Parking, Sewer Fees, Fire Captains and a Bengal Tiger Top This Week's News

Here's a quick list of some of last week's top stories:

 A sewer ordinance that would require property owners to pay for damages and concerns about parking and car congestion, were among the topics raised by Bloomfield residents at this week’s township council meeting.

   At this week’s Bloomfield Township Council meeting, township officials approved promoting two firefighters to temporarily fill-in for two fire captains who are on long-term leave.  However, a discussion arose at the meeting after some council members disagreed with the decision to promote and said the township needed firefighters instead. 

  At a press conference in Newark Thursday, the head of the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control announced the arrests of a Bloomfield man and his employee on charges they illegally distributed “Extracto de Malta,” an alcoholic beverage, to small supermarkets and bodegas in Spanish-speaking communities in Newark and throughout New Jersey.   Nelson A. Fernandez, a 63-year-old Bloomfield resident and owner of Condal Distributors of the Bronx, was arrested for selling the beverage without a license. 

  There was no resolution for the fate of a pit bull named Memphis, after a couple appeared before the Bloomfield Board of Health and asked to adopt the dog.  Jeff Coltenback, owner of Paradise Pets and founder of the Pitty Rescue organization, appeared before the Board of Health in an effort to convince officials into letting him permanently adopt the pit bull. Coltenback expressed relief that the dog would not be put to sleep. 

  The tiger statue will be unveiled to commemorate Herbert Miller, now deceased, who was a graduate from 1954 and all-state athlete. The monument was funded by the Herbert Miller Committee, is comprised of his longtime friends: Walter Murphy, James Brady, Natalie Miller, Thomas Zimmerer, Lawrence Casparro and Joseph Wojak, who raised up to $7,000 and received more than 100 donations for the statue. The Miller’s family and friends say he was an extraordinary person. Besides being a celebrated athlete and vice-president of his class, later in his life after undergoing a spinal surgery, Miller became paraplegic, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.