-ian for various companies includingMerck and Hoffmann-La Roche Phar-maceuticals. He retired to Seaford,Del., with his wife, Patricia, in 1993,where he became an avid birdwatcher.They enjoyed hosting frequent fam-ily gatherings and traveling world-wide in their retirement.

Dr. Moum was a devoted husband,father and grandfather who was tre-mendously proud of his family andhis Norwegian heritage. He is re-

membered by all who knew him as alearned and generous man. In addi-tion to his parents, he is predeceasedby his wife, Patricia (Ledebur) Moum;five sisters and four brothers, havingbeen the youngest of ten children.Surviving are four children, BarbaraMoum (Chuck McKenna) of Colum-bus, Ohio, Eric (Patty) Moum ofDelray Beach, Fla., Paul (Francesca)Moum of Westfield, N.J. and PeterMoum of Midlothian, Va.; 12 grand-children; five great-grandchildren andnumerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Dr. Moum’s lifewill be announced at a later date. Theimmediate family will attend his in-terment in Stanley, Wis. In lieu offlowers, please send memorial con-tributions in his name to the Class of’64 Scholarship Fund, c/o AmyKruzich, ISU Foundation, 2253 Vet-erinary Medicine, 1800 ChristensenDrive, Ames, Iowa 50010-1134. Thefamily wishes to thank Ascend Hos-pice and the staff at BrandermillWoods in Midlothian, Va., for theircompassionate care.

February 16, 2017

Doris M. Wyckoff

Mrs. Doris Merz Wyckoff died onWednesday, January 25, 2017, athome surrounded by her family inAtlantis, Fla., six weeks after cel-ebrating her 95th birthdayon December 14, 2016.Mrs. Wyckoff was prede-ceased by her husband,Russell L.; son, Robert R.;father, Paul J. Merz, andmother, Elsie HelrigelMerz.

She is survived by herdaughter, Susan W. Fell ofAtlantis, and her partner,Paul A. Frino of Fanwood,N.J.; son, Douglas L., andhis wife, Janice A., ofRahway, N.J.; and daugh-ter-in-law, Barbara F.Wyckoff of Scotch Plains,N.J. Mrs. Wyckoff was blessed withthree granddaughters who were thelove of her life, Darielle W. Kujawski(David) of Franklin, Mass., JessicaW. Cooney (Liam) of Wilton, Conn.;and Taryn W. Dwan (Kevin) of Arnold,Md., and with nine beloved great-grandchildren, Griffin, Landon andKellan Kujawski; Aidan, Connor andMadison Cooney; and Ashlyn, Teaganand Evelyn Dwan.

A graduate of Skidmore College,Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Mrs. Wyckoffstarted her career in retailing forHahne & Co., an upscale departmentstore in Newark, N.J., which eventu-

ally became Lord & Taylor. Marriedin 1946, she and her husband, Russell,co-founded The Westfield Shopper in1948, which evolved into The Subur-

ban News, a highly suc-cessful community news-paper in Union County,N.J. A volunteer leader incommunity and schoolactivities, Mrs. Wyckoffretired in 1986 andmoved from Westfieldand Normandy Beach,N.J., to Florida as a snow-bird until 1997, when sheand her daughter, Susan,moved permanently toAtlantis.

An avid bridge playerand enthusiastic golfer,Mrs. Wyckoff enjoyed

the company of many dear friendsat the Plainfield Country Club, N.J.,and at the Atlantis Country Cluband the Atlantis Golf Club.

A longtime parishioner of the HolySpirit Catholic Church, 1000 Lan-tana Road, Lantana, Fla., a Celebra-tion of Life Mass will take place at thechurch on Thursday, March 23, 2017,at 11 a.m. Interment will be held at alater date at Fairview Cemetery inWestfield, N.J. In lieu of flowers,please send memorial contributionsto Holy Spirit Catholic Church or tothe charity of your choice.

February 16, 2017

Local Artist to TeachDrawing TechniquesSCOTCH PLAINS — Teens and

adults are invited to join local artistEva Sienkiewicz on Saturday, March4, at 2 p.m., at the Scotch Plains PublicLibrary to learn basic drawing tech-niques. All supplies will be provided.

This program is free and open tothe public, but advance registration isrequired. For more information or toregister, go to scotlib.org, [email protected], call (908) 322-5007, extension no. 204, or stop bythe library Reference Desk.

The Scotch Plains Public Libraryis located at 1927 Bartle Avenue, oneblock from Park Avenue, in the centerof the township.

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Temple Sholom AnnouncesAnnual Comedy Night

SCOTCH PLAINS — TempleSholom, located at 1925 Lake Av-enue, Scotch Plains, will host itsAnnual Night of Comedy on Satur-day, February 25. Open to the pub-lic, this event will feature nation-ally known stand-up comedianSteve Marshall, who has appearedon numerous shows on NBC, CBSand the Food Network.

Mr. Marshall will entertain thecrowd with stories from his child-hood growing up in Brooklyn andhis life observing the behavior ofethnic people and society’s hypoc-risy. His high-energy, physical andintelligent humor culminates with alife message of telling the audiencenot to behave the way others wantyou to behave — just be yourself.

Mr. Marshall performs more than300 times a year, headliningDangerfield’s in New York Cityand national venues like The BocaBlack Box in Florida and TheLaugh Factory in Reno.

He will share the stage with localcomedian and temple member AlexBernstein and other talented nation-ally recognized and local comedians.

Doors will open at 7 p.m. and theshow will begin at 8 p.m. Refresh-ments wil l be served andbabysitting by the temple’s Confir-mation Class is available for a

nominal fee. Tickets are $36 inadvance and $40 at the door. Forquestions or to purchase tickets,call the temple office at (908) 889-4900 or go to sholomnj.org. Ad-vance ticket sales are open untilFriday, February 24.

NAMI Meeting to Be HeldAt New Location Feb. 21

SCOTCH PLAINS — The UnionCounty chapter of the National Al-liance on Mental Illness (NAMI)invites area residents to join its“Circle of Friends” on Tuesday,February 21, for a free, informalevening of sharing and discussion.

The program will begin at 7:30p.m. and will be held at the RobertWood Johnson Fitness and WellnessCenter, located at 2120 LambertsMill Road, Scotch Plains. This is anew location for NAMI meetings.

Joyce Benz, a Licensed ClinicalSocial Worker and director of theIntensive Family Support Servicesof the Mental Health Association inNew Jersey, will facilitate a paneldiscussion in which various topicsaffecting persons with mental illnesswill be explored. Attendees maybring questions and have their con-cerns addressed by people who also

know the journey of caring for afamily member with mental illness.

The panel will consist of mem-bers from the Union County NAMIboard who will offer insight fromtheir own experiences in dealingwith mental illness in their family.This will be an opportunity to sharewith others who have common in-terests and to learn about the latestissues in the field of mental illness.The format is relaxed and audienceparticipation is welcome.

There is no charge to attend and allare welcome. A free copy of NAMI’sResource Guide – Help in Navigatingthe Mental Health System in UnionCounty and other handouts and lit-erature will be available to attendees.Snacks will be provided. For infor-mation or in the event of inclementweather, call (908) 233-1628 or e-mail [email protected].

SMILE!...Dr. Scott Gersch visits with fourth-grade students February 6 inMichele Petrow’s class at Brookside Elementary School in Cranford. The young-sters are shown giving a “Thumbs Up to Healthy Teeth.”

Children’s Dental Health MonthCelebrated During February

WESTFIELD — February is Na-tional Children’s Dental Health Month(NCDHM), a month-long celebrationsponsored by the American DentalAssociation to promote dental educa-tion and awareness for all children.

The annual celebration focuses onoral hygiene care, nutritional con-cerns, prevention and the importanceof regular dental visits.

“By helping children develop apositive attitude and healthy habits,we will provide the tools they needto maintain good oral health through-out their lives and to keep their smileshealthy and beautiful,” said Dr. ScottGersch of Gersch Orthodontics and

Cranford Orthodontics.In observance of NCDHM, Dr.

Gersch and his dental team fromGersch Orthodontics and CranfordOrthodontics are visiting a numberof local Westfield, Cranford,Kenilworth, Garwood and Lindenelementary schools and speaking togrades 1 through 6 on dental healthand maintaining a beautiful smile.

For more information, or to sched-ule Dr. Gersch to visit your school ororganization, contact Gersch Orth-odontics at (908) 233-8668 [email protected] or contacthim via the website GerschOrtho.comor CranfordOrtho.com.

Trinity Church WelcomesReverend Andrew Kruger

Rev. Andrew Kruger

CRANFORD — The Trinity Epis-copal Church, located at 119 ForestAvenue, Cranford, has announcedits welcoming of the Reverend An-drew Kruger as Priest-in-Charge. After a 10-month Discernmentprocess, ReverendKruger was unani-mously approved byTrinity’s Vestry.

“We are so pleasedthat Reverend Andyhas accepted Trinity’scall to lead our par-ish,” said DavidBurnett, Senior War-den of the Trinity Epis-copal Church. “Hebrings many gifts toTrinity: a strong un-derstanding of our liturgy, a per-sonal approach to pastoral care, asharp intellect, and a great sense ofhumor and humble demeanor.”

Reverend Kruger is from SouthAfrica and was ordained in 2011.He has served as youth pastor, cu-rate and assistant priest at differentparishes during his career. Since2014 he has been the rector of theParish of Umkomaas withScottburgh, South Africa. Rever-end Kruger has a Masters in Theol-ogy from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. He is anavid student of Liturgical Renewal.Reverend Kruger was coordinatorof the Liturgical Task Team for theDiocese of Natal. Since 2013 he hasbeen a member of the Secretariat ofthe Anglican Church of SouthernAfrica’s Prayer Book RevisionCommittee. He speaks three lan-guages and reads four includingNew Testament Greek. His wife,Heather, recently began pursuingher Doctoral degree in Astro-phys-

ics at Princeton University.Reverend Kruger and his wife

said they are very excited aboutjoining the Trinity Cranford family.

“We were drawn to Trin-ity by its positive energythat was so evident duringthe interview process,”said Reverend Kruger.“We are eager to join theTrinity family and partici-pate in God’s work in theworld.”

Trinity EpiscopalChurch is a family churchthat has been serving theneeds of Cranford areafamilies since 1872. Sun-day services are at 8 a.m.and 10 a.m. For more in-formation about Trinity,

call (908) 276-4047 or visittrinitycranford.org/.

Trinity also provides Trinity Epis-copal Day School (TEDS), a state-licensed facility serving childrenfrom age 2½ through kindergarten.For more information about TEDS,call (908) 276-2881 or visittedscranford.org.

Area Blood DriveSet February 23

CLARK — New Jersey Blood Ser-vices will host an Emergency Short-age Blood Drive on Thursday, Febru-ary 23, between 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Itwill take place at the Clark VolunteerEmergency Squad, located at 875Raritan Road, Clark.

Every donor will receive a $5-offWhole Foods coupon, a Whole Foodsreusable bag and a $10-off Houlihan’scoupon as a thank you. To make anappointment, visit tinyurl.com/ClarkBloodDrives or call 1-(800) 933-2566. Walk-ins also will be welcome.

Free Health-Wellness ExpoTo Be Held February 26

WESTFIELD AREA — TheGreater Westfield Area Chamber ofCommerce (GWACC) will host theTrinitas Regional Medical CenterHealth and Wellness Expo on Sun-day, February 26, from 11 a.m. to 5p.m., at Snuffy’s Pantagis, located at250 Park Avenue, Scotch Plains. Theexpo is free to all attendees and thefirst 200 participants will receive afree swag bag with special offers.

Exhibitors will represent a varietyof health modalities and medical prac-tices including chiropractic, acupunc-ture, Pilates, yoga, rehab therapy,meditation, mental health resources,senior care, exercise, dental, and ur-gent care, among other categories.

“With the limitless choices of healthand wellness practitioners, we thoughtthe public would benefit from learn-ing more about these valuable re-sources right in their back yard,” saidGene Jannotti, executive director ofthe GWACC.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. BenMichaelis, a Manhattan clinical psy-chologist, author and frequent mentalhealth expert on “The Today Show,”“Fox News” and “MSNBC” as well as

for numerous national publications.At 1 p.m., Dr. Michaelis will dis-

cuss “The 5 Habits for Creating aHealthy Mind” and sign copies of hisbook, “Your Next Big Thing.”

Members of Trinitas will conducthealth screenings and hold educa-tional sessions on joint pain and fit-ness, cancer prevention, cholesterol,stroke prevention, immunization,asthma, sleep disorders, how to readfood labels and handling medicalemergencies. There also will be dem-onstrations on Pilates, biofeedbackand the KIKA Method.

Children are welcome to enjoy ascavenger hunt and other fun activi-ties.

The New York Blood Servicesbloodmobile will be on site from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. to help alleviate thecurrent blood shortage. All donorswill receive a free T-shirt.

For more information, including aschedule of information sessions anda list of exhibitors, visit gwaccnj.com/trinitas-health-expo. Further informa-tion also is available by contactingHeather Bryant at the GWACC [email protected].

‘Presidents Day Jump’To Be Available at Y

Registration OnlineFor Rec. Classes

CRANFORD — The CranfordRecreation and Parks Department hasannounced that effective Spring 2017,all class registrations must be doneonline through Community Pass.

To create an online CommunityPass account or to reset user names/passwords for existing accounts, visitr eg i s t e r. communi typas s .ne t /cranford. For additional informationor questions, call the Cranford Rec-reation and Parks Department at(908) 709-7283.

Nixons to Be FetedAt Community Ctr.

WESTFIELD — Westfield resi-dents James and Melba Nixon willbe honored at a Black History Monthevent on Saturday, February 25, atthe Westfield Community Center. Mr.and Mrs. Nixon have been residentsof Westfield since 1978 and havebeen valuable contributors to the richcultural experience of Westfield.

Mrs. Nixon was the first African-American citizen to be elected toserve on the Westfield PublicSchools board. Mr. Nixon, a pro-fessional scientist, has served manyfunctions in the community. He wasa director of the Westfield UnitedFund and served as president of theWestfield Neighborhood Council.

The event program is set to beginat 7 p.m. and will feature the Uni-versal Sound Band which will per-form a mix of blues, jazz andMotown classics. Refreshments andfood will be available and doorprizes will be awarded. The pubic isinvited to attend.

Tickets for this event are $20 andcan be purchased online atwestfieldcommunitycenter.org ordirectly obtained by contacting theexecutive director of the center,Velvet Rogers, at (908) 232-4759.

The Westfield Community Centerhas been serving the local communitysince 1935. It is located at 558 WestBroad Street, at the corner of PalstedAvenue and West Broad Street.

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Fanwood Presb. PlansShrove Tuesday MealFANWOOD — The Fanwood Pres-

byterian Church invites all to a mealof pancakes, sausages and apple sauceon Shrove Tuesday, February 28.There will be continuous seating be-tween 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

The celebrations on the Tuesdaybefore Ash Wednesday and the Lentenseason is called many things — MardiGras, Fasching, Fat Tuesday or ShroveTuesday. It is a day of eating sweetand fattening things before the fast-ing during Lent.

Tickets will be available at the doorfor $5 a person or $15 for a family.

The church dining room is locatedat the corner of Marian Avenue andMcDermott Place. Attendees areasked to park on the street and enterthrough the ramp door off MarianAvenue. For more information or toorder tickets in advance, call thechurch office at (908) 889-8891 or e-mail [email protected].

WESTFIELD — The WestfieldArea YMCA will offer some indoorfun entitled “Presidents Day Jump”being held on Monday, February 20,from 11 a.m. to noon. It will take placein the Main Y Gym, located at 220Clark Street, Westfield. Families withchildren age 8 and under are invited tobring their friends and enjoy jumpingin three huge fun inflatables.

Registration is required by 10 a.m.on February 20 and can be doneonline at westfieldynj.org or in per-son at the Main Y Welcome Center.A $7 donation per person, ages 2 toadult, benefits the Y’s Annual Sup-port Campaign.

Through the Annual Support Cam-paign, each year the Westfield AreaY provides more than $400,000 indirect financial assistance to indi-viduals and families in need to en-able their participation at the Y. Ap-

proximately 88 percent of scholar-ship awards enable children to at-tend child care and day camp pro-grams while approximately 12 per-cent supports membership and pro-gram participation.

Questions may be directed toEileen Rooney at (908) 233-2700,extension no. 134, or by e-mail [email protected]. To learnmore about Westfield Area YMCAprograms, visit westfieldynj.org.


THE WEEK IN SPORTSSports Section

Pages 9-14

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McGOV KEY PIN, SCORESE KEY WIN, ‘AJ’ IMPRESSES

Cougars Chill Blue StreaksFor Section Mat Crown, 33-22

By DAVID B. CORBINSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Very competitive bouts, especiallyin four of the first five bouts, keptspectators on edge until PatrickKalnins pulled out a key pin at 106-lbs with just two bouts remaining toall but insure the top-seeded CranfordHigh School wrestling team a victoryover second-seeded Warren Hills in

the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3Tournament championship atCranford High School on February10. After splitting the final two bouts,the Cougars won 33-22 to capture thecrown.

Kalnins gave the 21-0 Cougars a30-18 lead when he pinned GregSlivka in 1:40 with a pull-back armbar. Cougar Anthony Capece followed

recording two takedowns, a reversaland an escape to grab a 7-2 decisionover Logan Nauta at 113-lbs thenBlue Streak Kyle Wulff capped offthe evening with a 13-2 major deci-sion over Dean Smith at 120-lbs.

The Cougars, who had defeated theBlue Streaks, 48-21, on January 28,were aware from the start that this

WF Boys Down Hawks, GirlsTame Lions in Swim Semis

The top-seeded No. 1 rankedWestfield High School boys swimteam soared like eagles in a 104-66thrashing of the JP Stevens Hawks inthe North 2, Group A semifinals heldat Wallace Pool in Westfield on Feb-ruary 13. At the same time, the sec-ond-seeded Blue Devil girls won thebattle of depth in a 92-78 victory overthe North Hunterdon Lady Lions.

The undefeated Blue Devil boystook first in eight of the 11 events

against the Hawks beginning withAedan Collins, Stefan Crigler, DaveLindros and Griff Morgan taking tophonors in the 200-medley relay with atime of 1:43.75. Ryan Bebel won twoindividual races with a time of 151.56in the 200-freestyle and a time of57.25 in the 100-backstroke. Lindrostouched first in the 50-free at 23.45and took first in the 100-free at 51.34.

Collins won the 100-butterfly in56.21 and Eric Bebel won the 100-

breaststroke in 1:03.72. Collins, ColinDaniel, Cooper Prieto and Morganwon the 200-free relay in1:33.79. Forthe Hawks, Keren Huang won the200-individual medley in 2:02.79 andAndrew Galarza won the 500-free in5:02.73. Shay Mallick, Huang,Brendan Tang and Galarza won the400-free medley in 3:28.35.

The Lady Blue Devils took first inthree individual events and one relay.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13


David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times

OLYMPIC ARM BAR/WRIST...Cougar Pat Kalnins begins to turn Greg Slivka with an Olympic arm bar/wristcombination in his 106-lb bout. Kalnins got a key pin and the Cougars beat Warren Hills for the section crown.


SECOND IN THE 200-FREE...Blue Devil Emma Conlon, near, finished second in the 200-freestyle in the North 2, PublicA semifinal against North Hunterdon in Westfield on February 13. The Lady Blue Devils beat the Lions, 92-78.

More photos at goleader.comBallyhoo Sports

See SPF/Oratory UCT BoysBasketball On page 13


Devil’s Den

By BRUCE JOHNSONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Dente Finds LightAt End of Tunnel

Nobody would have blamed AlanDente if he had walked away lastsummer. It was something the WHSwrestler had thought about often.

His chosen sport is arguably theultimate tough-guy sport. And as thesweat dripped off his body after an-other workout, Dente was beginningto wonder if maybe it wasn’t time totry something else.

But first, a little history here …A wrestler since the second grade,

Dente didn’t become serious about ituntil eighth grade. He had also dabbledin soccer, basketball and baseball.His father was a pitcher four years atUnion Catholic in the mid-1980s, anda Post 3 American Legion teammateof Al Ashmont, Jack Failla, Pat Brady,Chris Masterson and Mike Varano,among others.

“Dad was upset that I didn’t go thatroute,” Dente said, adding, “and I stillhave to hear about how my greatuncles took my dad and his brother(Anthony, a Union Catholic wrestler)to Root’s on Saturdays, then went tosee Butch Woolfolk and Frank Kellyplay football.”

(WHS runs deep in Dente’s blood.His great grandparents – Joe Gonnella’37 and Josephine Lanza ’41 – wentto WHS, as did his grandmotherRoseanne Gonnella ’64 and uncleTony ’72, among others. His motherJoleen was a cheerleader at Roselle,and there’s brother Matt, a junior 145/152-pound wrestler, and sister Giannain seventh grade.)

Freshman year, young Alan was 0-3 in a couple of varsity call-ups. Buthe won most of his jayvee matches, sothat kept his interest level high.

“Wrestling was actually fun,” hesaid. “And the team captain that year,Matt Barber, declared me the bestdodgeball player on our team.”

Sophomore year he moved up tovarsity and posted a 5-17 record.

Alan Dente scores the winning two points in a clutch 6-4 overtime win against SP-F in December. The senior has 16 victories so far this year.

“(The season) started off realtough,” he said. “But then I started tohave some big wins, and I endedwinning the Gary Kehler ‘Most HeartAward.’ I thought I had a very goodoutlook.”

But then his bubble burst.In October 2015, Dente injured his

medial collateral ligament. He con-tinued to wrestle but the knee keptlocking up on him. An MRI overThanksgiving weekend showed thedamage to his MCL, plus a completetear of his meniscus. He had surgeryin early December.

Returning to the lineup in late Janu-ary, he went 1-9, including a triple-overtime loss at districts as a sixthseed.

“Everything just came crashingdown,” he said. “I should have just satout but I didn’t want to let anybodydown. I just wasn’t ready to wrestle.”

Last summer became decision time

for Dente. How much did he reallywant to subject his body, and mind, tothe constant beat downs. Could he puthimself through coach Glen Kurz’sintense-to-the-max summer condi-tioning program. Could he subjecthimself to the daily grind of a sportthat had not been particularly kind –just six wins in 35 varsity matches?

“Last summer was extremely tough,both physically and mentally,” Dentesaid. “My dad wanted me to try thesummer program so I did. It is veryintense. Nobody really knows howhard those practices were for me.

“But Coach Kurz, (captain) PhilRicca and my brother Matt wouldn’tlet me quit. They wouldn’t let me giveup, which I wanted to do every day. Iended up having a pretty good sum-mer, and that’s when I was willing totry the comeback.”

It turns out that no amount of physi-cal or mental pain outweighed thefeeling he got putting on his WHSsinglet and being a member of theteam.

Still, while Kurz was runningaround Tamaques Park, lifting weightsand pushing around oversized tireslast summer, Dente was hardly a lockto be in the lineup. In addition toovercoming his MCL injury, Dentehad to deal with three talented under-classmen – sophomores JordanSimpson and Tim Miller and juniorIsaiah Reese – at 152, 160 and 171pounds.

But then Miller suffered a concus-sion in preseason. Dente stepped in anddelivered a solid effort, flipping withReese at 160 and 171, depending onmatch-ups. When a healthy Miller re-cently returned to the lineup, Kurz re-turned Dente to his natural 152 pounds,and had Simpson cut down to 145.

Dente will bring a 16-15 record

into Saturday’s District 15 Tourna-ment. And the majority of those losseswere three-point decisions – avoid-ing pins and tech-falls by heavier op-ponents – that helped the Blue Devilsproduce a 14-9 dual-meet record.

His two most memorable wins cameagainst Scotch Plains-Fanwood.

“Alan has really come through forus in big matches a number of times,”Kurz said.

His 6-4 overtime win in Decemberwas critical to an eventual 34-32 vic-tory.

But the big moment came as asophomore. WHS held a four-pointlead going into the final match: Dentevs. Guilliame Hardin at 138 pounds.Knowing he had to stay off his back –and with the capacity crown in a foot-stomping frenzy – Dente delivered a4-3 victory, clinching a 35-28 win.

“That was absolutely incredible,”he said. “The crowd support was tre-

mendous. They were chanting, ‘Dente… Dente.’ And my family being theremade it special. The biggest part,though, was not letting my teamdown.”

Unless he qualifies for nextweekend’s Region 4 tournament byplacing in the top three at districts,Dente’s wrestling career could endthis weekend. The college athleticscholarships go to the studs. But, allthings considered, if his wrestlingcareer does end this weekend, it wasworth all the pain.

“Since the knee surgery, my indi-vidual goals were shot,” he said.“Yeah, the wins are nice, but I’mmostly wrestling for my teammatesand for WHS to do well. I’m not sure,as far as college. I have to get throughthis season first.

“I am extremely happy with theway the season has gone. But rightnow my goal is to make regions.”

Kurz will lose four seniors to gradu-ation in June – tri-captains Jack Miller,Ricca and Zach Rabinowitz, andDente. Losing four-year guys is nevereasy, especially studs like the cap-tains. But sometimes it’s just as toughto replace kids like Dente, the guyswho show up in the room for practiceevery day without dreams of AtlanticCity. The guys who deal with years oflosing, and MCL surgery, to producea winning record in their final go-round.

“Alan isn’t flashy and he’s struggledat times,” Kurz said. “But he’s got alot of heart. He stuck with it. Youdon’t see many kids who fight throughadversity like he has. It’s great to seea kid like Alan have some success.”

DISTRICT 15 WRESTLINGWHS, which competed the last 35

years in District 11, will host the new-look District 15 Tournament this Sat-urday, starting at 9 a.m. The 10-teamfield includes: Bernards, Carteret,Irvington, Metuchen, NorthHunterdon, Ridge, Roselle Park,Somerville and Weequahic.

