Tragedy, Towns, Tours Top LV News in July

The seventh month of the year saw everything from heat waves to downpours and even hail. Just because the majority of area folks were on vacation during the month doesn’t mean the news was. 

Here’s a look back at the 10 biggest stories in July. Click on the headlines to learn more about each story.

in Mansfield Township. The driver of that vehicle, a juvenile at the time, was charged with vehicular manslaughter, as investigators said the car was driving in excess of 90 miles per hour. In July, Gussie Brown, IV, took a plea deal, admitting to causing the crash. He now faces up to four years in prison.

In a Letter to the Editor on Patch, Denise Novaky of Mt. Olive wanted to be clear that the were still unknown. , which occurred in late June, just before Nick Novaky was .

The first full weekend of July ended in tragic fashion, , killing a Toms River woman and injuring two others. The roadway was shutdown for several hours that night as investigators determined how the crash unfolded. .

According to police and New Jersey Transit officials, at the beginning of July, and was killed from the impact. Authorities were unable to confirm his town of residence or what led him to take the action.

At its mid-month work session, the Washington Township Committee informed webmaster and Information Technology department member Bob Kelly the town would be outsourcing the position, and eliminating his.

After sitting on an arbitrator’s desk more than a year and-a-half, the contract between Washington Township and the local police department was finally settled after four years of being in flux. The new agreement runs through Dec. 31, 2013.

Recently graduated high school seniors are celebrating their summers with friends and families before heading off to college in the fall. And for many West Morris Central grads, those colleges and universities are all over the map. So we created a visual effect for readers to see where their neighbors were headed for higher education.

Under new state guidelines, the West Morris Regional High School District has been faced with restructuring measures within its two schools. One of them, designed by Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast, was an overhaul of the guidance departments. The board voted to eliminate the district’s guidance director positions and replace it with lead counselor positions. With that comes the opportunity to staff other areas of the district while still saving money, Pendergrast said.

In its third meeting as a committee, the West Morris Regional Education Advisory group came to a stalemate on what options should be chosen in a potential feasibility study that would analyze the structure of the area’s school system. Of the five towns involved–Washington Township, the Chesters and Mendhams–Chester Borough said it wasn’t ready to decide, and Mendham Township did not want to study a super regional K-12 district. The next meeting is Aug. 16.

The final Sunday of the month hosted one of the biggest events of the year for Washington Township, as the third annual Tour de Long Valley cycled through town. Just like the headline says, more than 600 riders participated. The event benefitted the Washington Township Police Benevolence Association, Long Valley First Aid Squad, and David D. Hammar Foundation.