Ridgewood, NJ
News
UPDATE: Woman, 66, Four Cats Killed In Ridgewood Fire UPDATE: Woman, 66, Four Cats Killed In Ridgewood Fire
Update: Woman, 66, Four Cats Killed In Ridgewood Fire UPDATE: A semi-retired Ridgewood woman and her four cats were killed in an overnight oven fire Monday, authorities confirmed. Responders found the body of 66-year-old Sharon Maes in the first-floor living room of her two-story North Pleasant Avenue home after fire broke out in her kitchen oven shortly before 1 a.m., Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. She'd apparently left something unattended and was overcome by smoke as she tried to flee, responders told Daily Voice. Maes was pronounced dead at the scene, Musella said, adding that the cause wasn't considered suspicious. Musella…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes, NJ
News
Parents: Board Trustee's Out-Of-Town Basketball League Took Gym Time From Midland Park Kids Parents: Board Trustee's Out-Of-Town Basketball League Took Gym Time From Midland Park Kids
Parents: Board Trustee's Out-Of-Town Basketball League Took Gym Time From Midland Park Kids A group of Midland Park parents are questioning why the gym at their children’s public school was used for basketball games during the COVID pandemic by a private travel league controlled by a Board of Education member. More than half of the games played at the Highland School by the North/West Bergen/Passaic Basketball League between Feb. 7-March 7 didn’t include a Midland Park team, resident Jillian Mulder said. “We allowed hundreds of out of town residents un-abided access to our gym during a time when the board meetings themselves couldn’t be in person and our kids weren’t allowed in sc…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Rutherford, NJ
Police & Fire
Rutherford Police Nab Pair Swiping Power Tools Rutherford Police Nab Pair Swiping Power Tools
Rutherford Police Nab Pair Swiping Power Tools Rutherford police nabbed two men who’d been going around stealing power tools from hardware stores, authorities said. Detectives were investigating a New Year’s Eve theft of $1,300 worth of tools from Brothers Hardware on Orient Way when the pair returned on Tuesday, Capt. Sean Farrell said. An employee recognized them and called police, noting that one of the men left the store when he was approached and got into an SUV spotted during the previous theft, Farrell said. Officer Anthony Bachmann went to another local hardware store and found one of the men inside, while the other waited in …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Mahwah-Ramsey, NJ
Police & Fire
Firefighters Douse Mahwah Basement Blaze Near Rockland Border Firefighters Douse Mahwah Basement Blaze Near Rockland Border
Firefighters Douse Mahwah Basement Blaze Near Rockland Border Firefighters doused a basement blaze Wednesday that severely damaged a Mahwah home near the Upper Saddle River and Rockland borders. No injuries were reported in the two-alarm blaze, which broke out shortly after 3:15 p.m. on Tam-O-Shanter Drive in the Scotch Hills section of the township barely a quarter-mile from Airmont, NY. Mutual aid responders either at the scene or in coverage included firefighters from Ramsey, Midland Park, Allendale, Upper Saddle River, Oakland, Franklin Lakes, Waldwick and Wyckoff, Tallman, Suffern and Hillburn. Several companies provided mutual aid in the Ma…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Ridgewood, NJ
Sports
These Bergen County Gyms Are Offering Outdoor Classes These Bergen County Gyms Are Offering Outdoor Classes
These Bergen County Gyms Are Offering Outdoor Classes Although gyms across New Jersey are open only for personal training sessions, some are offering classes outside.  Many gyms require guests bring their own mat, water, and towels. Some require memberships and others are open to anyone -- one is completely free of charge. Scroll down for a list of Bergen County gyms with a variety of classes for everyone.  Did we miss one? Email [email protected]. Retro Fitness Fair Lawn, 18-01 Pollitt Dr., Fair Lawn: Offering FREE outdoor Zumba, bootcamp, yoga, spinning and more. Guests are required to bring their own weights. Direct message Marieli…

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by Cecilia Levine
Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes, NJ
Police & Fire
Construction Worker Struck By Backhoe In Midland Park Construction Worker Struck By Backhoe In Midland Park
Construction Worker Struck By Backhoe In Midland Park A construction worker was hospitalized after being struck Wednesday afternoon by a backhoe in Midland Park. The Kemsco Construction and Equipment Company (Newark) worker was injured shortly before 4:30 p.m. behind the Midland Park Shopping Center on Godwin Avenue. Members of the Midland Park Ambulance Corps tended to the worker and took him to the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. There was no immediate word on the extent of the injury. OSHA was notified. Midland Park and Wyckoff police also responded.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lakewood, NJ
Business
Tuesday Morning Retailer Struck By Coronavirus Closing 7 NJ Stores Tuesday Morning Retailer Struck By Coronavirus Closing 7 NJ Stores
Tuesday Morning Retailer Struck By Coronavirus Closing 7 NJ Stores Home goods retailer Tuesday Morning is the latest national outlet to seek bankruptcy protection, company officials said. Tuesday Morning's closing is a result of the "immense strain of the COVID-19 pandemic," the Dallas-based retail chain said in a statement.  At least seven Tuesday Morning stores in New Jersey will close as a result of the bankruptcy. The discount home retailer has 11 stores in the Garden State, Tuesday Morning Corp., founded in 1974, said it expects to close about 230 of its 687 stores nationwide. New Jersey stores that will remain closed are in East Hanover, Middl…