WHS’s probable lineup: 106: fresh-man C.J. Composto 27-3; 113: fresh-man Luke Hoerle 25-5; 120: seniorZach Rabinowitz 17-13; 126: fresh-man Jeremy Silber 12-15; 132: fresh-man Luke Scanlon 12-17; 138: sopho-more Emmett Smith 9-16; 145: sopho-more Jordan Simpson 12-11; 152:senior Alan Dente 16-15; 160: sopho-more Tim Miller 6-2; 171: juniorIsaiah Reese 17-8; 182: freshman TimAlliegro 8-10; 195: senior Jack Miller29-2; 220: senior Phil Ricca 20-2;275: no entry.

The Blue Devils have won 26 dis-trict team championships, most re-cently in 2013.

Individually, Blue Devils have had190 district champions, most recentlyJarek Gozdieski in 2015 and 2016.

Cory Posey (’96) is the school’slone four-time district champion.

Three-time district champions: PeteAdelaar (’69), Bill Kenny (’69), RickAdelaar (’70), Frank Jackson (’70),Dave Brown (’75), Jerry Gottlick(’76), Joe Birmingham (’77), MarkGiacone (’86), Paco Gonzalez (’92),Onur Tezucar (’99), John Barnes(’09), Mike Kalimtzis (’12).

MAT MILESTONESThe wrestling team and Kurz

achieved historic victories this win-ter. With 14 wins, the team now haswon 602 matches in its 60-year his-tory. Kurz, wrapping up his 19th sea-son as head coach, has a 202-155record.

LaCORTE NOTCHES 25 POINTS, McDANIEL ADDS 12 PTS

Blue Devil Boy Cagers Get ByNew Providence in UCT, 68-63

By ALEX LOWESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

The Westfield High School boysbasketball team rallied from an 11-point second quarter deficit to defeatNew Providence, 68-63, in a UnionCounty Tournament (UCT) first roundgame played on February 10 atWestfield High School. Matt LaCortescored 25 points, including five 3-point bombs as the seventh-seededBlue Devils overcame a spirited effortfrom the 18th seeded Pioneers. LaCorteled all scorers, while teammate AdamMcDaniel chipped in with 12 points.

Westfield (8-11) had to work hardto secure a spot in the second round ofthe UCT as New Providence surgedto a 23-12 lead early in the secondquarter. New Providence (9-9) tookadvantage of superior passing andfound success time and again on theweak side of the Blue Devil defensewith easy baskets coming inside fromDylan Bedder, who scored 18 pointsin the game.

“We always like to take a look atDylan down low or whenever he postsup,” said New Providence HeadCoach Art Cattano. “He is a goodplayer for us and we were making theextra pass against their defense, so itworked quite a bit for us tonight.”

The Blue Devils shot their wayback into the game with back-to-back3-point baskets coming from PhilMartini and LaCorte pulling them towithin five at 23-18 with five minutesleft in the half. Another 3-pointer fromthe corner by Martini pulled Westfieldto within a basket at 27-25 with justunder two minutes on the clock.Sebastian Ferrero tied the game mo-ments later on a jumper from thecorner then McDaniel got the lead forhis team on a pull-up three-point shotthat made it 30-27 with :48 left beforethe break.

“They surprised us early,” saidMcDaniel, a junior. “They were mov-ing the ball well and our help defensewas not there most of the night. Theywere giving us a hard time when theygot the ball in behind us. In the secondhalf we stuck more to what we knowhow to do and picked up the intensity.”

The Blue Devils would take a 31-

27 lead into the locker room.“The first sub group we came in

with gave us a lot of energy tonight,”said Westfield Head Coach DarylPalmieri. “Sebastian Ferrero is a prettygood shooter for us and we tend tostruggle some in the half court, so weare always looking for a spark.”

Although the Blue Devil offensewas starting to click in the secondhalf, New Providence was not goingto go quietly. The Pioneers continuedto exploit the weak side of theWestfield defense and briefly recap-tured the lead at 43-41 when GregMeyers connected on a 3-pointer fromthe corner with 4:06 left in the thirdquarter. LaCorte gave Westfield thelead again on a 3-pointer with 2:16left in the quarter and Martini tossedin another 3-pointer with :30 left togive Westfield a 49-45 lead headinginto the fourth quarter.

The visitors charged back, eventu-ally tying the game at 58-58 with 3:49left in regulation on yet another insidebasket by Bedder (18 points). LaCorteanswered with a 3-pointer to make it,61-58, Blue Devils with 3:30 left inregulation. Jeffrey Gagum scored animportant basket on a post move with2:16 remaining that gave Westfield a65-61 lead.

Bedder got New Providence towithin a basket at 65-63 when herebounded a miss and put it in the holewith 20 seconds left. McDaniel wasfouled with :18 to play but failed toconvert his free throws, giving NewProvidence the ball back. The Pio-neers got what the wanted when theyfound Bedder down low with the ballbut he was fouled immediately. Witha chance to tie the game, Beddermissed both free throws and Westfieldgot the rebound with :06 left in the

game. Westfield would knock downthree out of four free throws to closeout the contest.

“We’ll regret our failure to connectfrom the free throw line tonight,” saidCattano. “We were 3 of 11 from theline in the fourth quarter along withthree or four big turnovers withchances to tie the game.”

Ferrero finished with 11 points forWestfield and Gagum had nine points.Greg Meyers led New Providence with20 points. Westfield was slated to playRahway in the next round of the UCT.New Providence 17 12 16 18 63Westfield 12 19 18 19 68

SHERIFF’S SALESHERIFF’S FILE NO.: CH-17000219

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEYCHANCERY DIVISION

UNION COUNTYDOCKET NO. F-031872-15

Plaintiff: NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLCVS.Defendant: HARRY M. KARCHER AND MRS.

HARRY M. KARCHER, HIS WIFE; PATRICIAKARCHER

Sale Date: 02/22/2017Writ of Execution: 10/13/2016By virtue of the above-stated writ of execution

to me directed I shall expose for sale by publicvendue, at the Union County Administration Build-ing, 1st Floor, 10 Elizabethtown Plaza, Eliza-beth, New Jersey on Wednesday, at two o’clockin the afternoon of said day. All successful bid-ders must have 20% of their bid available in cashor certified check at the conclusion of the sales.

The judgment amount is: ***Nine HundredThirty-Six Thousand Eight Hundred Thirty and05/100*** $936,830.05.

The property to be sold is located in the TOWNOF WESTFIELD in the County of UNION, andthe State of New Jersey.

Tax LOT 22, BLOCK 2709 F/K/A LOT 14,BLOCK 726.

COMMONLY KNOWN AS 648 WEST BROADSTREET, WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY 07090.

Dimensions of the Lot are: (Approximately) 50x 145.50 x 50 x 145.50.

Nearest Cross Street: Situated on the North-westerly side of West Broad Street, 134 feet fromthe Northeasterly side of Scoth Plains Avenue.

The sale is subject to any unpaid taxes andassessments, tax, water, and sewer liens andother municipal assessments. The amount duecan be obtained from the local taxing authority.Pursuant to NJSA 46:8B-21 the sale may also besubject to the limited lien priority of any Condo-minium/Homeowner Association liens which mayexist.

Total Upset: ***Nine Hundred Sixty ThousandOne Hundred Ten and 92/100*** $960,110.92together with lawful interest and costs.

Surplus Money: If after the sale and satisfac-tion of the mortgage debt, including costs andexpenses, there remains any surplus money, themoney will be deposited into the Superior CourtTrust Fund and any person claiming the surplus,or any part thereof, may file a motion pursuant toCourt Rules 4:64-3 and 4:57-2 stating the natureand extent of that person’s claim and asking foran order directing payment of the surplus money.The Sheriff or other person conducting the salewill have information regarding the surplus, ifany.

There is a full legal description on file in theUnion County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff reserves the right to adjourn thissale for any length of time without further adver-tisement.

Joseph CryanSheriff

Attorney:SHAPIRO & DENARDO, LLC - ATTORNEYS14000 COMMERCE PARKWAYSUITE BMOUNT LAUREL, NEW JERSEY 08054(856) 793-30804 T - 01/26, 02/02, 02/09& 02/16/17 Fee: $181.56




Plaintiff: DITECH FINANCIAL LLCVS.Defendant: STANLEY W. PEARSON III;

LYNNE M. PEARSON, HIS WIFE AND MID-LAND FUNDING LLC



The judgment amount is: ***Four HundredSeventy-One Thousand Nine Hundred Sixty-Nine and 73/100*** $471,969.73.

The property to be sold is located in the BOR-OUGH OF FANWOOD, County of Union andState of New Jersey.

It is commonly known as 180 NORTHMARTINE AVENUE, FANWOOD, NEW JER-SEY 07023.

It is known and designated as Block 15, Lot 17.The dimensions are approximately 90 feet X

256 feet.Nearest cross street: Pleasant Avenue.Prior lien(s): Chicago Title Insurance Com-

pany issued an Indemnification Letters regard-ing Prior Mortgages and Prior Judgments (SEEATTACHED EXHIBIT “B”).

Total Upset: ***Four Hundred Eighty-FourThousand One Hundred Seventeen and 03/100*** $484,117.03 together with lawful interestand costs.

Subject to any unpaid taxes, municipal liens orother charges, and any such taxes, charges,liens, insurance premiums or other advancesmade by plaintiff prior to this sale. All interestedparties are to conduct and rely upon their ownindependent investigation to ascertain whetheror not any outstanding interest remain of recordand/or have priority over the lien being fore-closed and, if so the current amount due thereon.




Joseph CryanSheriff

Attorney:STERN, LAVINTHAL & FRANKENBERG, LLC105 EISENHOWER PARKWAYSUITE 302ROSELAND, NEW JERSEY 07068(973) 797-11004 T - 01/26, 02/02, 02/09& 02/16/17 Fee: $191.76




Plaintiff: BAYVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLCVS.Defendant: FRANK A. ERICKSON,

SANTANDER BANK F/K/A SOVEREIGN BANKSale Date: 02/22/2017Writ of Execution: 11/03/2016By virtue of the above-stated writ of execution


The judgment amount is: ***Six Hundred EightThousand Five Hundred Ninety-Four and 31/100*** $608,594.31.

PROPERTY TO BE SOLD IS LOCATED IN:Westfield, County of Union, State of New Jersey.

PREMISES COMMONLY KNOWN AS: 203Livingston Street, Westfield, New Jersey 07090.

TAX LOT #: 13 f/k/a 20, BLOCK #: 4002 f/k/a506.

APPROXIMATE DIMENSIONS: 150 x 137 x25 x 87 x 125 x 50.

NEAREST CROSS STREET: Stilling Place.SUBJECT TO ANY OPEN TAXES, WATER/

SEWER, MUNICIPAL OR TAX LIENS THATMAY BE DUE.

PRIOR MORTGAGES AND/OR JUDG-MENTS: N/A.

Total Upset: ***Six Hundred Twenty-Two Thou-sand Eight Hundred Four and 67/100***$622,804.67 together with lawful interest andcosts.




Joseph CryanSheriff

Attorney:UDREN LAW OFFICES, P.C.111 WOODCREST ROADWOODCREST CORPORATE CENTERSUITE 200CHERRY HILL, NEW JERSEY 08003(856) 669-54004 T - 01/26, 02/02, 02/09& 02/16/17 Fee: $169.34




Plaintiff: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLONFKA THE BANK OF NEW YORK, AS TRUSTEEFOR THE CERTIFICATEHOLDERS CWALT,INC., ALTERNATIVE LOAN TRUST 2006-29T1,MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFI-CATES

VS.Defendant: ARI MILTON BRAFMAN AND

ALISON HART BRAFMAN, H/W; AMERICANEXPRESS BANK FSB; MORTGAGE ELEC-TRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC.SOLELY AS NOMINEE FOR AMERICA’SWHOLESALE LENDER



The judgment amount is: ***One Million NineHundred Ninety-One Thousand Thirty-One and36/100*** $1,991,031.36.

The property to be sold is located in Town ofWestfield in the County of Union, and State ofNew Jersey.

Commonly known as 1031 Minisink Way,Westfield, New Jersey 07090.

Tax Lot 24, Block 306.Dimensions of Lot: (Approximately) 126 feet

wide by 169 feet long.Nearest Cross Street: Morning Glory Lane.Total Upset: ***Two Million Twenty-Nine Thou-

sand Five Hundred Nine and 67/100***$2,029,509.67 together with lawful interest andcosts.




Joseph CryanSheriff

Attorney:KML LAW GROUP, P.C.216 HADDON AVENUESUITE 406WESTMONT, NEW JERSEY 08108(215) 627-13224 T - 01/26, 02/02, 02/09& 02/16/17 Fee: $177.48




Plaintiff: U.S. BANK TRUST, N.A., ASTRUSTEE FOR LSF9 MASTER PARTICIPA-TION TRUST

VS.Defendant: HEMLATIA J. DESAI; JANAK M.

DESAI; JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;SURESH SOLANSKI



The judgment amount is: ***Three HundredFifty-Five Thousand Five Hundred Ninety-Oneand 91/100*** $355,591.91.

Property to be sold is located in the BOR-OUGH of MOUNTAINSIDE, County of UNION,State of New Jersey.

Premises commonly known as: 1070 SUNNYVIEW ROAD, MOUNTAINSIDE, NEW JERSEY07092-2123.

BEING KNOWN as LOT 10, BLOCK 7.E onthe official Tax Map of the BOROUGH ofMOUNTAINSIDE.

Dimensions: 170.00 FEET X 100.00 FEET X170.66 FEET X 115.00 FEET.

Nearest Cross Street: Summit Road.Total Upset: ***Three Hundred Sixty-Eight

Thousand One Hundred Thirty and 11/100***$368,130.11 together with lawful interest andcosts.

Subject to any unpaid taxes, municipal liens orother charges, and any such taxes, charges,liens, insurance premiums or other advancesmade by plaintiff prior to this sale. All interestedparties are to conduct and rely upon their ownindependent investigation to ascertain whetheror not any outstanding interest remain of recordand/or have priority over the lien being fore-closed and, if so the current amount due thereon.

If the sale is set aside for any reason, thePurchaser at the sale shall be entitled only areturn of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shallhave no further recourse against the Mortgagor,the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney.




Joseph CryanSheriff

Attorney:PHELAN HALLINAN, DIAMOND & JONES, PC400 FELLOWSHIP ROADSUITE 100MOUNT LAUREL, NEW JERSEY 08054(856) 813-55004 T - 01/26, 02/02, 02/09& 02/16/17 Fee: $204.00

Cougar Matmen Crack Nutley,Blue Devils Fall to Warriors

The top-seeded Cranford HighSchool wrestling team crushed Nutley,60-10, in the semifinal round of theNorth Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Tour-nament held in Cranford on February8. In the North Jersey, Section 2,Group 5 Tournament, the second-seeded hosting Watchung Hills War-riors defeated the third-seededWestfield Blue Devils, 40-19.

The 20-0 Cougars recorded eightpins, two decisions and received oneforfeit. The quickest pin was deliv-ered by Alex Esposito in 57 secondsover Luis Abreu at 285-lbs. AnthonyRamirez (220-lbs) pinned DaveSanchez in 1:44, Vince Concina (182-lbs) pinned Dan Jennings in 3:14,Brian McGovern (170-lbs) pinnedCraig Haddock in 1:52 and ChrisScorese (132-lbs) pinned TarrinGoldberg in 1:32. Conor Halpin (126-lbs) pinned Dean Polewka in 1:46,Dean Smith (120-lbs) pinned JimHargrave in 1:10 and Anthony Capece(113-lbs) pinned Jacob Gonzalez in2:00.

At 138-lbs, Cougar TomDiGiovanni topped Frank DeMaio,6-4, and at 145-lbs, Mike Nigro beatAaron Dunn, 6-2. Matt Doran re-ceived a forfeit at 160-lbs. Nutley’s

Dom Cofone won a 6-4 decision overPatrick Kalnins at 106-lbs, JustinBivona edged Dylan Budnik, 4-3, at195-lbs and Joe DiPasquale claimedan 11-2 major decision over AJBencivenga at 152-lbs.

At Watchung Hills, Blue Devil PhilRicca pinned Trey Antonelle in just16 seconds at 285-lbs. At 195-lbs,Jack Miller beat Joe Ross, 6-3. At113-lbs, CJ Composto won by 16-1,6:00 tech fall over Kyle Williams andQuinn Gimblette won by 17-0 techfall over Tanner Ash at 106-lbs. War-rior Cal Davis edged Russ Weber, 3-0, at 220-lbs, Ed Williams nippedZach Rabinowitz, 4-2, at 126-lbs andJoe Senatore grabbed a 6-2 decisionover Isaiah Reese at 160-lbs.

Warrior Nick Ciraulo beat LukeScanlan, 9-3, at 132-lbs, Rob Saumwon an 11-2 major decision overEmmett Smith at 138-lbs and JacobStasil won a 10-2 major decision overJordan Simpson at 145-lbs. At 152-lbs, Marc Larson claimed an 11-2major decision over Alan Dente, Jus-tin Hayward pinned Tim Miller in3:13 at 170-lbs, Dan Miller claimedan 11-0 major decision over LukeHoerle at 120-lbs and Jason Jeronimoreceived a forfeit at 182-lbs.

The Cougars were to host WarrenHills, 46-15 victors over Passaic Val-ley, for the sectional title on February10, while Watchung Hills would travelto face top-seeded Piscataway, 59-10winners over Perth Amboy.

Reading is Good For You

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Alex Lowe for The Westfield Leader and The Times

AT THE CHARITY LINE...Blue Devil Matt LaCorte goes to the charity line in the game against the Pioneers. LaCorte sank25 points, including five 3-pointers. Westfield beat New Providence, 68-63, in the first round of the UCT on February 10.


Area stores that carry The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES

King's Supermarket300 South Ave. (Leader)

Shoprite Supermarket563 North Ave. (Leader)

7-11 of Mountainside921 Mountain Ave. (Leader)

Westfield Tobacco & News108 Elm St. (Leader)

Baron's Drug Store243 E. Broad St. (Leader)

Krauszer's727 Central Ave. (Leader)

Westfield Mini Mart301 South Ave., W. (Leader)

7-11 of Westfield1200 South Ave., W. (Leader/Times)

Kwick Mart Food Store190 South Ave. (Times)

Scotch Hills Pharmacy1819 East 2nd St. (Times)

Mountain Deli2385 Mountain Ave. (Times)

Wallis Stationery441 Park Ave. (Leader/Times)

7-11 of Garwood309 North Ave. (Leader)

O’BRIEN NETS 17 POINTS, SHEPPARD SINKS 14 POINTS

Raiders Dominate Brearley,In UCT Girls Basketball, 53-35


It has been a frustrating season sofar but the Scotch Plains-FanwoodHigh School girls basketball team gotsome small measure of satisfactionby ousting Brearley, 53-35, in a UnionCounty Tournament first round gameplayed on February 10 in ScotchPlains. Junior guard Brianna O’Brienprovided the offense, scoring 17points, including 10 in the first quar-ter as the Raiders jetted out to a 17-4

lead. Scotch Plains-Fanwood (4-16)never looked back, holding to adouble-digit lead the rest of the waybefore cruising to an 18-point victory.Teammate Summer Sheppard chippedin with 14 points.

“I knew coming into the game thatBrearley had a better record than wedid,” said O’Brien. “So we knew wewanted to get out to a fast start againstthem to keep them from gaining con-fidence. Summer and I try to worktogether to be scorers for this team.We kind of feel like we each need toscore about 15 points each in orderfor us to do well, so we set that as agoal for us.”

Scotch Plains-Fanwood, ravagedby injuries all year long has alreadyabsorbed losses of star players NyaDowning and Stefanie DeVizio, mak-ing what was already a young groupeven younger. The changes havecaused head coach Ryan McKenna to

have to adjust on the fly.“Losing Nya and Stef did hurt us,”

said McKenna. “It caused us to haveto play younger players and we’veneeded them to step up and produce.It puts more pressure on Summer andBrianna to be scorers for us, while theother girls find their way. The goodpart is that these younger girls getexperience and court time they wouldnot otherwise have gotten, which canonly help you in the future.”

Against Brearley (10-5), Scotch

Plains-Fanwood put together one itsbetter overall efforts of the season.The Raiders took charge from thestart with O’Brien nailing a pair of 3-pointers in the first two minutes tohelp the home team to an 8-0 lead.O’Brien scored on another 3-pointplay, this one coming off of a nicedrive to the basket followed by a foulfor a 12-4 lead with 2:13 left in thequarter.

Abbe Gayle Burton drained a pairof free throws to start the secondquarter to open the Raider lead to 15points at 19-4, putting the visitors inchase mode the rest of the way. ScotchPlains-Fanwood was quicker, stron-ger and more efficient than the 17th-seeded Bears and it showed as theRaiders held a 26-13 lead at the break.

Though entering the game with awinning record, Brearley clearly wasunprepared for the step up in compe-tition it would face in a Raider teamthat despite their poor record, plays amuch tougher schedule than theKenilworth based Bears would see inthe UCC Sky Division. In the first

minute of the third quarter, the Raiderseized a 15-point lead after a pair offree throws by Sheppard followed bya short hook shot from IsabellaCorsaro made it 30-15. The Bearsnibbled the lead down to 10, at 36-26,late in the third quarter.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood answeredwith a 9-0 run that blew the gameopen at 45-26 with 6:29 remaining inthe game. The Bears would never getcloser than a 15-point deficit. Burtonadded eight points to the Raider cause.

“Our offensive sets looked bettertoday than they have in lot of gamesthis year,” said McKenna. “It was ateam effort. Obviously Summer andBree led the way but the total teameffort was there in terms of hustle anddefensive intensity. We just want tokeep playing hard the rest of the wayand use it to build on for next year.”

The Raiders will savor this victorybecause next up on the UCT docketfor them is top-seeded The PatrickSchool, which blew them out 80-16 ina game played earlier this season.

“We know The Patrick School isstrong,” said O’Brien. “We playedthem earlier this season and they re-ally beat us by a large margin. If we goout and play against them as a team,like we did today, I’m sure we can dobetter against them.”Brearley 4 9 13 9 35Sc Pl-Fanwood 17 9 15 12 53

MOUNT CLAIMS 20TH WIN, FLECK PINS BY CRADLE

Raiders Hush Huskies, 48-20,For 18th Wrestling Triumph


Cut short with a first round defeatto Woodbridge in the North Jersey,Section 2, Group 4 Tournament andwith the district individual tourna-ment 10 days away, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Raiders neededto have some more competition to getits wrestlers in high gear. The MatawanHuskies were invited to Scotch Plainson February 8 and the Raiders did getin gear with a 48-20 victory to im-prove their team record to 18-9.

The Raiders won nine bouts, threeby decision, three by forfeit and threeby pin, the quickest being recordedby Bobby “Bulldog” Mount, whobulldogged his opponent Marc Panizzito the mat for a five-point move thenpinned him with an arm bar/walkoverin 53 seconds at 220-lbs. His boutcame just after a featured clash of twohighly touted competitors, Raider SamWustefeld and Andrew Conzo.

“I tried to get the pace back upbecause Sam had a tough match, so Itried to get the momentum back in ourfavor. I felt when I had the doubleover [hooks] he wasn’t that strong, soI tripped him and he went straight tohis back. Then I locked up the bar,grabbed his wrist. He went to his side,so I started pushing his elbow to hisear and he went over to his back,”Mount explained.

“He comes out aggressive. Every-body looks at him and doesn’t thinkanything of him then he comes out,wrestles tough. I think he has 20 winsnow on the season. He will do any-thing for the team. He shocks a lot ofpeople,” Raider Head Coach MarcFabiano said of Mount.

“I’m doing pretty good. I’m 20-8,20-9. I’m just trying to focus on onematch at a time. Don’t get too aheadof myself,” Mount said.

That eye-opening bout of theevening pitted Wustefeld, who jumpedfrom 182-lbs to 195-lbs, with themuscular Conzo, who came into thematch with only one loss. Wustefeldfound out that Conzo also possessedgyroscopic balance when he came soclose twice to recording a takedown.Instead, Conzo delivered threedouble-leg tackles and a nearfall toclaim a 9-5 victory.

“We bumped Sam up. He [Conzo]is a hammer, a full 195-lbs. I thinkhe’s 26-1 and Sam pushed him. Samwas giving up about 15 pounds ofmuscle there and he wrestled an in-credible match. Coach came over andsaid no one pushed him like that be-fore. At this point in the season, youhave to wrestle the best. It will get himready for later on,” Coach Fabianosaid.

Alex Oslislo got the Raiders’ firstpin of the evening when used a head-lock reversal to settle Tom Arendt in3:06 at 160-lbs. Oslislo also had afive-point lateral throw in the firstperiod.

“He was on top and I felt his headhang over. My instincts kicked in. Isaw it and took the opportunity andkind of turned a headlock on him. Hefought through it but I just held ontoit and eventually finished it,” saidOslislo, who added, “This season Ifeel I’m wrestling better and better. Istarted off with a negative record butnow my numbers are more positive.”

Jeremy Lenart recorded the Raid-ers’ third pin when he whipped MikePorcelli to his back with a bulldoglateral drop in 3:33 at 113-lbs. Lenartalso had a five-point takedown-to-

back move in the first period.The Huskies, however, won the first

bout of the evening when DanGrinberg presented three takedowns,a nearfall and a reversal to grab an 11-3 decision over Mateo Velez at 132-lbs. Raider Jack Cannon had no tak-ers at 138-lbs then Mikey Ramos fi-nally came out on the winning side ofa 21-18 seesaw battle with E’UniqueRussell at 145-lbs.

Raider Zach Zimmerman sealed his7-5 victory over Anthony Ferrarawhen he used a defensive spin-behindtakedown late in the third period at152-lbs. After Oslislo’s bout, HuskieDerrick Wiley pinned ZachFleischman in 1:25 with a half nelson/head smother at 170-lbs. SeanO’Connor received a forfeit at 182-lbs to give the Raiders a 21-13 teamlead.

