January 1 - Bergen Record by Jennifer Van Doren A RARE EVENT IN TOWN POLITICS: 3 DEMOCRATS TAKING COUNCIL SEATS It may be the first time Democrats have a significant
presence on the Will Kubofcik, 30, Khalil Kasht, 45, and Tom Magura, 53, were
elected by Kubofcik had served briefly as councilman, filling an
unexpired term, but Still, both the newcomers and those already on the council
said they will Marchitto said that although he doesn't have a crystal ball,
he hopes for a "I'm optimistic," Marchitto said. "This is a small community,
and I think The council's initial task will be writing the 1997 municipal
budget. And members differ. Magura said he wants to try to direct more
money into January 12 - North Jersey Herald & News by Harry Yoon KASHT MAKES HISTORY ON PROSPECT PARK COUNCIL The first Circassian Democrat on the council was initially drawn to his party, partly because it asked him to volunteer for the community. The Republicans who rang his doorbell seemed only interested in getting his vote, said 42-year old Khalil Kasht on Thursday, about a week after being sworn to the council, the first one split along party lines in the borough's history. The Democrats, on the other hand, asked him to help raise funds for the local volunteer ambulance corps. For him, that demonstrated a "dedication to people," he said. Kasht says he sees himself as a bridge between Circassians and Middle Easterners on the one hand and Democrats on the other. Kasht helped introduce newly arrived Circassians to the political process. He told them where they could go to become a citizen, get a driver's license or register to vote. At the time, there were about 150 Circassian families in the borough, Kasht said. Now, there are about 400 to 600 families, possibly the highest concentration in the state. It is believed that this ethnic group originates from the Caucausas Mountains located between the Black and Caspian seas, an area dominated by the former Soviet Union. In 1991, Kasht and Florence Massaro lost to Republicans Al Marchitto and Antoinette Atie for council seats, making Kasht the first Circassian to run for election in Prospect Park. Kasht ran and lost again the next year. A heart condition made him drop out of politics for a few years. But last year, he pursued the council seat another time; running on the opposing ticket was another Circassian, Waeil Dashoka. (webmaster's note: this may sound a bit misleading; to clarify, Kasht and Dashoka were both running for Council, however, Kasht was in a race against Dan Hoffman for the unexpired seat, so Kasht and Dashoka were never running against each other). The third time proved a charm not only for Kasht, but also for the party. Concurrent victories by Democrats Thomas Magura and William Kubofcik split the traditionally Republican council along party lines for the first time. Leaving the small town of Sweilih, Jordan, when he was 16, Kasht came to America and joined his parents, who lived in Hawthorne. After graduating from Hawthorne High School, he studied business administration and accounting at Paterson State College on a part-time basis, and then electronics at Rets Electronics School in Nutley. He worked as an electronics technician in the area for several years, gravitating toward politics in the 1990's. While Kasht maintains close ties to the Circassian community, he said he wants to work with everyone in town. "We don't care about your religion, your race," he said, whether it's "Chinese, Spanish, Peruvian, Syrian, Jordan, Russian, American, Yugoslavian, Albanian, Egyptian, Turkish, Puerto Rican, Palestinian." One goal he has, he said, is to attract more small businesses to town. Currently, there are about four to five vacancies along N. Eighth Street, which holds about a dozen or so small shops.
