Community News from Elmwood Park, New Jersey • A1

CONTINUING THE TRADITION OF THE SHOPPER NEWS ELMWOOD PARK SADDLE BROOK B-ball teams look to the states. PAGE 16 COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2009 The Geese Police are back on the scene, pages CLASSIFIEDS 30 OBITUARIES 24 CROSSWORD 15 OPINION 10 DINING OUT 23 POLICE 19 ENTERTAINMENT 22 REAL ESTATE 27 FAMILY 18 SPORTS 16 NEWS Please recycle. At least 25 recycled newsprint. 100 recyclable SADDLE BROOK Budget will see serious 2009 cuts BY JUSTIN ZAREMBA Staff Writer The governing body warned residents that the economic climate would force the council to make cuts to the municipal operating budget for 2009. "Serious cuts will have to happen one way or another," said Council President Omar Rodriguez at the Feb.

12 meeting of the mayor and council. "We have to be fiscally responsible." According to the council, there is a $1 million shortfall in the current version of the 2009 budget. Rodriguez stressed $1 million could not be trimmed from the Office of Emergency Management. Rodriguez said the council wanted to preserve jobs but "on the same token could not strangle taxpayers" at the cost of saving jobs. Rodriguez added that residents could likely expect increases in their taxes from the county, the school board and the municipality.

Councilman Ed Kugler said the council needed to be direct in its message. "This budget cannot be introduced without concessions from the unions," said Kugler. "Second of all, we can notify the taxpayers SEE CUTS, PAGE 6 NICK MESSINASTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A NJ Transit commuter train struck a truck at the Midland Avenue crossing at the Elmwood ParkSaddle Brook border on Feb. 13 at 8:42 a.m. The driver managed to escape before the vehicle was hit and was not injured.

ELMWOOD PARK Driver not hurt after train hits truck dents at the crossing, but the striping and trimming of trees in the area has alleviated some of the issues. The town has asked NJ Transit to build a bridge to remedy the situation, but it has not agreed to do it and probably won't given the economic climate, according to Ingrasselino. It is important that people are aware of how dangerous the intersection is. "We've been there and handed out leaflets to people. Transit police give tickets to people who sit on the track to educate people, but you can't get everybody.

It's an engineering problem," Ingrasselino said. "I wish we could get the message out to more people to remember the trains are going pretty fast over there." Samantha Tyrka's e-mail address is tyrkanorthjersey.com While searching, he heard a man call, "I'm over here and I'm OK." Napolitano informed the officer he was the only one in the truck and he had sustained no injuries, according to Police Chief Don Ingrasselino. "I was going across the tracks when the traffic stopped, the gates came down at that time and I was stuck. I saw the train coming and I just ran out of my truck. I was able to get far away, then the train hit my truck," Napolitano said according to the police report.

Before the Ranger landed, it struck another vehicle with two passengers. The passenger side of the automobile sustained damage, but no one was injured. There were two witnesses to the incident. A man from Garfield stated the crossing gates were down and the red lights were flashing when he saw the vehicle sitting on the tracks as the train rapidly approached. He saw Napolitano running from the truck toward the west just before the train hit the car, according to the police report.

The car sustained extreme damage, but it is unknown how much damage was done to the train signaling equipment or the train. New Jersey Transit Train Authority and Transit Police were also on scene to investigate and will file a report. The extension where the accident occurred is one of the most dangerous in the area, according to Ingrasselino. NJ Transit has been fixing it, but it is still a problem. The intersection is very confusing because it is so wide and there is also an upgrade, which can cause limited visibility.

"It's a very, very wide intersection over there. The street dissects almost like an X. You have a lot of people kind of drift into the track area," Ingrasselino said. There have been many acci BY SAMANTHA TYRKA Staff Writer A pile of crumpled metal jammed against a telephone pole was all that was left of a black Ford Ranger after it was struck by a New Jersey Transit commuter train at 8:34 a.m. last week.

The driver of the vehicle, John Napolitano of Lodi, was uninjured as he managed to exit the automobile before the Hoboken bound train stuck his car at the Midland Avenue Extension of the Bergen County Line on Feb. 13. Train number 1158 was traveling southbound at approximately 60 mph when it struck the vehicle, pushing it approximately 150 feet southeast until it came to rest facing northbound, according to the police report. Upon arriving on scene, Officer Christopher Liptak called for an ambulance and inspected the area to see if there were any victims. IN CLASSIFIEDS For more classifieds, see page 30.

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