TOWN WATCH
NEWARK – What would have been the third announcement in a week on the city’s annual youth curfew enforcement, supposedly slated between April 15-19, has not been set as of press time.
Mayor Ras Baraka, who had announced its enforcement with Public Safety Director Fritz Frage in advance of the 11 p.m. April 12 start, said he would hold a follow-up conference to discuss curfew details. Baraka, hours before the “Juvenile Safety Initiative” rollout, instead announced that its annual enforcement would be postponed for at least a week.
“This ordinance was enacted by the City decades ago and has been rolled out annually since its inception,” said the Mayor that Friday afternoon. “We’re once again enforcing an ordinance that already exists and will hold a press conference to explain details of the youth safety measure and other programs to ensure summertime safety and enjoyment.”
The curfew, on city books since 1966, keeps unchaperoned people 17 years old and younger off Newark’s streets between 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. beyond a 100-yard radius of home or work. (100 yards is the length of a North American football field within the end zones.) Exceptions are to be made for those commuting to or from work.
First-time violators are to be escorted home and given a verbal warning. Second-time offenders within six months are to be taken to 43 Dickerson St. The Newark Police Youth Services Section- and their parents or legal guardians called to pick them up. Further violators are referred to the N.J. Department of Children and Families Office of Child Protection and Permanency. No arrests are to be made.
The impending then postponed JSI enforcement did not keep some of the 25 Municipal Council meeting public speakers from decrying the curfew at their April 10 meeting. The speakers asked city elders how the police can tell the difference between “emancipated and unemancipated” juveniles – among other questions.
Similar questions may be brought up again, pending enforcement status, at the council’s April 24 meeting.
IRVINGTON – Relatives and friends of Valdaishi Simpkins, 27, have been making her funeral arrangements, instead of welcoming her back from Easter break, since April 8.
The N.J. State Police said that Simpkins was driving east on Interstate 80 in her Honda passenger car with an adult male, her seven-year-old child and a three-month-old baby with her at about 8:21 a.m. April 8.
When one of her tires blew out, she pulled over to the right shoulder at Mile Marker .3 in Warren County’s Hardwick Township. Although the highway has a right hand shoulder, this stretch of I-80, a former railroad right-of-way hugging the Delaware Water Gap, is narrow and has a 40 mph limit.
Simpkins got out and stood next to her car to inspect the tire’s damage – and was struck by an Amazon Volvo tractor-trailer truck that had somehow veered onto the shoulder. She was rushed by EMS to a local hospital but died of her injuries.
The Amazon Volvo driver, who kept going until State Troopers flagged him down, said that he was unaware that he had struck anyone.
Simpkins, said her passengers and relatives, was coming home from an Easter stay in Pennsylvania with her sister.
NJSP Det. Jeffrey Lebron reminds motorists that it is the safest to stay inside a disabled vehicle until assistance comes.
EAST ORANGE – ECPO prosecutors, on April 14, have identified the man who was shot dead in broad daylight March 13 in Soverel Park as a local First Ward man.
Amir Giles, 21, was found with multiple gunshot wounds within the city park after 4 p.m. that Wednesday. Giles, of nearby Doddtown’s Girard Avenue was rushed to Newark’s University Hospital. He was declared dead there at 5:15 p.m.
Witnesses told East Orange police officers that they saw a suspect had fled from the park. Giles’ funeral arrangements, as of press time, have not been announced.
City Woman Wanted by NPD
Newark Police Division detectives say they have identified an East Orange woman as a “person of interest” in an April 1 shooting along their own city’s major streets.
NPD officers, said Public Safety Director Fritz Frage, met up with a man in University Hospital that Friday who was being treated for a gunshot wound. The man said he was walking west along Springfield Avenue at about 10:30 p.m. when a black SUV pulled up and its passenger fired in his direction and fled. A passing motorist took the victim to the hospital.
Frage has not said how Carissa M. Huggins, 32, of East Orange, is linked to the shooting. The man has been listed in stable condition.
ORANGE – A city man has been held in Newark’s Essex County Correctional Center since March 16 for domestic violence and assaulting a police officer here at a West Ward residence. The OPD officer meanwhile remains in University Hospital where he was under surgery for severe injuries.