January 14 - North Jersey Herald & News by Peter Eichenbaum PROSPECT PARK'S OFFICER KEPT BUSY IN ARREST, RESCUE On duty and off, borough patrolman William Rauch went above and beyond. In less than 24 hours, Rauch singlehandedly captured a carjacking suspect and, with a little ingenuity and a lot of guts, rescued a family of three from a burning house. The 30-year old patrolman was driving home through Haledon Friday night when he heard the call on his portable police radio: There has just been an armed carjacking, said a dispatcher, who gave a detailed description of the 17-year-old suspect. Rauch, who joined the force two years ago, spied the suspect at Ida and N. 15th streets about 8:45 p.m., police said. After he advised Haledon police of the situation, Rauch stepped out of his car and drew his own weapon, said Prospect Park Sgt. Fred Schwaner. When he saw the uniformed officer, the suspect abandoned the station wagon that had just been commandeered from a medical courier, and fled on foot. Rauch tracked him down in a nearby back yard and arrested the Paterson youth without further incident. A loaded .22 caliber Rohm revolver was recovered, police said. Rauch was back on duty the next afternoon when he pulled up in front of a N.11th Street house in Prospect Park. Heavy, thick black smoke billowed from the second-floor window where Rauch saw a man calling for help, Schwaner said. Rauch grabbed an old piece of furniture that resembled a bookcase, propped it against the house and climbed about 8 feet up the makeshift ladder. The man who had been calling for help, George Ricci, handed over his 5-year-old daughter, Samantha, whom Rauch passed to Richard Haman, a fellow officer waiting below. A neighbor, meanwhile, arrived with a ladder, which enabled Rauch to reach the snow-slick roof to rescue Ricci and his pregnant wife, Maryann, said Schwaner. Taken to Wayne General Hospital, mother and daughter were treated for smoke inhalation. The fire was caused by a faulty clothes dryer, police said. "He's a good cop," the sergeant said of Rauch. "He's very efficient and very thorough in what he does. I wrote him up for a job well-done to the attention of the chief of police." As for Rauch and his partner, Schwaner said: "I believe they disregarded their own safety to save other people." January 16,1997 Hawthorne Press PtI. Rausch captures car jacking suspect; rescues family from fire Prospect Park Patrolman William Rausch had a busy weekend both on and off duty. Friday night after work while having dinner at a friend's house, he heard a call come in from Haledon police about a car jacking incident. At 8:45 pm, Haledon police were in pursuit of a black male who had fled the carjacking scene at Haledon Avenue and North 15th Street on foot. Rausch, driving in his own vehicle, spotted a youth matching the description of the assailant. The suspect was described as black, wearing a light-colored jacket, jeans and a blue baseball cap. According to Captain Frank Franco, the officer saw him run into a backyard at North 15th Street and Ida Place and hide behind some bushes. The 30-year-old officer, who was still in uniform, confronted the 17-year-old youth who ran to a fence and then was cornered by Rausch. The policeman held the suspect at gunpoint and radioed to Haledon police. The botched carjacking occurred outside a doctor's office as a medical courier was picking up samples. The youth allegedly placed a gun to the courier's ribs and told him he was taking the man's station wagon. As the teen got into the car and was about to drive away, a police car in the area was flagged down by the victim. Seeing the police car, the assailant got out of the vehicle and fled on foot. Haledon police recovered a fully loaded .22 caliber pistol in the back seat of the car. Police discovered that the gun has been stolen out of St. Charles County, Charles, Montana. The youth has been incarcerated in the Passaic County Youth Detention Center in Haledon. The juvenile delinquency charges include aggravated assault (pointing a a firearm at the victim), possession of stolen property (.22 caliber handgun), robbery, carjacking, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and with unlawful possession of a weapon. Saturday when the report of a fire came in at 3:50 pm, Rausch and PtI. Richard Haman responded to 378 North 11th Street. Smoke was billowing from a second floor window and the residents were calling for help as access to the stairway was blocked. Rausch grabbed a wood shelving unit that was nearby and used it to climb to a lower roof. George Ricci handed his five-year-old daughter, Samantha, to the officer who, in turn, lowered her to Haman. In the meantime, neighbors brought a ladder to the site and it was used to rescue Ricci and his pregnant wife, Maryann, from the apartment. Firefighters arrived on the scene and put out the blaze that had started in a dryer. The Ricci family was transported to the hospital where they were treated for smoke inhalation and released. February 13, 1997 Prospect Park collects $273,251 in fines No tax hike due to increased revenues What does aggressive police work have to do with a tax break for the community? Over a quarter of a million dollars