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UPDATE: 'Outstanding' Union Teen Active In ROTC Dies In Car Crash UPDATE: 'Outstanding' Union Teen Active In ROTC Dies In Car Crash
Update: 'Outstanding' Union Teen Active In ROTC Dies In Car Crash A Union High School student who came from a family of firefighters and belonged to the school's junior ROTC program has died,  the New Jersey Veterans Network said Sunday.  According to the State Police, Anthony Steitz,  17, suffered serious injuries in a car crash Saturday night.  He was driving eastbound on I-78 in Watchung around 11:30 p.m. when his sedan  left the roadway and crashed into some trees. No other vehicles were involved, Sgt. Jeff Flynn of the State Police said. The cause of the crash was still under investigation Sunday. Steitz was taken to an ar…

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by Paul Milo
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This Essex County Family Boasts 10 Generations Of Guys Named William Williams This Essex County Family Boasts 10 Generations Of Guys Named William Williams
This Essex County Family Boasts 10 Generations Of Guys Named William Williams William Williams X -- as in "the tenth" -- was recently interviewed by The New York Post on his unique name, which also embodies a family tradition going back more than 150 years.   “TSA agents say, ‘Are you for real? Are you really William Williams? Why did your parents do that to you?’ ”the 27-year-old told the newspaper.  “I say, ‘My parents didn’t have a choice.’ ” That's because having a male with that distinctly alliterative name is a longstanding practice in the family that dates at least to the mid-19th century, WIlliams, a New Jersey native now living in Brookly…

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by Paul Milo
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Community Rallies For Hudson County Sheriff's Officer Battling Breast Cancer Community Rallies For Hudson County Sheriff's Officer Battling Breast Cancer
Community Rallies For Hudson County Sheriff's Officer Battling Breast Cancer A law enforcement officer and mom from North Bergen is fighting breast cancer, the disease that claimed her mother's life 12 years ago.  Cindy Molina Vazquez, 42, who has been diligent about getting breast exams in the wake of her mother's death, recently discovered she had a Stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma.  Vazquez, a Hudson County Sheriff's Officer, and her husband are to maintain a normal environment for their 7-year-old daughter as she battles her illness. Vazquez is also harvesting her eggs for future fertility treatments.  Unable to work until her health improves, the officer has…

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by Paul Milo
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Bloomfield High Senior Accepted To 15 Schools, Including Princeton Bloomfield High Senior Accepted To 15 Schools, Including Princeton
Bloomfield High Senior Accepted To 15 Schools, Including Princeton This can be a tense time of year for college-bound high school seniors, who are now learning where they’ve been accepted, where they’ve been wait-listed and which schools simply wished them well in their future endeavors. Emmanuel Odekunle of Bloomfield has a lot to think about too -- such as deciding which of the more than one dozen schools where he’s been accepted he’s going to attend. “As of this moment, I have not yet made a decision as to which university I will be attending,” the senior at Bloomfield High School said in an interview late last week. “God will direct us on the best one…

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by Paul Milo
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Wayne Moms Share Passion For Helping Adults, Kids With Speech, Language, Other Difficulties Wayne Moms Share Passion For Helping Adults, Kids With Speech, Language, Other Difficulties
Wayne Moms Share Passion For Helping Adults, Kids With Speech, Language, Other Difficulties Wayne moms Ashley Tress and Jean Marie Lucarelli share a love for helping children and adults having trouble with speech, language and swallowing, among other difficulties. They also share a 10-year friendship, tons of support from their significant others and – after several years of seeing clients in their homes – a new office in a popular township shopping center. “We met after graduate school when we were hired at an acute rehab facility within days of each other and found out we would be sharing an office,” Tress said. “We quickly went from strangers to supportive co-workers to very g…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Help Available 'On The Spot' For Opioid Addicts At Unique Passaic County Community Meeting Help Available 'On The Spot' For Opioid Addicts At Unique Passaic County Community Meeting
Help Available 'On The Spot' For Opioid Addicts At Unique Passaic County Community Meeting Arresting dealers and users is only part of the fight against opioid addiction, said Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik, who is co-hosting a unique event that will focus on treatment options. “Help will be available on the spot,” the sheriff said. “Addiction affects many throughout our county and several of us know someone, or someone who knows someone, who may have an opioid addiction,” Berdnik said. “We need to break the cycle of addiction by building bridges with our community.” “Breaking Barriers / Building Bridges” aims to provide “an inspirational, hopeful and almost theater-l…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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'Day At The Gym' Offered For Donations To Help Dozens Of Families Displaced By Fort Lee Fire 'Day At The Gym' Offered For Donations To Help Dozens Of Families Displaced By Fort Lee Fire
'Day At The Gym' Offered For Donations To Help Dozens Of Families Displaced By Fort Lee Fire Nearly a month after 45 families lost everything in a fire that roared through their Fort Lee apartment building, a day at the gym is being offered in exchange for donations. Retro Fitness in Fort Lee is offering a workout or class in exchange for a gift card in any amount this Saturday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., said Michele Petrillo, a member of the Linwood Park Board of Directors who's been helping the victims. Although it didn't claim any lives and produced only three minor injuries, the Valentine's Day blaze displaced everyone living in the five-story brick Edwin Avenue building behind the…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Englewood Soccer Club Youngsters Bring Holiday Cheer to City Elderly Englewood Soccer Club Youngsters Bring Holiday Cheer to City Elderly
Englewood Soccer Club Youngsters Bring Holiday Cheer to City Elderly Young members of the champion Englewood Soccer Club brought some cookies and holiday cheer to residents of a city senior complex.The club is a not-for-profit organization created to teach Englewood kids the fundamentals of the soccer. The Christmas Eve visit reinforced the idea among member of the ESC U12 of caring for others and paying forward, organizers said.