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by Jon Craig
Fair Lawn-Glen Rock, NJ
Police & Fire
Former Part-Timer Charged With Stealing DPW Vehicles In Glen Rock Crime Spree Former Part-Timer Charged With Stealing DPW Vehicles In Glen Rock Crime Spree
Former Part-Timer Charged With Stealing DPW Vehicles In Glen Rock Crime Spree A Glen Rock man who’d once done part-time work for the borough DPW stole two department vehicles and committed a home burglary, said authorities who captured him in Paterson. Colin H. McCann, 38, was nabbed by Glen Rock Detective Sgt. James Calaski and Officer Nicholas Onove with a vehicle reported stolen out of Midland Park, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said Friday. The investigation began over a week ago, when DPW workers reported the overnight theft of one of their trucks from the borough yard, Ackermann said. The vehicle was recovered with thousands of dollars worth of tools missing, th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Northern Highlands, NJ
Police & Fire
Firefighters Douse Allendale House Blaze Firefighters Douse Allendale House Blaze
Firefighters Douse Allendale House Blaze Firefighters doused a house blaze in Allendale late Sunday. The fire broke out on the second floor of the 2½-story, wood-frame house on West Crescent Avenue off Franklin Turnpike around 10:15 p.m. It went to a second alarm for coverage 20 minutes later and was knocked down 10 minutes or so after that, responders said. Firefighters from Mahwah, Waldwick, Wyckoff, Ho-Ho-Kus and Saddle River assisted their Allendale colleagues at the scene. Franklin Lakes, Midland Park and Upper Saddle River firefighters were asked to remain on standby in their own headquarters. No injuries were reported i…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Ridgewood, NJ
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Multi-Alarm Fire Ravages Ridgewood Downtown UPDATE: Multi-Alarm Fire Ravages Ridgewood Downtown
Update: Multi-Alarm Fire Ravages Ridgewood Downtown Firefighters saved an entire block of businesses and homes by eventually putting down a destructive downtown blaze Sunday night in Ridgewood. The five-alarm fire broke out in an apartment upstairs from the Bagelicious shop on North Broad Street shortly after 9 p.m. and quickly spread to the building housing the Mediterraneo restaurant and an office building. A female resident of an upstairs apartment was rescued through a window and taken to The Valley Hospital with smoke inhalation. Other residents who live in apartments above both businesses fled before floors collapsed and flames began…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Ridgewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Midland Park Mailman Gets 364 Nights In County Jail In Ridgewood Hit-Run Death Midland Park Mailman Gets 364 Nights In County Jail In Ridgewood Hit-Run Death
Midland Park Mailman Gets 364 Nights In County Jail In Ridgewood Hit-Run Death UPDATE: Thanks to a plea deal, a postal carrier from Midland Park who fled the scene after striking and killing a Hawthorne man in Ridgewood won’t be going to state prison for his crime. A judge in Hackensack on Friday allowed Rafael Ramos, 48, to keep his job during the day while serving 364 consecutive nights in the Bergen County Jail as his plea-bargained sentence for the hit-and-run death of Edward Rao. Ramos was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident after running over and killing Rao, a 54-year-old former Ridgewood real estate agent, on West Ridgewood Avenue near the vill…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Police & Fire
Lodi Serial Killer Confesses To 1960s Bergen Schoolgirl Murders Lodi Serial Killer Confesses To 1960s Bergen Schoolgirl Murders
Lodi Serial Killer Confesses To 1960s Bergen Schoolgirl Murders Decades-old murders ordinarily require DNA evidence to solve, but not with a notorious New Jersey serial killer who authorities said admitted slaying three teenage schoolgirls in Bergen County more than 50 years ago. “Dogged investigation and relentless interviews” by BCPO Chief of Detectives Robert Anzilotti and Detective Capt. James McMurrow over the course of nearly 15 years got the confessions from Richard Cottingham, said author Peter Vronsky, who’s writing a book about a slew of cold-case New Jersey female killings. SEE: New Jersey Girl Murders Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella c…

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by Jerry DeMarco