in revenue .. . that's what. In Prospect Park this year, residents won't be seeing a tax increase from the 1997 budget due to a windfall in revenues from municipal court. Instead of the $160,000 in ticket payments projected last year, the borough actually collected $273,251 in revenues. That translates into a surplus of $113,251 which makes up most of the 1997 budget increase of $131,000. When the $2.75 million municipal budget was introduced Monday night, borough officials were excited about producing a fiscal plan that reflected no tax hike. "I'm proud to say that we are able to keep taxes level." said Councilman William Kui, chairman of the finance committee. "The police department, the judge and the municipal court staff deserve commendation for a job well done. We run an efficient operation with a minimum of employees and many volunteers. Borough Clerk Judy Critchley, who is also the court administrator, said Prospect Park's court revenues were the fifth highest in the county for 1996 behind the Paterson, Passaic, Clifton and Wayne. February 27, 1997 Herald & News Prospect Park Proposes New Budget With No Increase in Taxes By Harry Yoon PROSPECT PARK - There will not be a tax increase in this year's budget, borough officials said. The $2.75 million budget, introduced Feb. 10, is about $130,000 more than last year's, said Mayor Alfred Marchitto. The amount to be raised by taxes, $1.44 million, is virtually the same as last year, the mayor said. The $1.31 million balance will come from receipts from delinquent taxes ($101,000), surplus ($385,700), and miscellaneous revenues ($829,000). The borough anticipates $25,000 more in delinquent taxes this year than last year, $132,000 more in surplus, and $20,000 less in miscellaneous revenues. One of the largest decreases in miscellaneous revenues was a $30,000 drop in state aid. The mayor, declining to comment further on the budget Wednesday, referred questions to Councilman William Kui, chairman of the finance committee. Kui could not be reached for comment. Records show that there is a $27,000 salary increase for road repairs and maintenance, making a total of $101,500. Recycling program expenses also increased from $32,600 to $48,600. Municipal Court salaries rose about $24,000 from $66,200 to $90,300, records indicate. A public hearing on the budget will be held March 10. April 4, 1997 CANDIDATES FOCUS ON GROWING PAINS PROSPECT PARK WEIGHS SCHOOL RENOVATIONS by Michele Comandini Taxes may be going down for the next school year, but the growing pains are increasing, and candidates in the uncontested school board campaign say decisions about building renovations will be the year's priority. More than $1.7 million in state aid is expected to come to the district and its nearly 700 students. That amount, $2,000,000 more than the amount in the current year's budget, is included in the district's projected 1997-98 total budget of $4,944,324. The 1997-98 property tax will be $1,846,746, about $85,000 less than the amount budgeted for the current year. Taxes per household for next year are expected to go down three tax points, or about $45 for a home assessed at $150,000, the borough average. Board President Al Demarest, running for his seventh term, said the aid may bolster a plan, proposed by the building projects committee, that addresses overcrowding in the K-8 district's 91-year-old school. "We have to decide what we can afford, but I suspect we will at least have to renovate the building we have," he said. Demarest said the board also may look at borrowing through bonds to support construction projects, noting that no money had been allocated in the budget for capital improvements. Incumbent Lois Bridge, running for her sixth term, agreed with Demarest that crowding is the biggest issue the board faces. "We're at the seems now," she said. "There are going to have to be some big movements now, whether we will build an addition or renovate." Candidate Karen Clarken said she hopes state aid will help return art classes to the school. "Our kids get a basic education," she said. "But new state funding could bring some of our specialty subjects back." The three candidates are running for three-year terms. Demarest and Bridge are considered the incumbents, and technically so is Clarken. She has been serving on the board since February, when she volunteered to fill a vacancy left when Thomas Magura stepped down to serve on the Borough Council. The candidates: Karen Clarken - a 34-year-old homemaker, also is a PTA member and volunteers as a town cheerleading coach and a fundraiser for the town softball league. She and her husband Peter have two children in the district school. Al Demarest, 62, also serves on the Manchester Regional High School Board of Education. In June, he will retire from his job as a dispatcher for the Paterson Police Department after 37 years on the force. He and his wife, Arlene, have two children who graduated from Manchester Regional. Lois Bridge, 44, works part time at Lakeview Farms in Hawthorne. She and her husband Joseph, a former council member, have three children who graduated from Manchester Regional. <pre>Prospect Park School Budget At A Glance 1996-97 1997-98 % change