Raider Bobby Root received a forfeitat 285-lbs then after being taken downin the first period, Raider Mike Fleckchose top position in the second periodand quickly clamped Dan Higuita witha cradle in 2:18 at 106-lbs.

PUBLIC NOTICETOWNSHIP OF SCOTCH PLAINS

ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT

PLEASE BE ADVISED, that the ZoningBoard of Adjustment of the Township ofScotch Plains public hearing scheduledfor March 2, 2017 will begin at 7:00 pm.,at the Municipal Building, 430 Park Av-enue, First Floor Council Chambers. Allinterested persons may be present and beheard.

Shannon RapantSecretary to the Zoning Board

1 T - 2/16/17, The Times Fee: $12.75

PUBLIC NOTICEBOROUGH OF GARWOOD

ORDINANCE NO. 17-03

AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND§52-3 (LICENSE AND FEES)IN ARTICLE 1 (SALE ANDTRANSPORTATION) INCHAPTER 52 (ALCOHOLICBEVERAGES) OF THE CODEOF THE BOROUGH OFGARWOOD.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYORAND COUNCIL OF THE BOROUGH OFGARWOOD:

SECTION 1. §52-3 (License and Fees)in Article 1 (Sale and Transportation) inChapter 52 (Alcoholic Beverages) of theCode of the Borough of Garwood is herebyamended to read as follows:

§52-3. License and fees.A. The classes of licenses and the fees

therefor to be issued by the Borough arehereby fixed as follows:

(1) Plenary retail consumption license:$2,200

(2) Plenary retail distribution license:$1,300

(3) No changeB. No changeC. No changeSECTION 2. All ordinances or parts of

ordinances inconsistent herewith arehereby repealed to the extent of suchinconsistency.

SECTION 3. If any portion of this ordi-nance shall be determined to be invalid,such determination shall not affect thevalidity of the remaining portions of saidordinance.

SECTION 4. This ordinance shall takeeffect upon final passage and publicationin accordance with law.

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that OrdinanceNo. 17-03, was introduced and passed onfirst reading at a meeting of the BoroughCouncil of the Borough of Garwood, in theCounty of Union, State of New Jersey, heldon the 14TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2017,and that Ordinance No. 17-03, will be takenup for further consideration for final pas-sage at the meeting of said Borough Coun-cil to be held at its meeting room in theMunicipal Building, 403 South Avenue,Garwood, New Jersey, on the 28TH DAYOF FEBRUARY 2017, at 7:15 p.m., or assoon thereafter as said matter can beheard, at which time and place all personswho may be interested therein will be givenan opportunity to be heard concerning thesame.

ATTEST:Christina Ariemma

Municipal Clerk1 T - 2/16/17, The Leader Fee: $54.57


ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTCOUNTY OF UNION

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

NOTICE OF DECISION

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a publichearing was held on January 5, 2017 foran application made by New Cingular Wire-less PCS, LLC (AT&T) (“Applicant”) for ause variance, height variances, bulk vari-ances and preliminary and final site planapproval with the Township of ScotchPlains Zoning Board of Adjustment. TheApplicant proposed to install a telecom-munications facility on the subject prop-erty, including installing antennas on anextension to the existing utility tower, re-lated equipment and shelter on the groundinside a fenced compound, and other re-lated improvements. The property whichwas the subject of this application is lo-cated at 1600 Raritan Road, Scotch Plains,New Jersey, which is located in the R-1Zoning District and is designated on theTax Maps as Block 14201; Lot 2. Saidapplication was approved by the Town-ship of Scotch Plains Zoning Board ofAdjustment on January 5, 2017 and wasmemorialized by Resolution adopted onFebruary 2, 2017. The decision is on file inthe Office of the Zoning Board, located at430 Park Avenue, Scotch Plains, NewJersey and is available for inspection dur-ing regular business hours.

This notice is given pursuant to N.J.S.A.40:55D-10(i).

PinilisHalpern LLPAttorneys for the Applicant

1 T - 2/16/17, The Times Fee: $33.66


Probitas Verus Honos

Cougar Boys Nip ALJIn UCT Hoops, 57-55With the score knotted, 36-36, after

three quarters, the 16th-seededCranford High School boys basket-ball team out-hustled the AL JohnsonCrusaders, 21-19, in the fourth quar-ter to claim a 57-55 victory in the firstround of the Union County Tourna-ment in Clark. Chris Librera pumpedin 19 points for the Cougars and RyanBakie banged in four 3-pointers andfinished with 16 points.

Cougar Colin Budries scored eightpoints, Kyle Ledford scored sevenpoints and Matt Fonseca hit a 3-pointer, while Alex Gall and BrianOblachinski each netted two points.Brendon Hund led the Crusaders with16 points, including a pair of 3-point-ers, and George Visconti sank 14points, including two 3-pointers. JoeDiProfio (2 3-pointers) had ninepoints, Brenden Kelly had eight pointsand Brendan Stanzione added sixpoints.Cranford 12 12 12 21 57AL Johnson 19 10 7 19 55

PUBLIC NOTICESUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

CHANCERY DIVISIONUNION COUNTY

DOCKET NO. F-012893-16FILE NO. 21914-16

NOTICE TO ABSENT DEFENDANT

(L.S.) STATE OF NEW JERSEY TO:HATTIE RUTH LYONS, HERHEIRS, DEVISEES AND PER-SONAL REPRESENTATIVESAND HIS, HER, THEIR OR ANYOF THEIR SUCCESSORS INRIGHT, TITLE AND INTER-EST; JAMES T. COOPER, HISHEIRS, DEVISEES AND PER-SONAL REPRESENTATIVESAND HIS, HER, THEIR OR ANYOF THEIR SUCCESSORS INRIGHT, TITLE AND INTER-EST; VIOLA NELSON; JOHNDOE, HUSBAND OF VIOLANELSON, SAID NAME JOHNDOE BEING FICTITIOUS;MERCURY INC; RIVER HILLSSCHOOL; COLLECTIONS &RECOVERIES, INC.;

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED ANDREQUIRED to serve upon PELLEGRINOAND FELDSTEIN, LLC, plaintiff’s attor-neys, whose address is 290 Route 46West, Denville, New Jersey, an Answer tothe Third Amended Complaint filed in aCivil Action, in which ACE PLUS LLC is theplaintiff and HATTIE RUTH LYONS, HERHEIRS, ET ALS; are defendants, pendingin the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chan-cery Division, UNION County and bearingDocket No. F-012893-16 within thirty-five(35) days after February 16, 2017 exclu-sive of such date. If you fail to answer orappear in accordance with Rule 4:4-6,Judgment by Default may be renderedagainst you for relief demanded in theThird Amended Complaint. You shall fileyour Answer and Proof of Service in dupli-cate with the Clerk of the Superior Court ofNew Jersey, Hughes Justice Complex -CN 971, Trenton, New Jersey 08625, inaccordance with the Rules of Civil Practiceand Procedure.

You are further advised that if you areunable to obtain an attorney you may com-municate with the Lawyer Referral Serviceof the County of Venue and that if youcannot afford an attorney, you may com-municate with the Legal Services Office ofthe County of Venue. The telephone num-ber of such agencies are as follows: Law-yer Referral Service 908-353-4715 - LegalServices Office 908-354-4340.

THE ACTION has been instituted for thepurpose of foreclosing the following taxsale certificate:

1. A certain tax certificate 14-00346,sold on 6/8/2015, dated 6/18/2015, andwas recorded on 8/25/2015 in Book 13974at Page 653, made by PAUL M. LESNIAK,Collector of Taxes of ELIZABETH, andState of New Jersey to ACE PLUS LLCand subsequently assigned to plaintiff, ACEPLUS LLC. This covers real estate locatedin ELIZABETH, County of UNION, and

State of New Jersey, known as LOT 917BLOCK 9 as shown on the Tax Assess-ment Map and Tax Map duplicate of ELIZA-BETH and concerns premises commonlyknown as 1024 LAFAYETTE STREET,ELIZABETH, New Jersey.

YOU, HATTIE RUTH LYONS, HERHEIRS, DEVISEES AND PERSONALREPRESENTATIVES AND HIS, HER,THEIR OR ANY OF THEIR SUCCESSORSIN RIGHT, TITLE AND INTEREST; JAMEST. COOPER, HIS HEIRS, DEVISEES ANDPERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES ANDHIS, HER, THEIR OR ANY OF THEIRSUCCESSORS IN RIGHT, TITLE ANDINTEREST; and VIOLA NELSON, aremade party defendant to the above fore-closure action because you are the ownerof a property which is the subject of theabove entitled action.

YOU, JOHN DOE, HUSBAND OF VIOLANELSON, SAID NAME JOHN DOE BEINGFICTITIOUS, are made party defendant tothe above foreclosure action because plain-tiff has been unable to determine whetherdefendant VIOLA NELSON is married, andif married, the name of VIOLA NELSON’sspouse. If VIOLA NELSON is married, theplaintiff joins JOHN DOE, HUSBAND OFVIOLA NELSON, SAID NAME JOHN DOEBEING FICTITIOUS as a defendant forany possessory or marital rights you mayhave.

YOU, RIVER HILLS SCHOOL, are madeparty defendant to the above foreclosureaction because on April 22, 1997, a judg-ment was entered in the Superior Court ofNew Jersey, Monmouth County, by RiverHills School against James Cooper dis-closing a debt in the amount of $355.45.Said judgment was entered as JudgmentNo. J-253003-1997. Said judgment is sub-ordinate to the Plaintiff’s lien.

YOU, MERCURY INC, are made partydefendant to the above foreclosure actionbecause on October 25, 2007, a judgmentwas entered in the Superior Court of NewJersey, Essex County, by Mercury Incagainst Edward Cooper disclosing a debtin the amount of $72,859.00, plus interest.Said judgment was entered as JudgmentNo. J-277468-2007. Said judgment is sub-ordinate to the Plaintiff’s lien.

YOU, COLLECTIONS & RECOVERIES,INC., are made party defendant to theabove foreclosure action because on July3, 1996, a judgment was entered in theSuperior Court of New Jersey, CamdenCounty, by Collections & Recoveries, Inc.against Joseph Nelson and Viola Nelsondisclosing a debt in the amount of $508.26,plus interest. Said judgment was enteredas Judgment No. DJ-129511-1996. Saidjudgment is subordinate to the Plaintiff’slien.DATED: February 10, 2017

Michelle M. Smith, ClerkSuperior Court of New Jersey

PELLEGRINO & FELDSTEIN, L.L.C.Denville Law Center290 Route 46 WestDenville, New Jersey 07834(973) 586-23001 T - 2/16/17, The Leader Fee: $119.85

PUBLIC NOTICE



PLEASE BE ADVISED, that the ZoningBoard of Adjustment of the Township ofScotch Plains will hold a public hearing onMarch 2, 2017 at 7:00 pm., MunicipalBuilding, 430 Park Avenue, First FloorCouncil Chambers to hear the applicationof William & Kathleen Rooney, 2339 Prom-enade, Block 8002, Lot 30, R-3 Zone, whoproposes to remove the existing rear walksand patio (approx. 526 square feet of lotcoverage), construct new rear walks andpatio (approx. 724 square feet of lot cover-age), adding approx. 198 square feet ofnew lot coverage at the aforementionedproperty, contrary to the following ZoningOrdinances:

Section 23-3.4A, Para. G., R-3 Zone,Schedule of Lot, Yard and BuildingRegulations, Single Family Dwelling:

Column 11 Lot Coverage (%), MaximumAllowed: 45%, Proposed by Plan and Cal-culation: 48.1% +/-

The Applicant is also requesting any andall variances deemed to be necessary atthe time of the hearing, including any otherwaivers, exceptions, interpretations andother relief necessary to allow Applicant’sproposed use of the property.

All interested persons may be presentand be heard. The file pertaining to thisapplication is in the Office of the ZoningBoard of Adjustment and available for pub-lic inspection during regular office hours.


1 T - 2/16/17, The Times Fee: $32.64

Lady Blue Devils RuleSummit Cagers, 52-35The 14-4 Westfield High School

girls basketball team jumped out to a30-14 halftime lead and cruised to a52-35 victory over 6-15 Summit inWestfield on February 7. ShannonDevitt pulled down 10 rebounds, hadthree steals and scored 12 points forthe Blue Devils and Molly Ryanscored 13 points, including a pair of3-pointers, and added five steals, threeassists and two rebounds.

Danielle Rinaldi sank 10 points andadded four steals, two assists andthree rebounds. Grace Elliott had eightpoints, three steals and three rebounds.Lauren Sgro (3 rebounds, 2 assists),Jenna Iorio (steal, assist, rebound),Lily Maz (assist) and Nicola Albano(rebound) each had two points andSam Stravach (2 rebounds) added onepoint. Christina Richson led theHilltoppers with 12 points, includingtwo 3-pointers. Catherine Maloneyand Mya Thompson each netted sevenpoints.Summit 7 7 10 11 35Westfield 10 20 11 11 52


Alex Lowe for The Westfield Leader and The Times

GUARDING A BEAR...Raiders Isabella Corsaro, left, and Summer Sheppard,No. 5, guard a Brearley Bear in their UCT first round game.


WORKING TO FREE HIS LEG...Raider Zach Zimmerman, top, looks to free his leg from the grasp of Huskie AnthonyFerrara in his 152-lb bout. Zimmerman beat Ferrara 7-5 and the Raiders beat the Huskies, 48-20, on February 8.


Luxury Rentals for Adults 55+The Club at Autumn Ridge offers remarkable 55+ living in Union Township. Experience total luxury in an elegantly appointed 1- or 2-bedroom apartment. Enjoy full-time access to the community clubhouse with its heated pool, fitness center and cyber-library, plus an Activities Director who puts the focus on fun.

Call 866.379.4541 for hours and directionsClubAtAutumnRidge.com

1200 Ridge Drive, Union Township, NJ 07083


Cougars Chill Blue Streaks for Mat Crown, 33-22CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

showdown was going to more of thespirited variety when Chris Ostir re-corded a pair of reversals to edgeCougar Conor Halpin, 4-2, at 126-lbs.

“Last time we wrestled them their26-pounder was out. I knew it wouldbe a closer match than what we hadout there. They wrestled very tough. I

am proud of how my kids respondedto that and we got some good wins, sojust keep rolling to Sunday,” CougarHead Coach Pat Gorman said.

The next bout at 132-lbs was evenmore exciting. Matt Valli caught Cou-gar Chris Scorese a bit off-balance torecord a spin-around takedown butScorese quickly countered with a re-versal then added an escape in thesecond period and a two-point tight-waist tilt early in the third. Valli es-caped but Scorese won 5-3.

“He’s definitely tough. I wrestledhim once two weeks ago and it wasovertime, so I knew what I had to do.He’s very quick. He kind of scored offof my shot in the beginning and I gotit right back, so it worked out,” Scoresesaid.

“They wrestled to an overtimematch last time. It was good for him toget another win on that kid. Our kidsare excited and going into Sundaythis is where we want to be,” CoachGorman said.

Cougar Tom DiGiovanni chalkedup four takedowns (backdoor, legaround, single-to-double, whizzer)and a reversal to top Zack Nauta, 10-4, at 138-lbs. The Blue Streaks knot-ted the team score, 6-6, when CameronNauta scored two takedowns and anescape to decision Mike Nigro, 5-1,at 145-lbs.

The wildest and most exciting boutcame next when Cougar AJBencivenga bounced up to 152-lbsand took Rashon Wade Taylor to over-time where he nearly got the takedownbut Taylor countered to win 7-5 and togive Warren Hills a 9-6 lead enteringCougar Brian McGovern’s bout withNick Hildebrandt at 160-lbs.

“He beat Nigro last time. We weregoing over the match-ups today inclass and we told our coach, ‘We wantto switch it up. We want AJ to wrestlethat kid.’ He went out there. He gave

up a lot of weight because he is smallfor 45 and he was bumping up to 52.He handled the weight fine andwrestled his hardest and ended uplosing in overtime. He got in on ashot. He couldn’t finish because hewas small,” said Scorese, who added,“He’s going to be really good nextyear. That’s for sure.”

“We are 14 brothers going out therefor each other. It was a big match. AJknew he couldn’t get pinned. But hedidn’t want to go out there and not getpinned. He went out there and took itto that kid,” McGovern said.

“He [AJ] wrestled really well onthat kid. At 106, ‘PK’, Pat Kalninswrestled really well getting that fallfor us when we really needed it. Weare back in the room tomorrow. Thisis just a milestone. We got biggergoals,” Coach Gorman said.

McGovern also had bigger goalswhen he rooted Hildebrandt off themat with a double-leg lift and low-ered him to his back adding a halfnelson in 3:57.

“I had to wrestle for my team. Wewere all going out there for each other.I knew I had to get six. I didn’t evenknow what I did. I knew I had to get itand I stuck the kid. I have a nicedouble and I enjoy lifting the kids.The fans love it too. When you are ina big match like this, the best thingyou can do is stick to the basics,”McGovern suggested.

The Blue Streaks regained the lead,15-12, when Jarod Ostir pinned MattDoran with a front grapevine at 170-lbs but Cranford regained the leadwhen Vince Concina received a for-feit at 182-lbs. At 195-lbs, Nick Galkarecorded three takedowns, two es-capes and a penalty point for a 9-5decision over Dylan Budnik to knot

the team score, 18-18.At 220-lbs, Cougar Anthony

Ramirez avenged a loss to BrodyOberly when he recorded two escapes,a takedown and a nearfall to come upwith a 6-2 decision. Alex Espositopummeled Taylon Zafis with threetakedowns, two escapes and two pen-alty points to earn a 10-4 decision at

285-lbs to give Cranford a 24-18 leadentering Kalnins’ bout.

The ride for the Cougars this sea-son has definitely been a memorableone with five seniors (Capece,Scorese, DiGiovanni, McGovern,Concina) all surpassing 100 careervictories.

“It’s pretty amazing we got five thisyear. We have all been wrestling to-gether since first grade,” Scorese said.

“You can’t win a sectional champi-onship in a day and you can’t grow anice mustache in a day. You got totrust the process and we all bought in.That’s what happened. Sectional title!It’s been a long time coming,”McGovern expressed.

“First time Cranford has ever won21 matches. That’s pretty cool. I thinkwe haven’t won sections in a whileeither. We got Groups on Sunday. Wegot to win those,” Scorese said.

BOUT SEQUENCE:126: — Ostir (W) d Halpin 4-2132: — Scorese (C) d Valli 5-3138: — DiGiovanni (C) d Nauta 10-4145: — Nauta (W) d Nigro 5-1152: — Taylor (W) d Bencivenga 7-5 OTSV160: — McGovern (C) p Hildebrandt3:57170: — Ostir (W) p Doran 3:57182: — Concina (C) won forfeit195: — Galka (W) d Budnik 9-5220: — Ramirez (C) d Oberly 6-2Hwt: — Esposito (C) d Zafis 10-4106: — Kalnins (C) p Slivka 1:40113: — Capece (C) d Nauta 7-2120: — Wulff (W) md Smith 13-2


ORDINANCE NO. 17-04

ORDINANCE SUPPLEMENT-ING CHAPTER 34, OF THECODE OF THE BOROUGH OFGARWOOD ENTITLED “PO-LICE DEPARTMENT,” ES-TABLISHING PROMOTIONPROCEDURES FOR THERANK OF CHIEF OF POLICE.

WHEREAS, within its general powersas a municipality, the Borough of Garwoodmay make and enforce ordinances, rulesand regulations not contrary to federal orstate law as it deems necessary and toprotect the public safety and welfare of itsresidents; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council ofthe Borough of Garwood support and en-courage efficiency within the GarwoodPolice Department; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council ofthe Borough of Garwood have determinedthat it would be in the best interest of thecitizens of the Borough to establish a pro-motion practice based upon merit for theposition of Police Chief when there is avacancy in said position; and

WHEREAS, the Borough of Garwooddesires to have a promotional practice forthe position of Police Chief based uponmerit, experience, education, demon-strated ability, interview and record reviewwithin the Garwood Police Department inthe interest of better serving the residentsof the Borough of Garwood;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINEDby the Governing Body of the Borough ofGarwood as follows:

1) Chapter 34 of the Code of theBorough of Garwood entitled “PoliceDepartment” is hereby amended to cre-ate new subsections A and B to Sec-tion 34-4, which shall provide as fol-lows:

A. The Mayor shall nominate with theadvice and consent of the Council, theChief of Police, captains, lieutenants, ser-geants, detectives, regular, probationaryand special policemen.

B. Chief of Police Promotions1. General Requirementsa. Eligibility: The Borough of Garwood

Governing Body desires to promote themost qualified candidates to the position ofChief of Police. This subsection estab-lishes the eligibility requirements and theprocess for promotion to the Chief of Po-lice. The promotion process shall be on thebasis of merit, education, demonstratedability, record review and interview. In ac-cordance with N.J.S.A. 40A:14-129, pro-motion of any officer shall be made fromthe membership of the Department. To beconsidered for the position of Chief ofPolice, the candidates must have previ-ously been serving the Borough in the rankof Lieutenant or higher. Candidates musthave served in the title of Lieutenant orhigher for a minimum of three (3) years. Ifcandidate served in the title of Captain forless than three (3) years, but previouslyserved in the position of Lieutenant, timeserved in lower rank of Lieutenant shallcount towards the three (3) years of ser-vice.

2. Promotional Process

a. Candidates for the position of Chief ofPolice shall participate in a promotionalprocess administered by the Borough Ad-ministrator. The Borough Administratorshall announce the promotional process tomembers of the Police Department byposting the announcement in the commonarea of the Police Department and/or thePolice Department bulletin board. Theposting announcement shall contain at aminimum, the rank to be filled, years ofexperience required in subsequent rank,and prospective date for the interview.Candidates who qualify shall notify theBorough Administrator of his or her inter-est in the promotion by submitting a letterof interest no later than ten (10) calendardays after the promotion announcement.Failure to do so shall render the officerineligible to participate in the promotionalprocess.

3. Promotion Testing Procedure. Thepromotion testing procedure for theGarwood Police Department shall consistof an oral interview and a record review.

a. Oral Interview(s).i. The interview shall be conducted by

the Mayor and Council. The interviewshall focus on but not be limited to thecandidates’ knowledge the Borough ofGarwood’s form of government, policeadministration, leadership and manage-ment abilities, municipal budget process,police department budget, Attorney Gen-eral Guidelines, staffing, community ser-vice, and N.J.S.A 40A:14-118.

ii. All candidates shall be given the sameidentical questions and the Borough Ad-ministrator shall administer the questionsand keep written records of eachcandidate’s responses to same.

iii. Each candidate shall be graded on asixty (60) point scale.

b. Record Reviewi. The candidates’ personnel records

shall be reviewed which shall include evalu-ation records, education, commendations,special training, military service, leader-ship and discipline. The review of the per-sonnel records shall be conducted by theBorough Administrator and Assistant Bor-ough Administrator.

1. The record review shall be graded ona forty (40) point scale. The weight of eachcategory of the process shall be as follows:

(a) Performance evaluations: 0 to 10points

10 points if average score for the pasttwo years is 90% or higher

8 points if average score for the past twoyears is 80% or higher




0 points if average score for the past twoyears is below 50%

(b) Education: 0 to 5 points5 points if completed Master’s Degree3 points if completed Bachelor’s Degree2 points if completed Associate’s De-

gree(c) Years of Law Enforcement Service1 point of credit for up to 20 years in law

enforcement work (any full-time servicewith any Police Departments or full-timemilitary service if honorably discharged)

(d) Commendations: 0 to 2 points1 point for each commendation up to a

maximum of 2 points.(e) Specialized Training: 0 to 3 points1 point for each specialized training (i.e.

FBI training, SWAT, Police Administra-tion, etc.) up to a maximum of 3 points.

(f) Disciplinary Actions:Each major sustained discipline (sus-

pension of more than 5 days) will result ina deduction of 2 points.

Each minor sustained discipline (5 daysuspension or less, including written repri-mands) will result in a deduction of 1 point.

All previous sustained disciplinary ac-tions shall be considered and reviewed toachieve the broadest scope of review forthe given candidate by his/her supervi-sors.

c. Each candidate shall be ranked basedon the total score as outlined above. Thecandidates shall then be ranked from thehighest to lowest based on score. The listshall include the candidates’ names andfinal scores and shall be afforded to theMayor and Borough Council. Thereafter,the Mayor shall make his final determina-tion and appointment in accordance with§34-4, A.

i. Where two (2) or more candidates areranked equally pursuant to the promo-tional procedure set forth herein, prefer-ence shall be given to the candidate withthe most seniority in service pursuant toN.J.S.A 40A:14-129, or a resident over anonresident pursuant to N.J.S.A 40A:14-122.6. Residency shall prevail over se-niority in the case of candidates that areranked equally.

2) SEVERABILITYIf any section, subsection, sentence,

clause or phrase of this Ordinance is forany reason held to be unconstitutional orinvalid, such decision shall not affect theremaining portions of this Ordinance, whichshall otherwise remain in full force andeffect.

3) REPEALERAll ordinances or parts of ordinances

inconsistent herewith are hereby repealedto the extent of such inconsistency.

4) EFFECTIVE DATEThis Ordinance shall take effect after

final passage as provided by law and shallbe applied for all promotions to Chief ofPolice.

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that OrdinanceNo. 17-04, was introduced and passed onfirst reading at a meeting of the BoroughCouncil of the Borough of Garwood, in theCounty of Union, State of New Jersey, heldon the 14TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2017,and that Ordinance No. 17-04, will be takenup for further consideration for final pas-sage at the meeting of said Borough Coun-cil to be held at its meeting room in theMunicipal Building, 403 South Avenue,Garwood, New Jersey, on the 28TH DAYOF FEBRUARY 2017, at 7:15 p.m., or assoon thereafter as said matter can beheard, at which time and place all personswho may be interested therein will be givenan opportunity to be heard concerning thesame.

