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When we were working on "The Newest 9/11 Victim," NJ's Department of Environmental Protection would not give us the names of the 9/11 Families & Survivors Committee, who chose "Empty Sky" as a 9/11 memorial in Liberty State Park. They reasoned that some of them didn’t want their names made public.
Continue reading "UPDATE: 9/11 FAMILIES & SURVIVORS COMMITTEE NAMES RELEASED" »
Over at Congress.org, they've got a neat rundown of the voting attendance record of the entire House of Representatives thus far in 2006. Which NJ congressman has the worst attendance? And who gets the gold star for perfect attendance?
Efrain Calderon is a 20-year-old singer/songwriter from North Bergen who plays messy folk-y (some might say anti-folk) songs. He's got that everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality, but while that dooms a lot of songwriters to endless wankery on Casios and toy xylophones, Calderon brings it all together nicely, reminding me at times of the late, great Chicago band Bill Ding, and other times of One Foot In the Grave era Beck. He keeps it short and sweet:
Day job: Record store snob
Progressive activists gather for campaign training with an eye toward November.
By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
I sat there, taking in an uncanny amount of math on a rainy Saturday morning. Was this some sort of twisted flashback to my days as a student at Highland Park High School?
No, I was at the Democracy For America (DFA) grassroots training at Raritan Valley Community College, along with many other folks learning how to help progressive Democrats win in November. And, tragically for my right-brained self, math was important to this lesson. The attendees were being taught how to quantify an election campaign – in terms of time, resources and goals. The weekend was sponsored by DFA and New Jersey for Democracy.
Photo by Jon Levine
The case of Dennis Howard illustrates the dual tragedies of fatal police chases.
By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Dana Golson’s story could have been two sentences in a police blotter. Last September, when she was stopped at a red light three blocks away from her home, her car was struck.
But the Newark resident’s ordeal is more complicated –she was struck by a car being chased by a police officer. The police officer allegedly fled the scene, said Ron Goldfaden, her attorney.
She had been working with her church to collect donations for Katrina refugees staying at the Robert Street Hotel. That day she was on her way to visit them. But instead, “I awoke in the intensive care unit,” she told City Belt.
Editors' note: Today, we're happy to post our first story to the Web that is actually in our inaugural print edition, to be released Friday. You should be able to find a copy by the end of the long weekend in your favorite local business in Jersey City, Hoboken, Newark, Montclair, New Brunswick, Highland Park or Princeton. If you're out of the area and still would like to get your hands on this hot little number, you can order a print subscription -- it's only $15 a year (for 12 issues). We wish we were able to celebrate this feat with a more "celebratory" story -- but as we all remember Hurricane Katrina, it's important to look at who's been able to take advantage of the chaos, and who gets left behind as a result.
Vickie White is worried. “They are doing away with public education as we know it,” she says. White helped organize a trip to New Orleans this summer for the People’s Organization for Progress (POP) Central Jersey. After seeing how public education is being drastically altered there, she said she feared that very system would spread. “The theme I came back with was, ‘Coming to a city near you,’” she says.
Guest Commentary
By Stuart Hutchison
The great Thomas Jefferson had the vision to anticipate a time when a Congress became so corrupt, bribed, or decadent, that it was no longer responsible to the needs of the people it serves. In Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practices, part of the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, he created a mechanism by which a state legislature can transmit a resolution to impeach directly to the House of Representatives in Washington, and effectively force the Congress to address the question of whether to impeach a civil officer of the United States, a judge, or a president.
JC Pride continues to move towards more inclusivity for minorities, but is it enough?
By Gerald C. Johnson
A young black man took the stage and shouted, “When I say ‘fire,’ you say ‘burn’!”
“Fire!” he shouted.
“Burn!” the crowd replied with the fervor of a Jamaican audience at a Capleton show.
But this call-and-response exercise was not a homophobic demand to “bun di chi-chi” at a dancehall concert.
This photo was taken on Aug. 18 from a roof in Jersey City by Jon Whiten.
Remember, if you're a photoblogger or photographer, we'd love to see what you're shooting. In Flickr or SmugMug, tag your NJ photos with CityBelt -- or you can just e-mail them to us. If you do either, you will be in the running for Photo of the Week.
On the Web:
City Belt's Flickr page
By Kimberly Kaye
Editors’ note: Today marks the launch of our newest City Belt column, But I Digest…, which will feature restaurant reviews and food features from Kimberly Kaye. We’re very happy to have such a well-versed and inquisitive food writer on board – enjoy!
Let me begin by explaining that I happened upon Thai cuisine completely by accident several years ago. I had stumbled out of bed at noon, like most college students, bleary eyed, smelling faintly of cheap beer, and hungry. Having long before sworn off any of the “food” in the dining hall -- hangover munchies only once justified consumption such culinary travesties -- I made my way to the pile of delivery menus stationed at the entrance of our dorm for such occasions.
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