Essex County News

NEWARK, NJ — Recognizing its status as one of the areas most affected by the coronavirus. Essex County expanded its testing to some of Newark’s more hard-to-serve populations this week, including the Ironbound’s immigrant community. 

Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (D-Newark), who was part of the team that set up a pop-up site in the parking lot of the Seabra ...

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced today that the 2020 Essex County Summer Music Concert Series and Fireworks displays have been canceled because of the Coronavirus.

“Our Summer Concert Series and Fireworks Spectaculars are much anticipated events that attract spectators from throughout Essex County and beyond. They are an ...

Essex County, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced his support of Governor Phil Murphy's proposal to borrow $9 billion from the U.S. Federal Reserve to balance the State Budget. On Friday, May 29th, DiVincenzo sent a letter of support to the Governor; the letter was also signed by 17 of the Mayors in Essex County, including Sheena Collum of South Orange and ...

EAST ORANGE, NJ — Former East Orange Mayor, Thomas H. Cooke, Jr. passed away the morning of May 18, 2020 at the age of 90. Mayor Cooke was a trailblazer and the city's second African American-elected Mayor from 1978 to 1986.

Mayor Cooke was honored posthumously at the 2020 East Orange Memorial Day Celebration. In 2019, he was awarded the Lifetime Citizens Award.

A ...

NEWARK, NJ — For the past 15 years, Lot 50 on Grafton Avenue in the city’s North Ward has been a wasteland of syringes and garbage, bringing down the community’s morale. 

Those days are coming to an end, according to Bilal and Breonna Walker, two educators who are transforming the lot into a community project unlike any other in Newark. Dubbed Jannah on ...

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The Essex County Office of Information has issued the following charts delineating coronavirus cases in the county, updating through the morning of Saturday, May 23. This data will not match any other report since cases are continually entering the system and local health departments may reassign place of residence as appropriate during their ...

NEWARK, NJ — The Department of Defense health care providers who touched down to provide relief to an overwhelmed University Hospital in April bid Newark adieu on Wednesday, marking an end to the peak that crushed the city’s hospital system last month. 
 
The U.S. Army North mobilized 10 Urban Augmentation Medical Task Forces to the heavy-hit East Coast to bring relief to ...

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Paddle boating at the Essex County South Mountain Recreation Complex reopens today, May 22, in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Procedures have been put in place to promote social distancing among visitors and sanitize all equipment.

“With the weather getting warmer and people looking for things to do outside, we are pleased to be able to reopen paddle ...

MILLBURN, NJ — Bear 832 strolled around Short Hills on Monday, climbing a tree and hanging out for the day before socially distancing himself from humans. He checked out the bear trap set by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife but decided not to check in.

The black bear was photographed enjoying his day in the suburbs by Millburn resident ...

NEWARK, NJ — Newly drafted 2020-2021 school budgets based on the state’s projections didn’t even have a chance to cool before COVID-19 came and upended the public sector. 

Newark Public Schools, which presented its budget hearing remotely in March, and other urban districts are adrift in a sea of unknowns as the state reassesses what it will allocate to schools. Many are ...