ATTEST:Christina Ariemma

Municipal Clerk1 T - 2/16/17, The Leader Fee: $190.74

PUBLIC NOTICE PUBLIC NOTICE

CRUSE, DRUBULIS LEAD RAIDERS WITH 8 POINTS EACH

Rahway’s Defense SmothersRaiders in 49-35 Hoops Win


The Rahway High School boysbasketball team defeated ScotchPlains-Fanwood, 49-35, on February7 in Rahway. Keyshawn Cummings(12 points) paced the Indians, whileLamont Cruse and Tommy Drubulisled the Raiders with eight points each.The Raiders, known for aggressivedefense and deadly 3-point shooting,quickly learned that Rahway couldturn up the defensive heat themselves.

Rahway contested every shooterand took advantage of its quickness tohold the Raiders scoreless in the firstquarter on their way to an 8-0 lead.Though the Raiders had the earlyadvantage rebounding, there were noeasy shot opportunities. In one amaz-ing sequence, the Raiders possessedthe basketball on offense for nearlytwo full minutes, collecting three of-fensive rebounds yet still could notscore. It was a sign of things to come.

“When you play against ScotchPlains this season, it is not an easytask for you on defense,” said RahwayHead Coach Kevin Conroy. “You can’tfocus on just one player on the perim-eter. They have three or four guys

who are really good three-point shoot-ers and many of the rest of their play-ers can hit from outside as well. So wejust took it to heart that we had tocontest every shot, not allow spacefor any shooters and make it difficultfor them to get free looks at the bas-ket. I think our kids did about as gooda job of that as they have all season.”

Indeed the Raiders would not scoreuntil two minutes had gone by in thesecond quarter and when they did gettheir first points they came on an insidebasket by junior Ryan Muench that cutthe deficit to 8-2. The Raiders, whohad beaten Rahway, 53-46, earlier inthe season, clawed their way back intothe contest during the quarter. TeddyWillmott pulled the Raiders to withintwo at 12-10 with 3:12 remaining inthe half when he scored on a drivethrough the lane and converted a foulshot for a 3-point play. Rahway went tothe break with an 18-14 lead.

After the break, the Indians cameout and outscored the Raiders 14-2 tobuild a 32-16 lead midway throughthe third quarter. Denzel Cooper naileda 3-pointer from the top that made it21-14. Cummings followed with asteal and a lay-up then scored again

on a baseline drive to put Rahway up25-16. The Raiders could get verylittle going offensively against theaggressive Indian defense. Rahwayoutscored the Raiders 18-7 in the thirdquarter on their way to a 36-21 lead.

“You have to give Rahway a lot ofthe credit today,” said Scotch Plains-Fanwood second year Head CoachSteve Siracusa. “They played phe-nomenal defense throughout the game.It was a very intense effort put forthby them and it gave us some problemsfor sure. From our perspective, as faras what we could have done better, wemissed a bunch of shots, couldn’tfinish on some difficult but availablelay-ups and we failed to rotate overfast enough on defense.”

Rahway’s pressure at the top keptthe Raiders out of sync anddiscombobulated throughout thegame. In the fourth quarter, the Raid-ers closed the gap to 44-34, whenDrubulis scored on a lay-up with aminute to play. But Rahway hit 4-for-4 from the line in the final 30 secondsto insure the victory. The Raidersconnected on just one three-pointbasket during the game. Raider JackBrady also added four points.

“We are going to have to get back tothe basics,” said Siracusa. “We’vegot to execute on offense better. We’vegot to hit our foul shots more consis-tently and we have to rotate. Rahwaydid a great job but we can do better.”

The game was a showdown of UCCValley Division leaders who enteredthe contest tied for first with identical8-1 conference records. Rahway (9-1in conference, 15-2 overall) assumedcommand of the division, while theRaiders (8-2, 18-2 overall) slipped tosecond place.

“Really, both teams are preppingfor the county and state tournamentswhich are coming up,” said CoachConroy. “We are both good teams andI don’t think one game indicates howthings will go for either team fromhere.”

The Raiders enters the UnionCounty Tournament as the sixth seedand was scheduled to host OratoryPrep on February 11. Rahway, seeded10th, was set to host Hillside. A winthere would set the Indians on a colli-sion course with the winner of theNew Providence/Westfield game.

Each team has also secured a spotin the NJSIAA State Tournament. TheRaiders will enter as the third seed inthe North Jersey, Section 2, Group IVTournament when they will host 14thseeded North Hunterdon on Monday,February 27. Rahway, the top seed inthe North Jersey, Section 2, Group IIIbracket, will host Voorhees on Febru-ary 28.Sc Pl-Fanwood 0 14 7 14 35Rahway 8 10 18 13 49

Cougars Fall to No. 15 DelseaIn Group 3 Mat Semi, 39-25Two days after winning the North

Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Tourna-ment, the Cranford High School wres-tling team fell to No. 15 Delsea, 39-25, in the Group 3 semifinals on Feb-ruary 12. South Plainfield mauledSparta, 44-15, in the other semifinalmatch.

Beginning at the 126-lb class,Delsea’s Tim Spatola claimed an 11-2 major decision over Conor Halpinthen Cougar Chris Scorese pinnedJon Stokes in 59 seconds at 132-lbs.At 138-lbs, Tom DiGiovanni pinnedVito Genna in 5:00 to give the Cou-gars a 12-4 team lead. Delsea’s NickBennett pinned AJ Bencivenga in 2:52at 145-lbs.

Delsea took a 13-12 lead whenSeth Summers topped Mike Nigro, 8-4, at 152-lbs but the Cougars regainedthe lead, 15-13, when BrianMcGovern beat Mason Maxwell, 9-

4, at 160-lbs. At 170-lbs, Delsea’sBill Janzer pinned Matt Doran in 2:47then Cougar Vince Concina edgedVince DeGeorge, 5-4, at 182-lbs tomake the team score, 19-18, in favorof Delsea.

Hopes began to slip away from theCougars when Tom Maxwell pinnedDylan Budnik in 2:41 at 195-lbs andBrad Dobzanski pinned AnthonyRamirez in 31 seconds at 220-lbs.Cougar Alex Esposito won via 10-2major decision over Jake Hallowell at285-lbs then Delsea earned a 34-22lead when Justin Dougherty stungPatrick Kalnins, 6-4, in overtime.Cougar Anthony Capece nipped JohnPatterson, 5-4, at 113-lbs then Delsea’sEdison Echevarria won by 15-0, 2:47tech fall over Dean Smith at 120-lbs.

The South Plainfield Tigers wenton to defeat Delsea, 38-23, for theGroup 3 crown.


BOND ORDINANCESTATEMENT AND SUMMARY

The bond ordinance, the summary termsof which are included herein, has beenfinally adopted by the Borough Council ofthe Borough of Garwood, in the County ofUnion, State of New Jersey on February14, 2017 and the 20-day period of limita-tion within which a suit, action or proceed-ing questioning the validity of such ordi-nance can be commenced, as provided inthe Local Bond Law, has begun to run fromthe date of the first publication of thisstatement. Copies of the full ordinance areavailable at no cost and during regularbusiness hours, at the Clerk’s office formembers of the general public who re-quest the same. The summary of the termsof such bond ordinance follows:

BOND ORDINANCE NO. 17-02

TITLE: BOND ORDINANCETO AUTHORIZE THE ACQUI-SITION OF A NEW GARBAGETRUCK IN, BY AND FOR THEBOROUGH OF GARWOOD, INTHE COUNTY OF UNION,STATE OF NEW JERSEY, TOAPPROPRIATE THE SUM OF$200,000 TO PAY THE COSTTHEREOF, TO MAKE ADOWN PAYMENT, TO AU-THORIZE THE ISSUANCE OFBONDS TO FINANCE SUCHAPPROPRIATION AND TOPROVIDE FOR THE ISSU-ANCE OF BOND ANTICIPA-TION NOTES IN ANTICIPA-TION OF THE ISSUANCE OFSUCH BONDS.

Purpose(s): Acquisition of a new auto-motive vehicle, including original appara-tus and equipment, consisting of a gar-bage truck for the use of the Department ofPublic Works in, by and for the Borough.

Appropriation: $200,000Bonds/Notes Authorized: $190,400Grants (if any) Appropriated: $-0-Section 20 Costs: $2,000Useful Life: 5 years

Christina M Ariemma, RMCMunicipal Clerk

Borough of GarwoodCounty of Union

State of New Jersey1 T - 2/16/17, The Leader Fee: $49.47

PUBLIC NOTICE PUBLIC NOTICETOWN OF WESTFIELD

BOARD OF HEALTH

Public notice is hereby given that an Ordinance amending BOH Ordinance #1-2016entitled “An Ordinance Relating to Personnel Positions and Salary Ranges of Officers andEmployees of the Board of Health of the Town of Westfield, County of Union, State of NewJersey” of which the following is a copy was introduced, read and passed on first readingby the Westfield Board of Health at a regular meeting held on February 6, 2017. The Boardof Health will further consider the same for final passage on March 6, 2017 at 5:30 P.M.The meeting will be held in the Council Conference Room of the Westfield MunicipalBuilding located at 425 East Broad Street, Westfield, New Jersey at which time and placemembers of the public will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning said ordinance.

Megan AvalloneBoard Secretary

BOARD OF HEALTH ORDINANCE #1-2017

AN ORDINANCE BY THE BOARD OF HEALTH OF THE TOWN OFWESTFIELD ENTITLED “AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO PERSONNELPOSITIONS AND SALARY RANGES OF OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEESOF THE BOARD OF HEALTH OF THE TOWN OF WESTFIELD, COUNTYOF UNION, AND STATE OF NEW JERSEY”.

Be it ordained by the Board of Health of the Town of Westfield, County of Union, Stateof New Jersey, that Board of Health Ordinance #1-2016 is hereby amended as follows:

Section 1

The following personnel positions and salary ranges are hereby established for Officersand employees of the Board of Health and shall be effective retroactively from January1, 2017.

Job Title Salary RangeRegional Health Officer $90,000 — $132,300Public Health Nursing Supervisor $65,000 — $88,900Principal REHS $65,000 — $87,900

Section 2

This Ordinance shall take effect immediately after Final Passage and publicationaccording to law.1 T - 2/16/17, The Leader Fee: $62.22

FSPY Men’s 30+ BasketballLeague Results & Standings

Flash’s Warren Lowe and Size Mat-ters’ Scott Lowder. The prolific, high-scoring Lowe pumped in a leagueseason-best 38 pts to offset a nearly-as-impressive 30-pt onslaught by vet-eran sweet-stroker Lowder (6-10 fromthree-land), as FNB staved off theirsizeable opponents. Rob Christensen(11) and Omar Glover (9 and 10)were instrumental for the victors,while Jason Pompeo (15 caroms) andChris Burke both produced 10 pts indefeat.Slamma Jamma 58, No Conscience43 The 2nd hottest squad currentlyjamming, and perhaps the most likelyto get carded, won its third in a rowthanks to their trio of young guns –Rich Cobbinah (16 pts, 4 threes, 7rebs), Greg Josephsen (16 and 6), andGavin Ford (15 and 8). Slam Jam’selder statesman, Dave Berger, chippedin with 9. Gregg Carder (14 pts) andCapt. Chris Mattina (13 pts, 3 frombeyond the arc) paced No Con, whichsaw its three-game win streak halted.

FSPY 30+ STANDINGS:TEAM W LGet Buckets 8 1Size Matters 6 3Slamma Jamma 6 3No Conscience 5 4Hickory Hoosiers 3 6Falcons 3 6Flash-N-Bang 3 6Drive N Dish 2 7

The Fanwood-Scotch Plains “Y”Men’s 30+ Basketball League en-gaged in pre-Valentine’s Day festivi-ties during Week Nine play.Falcons 72, Drive N Dish 58: JasonShann poured in 26 points (5-9 fromdowntown), and Rookie of the Yearcandidate Clay Torres double-doubled(20 and 10), as the Falcons snapped athree-game skid. For DND, guardBrian Ciemneicki, FSPY’s all-timeassist leader, had a signature outing(21 pts, 6 rbs, 10 dimes). The benefi-ciary of many of those dimes was 50-something Steve Lee, the league’sancient Chinese secret, who finishedwith 19 points. Chris Beaudry (8 and12) came up solid in a losing cause.Get Buckets 48, Hickory Hoosiers32: Get Buckets poured it on, win-ning their fourth straight, behind JamalBerry’s 21 and 10 performance, andCapt. Justin Fiory’s 10 tallies. A tri-umph in Week 10 will lock up the 1seed for G.B. heading into the play-offs. The Hoosiers, who fell for thethird consecutive week, found the ironunkind, shooting a paltry 17 percentfrom the floor (6 for 35). Vic Bauer(11 pts) and Craig Cichocki (6 pts, 12boards) were bright spots for theHicks.Flash-N-Bang 68, Size Matters 61:The day’s tightest contest featured a“low”down showdown between the


A POSSIBLE SPREAD EAGLE...Cougar Chris Scorese has Matt Valli in a single grapevine with his leg and pulls the otherleg to possibly set up a spread eagle (banana split) maneuver. Scorese beat Valli, 5-3, in his 132-lb bout.


Raiders Hush Huskies for 18th Mat VictoryCONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

WF Boys Down Hawks, Girls Tame Swim LionsCONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

2132 Caroline Avenue, Linden $375,000. Renovated in 2006, this Colonial is deceptively large. The upgraded kitchen has granite countertops, steel appliances, and slider to large deck. There’s three full updated baths including the master bath with jetted tub, living room with fireplace and a basement with rec & media rooms.

415 Woodland Avenue, Westfield $650,000. Flawlessly blending 1770’s charm with modern conveniences, this en-chanting Colonial was honored by the Westfield Historic Preservation Committee for it’s addition. Exquisite period details, updated kitchen & master bath and a view of the golf course, craft an incomparable home.

22 Forest Avenue, Cranford $779,900. Situated on an expansive lot, this classic Victorian with wrap-around porch is close to downtown with shops, restaurants & a movie theater. The interior enchants with high ceilings, gorgeous moldings, hardwood floors and essential updates including the kitchen with Butler’s pantry.

2137 Maple View Court, Scotch Plains $529,000. The spacious interior of this Colonial captivates with gleaming hardwood floors and meaningful updates such as the kitchen with stainless 5-burner gas stove & built-in microwave and main bath. The family room offers a powder room and the master bedroom has a full bath & walk-in closet.

28 Fairfield Avenue, Cranford $895,000. With room to spare, this legal mother/daughter offers a family room with a wall of windows and an updated kitchen. The master bedroom has a full bath while the separate suite boasts a living/dining room, kitchen and two bedrooms. The rec room and sizable yard add to your living space.

834 Johnston Drive, Watchung $2,200,000. Resort style living is yours in the architectural designed masterpiece with an open floor plan for endless sunlight & fabulous NYC views. Natural materials such as copper, cedar & marble highlight the interior while an in-ground pool, patios & fountains enhance the exterior.

Open House: Sunday, 2/19 • 1-4pm

Keeley Thompson took first in the50-free with a time of 25.19. MurielMaloney won the 100-free in 54.76and Emma Conlon took first in the500-free at 5:25.69. MarelinaKrowinska, Grace Cash, EmiliaMcCormack and Emily Oster wonthe 200-free relay in 1:45.56.

The Lady Lions won the openingevent, the 200-medley relay withAziza Ganihanova, Ashley Kolpan,Ariel Lonoff and Shannon Hessetouching in 1:52.28. Ganihanova wonthe 200-free in 1:57.85 and the 100-backstroke in 59.48. Lonoff won the100-fly in 1:00.58 and the 100-breast

in 1:10.89. Kolpan won the 200IM in2:14.95. Hesse, Carmen Kuo, TaraTeipel and Ganihanova won the 400-free relay in 3:51.7.

The Blue Devil boys and girls wouldface Bridgewater-Raritan for the sec-tional crowns at the Raritan Bay “Y”on February 16.

WILLMOTT HITS 16 PTS, DRUBULIS NETS 11, HEISEY 10

Raiders Stay Ahead of Rams,In UCT Boys B-Ball, 53-45


Rams refused to yield but the six-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool Raider basketball boys got akey 3-pointer from a normally unex-pected source in junior Cooper Heiseyand followed with a 2-pointer fromjunior Tom Drubulis midway throughthe fourth quarter to separate them-

selves from 19th-seeded Oratory Prepin a 53-45 victory in Scotch Plains onFebruary 11.

The 19-2 Raiders had a roaringstart, surging to an 11-2 lead midway

through the first quarter only to watchit swiftly dwindle when the Ramsanswered with a 7-0 run. The Raiders,however, regained their senses with a3-pointer from Teddy Willmott and a2-pointer from Nigel Nelson, whofinished with six points, to take a 16-9 lead. That irregular process wouldreemerge late in the third quarter witha 10-0 Ram run.

“We played good. I don’t think weplayed our best game by any means.We had a good lead to start. We haveto learn to continue that effort andintensity throughout. Whether we are

up by 10 or we are tied up, it has to bethat same energy and team effort thewhole time,” Raider Head CoachSteve Siracusa stressed. “We had somedull moments and we let up a little bitand they are a tough team and theymade us pay a couple of times. We gotto get more consistent.”

“We were playing good in the firsthalf then we started playing very de-

fensively. I think we might have beenrushing it. We had three turnovers ina row. We just had to slow down andregroup,” said Willmott, who led the


“Never give up on Fleck! He canget beat up in the match but he goes ontop and he knows what to do fromthere,” Coach Fabiano cautioned.

Huskie Jaleel Gupaul was too quickfor Justin Sidebottom at 120-lbs, re-cording six takedowns and an escapefor a 13-5 major decision. The finalbout had Raider Jacob Perone re-cording a single-leg takedown, a bar-

rel roll takedown and an arm bar/semifigure-four of the head with his leg toearn a 10-4 decision over Jose Veliz at126-lbs.

“We wrestled tough tonight. It wasa nice quality win against a greatteam,” Coach Fabiano said.

BOUT SEQUENCE:132: — Grinberg (M) md Velez 11-3138: — Cannon (S) won forfeit

145: — Ramos (S) d Russell 21-18152: — Zimmerman (S) d Ferrara 7-5160: — Oslislo (S) p Arendt 3:06170: — Wiley (M) p Fleischman 1:25182: — O’Connor (S) won forfeit195: — Conzo (M) d Wustefeld 9-5220: — Mount (S) p Panizzi :53Hwt: — Root (S) won forfeit106: — Fleck (S) p Higuita 2:18113: — Lenart (S) p Porcelli 3:33120: — Wiley (M) md Sidebottom 13-5126: — Perone (S) d Veliz 10-4



DRIVING THROUGH RAMS...Raider Tommy Drubulis, No. 4, drives through some Rams en route to the basket. Drubulisfinished with 11 points and the Raiders defeated Oratory Prep, 53-45, in the UCT first round in Scotch Plains.


SETTING UP A COOL MOVE...Raider Jacob Perone, top, works an arm bar and is about to use his leg for an unusual halfnelson on Jose Veliz in his 126-lb bout. Perone defeated Veliz, 10-4.


DOING THE ANCHOR LEG OF THE 200MR...Blue Devil Griff Morgan swims the freestyle leg of the 200-medley relay.Aedan Collins, Stefan Crigler, Dave Lindros and Morgan won the event with a time of 1:43.75 against JP Stevens.


Raiders Stay Ahead of RamsIn UCT Boys B-Ball, 53-45


Raiders with 16 points, including four3-pointers.

Willmott scored 11 of his points inthe first half and sank his third three inthe second quarter won by the Raid-ers, 11-9, for a 27-18 lead at the half.Raider Ryan Muench also sank a threein the quarter. At that point, the Raid-ers were effectively ruling the boards,especially with the hands on efforts ofNelson (6 rebounds, 2 assists), DwightLaylor (5 rebounds, block, 2 points),Heisey (4 rebounds, block, 2 assists)and Drubulis (4 rebounds, 2 assists).

The Rams put the pinch on Willmottin the second half so Drubulis beganbanging the threes with two right offthe bat in the third quarter but theRams would later answer with a 10-0run to cut the Raiders’ lead to 37-35with less than a minute remaining inthe quarter. Willmott shifted his strat-egy, drove to the basket and wasfouled, resulting in a pair of success-ful free throws. Ram Matt Bopp (5points) was fouled at the buzzer andsank one of his two free throws.Drubulis would score eight of his 11points in the second half.

“The floor definitely opened up forme in the second half. It was easier forme to get open looks because I thinkthey were keying on Teddy,” Drubulissaid. “We worked a lot in practice onshooting threes and making sure werun through correctly so we have a lotof open looks. So in the games, it’slike natural for us and we just knockthem down.”

The Rams proved that they werecapable of hitting from the outsidealso, especially during their two runs.AJ Kopacz led the Rams with 13points, John Lally sank 10 points and

Anthony Guerrier put up nine.“We got to improve on closing out

on every single shot. We do it at timespretty well but when there’s a coupleof lapses that all it takes with teamsespecially good shooters,” CoachSiracusa said.

With 4:12 remaining, the Ramswere still hanging around, trailing42-39, but then Heisey banged a threeand Drubulis added a 2-pointer tospread the lead to eight.

“It was a momentum changer forsure because he was open and I passedhim the ball and it was a good shot,”Willmott said

“Cooper can shoot the ball when hehas the confidence. He likes to talkabout he used to be a guard and so heloves to try to shoot from the outside.We really got him working around thebasket more this year but when he’sset and he’s confident with his shot,we trust him to hit those. And he didtonight, which was actually a big pos-session and big shot for us,” CoachSiracusa said.

As time was running to less than aminute, the Raiders applied somemustard when Nelson added a slickpass inside to Heisey, who rolled in alay-up. Heisey, who finished with 10points, tallied the Raiders’ final pointswith a pair of free throws.

“Nigel played well tonight. Helooked for an open guy. That was ahuge possession when they werepressing us and he made the extrapass that we had been teaching. Itcame out to be a big pass as well withCooper finishing it,” Coach Siracusaexpressed.

“I think our defense is really goodbut I think they out rebounded us inthe second half. That’s why it was aclose game,” Willmott said.

“In the off-season and before theseason, we just worked really, reallyhard every single day. Then through-out the season we work really hardand realized how important defenseis. Our motto is we got to bring it ondefense every game. If our offenseisn’t there, our defense will bring usthrough,” Drubulis said.

“They [Raiders] can rebound andthey had intensity down low; how-ever, to be honest, I think we canimprove our rebounds even more. Ithink some of their guards got in andgot some second chances for them.We got to learn how to not have ourtwo or three guys boxing out butfive.” Coach Siracusa said.

Receiving the sixth seed and en-tering the second round of the UCThas also been an achievement for theRaiders.

“It’s crazy. It’s just from all thehard work we’ve been putting in. Thesixth seed out of our county is insanebecause there are so many good pri-vate schools like Union Catholic,Patrick School, Roselle Catholic andthings like that. Just to be up top withthem feels great,” Drubulis said.Oratory Prep 9 9 18 9 45Sc Pl-Fanwood 16 11 12 14 53

Recent Home Sales

Cranford: 11/09/16Paul Di Marco to Manan Yogesh

Shah and M. J. Valentine, 467Brookside Place, $639,900.

160 Ewingville Rd. LLC to RickDestefano, 102 Beech Street,$545,000.

Christina Trust to Toto PropertiesLLC., 7 West End Place, $206,000.

Nancy Stone to Jose L. Pizarro andAnn Cusak, 128 Gallows Hill Road,$273,500.

20 North Ave W. Assoc. to LLC-HQ Properties II LLC, 20 North Av-enue West, $1,150,000.

Palma V Trust Credit Shelter Trustto John R. and Krystina N. Walsh, 8Park Drive, $460,000.

John R. and Krystina N. Walsh toWilliam and Marlene Hoke, 46Balmiere Parkway, $320,000.

Saul and Susan Zucker to JefffreyJ. and Kristen M. Mosier, 2 CresentPlace, $590,000.

Roland and Anna Marie Couto toJennifer Hull, 22 Hampton Road,$489,000.

James graff to Yarusi InvestmentsLLC., 520 Claremont Place,$325,000.

Alexander C. Cassisi and JuliaFrieri to Jason I. Sanchez, 705 Or-ange Avenue, $400,000.

Union County Sheriff to JL RealEstate Venture II LLC., 215 Oak Lane,$336,000.

Peter and Maria Montalvo to Mel-issa Marie Montalvo, 14 Sutton Place,$420,000.

William J. Powers to Robert andShannon Brennan, 22 RiversideDrive, $250,000.

Gerard R. and Elise Savnik to Erin

M. Lukowiak, 217 Prospect AvenueApt. 11-B, $211,000.

Michael S. Ko and Mijung Han toPaul and Alisse Montgomery, 311Casino Avenue, $565,000.

Howard A. Roach and Marie ACarey to Joseph Coloangelo and Sa-rah Welsch, 310 Prospect Avenue,$1,090,000.

Dennis and Nancy Schmatz toChristopher K. and Holly D. Gessner,306 Elizabeth Avenue, $610,000.

James and Janet Stivale to SME 22Holding Corp, 102-104 South Av-enue West, $610,000.

Victor Ferreira to Maulik Sanghaviand Manish Pandya, 11 Besler Av-enue. $405,000.

Donald and Georgette Hunt toDaniel and Amanda Ghanime, 18 NewStreet, $480,000.

Hyonsok Kang and Sookeun Choito Mariano F. and Paola D’Angelo, 4Marsh Street, $498,000.

HSBC Bank USA National Asso-ciation to Prestige Real Estate Solu-tions LLC., 37 Roger Avenue,$263,774.

Merle J. McCartney to Richard F.and Lisa A. Pizzuta, 307 DenmanRoad, $425,000.

Devin D. Burkhart to Kenneth L.Poggi, 110 Lincoln Park East,$179,000.

Jennifer E. Erdos to Joseph Perez,33 Myrtle Street, $265,000.

