Holiday Hudson Reporter advertising, editorial deadlines
Because of the holidays over the next two weeks, the Hudson Reporter newspapers will have special advertising and editorial deadlines. In addition, the office will be closed on three days for holidays.
The office will close Friday, Dec. 23, and Monday, Dec. 26. It will reopen Tuesday, Dec. 27. The office closes again on Monday, Jan. 2, and reopens Tuesday, Jan. 3.
For the Wednesday, Dec. 21 edition of the Bayonne Community News and the Thursday, Dec. 22 Midweek Reporter, the editorial deadline is Monday, Dec. 19 at 9 a.m. and the classified and display advertising deadline is 12 noon.
For the Sunday, Dec. 25 editions of the other Reporter newspapers, the editorial deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 9 a.m. and the display ad and classified deadline is 12 noon.
For the Wednesday, Dec. 28 edition of the Bayonne Community News and the Thursday, Dec. 29 edition of the Midweek Reporter, the editorial deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. The classified and display advertising deadline is 12 noon on Thursday, Dec. 22.
For the Sunday, Jan. 1 editions of the Reporter newspapers, the editorial deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 9 a.m., and the advertising and classified deadline is 12 noon.
For the Wednesday, Jan. 4 edition of the Bayonne Community News and the Thursday, Jan. 5 Midweek Reporter, the editorial deadline is Friday, Dec. 30 at 9 a.m. and the classified and display advertising deadline is 12 noon that day.
If you have questions about these deadlines or any other issue, please call (201) 798-7800. Also check www.hudsonreporter.com regularly for information and for breaking news.
Two 6-foot wooden soldiers swiped from Blvd. East property
Deborah Steiner Gagnon and her husband Chris are known in their Weehawken neighborhood for the holiday decorations they’ve put up for the past seven years at their residence on Blvd. East, a snaking waterfront road.
A week ago, they took advantage of the good weather and put up Christmas decorations, which included two heavy, 6-foot wooden nutcracker-like soldiers. “Think Radio City Christmas Hall,” Gagnon said. It took she and her husband several hours to wrestle the large soldiers up from the basement and into their positions alongside the columns that support her front porch. They even tied them up with wire to secure them.
When she returned home on Thursday evening, they were gone.
“It feels personal,” Gagnon said. “This isn’t something you take purely for its value, like an iPhone or a purse. It’s a part of your home.” She mentioned that while the commercial-grade soldiers were not cheap, the family’s loss was sentimental rather than financial.
“We enjoy making Weehawken festive for the kids and the community,” Gagnon said. “My son even cried.”
Neighbors are fond of the family’s decorating efforts – many have asked to take photos of themselves with the items they put out, and Gagnon finds it hard to believe that someone could have managed to take such large items on such a prominent street completely unnoticed.
“Perhaps they made off with them under cover of the rain,” she said. “We don’t even feel like we have the energy to decorate our home anymore after this.”
Gagnon filed a police report on Thursday as soon as she discovered the soldiers were missing.
Weehawken Police Chief Jeff Welz told the Reporter on Friday, “Unfortunately, during this season, people become the Grinch and pick up other people’s decorations.” He confirmed that whoever took the soldiers had to cut through wire to get them down.
“It’s a shame,” Welz said. “Weehawken has some great decorated houses and unfortunately people take advantage of this. It happens in seconds and is almost impossible to prevent, even if you chain them down.”
He advised that if residents see anyone fooling around with decorations, especially if it’s late at night, not to assume it’s the homeowner doing so and call the police. “If you see something, say something. We will be there in minutes.”
Gagnon believes they were stolen some time between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, and hopes that anyone in the neighborhood who may have seen any suspicious activity that could lead to the return of the soldiers or to the identification of whoever took them will call the Weehawken police at (201) 319-6044.
Santa Claus to drive through Weehawken Thursday
On Thursday, Dec. 22, Santa and his sleigh will be escorted around town by the Parks Department and his Elves to visit all the good little boys and girls. Santa will start his tour at The Brownstones (Carlyle Court/ Regency Place) at 6 p.m. and make his way through the town as follows:
Riva Pointe at Lincoln Harbor between 6:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Downtown between 6:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.
Heights between 7:15 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Uptown between 8 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.
The township suggests residents listen by their windows for Christmas music and sirens to know exactly when Santa will arrive.
Appeals court upholds discrimination suit over fire dept. hirings
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue squad’s hiring policy discriminates against African-Americans, because it only allows residents of local towns to apply, and local towns are predominantly Latino and caucasian.
The ruling was the latest move in a longstanding dispute over whether the regional department – which formed by merging five local towns’ fire departments in 1999 – should allow applicants from outside towns.
According to a story on NJ.com, “Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Newark branch of the NAACP, which brought the initial lawsuit in 2007 on behalf of firefighter candidates Allen Wallace, Lamara Wapples, and Altarik White.”
The NHRFR covers West New York, Union City, Weehawken, North Bergen, and Guttenberg. Those towns were approximately 70 percent Latino and only 3.4 percent African-American, according to the 2000 Census.
The department has 14 days to appeal.
Weehawken All-Star champs receive trophies from town
The town of Weehawken gave the 8-year-old All-Star baseball team trophies last month for a season well-played.
The team competed in a double elimination District Tournament at Elmwood Park. The first game was against Persian Field of Jersey City.
“We came out the gates strong and beat them in four innings,” coach Luis Ruiz said.
They lost against Bayonne and Elmwood Park, but overall the team played well and looks forward to future games. “It’s not about how good they are at 8 years old,” Ruiz said, “but about preparing them for the future. They get better each year, play with town pride, and always fight to the end.”
Four hearings to be held on extending Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to Englewood or Tenafly
The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail train currently runs from Bayonne through Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken, and Union City, and into North Bergen. But it doesn’t continue to Bergen County like it was expected to.
Yet, plans are about to move forward.
The federal government has finally released an environmental impact statement about extending the route from 85th Street in North Bergen for eight miles to Englewood or Tenafly. The route would travel through Fairview, Ridgefield, Palisades Park, and Leonia, over old CSX tracks.
NJ Transit has scheduled four public hearings on the environmental statement, which will be presented formally at each of the hearings.
The hearings will be held Jan. 24 and Jan. 26, and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on both days. They will be held in Tenafly on Jan. 24 and Englewood on Jan. 26.
The statement and information is available at http://northernbranchcorridor.com/docs.html.
NJ Motion Picture and Television Commission seeks spring intern applications
The Educational Advisory Board of the NJ Motion Picture and Television Commission is offering internships to students currently enrolled in film, television, and communications degree programs in NJ colleges and universities for the spring semester of 2012.
Internships are unpaid and college credits must be arranged with students’ faculty advisors.
During the semester-long internship at the NJMPTC office in Newark, students will participate in the pre-production and production of motion pictures, television programs, and commercials. They will assist in location scouting and research and will visit state show production sets.
Interested students may call the NJMPTC at (973) 638-6279 or visit the website at www.njfilm.org.