William E. Cleary Sr. | Cleary’s Notebook News
Cheer –Newly appointed Superintendent of School Paul Spaventa found out that not all video tapes of school board meetings were being given to the Local cable Channel 19 for public viewing. Someone either in the administration and/or on the school board was choosing what tapes the public got to view. As soon as it was brought to his attention the superintendent corrected the problem. Thanks Mr. Spaventa for righting a wrong.
CNBNews Named One of New Jersey’s Top Blogs for the Second Straight Year
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (May 9, 2026)–Cleary’s Notebook News (CNBNews) received a welcome honor this week: Feedspot has once again ranked the site among the top blogs in New Jersey, marking the second consecutive year CNBNews has earned a spot on the statewide list.
Feedspot released its 2026 Best New Jersey Blogs rankings on May 1. The list evaluates blogs across several criteria, including content relevance, subject expertise, posting frequency, and overall freshness. Sites demonstrating the strongest credibility and influence within the New Jersey media landscape rise to the top. Feedspot updates the rankings regularly to reflect the most active and impactful blogs operating today.
This year, CNBNews tied for the No. 12 position. In 2025, the site ranked No. 11 out of 80 blogs, placing it firmly among the state’s most trusted independent news sources.
Founded in 2006 by William E. Cleary Sr., CNBNews has spent two decades delivering watchdog reporting, community news, and commentary across Gloucester City, South Jersey, and the Philadelphia region. Cleary, the longtime former editor and publisher of the Gloucester City News and the Camden County Record, continues to lead the site’s coverage.
Feedspot, a widely used content‑aggregation platform, helps readers follow blogs, podcasts, news sites, magazines, YouTube channels, and RSS feeds from one centralized dashboard. Its curated rankings highlight standout publishers who consistently inform, engage, and serve their audiences.
For CNBNews, the recognition is another reminder of what independent, local journalism can accomplish when it stays committed to accuracy, persistence, and public accountability.
Here are 70 Best New Jersey Blogs you should read and follow in 2026. Subscribe in one place on FeedSpot Reader.
Continue reading “Out of a Field of 70, Clearys Notebook #12”William E. Cleary Sr. | CNBNews Editor
THE SECRETIVE GLOUCESTER CITY COUNCIL(Monday, July 20, 2015)—At a recent executive session of the Gloucester City Mayor and Council, City Solicitor Leonard Wood gave an in-depth report on the ongoing negotiations with the NHP Foundation and what they are looking to do with financing the purchase of city-owned property Chatham Square.
CNBNews submitted an OPRA requesting a copy of that report to the council and was told by the custodian of records, Kathy Jentsch, “This matter is currently in the negotiation stage. These materials are in the possession of our attorney for that purpose-attorney-client privilege”.
Continue reading “CNBNews Digital Archives: You Have a Right to Know”GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (April 26, 2026)(CNBNews)–To better keep you informed, we have made a video of the mayor and council meeting’s agenda for your perusal. Normally, we would have copied and pasted the agenda onto our website, but because Gloucester City posts the documents as a PDF each month, that process is very time‑consuming. The raw video is below this article. To pause a page of the agenda, click on the page you want to read.
The meeting is scheduled for 7 PM, Monday, April 27, 2026, at the Police Administrative Building, 313 Monmouth Street, in the courtroom.
The 37‑page agenda contains several items that stand out. For example, the agenda includes a resolution that will introduce the 2026-27 city budget, but the amount of the budget is not included. Also missing from the resolution is the amount of the local property tax; does it increase? If so by how much. Instead, the resolution states that residents can stop at the municipal building if they want to know that information. There was a time when the entire budget would be published in the local paper. And, not too long ago, the city offered a Friendly budget that was easy to read.
Continue reading “Gloucester City Council to Purchase More Vehicles, Raise Employee Salaries, Introduce Budget”William E. Cleary Sr. | CNBNews
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (April 25, 2026)(CNBNews)—In 2007, Gus Danks—Gloucester Catholic Class of 1963 and a classmate of mine—reached out to tell me about a film he had just seen, We Are Marshall. The movie recounts the devastating 1970 plane crash that claimed the lives of 75 people connected to the Marshall University football program. Among those lost was Al Carelli, (photo) Gloucester Catholic Class of 1961.
According to Wikipedia, We Are Marshall (2006), directed by McG, dramatizes the aftermath of the crash of Southern Airways Flight 932, which killed 37 Marshall football players, five coaches, two athletic trainers, the athletic director, 25 boosters, and the five‑member flight crew.
