Columns/Opinions

Summer is over already? Really? Well, it is if you go by the school calendar. Believe it or not, today, Thursday, September 1, is the first day of classes for Livingston Public School students.

Yes, it is that time of year that harried parents cherish and children looking to squeeze every inch out of their summer vacation dreads: Back to school.

We look forward to the football games and band recitals, the robotics tournaments and art shows. To new friendships forged and memories made.

To all of our parents, teachers, and students, welcome back to school. We hope you are as excited about it as we are.And with school back in session, it is a good time to consider what more we can do to keep our children safe.

While we are still in the dog days of August, fall is not far away, and with it comes another round of Board of Education and Township Council elections in Livingston. These are both contested elections; now that the filing deadlines have passed, we know there will be 11 candidates running for various seats.

Four people are running to fill two open seats on the Board of Education. Those candidates are incumbent Seth Cohen, as well as newcomers Adriana Bordoni, Parul Khemka, and Marjorie Wang. Board member Sam Messer, whose term is expiring at the end of the year, will not be seeking reelection to the Board, but instead will be one of seven candidates running for three open seats on the Township Council.

A few weeks ago, we had our first lanternfly sighting of the season at the Tribune office. The pesky bug flew right into the door, as if it was knocking and asking to come in. While it was the first lanternfly to grace our building this season, it was far from the last.

We know we are not alone in finding these insects, as we have seen them throughout town and have received numerous calls from residents confirming visits from this latest generation of the cropdestroying spotted lanternflies which has been hatching throughout New Jersey. The bugs are colorful, eye-catching, and look different throughout their life cycle, which can make identifying them a challenge. And right about now is when they have reached full maturity and are laying egg masses that will hatch next spring.

Dear Editor: PFAS is an organic contaminant that can cause serious illness.

The editorial in the August 4, 2022 edition of the West Essex Tribune on the need to conserve our town’s drinking water contains the following paragraph: “It is also well worth noting that conserving water, according to town officials, decreases the amount of water that must be used from wells in violation of state PFAS thresholds, as well as prevents the need to purchase water from costly outside sources.”

As summer starts to wind down, hundreds of residents are about to embark on an exciting, and somewhat scary journey: starting college. It’s a momentous step, but our young residents are well prepared to begin secondary education, and to succeed, thanks in no small part to their upbringing in this town and its stellar school and support systems.

Dear Editor: I read and reread Ms. Scher’s letter to the editor in last week’ s issue of the Tribune and felt that I needed to respond. She stated that she did not “appreciate the ‘angry’ citizens” writing to the Tribune to express their “anger” in response to the Town Council’s condemnation of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Nor did she think the Tribune is the place to express their “anger” when that “anger” is a projection of the opinion they were force fed.

I found her remarks to be disrespectful to the writers who took the time to express their opinions and I don’t appreciate her assumptions that they don’t care about human life and that they should consider rescuing one of the 424,000 children in the foster care program. She then follows up with a number of uninformed assumptions and recommendations.

Dear Editor: I read the articles every week about shoplifters who get caught at the Livingston Mall. Almost every single case gets downgraded by the Essex County prosecutor to a minor infraction.

This week, there was one about a person who was charged with theft of over $1,200 and using minors to assist him. Why was this downgraded? This person should have a record of theft, not of a disorderly persons charge.

No wonder there is so much crime at the mall. Penalties are too light for these criminals, so they keep coming back for more.

Al Brief

Brandon Avenue

This week, the Tribune presents its bi-annual “Celebrate Livingston’s History” section. It is one of our most popular features, in part because it speaks to our township’s sense of community; no matter who we are, we live here, together, in Livingston, and we all share that common thread.

Not too many towns have a sense of pride and stability that lend to multiple history-focused issues each year. It’s a fun and informative way to learn about our town, whether you are new to Livingston, or your family has been here for generations! From our Fire Department, which is over 100 years old and hosting a centennial celebration this fall, to businesses that have been around for half a century and endure to this day, it is always a treat to open these pages and see what once was and what continues to thrive.

Dear Editor: My name is Lily Scher and I am a 24 year old person, born and raised in Livingston, NJ. Every single week since I was a little kid, I have watched my dad, Brad Scher, read the West Essex Tribune. He would chuckle at the photos of kids in town and share reports about who is graduating from which school with such-and-such honors. My dad loved your paper very much.

We lost my dad in May of this year and it was a tragic blow to my family and to the world as a whole. He was a kind and understanding person with a huge heart. That being said, during my visit home to see my mom this weekend, I picked up the West Essex Tribune (that my dad still is subscribed to) and figured I would give it a read myself. I very much enjoyed my read, specifically the celebration in Jenny’s Journal. Congratulations on 20 years Jenny!

For the past few weeks, the township has been asking residents to be mindful of their water use. Last week, officials even said that “brown is the new green” when it comes to lawns, a status symbol that means you are treating water like the precious resource that it is.

As of mid-July, drought monitors consider Essex County to be “abnormally dry,” which is the stage below a moderate drought condition. Coupled with the hot weather, a week or two with no rain could easily put Livingston over the edge.

Although, at the moment, our wells are still producing sufficient water to meet demand, this will soon change if we don’t get some significant rainfall. Officials hope to head off this scenario by asking residents to voluntarily conserve water, before greater restrictions have to be formally imposed.