Orange police officers who responded to a domestic violence call from an Ogden Street address at 3 a.m. that Saturday told their supervisors that they had met a man outside who is believed to be the caller’s boyfriend. The man appeared to be agitated.
The man – later identified as Mark McCargo, 51 – became infuriated and struck a police officer several times with a bat or a bat-like object. He then got in his car and ran over the fallen officer.
The officer’s colleagues apprehended McCargo and called for local EMS. The policeman was rushed to University Hospital with a broken arm and leg plus facial/cranial fractures.
McCargo, who has ties to Irvington and East Orange, is being held for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and related weapons possession and vehicular charges.
March 16 was not McCargo’s first encounter with the law. The then-Irvington resident was arrested by the FBI with seven other Essex County men in 2011 for allegedly running a weapons ring. He was accused of selling a rifle while being a convicted felon to an informant from his parked car on an Irvington street.
In Memoriam
April 8 was the 25th anniversary of Orange Police Inspector Joyce Carnegie being fatally shot by an armed robbery suspect on the northeast corner of Freeway Drive West and South Day Street. Carnegie, 38, with four years on the force, was the first OPD officer to die in the line of duty in 35 years. The suspect, who confessed to the shooting, has been serving a life in prison sentence since June 30, 1999.
WEST ORANGE – When Gilbert Seltzer was named among those of the “Ghost Army” of World War Two who were receiving the Congressional Gold Medal March 21, son Richard had to stand in for him at the U.S. Capitol ceremony.
G. Seltzer – who died here at 106 Aug. 14, 2021 – was unable to join the three of the seven surviving “Ghost Army” members at the ceremony. He was among some 1,100 architects, artists and engineers who made up the top secret U.S. Army’s 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. Their job was to fake placements and movements of their “real army” to fool the German Army in the war’s European Theater.
The “23rd” would replace tanks and anti-aircraft batteries with ones made of inflatable rubber or wood. They would set up loudspeakers in the woods to simulate troop movements. Their work helped bring the Nazi war machine to accept unconditional surrender May 7, 1945.
“We concluded that this was a suicide mission,” recalled Gilbert at his home after 1996 “We were a small group of soldiers sent to replace a large group that went elsewhere and they wanted them to shoot at us. We are credited with saving the lives of 30,000 men – but if we saved one life, it was all worthwhile.”
Lt. Seltzer was able to talk about his unit after “The Ghost Army” was declassified in 1996. He had retired from architecture in 2000. His wife, Molly, died in 1994.
Born Oct. 11, 1914, Seltzer brought his architecture degree from nis native University of Toronto to a Manhattan architectural firm when war clouds started forming. He enlisted in 1941 trained at the now-Fort Drum and went to officer candidate school in Belvoir, Va. He resumed his career once he was honorably discharged, designing the East Coast War memorial in Battery Park, the UMDNJ campus plus buildings on Wayne’s then-William Paterson College and the West Point Military Academy.
Grandchildren Sarah and Daniel and great-grandchildren Mikey, Julian and Lyla also survive him. Daughter Joan and brother Clarence also predeceased him. His recollections have been recorded on StoryCorps, the 2013 PBS documentary “The Ghost Army” and the 2015 same named book.
SOUTH ORANGE – Village Councilwoman Jennifer Greenberg, on March 22, announced the passing of her father – former attorney and State Senator Martin L. Greenberg, 93 – that Friday at Palm City, Fla., where he had retired since 2013.
The Newark-born Greenberg, was State Senator of the then 28th Legislative District 1974-79, Superior Court-Jersey City 1992-2002 and. in between, attorney for the Governor’s Office, the Golden Nugget Casino and Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 108. As Senator, he had sponsored legislation for affordable housing, revamping the criminal code, Pinelands preservation and the Casino Control Act.
Martin was born Feb. 24, 1932 in Brooklyn to father Max Greenberg, who co-founded RWDSU Local 108 in 1938. The Weequahic High School Class of January 1950 graduate left 89 Hedden Terr. to get his bachelor’s and law degrees at Rutgers and its law school in 1954 and 1956.
