Free Republic

Jurors have found a New Jersey park ranger not guilty of reckless manslaughter for the deadly shooting of a member of the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation, CBS 2 HD has learned. The shooting happened after rangers arrested Emil Mann on charges of illegal weapons possession and stopped several others for riding all-terrain vehicles in 2006. At trial, a lawyer for ranger Chad Walder said he was on the verge of being disarmed when he fired three times in self-defense. Mann died nine days later. Prosecutor James Santulli said Mann was unarmed and standing about five feet away with his hands...

For decades, Vivian Milligan complained that the government ignored the Ramapough Mountain community when Ford Motor Co. dumped a sea of waste in their Upper Ringwood community.   Longtime environmental activist Vivian Milligan says her heart was "pounding" when former state DEP chief invited her to Washington D.C. for her senate confirmation hearing as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.  On Wednesday, Milligan, who rarely ventures out of the area, plans to make her first trip to Washington D.C. – at age 57 — as a guest of former DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson.  The U.S. Senate is expected to confirm...

OPINION THE RECORD The Mahwah shooting Tuesday, April 4, 2006 THE RECORD'S EDITORIAL STAFF THE TRAGIC weekend altercation between state park police officers and Ramapough Mountain Indians demands a rigorous and thorough investigation by Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli. So far, the information about the shooting incident simply does not add up, and the prosecutor's silence on the case has only compounded the problem. Although the incident in the Mahwah section of Ringwood State Park occurred on Saturday afternoon, only a tiny bit is known with any certainty. During a confrontation between park police officers and an estimated two dozen...

N.J. warns: Don't eat squirrel near dump Thu Jan 25, 5:36 PM ET TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey has warned squirrel hunters near a toxic waste dump about consuming the critters because they could be contaminated with lead. It is the first time the state has cautioned Ringwood residents _ many who are members of the Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe who hunt and fish in the area _ about their squirrel intake, said Tom Slater, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Senior Services. A lead-contaminated squirrel was found in the area two months ago, prompting the agency, along...

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey has warned squirrel hunters near a toxic waste dump about consuming the critters because they could be contaminated with lead. It is the first time the state has cautioned Ringwood residents - many who are members of the Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe who hunt and fish in the area - about their squirrel intake, said Tom Slater, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Senior Services. A lead-contaminated squirrel was found in the area two months ago, prompting the agency, along with the state Department of Environmental Protection, to send out letters advising...

INDIANA BAT RINGWOOD -- Ford's toxic waste dump may be home to a tiny newcomer, posing a big problem for neighbors seeking a speedy cleanup.  The Indiana bat, a nationally listed endangered species, may be in the area. And that has interrupted tree clearing at the dump even though residents say the contamination is making them ill and should be removed as soon as possible.  Wildlife personnel are investigating whether the bats, which winter in mines and summer in the bark of large trees, are living at the Upper Ringwood site."We realize some work has stopped and we understand...