Free Republic

<p>The attention American Legion posts receive every Memorial Day is often overshadowed by what happens during the rest of the year; and what’s been happening for the last several decades.</p><p>The once-thriving membership of veterans — from World War I and World War II, followed by the Korean and Vietnam wars are getting older. But George Van Der Wall, station commander at the post in North Haledon in Passaic Counry, isn’t ready to give up the fight just yet.</p>

 At 30 years old, Sister Danielle Gonzalez is the youngest of 19 nuns at the community of Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon. No lightning-bolt moment brought Danielle Gonzalez to the convent at St. Joseph's Provincial Center, just a gentle and consistent call that only she could hear.  Gonzalez, 30, who grew up in Pequannock, was a senior at the College of New Jersey who enjoyed wearing Jones New York suits by day and dancing at clubs with friends by night. She earned a black belt in karate before the idea of becoming a nun ever entered...

The Colorado Supreme Court has overturned a convicted killer's death sentence because jurors brought Bibles into the jury room and wrote down and quoted passages from the Old Testament during deliberations. Robert Harlan will serve life in prison without parole after being convicted and sentenced to death in 1995 for the kidnapping, murder and rape of a 25-year-old woman and the attempted murder of a woman who came to her aid. Casino waitress Rhonda Maloney was driving home from work when Harlan forced her car off the road and raped her. The victim escaped and flagged down a passing motorist,...

New York -WABC, Feb. 10, 2005) — A boil water advisory has gone out to 17 area towns this morning. All are serviced by the same water treatment tank where the body of a missing New Jersey woman was found last night. Eyewitness News reporter Ken Rosato is at the scene in Totowa with more. The medical examiner arrived at the Passaic Valley water treatment plant last night. It was clear, the news would be grim. They had found the body of a woman missing for several days. The discovery led officials to declare a boil water advisory for several...

Court kills N. Haledon's bid to leave Manchester Regional Thursday, August 12, 2004 North Haledon must remain in the Manchester Regional School District, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, but the district's funding formula must be retooled.The ruling ends the borough's attempt to withdraw from the district, but it portends lower school taxes for its residents.The court's decision, written by Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, found that while North Haledon's attempt to withdraw was not racially motivated, students from all three sending districts would suffer from the reduced diversity that would result from North Haledon's departure."This decision's going to have a...