Paramus NJ, An adult male bicyclist was struck by an SUV and seriously injured Thursday afternoon, 05/24, on Paramus Road just south of West Midland Avenue in Paramus. The victim, who was knocked off of this bike and thrown against the SUV’s windshield, was rushed by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center’s main campus. The visibly distraught driver of the SUV remained on the scene and was also transported by ambulance to an undisclosed hospital. A flatbed tow truck lifted the SUV off of the damaged bicycle and removed the vehicle from the scene. Paramus Police and EMS, responded along with an ambulance from Hackensack University Medical Center, and a paramedic team from The Valley Hospital. Police at the scene were observed interviewing several witnesses to the incident, including an individual who was waiting for a bus at a nearby bus stop.
Waldwick NJ, Police from Midland Park, Ridgewood, and Waldwick chased a young black bear through dozens of yards on Thursday morning, 05/24. The bear was finally treed behind home on Evergreen Street in Waldwick where it was last seen by this photographer perched there awaiting the arrival of NJDEP Fish and Wildlife Division personnel.
The bear was resting in a tree near Evergreen and Hemlock in Midland Park. Animal Control arrived at the scene to monitor the situation….
Glen Rock NJ, A Wednesday afternoon, 05/23, collision between a Mustang convertible and a commercial pick up truck at the intersection of Hamilton Avenue and South Maple Avenue, Glen Rock, resulted in a non life threatening injury to the Mustang’s adult female driver. Glen Rock Police and EMS personnel responded to the incident.
River Vale NJ, The New Jersey Bureau of Securities today ordered a Bergen County man and his company to pay a $100,000 civil penalty for selling unregistered fraudulent securities and misusing at least $82,000 of investors’ funds on steak dinners, limousine service, visits to a “gentlemen’s club,” and other personal expenses.
Eric J. Bruno, of River Vale, and his company Mirakill Brands, LLC, (“Mirakill”) misled at least eight investors – including at least seven from New Jersey – into buying unregistered securities in the form of membership interests and warrants to buy membership interests in Mirakill. Bruno represented Mirakill to investors as a start-up business that would be developing an antimicrobial agent for industrial use.
In a Summary Order issued today, Christopher W. Gerold, Chief of the New Jersey Bureau of Securities, found that from at least July 2013 to June 2014, Bruno and Mirakill fraudulently raised approximately $137,000 from investors by falsely claiming that the money they invested would be used to bankroll the Mirakill venture, including securing office space; paying salaries and professional fees; funding research and development; and purchasing production materials and packaging.
“Investors thought they were getting in on the ground floor of a legitimate business venture and that they would profit from its success. Instead their money was used to finance Eric Bruno’s lavish lifestyle,” said Attorney General Grewal. “New Jersey has laws to protect investors from such predatory tactics and we will vigorously enforce them to hold violators like Bruno accountable for their actions.”
Mirakill was a Nevada limited liability company formed in July 2013 and dissolved in June 2014, with offices located in Old Tappan, NJ. Bruno controlled Mirakill through his ownership of another entity he created in connection with his scam.
Bruno and Mirakill, through Bruno, represented to investors that Mirakill was a start-up business that would be developing an improved, proprietary antimicrobial additive to prevent the growth of harmful microorganismswith industrial uses, including plastics, paints, and filters (the “Mirakill Product.”) They also represented to investors in marketing materials that included a private placement memorandum that investment funds would be used for business purposes.
In the fall of 2013 Bruno, along with two other officers of Mirakill, held an event for prospective Mirakill investors. During the event, Bruno provided the 30 to 40 attendees with an overview of the Mirakill Product and its potential applications, and discussed the amount of funds that would be required to bring the product to market. After the event, several of the attendees purchased the Mirakill Securities.
The investors were provided the Mirakill private placement memo describing the Mirakill Securities, the nature of Mirakill’s business, risks, executives, consultants, projected revenues, use of funds, and other material information that would be helpful to investors. The private placement memorandum led investors to believe that their funds would be used for legitimate business purposes, and did not disclose that Bruno would use the money for his own extravagant personal expenses instead.