Ryan Greco to Mark E. Bagniewski,16 Pershing Avenue, $325,000.

Dorothea R. Mayers to SmeerVerma and Ajay Verma, 412 Centen-nial Avenue, $365,000.

Charles Margaret Pijanowski toJames P. and Lisa Tansey, 58 Wall

Street, $470,000.Ikuzo and Camelia Enoki to Lisa

Bukowiec and Michael Oneil, 8Algonquin, $379,000.

NationStar Mortgage to RKL En-terprises LLC., 4 Mohawk Drive,$262,500.

Grunwald Properties LLC. to EreneY. and Mark J. Philips, 23 MunseeDrive, $835,000.

Fanwood: 11/23/16Helene Miale to Vilmarie Gaud

and Joelimer Morales, 84 PleasentAvenue, $400,000.

Appenov Construction Co. INC. toWGW1 LLC, 85 Woodland Avenue,$430,000.

Suzanne and Joshua Cederbaum toDavid Gevry and Rasma Abolina,143 Hunter Avenue, $495,000.

Maryalice and Chritopher C. Ryanto Eric T. and Emily S. Ostrowski,111 Forest Road, $550,000.

Elaine J. Gechtman to Vinlex RealEstate LLC., 90 North Martine Av-enue, $425,000.

Daniel Bornkamp to RamonoDelRoio and Jennifer Grayer, 196North Avenue, $270,000.

Raymond Rogers to Mega ResortLLC. 57 South Avenue, $930,000.

Robert Mazick to Danqin Huang,46 Glenwood Road, $470,000.

US Bank Trust to STG NJ Realty,469 Terrill Road, $117,000.

Dino Ganas and Jennifer Ritz toJennifer Ritz, 160 Marian Avenue.$169,000.

Joseph R. and Carolyn J. Axisa toJason Stevens and Pheonix Vaughn,181 Herbert Avenue, $528,500.

Timothy and Jennifer Kosuda ToSorb and Maitreyee Bagchi, 9 SavilleRow, $481,000.

Scotch Plains: 11/19/16Patricia J. Kinsley to Bryan Pual

McMahon, 1569 Front Street,$40,000.

Union County Sheriff to John P.Pinto, 447 Flanders Avenue,$164,000.

Richard and Phyllis Pease to Mat-thew L. and Diana N. Hall, 541 ForestRoad, $400,000.

John E. and Jennifer L. Feeley toOmesh Bhatt and Arshiya Hakhu,2063 Nicholl Avenue, $600,000.

Kate Todar and Jason Burnham toJoseph E. and Alison M.Kesselbrenner, 2232 Greenside Place,$409,000.

K. Soriano and W. Walzer to DavidM. Belford, 356 Henry Street,$335,000.

Mary Ann King to Marc H. andLucine Estriplet, 62 Canterbury Drive,

$520,000.Natale Enterprises LLC. to Lou’s

Shop LLC., 2460 Plainfield Avenue,$455,000.

Queen Equities LLC. to VanguardInvestmnts Corp., 2480 PlainfieldAvenue, $225,500.

Eleonar Riva Groder to MatthewV. and Stephanie Giannacio, 23Homestead Terrace, $575,000.

Jean E. Jones to 2670 PlainfieldAvenue LLC., 2670 Plainfield Av-enue. $155,000.

Darraugh Valli to Norman and carolPollitt, 17 Crestwood Common NorthAvenue, $295,000.

Edward and Lucille Mc Gann toLuis F. Sandy, 1257 Maple Hill Road,$450,000.

Toll NJ LP to Lawrence A. andCynthia Goldman, 403 TillinghastTurn, $974,384.

Toll NJ LP to Lewis M. and LindaA. Zemsky, 1103 Tillinghast Turn,$874,380.

Toll NJ LP to Arthur M. andMarianne Greenwald, 1104Tillinghast Turn, $912,901.

Union County Sheriff to ClearviewEquities LLC., 1858 Quimby Lane,$348,000.

Nikola and Jennifer Janceski toCarl and Carla Varner, 2160 Button-wood Lane, $567,500.

Michael Glasser to LavonaPatterson, $365,000.

Jena McCredie to Sandeep Devjiand Bansri S. Furia, 1450 Terrill Road,$1,140,000.

Jonathan and Shelley Gardner toMitchell and Shira Goldstein, 45 Cly-desdale Road, $725,000.

Irwin D. and Wendy Miller to DevjitBasu and Priyanka Jha, 17 SwansMill Lane, $780,000.

Irene Jaros to Daniel Banic, 1530Rahway Road, $435,000.

FSPY 8Us Finish SeasonAt State 8U Championship

The Fanwood-Scotch Plains(FSPY) 8U swim team completed itsseason and turned in top results andtimes against 14 other “Y” teams atthe New Jersey “Y” 8U State Cham-pionship held February 4 at RaritanValley Community College.

Girls 7U/8U: Sophie Isleta, FionaRovito, Vivian Yu and JenniferMarkwant took first place in the 7U100-medley relay. NormandieBeversluis, Ashlyn D’Souza, ClaireSewald and Amelia Condell placedfourth in the 8U 100-medley relay.

Rovito placed second in the 7U 25-breaststroke. Beversluis finished thirdin the 8U 50-freestyle and second inthe 25-backstroke. Yu took second inthe 7U 50-freestyle and first in the 25-backstroke. In the 25-butterfly, Yuand Rovito finished second and fourth,respectively.

Markwant, Isleta, Rovito and Yualso won the 7U 100-freestyle relay,and Beversluis, Condell, Jamie Trelaand D’Souza took fourth in their 8U100-freestyle relay.

Boys 7U: Terry Gould, SawyerBriamonte, Braden Michaels andMuhammed Sayani placed second inthe 100-medley relay and the 100-freestyle relay. Michaels clinched first

in the 25-freestyle, second in the 25-back and fourth in the 25-butterfly,while Briamonte took second in the25-breaststroke and sixth in the 25-backstroke.

Boys 8U: Sean Stanik, DouglasGee, Zac McGeehan and Aaron Frankwon the 100-medley relay, whileTyson Moose, Matthew Iannotta,Luke Iannotta and Harrison McClureplaced fifth. Stanik, Frank and Mooseswept the top three spots in the 25-freestyle. McGeehan took first in the25-breaststroke, with Gee clinchingsixth. Frank and Stanik then placed 1-2, respectively, in the 50-freestyle,with Moose finishing fifth. Mooseand Stanik touched 1-2 in the 25-back, and McGeehan placed sixth inthe 25-fly.

Stanik, McClure, McGeehan andFrank won the 100-freestyle relay.Frank also won the 100 IndividualMedley.

The “Y” is the nation’s leadingnonprofit committed to strengtheningcommunities through youth develop-ment, healthy living and social re-sponsibility. For information on pro-grams, or to request a schedule ofclasses, please call (908) 889-8880 orvisit www.fspymca.org.

WF ‘Y’ Devilfish Compete atNJ ‘Y’ Bronze Championship

The Westfield Area Y Devilfishbegan its championship season onFebruary 11-12 with the YMCABronze meet at the Witherspoon Poolin Princeton.

First place finishes were attained inseven individual events and one relayevent: Caroline Heinze (9-10 100-fly), Julianne Kamins (9-10 100-back), Grace Klag (11-12 50-back),Catherine Ritter (9-10 200IM and100-back), Aidan Troy (11-12 50-breast), Nathan Welsh (11-12 50-free),Girls 9-10 200-free relay (Kamins,Katie Ferris, Sara Burrick, Ritter).

The following swimmers placed inthe top 16. Silver Team qualifiers inbold will compete February 17-19 atthe Gloucester County Institute ofTechnology in Sewell.

9-10 girls: Sophia Altieri, EmmaFerraro, Katie Ferris, Caroline Heinz,Julianne Kamins, BrookeMcAndrew, Catherine Ritter,Stephanie Wang

9-10 boys: Colin Cimei, OliverLaskow

11-12 girls: Sofia Corsaro, NeveFerreira, Mia Johnson, Grace Klag,Lauren Lane, Emily Leary, BriannaMontoya, Kate Riordan

11-12 boys: Michael Gauthier,Tyler Richter, Aidan Troy, NathanWelsh, Bennet Xia

For more information regarding theWestfield Area Y Devilfish SwimTeam contact Brian Guidera, Direc-tor of Competitive Aquatics and HeadCoach, (908) 233.2700 x263 [email protected].



PLEASE BE ADVISED, that the ZoningBoard of Adjustment of the Township ofScotch Plains will hold a public hearing onMarch 2, 2017 at 7:00 pm., MunicipalBuilding, 430 Park Avenue, First FloorCouncil Chambers to hear the applicationof Debi & Ross LeBrun, 2048 AlgonquinDrive, Block 8504, Lot 3, R-3 Zone, whoproposes to utilize a portion of the existinggarage space for a master bathroom anduse the remaining space as a garage atthe aforementioned property, contrary tothe following Zoning Ordinances:

Section 23-2.3 Regulations Appli-cable to All Zones,

Minimum Required: enclosed privategarage of not less than 12 feet x 20 feet.Existing: enclosed private garage 10 feet 6inches +/- x 23 feet +/- by scale. Proposed:enclosed private garage 10 feet x 10 feet 6inches by scale.


All interested persons may be presentand be heard. The file pertaining to thisapplication is in the Office of the ZoningBoard of Adjustment and available for pub-lic inspection during regular office hours.


1 T - 2/16/17, The Times Fee: $31.62

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PLANNING BOARD

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that thePlanning Board of the Township of ScotchPlains will hold a public hearing on Febru-ary 27, 2017 at 7:30 pm, in the First FloorCouncil Chambers, Municipal Building, 430Park Avenue, Scotch Plains to hear thesite plan application of Wells Fargo Bank,N.A., 460 Park Avenue, Block 1105, Lot 3,B-2 Zone, who proposes to upgrade theexterior lighting on premise in order tocomply with State law, specifically N.J.S.A17:16K-10, and internal Wells Fargo ATMLighting Compliance Program require-ments.


The application, plans and related pa-pers are on file in the Office of the PlanningBoard and are available for inspectionduring regular office hours (Mondaythrough Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.)

All interested persons may be presentand be heard at said hearing in accor-dance with the rules of the Planning Board.

Shannon RapantSecretary to the Planning Board

1 T - 2/16/17, The Times Fee: $28.56

PUBLIC NOTICETOWN OF WESTFIELD

COUNTY OF UNION

TAKE NOTICE that pursuant to Resolu-tion adopted by the Town Council ofWestfield, New Jersey on February 21,2017 that the undersigned will expose forsale at Public Auction in accordance with39:10A-1, at the time and location speci-fied below, the following motor vehicle(s)which came into possession of theWestfield Police Department through aban-donment or failure of owners to claim same.

The vehicle(s) on the below list is offeredin strictly “as is” condition, with no repre-sentation as to condition or fitness for anyparticular purpose. Bids will start at out-standing balances owed on the vehicle(s)for towing and storage fees.

Purchase must be made by cash orcertified check. A 10% deposit must begiven at the time of auction. Balance mustbe paid by 4:00 pm the same day.

The public auction shall be held onWednesday, March 1, 2017 in accordancewith the laws of the State of New Jerseypertaining thereto.

The following vehicles may be exam-ined at Rob’s Towing, 439 Lake Avenue,Colonia, New Jersey 07067 at 9:30 am.The public auction will commence at 9:15am.

MAKE: BuiYEAR 2000VIN# 1G4HR54K9YU203731MILEAGE: unknownStart Bid: $500.00

MAKE: NisYEAR 2009VIN# 1N4AL21E59N532707MILEAGE: unknownStart Bid: $2,500.00

The following vehicle may be examinedat A&M Towing, 1144 South Avenue,Westfield, New Jersey 07090 at 10:00 am.The public auction will commence at 10:15am.

MAKE: CadYEAR 2008VIN# 1GYEC63858R139981MILEAGE: unknownStart Bid: $34,000.00

1 T - 2/16/17, The Leader Fee: $45.39

PUBLIC NOTICETOWN OF WESTFIELD

PLANNING BOARD

Notice is hereby given that the WestfieldPlanning Board, at their meeting on Febru-ary 6, 2017, meeting adopted the followingresolution for an application acted upon atthe January 4, 2017, meeting.

PB 16-17 Derek Broaddus, 657 Bou-levard, Block 4108, Lot 14. Applicantsought approval to subdivide the propertyinto two lots, remove the existing dwelling,and construct two new homes. Applicantsought variance relief from section11.07E2and 11.07E3 of the Land Use Ordinance toallow a lot width of 67.60 feet for proposedlot 14.01 and 67.40 feet for proposed lot14.02, where the required minimum lotwidth is 70 feet; to allow a lot area of 9,638square feet for proposed lot 14.01 and9,667 square feet for proposed lot 14.02,where the required minimum lot area of10,000 square feet within 143 feet of thefront lot line is required; to allow a lotfrontage of 67.60 feet for proposed lot14.01 and 67.40 feet for proposed lot 14.02,where the required minimum lot frontage is70 feet. Application denied.

Plans and applications are on file in theoffice of the Town Engineer, 959 NorthAvenue West, Westfield, New Jersey andmay be seen Monday through Friday from8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Kris McAloonPlanning Board Secretary

1 T - 2/16/17, The Leader Fee: $31.11



NOTICE OF SOLICITATION FORCOMPETITVE CONTRACTINGINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

CONSULTANT SERVICES

Notice is hereby given that the TOWN-SHIP OF SCOTCH PLAINS, in the Countyof Union and State of New Jersey seeks toengage firms to fill the following positionfor the year April 1, 2017 through March31, 2019. The term of the contract shall befor two (2) years commencing on April 1,2017 until March 31, 2019; the Townshipreserves the right, at its discretion, to ex-tend the contract term for an additional one(1) two year term or two (2) one-year termsin accordance with N.J.S.A. 40A:11-15.The contracts will be awarded through theprovisions of N.J.S.A. 40A:11-4.1 et seq.,and N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.4 et seq.

INFORMATION TECHNOL-OGY CONSULTANT SER-VICES

Copies of the specifications may bedownloaded from the Township’s websiteat www.scotchplainsnj.com

Proposals must be received by the Town-ship Clerk no later than 10:00 A.M. pre-vailing time on March 10, 2017 at 430Park Avenue, Scotch Plains, New Jersey07076.

Please note: No proposals will beaccepted after the due date and timenoted.

Each envelope must be clearly markedCompetitive Contract for 2017, includingthe title of the position for which you aresubmitting a proposal. Forward Propos-als to the TOWNSHIP OF SCOTCHPLAINS, Attention: Bozena Lacina, Mu-nicipal Clerk, 430 Park Avenue, ScotchPlains New Jersey 07076.Alexander MirabellaTownship Manager

Bozena LacinaTownship Clerk

1 T - 2/16/17, The Times Fee: $40.29



COMING IN FROM THE SIDE...Raider Teddy Willmott, No. 3, heads for thebasket from the right side in the game against Oratory Prep on February 11 inScotch Plains. The Raiders beat the pesky Rams, 53-45.


Board of Health Reviews InspectionsFor Restaurants, Lead Exposure

Jeannette Rankin,An American Woman

The recent women’s right march inWashington and across our countryinspired the following essay.

A name rarely heard in conversa-tions of women’s rights is that ofJeannette Rankin, a woman who wasa lion in the women’s rights move-ment. Her strength, courage and com-mitment was unbridled. JeannetteRankin was born in Montana in 1888.She attended the University of Mon-tana and later enrolled in the schoolof Philanthropy (is a study of altruis-tic concern for human welfare and itsadvancement, usually manifested bydonations of money, property or la-bor) in New York City.

Ms. Rankin was the driving forcein the Northwest for the suffragemovement (the right to vote).

Ms. Rankin achieved the improb-able, the impossible, not a chance inhell, sorry about the hyperbole, sec-ond thought, I am not sorry. Thiswoman ran for the US House of Rep-resentatives as a Republican in 1916— A place in time light years from thepresent day values. A time whenwomen were put in place by theirmale counterpart, which was sociallyaccepted. Without her own right to

vote Ms. Rankin ran for the office ofRepresentative in Congress, she ranagainst all barriers of discrimination,hatred and violence, and was electedto the US House of Representativesin 1916. Being the sole woman inCongress, she voted for the right ofwomen to vote. In 1920, the 19thAmendment was passed giving theright to vote to all Americans.

Ms. Rankin was active throughouther stay in Washington promotinglegislation benefiting women ofAmerica. She was a pacifist and ac-tive in that movement. In 1941 shewas the only member in Congress tooppose the declaration of war againstJapan. Could you imagine being awoman and standing up in front of theentire male Congress, a Congressangry and vengeful in their retribu-tion on the attack on Pearl Harbor.What courage and commitment to abelief she possessed.

This is dedicated to all the great,brave and selfless women of our na-tion who give first to others in cause,in family and in patriotism. May theLord Bless and care for you.

Walter SosnoskyKenilworth

The Westfield Board of Healthheld a meeting on February 6.

Review of the Westfield RegionalHealth Department reports showedthat 20 retail food establishmentswere inspected in January, 19 regu-larly planned inspection plus onewalk-in inspection as the result of acomplaint. The walk-in inspectiondid not result in a change of rating,which remained as satisfactory.

Fifteen of the planned inspectionsresulted in satisfactory ratings, threeresulted in conditionally satisfactory,and one resulted in an unsatisfactoryrating. The conditional and unsatis-factory ratings resulted in a list ofviolations that needed to be correctedprior to re-inspection. The establish-ments with conditional ratings willbe re-inspected in February. For theestablishment with the unsatisfac-tory rating the establishment was re-inspected the next day; the viola-tions were found to be corrected anda satisfactory rating was issued.

Seasonal influenza activity in ourarea remains high. It is still not toolate to receive the benefits of re-ceiving the vaccine. Act soon, it cantake up to two weeks for the vaccineto become fully effective. Residentscan find information on eligibilityand costs for health department vac-cinations at www.westfieldnj.gov/health.

The public health nursing reportalso noted that Overlook MedicalCenter is offering the followingscreenings:

February:Monday, February 20 — 10 a.m.

to l p.m., glucose and blood pres-sure screenings.

Monday, February 27, 10 a.m. tol p.m., glucose and blood pressurescreenings.

Each screening requires pre-reg-istration unless otherwise noted.Glucose screenings are always avail-able at these times as well. For cho-lesterol and bone density screen-ings a $10 fee is charged. There isno fee for the blood pressure andglucose screenings. All screeningswill be held at the Overlook Down-town Center, located at 357 Spring-field Avenue, Summit, N.J., unlessotherwise indicated. Call 1-800-

247-9580 to register.Overlook’s New Vitality program

is offering the following programs.New Vitality is a health and wellnessprogram designed specifically foradults 65 and over: QUIT SMOK-ING PROGRAM — IT’S NOTQUITTING, IT’S LIVING! Duringthis free six-week program partici-pants will receive an individual as-sessment, nicotine replacement andsix weekly group meetings to learntechniques that can assist in stayingsmoke-free. Pre-registration is re-quired. For more information, call(908) 522-2296. The program isheld Thursdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m.1 Springfield Avenue, Third FloorConference Room, Summit.

TAKE YOUR HEALTH TOHEART: ARE YOU DREAMINGOF A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP?, acontinuing New Vitality Health andWellness series, Monday, February27, 11 a.m., Overlook Downtown,357 Springfield Avenue, Summit.This program is free and pre-regis-tration is not required.

The board passed one resolutionestablishing pay ranges for the non-union members of the Board ofHealth and Town of Westfield. Afirst reading was held for an ordi-nance that would amend a section ofthe health code pertaining to the clo-sure of retail food establishmentsthat receive an unsatisfactory rating.

During the other business portionof the meeting there was discussionof the state lead regulation that isdesigned to protect residents, par-ticularly children, against exposureto lead. The discussion continuedinto the discussion of goals for theboard for the year. Public educationto minimize lead exposure wasraised as a goal for the year. Otherissues of concern were opioid ad-diction and deaths and the relatedGovernor’s initiative, and the age21 to smoke codes that some 21towns established.

The next meeting of the board ofhealth is scheduled for Monday,March 6, at 5:30 p.m. in WestfieldMunicipal Building.

Thomas K. O’Neill, PresidentWestfield Board of Health

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WESTFIELDTuesday, January 31, Westfield po-

lice responded to the Roselle PoliceDepartment to pick up Roche Landolf,30, of Roselle, who was being held ona Westfield criminal warrant with bailset at $736. Landolf also had twotraffic warrants from the CranfordPolice Department with total bail of$200. He was transported to Westfieldpolice headquarters, processed andheld pending bail or commitment tothe Union County jail.

Tuesday, January 31, Ibn Kirkland,28, of Newark was arrested on anoutstanding Westfield criminal war-rant with $575 bail. He was processedand posted bail.

Tuesday, January 31, StephenLebron, 49, of Plainfield was arrestedon an outstanding Westfield criminalwarrant for $818 pursuant to beingpicked up at Plainfield police head-quarters. He was unable to post bail,was processed and committed to theUnion County jail.

Wednesday, February 1, police re-ceived a report of identity theft on the1900 block of Grandview Avenue. Aresident reported that one or moreunknown suspects fraudulentlyopened an account in his name.

Wednesday, February 1, CandaceAhlquist, 55, of Mountainside wasarrested and charged with drivingwhile intoxicated (DWI) following amotor vehicle accident at the intersec-tion of Lawrence Avenue and WalnutStreet. She was issued summonsesand released to a responsible person.

Thursday, February 2, DulceCabezas, 20, of Linden was arrested onan Edison traffic warrant for $120 pur-suant to a motor vehicle stop in the areaof Central Avenue and Oxford Terrace.She was processed at police headquar-ters and released after posting full bail.

Thursday, February 2, Sarah Numan-Snyder, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y. wasarrested on three outstanding Westfieldtraffic warrants with bail totaling $236pursuant to a motor vehicle stop on the400 block of East Broad Street. Shewas processed at police headquartersand released after posting full bail.

Thursday, February 2, Allen Smith,52, of Plainfield was arrested at thePlainfield Police Department on an out-standing Westfield criminal warrant for$1,031. He was transported to Westfieldpolice headquarters, where he was pro-cessed and released after posting bail.

Thursday, February 2, ChristopherFeliciano, 31, of Rahway was arrestedduring a motor vehicle stop at MountainAvenue and Orchard Street on a SouthPlainfield traffic warrant for $165. Hewas released after posting bail.

Thursday, February 2, KevinLicciardi, 18, of New Brunswick wasarrested in Tamaques Park during aninvestigation of suspicious activity.He was issued a summons for posses-sion of a controlled dangerous sub-stance (CDS) and released on his ownrecognizance.

Thursday, February 2, a resident ofthe 600 block of Hort Street reportedbeing the victim of identity theft andcredit card fraud. The victim statedthat one or more unknown suspectsaccessed his credit card information,pretended to be him and made $716.67in purchases.

Thursday, February 2, a motor ve-hicle burglary in the center parking lotof Tamaques Park was reported. Oneor more unknown suspects smashedout a window on the victim’s vehicleand took her purse. The value of thetheft was approximately $500.

Friday, February 3, Luis CintronColon, 45, of Reading, Pa. was ar-rested and charged with possession ofless than 50 grams of suspected mari-juana pursuant to a motor vehicle stopin the area of Tuttle Parkway andSouth Avenue. He was transported topolice headquarters, where he wasprocessed and released with a manda-tory court date.

Saturday, February 4, AntoniusKyne, 31, of Elizabeth was arrestedand charged with DWI pursuant to acrash investigation at the South Av-enue traffic circle. He was transportedto police headquarters, where he wasprocessed, given a mandatory courtdate and released to a sober adult.

Saturday, February 4, MichaelBrown, 28, of Plainfield was arrestedon a Westfield traffic warrant for $500pursuant to a warrant pickup with theState Police. He was transported toWestfield police headquarters, wherehe was processed and held in lieu ofbail.

Saturday, February 4, DavidParramore, 39, of Newark was ar-rested on a Westfield traffic warrantfor $1,000 at the Morris County jail.He was transported to police head-quarters, processed and committed tothe Union County jail in lieu of bail.

Saturday, February 4, MarvinDorga, 41, of Elizabeth was arrestedon two Hillside traffic warrants for$164 pursuant to a motor vehicle stopin the area of Standish and Birch Av-enues. He was transported to policeheadquarters, processed and releasedafter posting bail.

SCOTCH PLAINSMonday, February 6, a resident of

the 1500 block of East Second Streetreported seeing someone attempt togain entry into his parked motor ve-hicle. The suspect fled on foot prior topolice arriving. The vehicle was lockedand no entry was gained.

Tuesday, February 7, Lee Sam-Colaj, 21, of Plainfield was arrestedand charged with driving while in-toxicated (DWI) after he hit severalparked cars. Field sobriety tests wereadministered and during the investi-gation it was determined he was under

the influence.Tuesday, February 7, a resident of

the 400 block of Farley Avenue re-ported that his snow blower was takenoff his front porch.

Tuesday, February 7, DemetriaVanderveer, 23, of Scotch Plains wasarrested and charged with possessionof less than 50 grams of suspectedmarijuana. The arrest was the result ofa motor vehicle stop.

Friday, February 10, Michael Tarsia,30, of Scotch Plains was arrested on amotor vehicle traffic warrant.

Friday, February 10, a Country ClubLane resident reported having a pack-age from UPS delivered and then re-moved from the front porch.

Saturday, February 11, Jwan M.Miller, 22, of Plainfield, Jaquan K.Johnson, 22, of Bayonne and NicoleDaley, 23, of Orange were arrested asa result of a motor vehicle stop. Millerwas charged with possession of lessthan 50 grams of suspected marijuana.Daley and Johnson both had trafficwarrants and were turned over to otheragencies.

Sunday, February 12, Louis Holder,48, of Easton, Pa. was arrested andcharged with DWI. The arrest was theresult of a police investigation.

