News of the deaths of former Montclair residents Lester and Georgiana Stockel shocked Baristaville neighbors and friends. No one seems to have a clue why the couple, who lived a fairy-tale existence with multiple homes -- and in a seemingly perfect marriage -- could come to such a tragic ending. From The Star Ledger:
A longtime friend, Noel Brogan, said the Stockels had been "best friends."
"They were in, like, perfect sync with each other," said Brogan, who lived next to the Stockels in Montclair before the couple downsized, selling their house and moving to Verona eight years ago. "It doesn't make any sense. They didn't fight. They weren't at odds. They didn't have any financial problems."
I just hate it when pool closings are announced...and the simultaneous appearance of potted mums for sale at the A&P. It's summer's death sentence, throwing me into seasonal mourning.
The local lifeguard exodus is responsible for the first of Montclair's pools to close. Essex Pool dries off at 8pm this Friday, August 22. "We hate having to do this," says Recreational and Cultural Affairs' Pat Brechka. "Essex was scheduled to be closed last week, but we were able to find staff to keep it open until Friday," says Brechka, "however we haven't found extra lifeguards to keep it open any longer." The choice of closing Essex Pool was based on its location and optimizing pool access for town residents Brechka says. Mountainside and Nishuane Pools' last splash is on Labor Day, September 1, 7:30 pm.
The Glen Ridge pool stays open through Labor Day, but beginning Sunday, August 24, will close earlier - at 7pm through the week.
...Michael Moore sure likes the sound of that. With only a few days until the search for Veep ends and both candidates announce their running mates, Moore sends a passionate tear-jerker of an open letter to Caroline Kennedy imploring her "pull a Cheney" and nominate herself for the democratic ticket. Plausible? It would certainly add even more drama to this election...but would Caroline even consider it? Read Moore's letter after the jump. ..and let's have a Baristaville vote:
While Bloomfield residents were watching their spin and dry cycles inside the Laundry Zone, a 24-year-old Newark man was hawking heroin outside. Police recently got this accused drug vendor off the streets. From The Star Ledger:
After a number of people called police to report drugs were being sold in the parking lot outside the Laundry Zone along Bloomfield Avenue, police began watching activity in the area, Goul said. The police effort involved a partnership between Montclair and Bloomfield, Goul said.
Friday, officers pulled over Saunders' car after he allegedly attempted to make a sale. They found two bricks, or 100 bags, of heroin, Goul said. The suspect was arrested, and detectives went to his Newark apartment where they seized four more bricks of heroin and $1,019.
Call it the New Jersey Paradox : in the land of deep fried oreos, funnel cakes, penne pizza, and zeppole, we are still among the slimmest folks in the nation (take that, Meme Roth).
The good news, if you can call it that, is that Jerseyans rank 42nd on the national fat-o-meter, says a federally funded report from the food police. But being one of the least obese states is no great shakes when it translates to 23% of the population meeting the criteria for obesity. If you care to live among the thinnest, get thee to Colorado.
In the report, there also came a word of warning -- despite our svelte state profile, our waistlines are growing bigger every year. What are you doing to fight the battle of the bulge?
When we heard that the Bloomfield branch of Starseed Yoga was closing due to "current economic conditions," we feared that it was the beginning of the end of a Bloomfield renaissance that also includes Steven Mohn Interiors and Flic Spa. Maybe they were scared away by Bloomfield's most recent redevelopment plan, which envisions parking in the spot Starseed now occupies.
But it turns out that the Starseed space is going to be purchased by Garden State Yoga, which will hold classes in Vinyasa yoga. There's a sign on the door saying that Garden State will honor any unused Starseed yoga packages. Good news for downtown Bloomfield and practitioners of Downward Facing Dog.
Treat yourself to a serving of Strange Fruit this week: This Melbourne-based troupe, which performs a unique fusion of circus-inspired theater and dance while perched high in the air atop flexible poles, is coming to Baristaville.
Catch Strange Fruit (in conjunction with SOPAC Inside Out) performing their show "Swoon" on Wednesday night at Cameron Field in South Orange and Thursday night at Memorial Park in Maplewood. Details here.
The Star Ledger peeked inside the Wellmont Theater, undergoing a $3 million renovation on its way to becoming a concert hall, and gave us permission to use their picture. You have to wonder what we, as a culture, were thinking when we covered up the great prosceniums of yore just so we could see Judd Apatow pictures on a dozen small screens.
Lester and Georgiana Stockel, Verona residents with longtime ties to Montclair, were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in East Hampton yesterday. Lester Stockel was co-founder of CashFlex, a credit-card processing company, and had been weekending in the Hamptons with his wife for at least 13 years. Details here.
As of this morning, there were 130 responses to yesterday's "Noisy Neighbors" post, a few of which chided "Sleepless in Montclair" for various points in his original letter. He wrote back with answers to everything.