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Lyndhurst Fitness Guru Brings Christmas To North Jersey Homeless, Volunteers Sought Lyndhurst Fitness Guru Brings Christmas To North Jersey Homeless, Volunteers Sought
Lyndhurst Fitness Guru Brings Christmas To North Jersey Homeless, Volunteers Sought Leah Fairchild of Lyndhurst had just given Christmas bags to a dozen homeless people on the streets of Manhattan when she began to cry. She wanted to do more. Since that Christmas four years ago, she has. “Each year I vow to do it bigger and better,” said Fairchild, who, with help from a team of volunteers, will distribute 275 bags Monday morning to those living on the streets and in shelters in Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex counties. Fairchild, a single mom of three who owns and operates Train on Purpose (TOP) Hybrid Fitness Studio in Lyndhurst, launched her “Christmas Miracle Projec…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Saddle Brook Man Boosts 80s Versus 90s Party 'Battle' To Aid Grandma With Kidney Disease Saddle Brook Man Boosts 80s Versus 90s Party 'Battle' To Aid Grandma With Kidney Disease
Saddle Brook Man Boosts 80s Versus 90s Party 'Battle' To Aid Grandma With Kidney Disease Boosted by a victory by researchers, a Saddle Brook man is hosting a blow-out “Battle of the Decades” (the 80s and 90s) fundraiser to help his grandmother deal with a little-known kidney disease. Some of the proceeds from the fourth annual fundraiser at the Ridgefield Park Knights of Columbus hall will go toward finding a cure for polycystic kidney disease, otherwise known as PKD, said TJ Sullivan. The rest goes toward raising money for “the inevitable transplant surgery and costly medical bills our family will need to face,” he said. Theresa LaBarck – or "MomMom" as Sullivan calls her – …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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North Jersey Native Stars In New Christmas Movie North Jersey Native Stars In New Christmas Movie
North Jersey Native Stars In New Christmas Movie Bergen County native Kirrilee Berger is starring in a new Christmas movie. The 19-year-old, who hails from Teaneck, will play Stephanie in "I'll Be Next Door for Christmas," in theaters Dec. 4. Berger is also the voice of Poppy in a brand-new Nick Jr. animated series, "Butterbeans Cafe. The teen will star alongside MADtv's Nicole Sullivan -- who she's admired for as long as she can remember. "When I was a little girl I saw Nicole Sullivan on MADtv," Berger said on Instagram.  "I looked at my parents and told them that’s what I wanted to do one day. Fast Foward 12 years later and her…

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by Cecilia Levine
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Hackensack Woman Raising Awareness Toward Rare Cancer That Claimed Best Friend's Life Hackensack Woman Raising Awareness Toward Rare Cancer That Claimed Best Friend's Life
Hackensack Woman Raising Awareness Toward Rare Cancer That Claimed Best Friend's Life A Hackensack woman is raising awareness toward the rare hormonal cancer that suddenly took her best friend's life over the summer. In honor of World NET (Neuroendocrine) Cancer Day Nov. 10, Amanda Pizzimenti is launching a website and fundraiser for Kerry Snow of Manalapan. Snow succumbed to the illness at 28 years old in August, two months after her diagnosis. All proceeds from sales on Pizzimenti's site will go toward the NET Cancer Research Foundation in Snow's name. In sharing Snow's story, Pizzimenti hopes to raise awareness toward NET cancer -- and maybe even save someone else's…

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by Cecilia Levine