TOWN WATCH
NEWARK – The Newark Public Schools Board of Education more than approved the replacement of its internal surveillance cameras among its 65 buildings at their April 25 meeting.
They awarded a $12 million contract to Turn-Key Technologies, of Sayreville, to install 7,700 cameras between June 30 and Aug. 31. All 7,700 cameras, for the first time, will have artificial intelligence capabilities.
Turn-Key’s new system, including its servers, will enhance facial recognition, help detect weapons and can read car license plates across the street. It was one of three bidders seeking to replace NPS’ current system, in April.
The $12 million NPS will be spending includes the last of the federally-granted COVID relief funds – which are set to expire Aug. 31.
TKT’s system is to work with a second new system, by Avigilon, that has been earlier approved and is being installed. The Avigilon system uses HALO sensors to detect gun sounds, vape smoke and “abnormal noise.”
School Business Administrator Valerie Wilson, April 25, said that the images and data gathered by TKT and Avigilon will be kept from the public domain. None of the 7,700 cameras will be installed in restrooms or shower rooms.
“Cameras and devices,” said Wilson, “will not and cannot be placed in areas that are not approved and authorized.”
IRVINGTON – “Local Talk” presumes that the remains of a North Carolina driver, killed in a six-car collision here on the Garden State Parkway April 17, has been returned to his relatives.
Tarron Francis, 41, of Brattleboro, NC, said a State Police spokesman at the Bloomfield Barracks, was driving his Nissan SUV at about 12:45 a.m. that Wednesday.
Francis had stopped when a line of cars, waiting to exit, began to form in the right hand lane at Milepost 145.1. The traffic backup was a mile south of Exit 144 for South Orange Avenue.
A Dodge behind Francis rear-ended his SUV, starting a chain reaction crash also involving a pair of Toyota SUVS, a GMC SUV and a Kia car.
Francis was declared dead at the scene. The Dodge driver was taken to a local hospital for treatment of moderate injuries.
EAST ORANGE – City police detectives are investigating the May 8 robbery of a major intersection’s service station.
Employees of the Phillips 66 at 100 Central Ave. told responding EOPD officers that three men pulled up by one of their gas pumps at about 11:45 p.m. that Wednesday.
The trio proceeded to rob the employees and then sped east on Central Avenue towards Newark. Although the workers believed that the suspects were armed, no one was injured.
EOPD has not said how much in cash or other assets were taken as of press time.
Located on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Grove Street. the Phillips 66 is the latest filling station there since the mid-1960s. It started life as a Mobile station styled by noted designer Raymond Lowey.
ExxonMobile sold the station to Lukoil in the 1990s as part of the federal government’s approval of the two oil giants’ merger. Controversy to Lukoil’s Russian ties and a garage fire prompted station owners to switch to Phillips 66, of Tulsa, Okla., in 2023.
ORANGE – Last rites for former Orange Municipal Court Judge and retired Superior Court-Newark Judge Harold W. Fullilove, Sr., includes a 10:30 a.m. visitation and Noon funeral May 22 at Newark’s Bethany Baptist Church, where he was a deacon.
Fullilove, who was on the Orange bench 1988-91 until his superior court appointment, died April 22. The New Orleans native came to the Newark-Orange area by way of outside education, the U.S. Army and the Columbia University School of Law.
Fullilove graduated from Hillside’s Pingry School and Lehigh University before attaining his juris doctorate degree in Columbia in 1976. He served a tour in Vietnam for the Army between Lehigh graduation and Columbia enrollment 1967-70. He first clerked for the Hon. Van Y. Clinton before working for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office 1973-76.
He was working for Love & Randall, LLC and in the Newark Cor[oration Counsel Office before he and attorney Richard L. Bland formed Fullilove & Bland, Esqs., LLC in 1984.
Fullilove was meanwhile admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1973 and qualified to present cases before the U.S. District Court-New Jersey in 1973, the U.S. Court of Appeals Third Circuit in 1985 and the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1985.
Fullilove became Essex County’s Presiding Criminal Court Judge and was Chairman of the New Jersey Supreme Court Standing Committee on Minority Concerns. The Garden State Bar Association and North Jersey Men’s Club member was honored for being a 50-year bar member in October 2023.
Wife Patricia, sons Harold W., Jr., Aaron and Gregory plus Dimitri Smith, brothers Robert III and Eric and nine grandchildren are among his survivors.
Arrangements were made here by Woody’s Home for Services. Memorial donations may be made to the Bethany Baptist Church Scholarship Fund.
WEST ORANGE – An Orange Valley resident not only complained about curbside parking in her neighborhood before the Township Council May 7 but also suggested a solution.
Pilott Place resident Joy Burnett presented a petition before township elders and Police Chief Jim Abbot to expand the neighborhood parking permit area to include Pilott and Glen. Local daytime parking permits are being applied to Seton Hall Preparatory High School students’ cars.
