Summit Year in Review: Most Read Stories of 2012

1.  November 7, 2012 -- Summit Mayor Makes Emergency Call to JCP&L

Following Hurricane Sandy, over 2,000 residents of Summer were still without power on Nov. 7. Mayor Ellen Dickson reached out to residents via her website and Facebook page to inform them she made an emergency call to JCP&L in order to gain more information on the outages. Following the call with the power company, Dickson posted a timeline for restoration on her Facebook page.

2. March 12, 2012 -- Cement Mixer Involved in Traffic Accident Near Springfield and Morris Avenues

On March 12 around 8:49 a.m. a cement mixer collided with a silver four-door vehicle near Springfield and Morris Avenues, according to police reports. Summit resident Kara Whitely witnessed the accident: "I was in the right lane as this happened in the left corner of Morris and Springfield," she said in an email. "Guy was stuck in concrete truck...Woman in silver vehicle jumped out." Rescue workers were still attempting to remove the driver of the cement mixer at 9:34 a.m. He was eventually removed from the vehicle.

3. November 9, 2012 -- 

With over 2,300 Summit residents and businesses without power nearly two weeks after super-storm Sandy, Summit Mayor Ellen Dickson and local are fighting back. Dickson said that officials are planning on changing the ownership of power distribution in the city. While a Facebook group started on Nov. 8 is acting as a central location for street-by-street power outage information.

4. June 28, 2012 -- Update: Fatal Tragedy in Union County Pool

A 5-year-old and 3-year-old died after falling in a backyard pool of a Union home on June 28. The two boys had climbed into a neighbors yard and drowned around 7p.m., according to reports. Both children were rushed to Overlook Hospital at pronounced dead at around 8:15 p.m.

5. December 11, 2012 -- 
A Summit resident was struck by a car when crossing Summit Avenue on Dec. 11, the driver of the vehicle was under the influence of alcohol and was arrested at the scene according to Lt. David L. Richel of the Summit Police Department. Mark Boettcher, a 51-year-old Springfield resident, was driving a 2002 Toyota southbound on Summit Avenue when he hit Dennis Balasabas, a 39-year-old Summit resident, was in the marked crosswalk when struck and suffered serious non-life threatening injuries. “The driver was arrested at the scene and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, and failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk,” Richel said.