Budget: $4,314,665 $4,944,324 +14.6 Current expense $3,811,372 $3,804,344 - 0.2 Capital outlay $27,672 $0 - 100 Debt service $101,353 $101,590 + 0.2 Surplus $223,000 $372,000 + 66.8 State aid $1,513,088 $1,713,170 + 13.2 Total tax levy $1,932,900 $1,846,746 - 4.5 Total enrollment 700 801 + 14.4 School tax rate per $100 assessed value* 1996-97 1997-98 % change $1.07 $1.04 - 2.8 Average school tax bill* 1996 1997 % change $1,605 $1,560 - 2.8 * = For a home assessed at $150,000, the municipality's average. April 7, 1997 PROSPECT PARK NATIVE CITES BOROUGH'S HISTORY Q&A by Harry Yoon Peter DeBoer, a retired professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., has written and published "Coming of Age in Prospect Park." The book is a series of whimsically-told vignettes describing life in the borough, where he grew up in the 1930s and 1940s. The book's main thrust, he says, is about how a closely-woven community nurtured children along Christian values. Born in the borough in 1929, DeBoer attended St. Christian School and Eastern Academy at N.Fourth Street. After graduating from Calvin College in 1951, he received a master's degree in social studies at Montclair State College (now University) and then a doctorate in the history of education at the University of Chicago. DeBoer now lives in Grand Rapids. What made you write the book? I wanted my grandchildren to know what life was like for me growing up in New Jersey. I think that kids are almost narrowminded in a certain sense. They're living here in the Midwest, and consequently they don't travel to New Jersey. They don't know what life was like for a young man growing up in a conservative, homogeneous subculture. There was as whole community that was reaching out to us as kids, helping us grow, nuturing. I wanted to title the book "It takes a Village" until Hillary Clinton's book came along. Does that kind of community exist today? I still think it can, and is happening, especially among the old-order Amish. They're a very tightknit community. They make a lot of communal decisions. They build barns together; they worship together on Sunday. What are some of the drawbacks to the community you grew up in? Prospect Park had a watchful society that in many respects was a healthy society. But Prospect Park had a darker side. When a young friend of mine married a Catholic girl from St. Bonaventure, that was sort of forbidden. People wondered, "Are there going to be Catholics in heaven?" That's rather sad I think, as I look back on it. If they move into the borough, they would have problems. They wouldn't feel accepted. People might not talk to them. For example, some people bought property in Butler, near Terrace Lake, and created an association and invited membership to make payments. They turned down my friend, because, though he was an insider, he married an outsider. What was the most important aspect of life in Prospect Park? Family life. Where the family ended and the church began would be difficult to tell. Church life was something that continued during the week. My families and neighbors went to the same church. There were special classes for theological study during the week, family visitations. The young people would put on a "Feast" in the basement of the church, meant as a kind of "Let's celebrate!" Churches these days in a formal sense are not capturing the time and the attention of its members as was true in an older day. The church played a much larger role than it does now. How is the community of your upbringing different from the one in Prospect Park today? Conservative Christain families today are more scattered geographically. They're in Hawthorne, Wyckoff, out in Wayne, they're all over the place. April 17, 1997 7.4% VOTER TURNOUT IN PROSPECT PARK With uncontested races for both local and regional school board and no tax impact for the Prospect Park school budget, only 7.4% of the voters went to the polls on Tuesday. Residents passed the local budget 135 to 65 and the Manchester Regional School budget 126 to 74. Local candidates Al Demarest and Lois Bridge, both incumbents, garnered 170 votes each. Karen Clarken, who was appointed to the board in January, received 167 votes. REGIONAL BUDGET DOWN BY SIX VOTES The Manchester Regional School budget was defeated by a mere six votes, marking the sixth consecutive year that the fiscal plan was turned down. Following a recent pattern, voters in Prospect Park and Haledon approved the measure but didn't bring out sufficient numbers to overcome a negative vote in North Haledon where the municipality has filed a lawsuit over the regional school funding formula. The budget lost 681 to 675. In North Haledon, where the tax increase was pegged at $66 on a $100,000 property, the fiscal plan went down 391 to 301. Haledon voters who faced a $30 increase per $100,000 of assessed valuation, approved the budget 245 to 204. In Prospect Park, the tax increase was $22 on $100,000 of assessed valuation. Voters there approved the regional budget 126 to 74. Three candidates, running uncontested in each town, were elected with the following results: in North Haledon, John Berry, 538; in Haledon, Mark Semmel, 338 votes; in Prospect Park, John Vander Molen, 190 votes. The budget now goes to the governing bodies of the three sending districts for review. SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION RESULTS - Bergen Record (4/16/97) For Manchester Regional School Board: John Berry, 539; in Haledon, Mark Semmel, 345 votes; in Prospect Park, John Vander Molen, 190 votes. June 1, 1997 The Record 'A hot ticket' Aggressive policing raises revenue, hackles By Thomas Zolper SPEEDING: Statewide, $76 for up to 15 miles per hour over the speed limit, and $10 for every additional 5 miles per hour.  