Fort Lee BOE Wants Tuition Backpay; Case of Drowned Teen in Ridgewood Going to Trial

Welcome to "Around The County," a weekly column that highlights stories in Bergen County Patch communities. This week, a man arrested after fleeing Bogota police has been charged with shoplifting shampoo from a Teaneck CVS, the case of a Korean boy who drowned in a Ridgewood pool is going to trial, the Paramus Police Department is low on officers, residents and business owners in Westwood were still cleaning up after the recent flood, Sarah Fergusen visited Bookends in Ridgewood and more. Check out our list of some of the top stories on Patch sites this week:

• One of the men arrested after fleeing Bogota police Tuesday has been charged with shoplifting $1,000 worth of shampoo from a Teaneck CVS store, authorities said. Victor Valentine, 26, of Bronx, N.Y., made off with the shampoo by stuffing it down both legs of his pants in a January incident, according to Detective Lt. Andrew McGurr.
  
  
• A Superior Court Judge dismissed the village of Ridgewood's request for summary judgment in the case of the teenage Korean boy who drowned at Graydon Pool in 2008 and the two parties could not reach a settlement Wednesday, finally .
  
  
• Due to a hiring freeze, injuries and a wave of retirements, manpower at the Paramus Police Department is , according to the police chief and commissioner.
  
  
• Residents and business owners were still cleaning up Wednesday from the flooding that happened last week in Westwood when the Pascack Brook overflowed its banks. .
  
  
• New Milford Borough Planner Dennis Kirwan presented his 28-page report to the Mayor and Council at their meeting on the . Kirwan and his staff recommended that the borough rezone the area for commercial use but create a special ordinance to govern its development.
  
  
• Police Chief Benjamin Fox is urging Wyckoff residents to lock their cars after a . According to police, reports of items being stolen from unlocked cars have come from Allison Way, Wishingwell Road, Lydia Lane and Boulder Run.
  
  
• The Hasbrouck Heights mayor and council made it official Tuesday night that there is since NJ Transit granted the borough permission last month to shorten the stop on the east side of the Boulevard which allowed for one more parking space.
  
  
• The Fort Lee Board of Education passed five separate resolutions to notify the parents of five students determined to be in violation of the district’s residency requirements that they are ineligible to attend Fort Lee schools and that .
  
  
• The Oradell Zoning Board of Adjustment recently . The project will utilize a pair of lots on the corner of Westervelt Place and Lake Avenue to be subdivided for the creation of four single-family attached units.
  
  
• On Wednesday, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, came to Bookends in Ridgewood to promote her new book, Finding Sarah, which documents her royal struggles and scandals. The even drew hundreds of fans, who were all eager to meet the Duchess. Watch the video .
  
  
• Fair Lawn residents arrived early at Memorial Pool on Wednesday to set up their beach chairs and blankets and to enjoy the . Music and dancing kept the crowd entertained before the show began.
  
  
• When Jeff Robbins of Franklin Lakes first learned his youngest daughter had Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine caused by a reaction to gluten, the longtime consumer markets researcher aggressively began testing the available products for a gluten-free diet and reading up on her condition. He and his wife found most of the food lacking in taste and quality. He .
  
  
• When Mahwah resident Kristen Bushman began making decorative Santa Caluse figurines for her kids’ holiday boutique at Betsy Ross eight years ago, she .

• More than 2,000 people gathered at Continental Soldier's Park in Mahwah Thursday evening to make history — the group broke the world record for making the biggest human smiley face.