FANWOODTuesday, February 7, Eric Horgan,

52, of Fanwood was arrested andcharged with DWI following a motorvehicle crash in the area of SecondStreet and La Grande Avenue. Whileinvestigating the accident police deter-mined that Horgan was under the influ-ence and placed him under arrest. Hewas processed and charged with DWI,refusal to submit a breath test andnumerous motor vehicle violations. Hewas released to a responsible personpending his court hearing.

Friday, February 10, Julien Estelus,37, of Plainfield was arrested on anactive warrant out of Elizabeth afterbeing stopped at La Grande and BeechAvenues for a motor vehicle viola-tion. He was processed, posted bailand released.

Friday, February 10, LouisCacciuttolo, 32, of Plainfield was ar-rested on an active warrant out ofCranford after a stop at Midway andFarley Avenues for a motor vehicleviolation. He was processed, postedbail and released.

Friday, February 10, Wyleek Shaw,31, of Newark was arrested on an ac-tive warrant out of Virginia after beingstopped at Terrill Road and South Av-enue for a motor vehicle violation.Shaw was processed and turned over tothe Union County Police Departmentawaiting extradition back to Virginia.

Saturday, February 11, BrandonStevenson, 32, of Rahway was ar-rested on an active warrant out ofMiddlesex after a stop at Terrill Roadand La Grande Avenue. He was pro-cessed, posted bail and released.

Saturday, February 11, Latwan Th-ompson, 23, of Avenel was arrestedafter she came to the Fanwood PoliceDepartment to post bail for someoneand it was discovered that she had anactive warrant out of the HudsonCounty Sheriff’s Office. She was pro-cessed and turned over to the HudsonCounty Sheriff’s Office.

Caregiver Conference to BeHeld at Area Synagogue

SPRINGFIELD — Jewish Fam-ily Service of Central New Jersey(JFSCNJ), a non-sectarian healthand social service agency, will hosta Caregiver Conference called“Meeting the Challenges ofCaregiving” on Sunday, February26, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The conference, supported by agrant from the JFNA Center forAdvancing Holocaust SurvivorCare and The Jewish Federation ofGreater MetroWest Holocaust Sur-vivor Fund, will take place at Con-gregation Israel, located at 339Mountain Avenue, Springfield. Itis open to the entire community atno charge. A continental breakfastwill be served with dietary lawsobserved. Self-care kits will beavailable for all those who attend.

Registration will take place from9:30 to 10 a.m. after which Dr. IritFelsen will deliver the keynote ad-dress, entitled “A Caregiver’s Jour-ney.” She additionally will presenta workshop during the conferencecalled “Caring for Aging HolocaustSurvivors.” Breakout sessions alsowill be presented by Dr. Ken A.Verni and Alice Greenberg-Sheedy.

Dr. Felsen is a clinical psycholo-gist in private practice in Moun-tain Lakes and Englewood, whereshe sees adults and couples, andruns a group for children of Holo-caust survivors. A native of Israel,

she is an adjunct professor at Ye-shiva University in New York.

Dr. Verni, a clinical psychologistand director of the New Jersey Cen-ter for Mindful Awareness, will dis-cuss “Caring for Self and Otherswith Mindfulness.” His professionalwork for the past 20 years has beendirected towards helping individu-als access and use their inner wis-dom as a means to experiencegreater balance and fulfillment intheir lives. He also is affiliated withRutgers University as a training andconsultation specialist.

Ms. Greenberg-Sheedy will leada workshop entitled “ManagingChallenging Behaviors ofAlzheimer’s/Dementia.” A Li-censed Social Worker, she coordi-nates all programs and servicesrelated to Dementia/Alzheimer’sDisease at JFSCNJ.

This program is made possible byfederal funds through the JFNA Cen-ter for Advancing Holocaust Survi-vor Care. Approximately 48 per-cent of the project, $160,000, comesfrom federal sources. Approxi-mately 52 percent, or $173,333,comes from non-federal sources.

Registration is recommended butnot mandatory. To register, contactMaris Chavenson, Licensed Clini-cal Social Worker, [email protected] orcall (908) 352-8375.

‘Dr. Gameshow Live!’On Tap In CranfordCRANFORD — The Friends of

the Cranford Public Library will hostan evening of interactive fun entitled“Dr. Gameshow Live!” on Monday,March 6, at 7 p.m. It will take place inthe audio-visual room of the CranfordCommunity Center, located at 220Walnut Avenue.

The program, which started as aweekly radio show on WFMU, blendsimprovisational comedy, experimen-tal games and plenty of audience par-ticipation. Comedians Jo Firestoneand Manolo will present some gamesthey have played on the air in the past,assisted by audience members.

The library describes the programas “The Price Is Right” meets PeeWee Herman.

This free, all-ages event is open toeveryone — children and adults alike— but is best suited to participants age10 and up. No registration is required.


PLANNING BOARD

NOTICE OF HEARING

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: In com-pliance with the pertinent provisions of theTownship of Scotch Plains Zoning andLand Development Ordinances, and theNew Jersey Municipal Land Use Act,N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., notice is herebygiven that a written application has beenfiled by the undersigned with the Townshipof Scotch Plains Planning Board for pre-liminary and final major site plan approval,and any and all other variances or waiversthe Board may reasonably require in theexercise of its discretion, in order to allowthe undersigned applicant to replace atotal of 11 wall-mounted and canopy-mounted lighting lamps and fixtures withnew LED lamps and fixtures, as well asinstall one additional new wall-mountedLED lamp and fixture at an approximateheight of 7 feet 6 inches to service theexisting Wells Fargo bank on propertyshown as Lot 3 in Block 1105 on theTownship of Scotch Plains Tax Map, whichproperty is located at 460 Park Avenue.The subject property is located in the B-2(Retail Business) zoning district and con-tains an existing Wells Fargo bank build-ing.

Public hearing on the above mentionedapplication has been scheduled for Febru-ary 27, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. in Council Cham-bers at the Township of Scotch PlainsMunicipal Hall, 430 Park Avenue, ScotchPlains, New Jersey at which time andplace any interested party (as defined inN.J.S.A. 40:55D-4) will have an opportu-nity to be heard.

All documents relating to this applicationmay be inspected by the public duringregular business hours at the office of thePlanning Board Secretary located at theTownship of Scotch Plains Municipal Hall,430 Park Avenue, Scotch Plains, NewJersey.

NEHMAD PERILLO & DAVIS, P.C.Attorneys for Applicant

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.MICHAEL R. PEACOCK, ESQUIRE

4030 Ocean Heights AvenueEgg Harbor Township, New Jersey 08234

(609) 927-11771 T - 2/16/17, the Times Fee: $46.41

Blood Drive to BeHeld February 26

SCOTCH PLAINS — New Jer-sey Blood Services will host anEmergency Shortage Blood Driveon Sunday, February 26, between11 a.m. and 5 p.m. It will take placeat Snuffy’s Pantagis, located at 250Park Avenue, Scotch Plains. Everydonor will receive a T-shirt as athank you. To make an appoint-ment, call 1-(800) 933-2566. Walk-ins also are welcome.

SCOTCH PLAINS — Respiratorysyncytial virus, or RSV, is a verycontagious respiratory virus that in-fects the lungs and breathing pas-sages. If you are young and healthy,most of the time it will resemble a badcold and disappear in one to twoweeks without any intervention. How-ever, for babies and older people, aswell as adults with underlying medi-cal conditions, it can lead to seriousproblems such as pneumonia and in-flammation of the lungs, which canbe life-threatening and require hospi-talization.

RSV is most prevalent from late fallto early spring. According to the CDC(Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention), “RSV is the most commoncause of bronchiolitis (inflammationof the small airways in the lung) andpneumonia in children younger than 1year of age in the United States. Inaddition, RSV is being recognizedmore often as a significant cause ofrespiratory illness in older adults.”

Symptoms often mimic those of otherrespiratory infections, such as a con-gested or runny nose, loss of appetite,headache and sore throat, but thenbecome worse with fever, severecoughing, sneezing, and sometimeswheezing. Other times, especially ininfants, lethargy, irritability and breath-ing difficulties may be the only notice-able symptoms. Call the doctor if younotice any signs of difficulty breath-ing, dehydration, lack of appetite, or acough with yellow, green or gray mu-cus. According to Web MD, “if yourbaby is very tired, breathes rapidly, orhas a blue tint to the lips or fingernails,get medical attention immediately.”

While there is no vaccine for thisvirus, high-risk babies can be given amedication called palivizumab to helpavoid it. For the rest of us, commoncold prevention techniques such asfrequent hand washing, cleaning anddisinfecting surfaces, and avoidingpeople who appear ill can help pre-vent this virus from spreading.

The Scotch Plains Rescue Squad isa volunteer organization of Neigh-bors Helping Neighbors. With over90 volunteers, we answer calls notonly in Scotch Plains but in surround-ing towns as well when needed. Be-sides answering calls, you will seeour ambulances at many special eventsheld in town, such as Scotch PlainsDay, the Memorial Day Parade, highschool football games and the sum-mer concerts on the Village Green.We are also available to provide dem-onstrations for Boy Scout and GirlScout troops, clubs and any othergroup that may be interested in whatwe do. In addition, we lend out wheel-chairs, crutches, canes and other as-sorted medical equipment free ofcharge. Please reach out to us if thereis something we can do for you: (908)322-2103 for non-emergencies [email protected].

* * *

Contributing Author: SusanBaldani, a life member of the ScotchPlains Rescue Squad.

Scotch Plains Rescue SquadTip: Virus Prevention

Newly renovated private officefor rent at 608 SherwoodParkway, Mountainside, nearWestfield border. Commercialbut quiet setting. Large parkinglot. Private office, built for soundreduction, individually climatecontrolled. Last of six privateoffices still available. Sharedwaiting room, kitchenette andrestrooms. Perfect for speechor occupational therapy,counseling services, or anyother small business.Neighboring offices arepsychotherapy, counseling,and nutrition. $900/monthincludes all utilities, Internet,security Webcam and cleaningservice for shared areas. Call(908) 233-7900 and ask forKathi Matrale for formalshowing.

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More Letters to the EditorCONTINUED FROM PAGE 4


Project SEARCH SeeksStudent Interns for 2017-18

Misericordia Univ.Tells Dean’s List

DALLAS, P.A. - Students at Mise-ricordia University qualify for thedean’s list with a 3.55 grade pointaverage or higher. The following stu-dents were named to the dean’s listfor the Fall 2016 semester:

Megan Kieltyka and Evelyn Logieof Scotch Plains.

Scotch Plains TeachersNamed Exemplary Educators

EXEMPLARY EDUCATORS...Courtney Nemec and Sasha Slocum are namedExemplary Educators by the Department of Education. Pictured from left torright are: Scotch Plains-Fanwood Superintendent Margaret Hayes, CourtneyNemec, Sasha Slocum and Board of Education President Nancy Bauer.

What Middle School ParentsNeed to Know Presented

SCOTCH PLAINS – The NewJersey Department of Education hasnotified Scotch Plains-FanwoodSchools Superintendent, MargaretHayes, that two teachers have beenselected as “2016 Exemplary El-ementary Educators.”

Sasha Slocum, Principal ofMcGinn School, is a recipient of2016 Exemplary Educator Award.Ms. Slocum is an avid learner andeducator who is innately inquisitiveand continuously reflects on improv-ing educational outcomes for all stu-dents. Ms. Slocum works tirelesslyon behalf of all her students. She isan engaging and inspiring presencethat motivates and impact students,colleagues, and the community.

Courtney Nemec, a fifth gradeteacher at Park Middle School, hasalso been selected by the New Jer-sey Department of Education as arecipient of the 2016 New JerseyExemplary Elementary EducatorAward. Ms. Nemec exhibits all ofthe qualities of an excellent educa-tor; she is innovative, reflective,

creative, and flexible. Her deep un-derstanding of how children learn isexemplified by the rich and mean-ingful tasks she engages her stu-dents in.

MIDDLE SCHOOL HELP...Westfield intermediate school parents attended aworkshop at Roosevelt Intermediate School entitled What Middle School Stu-dents Need Most from their Parents. The presentation is now available on thedistrict website.

WESTFIELD – Parents of middleschool students are invited to view anewly created educational video en-titled What Middle School StudentsNeed Most from their Parents. It isposted as a parent resource under the“Parents” tab on the district website:www.westfieldnjk12.org. Based on apresentation by Westfield schoolcounselors Kim Schumacher, Chris-tine Trottere and Cristina Caprara atRoosevelt Intermediate School, it in-cludes this introduction: “Adoles-cence is an extremely challengingtime.”

The presentation, originally part ofa parent workshop called Coffee withCounselors, is intended to help par-ents be better equipped to face thesechallenges. “These workshops havemade a huge difference not only toour students but to our families,” ex-plained Ms. Schumacher.

“The workshop was taped andposted as a video so that all parentscould benefit from the excellent ex-planations provided and the strate-gies recommended by the counse-lors,” stated Margaret Dolan, Super-intendent of Schools. “Offering bothin-person and online resources forour parents is an ongoing goal in thedistrict,” added Ms. Dolan.

Kerry Mooney, a parent of a sev-enth grader remarked, “The Coffeewith Counselors was a great presen-tation. It was a good reminder thatmiddle school encompasses so muchmore than academics. Our childrenare experiencing physical, emotional,intellectual and social growth. Allthese aspects are important and wor-

thy of our attention. It is comfortingto know that our children’s counse-lors are keenly aware of the difficul-ties of early adolescence and are therefor support.”

Another seventh grade mother,Suzanne Sherman, expressed her ap-preciation: “The highly experienced,kind and compassionate counselorsprovided true insight into the com-plexities of middle school and itsimpact on our children. Their handson, practical advice already made adifference in my parenting, such asemphasis on the family meal andscreen time at home. These are greattips for parents to remember on a dayto day basis and we appreciate theiradvice.”

VISITING DAY...Second and third grade students at The Wardlaw-HartridgeSchool in Edison continued the school’s partnership with the Edison HousingAuthority’s Bridges Program by visiting a group of senior citizens on Jan. 27. Thestudents began by performing two songs from their W-H winter concert. Thesecond and third graders introduced themselves to the seniors and later playedgames to become better acquainted with their new friends. There were manysmiles in the room as the children and seniors alike enjoyed the afternoon. CarlyJones of Scotch Plains and Aliza Riaz of Fanwood enjoy a friendly discussion witha resident of the Edison Housing Authority during the visit.

AREA – The Project SEARCH-Overlook Medical Center programis recruiting for its school year 2017-18 student cohort.

Students who meet the followingcriteria will be considered for theprogram: 18 to 20 years old andplan to still be in high school nextschool year; diagnosed with a de-velopmental or intellectual disabil-ity including those with AutismSpectrum Disorder, basic and ef-fective communication skills (ver-bal or supported by technology),

ability to take direction and changebehavior if necessary and the desireto work competitively in the com-munity.

An informational session and tourwill be held on Wednesday, March1 at 7 p.m. To register visitevents.r20.constantcontact.com.

To learn more about ProjectSEARCH visit projectsearch.us.

SPF Middle Schools EarneCYBERMISSION Grant

W-H Community EnjoysInternational Family Night

SCOTCH PLAINS – For the fourthyear in a row, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Science Department, un-der the leadership of the K-12 Sci-ence Supervisor, Mridula Bajaj, ap-plied for and was awarded a grant toenter students in grades sixth througheighth in the eCYBERMISSIONCompetition. eCYBERMISSION isa free, web-based, science, technol-ogy, engineering and math (STEM)competition conducted by the ArmyEducational Outreach Program(AEOP) and administered by theNational Science Teachers Associa-tion (NSTA) for students in gradessix through nine at State, Regional,and National levels. Students workin teams comprised of three to fourstudents from the same grade andregion. The science teachers serveas Team Advisors and mentors forthe teams as they work to identifyand solve challenges in their com-munities.

To meet the needs of the 21st cen-tury, students must be critical think-ers, problem solvers, computer liter-ate, and committed to school andcommunity. To that end, the District’sstrategic plan is to provide authenticlearning experiences for all students.In alignment with the district’s cur-riculum, the science department hasdesigned a problem-based learning

activity for grades six to eight. Byapplying STEM to a problem affect-ing the community, students not onlydiscover the real-life applications andrelevance of STEM but also find thatthey can make a positive difference intheir communities. These finishedprojects are entered in theeCYBERMISSION Challenge.

This experience benefits and en-gages our students in several ways.As part of this program, students:learn about STEM and how it can beapplied to a real problem in the com-munity; work in a team setting andbuild skills in teamwork, communi-cation, problem solving, conflict reso-lution and time management— all ina safe and supportive environment;collaborate and share ideas and inter-ests, both online and in person, withother teammates and teams, whichbreeds creativity and stretches stu-dents’ imaginations; participate in aninclusive competition which valuesand rewards students of all back-grounds and proficiency levels; andcompete for a chance to represent his/her school and community in a na-tional competition.

Students have submitted excellentwork in the past and placed first andsecond at the State level and some ofour teams went on to become re-gional finalists.

Celmson Univ. TellsPresidents List

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson Uni-versity has announced that Tyler OBrienof Scotch Plains has earned PresidentsList status for the Fall 2016 semester.

To be eligible for the Presidents List,students must carry of semester GPA of4.0 and take a minimum of 12 credits.

EDISON – International FamilyFun Night, the annual celebration ofthe many cultures of The Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison, provideda wonderful evening of great food,entertainment and fun for the wholefamily. Guests enjoyed an interna-tional buffet while watching dancesfrom different parts of the world.Many adults and some students alsodonned international attire to enhancethe spirit of the event.

Students, primarily from the Lower

and Middle School, participated incultural dances. Among the highlightswere Indian dances, African dancesand Irish dancing. There were alsocrafts and henna for the kids to enjoy.

The event was run by co-chairsBindu Dalal of Scotch Plains and JenSchildge of Westfield and proceedswere directed to the senior class, spe-cifically to help fund the costs of theprom. Seniors, their advisors anddeans helped serve food to the manyguests.

Lee Named to Simon'sRock Dean's List

GREAT BARRINGTON, M.A. –Each semester, Bard College atSimon's Rock recognizes superiorscholarship through the Dean's List.Ezra Lee, a sophomore at Bard Col-lege at Simon's Rock, has earned aplace on the Dean's List for the Fall2016 semester. To be eligible for thishonor, a student must carry 14 ormore credits and achieve a grade pointaverage of 3.5.

Ezra, 17, of Cranford, attendedCranford High School before leavingto enter college early after eleventhgrade.

Seton Hall AnnouncesFall 2016 Dean’s List

SOUTH ORANGE – Seton HallUniversity announced that the fol-lowing students qualified for the Fall2016 Dean’s List:

Natalie Calegari of Mountainside,Stephanie Cataldo of Mountainside,Michael Dicosmo of Mountainside,Ryan Drew of Cranford, NicholasDurant of Cranford, Meaghan Fleckof Westfield, Savanna Gerlitz ofCranford, Benjamin Gillo ofMountainside, Luke Iorio ofWestfield, Brendan Kane of Cranford,Connor Lawrence of Mountainside,Alexander Lopez of Mountainside,Meghan Mailley of Mountainside,Grace Mastronardi of Westfield, SaraMatlosz of Cranford, CourtneyMcGovern of Westfield, SiobhanMcGovern of Cranford, JaimeMichael Montalvo of Mountainside,Randall Muckenthaler of Cranford,Marc Nelson of Westfield, Kyle

Pender of Garwood, Kevin Pereira ofMountainside, Carley Quirin ofCranford, Keara Reilly of Cranford,Nicholas Rizzi of Westfield, LeahScalzadonna of Cranford, NicoleSforza of Mountainside, ElizavetaSidorova of Westfield, MargaretSinnicke of Garwood, AndrewSmedberg of Cranford, Julia Stirpe ofCranford, Allison Van Hook ofCranford, Alexis Baldini of ScotchPlains, Christopher Ciccarino ofScotch Plains, John Ferry of Fanwood,Alexandra Gale of Scotch Plains, Jo-seph Klimas of Scotch Plains, DarcyMoran of Scotch Plains, ShannonReilly of Scotch Plains, James Sherryof Fanwood, Dante Trigo of ScotchPlains, Erica Waltsak of Scotch Plainsand Allison Yashay of Scotch Plains.

To make Dean’s List, students musthave at least a 3.4 GPA and can get nograde lower than a C.

Baldowski MakesDelaware Dean’s ListDOYLESTOWN, P.A. – Lauren

Baldowski, a resident of Cranford,was honored for academic achieve-ment by being named to the Dean'sList at Delaware Valley Universityfor the Fall 2016 semester.

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SUNY Geneseo TellsDean's List for Fall

GENESEO, N.Y. – AbrahamFertig-Cohen from Westfield has beennamed to SUNY Geneseo's Dean'sList for the fall semester 2016.

To be on the list, a student musthave achieved at least a 3.5 gradepoint average while taking a mini-mum of 12 credit hours.

Students Named to theMarist College Dean's List

Desiato AwardedBachelor of Arts Degree

KUTZTOWN, P.A. – Joseph PaulDesiato of Fanwood has been awardeda Bachelor of Arts Degree in Com-munication Studies from KutztownUniversity.

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Thefollowing students were named tothe Marist College Dean’s List forthe Fall 2016 semester:

Danielle Cristiano of Westfield isa member of the Class of 2017 andis majoring in Educational Psychol-ogy -Childhood One to Six.

Daniel Firestone of Westfield is amember of the Class of 2018 and ismajoring in Social Work.

Mary Catherine Greeley ofMountainside is a member of theClass of 2020 and is majoring inCommunication.

Theresa Lotano of Westfield is amember of the Class of 2018 and ismajoring in Social Work.

Evan McElheny of Westfield is amember of the Class of 2019 and ismajoring in Computer Science.

Michael Murray of Westfield is amember of the Class of 2018 and is

majoring in Business Administra-tion.

Jessica Murray of Westfield is amember of the Class of 2017 and ismajoring in Psychology/SpecialEducation.

Michael Poyntz of Westfield is amember of the Class of 2019 and ismajoring in English.

Catherine Sabatino of Westfieldis a member of the Class of 2017and is majoring in Psychology/Spe-cial Education.

Olivia Spiridigliozzi of Westfieldis a member of the Class of 2017and is majoring in Psychology.

Tyler Dencker of Scotch Plains isa member of the Class of 2019 andis majoring in Communication.

Sierra Lesiak of Scotch Plains isa member of the Class of 2020 andis majoring in Communication.

Caitlyn Mannino of Scotch Plainsis a member of the Class of 2020and is majoring in Communication.

Elizabeth Nardone of ScotchPlains is a member of the Class of2018 and is majoring in FashionMerchandising.

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One Popcorn, Poor — Two Popcorns, Fair — Three Popcorns, Good — Four Popcorns, Excellent

The ComedianRequiem for a Funnyman

3 popcorns

By MICHAEL S. GOLDBERGERfilm critic

It’s too bad I can’t give you theGoldberger Guarantee for director Tay-lor Hackford’s The Comedian, an as-surance of positive viewership I occa-sionally offer to close friends when I’mfairly confident they’ll enjoy a particu-lar movie. The warranty promises re-fund of the ticket price if any of thosepals doesn’t find the movie in questionentertaining. I hate to be a piker, but,without releasing my tax records, restassured that I couldn’t afford to institutesaid guarantee en masse. If provedwrong, it would mean HamburgerHelper instead of steak tartare.

Actually, I’m more of a White Castlekind of guy. But the thought is, what ifI’m losing it? Maybe my judgement isoff. I am getting older and it’s notentirely out of the realm of possibilitythat, like a U.S. president offering gen-erous pardons as he (and tragically notshe) concludes his term in office, I’vebecome magnanimous. All of which ismy diplomatic, if not entirely apolo-getic way of touting a film that many ofmy so-called colleagues havemarginalized if not downright deni-grated. Well, they’re all wrong. FAKENEWS. Sad!

Besides….who’s to say that aliensfrom outer space didn’t hack into thebodies of the nation’s otherwise augustfilm critics, causing them to file nega-tive reviews of this amusing, insightfultreatise on the life and times of an agingcomedian? Truth is, Robert De Niro isaces as the title character, and that’s thehonestly intended, George Washing-ton, “I cannot tell a lie” truth as opposedto the gaslighting and spin-doctoringthat’s been posing as governance oflate. Reaching to the core of a comicwho has seen better days, he grabs hisspine and shakes him to life.

Filmmaker Hackford (An Officer andA Gentleman [1982], DoloresClaiborne [1995] ), seizing the occa-sion of this thespic national treasureproving he’s still got it, establishes afine milieu for his comedian to emote,erupt, entertain and howl at conven-tion. Bring all your stand-up comicpreconceptions to the party, and give anextra mulling to the Pagliacci thingabout laughing on the outside and cry-ing on the inside. Except, this funnymanscowls on the outside while hinting thathis inner sadness may be a bit morecomplicated and worthy of our curios-ity.

Jackie Burke, nee Jacob Berkowitz,son of an iconic Manhattan deli manwhose little brother, portrayed by DannyDeVito, still runs the eatery in RegoPark, Queens, is the only thing sadderthan an angry young man…and that’s abitter old man. Pushing 67, he oncekilled ‘em bigtime as Eddie the cop ona TV sitcom…the resultant typecastinga constant source of irritation. When aheckler at a comedy club with finan-cially ulterior motives demands thatJackie only do Eddie, the ensuing don-nybrook sends our comic to court andbeyond. Thus our tale is set in motion.

Supplying a little bit of fantasy forgentlemen of a certain age, the commu-nity service Jackie must perform at asoup kitchen as a result of totally bomb-ing in court has him meeting and be-coming infatuated with the muchyounger Leslie Mann’s HarmonySchiltz. A kindred spirit in that shepunched out someone, too, her rela-tionship with Jackie forms the twistsand turns that serve as the plot. Whileit’s a sad commentary that the May-September interaction wouldn’t be sofarfetched if Jackie were a filthy rich,successful comedian, Miss Mann, byvirtue of the Devil-may-care individu-alism she imbues her nonconformistfirebrand with, makes it work.