Greenberg and first wife Sondra moved to South Orange to raise Jennifer, Clifford, Mitchell and Andrew while he practiced labor law. It was while he was at Teltser, Byrne and Greenberg where he struck up a friendship with future Essex County Prosecutor and Gov. Brendan T. Byrne. It was Byrne who recommended Greenberg to then-Gov. Robert B. Meyner for the latter’s Assistant Legal Counsel position.
Greenberg successfully ran for 28th District Senator – when it included South Orange, Irvington and Newark’s West Ward – in 1973 and was re-elected in 1977. He resigned in 1979 to become the Golden Nugget’s general council. Gov. James Florio appointed him in 1992 onto the Superior Court bench as Presiding Chancery Judge in Hudson County’s General Equity and Probate until he reached the mandatory retirement age in 2002.
In retirement, Greenberg became RWDSU’s International Union Pension Fund General Counsel and had a private practice in Livingston. His 1950 “Legend” yearbook senior photo was captioned: “Serious, sometimes. Humorous, sometimes. Likable, always.”
Both wives Sondra and Ginger, sister Marsha Rein and nine grandchildren are among his survivors. His last rites were arranged by Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Home, of Livingston. Memorial donations may go to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, 322 Eighth Ave. – 16th Flr., NYC 10001.
MAPLEWOOD – There is a treason for increased police presence on and around Columbia High School since the on campus assault of a student here April 9.
Maplewood police, the South Essex Fire Department and local EMS were summoned to the school soon after that Tuesday afternoon’s dismissal. They also met a student who was being treated for his injuries by a school nurse.
The victim said that he was assaulted by one or more students “from another local high school.” His treatment for minor injuries was completed by a local hospital after his SOFD transportation – with a relative present.
Interim Principal Ricardo Pedro said that he has asked for additional MPD patrols. Pedro added that he will be talking with public safety representatives and first responders.
“I take the safety of all students very seriously and have no intention of tolerating such incidents at CHS,” said Pedro. “This is why I will increase the number of security personnel and administrative staff outside the building during dismissal.”
The Maplewood Police Youth Aid Bureau is leading the investigation. They are also reviewing an on-campus video recording.
BLOOMFIELD – The township lost its third Armino resident in five months with the April 3 death of family patriarch Michael S. Arminio, Sr. Arminio’s wife, Dolores, 93, died in Dec. 30. Son Michael S. Arminio, Jr., 63, died Jan. 3.
Michael, Sr. and Delores had raised Michael, Jr., and daughter Leanora in Montclair before retiring to Bloomfield. Michael, Sr., a Korean War-era U.S. Army veteran, was a versatile tradesman who worked with the Lionetti Fuel Oil Company, of Newark, until his retirement.
The talented landscaper and artist made furniture for daughter and a dollhouse for granddaughter Maria Tullin.
The local American Legion, Elks and UNICO member applied his sportsman streak in bocce, bowling, boxing, golf, horseshoes, ping pong and softball. He also liked to cheer for the NFL New York Jets.
His beloved Dolores was an EEG technician at Montclair Community Hospital until her 1993 retirement but returned to part-time reception work at Mountainside Hospital in 2020. She also worked in Our Lady of Mount Carmel School’s cafeteria and volunteered with the parish’s bingo nights and stamping church envelopes.
The Montclair High School Class of 1949 graduate was followed in death by son Michael, Jr. five days later. Michael, Jr., MHS Class of 1977, had suffered a long illness. was a member of the St. Donato Society, the St. Sebastian Society, Montclair UNICO and the Make a Wish Foundation.
Michael, Sr.’s survivors include brothers Frank and Daniel, sisters Marie Intile and Jean DeCaito, daughter Leanora Micchelli, granddaughter Maria Tullin and great-granddaughters Maya and Chloe Tullin.
His visitation was held at the Caggiano Memorial Home and April 13 Funeral Mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Oratory – where Dolores and Michael, Jr.’s last rites were also held. Memorial donations may be made in their names to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation www.t2t.org, the hospiceofnewjersey.org and/or the charity of your choice.
MONTCLAIR – ECPO detectives and Montclair Police – with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office looking over their shoulders – are investigating the circumstances surrounding a gunfire exchange between a woman resident and a Montclair Police officer along the 100 block of Forest Street since 3 p.m. April 15.
“There was an encounter between an individual in a residence and Montclair police officers,” said ECPO Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas S. Fennelly. “The individual fired a weapon, striking one of the officers. It appears that an officer returned fire, striking the individual.”
