Week in Review: Hellos and Good Byes in Long Valley

Can you believe it? It’s finally happened!

Long Valley endured a full winter week without a substantial accumulation of snow, sleet, or ice for the first time since before Christmas of 2010.

Sure, it was bitterly cold. Like, didn’t want to leave the house cold. Like, the ice on the driveway was shivering. But hey, it was still a week without snow, or snow days, or fishtailing cars, so let’s be happy about it. Let’s also take a look at what happened in town (besides the frigid conditions).

Monday afternoon Long Valley Patch learned of an ongoing house fire on the Califon end of Washington Township. The blaze began in the garage after the homeowner placed two-day old fireplace ashes there, expecting it to be safe. Flames overtook the garage and side of the house before area fire companies could get to the scene. Other than a minor injury to a firefighter’s hand, no one was harmed.

As the week continued, Patch Columnist MaryLynn Schiavi profiled a man and his best friend–Washington Township Police Officer . Cesere has trained Kobe for nearly two years to track scents for people and drugs. Kobe is not part of the , but will be reviewed by the Washington Township Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 16 to see if the upcoming budget will allow for him to be on the force.

New Jersey State School Report Cards were recently released for the 2009-10 school year. While test scores and other academic standards for Washington Township schools were above state averages, it looked like the district was lagging behind in the amount of computers accessible to students.

There’s a new kid on the block, and her name is Liola. It’s actually a Portuguese BBQ take-out restaurant located on East Mill Road. Owner Joe Belardo decided to warm up Long Valley and start his business in the dead of winter. Here’s more information about this new eatery.

And as Long Valley welcomes a new business, it also says goodbye to a longtime employee. Virginia “Ginny” Kesper, Washington Township’s Zoning Board officer, will retire this month and is moving to Florida with her husband. Check here to get some background on Kesper’s career with the township.

It was another great week in Long Valley, and we hope you enjoyed it.