Pilott and Glen are two of seven one block streets that are framed by Rollinson Place and Kingsley Street/Valley Road – where the St. Mark’s Square neighborhood meets Orange Valley. SHP day student parking presents a problem for Burnett and her son and daughter since she does not have a driveway.
“I don’t even come home for lunch because I can’t park at my house,” said Burnett. “My daughter comes home for lunch; my son works at night and comes home for the day – where there is nowhere to park. They park on Glen (but) we cannot park there because we don’t have permits to park there; there are no permits on Pilott.”
Burnett and her children got six parking tickets for their trouble. SHP students meanwhile park their cars illegally on Pilott and within 50 feet of its corner with Rollinson. She said that her permit application was denied.
Burnett has talked with Chief Abbott and with Council Members Tammy Williams and Susan Scarpa. Chief Abbott said that he wanted to conduct a traffic study for the township’s east side.
FATAL FIRE: One news outlet has said that two of the three people who were pulled out of a 12:18 a.m. May 14 St. Cloud townhouse fire have died at the nearby Cooperman-Barnabas Medical Center. The man and woman were given CPR when they were pulled out from a basement unit of the Northfield Townhouses here at 585 Northfield Ave.
SOUTH ORANGE – Relatives of Broadway theater stage manager Thomas J. Gates, 51, who was struck and killed by an eastbound NJTransit train here May 8, are making his funeral arrangements as of press time.
Around 1,000 NJTransit Morris & Essex Line riders, including those on the Gladstone Branch, experienced delays up to 60 minutes in both directions from 9:10 a.m. to 1:22 p.m. that Wednesday.
M&E Train No. 6324 Summit to New York Penn Station local had struck Gates while it was slowing into South Orange Station at 9:07 a.m. The 10 double-decker car and electric locomotive set, intended for NYPS arrival at 9:42 a.m., had its crew and 60 passengers aboard.
South Orange Police Chief Ernesto Morillo said that his officers promptly arrived at the station by 9:12. They were met by members of the South Essex Fire Department and South Orange Rescue Squad, whose headquarters are across Solan Street from the station.
Authorities had declared Gates dead before NJ Transit Police came to take over the accident scene and, later, the ECPO accident investigation unit. Local eastbound Track 2, which 6324 was using, was deactivated between South Orange and East Orange stations.
“Local Talk” happened to board eastbound Dover-NYPS train No. 6628 at Brick Church when it had pulled onto its westbound track at 10:53 a.m. Some 50 riders scrambled from Brick Church’s center platform to board the waiting 10 single-decker Comet car set. 6628, which was due at Newark Broad Street at 10:03 a.m., arrived at 11:02.
Gates was commuting to Manhattan’s St. James Theatre, where he has been stage managing “Illinoise” since April 24. The play’s May 8 production of the Tony-nominated musical was canceled.
BEAR SIGHTING: Residents along the village’s Walton Avenue and Thornton Place and West Orange’s Lawrence Street reported seeing a bear roaming about 7 – 9:18 a.m. May 13, causing the South Orange-Maplewood School District to suspend all outdoor activities until 2:53 p.m. The bear had reportedly wandered back into the South Mountain Reservation.
MAPLEWOOD – A “Local Talk” delivery crew was preparing for its May 9 run at 11:15 a.m. when they saw a South Orange Rescue Squad ambulance, Irvington and Newark fire engines and several plainclothes first responders’ cars speed west on Springfield Avenue and turn left turn at Burnett Avenue.
They and at least one helicopter were joining all South Essex Fire Department hands and Maplewood police for a house fire here at 88 Burnett Ave. SEFD Squad 32 and Fire Chief Joseph Alverez had found the two-story house “heavily engulfed” by flames just after 11 a.m. Wednesday and pulled what became four alarms.
It took members of the SEFD, Irvington, Newark, East Orange, Orange, West Orange, Union and Hillside 3.5 hours to control the fire, hampered by 80-degree temperature, fire volume and zero visibility. 88 Burnett is between an apartment building and a townhouse, limiting access.
Units from Bloomfield, Belleville, Summit and Springfield – some of who went out on five other calls – covered SEFD’s stations.
The State Fire Marshal and the ECPO fire investigation unit are seeking the fire’s cause. Homeowner April Smith said that she saw smoking coming from the vacant front bedroom room of her house.
Smith and the other three people at that time safely evacuated without injury; no serious injuries were reported among first responders. She and her seven family members have lost the house.
Somashareseveryday@gmail.com has started a GoFundMe.com page and a clothing drive; details are with SOMA Shares. The American Red Cross chapter has found temporary housing for them.
BLOOMFIELD – Although the Bloomfield police report did not say which Newark Light Rail station was where they met some juveniles May 1, they arrested two of them there on suspicion of committing a nearby assault and robbery.
Responding BPD officers met a man at the Franklin Square Shopping Plaza that Wednesday who said that he just was beaten and robbed. He said that he was crossing the Stop and Shop parking lot when he was approached by a group of youths.
