Gas Station Crash, Fourth of July, Pioneering Filmmaker Top Local News

Fort Lee fire officials say they had to “red tag” the convenience store at the on Route 46 and Bergen Boulevard Thursday afternoon after a car driven by an elderly man slammed into the building, leaving significant structural damage. (full story)

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The Bronx Wanderers had the house rockin' and almost everyone in attendance either dancing or clapping along Wednesday evening at the , kicking off the town's annual "Music Under the Stars" concert series. (full story with video)

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The American League Summer League officially got underway Wednesday evening at the field.

Started by Will and Tracy Mattei, the league will feature four teams--three from Fort Lee and one from Englewood Cliffs. Each team has 15 players from the peewees to the majors. The season will be comprised of 14 games with no playoffs, and people are excited. (full story)

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A Fort Lee resident and banking veteran was appointed vice president in charge of key business accounts for Investors Savings Bank, the bank announced Wednesday.

In her new role, Theresa E. DeLorenzo of Fort Lee will “oversee a variety of high-profile commercial accounts while pursuing new opportunities for business development,” according to officials with the bank, and be based at the bank’s Clifton branch. (full story)

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Commuters who cross the George Washington Bridge by bus to get to Manhattan will one day be arriving at what the Port Authority calls “a state-of-the-art-transportation facility,” complete with about four times the current retail space.

The Port Authority announced last week a development in plans for what it calls a “major overhaul” of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which opened in 1963, on the New York side of the bridge. (full story)

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As it turned out, the first annual joint, outdoor worship service last Sunday of four Fort Lee churches had to be moved inside because of the weather. But that didn't stop worshipers from gathering as planned.

“Gospel4Fort Lee," which took place Sunday at the Fort Lee High School auditorium instead of at the Dr. Alan W. Sugarman Sports Complex on Stillwell Ave. as organizers originally conceived it, brought together the , , and in what church leaders hope to make an annual event and the launch of further efforts to better serve the community. (full story/photo essay)

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The American Flag was flown proudly from the west tower of the George Washington Bridge Monday in celebration of Independence Day. At 60 feet by 90 feet and weighing about 500 pounds, it is one of the largest free-flying flags in the world. (photos)

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Fort Lee’s annual “Movies and Music Under the Stars” kicked off it's 10-week program Saturday at the ’s outdoor stage with a Fourth of July weekend-themed program, featuring music by the Jumpers Orchestra and a screening of the 1949 WWII, John Wayne classic, Sands of Iwo Jima.

Saturday’s event also included a special presentation by filmmaker Diane Hawkins, the niece of Marine Sgt. John Basilone. Hawkins talked about her uncle's heroism and screened a trailer of a soon-to-be-released documentary about him that she produced. (full story with video)

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Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan issued a county proclamation last week honoring filmmaker Alice Guy Blache on her 138th birthday, and Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-37) awarded Garden State Film Festival executive director Diane Raver the Fort Lee Film Commission 2011 Alice Guy Blache Award.

Assemblywoman Joan Voss (D-38) also presented the Fort Lee Film Commission with a State Assembly proclamation honoring the organization for its work in furthering the cause of Blache, who established Solax Studio in Fort Lee in 1912, as the world's first female film director. (full story and photos)

The week in review appears every Sunday on Fort Lee Patch.