Acupuncture in Jefferson Township, NJ

JEFFERSON TWP., NJ - Route 15 drivers beware: Lane closures will take place on Route 15 northbound and southbound tonight (Sept. 9) as the Weldon Road Bridge over the highway project advances in Jefferson, said the state Department of Transportation (DOT).

Beginning at 8 p.m. and continuing until 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, DOT contractor, Berto Construction, is scheduled to close the right lane on Route 15 northbound, as well as the left lane on Route 15 southbound underneath the Weldon Road Bridge.

Additionally, the ramp from Weldon Road eastbound to Route 15 northbound is scheduled to be closed and detoured at the same time.

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The lane and ramp closures are necessary to remove bridge girder, said the DOT. One lane of traffic will be maintained on Route 15 in each direction overnight.

The following detour will be in place:

Weldon Road eastbound to Route 15 northbound detour:

"The $7.6 million project will replace the Weldon Road Bridge over Route 15," said the state. "The new bridge will restore two lanes of traffic in each direction and improve the vertical clearance under the bridge. The project will advance in stages with the south side of the bridge being demolished and reconstructed first. Once that stage is completed, traffic will be shifted onto the newly constructed south side of the bridge to allow the north side of the bridge to be reconstructed. At least one lane of traffic will be maintained in each direction on the bridge."

The DOT will provide advance notice of any lane or ramp closures. The project is expected to be complete in the spring of 2024.

The precise timing of the work is subject to change due to weather or other factors, advised the DOT. It urged drivers to check its traffic information website www.511nj.org for construction updates and real-time travel information.

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JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP — Members of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office wanted to grab kids’ attention in an anti-bullying and cybercrime presentation Tuesday at Jefferson Township High School.

It’s an age of oversaturation online, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said, and his office has been using face-to-face assemblies to connect with middle and high school students in an effort to “stress how important it is to exercise good judgement online and in school.”

Across the U.S., 22% of students ages 12 to 18 reported being bullied at school in 2019, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Now is a time unlike others, the presentation stressed. The stakes are higher, and there’s little room for errors in judgment for today’s students.

NJ:Anti-bullying advocate will shift tactics after another New Jersey girl’s bullying-triggered death

Jefferson Township High School is well below that mark, said Assistant Principal Michael Lonie, who is the school’s disciplinarian. Its 880 students typically see "a couple dozen" bullying instances in any given year, and that number hasn't varied much in spite of the challenges the pandemic brought.

“You have to recognize your life is being filmed,” Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Samantha DeNegri said. “You don’t have the luxury of making mistakes.”

Many in DeNegri’s generation would not have the jobs they have today if social media and cellphones existed when they were young. They were more likely to get away with making mistakes.

The time when kids could get away with doing foolish things that didn’t come back to harm them is over, she said: “Every school fight, there is a video. Someone is filming it."

The point wasn’t lost on senior Gabriella Meltzer, 17.

“The speakers definitely caught my attention," Meltzer said. “You have to be mindful of what you do, because it can ruin your reputation for the rest of your life."

Take the case of a high school girl who took a picture of herself and sent it to her boyfriend, DeNegri said. He “airdropped it to the whole school.”

New Jersey:Senators push bills to address bullying and a crisis of teen depression

“You think 'it’s my body and I can do what I want.' Wrong: You’re a child. You cannot legally take pictures of yourself,” DeNegri said. “I don’t mean a selfie. I mean intimate body parts. If you take a picture of yourself, your intimate body parts, you are creating child pornography, and the second you show or share you are distributing child pornography."

Don’t learn these lessons the hard way, DeNegri said, noting that the girl tried to kill herself. “If you take a picture it is going to be shared. Don’t find out the hard way. Maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but it never stays with the intended recipient, never."

Presentations like these are effective, she said. Cases like this have decreased since the Prosecutor's Office put together the program. Students are getting the message.

Mistakes made online may come at a cost later. That was the point Sgt. Patrick LaGuerre of the Prosecutor's Office wanted to hammer home.

“Everybody, repeat after me: delete, delete, delete,” he said, and his audience repeated the mantra. Then he threw them yet another curveball.

“If we are doing an investigation, everything you have deleted on your social media or your cellphone will be retrieved,” he said. “We can retrieve everything: pictures, tweets, everything you’ve done on your computer. You cannot hide behind an IP address. From the IP address we get the location, and then there are video cameras everywhere."

