MONTCLAIR, NJ - Is 2021 going to be the year you write your novel? Children’s picture book? Memoir? Mystery? Or do you have a book and are waiting to find an agent or self-publish?

After the success of its workshops last September, Succeed2gether’s Montclair Literary Festival is pleased to present a series of six writing workshops, Do The Write Thing, led by experts in their ...

EAST ORANGE, NJ — Twenty-five years ago, the epic album titled, “The Score” was recorded and released by the Fugees at the Booga Basement, located at 232 South Clinton Street in East Orange, New Jersey, and released on February 13, 1996. 

The album which combined, Hip Hop, R&B, and Reggae sold over 20 million copies world-wide. 

While no one can ...

EAST ORANGE/ORANGE, NJ — Dionne Warwick, the musical icon, six-time Grammy winner, and East Orange native, has been nominated for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. 

Winners will be announced in May and the ceremony will take place in the fall of 2021. 

Although Warwick's music is not considered rock and roll, in recent years, the Rock Hall of Fame has broadened their ...

MONTCLAIR, NJ - Montclair's cannabis dispensary has gotten a makeover and will re-open, according to published reports.

Ascend Wellness Holding will hold a grand re-opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, February 22nd at 6:30pm and Tuesday, February 23rd at 8:30am. Community leaders, state, county and local officials will gather for the culmination of a year’s long ...

Officials Also Unveil $1.2 Billion Plan to Address Educational, Mental Health Needs of Students

TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey education officials are asking the federal government to waive standardize testing for this school year, maintaining that it is more important to focus on instructional time amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

But whether the waiver will be granted remains the ...

MONTCLAIR, NJ - Parents continue to voice their frustration with the MEA over reopening schools, citing concerns of childrens’ mental health and academic performance. The Board of Ed remained silent on the matter during the Board meeting Wednesday. 

The Board’s first ever Student Representative, however, remarked that there is still a lack of student say on the ...

MONTCLAIR, NJ - A new principal has been appointed to Edgemont Elementary School, officials.

Upon the recommendation of Montclair Public Schools Superintendent Jonathan Ponds, the Montclair Board of Education appointed Briony Carr-Clemente as principal of Edgemont School at its February 17 public meeting. Carr-Clemente, a proud Montclair resident with children in the district, will take the ...

BLOOMFIELD, NJ -- Obal's Inn, a fixture in Bloomfield since the 1950s, is planning a comeback.  Most restaurants and bars have felt the squeeze since early last year with COVID restrictions greatly hampering the way food and beverage businesses were permitted to operate. 

In early February, reports started circulating that Obals was closing their doors for good as a result ...

BELLEVILLE, NJ — The ride to school will soon be more environmentally friendly for some Belleville students.

The school district will be adding two new electric school buses from Lion Electric valued at $834,604 through a grant contributed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Production (DEP).

The grant was made through a transportation electrification initiative launched ...

NEWARK, NJ — Months after signing expansive environmental justice legislative, Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday vowed New Jersey would put its money where its mouth is - investing over $130 million in clean transportation projects.

Murphy, who spoke about more green initiatives during a press conference this morning, also signed an executive order creating a climate action office and the New ...

MONTCLAIR, NJ - The National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for our area and a Winter Storm Watch in effect from Thursday morning through Friday afternoon. Heavy snow is forecasted with accumulations of 4 to 8 inches.

Township Emergency Management Coordinator Rob Bianco has declared a state of emergency to go into effect at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, to support the ...

DENVILLE, NJ -- Motherhood was one of the greatest joys for Debra Kaufman. Her pregnancy resulted in having a son, Bryan, now in his 30s. However, the pregnancy at the time also resulted in preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system. In many cases, it negatively impacts the liver and kidneys. Preeclampsia ...

MONTCLAIR, NJ - Boy Scout Troop 12 of Montclair has teamed up with Woodland Park Cub Scout Pack 31, and Boy Scouts Troop 238 of Woodland Park to launch "Bags of Hope," a service project that will benefit Tomorrow's Children at Hackensack University Medical Center, which serves children with cancer and blood disease. 

Organizers state that donations for ...

NEWARK, NJ – The Montclair Neighborhood Development Corporation (MNDC) was recognized by the Essex County Board of Commissioners, officials announced. 

The MNDC was presented with a resolution recognizing the 50th Anniversary of service to the residents of Montclair and the surrounding communities. Due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions, the MNDC held a virtual ...

