Producer: Anna Bloom
Crew: Maggie Fazeli Fard, N’Jeri Eaton & Amanda Martinez
Endangered elephant is subject of new film
Photo courtesy of Phil Buccellato / Phil Buccellato films a wild elephant in Minneriya National Park in Sri Lanka, where he produced and directed a documentary about the human-elephant conflict.
There’s nothing inconspicuous about a charging 10,000-pound Asian elephant, but for three uninitiated Pascack Valley natives, the range of sounds that suddenly ripped through Sri Lanka’s Lahugala forest on a warm evening last September was, to say the least, surprising. Shaking trees and snapping branches heralded the charge of a young male seeking to intimidate Phil Buccellato, a documentary filmmaker who grew up in Hillsdale, and his crew members, Jon Schmid and Charlie Tighe of River Vale.
Sixteen days into their trek through Sri Lanka, a small island nation off the southeastern coast of India, this wasn’t the trio’s first elephant sighting, nor their first time witnessing a charge. But despite the safe cover provided by an old Land Rover truck and the company of an experienced guide, Samantha, the trio couldn’t help “hoping that the protection bracelets the Buddhist monk tied to our wrists would actually work.” Read More
Council ‘admonishes’ longtime councilwoman, volunteer
By MAGGIE FAZELI FARD
On Monday, Dec. 21 the Woodcliff Lake Mayor and Council met for the first time since making headlines for a councilwoman’s alleged improper use of the borough’s membership cards at discount stores like Costco and Restaurant Depot. While a half dozen residents called for Councilwoman Joanne Howley’s removal from the governing body, her fellow council members simply passed a resolution “admonishing” her and authorized Borough Administrator Ed Sandve to supervise the use of the membership cards in the future.
“Of the many matters I’ve had to deal with as mayor, none have received [this] attention of the mayor and council, the public or the press,” said Mayor Joseph LaPaglia as one resident stood in the back of the council chambers holding a neon green poster with a single word, “Unethical,” written on it. Read More
It’s a Small World
David Wilson/East Bay Monthly — Husband-and-wife team Obdulia Loera and Martin Mijangos borrowed $10,000 from San Jose’s Opportunity Fund to jump-start their Fremont auto repair business.
How microlending is helping low-income East Bay residents build their own businesses.
By Maggie Fazeli Fard
East Bay Monthly, December 2009
The winter of 2008 was a cold one in the East Bay, with temperatures in January hovering around highs of about 60 degrees and lows dipping uncomfortably into the 30s. But if you ask Obdulia Loera, it was even colder at the intersection of Thornton Avenue and Post Street in Fremont.
In November 2007, Loera and her husband, Martin Mijangos, had opened their own business, the Family Auto Repair shop in Fremont, a longtime dream of Martin’s. Shivering in a corner of the garage that winter, wrapped in a heavy coat, ledger books spread on the secondhand desk before her, Loera was preoccupied with paying their bills, keeping the new business alive, and someday being able to afford to construct a small office with walls and insulation for her little corner.
“We started with nothing,” recalls 46-year-old Loera, the mother of three, her lilting voice revealing her Mexican heritage. She pushes loose strands of her shoulder-length, auburn hair behind her ears and tugs at the cream-colored wrap she’s wearing as if the thoughts of her first winter in business are enough to chill her on this warm October day nearly two years later. “We came in with just enough money for the deposit,” she continues. “This desk we bought from a secondhand store. We had no tools, no lift, no office, no phone, no computer, no money to advertise. I was doing the receipts by hand. We didn’t have a sign. We didn’t have a grand opening party. We didn’t have any cars! I had to bring my own car to make it look like we were in business. We were surviving with nothing.” Read More