“Investors received documents that lent a patina of legitimacy to Bruno’s scam and helped convince them that he and the investment were on the up and up,” said Kevin Jespersen, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “In reality, Bruno was not registered with the Bureau as an agent of Mirakill, and the Mirakill Securities were not registered to be offered for sale in this state, as required.”
As president of Mirakill, Bruno countersigned investors’ purchase agreements. He also personally met with certain investors, received and deposited investment checks, and received wire transfers into the company’s accounts, which he controlled.
Bruno then misused at least $82,000 of investor funds for personal expenses that included cash withdrawals at ATMs and banks ($46,000), debit card charges at grocery stores, liquor stores, restaurants ($20,000), debit charges at a New York strip club ($8,800), and limousine services ($2,300.)
“Bruno was living high on the hog at the expense of the investors he fleeced,” said Bureau Chief Gerold. “This case is a prime example of why the Bureau of Securities strongly recommends that investors verify and review the registration records of anyone claiming to be an investment professional or a seller of securities before handing over any money.”
Paramus NJ, One (1) adult male driver was transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital following a two (2) vehicle collision in front of the New Bridge Medical Center, 230 East Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus, on Wednesday morning, 05/23. Paramus Police, EMS, Fire department Companies 1 & 2, and Paramus Rescue Squad personnel responded. The “Jaws of Life” were required to free the victim from his 4-door sedan. Both vehicles were removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. The victim’s injuries were reported to be non life threatening in nature.
Teaneck NJ, NJTP is offering a double feature tonight by hosting Brian Goldberg, Republican Candidate for Senate in the Republican Primary Election at 650 American Legion Drive, Teaneck NJ – 7PM
(Don’t forget to bring a pantry item for the American Legion food drive-support our veterans’ good works).
Brian Goldberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, Goldberg grew up in Marlboro, New Jersey, graduating from Freehold High School in 1991. He then earned a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from UCLA in 1995.
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Following graduation, Goldberg worked as an IT Professional until 2001. He then began working as a construction company executive in 2002, a position he still holds today.
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Goldberg has been politically active in New Jersey for nearly 20 years. In 2004, he began serving as an elected member of the Essex County Republican Committee. He served on the West Orange Municipal Budget Advisory Committee from 2009 to 2011. He also founded The Empowerment PAC in 2010. In 2011, Goldberg served as Treasurer for a Freeholder campaign, and in 2014 ran in the NJ Republican Primary for the United States Senate.
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He currently lives in West Orange (Essex) with his fiancée and his two daughters from his previous marriage. His leadership activities include: NJIT Concrete Industry Management Patrons’ Committee, Bomanite International Society (past Board of Directors and Deputy Treasurer), and the Advisory Board for Republican Friends of Israel. He has made it his mission to #GrowTheGOP, unite New Jersey Republicans, and spread a fresh, new, positive image of conservatism across the country.
As part of the double header Joe Connor a frequent guest on Fox News will talk about his book , Shattered Lives
January 24, 1975, six young businessmen were enjoying lunch in lower Manhattan’s historic Fraunces Tavern when a bomb placed inside the restaurant exploded, tearing through the building. It had been planted by a group claiming support for Puerto Rican independence known as the “FALN,” the most active domestic terrorist organization in American history. Among those businessmen were two sons of immigrants and only children – Frank Connor, with a wife and two young boys, and Alex Berger, whose wife was six months pregnant. Both were murdered, along with two other men, while dozens were injured, many horrifically.
Shattered Lives, co-authored by Jeff Ingber and Joe Connor, Frank Connor’s son, chronicles the origins of the Puerto Rican independence movement, its transformation into a Cuban-led Marxist cause, the FALN’s decade-long reign of murder and destruction that was a precursor to future domestic terrorism, the hunt for the terrorists directed by a group of dedicated FBI agents, the inexplicable escape from prison by the FALN’s chief bomb-maker who eventually received asylum in Cuba, and the political maneuvering that led to Presidents Clinton and Obama granting clemency to FALN members.
River Vale Nj, Holly Schepisi New Jersey State Assemblywoman for District 39 voiced her concern over set aside programs, “I am not a fan of set aside programs in general but I have consistently voted in favor of programs that help those with disabilities and our country’s veterans. I also am supportive of our LGBTQ community and have crossed party lines to not only support, but also to sponsor, initiatives to ensure equality for members of this community. However this Thursday we are being asked to vote on a new set aside program which will give financial assistance to businesses owned by members of the LGBTQ community above all others except for veterans and the disabled.
