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Morris
County felt many losses this past year. The loss of the young always is
the most tragic, and for Morris County young people, the road to
tragedy wound through their homes, neighborhoods and around the world,
with casualties on local roads and in Iraq. But a downtown area started
a new beginning as a redevelopment project got under way in Morristown,
and the Jets are moving in nearby. Those all are among the top ten local news stories of the year. Here's the countdown: 10. Highlands plan
Landowners throughout most of Morris County could face more roadblocks
to developing their properties if their towns choose to follow the
Highlands draft regional master plan released in November. The plan was two years in the making and was developed in response to the 2004 Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act. The
plan breaks the region into three basic zones to overlay atop existing
municipal zoning. In the protection zone, more than two-thirds of the
region, people would essentially be allowed to build only one house per
lot. In the conservation zone, largely agricultural land that makes up
18 percent of the Highlands, a maximum of 2 of every 10 acres could be
developed on most lots. In the planned community zone, development
would be allowed, depending on the environmental characteristics of a
given lot and the quality and quantity of water available to it. All
the restrictions would apply automatically throughout that half of the
860,000-acre region called the preservation area, but they would apply
only in towns in the planning area that agree to conform to the
regional plan. Environmental groups support the proposed plan,
while some groups of property owners oppose it. Public hearings begin
in January. 9. Two plead guilty in Seton Hall fire
Nearly seven years after a dormitory blaze killed three Seton Hall
University students, two former college roommates admitted in November
to setting the fire. Joseph
T. LePore and Sean Ryan, both 26 and of Florham Park, each faced
charges including three murder counts, which each carried a minimum of
30 years in prison. Their plea deal dropped murder charges and will
send them to prison for no more than five years. "I did not
intend to harm anyone. It was a prank that got out of hand," the two
26-year-olds said in matching statements in Superior Court. Their
sentencing will be on Jan. 26. They admitted they ignited a
banner in a third-floor lounge of Boland Hall, which set a couch ablaze
at the Roman Catholic school in South Orange on Jan. 19, 2000. Dozens
were injured while escaping, several with serious burns, and three
students died. Defense attorneys said the deal was appropriate in
part because the school did not have adequate systems to prevent the
blaze from spreading. The fire led New Jersey to enact the nation's first mandatory dormitory sprinkler law. 8. Shooting at Wild West City
Scott Harris of Netcong, an actor at Wild West City, was shot in the
head in July during a routine gunfight reenactment at the Byram theme
park. Harris,
37, was moved recently to a residential rehabilitation program in
Newton and remains paralyzed on his right side, a small-caliber bullet
lodged in the back of his head. It was the first serious accident at the 50-year-old theme park. Earlier,
this month, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration
fined Wild West City for allegedly not following industry-standard
safety procedures. Sussex County law enforcement officials still
are investigating the shooting. Information has not yet been released
on who fired the bullet, why at least one real gun was used during the
act and how a bullet got into it. 7. Christ Church plan approved
After contentious public hearings that spanned 34 months, the Rockaway
Township Planning Board voted in October to approve the 5,000-member
Christ Church application to build on the former Agilent site on Green
Pond Road. Church
Pastor David Ireland said that, ideally, construction would begin next
fall, with the church opening at the site a year later. But the process is not over yet. The
church filed a federal lawsuit in April 2005, accusing the township of
stalling and trying to undermine the building plan. The lawsuit still
is pending. The state Department of Environmental Protection is
still reviewing the church's application for a Highlands development
exemption. The church received the exemption in 2004 but the state
Appellate Division, in response to a legal challenge from Rockaway
Township, ordered the DEP to take a second look. In November,
Ireland requested that the planning board reconsider the condition that
parking spaces be reduced from 1,370 to 900. The Church plans to build
a sanctuary with room for 2,512 people, and Ireland said 900 parking
spaces might not be enough for worshipers. 6. Mayoral recalls
The mayors of sprawling Mount Olive and tiny Victory Gardens were
recalled in November's general election. They were the first mayoral
recalls in Morris County in more than 20 years. In
Mount Olive, voters ousted Mayor Richard De La Roche by a vote of 4,319
to 1,688. Voters chose former councilman David Scapicchio to fill the
mayor's seat. The move came after much bickering between the mayor and council. A previous recall effort had been unsuccessful. In
Victory Gardens, Mayor Nanette Courtine was recalled from office by a
129-70 vote and was replaced by Councilwoman Betty Simmons. The
election drew 204 voters, or 41 percent of the borough's 506 registered
voters. That included 76 absentee ballots cast, or 37 percent of the
votes, an unusually high proportion. Courtine is contesting the
election results, asserting voter fraud. A hearing will be held Feb. 13
in Superior Court in Morristown. Two residents said recently that they
were subpoenaed because they backed her ouster and because they voted
