Thursday, May 9, 2013
Victims' relatives said Christopher Hoppe in 2008 left their loved ones like animals on Knoll Road.
The conviction of a Parsippany man who killed two men riding a bicycle in 2008 was upheld by an Appellate Division panel Thursday, the Daily Record reported. Chrisopher J. Hoppe, now 25, is serving 12 years in Burlington County's Garden State Youth Correctional Facility. In 2009, Hoppe, a Parsippany High School alum who worked as an auto mechanic, entered a guilty plea for two counts of death by auto in the killings of 19-year-old Carmelo Garcia Lopez and Ivan Canuto de la Cruz. The two had been riding a bicycle along Knoll Road in Lake Hiawatha when Hoppe reportedly was driving in the wrong lane at a speed nearly 40 mph faster than the posted 25 mph speed limit. After hitting the duo, Hoppe left the scene and allegedly waited nearly five …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The Supreme Court is considering both the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act and the 2008 Proposition 8 case.
The U.S. Supreme Court is in the midst of a landmark time in Washington, D.C.: On Tuesday, the nation's highest court heard testimony on Proposition 8, the California law that stripped legal equality from gay couples in that state. On Wednesday, the justices are hearing testimony on former President Bill Clinton's 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, a bill LGBT people and allies call discriminatory—and a law Clinton now says he regrets signing and promoting. Just last week, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio hit the Sunday talk-show circuit to talk of the need for an end to the national stigmatization against gays and lesbians and their families. Meanwhile, anti-gay churches and groups such as …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Teen's testimony supporting bill to ban ex-gay therapy for minors precedes Senate committee's 7-1 vote to recommend the measure.
Parsippany High School senior Jacob Rudolph took his mission to protect LGBT youth from ex-gay therapy to the state capital Monday. The 18-year-old testified before the New Jersey Senate Health Committee in support of S2278, a bill that would ban the use of controversial gay “conversion” therapy on minors. His testimony may have had an effect: The committee voted 7-1 with two abstentions to recommend S2278. The bill now heads to the full state Senate for consideration. Rudolph's recent Change.org petition campaign garnered more than 110,000 signatures. The petition calls on Gov. Christie to support S2278. The teenager captured the attention of the nation when he came out as LGBT during a school assembly and earned a standing ovation …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Lake Hiawatha lawyer accused of injuring Randolph resident in crash on Littleton Road.
A defense attorney from Lake Hiawatha who allegedly injured another driver in a June traffic accident in Parsippany, was indicted on a charge of driving while intoxicated and assault by auto, NJ.com reports. Walter Laufenberg, 53, a former Parsippany municipal prosecutor now working for Morristown law firm Gold, Albanese and Barletti, allegedly injured 26-year-old Randolph resident Ahmed Shoeira on June 12. The accident reportedly took place on Littleton Road, just north of Brooklawn Drive, when Laufenberg, driving north on Littleton, allegedly crossed the double line and struck the other driver's vehicle. At the time of the accident, Laufenberg was representing Parsippany Board of Education member Michael Strumolo in a wrongful …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Subcommittee to be formed as many Parsippany families are set to lose their homes.
The occupancy ordinance wasn't on the agenda for Tuesday night's Parsippany Township Council meeting. But that law—and the families set to lose their homes because of it—became the business session's central focus. The council decided Tuesday night to form a subcommittee to draft an occupancy ordinance amendment the members will accept. Council President Brian Stanton refused all requests to volunteer, saying he would hand pick who will serve on the panel. The issue arose when Councilman James Vigilante sneaked in a question just before Stanton was about to adjourn what had been a fairly routine meeting. Vigilante noted that at least four Parsippany families—including one with a 6-month-old baby—are about to be evicted because under Par-…
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Town Council bows to pressure and halts occupany law change; family with disabled child again faces losing their home.
Ranya Tawfik said she learned a tough lesson at Tuesday's Township Council agenda meeting at Town Hall: "Parsippany doesn't care about my family." That was the reaction she shared with Patch after the council, citing citizen fears over overcrowding in apartments and single-family homes, decided not to go forward with proposed changes to Parsippany's maximum occupancy ordinance. Council President Brian Stanton said a new means to protect residents who find themselves in violation of the law will be explored. "That's going to take time," he said. "It's not going to happen overnight." And that puts Tawfik, her husband and their 4-year-old disabled daughter in jeopardy, she said. The proposal would have allowed waivers to be given to …
Friday, May 4, 2012
Some Jersey wine stores are concerned, but others, not so much.
On May 1, it became legal for wineries of a certain size to direct ship wine to New Jersey costumers. It's great news for New Jersey wine growers, but perhaps not so great for local wine shops. The fear of opponents to the new law — signed by Gov. Christie on January 17 — is that direct shipping will erode sales of wine in local retail shops around the state, potentially hurting local business and costing local jobs. A major opponent of the bill that allowed direct shipping was Assemblyman John Cryan (D-Union), whose family owns Cryan's tavern in South Orange. In an Op-Ed piece on newjerseynewsroom.com, Cryan explained that he supported an alternative bill that he felt would not threaten local shops: I sponsored the Assembly bill that …
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The district's former transportation director is suing over an alleged 2008 wrongful termination.
A four-year-old dispute between a former school district transportation director and the Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education is set to begin May 7 at the Morris County Courthouse. The case involves Kathleen Warrick, who served as transportation director until 2008, when, according to school board member Anthony Mancuso, her contract expired and was not renewed. According to a Star-Ledger report from October 2009, Warrick's suit contends that several BOE members conspired to have her fired after she urged the district to terminate its contract for school bus maintenance services with Hiawatha Towing, which is owned by board member Michael Strumolo. Strumolo was not on the school board during the time his company serviced district buses…
Friday, April 6, 2012
Legal fights pit the clerk's employees against the former clerk and both against town leaders
More information is surfacing in the mysterious ending of Township Clerk Elesha Johnson's employment. Four employees in the clerk's office—including one who retired over the matter—say Johnson created a hostile workplace for them. In response, they are taking legal action against town leadership and the former clerk. Attorney Gina Mendola Longarzo said she has filed a tort claim, in essence a motion of intent to sue for $4 million, in the names of former employee Tonae Bettelli and current staffers Cara Fox, Leslie Miller and Janet Zorsky. Among those named as defendants in the action are Mayor James Barberio, Personnel Director Hank Sunyak, Business Administrator Jasmine Lim, the five Town Council members and Johnson. Longarzo told Patch …
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Resident to Council: 'Has the dream of fields clouded your judgement?'
A plan for a new ordinance to scrap the current Open Space Trust Fund in favor of one that would ease the way toward making the controversial Fields of Dreams turf project a reality was expected by many to sail to passage at Tuesday night's Parsippany Township Council meeting. Instead, the council voted to delay taking further action on the proposal, earning a round of applause by many in the audience and even bringing some to their feet. The tabling came after a public comment period in which many residents assailed the move to expand government's powers over spending open space dollars. The proposed ordinance would expand municipal powers, allowing the town to replace the current Open Space Trust Fund with a new fund that would allow …
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9:22 am on Sunday, March 31, 2013
I see that the atheist are still trying to defend the indefensible. When atheists hear that a fellow atheist now believes or acknowledges the existence of God they become frenetic. We have Michael and Kermit who are so discombobulated by the truth they attempt to obliterate all historical facts. Michael and Kermit try to defend their argument by using nugatory lies fabricated by atheists How do I… more ›