While I understand giving financial assistance to veterans and those who are disabled, I honestly do not understand the correlation of providing preferential business treatment to being a member of the LGBTQ community. Indeed we recently passed laws in New Jersey which specifically preclude all governmental agencies from inquiring about someone’s sexuality/gender identity, etc. and now we are passing a program which is solely contingent on someone reporting their sexuality and/or gender identity? Moreover, all recent studies that I have seen indicate that LGBTQ couples (both married and unmarried) have higher incomes than straight couples. I am willing to listen to my friends on the other side of the aisle on this but I see no practical reason for this legislation.”
Hackensack NJ, At 10 am on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, 2018, the Bergen County Historical Society honors the veterans of all wars with a wreath-laying at the grave of General Enoch Poor in the burial ground of the First Dutch Reformed Church on the Green, 42 Court Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601. Excerpts from chaplain Israel Evans’ graveside funeral oration will be read at the ceremony, followed by a tour of the historic cemetery and Church on the Green!
Brigadier-General Enoch Poor, of New Hampshire, died at 44 years of age from either typhus fever or diptheria on September 8, 1780, while about 14,000 Continental troops were encamped on “a high Ridge of land in a place called Steenrapie,” the old name for the high ground extending from northern River Edge through Emerson. The main cantonment was situated between River Edge Avenue in River Edge to the vicinity of Soldier Hill Road, where Oradell, Emerson and Paramus intersect. While encamped at Steenrapie between September 4 and 20, 1780, the Continental army lost no fewer than twenty-three soldiers to disease. General Poor’s body was brought from “Paramus” to the Brower House on Main Street, River Edge, where it was placed in a mahogany coffin for burial in the churchyard of the Dutch Reformed Church-on-the-Green in Hackensack on September 10, 1780. Six generals served as pallbearers while officers of the New Hampshire Brigade followed the coffin, together with officers of the new light-infantry brigade, which General Lafayette assigned to General Poor’s command shortly before his death. General George Washington, who made headquarters in the Zabriskie-Steuben House at New Bridge, marched with other generals in the funeral procession. On July 14, 1825, General Lafayette stopped at General Poor’s grave in Hackensack on his return tour of the United States as the Nation’s Guest and last living Major General of the American Revolution.
Monday, May 28 at 10 AM – 11 AM
Next Week · 64–79° Rain Showers
First Reformed Dutch Church, Hackensack
42 Court St, Hackensack, New Jersey 07601
Upper Saddle River NJ, Latest update from Toll Brothers site tonight. According to immediate neighbor of Toll Brother they were pumping mud all day today (Sunday, May 20, 2018). After documented Thursday (May 17 mud discharge) Pleasant Brook was starting to clear up this morning but and now it’s FULL of MUD again at 9:30pm .
At this point we don’t care if Toll Brothers is discharging this mud intentionally or that they simply can’t cope with the amount of storm water gushing from 100 plus acres of soil which was contaminated with high level of arsenic and lead.
Allegedly the soil was tilled with huge bulldozers – tillers and now it’s considered “remediated”. However no soil was removed from the site just spread around. Now the question remains what happens with that arsenic and lead after 5 months of being discharged (intentionally or unintentionally) to Upper Saddle River aquafire? So far not one water test was produced by neither Toll Brothers, Boswell engineers or our famous building director James Dougherty. Police officers called to the scene advised me that they were advised not to touch anything which might came in contact with that water due to alleged arsenic and lead contamination. If it’s bad for police officers how on earth can it be safe for GreenUSR residents. Since GreenUSR members lost confidence in ability of our local government to handle this situation we will be asking feds for assistance.
Riveredge NJ, Experience history in one of the storied places where it was made! Pinkster is celebrated with a Maypole Dance at 1:30 & 3:00 pm with a participation session during the country dances. Ridley and Anne Enslow are featured on fiddle and hammered dulcimer.
This event features fun children’s activities including flower seed planting in clay pots to take home and lawn games in front of the Demarest House.