WOW – I guess we hit a nerve and BLESS YOU to the people who answered our question because, truly, we weren't leading the witness ... we WANTED community feedback and I think we got some honest responses. That is the best part of this website and love that we have access to such a great and immediate tool for something like this.
That said, sounds like we need to answer some questions and speak to our "critics" - which, THANK YOU Spicoli, this was my favorite posting: Interesting that many jump all over the person posing the question rather than answering it. The question presented is: "how late is too late to be outside in your yard or front porch at night being loud in Montclair."
Broad Street in Bloomfield Center boasts more than great shopping on Wednesday nights in the summer. Every Wednesday at 6 pm the street is lined with meticulously restored vintage cars.
Mista Barista's latest Beijing adventure was having his hair cut in a foreign language. His barber was a volunteer security guard, stationed at an underpass at the Madian Bridge.
When I saw the Fuelco sign ($3.53 gallon for regular, cash) this morning, I thought I'd found a bargain. This is at the intersection of Thomas Blvd. and Dodd Street in Orange, just a few hundred yards from the end of Ridgewood Ave. in Glen Ridge. But when morning driving responsibilities wound up taking me down Scotland Road, I really found the no-name gas bonanza. A1 is that the intersection of Scotland and Christopher St., Delta at the intersection of Scotland and New England Terrace, Power at the intersection of Scotland and Heywood Ave.
It's August, a time that can be quiet in Baristaville, but this summer lots of folks seem to be staying local. Church Street in Montclair, with its eclectic live music (I heard covers of Donna Summer and Andrea Bocelli all in the same night recently) and outdoor cafe ambiance, has been packed with folks sitting outside and savoring summer. Deb was there the other night and took some video.
Let's see if we can come up with some advice for "Sleepless in Montclair," who writes in about neighbors who keep him awake regularly with their loud carrying on.
Very curious to get your readers' opinion on this - how late is too late to be outside in your yard or front porch at night being loud in Montclair? Is it different on a weeknight vs weekend? If your homes are on top of the neighbors (as so many are in town), does that count? If it includes underage drinking and lots of cars on the street, does that change the equation?
My sweetie and I thought it would be fun to find a festive Saturday night venue here in Baristaville. We would attend, and then I could write about it on Sunday morning. "I know," I thought, "That cool dueling pianos thing they are doing over at Piano's in Bloomfield-two hot pianists taking requests while patrons sing along! We'll go to that!" Armed with a mental list of songs to request: Love For Sale, Give Me A Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer, On the Avenue, The Shadow of Your Smile, Dulcinea from Man of LaMancha, and more. So many more.
It's getting tough for any town council to balance the budget these days. The usual culprit is a lack of strong ratables or loss of state aid. But who can East Hampton blame?
With perhaps more taxpaying billionaires than any medium-sized town, it's as hard to explain why East Hampton is up to its ears in debt. Almost as big a mystery as the The Montauk Monster.
The Huffington Post has the details and an extended forum of schadenfreude on the town's predicament.
Oh my. You send a girl off on second honeymoon, and you get back a report on the Canadian health system. Our dear Annette Batson had a bicycle accident yesterday while vacationing in Quebec. Her hubby, CBS producer Anthony Batson, reports:
Dear Debbie Liz, katie, fran, et al,
I have some unfortunate BREAKING NEWS TO REPORT. -- literally! Annette is in a Quebec hospital tonight sporting three fractured ribs and two stitches to her chin after a biking accident today. About 15 kilometers on our way to the island of ile d orleans, Annette had a nasty meeting with bike lane divider pole. She had briefly taken her eyes off the road for a second to look at a sign when I heard a blood curdling scream, then a thud coming from behind me. Blood was gushing from the chin wound and she was laid out flat on the bike path. That is where she stayed until the ambulance arrived. We felt the true spirit of community as fellow bikers stopped and helped, including a doctor who cradled Annette's neck in the proper position until the medics arrived. Others called the ambulance and bike shop as I put pressure on the chin wound. "Hey take some pictures," Annette said -- I believe doctors call this wacky behaviour induced by a state of shlock (although she is a blogger afterall). After an 8 km ride in the ambulance we got straight into the ER, but spent an long wait before Annette got any pain meds. Hours later she spent a full hour getting X-RAYS AND TWO MORE WOULD PASS BEFORE they were read by the doc Three fractures in ribs, 5, 6 and 7. Several shots of morphine have lessened the pain. I left her about an hour ago munching on a ham sandwich, barbecue flavored chips and a V-8 juice, courtesy of the waiting room vending machine. While the Canadian public health system provided very good but very slow care -- (10 hours passed from admission to the stitches being sewn) the accounting side is much more efficient. So how much did all this cost? In Canadian Dollars, $425 for the ambulance ride, $492 so far for the hospital stay, x-rays unknown -- but the biggest surprise was the ER physician bill -- $150 -- that was it.
"You must have made a mistake," I asked. No said the doctor, "There are some things we do differently in Canada." More as I know it.
Please feel free to post this.
Annette, here's a great big collective "Get Well" from everyone in Baristaville.
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