Community Corner

Missing Man Found, Resident's Death, School Closing Top Local News in 2012

The stories that made headlines in Kinnelon, Butler and Bloomingdale this year.

January

Bloomingdale's two new council members took their oath of office, as did new Butler Councilman Sean Mcnear. Bloomingdale hired a new borough attorney after the mayor broke a tied vote.

Sugar, a Pit Bull that was reported stolen from the Bloomingdale animal shelter, was located and then later adopted by an FBI agent.

February

A Butler Board of Education member resigned from his seat, citing new job responsibilities that he said prevented him from continuing on the board.

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The Bloomingdale Board of Education decided to discontinue a structured recess program after several parents came forward with complaints.

March

After seven years, the family of missing Butler man Timothy Carney finally got some answers on the whereabouts of their son. Carney was found alive and safe and living in another state, although his family is not sure why he did not reach out to them for so long.

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A pair of Butler firefighters were suspended from their department after allegedly burglarizing the Carey Avenue firehouse.

The Borough of Bloomingdale decided to cut ties with the Bloomingdale Regional Animal Shelter Society and operate the shelter in-house.

April

A vacant Butler home was condemned after fire tore through the house. Fire officials believed rags in a nearby dumpster spontaneously combusted.

After surviving several rounds on the hit Fox television singing competition "American Idol," 28-year-old

Relatives and friends of Kevin McCormick, a Bloomingdale man police said accidentally drowned in Glenwild Lake, mourned the loss of their loved one.

May

A retired state trooper from Butler was killed in a motorcycle accident in Hardyston. The line of mourners who attended Preston "Jay" Fairlamb Jr.'s wake wrapped around the block of St. Anthony's Church and First Lady Michelle Obama was one of those in attendance.

A Kinnelon man was also killed in a crash near MetLife stadium. The driver of the vehicle that crash into Stephen Lenge's motorcycle, killing him, pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide.

June

St. Anthony School of Padua closed after 130 years, citing declining enrollment and lack of funding as the reasons. The application for construction of a new Quick Chek on Route 23 across from 7-Eleven was approved.

In the Kinnelon school district, parents expressed concern after the board of education voted to eliminate two teaching positions and a Kinnelon High School graduate was drafted to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Carol Sventy won the primary election for one of the open Kinnelon Council seats.

Kinnelon High School and Butler High School students celebrated graduation at the end of the month.

July

The body of soldier and Kinnelon resident Jonathan Batista was laid to rest at Our Lady of the Magnificat cemetery after Kinnelon Road was lined with residents with American flags to welcome his body home.

A state trooper from Bloomingdale was suspended from work after authorities believed he was involved in a high-speed luxury car escort down the Garden State Parkway dubbed "Death Race."

An unconscious man and dog were rescued from a burning Bloomingdale home.

August

Police investigated a report of a "suspicious" man entering a Kinnelon resident's garage uninvited. Lightning struck a Bloomingdale home and caused a small fire.

Approximately 35 bags of heroin were seized in the third large-quantity heroin bust on Route 23 this summer and man who was linked to burglaries throughout the county was spotted at a Kinnelon bank.

September

Lukoil gas stations throughout the state protested raising gas prices by charging close to $10 a gallon. The protest effort was led by the owner of the Kinnelon Getty station.

Child pornography was allegedly found on the computer of a Bloomingdale man. 

The Bloomingdale Council voted to reject a Payment in Lieu of Taxes program with AvalonBay.

October

Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, taking trees and power lines down locally and closing schools for a week. While some waited weeks to have power restored, the majority of the tri-boro was back up and running within three days.

All three boroughs held rescheduled Halloween festivities.

November

Days after Superstorm Sandy ripped through the area, gas station patrons were forced to wait hours in line to fill up their tanks. Wires that remained down from the storm ignited in bushes in Smoke Rise.

Two Democrats won election to two open Bloomingdale Council seats.

A truck driver was airlifted to the hospital after he crashed into a utility pole on Route 23. 

December

Kinnelon police made seven arrests as part of an annual Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over checkpoint.

Kinnelon High School celebrated a state victory as the varsity football team defeated New Milford in the championship game at Kean University.


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