WBMH Asperger’s Playgroup

West Bergen Mental Healthcare’s Asperger’s Related Services Department presents Playgroup Workshop…

How to Get Model’s Legs

How to get model’s legs
By Veronica MacDonald
An Accidental Anthropologist
Most people fantasize about running away with the circus. But when it comes down to it, there are very few circus jobs that are really desirable. It’s not the clown that hurls through the ring of fire at top speeds. Nor the trapeze artist that flies without [...]

Back to School Reviews

Children’s Book Reviews by Andrea Dochney of The Oakland Public Library
The Exceptionally, Extraordinarily, Ordinary First Day of School
By: Albert Lorenz
Perfect for any student with a wild, fun imagination, this book recounts a child’s former school to his current school librarian.  With time machines, castles and worm lunches, the former school may not be all the [...]

RBARI REOPENS AUGUST 26

“For years the Ramapo Bergen Animal Refuge has been our workplace, our life, our heart and our home away from home, but more importantly it has been the temporary home and sanctuary to hundreds of starved, abandoned, abused, neglected and simply just forgotten animals. Today as we walked through the empty kennel and water drenched [...]

Mark Twain’s Other Woman

Laura Skandera Trombley. Mark Twain’s Other Woman:
The Hidden Story of His Final Years. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
As reviewed by Ted Odenwald

With the voluminous collection of information regarding Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain’s life, one would hardly expect any mysteries. Yet Professor Laura Skandera Trombley has dedicated sixteen years of research to an issue that had [...]

Cassandra Ondich - Artist

Oakland resident, Cassandra Ondich, Indian Hills H.S.class of 2006, is exhibiting her illustrations at the Paramus Public Library through Monday, August 31st. But if you can’t get there to see her beautiful work we thought we could show you here.
At Indian Hills Cassandra took all art classes directed under Ms. Rys who was encouraged to [...]

On The Job- Aug 25

On July 31, 2010 Ptl. Bart Pagerie conducted a motor vehicle stop on Ramapo Valley Road after observing the vehicle disregard a red light. As the officer approached the car, he immediately detected the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from the driver and the vehicle’s passenger compartment. After conducting some standardized [...]

NJ’s Big Mistake

The federal government’s “Race To The Top” educational reform program has the title for a great reality television show, and New Jersey provided that dramatic ending to a questionable season that involved billions of dollars in prizes.
New Jersey’s Star Ledger is reporting that what appears to be a clerical error on the part of New [...]

Coronado & Chiricahua

Coronado National Forest
Chiricahua National Monument, Willcox, AZ
By Jim DeLillo
Red dust kicked up behind my wheels as I hugged the inner curve of the dirt road. Through the passenger-side window on my right, I could just make out the 1500-foot drop to the gorge below.
I was glad I had taken the advice of the old cowboy. [...]

RBARI Flooded

Last week’s water main break has been cleaned up at the RBARI no-kill animal shelter in Oakland, but donations are still needed to get RBARI back on its feet…or paws.
Items most desparately needed:
DRY DOG FOOD:
Adult: Nutro, Science Diet, Purina One/Pro Plan
Puppy: Nutro, Science Diet, Pedigree
Bedding, Sheets, Towels
Dog Beds: New or Used Kuranda [...]

Teaching the Pig to Dance

Fred Thompson. Teaching the Pig to Dance: A Memoir
of Growing Up and Second Chances. New York:
Crown Forum, 2010
as reviewed by Ted Odenwald

Many fans of TV’s “Law and Order” will recognize Fred Thompson as the senior lawyer with southern roots; followers of politics may recognize him as the former US senator from Tennessee; still others may [...]

Public Opinion Poll 2- Town Issues

Here is the second public opinion poll conducted by Ryan Robinson.
OAKLAND, NJ PUBLIC OPINION POLL ABOUT TOWN ISSUES (Taken 8/9/10- 8/10/10, 8/13/10, 8/16/10, and online since 8/10)
MARGIN OF ERROR IS +/- 9.62%
1. What is your age?
-18-25 –> 2.91%
-26-34 –> 1.94%
-35-45 –> 20.39%
-46-55 –> 33.98%
-56-70 –> 30.10%
-70+ –> 10.68%
2. Have you ever voted before?
-YES –> [...]

Business Is Good

Business is good, perhaps the economy in general still stinks, but business is good when it helps support a local economy in diverse and creative ways.
Topcon Medical Systems announced in April it’s move from Paramus to Oakland, and this July hosted the official ribbon cutting ceremony.
Topcon Medical Systems, TMS, is a market leader in diagnostic [...]

Braves Softball and Baseball Champs

Congratulations to the Girls 12U Travel Softball and 14U Travel Baseball teams!

The Night of Fire

The Night of Fire by Jim DeLillo

Fires are burning all over the city. I cannot glimpse an intersection that is not ablaze. Bombaderos , firemen dressed in black turnout, stand by just waiting with tanker trucks full of water, and portable pumps. I inhale the acrid smoke with gusto, awakening the latent pyromaniac [...]

Lost Dog - Update

Last spotted on the Oakland/Franklin Lakes border on Franklin Ave. . He is very scared and doesn’t answer to a name because he was a puppy mill dog.

NJ Road Trip

Summer is still here, and the open road calls out to both young and old for a road trip. Lonely Planet’s publication of 99 themed road trips in America includes one in New Jersey - a tour of diners.
Starting in Jersey City and ending in Wall, NJ, the trip covers 150 miles of classic Jersey [...]

Enter A Real Time Machine - The Newseum in Washington D.C.

Enter A Real Time Machine - The Newseum in Washington D.C.
By Jim DeLillo

I stepped out of my hotel and into a time machine.
Transported back, not in the typical resurrected town like Williamsburg, Va. or quaint seaport village like Mystic, Ct., but truly back where I remembered with emotions raw enough to bring tears to [...]

August Reviews

The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
This Newbery Award winner tells the fascinating tale of Nobody Owens. Bod has spent his entire childhood living in a graveyard, raised and loved by ghosts, and watched over by guardian Silas, a man neither alive nor dead. While desperate to see more of the world, venturing beyond the graveyard [...]