The Montgomery News has a new owner, Mighty Oaks Media. The principal owner of the company is Norman Silverstein, a resident of Hillsborough, who is married to Rosa and has three children. Mr. Silverstein is a graduate of Rutgers College and Brooklyn Law School and has had a diverse and successful career with a wide range of knowledge and experience in many fields.
Our staff had the opportunity to sit down with him and discuss his purchase of the newspaper:
Q: Did you ever read The Montgomery News before you purchased it?
A: I live in a section of Hillsborough that receives the paper every month and I always found the local community news to be engaging and interesting. It is the best place to read about local happenings.
Q: How did you discover that the paper was for sale?
A: The previous owner, Cliff Moore, ran a “for sale” ad in The Montgomery News , I saw the ad and decided to call him. So, I can testify that newspaper advertising is very effective.
Q: But, why buy a newspaper, when many people would argue that the Internet is replacing newspapers?
A: If you want to read about world or national news, you can go online and access hundreds of articles on these topics, however, for community news, there is absolutely nothing like the local paper. Incidentally, The Montgomery News will have a new web edition, which we are in the process of creating, or updating and modernizing, so readers can go online and will be able to see the photos that we could not fit in the paper. Look for the web version in March.
Q: Do you have any experience in the field of journalism?
A: Growing up my father was an avid reader and he would buy four papers every day ( The New York Times, The Star-Ledger, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily News ), so I developed a passion for newspapers at an early age. I have never changed a car transmission, but I know where to find the best mechanic, so although I have never been a journalist, I knew where to find the perfect editor in chief for our paper, namely Barbara Preston.
Q: What is your vision for The Montgomery News ?
A: In my mind, community newspapers are not like other papers. The most important job for a community paper is to be an integral part of the community; we will be sponsoring various community activities, for example: a Little League baseball team, a UNICEF marathon at the school, and raising money for local charities. Our tagline is The Voice of Your Community; so there will be articles by our local politicians, our religious leaders, parents, and students . . . we want to be a catalyst within the community by encouraging community involvement and participation.
Q: Will the appearance and stories of the paper be changing?
A: We want to freshen-up the paper with a new look, to make it vibrant and enjoyable for our readers. We are in the process of planning new features and stories for the upcoming months and we can’t wait to hear the feedback from the community.
Q: Does Mighty Oaks Media own any other media properties besides The Montgomery News, and is there any significance to the name?
A: Mighty Oaks Media is a partner in a film production company, and we currently have two projects under development; a feature movie based on the Matt Christopher book catalogue of sports stories, and a TV documentary about El Padrino and the Cuban Mafia. However, The Montgomery News is our first newspaper and who knows, there may be more to come. The name Mighty Oaks Media is rooted in the phrase, “From little acorns grow Mighty Oaks.” Perhaps The Montgomery News will grow to be a Mighty Oak.
An expansion of the entrance and staircase leading to the egalitarian section of the Western Wall by Robinson’s Arch was approved by the Jerusalem Municipality earlier this month, as part of a broader plan to upgrade the site.
Following the indefinite suspension of the comprehensive 2016 Western Wall agreement last year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been working to implement physical upgrades to the current egalitarian prayer section at the southern end of the Western Wall, known as the Ezrat Israel.
The planned renovations are relatively modest, and consist mainly of extending the current prayer platform to reach the actual ashlars of the Western Wall on one level, as opposed to the current situation where a small, lower platform is the only place where the egalitarian section touches the wall.Other minor physical upgrades will also be made to make the prayer area more aesthetically pleasing and suitable for prayer.
However, the plans to extend the prayer platform to the stones of the Western Wall actually received the requisite permits back in 2013.
As part of the current upgrades, the Prime Minister’s Office is also seeking to create a more suitable and noteworthy entrance to the egalitarian section and broaden the staircase leading down to it, something which was not included in the 2013 permits.
The egalitarian section is below street level and is accessed by a narrow, winding staircase and walkway, the entrance to which is between Dung Gate and the southern entry point to the Western Wall plaza.
This meant that seeking the approval of the Jerusalem Municipal Council could be avoided, which would have likely been blocked by the hareidi and national-religious parties in the council.
The Women of the Wall prayer group deplored the plans for the upgrade and the use of disability regulations.
“Adding a few meters under the guise of helping the handicapped is like telling Rosa Parks ‘We’re putting air conditioning in the back of the bus. Would you move there?’ It’s still the back of the bus!,” declared Women of the Wall chair Anat Hoffman. “The reason she wanted to sit in the front is because she wanted to live a normal life and be recognized as a human person. Likewise, [we] will not settle for less.”
Dr. Yizhar Hess, director of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel, said that he was “satisfied with the bottom line” of the new plans, which will allow many more people to conduct Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies at the site due to the enlarged area, particularly touching the wall itself.
He said however that the planned upgrades were a far cry from what was agreed in the 2016 solution, that they should be done in a more official manner, and that the use of disability regulations made them feel like “thieves in the night.”
EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: Paramount has prevailed in a seven figure deal to develop a movie out of The Corporation: An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld. The deal was sold based on a 100 page proposal for a book by TJ English. Benicio Del Toro is attached to play Jose Miguel Battle Sr. (“El Padrino”), the leader of “The Corporation” – also known as “The Godfather.” Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson will produce with The Picture Company’s Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman. They will produce with Jaydee Freixas and Tony Gonzalez, who controlled the rights. Paramount’s Liz Raposo championed this and Michael Hampton is the Appian Way exec who was all over this. It got pretty hot and heavy today in bidding, with multiple suitors in the mix. David Matthews, a writer on the HBO series Vinyl, will adapt the book.
Battle had an illustrious career on both sides of the law. He was Batista’s bag man, bringing him his cut from the gambling casinos when the Mafia ran Cuba. Battle escaped to the States where he and other Cubans were trained by the CIA to invade the country at the ill-fated Bay of Pigs. Having saved the lives of 28 of his men, The Godfather came out of that debacle as a certified hero to many Cuban-Americans. The core of the gang had been trained as a unit, and together formed “The Corporation.” They started out running the popular numbers racket, known as “bolita,” but soon moved on to money laundering and murder. The nonfiction book will be published in winter 2017 by William Morrow. It’s being called a Cuban version of The Godfather and American Gangster. Several other studios bid on the property. There was one from Sony, with Scott Rudin, Amy Pascal and Paul Greengrass, but they bowed out early this evening over price. Ratpac and Heyday were into it with Oscar Isaac attached to play the title character; Lionsgate and MGM teamed with Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell’s Safehouse Pictures and Antoine Fuqua; and Universal and producer Scott Stuber were also bidding. Paradigm brokered the book deal, and LBI Entertainment reps Del Toro, DiCaprio and Appian Way. This was a statement buy for Paramount in its relationship with Appian Way, which just moved its deal over there from Warner Bros. It is a priority for Brad Grey to get the prolific production company into big properties, and this has the potential to be just that. Del Toro is coming off a sizzling performance in Sicario, and this is an opportunity to play another badass character. It also gives The Picture Company a big film, as it preps the Liam Neeson-starrer The Commuter.
This comes on the heels of last month’s book rights deal that was culminated the biggest and wildest auction in memory, when Imperative Entertainment paid $5 million to win rights to make a movie out of David Grann’s book Killers Of The Flower Moon: An American Crime And The Birth Of The FBI, which Doubleday is publishing next spring.
1st UPDATE: Two other bidders also are after the Cuban American underworld tale The Corporation: Lionsgate and MGM for Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell’s Safehouse Pictures and Antoine Fuqua, and Universal with Scott Stuber.
EXCLUSIVE, 2:54pm PST: A bidding battle has erupted over The Corporation: An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld, based on a 100-page proposal by bestselling author TJ English. The nonfiction book will be published in winter 2017 by William Morrow. It’s being called a Cuban version of The Godfather and American Gangster. Jaydee Freixas and Tony Gonzalez are attached to produce and they are on the ground floor of all the bids.
This comes on the heels of last month’s book rights deal that was culminated the biggest and wildest auction in memory, when Imperative Entertainment paid $5 million to win rights to make a movie out of David Grann’s book Killers Of The Flower Moon: An American Crime And The Birth Of The FBI, which Doubleday is publishing next spring.
Bidders are still mobilizing for The Corporation, but I’m hearing that Paramount is chasing it for its new first-look deal partner Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson, with Benicio Del Toro eyeing the lead and The Picture Company’s Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman also producing, and Vinyl writer David Matthews attached to adapt. Sony is into it with Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal producing and Paul Greengrass part of it. A bid is mobilizing from Ratpac’s Brett Ratner and Heyday’s David Heyman, one where Oscar Isaac is being mentioned for the lead role.
Here’s the logline: The unique, untold American gangster story of Jose Miguel Battle Sr. (“El Padrino”), the leader of “The Corporation” – also known as “The Godfather.” He was Batista’s bag man, bringing him his cut from the gambling casinos when the Mafia ran Cuba. Battle escaped to the States where he and other Cubans were trained by the CIA to invade the country at the ill-fated Bay of Pigs. Having saved the lives of 28 of his men, The Godfather came out of that debacle as a certified hero to many Cuban-Americans. The core of the gang had been trained as a unit, and together formed “The Corporation.” They started out running the popular numbers racket, known as “bolita,” but soon moved on to money laundering and murder.
Battle and his associates never gave up the dream of killing Castro and reclaiming Cuba; they became financiers of the anti-Castro movement by funding paramilitary groups such as the Iran-Contras, Omega 7, and Alpha 66. The Corporation would survive and grow until finally being brought down by a detective who pursued them relentlessly for over 15 years. The story of The Corporation is not only the story of a unique criminal enterprise, but also the story of a generation and a culture defining itself through a brutal version of the American Experience.
Paradigm is repping the whole package and this one could get big. Stay tuned.