xtm ii^ Friday, January 3, 2003 50 cents i! I- . 'Ji. INSIDE - ;7J nmunities look ahead to 2003 5 3lains mayor says McDermott: Pedestrian safety, parking focus will be on tax reform, and improved fields are top priorities improving athletic fields By KEVIN B. HOWELL mittee will submit candidates for Traffic, Parking and THE RECORD-PRESS the council to choose from in Transportation committees to replacing Walsh. remedy the problem. Ho snid By KEVIN B. HOWELL stant pressure to keep taxes WESTFIELD - The Town McDermott said one of the speeding enforcement will defi- THKKECOKD-t'RKSS down, he said. Council looks ahead to 2003 with council's priorities in 20013 will bo nitely be stopped up in 2003, and The council has been an advo- several pairs of new eyes. In the to address speeding and pedestri- in order to save money the town SCOTCH PLAINS — As 2002 cate for property tax reform closing months of 2002 must find ways aside from traffic comes to an end, the± Township through a state constitutional Republicans took back control of calming to address the issue. Council is preparing for a new convention. It voted to place a the governing body in the "One-third of our mem- McDermott said parking also year and a new era of .sorts with non-binding question on the November election, and then bers are new. There's a remains :i top priority. The town an all-Republican membership. November ballot asking resi- Councilman Kevin Walsh lot of education we have has received eight responses to Councilwoman-elect Carolyn dents if they would support such resigned, effective at the end of its Request for Qualifications Sorge will join council members a convention; voters supported January, to become a United to do. We have to keep (RFy> and McDermott hopes to Frank Rossi and Nancy Malool in the idea by a nearly 4-1 margin. States assistant attorney. them up to speed with the narrow them down to three by Hay, nit hurts! their swearing-in ceremony at "I want to be an ambassador "One-third of our members are January. A committee composed Westfietd wrestler Rob Mench the township's reorganization for a constitutional convention to new," Mayor Gregory McDermott budget and improve- of council members from each defeated Chris Trapani of Howell on meeting 1 p.m. Jan. 1, put property tax reform on the said. 'There's a lot of education ments. " ward us well as representatives his way to the 103-pound title at the Councilwoman Paulette table to debated and voted on," we have to do. We have to keep — Mayor Gregory from the Planning Hoard nnd the Blue Devil Invitational Friday. For Coronato will be named deputy Marks said. "Ultimately, it will them up to speed with the budg- Downtown West field Corporation the wrap-up, see Page B). mayor at the meeting. take some guts from someone in et and improvements. It puts McDermott will interview the top three plan- Mayor Martin Marks says he Trenton for it to get done." pressure on thp town administra- ners in February. expects 2003 to be a busy and Bills for a constitutional con- tor and the council to keep them an .safety in town. The issue has Improving parks and fields, an challenging year for the council. vention have been introduced in up to speed." emerged as the top concern for issue- that was raised during the He said budget discussions will the state Senate, with one spon- Newly elected members residents who have complained election campaign, will also be a begin in February, adding that it sored by Sens. John Alder and include Sal Cnruunu in the First about the safety of their children. priority for the council this yenr. will be a difficult year with the Bob Martin passing 6-4 in the Ward and Andy Skibitsky in the McDermott suid he would like McDermott said some residents state of the economy and revenue Senate Judiciary Committee last Third Ward, who will be sworn in to work with the BRAKES group, want extravagant parks, but the down. The council must balance at the reorganization meeting 7 Police Chief Bernard Tracy and those realities against the con- (Continued on page A-2) p.m. Jan. 7. The Democratic com- the council's Public Safety and (Continued on pnge A-2) Pair indicted for March murder of •HHrhnwlkMs Children in the Scotch Plains- Scotch Plains man Fmwood Pre-Kclasses recently made gingerbread cookies for home- KlVW. HOWELL scream for help. less people in the area. See the full THE RECORD-PRESS Witnesses said they heard photo on Page 4:3. Cooper yelling, but when he tried Two men charged with killing to escape from the car. Bullock a Scotch Plains man in March and Mitchell allegedly took him were indicted on