None of this ebullience is to at allsuggest that Mr. De Niro’s character-ization of the problematic showman isartistically equivalent to something likeRalph Richardson’s James Tyrone inO’Neill’s tragic Long Day’s JourneyInto Night. But you very well knowBobby has always been capable of suchhifalutin stuff, and following his spateof coffer-filling, analyze this-and-thatportrayals to offset charitable expenses,his Jackie Burke puts us on notice. Hehasn’t lost his fastball and, with Hoffmanand Pacino, shares status as the malecounterpart to Meryl Streep.

Mind you, we don’t necessarily likeJackie. He is irascible, and a little scan-dalous. More importantly, appreciatingin him an inherent frustration that comeswith being human, we hope that theideas of grace and redemption are atleast still available to him on a personallevel, even if currently out of vogue inour society at large. Ethical values,whether told in tug-of-war terms orthrough pie-in-the-sky idealism, havemore or less always survived through-out our movie history, and are there forthe referencing just in case we daredecide to be good instead of great.

Hence, even when those we pick toserve the commonweal are outrightlaughable, I must think that, like TheComedian, deep down our fallible spe-cies longs to do the right thing.

***The Comedian, rated R, is a Sony

Pictures Classics release directed byTaylor Hackford and stars Robert DeNiro, Leslie Mann and Danny De Vito.Running time: 120 minutes.

PetroGrass to Perform atTemple Beth O’r-Beth Torah

CLARK – The public is invited tocome out and enjoy the lively musicof PetroGrass on Saturday, March 4at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Beth O’r-BethTorah.

The band will perform a collectionof bluegrass, country, folk and Celticmusic. Coffee and cake will be served.The cost for the evening is $5 perperson.

Band members include: Ed

Majeski of Garwood on banjo andvocals; Russ Kelner of Cranford onthe fiddle; Nancy Kelner of Cranfordon the flute; Chaz Harris ofWestfield on mandolin; and guestartist Chris Turner of Clark on gui-tar and vocals.

For more information or to registerfor the event call the temple office byWednesday, March 1 at (732) 381-8403 ext. no. 11.

Arthouse Film FestivalReturns in March

SHOWING THEIR CHOPINS...Fourth and fifth grade students at The Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison entertained the audience with 10 acts ranging fromvocal, instrumental and dance to comedy performances during the annual LowerSchool Cabaret on February 8. Performers included: Samina Aziz of Mountainside,N Zia Riaz of Fanwood, Hannah Yin of Scotch Plains (pictured) and AnushkaDalal of Scotch Plains.

Majestic Winds to PerformWinter Concert at St. Helen’s

JCC to Present FilmLife, Animated Feb. 21

READY TO PLAY...Majestic Winds will perform on Thursday, March 2 at 7:30p.m. at St. Helen’s Church in Westfield.

WESTFIELD – Majestic Winds,the professional wind band of theNew Jersey Workshop for the Arts(NJWA), will present a winter con-cert at St. Helen’s Church, 1600Rahway Avenue, Westfield, on Thurs-day, March 2 at 7:30 p.m.

The ensemble will be directed byHoward Toplansky, an NJWA staffinstrumental instructor. “Our musi-cal offerings are geared to please avariety of musical tastes and rangefrom Renaissance to Ragtime favor-ites,” stated Mr. Toplansky.

“Tally-Ho” Overture by John PhilipSousa, Selections from Man of LaMancha by Mitch Leigh and “Waltzesfrom Sari” by Emmerich Kalman willbe the main selections on the first half

of the concert. “Ballet Parisien” byJacques Offenbach, Hungarian Dance#5 by Johannes Brahms and Water-melon Club Rag will also be featuredon this program. Several fine marcheswill also be performed which include“Sunburst” by Eric Osterling, World’sFair March by Alfredo Antonini and“Slavic Woman’s Farewell by VasiliAgapkin. Additional numbers in-cluded in this concert are: “Towardthe Summit” by Frank Erickson and“Kurt Weill Highlights”

This event is open to the public.Admission is free and contributionswill be gratefully accepted. For addi-tional information about NJWA orMajestic Winds, call (908) 789-9696or email [email protected].

SCOTCH PLAINS – The JCC ofCentral NJ in Scotch Plains is host-ing a free screening of the AcademyAward nominated documentary Life,Animated on Tuesday, February 21at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.

Life, Animated, produced in 2016,is a documentary film chroniclingthe coming-of-age story of a manwith autism. It's based on the best-selling book Life, Animated: A Storyof Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism byPulitzer Prize-winner Ron Suskindabout his son, Owen, who is on thespectrum. Owen Suskind stoppedspeaking at age 3, but learned tocommunicate again through his loveof Disney animated films. Usingvideo of Owen, animation based onhis drawings and scenes from Disneyclassics, the film tells the story ofOwen’s path to adulthood.

There will be an optional moder-ated discussion after the film withJosh Bornstein and Sharon Artz, bothmembers of the JCC’s Special NeedsTask Force.

The JCC of Central NJ is commit-ted to the inclusion of people of allabilities, backgrounds, denomina-tions, gender identity and religiousaffiliations and is screening thismovie in February to coincide withJewish Disability Inclusion andAwareness Month, a worldwide ef-fort to raise awareness and cham-

pion the civil rights of all Jewishpeople to have access and be mean-ingfully included in every aspect ofJewish life.

This is a free event open to thecommunity. Seating is limited. RSVPis required to [email protected].

The JCC of Central New Jersey islocated at 1391 Martine Avenue inScotch Plains. The JCC of CentralNew Jersey is a constituent agencyof the Jewish Federation of GreaterMetro West NJ, United Way ofGreater Union County and theWestfield United Fund. Financialassistance is available for member-ship and various programs.

MOUNTAINSIDE – On Monday,March 6, Arthouse Film Festival willreturn for ten weeks at two New Jer-sey theatres: AMC Mountainside andAMC Monmouth Mall.

This is an opportunity for the pub-lic to see a festival-winning gem be-fore release to the public, then thelights come up, and there in front ofthe audience are the creators of thefilm, ready to answer questions anddiscuss their work.

Oscar winners and nominees DannyAiello, Alan Arkin, Frank Darabont,Jesse Eisenberg, Ethan Hawke, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Melissa Leo, ViggoMortensen, Chazz Palminteri, JohnSayles, Aaron Sorkin, Fisher Stevensand David Strathairn have joinedDylan Baker, Jim Breuer, FamkeJanssen, Danai Gurira, Joseph Gor-don-Levitt, Derek Luke, Mary StuartMasterson, David Morse, ConnieNielsen, Joe Pantoliano and KevinSmith as guest speakers who havecome to share their insights with fes-tival participants.

The festival has hosted 1,774 moviepremieres with 1,110 live guest ap-pearances over the past 26 years.

“The program will always be flex-ible in order to take advantage ofopportunities as they arise,” said fes-tival director Chuck Rose. “Wonder-ful surprises and fantastic celebritiescan pop up out of nowhere, so we tryto keep the schedule as fluid as pos-sible.

For information, to see which filmswere screened in the past or whichones may be screened this year, or toregister, visit:www.ArthouseFilmFestival.com orcall (732) 870-6012.

The festival is open to anyone, butseating is limited, so early enrollmentis advised. Subscription is $139 forfive weeks or $245 for all ten weeks.After Wednesday, March 1, rates willgo up. Also being offered is a spe-cially priced flex ticket so users maychoose any eight out of ten nights fortheir convenience.

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UW-Madison AnnouncesFall 2016 Dean’s List

UA Announces Fall2016 Dean's andPresident's Lists

TUSCALOOSA, A.L. – A total of11,758 students enrolled during the2016 fall semester at The Universityof Alabama were named to the Dean'sList with an academic record of 3.5(or above) or the President's List withan academic record of 4.0 (all A's).The UA Dean's and President's listsrecognize full-time undergraduate stu-dents. The lists do not apply to gradu-ate students or undergraduate stu-dents who take less than a full courseload. The following local studentshave earned such distinction:

Ashley Oliveira, Mountainside -President's List.

Stephen Michael Sottosanti,Mountainside - Dean's List.

Sara E. Hughes, Westfield - Dean'sList.

Madison Elaine Mueller, Westfield- Dean's List.

Danielle L Sawyer, Westfield -Dean's List.

GRANDPARENTS DAY...Lincoln School in Westfield held a Grandparents andSpecial Persons Day on January 27 to honor and entertain those with a specialplace in the hearts of the kindergarten children. Led by music teacher ChristinaToulios, the kindergarteners performed several songs including Bushel and aPeck, I'm Gonna Mail Myself to You, Hot Chocolate, and A Song for Grandpar-ents Day, which were accompanied by spirited well-rehearsed movements. Theguests at both the morning and afternoon events were welcomed by Lincoln SchoolPrincipal Audrey Zavetz, who shared poems about grandparents as well asoriginal thoughts expressed by the children themselves in The ABC’s of Grandmaand Grandpa Lincoln School Kindergartners. Following the performance in theauditorium the grandparents and special guests joined the kindergarten studentsin their classrooms.

MADISON, W.I. – The Universityof Wisconsin-Madison has recog-nized students named to the Dean'sList for the fall semester of the 2016-2017 academic year.

Students include:Max Liben, of Mountainside, Col-

lege of Engineering, Dean's HonorList.

Bryan Jackler, of Westfield, Schoolof Education, Dean's List.

Benjamin Meltzer, of Westfield,College of Letters and Science,

Dean's List. Scott Pass, of Westfield, College

of Agricultural and Life Sciences,Dean's List.

Henry Resnikoff, of Westfield,College of Letters and Science, Dean'sList.

Fiona Rosenthal, of Westfield,College of Engineering, Dean's HonorList.

Natalie Tupper, of Westfield, Col-lege of Agricultural and Life Sci-ences, Dean's List.

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New Jersey Festival Orchestra toPresent La Traviata March 4

Maria Todaro

WESTFIELD – On Saturday,March 4 at 7 p.m. in Westfield, solo-ists from the New York MetropolitanOpera and beyond join New JerseyFestival Orchestra (NJFO) to presentGiuseppe Verdi’s renowned master-piece La Traviata.

Verdi’s most timeless and lyricalscore, La Traviata has continued tocaptivate audiences for more than150 years. In the glitzy world ofParis, a naive young man falls headover heels for a glamorous societyparty girl. Together they trade the fastlife for an idyllic love nest in thecountry…until bourgeois society val-ues tragically tear them apart andforce them to give up their dreams.

This powerful romantic drama, il-luminated through Verdi’s soaringarias and passionate duets, is surely

one of the most popular operas of alltime. A cast of internationally ac-claimed guestperformers as-sembled fromM a e s t r oWroe’s exten-sive contactsin Europeanand Americanopera houses,joins NJFO topresent thismagnum opusthat is sure tomelt even thecoldest heart.David Wroeconducts andstage director Maria Todaro updatesthis emotional, timeless tale of hy-

pocrisy and sacrifice to modern daywith colorful artistic design.

"We are thrilled that Maria Todarois once again joining us as artisticdirector,” noted Maestro Wroe.“Many will remember her eclecticstaging and costuming talents fromlast year’s La Boheme – this yearaudiences can expect another boldand dynamic performance statementwhich, together with our new stageconstruction and sophisticated light-ing, will take this year’s opera to yetanother unprecedented professionallevel.”

Presented in conjunction with RayCatena of Union, La Traviata hasbeen made possible through addi-tional generous support of TheDeAlessandro Family in memory ofJoseph T. DeAlessandro, MartyJeivens, the NJ State Council on theArts and the Geraldine R. DodgeFoundation.

The concert will take place at ThePresbyterian Church in Westfield onSaturday, March 4 at 7 p.m. at thePresbyterian Church in Westfield witha free pre-concert lecture presentedby musicologist Michael Rosin at 6p.m. The performance will be re-peated on Sunday afternoon, March 5at 3 p.m. at The Concert Hall locatedin The Dorothy Young Center for thePerforming Arts at Drew Universityin Madison.

Tickets range from $28 to $76,students under 18 are $15 each andare available online atwww.njfestivalorchestra.org. Ticketsmay also be purchased by calling thebox office at (908) 232-9400.

Paranormal Activity Takes upResidence at CDC in Blithe Spirit

By DEVON YANVARYSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

CRANFORD — The CDC, nowin its 98th season, opened the calen-dar year with Noël Coward’s BlitheSpirit. The story follows a string ofparanormal troubles CharlesCondimine and his second wife Ruth,encounter after inviting a psychicmedium to dinner one night.

Mr. Condimine is a successful au-thor who is looking to start a newbook about a homicidal psychic.Having little experience with such aperson, he decides to invite the townmedium, Madam Arcati, to dinner.Mr. Condimine’s plan is to haveMadam Arcati perform a séance sothat he can use her behavior as mate-rial for his novel. Though theCondimines and other dinner gueststhe Bradmans, believe Madam Arcatito be of unsound mind, she is verymuch the real deal as she manages tosummon Mr. Condimine’s first wife,Elvira, from the dead.

Though it is an astounding act ofsupernaturalism, Elvira’s presenceis lost on everybody except herformer husband, as he is the only onewho can see or hear her. This sooncauses a rift between Mr. and thesecond Mrs. Condimine and in a fitof frustration, Mrs. Condimine leavesto seek further aide from MadameArcati. However, Mrs. Condiminedies in a car accident caused byElvira, and soon Mr. Condimine’shouse is the home to both of hisformer loves with seemingly no wayto send them back to the great be-yond.

Timothy McGovern stars asCharles Condimine, the leading manof Blithe Spirit. At times overly sen-sitive and at times completely care-less with the emotions of others, Mr.McGovern plays the role with con-viction. While the play maintained a

constant air of tension and suspense,it was Mr. McGovern’s stage skillsthat made it possible. Though Mr.McGovern conveyed an obviousimplied faithfulness to Lisa Black(who starred as Ruth, wife numbertwo) there was a great amount ofchemistry between Mr. McGovernand Ashley Widmer (Elvira) that leftthe audience wondering: What willhe do? What will happen next? Mostimpressively was Mr. McGovern’sability to make his character likable,only to take it away in the last fewseconds of the play, thus leaving theaudience in a state of shock.

Ms. Black stars as the devoted andmild mannered Ruth. The dedica-tion a role like this must have takenis astounding. For most of the play,Ms. Black had to pretend she wasunable to see her co-star, Ms.Widmer, which is no small feat ashumans are instinctively drawn topay attention to stimuli; to act asoblivious as Ms. Black had to surelytakes a great deal of self-restraintand discipline. Furthermore, her roleas the skeptic helped fuel the dramaof the play: accusing her husband oftricking her, revealing her husband’strue intentions to Madame Arcati(Judi Laganga) and the fight that,ultimately, ended her life all com-bined beautifully to create a verymemorable performance.

Ms. Widmer stars as ElviraCondimine, first wife of Charles.Though Ms. Widmer technicallyplays the role of a ghost, her perfor-mance is one of the liveliest compo-nents of the play: she is wonderfullymischievous, sarcastic and childish,but she is also loving and sensitive.She is unyielding, inflexible, deter-mined to get her way and carelesswith the wellbeing of those aroundher. Yet, she is utterly charming, themain source of humor in the play andmy personal favorite character. De-

spite not having as many lines nor asmuch stage time as her co-stars, Ms.Widmer is able to show the audienceexactly who her character is; Elvira’spersonality filled out very nicelyunder Ms. Widmer’s skillful eye.

Ms. Laganga, a CDC veteran, playsthe eccentric Madame Arcati. WhileMadame Arctai’s character is meantto be a source of humor in the play, asshe is regarded as the town kook, sheis actually a delightful source of clar-ity and honesty. Prone to long-windedstories of paranormal activates past,Ms. Laganga gives us a characterthat is excitable, dramatic and sur-prisingly wise to all things both physi-cal and spiritual. This is only high-lighted by the skepticism of her fel-low co-stars; Ms. Laganga serves asthe moral compass of the play andmuch of what she says is both accu-rate and relevant, even in moderntimes.

Supporting actors include AlanFoster (Dr. Bradman), DanielleLevitt (Mrs. Bradman) and SusanRoberts (Edit) who without, the playwould be incomplete and devoid ofkey social aspects that make the playso realistic.

A special, and most deserved, men-tion goes out to the set design cast.The play deals with ghosts and theunseen; the ingenious and creativeset design used on stage to help main-tain the illusion of a honest hauntingwere one of the best parts of thisplay.

Blithe Spirit will continue onThursday, February 16, Friday, Feb-ruary 17 and Saturday, February 18at the CDC Theater in Cranford. Fortickets visit www.cdctheatre.org.

Dreamcatcher to PresentComedy Shipwrecked!

SUMMIT – Dreamcatcher Reper-tory Theatre, professional theatre inresidence at Oakes Center in Summit,is producing Donald Margulies’ comicromp Shipwrecked! An Entertain-ment: The Amazing Adventures ofLouis de Rougement (As Told by Him-self). This comedy, written by a win-ner of the Pulitzer Prize, is receivingits New Jersey premiere. Ship-wrecked! runs February 16 – March5, 2017, with talkbacks following theFebruary 19 and 26 matinees.

Shipwrecked! will run at

Dreamcatcher from Thursday, Feb-ruary 16, a preview performance,through Sunday, March 5. Perfor-mances are Friday and Saturday nightsat 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m.Tickets range from $20 to $35, withspecial rates for subscribers andgroups. Purchase tickets atwww.dreamcatcherrep.org or by call-ing Brown Paper Tickets at (800)838-3006.

Performances are at Oakes Center,located at 120 Morris Avenue in Sum-mit.

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McGOV KEY PIN, SCORESE KEY WIN, ‘AJ’ IMPRESSES; KALNINS PINS, RAMIREZ KEY WIN

Cougars Chill Blue Streaks for Section Mat Crown, 33-22By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Very competitive bouts, espe-cially in four of the first five bouts,kept spectators on edge untilPatrick Kalnins pulled out a keypin at 106-lbs with just two boutsremaining to all but insure thetop-seeded Cranford High Schoolwrestling team a victory oversecond-seeded Warren Hills inthe North Jersey, Section 2, Group3 Tournament championship atCranford High School on Febru-ary 10. After splitting the finaltwo bouts, the Cougars won 33-

22 to capture the crown.Kalnins gave the 21-0 Cougars

a 30-18 lead when he pinnedGreg Slivka in 1:40 with a pull-back arm bar. Cougar AnthonyCapece followed recording twotakedowns, a reversal and an es-cape to grab a 7-2 decision overLogan Nauta at 113-lbs then BlueStreak Kyle Wulff capped off theevening with a 13-2 major deci-sion over Dean Smith at 120-lbs.

The Cougars, who had defeatedthe Blue Streaks, 48-21, on Janu-ary 28, were aware from the startthat this showdown was going to

more of the spirited variety whenChris Ostir recorded a pair of re-versals to edge Cougar ConorHalpin, 4-2, at 126-lbs.

“Last time we wrestled themtheir 26-pounder was out. I knewit would be a closer match thanwhat we had out there. Theywrestled very tough. I am proudof how my kids responded to thatand we got some good wins, sojust keep rolling to Sunday,” Cou-gar Head Coach Pat Gorman said.

The next bout at 132-lbs waseven more exciting. Matt Vallicaught Cougar Chris Scorese a bitoff-balance to record a spin-around takedown but Scoresequickly countered with a reversalthen added an escape in the sec-ond period and a two-point tight-

waist tilt early in the third. Valliescaped but Scorese won 5-3.

“He’s definitely tough. Iwrestled him once two weeksago and it was overtime, so Iknew what I had to do. He’s veryquick. He kind of scored off of myshot in the beginning and I got itright back, so it worked out,”Scorese said.

“They wrestled to an overtimematch last time. It was good forhim to get another win on thatkid. Our kids are excited and go-ing into Sunday this is where wewant to be,” Coach Gorman said.

Cougar Tom DiGiovanni chalkedup four takedowns (backdoor,leg around, single-to-double,whizzer) and a reversal to topZack Nauta, 10-4, at 138-lbs.The Blue Streaks knotted theteam score, 6-6, when Cameron

Nauta scored two takedowns andan escape to decision Mike Nigro,5-1, at 145-lbs.

The wildest and most excitingbout came next when Cougar AJBencivenga bounced up to 152-lbs and took Rashon Wade Taylorto overtime where he nearly gotthe takedown but Taylor coun-tered to win 7-5 and to giveWarren Hills a 9-6 lead enteringCougar Brian McGovern’s boutwith Nick Hildebrandt at 160-lbs.

“He beat Nigro last time. Wewere going over the match-upstoday in class and we told ourcoach, ‘We want to switch it up.We want AJ to wrestle that kid.’He went out there. He gave up alot of weight because he is smallfor 45 and he was bumping up to52. He handled the weight fine

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Story on page 9

of The Westfield Leader





and wrestled his hardest andended up losing in overtime. Hegot in on a shot. He couldn’tfinish because he was small,”said Scorese, who added, “He’sgoing to be really good next year.That’s for sure.”

“We are 14 brothers going outthere for each other. It was a bigmatch. AJ knew he couldn’t getpinned. But he didn’t want to goout there and not get pinned. Hewent out there and took it to thatkid,” McGovern said.

“He [AJ] wrestled really well onthat kid. At 106, ‘PK’, Pat Kalninswrestled really well getting that

fall for us when we really neededit. We are back in the room to-morrow. This is just a milestone.We got bigger goals,” CoachGorman said.

McGovern also had bigger goalswhen he rooted Hildebrandt offthe mat with a double-leg lift andlowered him to his back adding ahalf nelson in 3:57.

“I had to wrestle for my team.We were all going out there foreach other. I knew I had to getsix. I didn’t even know what I did.I knew I had to get it and I stuckthe kid. I have a nice double andI enjoy lifting the kids. The fanslove it too. When you are in a bigmatch like this, the best thingyou can do is stick to the basics,”McGovern suggested.

The Blue Streaks regained thelead, 15-12, when Jarod Ostirpinned Matt Doran with a frontgrapevine at 170-lbs but Cranfordregained the lead when VinceConcina received a forfeit at 182-lbs. At 195-lbs, Nick Galka re-corded three takedowns, two es-capes and a penalty point for a 9-5 decision over Dylan Budnik to

knot the team score, 18-18.At 220-lbs, Cougar Anthony

Ramirez avenged a loss to BrodyOberly when he recorded two es-capes, a takedown and a nearfallto come up with a 6-2 decision.Alex Esposito pummeled TaylonZafis with three takedowns, twoescapes and two penalty points

to earn a 10-4 decision at 285-lbsto give Cranford a 24-18 leadentering Kalnins’ bout.

The ride for the Cougars thisseason has definitely been amemorable one with five seniors(Capece, Scorese, DiGiovanni,McGovern, Concina) all surpass-ing 100 career victories.

“It’s pretty amazing we got fivethis year. We have all been wres-tling together since first grade,”Scorese said.

“You can’t win a sectional cham-pionship in a day and you can’tgrow a nice mustache in a day.You got to trust the process andwe all bought in. That’s whathappened. Sectional title! It’sbeen a long time coming,”McGovern expressed.

“First time Cranford has everwon 21 matches. That’s prettycool. I think we haven’t won sec-tions in a while either. We gotGroups on Sunday. We got to winthose,” Scorese said.

BOUT SEQUENCE:126: — Ostir (W) d Halpin 4-2132: — Scorese (C) d Valli 5-3138: — DiGiovanni (C) d Nauta 10-4145: — Nauta (W) d Nigro 5-1152: — Taylor (W) d Bencivenga 7-5 OT160: — McGovern (C) p Hildebrandt 3:57170: — Ostir (W) p Doran 3:57182: — Concina (C) won forfeit195: — Galka (W) d Budnik 9-5220: — Ramirez (C) d Oberly 6-2Hwt: — Esposito (C) d Zafis 10-4106: — Kalnins (C) p Slivka 1:40113: — Capece (C) d Nauta 7-2120: — Wulff (W) md Smith 13-2



more photos next page





Cougars Chill Blue Streaks, 33-22, for North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Mat Crown






Raiders Stay Ahead of Oratory Rams, 53-45, in UCT First Round Boys Basketball






Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders Hush Matawan Huskies, 48-20, for 18th Mat Victory






Cranford Students Noted forAchievements; Turf Field Delayed

By MICHAEL BONACCORSOSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

CRANFORD — MarilynBirnbaum, interim superinten-dent of schools, stated at Mon-day night’s board of education,that she is excited about theprogress in academic and extra-curricular development district-wide. Cranford students had no-table achievements in academic,theatre arts, music, innovativetechnology, and foreign lan-guages. SuperintendentBirnbaum said each Cranfordschool provides the students a

curriculum or tools to further theirinterests and develop their natu-ral talents.

Cranford High School actors andactresses were recognized at theSpeech and Theatre Associationof New Jersey annual competi-tion held at Rutgers University.Niamh O’ Donovan and NoahWohlsen achieved finalist in dra-matic monologue and comedicmonologue, respectively. LiliRebelo and Brenden Scaleaachieved fourth place in dramaticpairs. THe superintendent saidGrace Chen, a Cranford High

School senior, has continued toimpress. Grace was chosen as acandidate for the United StatesPresidential Scholars Program.The program recognizes some ofthe nation’s most distinguishedgraduating seniors for their ac-complishments in many areassuch as academic success, lead-ership, and service to school andcommunity.

Thomas Dineen, AdamCzysznic, both seniors, and JakeBradford, a junior, both mem-bers of the Pre-Engineering andRobotics Club, have progressedto the finals of the New JerseyInstitute of Technology (NJIT)Panasonic Creative Design Chal-lenge. Hillside Avenue Schooleighth-grade chorus members,Gianni Vivas and Jacob Sokol,alongside Asher Shectman, a sev-enth-grader, were selected intothe American Choral DirectorsAssociation Honor Choir. The se-lected students will work withfellow choristers from aroundNew Jersey towards a culminat-ing performance in May.