The 3 houses including the Steuben House a state-historic site and the barn are open for tours.
A new exhibit of 4 large historical paintings by B. Spencer Newman will be in the Steuben House. The Chariot Painting, 1830, by Marageta Van Wagoner of Oradell will be on exhibit. Broom making in the barn. Pinkster cake and raspberry punch are available in the Campbell-Christie House Tavern along with other refreshments.
Illustrated Talk at 2:30 pm: Treasures Through Time – The BCHS Collections
For well over one hundred years, the Bergen County Historical Society has been collecting artifacts of the famous and infamous, the exceptional and the everyday. Past President and Museum Collections Chairperson, Deborah Powell, takes us on a visual tour through centuries of Bergen life via its artifacts.
The Outkitchen cooks are demonstrating natural egg dyeing using vegetables and spices, and dyeing fabric and yarn with onion skins. If our weather is fair, we will make authentic old style onion rings, oliebollen (Dutch fried dough) and fried chicken legs using recipes from the outkitchen collection of 18th century recipes.
Event with something for everyone!
All 3 sandstone houses, including the Steuben House, a state historic site, are connected by an ADA compliant gravel walking path. Weather permitting the Westervelt-Thomas Barn will be open. Free parking is available or take a train on the Pascack Valley Line from Secaucus via NJ Transit to the “New Bridge Landing” train stop. Walk one block north & east. By car, HNBL is only 7 miles from the GWB.
Refreshments in the 18th century tavern (additional cost). Some folks come just for the cider and cider donuts!
Historic New Bridge Landing: American Revolutionary War Battleground including 3 Jersey-Dutch Sandstone Houses, exhibits of BCHS collections, tavern, gift shop, outkitchen & barn. $12 adults, $7 students, BCHS members free. (Become a member and support our efforts!, $20 individual / $30 household).
HNBL, 1201 Main St., River Edge, NJ.
Traveling by carriage from Newark to view the Passaic Falls in Paterson on June 6, 1797, William Dunlap noted in his diary, “The borders of the Pasaick [River] are colour’d by the Iris now in bloom. On the rocks near the [Great] Falls was the Kalmia [or mountain laurel], the wild Columbine & wood pink. The settlements along the river are Dutch, it is the holiday they call pinkster & every public house is crowded with merry makers & waggon’s full of rustic beaus & belles met us at every mile.”
The name of the holiday derives from the Greek word, Pentecost, meaning “fiftieth day,” which originally signified the ancient Jewish celebration of the first fruits of the harvest, arriving seven weeks after Passover. On the seventh Sunday after Easter, Christians commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. The English identified this holiday with the white garments of baptismal candidates, calling it Whitsunday or “White Sunday.” Among the Jersey Dutch, a rose-colored Azalea blossom, known as the “Pinxter blomachee,” was the May bush.
Bergen County Historical Society
May 17 at 6:50am ·
Join us this Sunday for our next event!
Pinkster Fest
A Jersey Dutch Celebration of Spring
May 20, 2018, Sunday, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Paramus NJ, No injuries warranting ambulance transport were reported in a two (2) vehicle crash at the intersection of Paramus Road and West Century Road, Paramus on Friday morning, 05/18. Separate flatbed tow trucks removed both wrecked vehicles from the roadway. Paramus Police investigated.
Wyckoff NJ, The Assembly Environment committee passed legislation today preventing public pension funds from investing in companies that are not meeting Superfund cleanup obligations. Corporations that file bankruptcy to avoid paying for environmental remediation are targeted by Assemblyman Kevin J. Rooney’s bill (R40) (A997).
The Superfund program is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in cooperation with individual states. In New Jersey, the Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Site Remediation Program oversees the Superfund program. As of 10 March 2016, there are 105 Superfund sites listed on the National Priorities List (NPL). Thirty-six additional sites have been cleaned up and deleted from the list.
Rooney said ,“We cannot allow companies to benefit from state investment while they are walking away from an environmental disaster,” said Rooney (R-Bergen). “This bill sends a clear message that irresponsible behavior and dubious tactics will not be tolerated. We will hold them accountable for poisoning our environment.”
