ELIZABETH, NJ — Two young salsa dancers from Elizabeth have made it to the live quarter-final round of America’s Got Talent.

Twelve-year-old Simon Ruiz and ten-year-old Maria Lopez have been dancing together for three years. They met at the Quimbara Dance Studio in Elizabeth and instantly became friends and dance partners.

Simon and Maria have competed at dance ...

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ - Central Jersey auctioneer Joe Bodnar received an email last month reading “The Barnes family clock needs to find a new home.”

Nearly 200 years old, built and crafted in New Jersey by a respected colonial-era clockmaker, the tall case clock will be sold by Bodnar as part of a two-day, 500 lot online auction Aug. 5 & 6,

Dated ca. 1825, the clock has been ...

GILLETTE, NJ - The dancers from Starstruck Dance Studio learned lessons in improvisation on July 18 when they performed in their annual end-of- year recital. Like most traditions and milestone events in our country right now, things ran quite differently than in years past.  Normally, the dancers’ backdrop is infused with colorful lights highlighting their leaps and turns.  ...

WESTFIELD, NJ — The parent company for Lord & Taylor has filed for bankruptcy protection — the latest indicator of financial distress for the owner of an expansive department store on North Avenue.

The online fashion brand Le Tote — which purchased the chain of Lord & Taylor stores in 2019 — filed for bankruptcy in federal court Sunday, indicating that it has ...

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ – April Scelsa’s story mirrors those of thousands of small business owners whose nail salons, coffee houses and nutrition supplement boutiques wouldn’t have been able to re-open in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic without a little help.

Scelsa used money she got from the New Jersey Economic Development Agency (NJEDA) to purchase masks, gloves, ...

Editor's note: Aidan English is a rising junior at Gov. Livingston High School participating in the TAPinto Berkeley Heights internship program. To learn more about writing for TAPinto Berkeley Heights, contact bpeer@tapinto.net.

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ - On Thursday, the Berkeley Heights Board of Education set forth their plan for reopening schools within the Berkeley Heights School District ...

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ -- The NJ Department Of Education has directed, “Absent a shift in public health data, school buildings will open in some capacity for in-person instruction and operations in the Fall.”

Thursday night, with 400 plus Zoomers attending the Berkeley Heights Board of Education meeting, members unanimously approved the recommendation by the Superintendent of ...

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ -- The Board of Education will hold a virtual meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Thursday, July 30, to unveil its Re-Entry/Back-to-School plan with the public. The meeting was not on the board calendar.

Board of Education President Doug Reinstein said, “We felt it was important to proactively share our plan with the community.”

Members of the public will ...

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ -- Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss today announced that Morgan Toriello of Westfield has joined the Board of Trustees of the Mountainside-based organization, where she has served on the Development committee for years and has been a Circle of Hope member since 2019.

Morgan is an Executive Recruiter at Windham Management Group, a boutique ...

(NEW JERSEY) - Elected officials and political leaders from all over the state are sending in words of condolences to State Senator and Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, Ronald L. Rice (Newark) on the sudden passing of his beloved wife of 35 years, Shirley Rice. Mrs. Rice passed away unexpectedly on the morning of August 4, 2020. Shirley Rice, a long time champion for collegiate ...

TRENTON, NJ – Despite reporting that there were no in-hospital COVID-19 deaths during the 24-hour period ending 10:30 p.m. last night for the first time since March 10, Gov. Phil Murphy expressed disappointment over the increase in the positivity rate in the state during his COVID-19 press briefing in Trenton on Friday, July 31.

"The spot positivity rate for tests from July ...

TRENTON, NJ – Gov. Murphy reported the daily COVID-19 figures, slammed people who attended overcrowded house parties, defended the performance of the Motor Vehicles Commission (MVC), and discussed the updates to the state’s travel advisory regulations at his COVID-19 press briefing on Wednesday, July 29, 2020.

Travel-Quarantine Update

New Jersey’s travel advisory was ...

TRENTON – The Clark Police Department is now under the control of the Union County  Prosecutor's Office as they perform an investigation into "credible allegations of misconduct," according to a joint statement from Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo.

The UCPO will assume control of all law enforcement and internal ...

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ — Since Tropical Storm (or Hurricane, depending on the news outlet) Isaias has taken out power to 78 percent of Union County, JCP&L reported 53 percent outage in Mountainside -- thousands have been left with no refrigeration. 

FoodSafety.gov has a chart for determining how long foods will stay fresh and usable after a power outage.

According to ...

SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ – The Jewish Community Center (JCC)’s Camp Yachad has been a staple for the kids and families it served, as well as the most important revenue producer for the organization. For several months, it looked as if the camp might be canceled, but as JCC director Mike Goldstein said, after an “involved and thoughtful process,” the JCC found out that the ...

NEWARK, NJ - US District Judge Esther Salas released a video message two weeks after her son was killed and husband was shot multiple times during an attack at their North Brusnwick home. While barely holding back tears, she described the days before her son was killed and the moment when she heard the gunshots. 

Her message is that Federal judges need better protection. Their home ...

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ - The Borough reported approximately 1,200 houses in Mountainside without power, according to a post on the Mountainside Borough Facebook page.

"PSE&G advises that all homes should be restored by 11:00 p.m., August 6th. Some houses may be restored sooner," the post stated.

The post update said, "The Police Department and Borough Hall are without power.

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ — Since Tropical Storm (or Hurricane, depending on the news outlet) Isaias has taken out power to 78 percent of Union County, JCP&L reported 53 percent outage in Mountainside -- thousands have been left with no refrigeration. 

FoodSafety.gov has a chart for determining how long foods will stay fresh and usable after a power outage.

According to ...

NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ — The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm warning for the region. The warning issued at 5:20 a.m. Monday says that winds could reach 58 to 73 mph on Tuesday.

Impacts could include damage to roofing and siding along with porches, awning and carports, according to the Weather Service. Trees may be snapped or uprooted, and some roads may become ...

NEW JERSEY — Jewish homes in South Orange and Maplewood, and across New Jersey, have been opening their mailboxes each week for generations, and receiving news of interest about the Jewish world around them in the New Jersey Jewish News: from the hyper local — such as start times for holiday services at different synagogues and who is memorialized in the obituaries — to local, ...

SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ -- If you thought you saw a familiar local face in Gatorade TV ads during the Red Sox-Yankees game on ESPN last name, you were right. Former Union Catholic track star and 2016 Olympic hurdler Sydney McLaughlin is featured in a current series of Gatorade ads entitled, "Ready to Play Anything," that celebrate the return of sports.

In the last few months, ...

In their first year of merging their baseball programs, Mountainside/Berkeley Heights, otherwise known as MBH, defeated Summit 9 to 3 in the districts finals. This is the third consecutive year dating back to 2018 that Mountainside, now MBH, won the districts tournament.  They haven’t lost a district game in three years and have been a perfect 17-0 during this stretch.