The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • L1

SECTION OBITUARIES 4, 5, 6 BUSINESS 7 0 7.14.15 Credit analyst finds economic conditions favor an area hospital's planned merger. 3 More difficult work remains before Greece's bailout can be finalized. 59 Local Rutherford raises nicotine age Makes 2 1 the minimum for purchase changing the age is Global Advisors on Smokefree Policy, a Summit-based nonprofit known as GASP. Karen Blumen-feld, its executive director, lauded the fact that nine New Jersey municipalities have raised the age "and more are in process." In August, Englewood became the first Garden State municipality to ban the sale of tobacco products to those under 21, and it has since been joined by East Rutherford, Teaneck, Bogota, Garfield, See TOBACCO Page L-6 By LINDA MOSS STAFF WRITER RUTHERFORD The Borough Council voted unanimously Monday night to raise the legal age to buy "nicotine-delivery" products, including tobacco and electronic cigarettes, to 21 from 19, becoming the ninth New Jersey municipality to pass such an ordinance. At its meeting, the council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance, an act that reflects a growing wave of concern about younger Americans embracing e-cigarettes and hookahs, potentially raising their risk of getting cancer.

"My mother would have been 82 today," Councilman Jack Manzo said. "She started smoking when she was a teenager. She's not with us today because she start ed smoking as a teenager." Manzo also admonished a representative of a trade group at the meeting that is opposed to raising the smoking age. "I think you have a lot of nerve to try to defend the tobacco industry," the councilman told Eric Blomgren, associate director of government affairs for the New Jersey Gasoline, Convenience Store and Automotive Association. "You're in the wrong room tonight." On Monday the Tenafly Borough Council introduced its own "21 ordinance" to raise the legal age for tobacco use.

The main advocate locally for the Officer is bid final farewell Training to handle an oil train derailment First responders get three-day drill STAFF PHOTOS BY KEVIN R. WEXLER Law enforcement officers from across North Jersey serving as pallbearers as others paid their respects at Christ Episcopal Church in Pompton Lakes. Below, officers standing at attention. By SCOTT FALLON STAFF WRITER Dozens of firefighters, police officers and emergency managers in Bergen County are training to handle a potential oil train derailment in a series of drills given this week by CSX, the railroad company that hauls millions of gallons of volatile crude oil through the region. These "tabletop exercises" are the first re-gionwide drills to address safety concerns about the enormous growth in the amount of crude oil hauled through 11 Bergen County towns on the way to a Philadelphia refinery.

The crude oil, from the Bakken rock formation in North Dakota, has been involved in a series of fiery derailments across North America, including one two years ago that killed 47 people in a small Quebec town. The three drills try to simulate an emergency command post focusing on areas along the train line that have different challenges. These include more densely populated towns like Teaneck and Bergenfield, where homes, schools and at least one fire-house sit next to the trades, as well as smaller up-county towns with less emergency equipment and personnel. Participants, who began their training Monday night, will be expected to make decisions about how to quickly assess the risk to residents, coordinate evacuations, deploy equipment and contain any fire. Although there will be no field exercises, organizers say there is value in training for an emergency, even if it's done in a conference room, since most local first responders have never dealt with a large accident like a derailment.

The drills are partly in response to a countywide meeting last year in which local firefighters said they don't have the manpower, equipment or expertise required should there be an accident. And officials are not given specific information about when trains will pass through their towns or the volume of oil they carry. While freight trains have long hauled hazardous materials through the region, the amount of crude oil shipped on the nation's rails has increased enormously. About 60,000 tank cars, each containing 30,000 See OIL TRAINS Page L-6 Midland Park cop's smile remembered By STEVE JANOSKI STAFF WRITER POMPTON LAKES Christopher Birch, the 31-year-old Midland Park police officer who died July 6 in an ATV accident, was laid to rest Monday after a funeral that drew hundreds, including police from departments across North Jersey. Birch, a Wyckoff resident who'd been on the Midland Park police force since January 2007, was remembered as a cheerful man with an effusive smile and an intense love of police work.

Midland Park Police Chief Michael Powderley told the nearly 200 mourners at the Christ Episcopal Church in Pompton Lakes that his heart was "broken" by Birch's death. He called the officer a kind, compassionate man who earned the respect of the community and the department. "As a cop, he was everything you could have asked for and more," he said. "Chris was adored by his fellow officers, and he had an impact in our lives that we'll carry with us always. I See FUNERAL Page L-6 Former Passaic mayor battled corruption, cancer or digging up city records to uncover new evidence of political patronage.

During nearly 50 years of public service, from inside and outside of government, Semler endlessly challenged the city's politicians. She was still writing letters to the editor even in her final days. In her See SEMLER Page L-6 whistle when those numbers didn't add up. Semler, the housewife-turned-bookkeeper-turned government watchdog who served for eight years as mayor, 15 on the City Council and six on the school board, died Monday at the Chestnut Hill nursing home in Passaic, after a long battle with cancer, but with her legacy as a fighter of political corruption intact. She was 92.

"Whether as mayor, council-woman or simply a resident, Margie always kept a watchful eye on the working of local government and programs that help residents and families," said Mayor Alex D. Blan co in a post on his Facebook page. "Passaic is a better place because of Margie's public service. May she rest in peace." Blanco was a frequent target of Semler's wrath in her last years, which, when she was healthy, were spent as a City Hall gadfly, pounding the podium at council meetings By RICHARD COWEN STAFF WRITER In a city with a long history of political corruption, Margie Semler brought to Passaic what every citizen should want in an elected official: honesty, a keen eye for numbers and a willingness to blow the MARGIE SEMLER 888-ORITANI oritani.com Offices located in Bergen, Hudson, Passaic Essex Counties Corporate Office: 370 Pascack Road, Township of Washington, NJ 07676 (201 664-5400 til NO APPLICATION FEES! ORITANI Oritani offers some of the best rates around Promotion is for single family owner occupied residences located in NJ. Other terms are available.

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