A previous version of the bill (A4814) was unanimously approved by the Assembly and the Senate during the previous legislative session, but Gov. Chris Christie did not sign it.
Rooney drafted the measure after an American-based subsidiary of an Argentinian company declared bankruptcy to avoid paying $1.4 billion to remediate a heavily polluted stretch of the Passaic River. The Diamond Alkali Company, now known as Maxus Energy, owned and operated a facility in Newark manufacturing agricultural chemicals including Agent Orange and DDT. Over decades, chemicals were dumped into the river in what is now a Superfund site.
“This negligence had a devastating effect on the environment,” said Rooney. “Hundreds of thousands of gallons of dioxin were recklessly poured into the water. The poison is incredibly toxic and can take decades to degrade naturally.”
The parent company of YPF SA intentionally placed their subsidiary into bankruptcy just months after the Environmental Protection Agency announced a cleanup plan.
“These actions set a dangerous precedent,” continued Rooney. “New Jerseyans cannot be expected to clean messes made by those exploiting our system. Our state cannot afford it, and neither can our environment.”
The New Jersey pension fund owns more than 860,000 shares of YPF, valued at approximately $18 million.
The site is one of the most polluted stretches of water in the nation, and eating fish and crabs from the area is prohibited. The remediation plan is considered the one of costliest and most extensive projects ever undertaken.
The Senate approved the legislation in February.
Kevin J. Rooney represents the 40th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly. Rooney was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He is a lifelong Bergen County resident and grew up in Upper Saddle River. He graduated from Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, New Jersey, and attended Ramapo College for Business and Cook College of Rutgers University for arboriculture.
Paramus NJ, Law enforcement officers from the Paramus Police Department will join with police from around the country in cracking down on unbuckled motorists and passengers as part of the national “Click it or Ticket” campaign.
Beginning May 21 and running through June 3, the annual “Click It or Ticket” national mobilization utilizes high visibility seat belt checkpoints and saturation patrols, in combination with local and national publicity efforts, to reiterate the life-saving value of seat belts.
“Using a seat belt is the simplest way for a driver and his or her passengers to protect themselves when traveling,” said Gary Poedubicky, Acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “In 2016, it is estimated that more than 14,500 lives were saved nationally by the proper use of seat belts.”
Poedubicky added that a key focus of this year’s campaign is to promote seat belt usage by adults in all seating positions in the vehicle, both front AND rear seats. The front seat belt usage rate in New Jersey currently stands at 94.07%. However, adults riding in rear seats are buckling up at a significantly lower rate, only 48% in the most recent survey. “For whatever reason there seems to be a disconnect with people feeling they don’t need to buckle up when riding as a passenger in rear seats, and this is a concern,” he said.
During the 2017 “Click it or Ticket” campaign, 350 New Jersey police agencies participated in the two-week initiative. As a result of the effort, law enforcement officers issued 17,792 seat belt citations, 6,363 speeding summonses and made 976 impaired driving arrests.
Paramus NJ, Paramus Police Department reports that ,Parents as you are aware one our buses was involved in a serious motor vehicle crash, while enroute to Waterloo Village, with East Brook 5th Graders on board.
We are working as fast as we possibly can to obtain further information concerning the well-being and exact location of your child. All information will be provided in person in the auditorium of the East Brook Middle School.
Dismissal of grades 6, 7, & 8 is ongoing. The remaining 2 buses of 5th graders have returned to East Brook Middle School. Those children will be re-unified and released to their parents shortly. Children will only be released to a parent or guardian. Updates will follow as soon as additional information becomes available.
Westwood NJ, Westwood’s newest council member Alyssa Kaye Dawson, at 24 is New Jersey’s youngest councilwoman . Alyssa Dawson, a former staffer to LG Kim Guadagno was sworn-in tonight to a council seat in Westwood to succeed retiring Councilman Peter Grefrath a 23 year veteran to the Borough of Westwood . Dawson had announced her candidacy to run for Council in November alongside incumbent Ray Arroyo last month.
Former Westwood council members, Ingrid Quinn, Cindy Waneck, Jay Sciara and Bill Phayre came to the meeting to say thank you along with former LG Kim Guadagno and assemblywomen Holly Schepisi.