Prospect Park Patrolman William Rauach using radar to monitor traffic on North 6th Street, Law enforcement revenue raised $236.743 last year In Prospect Park. photo by Mel Evans, The Record Welcome to Prospect Park, a tiny town that carries a big stick. Curb your dog, trim your lawn, signal when you turn -- or pay up. The tough attitude pays off. At a time when state dollars to municipalities are dwindling, Prospect Park and some other North Jersey towns are enjoying dramatic increases in money flowing from police officers' ticket books and municipal court dockets. It'a a good reason to behave yourself when living or driving in certain municipalities in North Jersey. A comparison of enforcement revenue in 93 municipalities in Bergen, Passaic, and parts of Morris counties found two-thirds of the towns have raked in more money - significantly more in some cases - from municipal courts over the past three years. The cash flowing into Prospect Park's coffers was $236,743 last year - a 137 percent increase from fiscal year 1994. That's the highest rise in North Jersey, as the 12-member police force wrote more tickets for unlicensed pets, advertising fliers stapled on utility poles, traffic infractions, and violations of garbage collection, recycling, and snow removal ordinances, municipal officials have said. Municipalities with the largest boosts in revenue from fiscal year 1994 to 1996 also include: Emerson (127 percent); Cresskill (115 percent); Wyckoff (74 percent); Hasbrouck Heights (71 percent); Englewood (71 percent); Mahwah (69 percent); East Rutherford (65 percent); Carlstadt (56 percent), and Fort Lee (54 percent), based on figures provided by the state Judiciary Department. The Record's survey also found some towns bring in far more money than others of comparable size and population. For example, revenues to North Arlington from its municipal court were $433,782 last year. The nearby and more populated towns of Lyndhurst and Rutherford consistently rake in less. Tenafly, a town of the same population, generated $61,770 in 1996. "We feel that if you get a reputation like North Arlington does, of being an aggressive town, that keeps the bad element out," said North Arlington Police Chief Frank Italiano. Critics cite aggressiveness But some North Jersey residents - at least those who have been issued summonses - complain that enforcement in certain towns is too aggressive. "I think they can do more with the police force than have them be watchdogs for traffic," complained a woman who received a $76 ticket for running a light in Hasbrouck Heights. She insisted the light was amber. The 33-year-old woman, who asked not to be identified, said she hadn't received a single traffic citation in nine years living in Lodi. But she said she was stopped twice in the past four years in neighboring Hasbrouck Heights as she drove to work. Her co-workers living in Hasbrouck Heights also complain about overly vigilant police, she said. Hasbrouck Heights Court Administrator Theresa Vertino said she had not noticed the revenue jump - from $131,763 in 1994 to $226,637 in 1996 - and could not explain it. Police Chief Bruce Werner said he was equally puzzled, since he has the same manpower as before. Some irked summons recipients leaving the Hasbrouck Heights Municipal Court recently said they had noticed a new zeal among the men in blue. "Are you kidding? I never had a problem before," said Nestor Mandzy, who was issued a summons by a police officer for failing to license his pet, and paid a $50 fine. Mandzy said in past years the borough just warned residents to re-register their pets. But Borough Registrar of Vital Statistics Marilyn deRussy said police have issued summonses for the offense for years. In Prospect Park, Passaic County's smallest and perhaps strictest borough, residents can be fined as much as $1,000 if their lawn grows above 8 inches, or if their children stay out past a 10:30 p.m. curfew. Traffic fines are largely set by state statute, but municipalities can set fines for violations of ordinances, or they can leave the amount to the judge's discretion. For instance, the state mandates a $100 fine for illegally parking in a handicapped space, and $76 for speeding up to 15 miles per hour over the limit. But municipalities set fines for such things as parking at an expired meter, and the amounts can range - from an $8 fine in Paterson, for instance, to $16 in Englewood. Estrella Piemontese, a landlady, successfully sued Prospect Park in 1995 after she said she was fined $25 for weeds in the yard of a building she owned. But the town fathers simply rewrote the ordinance to make it stick, and upped the fine to $35 - and $1,000 for a second offense. "It was a weed up against a fence, and it was not more than 12 inches," Piemontese said at the time of her court victory. Praise In Prospect Park Last year, the revenue from all borough enforcement activities was about five times more money than what was generated by neighboring Hawthorne - a town with three times more residents. Prospect Park's mayor and council have applauded the Police Department's rigorous pursuit of miscreants, as well as the revenue it brings in. At a council meeting last year, Mayor Al Marchitto credited police with keeping the property tax rate steady, although he said the money was an unsought byproduct of good police work. "Our tax rate is flat. This is a fringe benefit from our enforcement. We are not turning our heads. We are getting violators of all degrees ... from ones that we are taking off the street to those we are hitting in the pocket," Marchitto said at the time. The mayor said his police are not heavy-handed. But police appear to clamp down harder in some municipalities than others. Three officers in Prospect Park, for instance, each wrote an average of 100 traffic summons a month for the first three months of this year, Faso said. The police nailed 40 motorists for not wearing their seat belts over the three months - which is a secondary offenae in New Jersey after a car is stopped for a moving violation. Officers use their own judgment to decide whether to issue the seatbelt summons, Faso said. A police chief in one nearby town who asked not to be identified said his officers average only 30 traffic summonses each, per month. Police aren't the only ones who can boost revenues. Some municipal courts are getting tougher in collecting fines. Englewood revenues jumped 71 percent over the past three years, to about $520,000 last year, largely because the city automated its collection system and now hounds scofflaws with an electronic vengeance, said Englewood Court Administrator Sylvia Truesdale. But even the tougher collection system can't fully explain the surge in revenue, since the system was installed in 1989 and revenues jumped up starting in 1994 after falling marginally in 1993. The Hackensack Municipal Court came under attack recently for being too aggressive. The Record reported the court was fining some motorists twice for tickets already paid - up to 10 years earlier, in some cases. Authorities couldn't explain the double billing, but some angry recipients of the bills were suspicious. "It has been going on for three years with me. Every year at the same time, they issue me two tickets from the past," said Joseph Campagna, a lifelong resident who claims one old ticket was issued by a police officer whose badge number never existed. That particular summons was thrown out by the court, Campagna said, but authorities insisted he pay the other outstanding fines. He refused, and the state Division of Motor Vehicles suspended his license. But Hackensack court revenues actually have fallen more than $100,000 over the past three years, according to The Record's analysis. Courts serve as 'cash cows' A 1994 investigation by the New Jersey Law Journal found that money flowing into municipal courts often far exceeds the costs of running the courts. The magazine concluded that the courts - which collect revenues from traffic summonses and criminal complaints - are "cash cows" for local and county governments. Most money collected by municipal courts is split three ways among the town, county, and state, with the smallest amount turned over to the state. North Jersey municipalities that enjoy the highest revenue from their courts, in relation to operating costs, include: Paterson (241 percent); Cliffside Park (311 percent); North Arlington (221 percent), and Kearny (390 percent), the Law Journal found. Hackensack's rate was 107 percent, the journal said. The 1994 figures do not consider the money municipalities need to pay police and other enforcement officers - only court revenues versus expenses. On average, municipal court revenues in North Jersey have increased about 12 percent over the three years, The Record found. In all, revenues increased in 64 North Jersey municipalities, and fell in 29 towns. State troopers also are writing more traffic tickets and producing nearly $7 million more for a strapped state treasury. Over the past three years, the number of traffic summonses issued per year - for everything from speeding to broken taillights - has risen 15 percent, and revenues are up 28 percent, from $24.3 million in 1994 to $31 million last year, according to the New Jersey State Police and the state Division of Motor Vehicles. John Hagerty, a state police spokesman, said troopers aren't pressured to write more tickets. Revenues are channeled to the state's general treasury, not into the state police budget, to prevent any such motivation, he said. 