Montclair's Top Stories of 2012

There were a lot of articles posted on the Montclair Patch in 2012, but these stories were the elite. When it came to the numbers, these were the most read stories of the year. 

Is This Christian Grey?

Montclair Patch formally wrote about the frenzy surrounding New York Times bestseller "Fifty Shades of Grey" at Watchung Booksellers and elsewhere. The continued interest surrounding the steamy trilogy penned by British author E. L. James has been strong enough to keep us wondering what's next.

Now that the movie rights have been sold to Universal Pictures and Focus Features, debates have broken out over who should play the main two characters capturing the imaginations of millions of readers around the world.

Brian Schiavetti, 21, was shot and killed in what police called a “targeted” incident in Montclair.

Sandy Hits Montclair

This was a continuous thread of updates and information posted after Hurricane Sandy rolled through Montclair at the end of October. 

Prosecutor Says Teacher Allegedly Had Sex With Student

A West Orange High School honors teacher -- who was chosen by other educators as Essex County "Teacher of the Year" last year -- was for having an alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.

Erica Depalo, 33, of Montclair, was arrested and charged with having an alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy, who is a student at the high school. The relationship allegedly began in June and ended in August, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Montclair 2012 Sweeps Election With Robert Jackson Declared Mayor

Following a contentious and hard-fought race, Robert Jackson was declared the mayor of Montclair, garnering nearly half the total of 8,024 votes cast in the nonpartisan local election.

Sandy Photo Gallery: Montclair

Powerful winds wreaked havoc on Montclair's many trees during Hurricane Sandy, and rains poured down throughout the day and night causing power outages.

These were the scenes around town that residents saw after the super storm. 

UPDATE: Montclair Man Charged In Murder Of Villanova Student

A 21-year-old Montclair man was charged with murder in the shooting death of a University of Villanova student, whom police said was apparently killed during a robbery.

Middle School Principal Demoted By Board

The Montclair School Board voted Monday night to terminate Samantha Morra's position as assistant principal of Mount Hebron Middle School and return her to a teaching position in the district.

School District Investigating Mt. Hebron Asst. Principal

School district officials confirmed that the Central Office is investigating Samantha Morra, assistant principal at Mount Hebron Middle School, to determine whether she enrolled her children in Montclair schools using a Montclair mailing address that is actually part of the Little Falls school district.

Vote: The Best Pizza in Montclair

Montclair has plenty of places in town where you can get a pizza, so before asking for your favorite, we tried to narrow it down by conducting an informal survey of about 100 readers.