Witnesses told local reporters that Montclair police arrived at 191 Forest St after 2 p.m. No one has said what prompted the first officers’ visit. There was a shot of “Gun,” three gunshots and a scream – prompting the arrival of more Montclair police, the Montclair Ambulance Unit and, later, the ECPO Crime Scene Investigation Unit and an MPD-contracted flatbed tow truck.
Neighbors added that the suspect is a woman who has two young children and had moved in the house less than six months ago. She and the wounded officer were taken to University Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening wounds. Her Jeep with California license plates was towed to a police impound yard.
The nearby Montclair High School complex, the Renaissance at Rand Middle School and the Watchung School plus Woodman Field, said Montclair Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jonathan Ponds, were briefly put under a “shelter in place” order.
“We want to inform you that all students and staff are safe and are proceeding with a regular day,” said Ponds. “The police have cleared the matter. All schools will be dismissed as usual.”
GLEN RIDGE – The borough’s board of education had named Kyle C. Arlington as the public district’s next superintendent of schools.
The GR BOE named Arlington to succeed Dirk Phillips, who will retire on June 30. Arlington was selected after winnowing 62 candidates for over four months. The process included interviews of several finalists after a community survey and stakeholder focus groups were held.
Arlington will be heading here from Union County’s Kenilworth June 30. his four-year superintendency of the Pre-Kindergarten-12th Grade district included passing a $31.4 million renovation bond issue, expanding its arts program, revamping its early literacy program and reopening the system post-COVID pandemic.
Arlington had previously Millburn Public Schools assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. He had fostered greater access to Advanced Placement courses there. He had started his career as an English teacher at Vernon Township before advancing to middle school assistant principal on up to assistant superintendent.
The Denville resident is pursuing a doctorate in Columbia University’s Teachers College and is a part-time instructor.
Phillips, 56, has decided to retire from his 29-year Glen Ridge Public Schools career – his last 10 as superintendent – June 30.
BELLEVILLE – 1199 SEIU, the union representing Nurses here at the Clara Maass Medical Center, have filed an unfair labor practice complaint against parent RWJBarnabas Health before the National Labor Relations Board April 1.
The Iselin-based union complains that, for “the six months preceding this date (April 1), the above named Employer has failed and refused to bargain in good faith with 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East by: 1.) insisting on proposals that give it control over virtually every aspect of the employment relationship, including but not limited to wages, hours, health benefits, retirement benefits, vacation and other paid time off and the performance of bargaining work, and 2.) engaging in regressive bargaining.”
RWJBH, from its West Orange headquarters, called the union’s charge as “baseless and insulting.”
The 500 Clara Maass’ registered nurses formed a union two summers ago over job security, “safe staffing,” pay and benefits. Union representatives have cited that Clara Maass, unlike other RWJBH hospitals, does not have staffing guidelines.
They have been since negotiating their first contract with the hospital administration.
NUTLEY – Bergen County law enforcers said that the former Nutley resident who is facing a 2019 vehicular homicide charge has been charged – for a second time – of child sexual contact.
Donald Kumar Davis, 33, said Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, was arrested in Hackensack March 3 and subsequently charged with aggravated criminal contact and endangering the welfare of a child. This particular charge was the result of an investigation of the BCPO Special Victims Unit and the Wyckoff Police Department of a Dec. 13, complaint against Davis.
This charge is on top of two counts of second-degree child endangerment and two third-degree counts of aggravated criminal contact against Davis, now of Lyndhurst. These charges, filed Dec. 19, are the results of an investigation among the county, Wyckoff and Washington Township departments. Davis was accused of sexually assaulting a juvenile twice in the township and once in Wyckoff.
Musella confirmed that Davis still faces charges of vehicular homicide of a retired Albanian police chief and his Walmart manager wife in a June 29, 2019 collision of their cars before the latter’s Lodi address. He faces two counts of death by auto and one count of reckless driving.
Davis, on Dec. 20, had launched Kumar Davis Fitness from a Nutley address to elevate “lives through Mind, Body and Spirit transformation.
It is presumed that the strength and fitness coach had been released on bail from Hackensack’s Bergen County Jail. He had been free after his 2019 charges until December.