On the night of November 14, 1970, the chartered DC‑9 was returning the team to Huntington, West Virginia, after a 17–14 loss to East Carolina University. Just one mile short of the Tri-State Airport runway, the aircraft clipped trees on a ridge and crashed into a gully, killing everyone on board.
A South Jersey Native on the Rise
Continue reading “Remembering Al Carelli: A GCHS Alumnus Lost in the 1970 Marshall University Plane Crash”William E. Cleary Sr. | Cleary’s Notebook News
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ(CNBNews)(April 23, 2026)–The Gloucester City Little League (GCLL) will celebrate a major milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., when it inducts the inaugural class into its newly created Wall of Fame. The ceremony will take place at the Johnson Boulevard and Nicholson Road complex and will honor five longtime contributors whose dedication shaped the league and the community it serves.
Continue reading “Gloucester City Little League to Induct Inagural Wall of Fame Class April 24”By William E. Cleary Sr.
TRENTON (APRIL 14, 2026)(Cleary’s Notebook News) – Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, along with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, announced on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, that the State Board of Medical Examiners has permanently revoked the medical license of a Camden County physician following his federal conviction for conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled dangerous substances (CDS).
Edward Lundy, who operated a family medicine practice in Gloucester City, at 1017 Market Street, for over 40 years, admitted to conspiring with others to distribute more than 1,600 oxycodone pills outside the bounds of legitimate medical practice. He entered a guilty plea in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in January 2026 and is scheduled for sentencing in May. His office was raided by the FBI in July 2025.
Continue reading “Gloucester City Doctor Edward Lundy Loses Medical License; To Be Sentenced In May”VINELAND, NJ (Cleary’s Notebook News)(April 7, 2026) — The Vineland Police investigation into the death of Philadelphia Christian Pastor Lance Warren on New Year’s Eve concluded on Friday, April 3, 2026, resulting in the arrest of Donald Hunt Jr., 34, of Pittsgrove. Hunt had been free since the accident, pending the outcome of the accident investigation.
Image source Cleary’s Notebook News
APRIL CHEERS AND JEERS
Gloucester City Firefighter Settles Lawsuit for $45K
Written by William E. Cleary Sr.
JEER — To the ongoing dysfunction inside the Gloucester City Fire Department
A recently settled lawsuit revealed allegations of harassment, retaliation, and hostility toward an injured firefighter, ending in a $45,000 payout by the city. The details paint a picture of leadership problems that taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for.
The source for the $45,000 payout by Gloucester City is a March 27, 2026, report by Transparency NJ, written by open‑government advocate John Paff. The article details the settlement of a lawsuit filed by firefighter Kyle Jeffries, (photo) who alleged disability discrimination, harassment, and retaliation within the Gloucester City Fire Department. The city agreed to pay $45,000 to resolve the case — $23,804 to Jeffries for emotional distress and $21,196 for attorney fees.
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Key points from the documented settlement
The lawsuit stemmed from a June 2023 training injury and the firefighter’s subsequent treatment while on light duty. In his lawsuit, Kyle Jeffries, who began working for the department in 2014, alleged that he sustained a ruptured nerve in his spine leading to his left leg during a swift water training exercise in June 2023. He alleged that after reporting the injury and seeking medical treatment, he was placed on light-duty status but faced hostility from both supervisors and coworkers.
Allegations included hostility from supervisors, delayed workers’ comp paperwork, and retaliatory shift changes.
The settlement was finalized in August 2025, but publicly reported in March 2026.
The city did not admit wrongdoing, but paid the settlement to close the case. The mayor and council never said a word to the taxpayers who footed the bill for this case.
Continue reading “Cleary’s Notebook Presents”By William E. Cleary Sr.
REMEMBERING THE “GOOD OLD DAYS” — Howard “Butch” Shaffer rolled up from Hilton Head, South Carolina, to meet a few of his childhood buddies at the Brooklawn Diner on Thursday, April 2. For a moment, it felt like Gloucester City in the 1940s and ’50s all over again — a town where everyone knew your name, your father’s nickname, and which streetlight you were supposed to be home by.
Back then, our little community ran on corner stores, church bells, and the kind of front‑porch gossip that traveled faster than any newspaper. World War II was winding down, the Korean War was starting up on the other side of the world, and kids like us were more worried about stickball games, jukebox music, and whether we had enough change for a Coke.
Continue reading “TIPS AND SNIPPETS: Growing Up In Gcity, Cleanup of Junk Yard? Train Blocks Traffic”