The sixth-grade mathemati-cians club finished planning outtheir Jurassic World-themedamusement park, making deci-sions on dinosaur species, at-tractions, employment decisions,and guest-dining options. In up-coming weeks, the students willpractice managing money, writ-ings checks, and other financialliteracy skills.

In other business, Superinten-dent Birnbaum said 2017 districtgoals should focus on studenteducation towards professionaldevelopment and utilize re-sources available to challengetheir faculty to teach with newand effective strategies.

The math and literacy coacheswill be holding their second par-

Christina M. Hinke for The Westfield LeaderHEADED TO WEST POINT...Cranford High School (CHS) senior CameronElizabeth Hay, center, was honored with a proclamation by the townshipcommittee Tuesday night for being accepted for admission this summer into theUnited States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. Cameron is picturedwith her parents, right, as Mayor Thomas H. Hannen, Jr., at the podium, readsthe proclamation while Commissioner Andis Kalnins, at left, looks on.



CRANFORD — Cranford HighSchool (CHS) senior CameronElizabeth Hay was honored with aproclamation by the township com-mittee Tuesday for being acceptedfor admission for this summer intothe (United States Military Acad-emy) USMA at West Point.

Cameron has volunteered mostof her time with the CranfordHigh School University Program,Model UN, the Cranford High As-sistance Program, and is captainof the CHS Girls Soccer Teamand a coach for a soccer campwith young children.

Cameron had attended a USMAat West Point pre-college pro-gram in 2016, completed a jun-ior internship with CongressmanLeonard Lance’s (R-7th) office,and was nominated by federallegislators to apply to West Point.

During its business portion ofthe meeting, the committee in-troduced two amended ordi-nances and passed more thantwo dozen resolutions.

The code that outlays garbagecollection was amended by ordi-nance after the township discov-ered that haulers were collectinggarbage from cans left on thecurb. In residential areas, gar-bage is to be kept in the rear yardor can be left in the driveway, butnot beyond 10 feet from the clos-est wall of the dwelling, accord-ing to the ordinance. Trash canscan also be placed on the sideyard (and is considered the rearyard), Mayor Thomas H. Hannen,Jr. told The Westfield Leader.

Timothy Meyer, Mark Willis andCarmen Giordino were advancedto First Class Firefighter with theCranford Fire Department.



CRANFORD — A 60-year-oldCranford man has been arrestedand charged with robbery at anOhio bank.

According toan online pressrelease fromthe GrandviewHeights, Ohio,police depart-ment, KarlSchlenker wasarrested as aresult of an in-v e s t i g a t i o ninto a robberythat occurredat PNC Bank, at1530 West First Avenue inGrandview Heights, on January31.

Grandview Heights Police de-tectives filed an arrest warrantfor Schlenker. Detectives fromGrandview Heights and CranfordPolice apprehended Schlenkerwithout incident at his New Jer-sey home on Monday.

Schlenker allegedly walked into

the PNC Bank and passed a noteto a bank employee that de-manded cash. The suspect statedthat he had a bomb in a bag that

he was hold-ing. The banke m p l o y e ecomplied withhis demands,and the sus-pect left east-bound afterplacing thebag by theexit doors.

The Colum-bus Fire BombSquad was

called to the scene, and afterinspection, it was determined thatthere were not any explosivedevices at the scene, accordingto Grandview Heights Police.

Schlenker is currently awaitingan extradition hearing, so thathe can be brought back to FranklinCounty, Ohio, and face thecharges against him, accordingto Grandview Heights Police.

Photos Courtesy of Grandview Police






A $9.7-million bond anticipa-tion note was designated by thecommittee as a Qualified Tax-Exempt Obligation.

Schenck, Price, Smith and Kingwas approved to provide laborattorney legal services at a costnot to exceed $20,000. RobertRenaud of Palumbo, Renaud andDeAppolonio was awarded a con-tract of $20,000 to provide taxappeal legal services.

McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney &Carpenter, LLP was selected toprovide general litigation servicesat a cost not to exceed $20,000.

Rogut McCarthy was awarded acontract to provide general liti-gation legal services at a cost notto exceed $20,000.

Commissioner Andis Kalnins an-nounced he would host two bud-get workshops for residents whowish to have input or ask ques-tions. The first workshop will beheld Monday, February 20, andthe second March 5, at 7:30 p.m.in Room 108 of the municipalbuilding.

Township Administrator TerenceWall announced the township hascompleted the transaction of pur-chasing the land at 215-235Birchwood Avenue. On Decem-ber 28, the committee voted, bya 4-to-1 tally, to purchase the 16acres of land for $18 million fromS. Hekemian Group. Next, thetownship is to develop a Requestfor Proposal to sell the land to adeveloper, Mr. Wall said.

During the conference sessionheld prior to the public meeting,Library Director John Malar saidhe is to retire at the end of theyear after serving 29 years to thelibrary. He also said the library isto begin offering patrons onlineaccess to “hoopla” via the libraryonline resources and would re-quire a library card login. Patronscan have access to music, mov-ies, e-books, comics, TV showsand more for two weeks. Thelibrary plans to launch it Friday.

Garwood Council Approves Bond,Discusses Police Dept. Policy

By BETSEY BURGDORFSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

GARWOOD — The GarwoodCouncil met on Tuesday nightand approved an award in theborough’s affordable-housinglawsuit, unanimously approveda bond ordinance for the pur-chase of a new garbage truck inthe amount of $200,000, intro-duced and approved an ordi-nance that establishes promo-tion procedures for police chiefand awarded proclamations toBrownie Troop 40920.

After meeting in executive ses-sion, the council awarded

$5,800 to Harbor Consultantsfor conceptual sketches to as-sist the borough in resolving itsaffordable-housing lawsuit witha vote of 4-to-2. CouncilwomanIleen Cuccaro and CouncilmanJoe Sarno voted against.

The bond ordinance to autho-rize the acquisition of a newgarbage truck by appropriatingthe sum of $200,000 to pay forthe cost was unanimouslypassed.

“If we need it we need it,”resident Bruce Paterson said,referring to the garbage truckduring the public comment por-tion of the meeting. He statedthat the borough has been pay-ing for health benefits for anunidentified councilperson andthat this money could have beenused to purchase the truck. “Iam very disappointed in thatcouncilperson,” he said.

“We are there, we need thetruck now,” Councilman Sarnosaid.

An ordinance to establish pro-motion procedures for the rankof police chief was unanimouslyapproved by the governingbody.

“After the last council meet-ing, the Administrative ReviewCommittee met to discuss thepromotional matters for chief ofpolice,” Councilwoman Cuccarosaid. She stated that the com-mittee met with labor counseland drafted an ordinance thatwould create a “process basedon scores, interviews and otherrelated issues.”

“It is our responsibility to se-lect the best candidate for theborough and the council needsto have the tools to make that

ent workshop on Thursday, March2, at 7 p.m. at the Orange Av-enue School. Parents will betaught how to reinforce readingcomprehension and the progres-sion of the four mathematicaloperations and fractions.

Lincoln School conducted a se-nior seminar. The seminar edu-cates students on the qualifica-tions and skills most needed incareer settings. Students meetwith guidance counselorsmonthly to develop and imple-ment a transitional plan. Stu-dents explore career and educa-tional opportunities with theircounselors. Cranford High Schoolguidance counselors and admin-istrators have initiated an ad-vanced placement meeting pro-gram. Superintendent Birnbaumsaid the goal of the program is tohelp struggling students achieveexemplary scores on test day.

The program is backed by sta-tistical data retained on eachstudent’s performance to date.The superintendent said all stu-

dents must be reinforced in be-coming excellent residents of thecommunity. Hillside AvenueSchool third-grade students wonthe 2016 Students Change Hun-ger Food Drive, sponsored by theCommunity FoodBank of New Jer-sey. The students donated over1,000 pounds of canned andboxed food. The food was col-lected from October through De-cember.

Policy changes were preparedfor first reading and will be con-firmed or denied by the board ofeducation. The policy changeswill address smoking prohibition,admission, conduct and disci-pline, married and pregnant stu-dents, illness, and guidance ser-vices.

The baseball turf field has beendelayed. The project will not becompleted by March 1. The in-field will be a darker brown turfand a blue and yellow C will beemblazoned behind home plate.A main factor pending projectcompletion is the weather.

Paul Lachenauer for The Westfield LeaderFAMILY FUN ...The Kuzviwanza family sleds down a slope at Unami Park inCranford.

Hay Honored for USMA Accept.CF Students; Turf Field Delayed










selection,” stated Council-woman Cuccaro. “This ordinancesimply provides those tools.”

According to the current ordi-nance regarding promotion pro-cedures for the rank of policechief, the position was filled bymayoral appointment withoutcouncil consent.

Councilwoman Cuccaro alsosaid that she, along with othercouncil members, received ane-mail from Borough Adminis-trator Christina Ariemma re-garding “updates to the rulesand regulations for the policedepartment.” According to thee-mail, the updates were madeby Police Chief Bruce Underhilland would be adopted by reso-lution of the council. The coun-cil received a second e-mailfrom Ms. Ariemma that waswritten by Municipal AttorneyRobert Renaud that stated theadoption of the resolution wasby the sole authority of MayorCharles Lombardo, not thecouncil.

“I am vehemently against alame duck chief, who is onestep away from retirement, tobe making rules and regula-tions and adjustments to thisvery important matter concern-ing our police department andthe guidelines going forward,”Councilwoman Cuccaro said. “Ialso do not believe that the

mayor should be the only deci-sion maker when it comes torules for said department.”

Councilwoman Cuccaro statedthat the council should be giventhe 79-page rules and regula-tions document that was modi-fied by Chief Underhill, as wellas the original, “to see the per-tinent changes that weremade.”

Mr. Paterson asked if the de-partment heads had sent intheir suggestions on how totrim their budgets, referring toa comment made by CouncilPresident Sara Todisco at theJanuary 24 council meeting. Atthat meeting, Council PresidentTodisco stated that she hasasked all department heads to“come up with three ways tosave money” and asked themto give her a short summaryabout their budgets. She statedshe had not yet received thosereports. Two more detailedbudget discussions, open to thepublic, will take place on Thurs-days, March 9 and March 23, at7 p.m., at Borough Hall.

In other news, Brownie Troop40920 members were awardedproclamations from MayorLombardo for making candysleds for the Garwood SeniorCitizen Club’s Christmas party.It was reported that the newlight at the intersection of SouthAvenue and Center Street isnow functional and it no longeroffers left-turn arrows. Thetemporary pavement on thefour corners of the intersectionwill be replaced in the springwith cement.

The next meeting of theGarwood Council will be heldon Tuesday, February 28, at 7p.m., in Council Chambers, lo-cated at 403 South Avenue.

Cranford Township Committe to PursueCandidates for In-House Engineer


CRANFORD — Township Com-missioner of Public Works/Engi-neering Ann Dooley recom-mended at Monday’s workshopmeeting that the township com-mittee seek candidates for a full-time in-house engineer. Thetownship switched from an in-house engineering departmentto a consulting engineering firmalmost three years ago, hiringMaser Consulting on an annualcontract.

Democratic commissionershave lobbied in their campaignsthe last two years that they wouldrevert back to an in-house engi-neer. Republicans Mary O’Connorand Andis Kalnins both said theconsultant engineer is the betteralternative.

Ms. Dooley said Maser Consult-ing has had a budget of over $1million, annually tallying up boththe capital and operating bud-gets. She said that cost would bedown to $400,000 by hiring anengineer, an assistant engineerand an administrative assistant,plus between $35,000 and$60,000 for equipment and soft-ware. Having the engineer alsobe a certified land surveyor wouldbe “a big advantage,” she said,by saving on outsourcing thatservice. Benefits would be anadditional cost.

In comparison, Ms. Dooley saidWestfield spends approximately$600,000, Summit $400,000 andMorristown $400,000 per yearfor their in-house engineeringdepartments.

Morristown has spent about thesame in road resurfacing asCranford has recently, Ms. Dooleysaid.

Since she was sworn into officein January, Ms. Dooley said thethree contracts that wereawarded to Maser for various

projects were priced higher thanthe other bidders, two were 100percent more and one was 54percent more, she said.

Also, the Request for Proposal(RFP) process would be “tight-ened” if an in-house engineerprepared the RFPs, Ms. Dooleysaid.

“My concern is we had that andit didn’t work for Cranford,” Ms.O’Connor said.

“But it did for work for manyyears…we had the wrongperson…over a period of time,”Ms. Dooley said.

“It’s (the budget) skewed be-cause of the amount of work wedid,” Mr. Kalnins said, noting theroad resurfacing expendituresover the last three years.

“When Rick (Marsden) was hereall the capital work wasoutsourced because he didn’thave the experience to design abridge, a drainage system…hewas good at flood control,” Mr.Kalnins said.

“I’ve been pleased with theprogress we have seen with Ma-ser,” Ms. O’Connor said. She saidconstituents have told her theydon’t want to see the progressstopped.

The road resurfacing projectsbegan three years ago whenmoney was allocated for a bondby the township committee forthose projects. “We were able toput more money in the capitalbudget that previously wasn’tavailable…,” Mayor Thomas H.Hannen, Jr. said.

“I’d rather change the engineerand stay with a contractor…thanpay benefits…,” Mr. Kalnins said.He said also with an in-houseengineer there are added capitalexpenditures for outsourcingcapital projects.

The committee also heard bud-get presentations from the Down-town Management Corporation

(DMC), the township assessor’soffice and the municipal court.

Judge Mark Cassidy said thecourt’s revenues have increasedin the last five years from$996,266 in 2011 to almost $1.3million in 2016, just under a 30percent growth rate. Parking andmoving summonses and crimi-nal and code enforcement caseshave increased. Driving while in-toxicated offenses are down.

Criminal cases will continue toincrease since the state constitu-tion was amended this January,Mr. Cassidy said. The amendment,in part, has resulted in drug pos-session cases being remandedfrom the county courthouse to themunicipal courts, he said.

The DMC requested to replace396 Victorian street lamps in thedowntown, and switch them withan LED street lamp in a style thatwould resemble the original lamps.The cost would be over $550,000.The township would see a reduc-tion in electricity costs by between70 to 80 percent, DMC Board Mem-ber Paul LaCorte said.

In other business, the town-ship committee agreed to go outto bid for banking services.Investor’s Bank representativesattended the meeting and saidthe township could save $5,000per month by switching toInvestor’s Bank. Currently, thetownship banks with Two RiverSavings Bank.

The committee also agreed torepave a resident’s driveway onHerning Avenue. The townshiprecently had Herning Avenue re-paved and as a result led todamage of the resident’s drive-way where it meets the road.

Resident Michael Mason of Wal-nut Avenue inquired about thedam at Droescher’s Mill andcleanup of tree limbs along thewalking path from Lincoln Parkto South Avenue.

GW Council Approves Bond


goleader.com/subscribe Probitas Verus Honos





Bd. of Adjustment Member ShouldStop Talking And Start Listening

I’m writing in response to therecently published letter,“Westfield Does Community AndPublic Matters Very Well.” What apat on the back from the board ofadjustment to the board of adjust-ment! Edward Stellingwerf musthave taken a page out of theTrump Administration handbookfor this one – deny, whitewash,gaslight, act like everything is goinggreat.

To call a constituent out byname about her concerns, andpublicly shame her about thoseconcerns and feelings in print isan absolute disgrace to his posi-tion. He may not agree with herconcern, but the arena in whichher concerns were presentedwere appropriate, that’s whatthese meetings are for. His job isto point her in the right direction.

Was he so offended by the criti-cism that he saw need to publishan op-ed about how brazenlywell the town is doing?

Stellingwerf’s letter is a per-sonal attack against a concernedlocal – it is blatantly not “doingcommunity and public mattersvery well,” rather quite embar-rassingly doing the opposite.Seems like the board would rathernot have feedback. In this politi-cal climate, when the public isfinally paying attention to localpolitics, representatives had bestbe on their best behavior. Goodluck silencing our questions andopinions. Your constituents arenot going anywhere. Stop talk-ing, and start listening.

Nicole BonaccorsoCranford

Local Letters to the Editor

Garwood Holds Town Hall MeetingTo Discuss Upcoming Property TaxesThank you to all the Garwood

residents who came out on Feb-ruary 7 to check out the first everBreaking Down the Budget TownHall meeting at Lincoln School. Ifyou were unable to make it,please feel free to check out theslideshow presentation onwww.garwood.org. - on the homepage under “Announcements.”

It was a privilege to lead themeeting that discussed impor-tant budget topics from the state’s2 percent cap law to propertyrevaluation, and more. We brokedown last year’s tax bill into itscomponents: 45 percent school,34 percent municipal, 19 percentcounty, 1 percent library, .05percent open space. Additionally,

information provided by our Po-lice, Fire, and Public Works De-partments as well as PlanningBoard and volunteer committeeswere shared.

The conversation on the munici-pal budget will continue, as it hasin past years, with two specialbudget meetings. Each meetingwill start promptly at 7 p.m. atBorough Hall on March 9 and March23. The Mayor and Council willdiscuss the budget line by line andwill open each meeting up forinput from the public. Hope to seeyou there.

Sara TodiscoCouncil President

Garwood

Designer Bag BingoOn Tap March 24

CRANFORD — Saint MichaelSchool in Cranford will host itsSecond Annual Designer BagBingo on Friday, March 24. Theevent will be held at theKenilworth Veterans of ForeignWars headquarters, located at33 South 21st Street, Kenilworth.Doors will open at 5 p.m., withcalling beginning at 7 p.m.

Admission is $25 per personand includes 10 games with threefaces per game, plus dessert,coffee and tea. Participants arewelcome to bring their ownsnacks.

There also will be a Tricky Trayraffle, 50/50 and a “Super Sassy”high-end handbag raffle. Addi-tional Bingo packets will be avail-able for purchase.

Participants are asked to bringa personal care item donation,such as toothbrushes, shampoo,deodorant or other such essen-tials, to benefit St. Joseph SocialService Center in Elizabeth, andbe entered to win a “MysteryGift.”

Advance registration forms andpayment in full must be receivedby Monday, March 20, to reservea spot.

For additional information, con-tact [email protected] (908) 276-9425.

Trinity Episcopal HelpingSeamen’s Church Institute

CRANFORD — The Trinity Epis-copal Church, located at 119 For-est Avenue, Cranford, will hold aBake Sale fundraiser for theSeamen’s Church Institute (SCI)on Sunday, February 26. Addi-tionally, Trinity is collecting trial-size shampoo, two- to four-ouncebottles of hand lotion, lip balm,soft packs of facial tissue, packsof chewing gum and microwavepopcorn, for SCI’s “Christmas atSea” program.

“Ninety percent of everythingconsumed is brought over bycontainer ship,” said MarionNechuta, Trinity outreach chair-person, describing the key rolemariners play.

The bake sale will take placeduring the coffee hours followingthe 8 and 10 a.m. services, atwhich time Steven Lyman, direc-tor, and the Reverend JamesKollin, chaplain, of SCI’s PortNewark Center will present in-formation about SCI’s work. Foradditional information, call (908)276-4047.

The SCI, founded in 1834 andaffiliated with the EpiscopalChurch, is the largest mariners’support agency in North America.It provides professional marinerswith specially tailored education,free legal advocacy for marinerwelfare, and pastoral care. Itoperates Seafarer Centers in PortNewark, the Port of Oakland,Houston, Tex. and Paducah, Ky.Its chaplains visit more than2,400 vessels a year. The Sea-farer Centers provide marinersand port workers with Internetaccess and personal computers,International calling and cheapphone cards, recreational activi-ties, worship and pastoral careregardless of their religious af-filiation, and free shuttles fromterminal gates to the center andlocal stores. For more informa-tion about SCI, visit

seamenschurch.org/ or call (973)589-5828.

Trinity Episcopal Church is afamily church that has been serv-ing Cranford area families since1872. Sunday services at 8 a.m.and 10 a.m. are celebrated bythe Reverend Andy Kruger,Trinity’s Priest-in-Charge. Formore information about Trinity,call (908) 276-4047 or visittrinitycranford.org/.

‘Dr. Gameshow Live!’On Tap In Cranford

CRANFORD — The Friends ofthe Cranford Public Library willhost an evening of interactivefun entitled “Dr. Gameshow Live!”on Monday, March 6, at 7 p.m. Itwill take place in the audio-visualroom of the Cranford Commu-nity Center, located at 220 Wal-nut Avenue.

The program, which started asa weekly radio show on WFMU,blends improvisational comedy,experimental games and plentyof audience participation. Come-dians Jo Firestone and Manolowill present some games theyhave played on the air in thepast, assisted by audience mem-bers.

The library describes the pro-gram as “The Price Is Right”meets Pee Wee Herman.

This free, all-ages event is opento everyone — children and adultsalike — but is best suited toparticipants age 10 and up. Noregistration is required.

Baldowski MakesDelaware Dean’s ListDOYLESTOWN, P.A. – Lauren

Baldowski, a resident of Cranford,was honored for academicachievement by being named tothe Dean's List at Delaware Val-ley University for the Fall 2016semester.








Trinity Church WelcomesReverend Andrew Kruger

Rev. Andrew Kruger

CRANFORD — The Trinity Epis-copal Church, located at 119Forest Avenue, Cranford, hasannounced its welcoming of theReverend AndrewKruger as Priest-in-Charge. After a 10-month Discernmentprocess, ReverendKruger was unani-mously approved byTrinity’s Vestry.

“We are so pleasedthat Reverend Andyhas acceptedTrinity’s call to leadour parish,” saidDavid Burnett, Se-nior Warden of theTrinity EpiscopalChurch. “He bringsmany gifts to Trin-ity: a strong under-standing of our liturgy, a per-sonal approach to pastoral care,a sharp intellect, and a greatsense of humor and humble de-meanor.”

Reverend Kruger is from SouthAfrica and was ordained in 2011.He has served as youth pastor,curate and assistant priest atdifferent parishes during hiscareer. Since 2014 he has beenthe rector of the Parish ofUmkomaas with Scottburgh,South Africa. Reverend Krugerhas a Masters in Theology fromthe University of Kwa-Zulu Na-tal, South Africa. He is an avidstudent of Liturgical Renewal.Reverend Kruger was coordina-tor of the Liturgical Task Teamfor the Diocese of Natal. Since2013 he has been a member ofthe Secretariat of the AnglicanChurch of Southern Africa’sPrayer Book Revision Commit-tee. He speaks three languagesand reads four including NewTestament Greek. His wife,Heather, recently began pursu-ing her Doctoral degree in Astro-physics at Princeton University.

Reverend Kruger and his wifesaid they are very excited aboutjoining the Trinity Cranford fam-ily. “We were drawn to Trinity

by its positive energythat was so evidentduring the interviewprocess,” said Rev-erend Kruger. “Weare eager to join theTrinity family andparticipate in God’swork in the world.”

Trinity EpiscopalChurch is a familychurch that has beenserving the needs ofCranford area fami-lies since 1872. Sun-day services are at 8a.m. and 10 a.m. Formore informationabout Trinity, call

(908) 276-4047 or visittrinitycranford.org/.

Trinity also provides TrinityEpiscopal Day School (TEDS), astate-licensed facility servingchildren from age 2½ throughkindergarten. For more infor-mation about TEDS, call (908)276-2881 or visittedscranford.org.

Area Blood DriveSet February 23

CLARK — New Jersey BloodServices will host an EmergencyShortage Blood Drive on Thurs-day, February 23, between 1:30and 7:30 p.m. It will take placeat the Clark Volunteer EmergencySquad, located at 875 RaritanRoad, Clark.

Every donor will receive a $5-off Whole Foods coupon, a WholeFoods reusable bag and a $10-off Houlihan’s coupon as a thankyou. To make an appointment,visit tinyurl.com/ClarkBloodDrives or call 1-(800)933-2566. Walk-ins also will bewelcome.

Registration OnlineFor Rec. Classes

CRANFORD — The CranfordRecreation and Parks Depart-ment has announced that ef-fective Spring 2017, all classregistrations must be doneonline through CommunityPass.

To create an online Commu-nity Pass account or to resetuser names/passwords for ex-isting accounts, visitregister.communitypass.net/cranford. For additional infor-mation or questions, call theCranford Recreation and ParksDepartment at (908) 709-7283.

Lee Named to Simon'sRock Dean's List

GREAT BARRINGTON, M.A. –Each semester, Bard College atSimon's Rock recognizes supe-rior scholarship through theDean's List. Ezra Lee, a sopho-more at Bard College at Simon'sRock, has earned a place on theDean's List for the Fall 2016 se-mester. To be eligible for thishonor, a student must carry 14or more credits and achieve agrade point average of 3.5.

Ezra, 17, of Cranford, attendedCranford High School before leav-ing to enter college early aftereleventh grade.

PetroGrass to Perform atTemple Beth O’r-Beth Torah CLARK – The public is invited

to come out and enjoy the livelymusic of PetroGrass on Satur-day, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. atTemple Beth O’r-Beth Torah.

The band will perform a collec-tion of bluegrass, country, folkand Celtic music. Coffee and cakewill be served. The cost for theevening is $5 per person.

Band members include: Ed

Majeski of Garwood on banjo andvocals; Russ Kelner of Cranfordon the fiddle; Nancy Kelner ofCranford on the flute; Chaz Har-ris of Westfield on mandolin; andguest artist Chris Turner of Clarkon guitar and vocals.

For more information or to reg-ister for the event call the templeoffice by Wednesday, March 1 at(732) 381-8403 ext. no. 11.

Courtesy of Jonathan DelanoA SIGHT TO SEE...Cranford resident Robert Schott stands next to this eight-foot-tall snow Minion that he built. The snow Minion, in the front yard of hisSpringfield Avenue home, took him 16 hours to build. He started on Saturdaynight and finished on Sunday. Minion characters were featured in the DespicableMe movies.




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