Car Burglary, Pharmacy Employee Arrests Top Week's Local News

Fort Lee police arrested two Englewood men early Wednesday morning, charging them with motor vehicle burglary-related charges and resisting arrest, after an eyewitness reported seeing them in a neighbor’s car and then fleeing on bicycles, police said. (Full Story)

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A Fort Lee resident and employee at in Teaneck was charged with fraudulently obtaining more than 30,000 Oxycodone pills with an estimated street value of more than $1 million, police said. (Full Story)

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The Fort Lee Board of Education Monday approved a resolution to apply to the Bergen County Superintendent of Schools for dual use of educational space and “substandard instructional space” at all four elementary schools and the Church of the Good Shepherd, which houses the school district’s Early Childhood Center. Included among the list of space for which the district is applying for dual use approval are a storage room and the library at School No. 1, converting both into classroom space for small group instruction.

Also on the agenda Monday were two professional development resolutions—both involving the high school—which Bandlow called, “very, very important.”

In one of the resolutions, the board approved a $43,280 proposal from Innovative Designs for Education (IDE) “for educational consulting services designing a Freshman Academy for 2011-2012 and professional development for high school staff.”

The other high school-based professional development resolution the board voted on Monday focused on four departments: Math, Science, Social Studies and English.

The proposal from educational trainer, consultant and coach Dr. Aili Pogust to provide workshops at a cost of $800 per day for six professional development days, or a total of $4,800, was also met with board approval Monday.

The school district also officially accepted the $565,959 in additional state aid recently announced by the Christie administration.

Bandlow reiterated school board president Arthur Levine’s and board vice president Linda McCue’s previous statements to Patch that the school district would save the money for anticipated leaner times ahead and therefore use it during the 2012-2013 school year as opposed to the coming one. (Full Story)

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As Washington continued to struggle to reach a compromise in the debt ceiling debate, Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich and others weighed in on what would happen if the situation is not resolved.

Sokolich caled Fort Lee “self-sustaining,” and said the local impact of Washington failing to reach agreement would be minimal.

Greater Fort Lee Chamber of Commerce board president and small business owner Kenneth Bruno and Fort Lee resident and Republican candidate for Borough Council Martha Cohen offered their persepctives on the debt ceiling issue as well. (Full Story)

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Bacteria levels in the Hudson River have fallen to “within health safety standards and well below levels of concern,” the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) announced late in the day Thursday, clearing the way for recreational activities such as boating, kayaking and fishing to resume. (Full Story)

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This September 11 is the 10th anniversary of the tragic events that have come to be known simply as “9/11.” And fittingly, Fort Lee will dedicate its first 9/11 memorial in that day.

Last week Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich announced that the monument—built from a girder and other pieces of the World Trade Center donated to the borough by the Port Authority—has been completed. But that doesn’t mean residents can expect a sneak peak before the dedication ceremony. (Full Story)

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U.S. News and World report has released its annual list of Top Doctors, and a dozen health professionals who practice in Fort Lee made the cut. (Full Story)

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Tuesday's performance of Henry V was to be a production of the final play in a quartet of Shakepearian plays (a tetralogy that also includeds Richard II and Henry IV parts 1 and 2), but a sudden thunder storm at changed the Hudson Shakespeare Company and audience members' plans, cutting the performance short. There will however be an encore presentation next Tuesday, Aug. 2. (Full Story)

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After getting your eye prescription is when the real fun begins. Fitting the perfect eyeglass frame is the specialty of Paul and Michelle Gallina of Gallina Vision Center in Fort Lee. (Full Story)

The week in review, weekly roundup of some of the top local stories on Fort Lee Patch, appears every Sunday on Fort Lee Patch.