Politics & Government

Lightners Get Help, Bridge Gets Start Date

See our Week in Review for what Jason missed during his week off.

Jason's got some catching up to do.

Our trusty Long Valley Patch editor, , was out for the past week, but there was plenty of news in and around Washington Township to occupy his trusty staff of dozens of reporters, editorial assistants, personal assistants, butlers, vallets and food tasters busy. (By "trusty staff," we basically mean his boss and a couple of coworkers, all of whom benefited greatly from the extensive prep work Mr. K. did before heading out for a well-deserved break).

Take a look at what Jason missed in this installment of our Week in Review. He'll be back in gear on Tuesday, but in the meantime, send any news, views, complaints, concerns or (we assume) vociferous praise to Louis@Patch.com

Find out what's happening in Long Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Our Voices

We continued to see lots and lots of community support for Long Valley teen Glenn, 13, who's battling brain cancer. For instance, Natalie Cadillo, a cousin of Silvia Lightner–Glenn's mom–living in New York, . Cadillo and her boyfriend, Walter Ramin, put together an entertainment show at The Bitter End club in New York recently, with five musical acts and two comedians taking the stage. Days earlier, residents completely filled the gymnasium at in Long Valley Saturday night for a fundraiser to help Glenn. For more on how the community has banded together to help the Lightner family, see here.

Find out what's happening in Long Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It turns out the Middle Valley Bridge project, which will have a big impact on traffic for months, . Expect detours for, more or less, the rest of the year.

We also learned the annual 5K Run, set for May 20, , a Central graduate of 2008 who holds a handful of the school’s track records from his days on the team, including distance running. Berstler, a senior at Salisbury University, was staying in Long Valley for winter break when . More than a month later, on Wednesday, Feb. 8, a "It’s still very hard to deal with,” his mother told us. But events like the 5K "help with the healing process."

When it comes to seat belt safety, you can't say you haven't been warned. and alike told us this week they're planning crackdows as part of the yearly Click It or Ticket campaign.

The West Morris Regional High School Board of Education . They include elimination of lead teachers and the creation of a new position, assistant superintendent.

Noticed that Mother's Day is fast approaching? So did we, so we asked readers where the best place to go for the big day is around these parts. , and they honed in on the

Columnist Colleen O'Dea , possibly putting her just a notch under fellow former freeholder Gene Freyl. O'Dea's expresses some cynicism over the idea of the appointment as another power play by Gov. Chris Christie, but she gives Nordstrom credit on environmental matters: "Nordstrom's environmental credentials are stronger. Nordstrom testified before a House committee in June 2003 in favor of the bill authorizing $10 million a year to preserve land in the multi-state Highlands region. She has a reputation as an open space advocate, both from her time as mayor of Washington Township and as a freeholder."

Local Voices

Let's not forget about our community-submitted blogs. All of the pieces below come from community members, and if you've got something to say, you can have it on our site in just a few clicks, too. Go to this link and hit "Post on Patch."

("Armchair economist, political opinionist") took on the Occupy movement this week. "I think it's high time to call Occupy what they are: They're the useful idiots of leftists who want to 'fundamentally transform America,'" he wrote. "They're a combination of hard-core socialist thugs and the 'Gimme Generation' imbued with a strong sense of entitlement." Strong words. .

The told us about the , and its upcoming showing of the documentary .

Speaking of the Lightner family, told us about its own fundraiser: .

West Morris Central senior . We offer our contrats, too, Ben!

That's just a small sampling of what we heard from the community this week, so be sure to check out the full Local Voices section.


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