by absentee ballot. 5. Start of the Epstein's project
Epstein's department store literally crumbled in October, as a
much-anticipated redevelopment project began with demolition of the
building that has stood on West Park Place and Market Street in
Morristown for nearly 100 years. The multimillion-dollar redevelopment project is intended to revitalize the downtown. In
place of the 75,000-square-foot department store, which closed two
years ago, 116 sleek luxury condominiums and 132 high-end rental units
will rise by 2008. An additional 70,000 square feet of retail space and
20,000 square feet of office space will be available. An
800-space parking garage, an environmentally friendly office building
on Maple Avenue and a loft building on DeHart street also are planned. 4. Jets announce move to Florham Park
The New York Jets' announcement in April that the pro-football team
will move its headquarters and training facility to Florham Park was a
sports highlight of monumental proportions not only for local fans but
for county and town political leaders as well. The
Jets chose Florham Park over about 40 other North Jersey towns. The
team's base currently is at Hofstra University on Long Island. The
team will move to the ExxonMobil property near Route 24. The Jets want
to build a 120,000-square-foot facility on 26 acres. An indoor,
regulation-sized football field will be enclosed in a 95-foot-tall
structure. There also will be four outdoor regulation-sized football
fields, three grass and one with artificial turf. In May, the Jets threw a public party in town attended by VIPs and hundreds of team fans. Shovels
may begin digging as soon as February, officials from Florham Park and
the professional football team have said, and Jets President Jay Cross
has said the practice field and headquarters should be usable for the
team in June 2008. 3. Drug deaths in record numbers
A record number of people -- at least 30 -- died from drug overdoses in Morris County this year. Many of the overdose deaths involved heroin, although most involved a combination of drugs. The
numbers were revealed at a drug awareness summit held in September that
was one of several such meetings held by various groups across the
county. Experts and teens at the summit said prescription
painkillers are popular among young people. The summit was held in the
wake of "Operation Painkiller," when the Prosecutor's Office in July
conducted a sweep of arrests of young people charged with being
involved with the sale or possession of prescription painkillers. That
investigation resulted in another record: 58 suspects rounded up in one
sweep. Many of those cases still are pending. 2. Morris natives killed in Iraq
The war in Iraq is grinding on, and this year it claimed the lives of two more Morris County natives. Marine
Lance Cpl. Christopher Benedict Cosgrove III of Cedar Knolls, a 2001
graduate of Whippany Park High School, was killed on Oct. 1. The
23-year-old had volunteered to man the Fallujah roadway checkpoint
where a suicide car bomb was detonated. Cosgrove came from a
family of men who served in the military or in law enforcement, and had
enlisted the year before he graduated from Monmouth University. His funeral in Madison was attended by hundreds of people in uniforms of all types. Marine Pfc. Donald Brown of Roxbury, 19, was killed on Oct. 25 by a roadside bomb in Haditha. Brown
graduated Roxbury High School in June 2005 and joined the Marines in
September 2005. He was deployed to Iraq this past September and was in
line for promotion to lance corporal the week of his death. He was
awarded the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq
Campaign Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Cosgrove and Brown both were engaged to be married. Five other servicemen from Morris County have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war. 1. Teens die in crashes
Several Morris County teenagers and young adults lost their lives in car crashes this year. In
April, Jonathan K. Lutke, 20, of Chatham, was killed on Route 287 in
Montville. He was a passenger in a vehicle that was struck by an
out-of-control car driven by Alfred J. Struble of Pompton Lakes. In
November, Struble pleaded guilty to death by auto, assault by auto, and
driving while intoxicated. Also in April, Louis R. Bizzarro III,
18, of Roxbury, died on Route 80. He was a passenger in a car driven
his friend, Eavan L. Jenkins, also of Roxbury, when it veered across
three lanes, off the road, and hit two trees in their home town. In
October Jenkins pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and drunken
driving. In May, Justin Hiller, 17, of Butler, died of injuries
he received in a crash on Hamburg Turnpike in Wayne. The same accident
killed Brian Pereira, 16, of Newfoundland. Both were passengers in a
car driven by an unidentified 16-year-old from Riverdale that spun out
of control and into oncoming traffic, striking another vehicle. In
June, Sarah G. Bradford, 20, of Hackettstown, died when she lost
control of her car on Route 80 in Hope and crashed into two trees.
Police at the time said rainy weather might have caused the accident. Earlier
this month, Tanner Birch, 17, and Kyleigh D'Alessio, 16, died when the
Audi TT Birch was driving veered off Fairview Avenue in Washington
Township and hit a tree. The crash also injured two other passengers,
Trevor Birch, 19, who is Tanner's brother, and Kristen Conrad, 16. All
are of Washington Township. Police are still investigating the
accident. The injured are recovering. Funerals for Tanner Birch and
D'Alessio were held this past week. And on Friday, 18-year-old
Katelyn J. Wooding of Morris Township died after the car she was
driving on Lake Road in that town hit a tree. Police are investigating.
It's been a year of loss, and a year of hope.