Students are used to sitting in presentations like these, said senior Ashton Karim, 17, but this one did a good job of “illustrating how everything is tracked.”

“I found it surprising that they can get everything that was deleted from your snaps and messages,” he said.

Gene Myers covers disability and mental health for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Washington, DC– Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) secured key wins for NJ-11 in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which was included in the final House-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023. WRDA ensures North Jersey communities receive the support they need from the federal government in tackling key water infrastructure issues, such as flooding, PFAS, and harmful algal blooms.

“I am proud we were able to come together and pass the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act with provisions that protect our neighborhoods from flooding, restore our environment and ecosystems, and strengthen our nation’s supply chains by supporting our ports and harbors,” said Rep. Sherrill. “This legislation brings our hard-earned tax dollars back to the local communities in NJ-11 to advance critical flood control projects and support programs for water and wastewater services for North Jersey communities.”

WRDA authorizes funding for locally-driven projects and studies led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) to tackle water resource challenges across the country. Rep. Sherrill worked with the community and local stakeholders to advance several critical projects and studies for flood risk management in NJ-11. The following authorizations are included in the bill:

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Earlier this year, Rep. Sherrill secured passage of her legislation, the Providing Research and Estimates of Changes In Precipitation (PRECIP) Act, in the House. The PRECIP Act updates out-of-date precipitation data by providing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with consistent funding to conduct needed studies. This legislation works to protect communities from the increasing frequency of flooding and rainfall in North Jersey.

Rep. Sherrill also secured funding for a number of local community projects in NJ-11 to mitigate flooding and strengthen our water infrastructure in the House Appropriations Committee Fiscal Year 2022 legislation. Additionally on behalf of NJ-11, Rep. Sherrill submitted requests for additional community projects to address critical water infrastructure challenges in the upcoming House Appropriations Committee Fiscal Year 2023 bill.

2nd-generation Parsippany firm specializes in modernizing outdated and abandoned commercial property

Every town laments its outdated and antiquated commercial properties. And most developers run from them — as renovations can be too costly and time-consuming.

Commercial Realty Group seeks them out.

The second-generation family-owned firm in Parsippany has been resuscitating properties for nearly five decades.

Its latest effort: 757 Route 15 in Jefferson Township.

The building, which had long been a Pathmark grocery store, is now the Advanced Medical Center – Jefferson, a fully leased, 45,000-square-foot Class A medical office building.

The building had a soft opening in June. And no one is happier about it than Jefferson Township Mayor Eric Wilsusen.

“The building site has made an impressive shift from eyesore to eye-catching medical center, following an astounding and total transformation,” he said.

For CRG General Manager Andy Billing, the building represents another save.

Here’s how it came about.

CRG owns and manages $2.4 million square feet of industrial and medical office space that are spread out among nearly two dozen properties.

In almost every case, CRG buys an empty building, renovates it, leases it and operates it.

A few years back, it was brought in by Tri-County Orthopedics to renovate its headquarters at 197 Ridgedale Ave. in Cedar Knolls.

The two became partners in the building. And, when Tri-County was looking to add a second location in northern Morris County, the two decided to partner again.

Finding a site wasn’t easy, but they finally found it in a long-since-closed grocery store.

“We had been looking for a few years and we finally found the right place,” Billing said.

Billing said the renovations on the building took twice as long as was expected — a result of working through the pandemic.

Local officials such as Wilsusen feel it was worth the wait.

“I am extremely pleased to recognize this local and unique building site reborn to new life following several years of sitting vacant and unproductive,” he said.

The $3.85 million project involved a complete renovation, including major site improvements to increase parking at the property to a five spaces per 1,000 square feet ratio, installation of a patient drop-off area and a modernized loading area in the rear of the building. There also was vast new landscaping, which required extensive excavation.

The exterior of the building was transformed from its former shell to a white and gray facade, enhanced by handsome windows and featuring an identity tower above the main entrance crowned by a crescent (standing-seam) metal roof. A new modern roof was also installed on the entire building, to assure energy efficiency and longevity.