six counts by n behind a ShopRite supermarket county grand jury last week. in Clark and shot him in the Henry "Sal" Bullock, 34, and shoulder and head. Antwan Mitchell, also known as The two were arrested after a Marquis Sowell, 28, both of phone tip made through the Newark, were indicted on Union County Crimestoppers tip charges of first-uegree murder, line. The caller said he happened felony murder, weapons offenses, to see an object thrown out of a carjacking and robbery in the Ford Taurus wagon at about the killing of Christopher Demetrius time of the murder. Cooper, 32, on March 26. A similar vehicle was alleged- Evidence uncovered by detec- ly used as a getaway car in the GEORGE PACCIELLO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER tives revealed that Bullock and murder of two Irvington resi- Mitchell took Cooper from a dents, which jogged the caller's street in Newark and were on memory. Dreams of a white Christmas come true their way to his home in Scotch A .search for the object seen by Th« first white Christmas In decades gave children across the area an added bonus over their hol- Plains to rob him when they ran the caller led police to a cell iday vacation. After opening gifts Dec. 25, these youngsters hit the slopes at Echo Lake Park for out of ^as and stopped to fill up. phone in the parking lot of a some sledding the next day. When the men pulled into the gas station, Cooper tried to (Continued on page A-2> Consumer Looking back on the year that was: 2002 in review reports A new art exMw'/ at Union County A.year marked by the tragic and the bizarre College's Tonmulo Gallery will explore the ways in which con- •yKIVMaX HOWELL tight budget and cut budget requests by nearly sumerism influences contemporary THE RECORD-PRESS $750,000. culture. For the story, see PrimeTime Fanwood Police Chief Robert Carboy retired on Page B-4. The past year was marked tjy several tragic or after 36 years in the department. He was the bor- bizarre incidents that will not SQop be forgotten: the ough's fourth police chief, having succeeded sexual assault of a teenage girl in a Scotch Plains Anthony Parenti in 1998. Capt. Donald Domanoski school by 5 male students; the untimely death, took over as acting chief. caused by a windstorm, of a Westfield High School Plans for the Sept. 11 memorial in Westfield student; and a robbery spree allegedly perpetrated were underway, with plans for the site at the corner by a Westfield woman. And amidst the familiar of East Broad Street and North Avenue. The site political struggles, several issues came to the fore: plan consisted of a granite and glass sculpture and pedestrian safety in Westfield, recreational space in granite pillars for each Westfield victim, surround- Scotch Plains and downtown redevelopment in ed by a stone bench wall and landscaped paths. Happy New Year Fanwood. March: One of the assailants in the Park Middle The staff of the Record-Press wish- What follows is a brief accounting of the major School rape case admitted to the crime and agreed es you and your family a happy and local news events that took place in 2002: to testify against the other boys. Manuel Batista safe New Year. Please remember, if January: A 13-year-old Scotch Plains middle pleaded guilty in Superior Court to first-degree you plan on drinking, designate a school girl was sexually assaulted by five Scotch aggravated assault and faced a five-year prison driver. Plains-Fanwood High School boys behind Park sentence. Middle School. The girl, a Fanwood resident, was The Fanwood Borough Council approved a rede- abducted after school, beaten and forced to perform velopment plan after making changes recommend- sexual acts on the boys. County Prosecutor Thomas ed by the Planning Board. As in January, the two Manahan sought to try the teenage boys as adults. Democratic council members rejected the proposal, The Fanwood Borough Council voted 4-2 to but it passed 4-2. The plan proposed to redevelop a advance a downtown redevelopment plan to the 6.5-acre block downtown, including Martine, South INDEX Planning Board. Democratic Council members and LaGrande avenues and Second Street. Katherine Mitchell and Michael Brennan were the School tax on an average Westfield home was dissenting votes, citing coi.i^rns with density and projected to rise $432 under the new budget propos- .Commentary A-4 imminent domain. al. The preliminary budget was $57.2 million, The Democratic majority of the Town Council in which represented an 8.6 percent increase in school . Community Life A-6 Westfield decided to join a lawsuit with local taxes.