'Revenue Is Important' Many factors can influence a municipality's ticket income, including location, relative congestion, the size of the fines, parking meters, and electronic collection methods. But while police and court officials all say their actions aren't profit-driven, many acknowledged the need to at least sustain, if not exceed, the number of traffic and other summonses generated and collected from year to year. "They [police officers] do recognize revenue is important. But that's not the focus, just the violations," said Prospect Park Police Chief George Faso. September 25, 1997 Hawthorne Press MANCHESTER OVERRUNS MIDLAND PARK 55-0 Manchester Regional: High School overran Midland Park 55-0 in the season-opening football game for each team last Saturday in Midland Park. The Falcons rushed 38 times for 519 total yards, led by Thomas Patterson, who carried 13 times for 259 yards and five touchdowns. The offensive ground attack also featured Cory Lane, who ran for 170 yards on nine carries. Patterson's brother Caleb, starred for the Falcons last season when he set school season records with 1,810 yards rushing and 34 touchdowns to help Manchester finish with a 9-1 record. Lane put Manchester ahead, 6-0, in the first quarter with an 85-yard run. An 11-yard run by Patterson, followed by a two-point conversion run by Lane, made it 14-0. In the second quarter, Manchester scored 14 points to take a 28-0 lead at intermission. Patterson carried six yards for a TD and ran in a two-point conversion, then raced 54 yards for another score before halftime. The Falcons completed the scoring and the one-sided victory with 27 points in the third quarter. Patterson scored on runs of one yard and 74 yards and Alex Levajac booted two PATs. Then Bill Baghdadi joined the scoring outburst, culminating the Manchester offensive bombardment with a TD run of 16 yards (followed by a Levajac extra point) and a 67-yard interception return to paydirt. The Falcons host Waldwick Saturday at 1 pm. Waldwick lost to Lodi last Saturday, 21-14. November 6, 1997 Hawthorne Press Prospect Park man falls to his death off quarry cliff A 21-year-old Prospect Park man apparently fell to his death off a cliff in the quarry last week. The body of Michael Gallipoli was discovered early Monday morning after the canine unit from the Passaic County Sheriff's Department led rescuers lo the edge of the quarry in Hofstra Park. Police Chief George Faso said that preliminary investigation indicates the death was accidental. "The matter is still under investigation," he said, "but at this point, we have no cause to believe that there was any foul play." According to the police report, Gallipoli was reported missing Sunday night by his uncle, Robert Gallipoli with whom he resided. "We asked around and found out that none of his friends had seen him since Monday," said Captain Frank Franco. On October 27th, the North 14th Street resident was one of five youths who were dispersed by police officers for drinking in the park. The other four reportedly got into a vehicle and left while Gallipoli ran into the woods towards the entrance of the park. It appears that the young man jumped the fence and fell off the cliff. Franco said that the canine unit was called to the scene on November 2 and the dogs led rescuers to the edge of the cliff. Using flashlights, the rescue team discovered Gallipoli's body on a ledge about 75 feet from the quarry's bottom. The ledge was some 100 to 150 feet below the cliff. The Prospect Park Fire Department responded and sought mutual aid from Hawthorne. Fire Company No. 2's aerial ladder went to the scene. Workers at the Tilcon Quarry made a pathway and laid gravel to gel the apparatus to the site. Hawthorne firefighters and the sheriff's heavy rescue unit removed Gallipoli's body from the ledge. A representative of the Passaic County Medical Examiner's office pronounced the victim dead at 3:07am. The deceased attended Manchester Regional High School until his sophomore year when he transferred to a Paterson high school. He was a millwright for Sistec Rigging and Millwright Company, Totowa. November 6, 1997 Hawthorne Press GOP Squeaks By In Haledon, Prospect Park Republican council members in Haledon and Prospect Park narrowly survived the Democratic sweep in Passaic County. In Prospect Park, incumbents Paul "Jay" Birch and Antoinette Atie won with 601 and 596 votes respectively. Democratic challenger Mike Duffy was only eight votes behind with 588 and his running mate Len Lembo, 543. Haledon Republicans Mario Lombardo and Steven Nicholas garnered 898 and 875 votes respectively. Democrats Marilyn Wylie and Muhammed Molgash ran close with tallies of 817 and 778 respectively. About 50% of the voters turned out in Haledon, which has been dominated by the GOP for a decade. Democratic strength was displayed by McGreevy outpolling Whitman 922-747; by Girgenti's tally over Duncan, 1064-533 and by the Democratic freeholders sweep of these three seats. Prospect Park had a 45% voter turnout. Although McGreevy got 13 more votes than Whitman here, the GOP ran slightly ahead in all positions. The only exception was Girgenti, who garnered 666 to 447 for Duncan. There were no surprises in North Haledon where GOP Councilmen Joseph Michalowski and Randy George faced no opposition. With 61% turnout, Michalowski received 1834 and George, 1843. Dominick Benevenga received 831 votes on the Democratic side. He was nominated by write-in but later withdrew his candidacy. |
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