NJ cemetery goes solar

In order to cut electricity costs for its mausoleum, a cemetery in northern New Jersey has installed solar panels.

Southern New Jersey cemetery needs assistance

The Philadelphia NBC affiliate reports on a neglected African American cemetery in Lawnside, New Jersey, that could use some TLC.

Update: Man arrested in New Jersey cemetery heist

Police have arrested a man in the case of metal cemetery urns stolen in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

N.J. cops probe theft of metal from cemetery

Police in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, are investigating the theft of precious metals from cemetery displays.
I've written before about the fact that such thievery is a negative externality; specifically, already strapped law-enforcement and judicial resources are forced to be stretched even further to investigate and adjudicate these crimes.
Resolved for 2012: to explore how such increased negative externalities might, in fact, help boost the cause for green cemeteries. Given how squeamish some folks seem to be regarding natural burial - despite that fact it was perfectly fine up until the last 150 years or so - perhaps part of the sales pitch should be that green cemeteries reduce crime.
Photo credit: Jose F. Moreno/Courier-Post

Two ongoing woes at cemeteries: vandalism and neglect

I could post for hours on end about the problem of vandalism at cemeteries. We know that, at the very least, it causes extra work to right the wrong, and, beyond that are the police and judicial man-hours to bring the perpetrators to justice (negative externalities, as these things are called in geographic terms). Still, it's worthwhile to post an occasional reminder that this is an ongoing problem. Here are two cases in my neck of the woods: one at a Jewish cemetery in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, and the other in Camden.

Meanwhile, in Memphis, Tennessee, visitors are shocked and dismayed at the poor condition of the Hollywood Cemetery

No word on cell-phone tower in New Jersey cemetery

There have been a couple of hearings on this matter, but I've yet to find out whether a final decision has been reached on erecting a cell-phone tower in a cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

Camden, New Jersey, park cleanup uncovers graves

Some students cleaning up a park in Camden, New Jersey, were stunned to find a long-neglected African-American cemetery.

South Jersey cemetery offers green burial

Here's a story about a cemetery near the Jersey Shore that has begun offering green burials.

Residents voice objections to cell tower proposed for cemetery

Here's more on the controversy in Scotch Plains, NJ, including comments from residents impacted by the proposal.

New Jersey towns consider erecting cell tower in cemetery

The zoning board in Scotch Plains, N.J., will continue a hearing in April to hear an application by T-Mobile to erect a cell-phone tower in historic Hillside Cemetery. The tower would be used by both T-Mobile and Verizon customers.

Camden, N.J., diocese opens new cemetery

The Catholic Diocese of Camden in New Jersey has opened All Saints Cemetery in mostly rural Franklin Township in Gloucester County. The diocese says it opened the location here, because the membership has widened beyond the traditional urban/suburban locales. Here is a photo gallery from the Courier-Post site.

Overgrown Camden, N.J., cemetery overwhelms families

No one is taking care of Evergreen Cemetery in Camden, resulting in overgrowth, debris and other signs of disrepair. Click here for a gallery of photos from the Courier Post in New Jersey

Cemetery makeover planned in Vineland, NJ

A historic Jewish cemetery in Vineland, New Jersey, will get a $250,000 makeover in time for the city's 150th birthday celebration in August 2011. Among the notables buried at Siloam Cemetery are the city's founder, Charles K. Landis, and the creator of Welch's Grape Juice, Dr. Thomas Welch.

Teen vandals get community service

Four teens who vandalized a Jewish cemetery in January were ordered to perform community service as part of their sentence.

  How's this for a thought? Why not have them perform that community service by cleaning up cemeteries?

New cemetery planned for southern New Jersey

Plans are under way to create a new mausoleum/cemetery in Medford Township, Burlington County, NJ. The new operator is a former employee of NFL Films.

Land dispute in New Jersey

Middlesex County, N.J., had plans in the 1970s to widen a road near a church cemetery. As compensation for taking the land, the city of Perth Amboy supposedly gave land to the church. The road project never advance, and now that the church wants to subdivide its property, the sides are locked in a dispute about who owns what.

Thanks -- and can you help?

Here's a thank-you from cemetery officials in Modesto, Calif., for all those who helped after a massive act of vandalism at the Pioneer Cemetery, where 80 headstones were toppled.
Here's something worthy of thanks: A Boy Scout in Cape May County, N.J., worked to restore an old cemetery and tried to make it vandal-proof.
And here is a request for help from Berlin, Conn., specifically serving in an unpaid position on a cemetery board.

Cemetery expansion OK'd in New Jersey

Members of the Freehold Township Zoning Board of Adjustment voted 7-0 to approve the proposal by St. Rose of Lima Church to expand its cemetery by 4.5 acres.