Kathleen O'Keefe Real Estate

08/19/2026

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/NJBPU-Advances-Statewide-Home-Batteries-Program-with-New-Garden-State-Energy-Storage-Proposal.html?soid=1102115586534&aid=G9DdvT6ZAe4

Email from New Jersey's Clean Energy Program NJBPU Advances Statewide Home Batteries Program with New Garden State Energy Storage Proposal   View as Webpage Dear NJBPU Listserv subscribers, NJBPU h

08/02/2026

In March 1884, Sitting Bull sat in a St. Paul, Minnesota theater watching a 23-year-old woman do things no one believed possible with a r***e.

She split playing cards edge-on from 30 paces.
Snapped corks off bottles.
Snuffed out candles with bullets.

All while standing barely five feet tall.

Eight years earlier, Sitting Bull had led the warriors who wiped out Custer at Little Bighorn. He was the most feared Native leader in America—a symbol of resistance, a man the nation called a savage and a threat.

Yet here he sat, transfixed by a small, quiet woman named Annie Oakley.

After the show, Sitting Bull sent $65—nearly a month’s wages—to her hotel, asking to buy a signed photograph.

Annie returned the money.
But she kept her promise.

The next morning, she knocked on his door with the photograph in hand—no charge.

What happened next stunned everyone.

Sitting Bull, moved by her talent and grace, symbolically adopted Annie as his daughter.
He gave her a Lakota name:

Watanya Cicilla — Little Sure Shot.

Then he handed her something priceless:

the moccasins he had worn at Little Bighorn, sewn by his own daughter—the daughter he lost. Annie was about her age.

“He asked me to take the place of the daughter he lost,” she later wrote.
“When he gave me the moccasins he so prized.”

Their bond only deepened.

In 1885, when Sitting Bull joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, the Lakota chief and the Ohio sharpshooter traveled and performed together across the United States.
Two people history said should be enemies, riding side-by-side.

Annie saw him with clearer eyes than most white Americans ever did.

“He fought justly,” she said,
“for his people had been driven from their God-given inheritance and were living upon broken promises.”

When Sitting Bull was killed in 1890, Annie mourned fiercely.

“If Sitting Bull had been a white man, someone would have hung for his murder.”

She carried the name Little Sure Shot for the rest of her life—a reminder of the unlikely friendship forged from respect instead of hatred.

A Lakota chief and a girl with a r***e.
A symbol of resistance and a symbol of American legend.
Two worlds history said could never meet.
They did.
And they chose respect.
Even when the world expected war.

07/11/2026

https://www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/landmark-housing-bill-will-become-law-today-even-without-trumps-signature/?cid=eml__1946:66e221571a4446d4e6969d41:rm202607101030_Marketing_Consumer_Daily_EditorialRSSDynamic&deeplinkIdentityId=5fa74895-a1c1-40bf-af5f-fe943f945240

This would cap months of work for what is one of the most significant housing reform packages in 30 years.

06/30/2026

Serving up the latest happenings on the Garden State food scene every week.

06/30/2026

The “lock-in” myth isn’t just rates: homeowners now stay 11 years vs. 6–7 pre-recession. Buyers from 2016 may be nearing a move as tenure lengths reset.
Check out more insights in NAR’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers: https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports/home-buyer-and-seller-generational-trends

06/30/2026

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/america-250-federal-policy-housing-market/?cid=eml__1946:66e221571a4446d4e6969d41:rm202606301030_Marketing_Consumer_Daily_EditorialRSSDynamic&deeplinkIdentityId=5fa74895-a1c1-40bf-af5f-fe943f945240
Here's how the recently passed 21st Century Road to Housing Act comes into play. The sweeping bipartisan bill, which is currently awaiting President Donald Trump's signature after an unexpected delay, represents the most direct legislative attempt to tackle the inadequate housing supply.

On the eve of the 250th birthday of the U.S., a report looks at historic federal housing policies and the latest bill aimed at tackling the supply shortage.

06/28/2026

🇺🇸 Join the North Jersey Highlands Historical Society this Sunday, June 28th, for their June 2026 lecture program - "Remember the Ladies: Women in the Time of the American Revolution." Join historian Joel Farkas for a lecture on how men viewed women, the expectations of women, and the challenges of just being a woman during Revolutionary times. The program will focus on issues related to education, medicine, health, and childbirth in the 18th century. Joel will also touch upon our country’s various First Ladies and our country’s First Mother. Let’s listen to Abigail Adams and, "Remember the Ladies" as we celebrate the nation's 250th birthday!
The lecture will begin at 1:30pm and takes place at the small cottage directly next to Ringwood Manor. Program is FREE and open to the all members of the public!*
*Please note: while the program is free, the state park entrance fee will be in effect: $5 for NJ vehicles, $7 for non-NJ vehicles. See less

06/19/2026

06/15/2026

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/this-hidden-nj-pool-fed-by-a-forest-stream-is-open-for-summer/ar-AA25ykBt
The Highlands Natural Pool is now open for the 2026 season, according to its website.

The Highlands Natural Pool is now open for the 2026 season, according to its website. The community-owned facility in Passaic County is fed by a hillside stream and offers swimmers an alternative to traditional chlorinated pools. The Olympic-sized pool operates as a nonprofit adjacent to Norvin Gree...