If you missed this very popular free tour last fall, the Sparta Historical Society’s special exhibit at the Van Kirk Homestead Museum, “Thomas A. Edison: The Person, The Vision, and His Genius,” will continue to be open by appointment through Spring 2021.  The exhibit is an overview including Edison’s personal life, telegraphy, sound machines, mining interests, light ...

MONTCLAIR, NJ - The Montclair Planning Board, at its February 22 meeting, continued its hearing on the application to revise plans for the construction on the parking deck on Orange Road, which serves Valley & Bloom and the MC Hotel.  Montclair Acquisition Partners, the applicant in charge of the deck, wants to remove the lift-and-slide parking mechanisms and install floor plates in the ...

MONTCLAIR, NJ - The Montclair Township Council held a regular meeting on February 16 to consider the second-reading ordinance amending the township’s rules and regulations regarding gasoline-powered leaf blowers and also a brief consent agenda of resolutions that yielded some unexpected discussions about two of the items listed. 

Public comment was lighter than usual, and it ...

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ - The County of Essex canceled all  OVID-19 vaccination appointments for Monday Feb. 22 due to lack of vaccines. 

Residents with appointments for Feb. 22, will have those appointments rescheduled for some time next week. Appointments for Sat. Feb. 20 and Sun. Feb 21 were canceled earlier this week due to non-receipt of vaccines. 

According to ...

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ - The County of Essex canceled all first dose COVID-19 vaccination appointments for Sunday Feb. 21 due to lack of vaccines. 

Residents with fist dose appointments for Feb. 21, will have those appointments rescheduled for some time next week. Appointments for Sat. Feb. 20 were canceled earlier this week due to non-receipt of vaccines. 

According to Essex County ...

TRENTON, NJ -- Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday reported that four of the state's six vaccine mega-sites were closed Thursday due to the winter storm, resulting in a slowdown in vaccinations.

"Our vaccine numbers didn’t grow by as much as they otherwise would have," Gov. Murphy said. "As of midmorning, we are reporting a total of 1,559,569 vaccinations having been ...

NEW JERSEY — Around midday Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy signed three bills to legalize recreational marijuana-use and establish a regulated cannabis market within the next six months.

The legislation will allow for adults to legally possess as much as six ounces of marijuana and mean relief for anyone previously subject to arrest for petty marijuana possession.

“As of this moment, ...

MORRISTOWN, NJ — A 34-year-old Morristown resident who has been heavily involved in the Livingston Soccer Club over the last several years and most recently served as a volunteer coach at Livingston High School in the fall of 2020 has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on charges of producing, possessing and mailing child pornography charge. 

Steven ...

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange High School student Marley Dias has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her Netflix show "Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices."

Dias is internationally known for her #1000BlackGirlsBooks movement," her own book "Marley Gets it Done," and being named as one of Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential Teens of ...

MONTCLAIR, NJ - When Armour Harding Brown turned 100-years-old on February 9, his friends and family members wanted to do something special to acknowledge his special day.

Deputy Chief Wilhelm Young, Lieutenant Tyrone Williams, and Officer Paul Rusiniak accompanied by Montclair Police Patrol Division, Montclair Fire Department, Montclair Ambulance Unit, and a host of family, ...

PATERSON, NJ - A 30-year-old Clifton man has been arrested and charged with four counts involving distributing, maintaining and possessing images of suspected child pornography. 

According to Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik, Christopher M. Lucas, a Clifton resident and custodian at the North Caldwell Public ...

MONTCLAIR, NJ - Belgiovine’s Deli on Bloomfield Avenue was broken into on February 1.

When officers responded to the location, it was after hours. A passerby had noticed the glass front door shattered.

Sgt. Terence Turner of the Montclair Police Department wrote, "Officers conducted a walkthrough of the business where they observed the disconnected cash register on the ...

PARSIPPANY, NJ — Pastor Bernadette Glover of St. Paul Baptist Church in Montclair participated in a roundtable discussion hosted by Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) on Wednesday.

Sherrill hosted a virtual roundtable discussion with Black community leaders focused on the disparate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color. The purpose was to discuss how ...

NEWARK, NJ — A day after Gov. Phil Murphy addressed his plan to provide equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to New Jersey’s minority communities, Essex County officials announced the formation of a partnership with local religious leaders to springboard this effort. 

County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr., said at Tuesday press conference in ...

NEW JERSEY -- Gov. Phil Murphy today announced that he has eased some restrictions on the number of spectators that can attend high school and other youth sporting events both indoors and outdoors.

"I want to start with an announcement that I know many athletes and many moms and dads have been waiting for. I'm signing an Executive Order today, effective immediately by the way, to ...