Category: Maywood

Mountain of donated books needs sorting, Paterson library chief says
March 7, 2013, 10:06 AM
BY  ALLISON TROBIANO
STAFF WRITER
The Record

As a Central Jersey volunteer group Wednesday morning delivered another 1,000 children’s books for the Big Book Drive, the coordinator of the effort sent out an appeal for volunteers to help sort an avalanche of donated books in preparation for a major distribution event in April.

Cynthia Czesak, Paterson’s library director and book drive organizer, said the drive has been a “tremendous success,” with an estimated 10,000 books already collected. The Big Book Drive is an effort of the Paterson library and The Record and the Herald News to collect as many new or gently used books as possible to give to Paterson children to take home.

With heaps of books in boxes at the Southside library branch at 930 Main St., and untold hundreds more gathering at partner libraries in Allendale, Maywood and Ridgewood, Czesak says the new priority is recruiting volunteers to sort the donated volumes.

“There are already some individuals and groups who have volunteered to help, but we will need all the help we can get,” she said, having begun setting up a sorting project in hopes of beginning on Saturday.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/195807851_Mountain_of_donated_books_needs_sorting__Paterson_library_chief_says.html

Coyote advocate defends the predator’s presence in suburbia

SUNDAY DECEMBER 16, 2012, 8:33 PM
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

MAYWOOD — Frank Vincenti pleaded the case in defense of coyotes Sunday, but not everyone in his audience was buying it.

Frank Vincent discusses coyotes at the Maywood Public Library.
Vincenti, founder of the non-profit Wild Dog Foundation, is a strong advocate for predators such as coyotes all over the United States, including New Jersey. He credited coyotes with being intelligent and “highly adaptable,” able to survive and thrive in suburban and urban environments, such as the Bronx and Queens.

Vincenti had just begun his talk on “The Coyotes Problem” at the Maywood Public Library when a borough resident interrupted him. She complained about the host of coyotes that she said are on her land 24 hours a day.

“I’m used to seeing a lot of baby coyotes, but now I saw one the other day, maybe two days ago, that was as big as a mountain lion,” said the woman, who declined to identify herself. “I don’t live in New Mexico. I pay over $12,000 a year in taxes in Maywood. I think I can sit out on my patio in peace, without encouraging people [about] how to live with coyotes.”

https://www.northjersey.com/maywood/Coyote_advocate_defends_the_predators_presence_in_suburbia.html

State Dems: Lengthy suspension of Bergen blue laws could become ‘back-door’ for repeal
By Dan Ivers/NJ.com
On November 09, 2012 at 5:50 PM, updated November 09, 2012 at 9:56 PM

Looks like we have some Democratic legislators as readers after all ,as we reported in “Christie and Donovan push Bergen blue-law suspension and say it applies to all stores” ( https://theridgewoodblog.net/christie-and-donovan-push-bergen-blue-law-suspension-and-say-it-applies-to-all-stores/ )

BERGEN COUNTY — A group of Democratic legislators are appealing to Gov. Chris Christie to immediately lift the suspension of Bergen County’s Sunday ‘blue laws’ after this weekend.

Sen. Bob Gordon (D-Fair Lawn) and General Assembly members Connie Wagner (D-Paramus) and Tim Eustace (D-Maywood) released a joint statement this afternoon, saying allowing the laws to go unenforced beyond this Sunday could expose municipalities to legal entanglements and create a general distraction from helping residents recover from Hurricane Sandy.

“As we approach the two-week mark post-Sandy, all of the more immediate threats appear to be behind us,” Eustace said. “It would behoove the Governor to rescind his executive order after this weekend or, at the very least, allow towns to determine what’s best for their own recovery at this point.”

They also insinuated that a prolonged suspension could signal the beginning of the end for the laws, which Christie unsuccessfully lobbied to repeal in 2010.

https://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2012/11/state_dems_lengthy_suspension_of_bergen_blue_laws_could_become_back-door_for_repeal.html

North Jersey parents, school officials tense over reports of man luring kids

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012
BY DENISA R. SUPERVILLE
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Reports of strangers approaching, and sometimes following, youngsters in Maywood, Oradell, Hackensack, Hawthorne, Ridgewood and Fair Lawn have parents, youngsters and school officials on edge throughout North Jersey.

Fairview Police Department is the latest to disclose a possible luring after an 11-year-old boy reported last week that a man in a van had followed him home from school. The boy told the school resource officer that the man was in a gray van and had been staring at him while he played outside during lunch time, police said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incidents and investigators, who are working together, said Wednesday they do not have a suspect and haven’t determined if the cases are related.

“We are not at all certain that it’s the same person,” Oradell Police Chief Frank Florio said. “There are some similarities in the descriptions and the vehicles, but it’s not in any way certain that it is just one person or that they are related in any way. That’s what we are looking to figure out.”

With the exception of one of the Ridgewood incidents, all the perpetrators have been described as white and middle-aged. The vehicles have been described as a Jeep Wrangler in Hackensack and a small gray car in the Oradell and Washington Township incidents.

https://www.northjersey.com/fairlawn/North_Jersey_parents_school_officials_tense_over_reports_of_man_luring_kids.html

Scott Garrett Celebrates Independence Day in Ridgewood

July 4, 2012

Congressman Scott Garrett celebrated Independence Day in Ridgewood, where he participated in the Village’s annual parade. A special thanks to all those who turned out to honor our country’s freedoms and those who have fought to protect them.

Garrett Campaigns in Maywood, River Edge, Hackensack

July 5, 2012

Congressman Garrett this week took the campaign across Bergen County, meeting with voters and visiting friends in Maywood, River Edge, and Hackensack. In Maywood, we joined with the Mayor and Council to thank the Maywood Fire Department for their hard work. We were joined by Freeholder candidate Peg Watkins at a visit to the River Edge Family Fair. And we were glad to have Hackensack Mayor Michael Melfi with us as we met with voters in his city’s downtown. Thanks to everyone who turned out!

Congressman Garrett will also be back in Ridgewood Sunday evening for a private event.

>Ridgewood man charged in opium bust
Friday, March 9, 2012
BY JUSTO BAUTISTA
STAFF WRITER
The Record

Two Bergen County men were among six people charged for their alleged roles in an international ring that smuggled opium into the United States by hiding it in Persian rugs, authorities announced Thursday.

Djavad Mohammadi Yaghini, 72, of Maywood and Hamid Ketabchi, 60, of Ridgewood were each charged with conspiring to distribute opium and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, authorities said.

Yaghini and Ketabchi, both naturalized U.S. citizens, along with a third defendant, Mahmoud Mowla, 59, of Middle Village, N.Y., were arrested in January. Their bail was not immediately available.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/142026243_Bergen_men_charged_in_opium_bust.html