The building interior was completely revamped, getting new common area restrooms, new electrical distribution, new LED lighting including decorative hanging pendants in the common corridors, 12-foot ceilings finished with upgraded ceiling tile, as well as new natural-gas-fired HVAC units and automatic doors at all three patient entry points.

Tri-County, with 17,000 square feet, is the largest tenant. It shares the space with Sportscare (physical rehabilitation), ARMAC (durable medical equipment), Advanced Vascular (vascular care) and ImageCare (imaging).

What’s next for CRG?

Commercial Realty Group won a 2022 New Good Neighbor Award, an honor given by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association to the top building restoration/renovation, for the transformation of 757 Route 15 in Jefferson Township.

It was the sixth time CRG had been so honored.

Good Neighbor Award winners are chosen based on the significant contributions of each project in the creation of employment opportunities both during and following construction, as well as the benefits the site brings to residents and the business community.

“We in Jefferson Township applaud the efforts and investment made by Commercial Realty Group in our hometown,” Mayor Eric Wilsusen said.

Billing said the company always is on the lookout for antiquated properties that need a total refresh. But CRG will not sit idle until it finds them.

The company has two other projects in the pipeline in Morris County.

It will soon begin ground-up construction on a 40,000-square-foot light industrial/warehouse facility on Aspen Drive in Randolph, which it hopes to deliver in the summer of 2023.

It also is getting ready to start on a Miller’s Ale House and a 123-bed Wyndham property (which will be dual-branded as a Hawthorn Suites and La Quinta) just off Route 10 in Parsippany — next to the Starbucks the company owns and operates.

Billing said the company aims to open those properties in the late spring, early summer of 2023.

Throughout it all, Billing said CRG will continue to do what it has done best since it was founded by his father, Stu Billing, in the early 1970s: turn eyesores into eye-catching spaces.

“It’s what we do,” he said.

Area's Only Locally Sourced Farm Store Opens April 1

CHESTER, N.J., Feb. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jefferson Township area residents will soon have convenient and year-round access to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables produced at Alstede Farms, a family-owned and operated farm that has nourished New Jersey families for 40 years. Alstede Fresh at Lindeken Farms will open on April 1, according to Kurt Alstede, founder of Alstede Farms. Additional details, including hours of operation, will be announced soon.

Located at 54 State Route 15 and Berkshire Valley Road in Jefferson Township, Alstede Fresh at Lindeken Farms will offer seasonal locally-grown fruits and vegetables direct from the Alstede farm fields in Chester. There will also be apple cider, home-baked pies, dairy products, cider donuts, jams, jellies, and soups; as well as other grocery items. Families can also purchase Christmas trees in December, sign up for the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, and access free online recipes for healthy meals, and snacks.

The farm store is Alstede Farms' fourth location and, according to Alstede, the area's only locally sourced farm store. "We can't wait to share with families the goodness of what we grow," said Alstede. "That we make this goodness accessible to everyone, every day, matters to us. We look forward to being an important part of the local community."

With the opening of the farm store on Route 15, Alstede Farms is continuing a tradition started 73 years ago by the Stanlick family when it opened Lindeken Farms in 1949. Alstede Fresh at Lindeken Farms' current retail space was formerly occupied by Lindeken Farms which, for generations improved families' quality of life by providing a steady supply of locally grown produce.

Major building renovations and an architectural refresh are underway to better reflect the Alstede Farms brand, but "the spirit of the building remains," said Alstede. "Our family and our team members are proud to continue Lindeken Farms' tradition and keep the Stanlick legacy alive in the community."

Alstede is a first-generation farmer who started Alstede Farms in 1982. His wife, comes from a family that has farmed in for more than 100 years. Alstede's children inherited a passion for farming and plan to remain in the business while completing their college degrees and using their talents and gifts as second-generation farmers.

Alstede Farms' original retail store is located on their family farm at 1 Alstede Farms Lane in . Two farmstands – Alstede Fresh at / (378 Route 24, between and ) and Alstede Fresh at (831 US-206, ) – operate seasonally, from April to November.

Alstede Farms is best known for its 300+ varieties of fresh produce harvested on 800 acres of preserved farmland in . The farm offers the area's largest selection of , including blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, apples, pumpkins, peppers, tomatoes, and more. A tractor-drawn hay wagon transports customers to and from the farm fields. The farm is also 12 acres of land growing successive plantings of sunflowers. Visit .