Two of the group threw their victim on to the ground and began to punch and kick him. They stole his cell phone and backpack before leaving. Officers on the lookout soon found the group at either Grove Street Station or at Belleville’s Silver Lake Station. Two of them had the victim’s backpack and cell phone.
Two of the group – a 15-year-old from Bloomfield and a 14-year-old from East Orange – were identified and arrested. The boys were taken to the Judge Vincent Colasanti Public Safety Headquarters for processing and release with a municipal court date.
Three BPD Cops Hurt in Pursuit
Bloomfield police officers, in a developing story, said that they began pursuing a reportedly stolen BMW SUV from the township at 1:40 a.m. May 13 into their Newark colleagues’ North and West Wards. Their pursuit ended in a pair of accidents along South Orange Avenue between Oraton Parkway and Grove Street at 1:50 a.m. Three BPD cruisers and two civilian cars were involved; three Bloomfield officers and one civilian were reported as injured. The suspected SUV driver and the BMW remain at large as of that Monday afternoon.
MONTCLAIR – Anyone who had interfaced with the township’s website when it was hacked and held for ransomware around June 1, 2023 got to learn from the town manager’s letter mailed April 22-25 how bad that cyberattack was.
Interim Town Manager Michael Lapolla mailed letters to 17,835 affected residents, property owners, employees and others detailing what account information was exposed to the hackers. Account, driver’s license and/or Social Security numbers were among the personal information “accessed and/or acquired.”
This was the cyberattack on Montclair’s IT Department that Mayor Sean Spiller said on June 6 was done by a “criminal group.” The township’s insurer, the Garden State Joint Insurance Fund, paid $450,000 in ransom to stop the hacking in July. No ransomware group has claimed responsibility to date.
Lapolla said that an external investigation was conducted by cybersecurity experts, who produced a report on March 25. They said that the cyberattack was conducted May 22-June 1, affecting part of the township’s data banks.
Montclair is offering affected constituents a year’s free subscription to Experian for free credit monitoring and a toll free number – 1(888) 680-7697 – that is open 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. weekdays.
BELLEVILLE – The township’s school administrators and its Board of Education Trustees may feel like they have reluctantly played in an NBA basketball playoff game that ended in a buzzer-beater.
The Belleville Public Schools and its BOET had until May 15 to provide their final 2024-25 school-year budget to the New Jersey Department of Education. The trustees failed to pass their intended 2024-25 budget – after a 3-3-1 tie vote – at their May 6 meeting.
State Monitor Tomas Egan, who BPS administrators said he had watched the BOET Monday meeting on livestream, may have become involved with the 11th-hour budget making. NJDOT had assigned Egan after BPS incurred a $4 million deficit with its 2013-14 budget.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard Tomko may also have weighed in and signed off on the latest outlay. It would be one of his last acts before the longtime superintendent leaves for the Garfield school district on June 30.
Tomko and School Business Administrator Matthew Paladino had presented a proposed 24-25 budget March 18. It included a school property tax increase of $418 for that year based on a house with an annual assessed value of $275,000. The increase, despite $2.2 million in state aid, was due to hikes in health insurance premium, 5,200 extra school breakfasts and lunches and inflation.
Administrators and the Trustees’ budget committee had made $2.75 million worth of budget cuts, lowering the increase to $171 by May 6.
Board President Gabrielle Bennett-Meany and members Lissa Missaggia and Luis Muniz voted for the May 6 budget. Vice President Nicole Daddis and trustees Michael Derro and Brenda Pacheo voted against. Panelist Tracy Williams, citing ” a conflict,” abstained.
NUTLEY – Township residents will be seeing more of State Monitor Jeanette Makus, whom the New Jersey Department of Education has appointed while it takes over Nutley Public Schools’ finances.
Makus, who first appeared at the NPS Board of Education May 7 meeting, was formally announced by Superintendent of Schools Kent Bania that day as being on the property since May 6. The retired Bergen and Passaic county business administrator will be riding herd over the school district’s fiscal records and practices.
NPS’s 2023-24 school year budget is ending on June 30 with a $7.4 million deficit due to “inaccurate budget practices” over the last two or three budgets. Nutley, for its part, has submitted a corrective action plan to NJDOE and is hoping for relief in the form of a 10 year interest-free loan from the state.
Nutley’s educators have also submitted a 2024-25 budget by May 15 for state consideration. This budget was approved by the NBOE in late April, a month after rumors of the current year budget irregularities began welling up.
Makus will be in NPS offices and school property until the district’s fiscal ship is righted – but exactly how long is an open question. NJDOE, for example, had appointed Thomas Egan to the Belleville Public Schools after it found a $4 million deficit with the 2013-14 budget.
Egan, on one hand, had vetoed a Belleville Board of Education Trustees’ resolution to sell the vacant School 1 property. (It is now the site of a QuickChek.) The monitor on the other hand, has had less of a personal presence in Belleville Public Schools in the last year.
