Columns/Opinions

Nunzio and MaryLou DePaola of Livingston wrote to the Tribune this week to applaud the members of the Livingston Fire and Police Departments “for being our heroes.”

She wrote, “On Sunday, we had an electrical fire in our garage. We were blessed we were home, and we all got out safely.

“Watching from our neighbor’s front yard, seeing the black smoke bellowing out of the garage, was horrifying and paralyzing. We thought we were going to lose our home. Within three minutes of my call to 9-1-1, Chief Mullin and two other volunteers pulled up to our home and ran in with extinguishers. Shortly afterwards, several volunteer firefighters, police officers, and three fire engines, with a number of other firefighters, arrived to assist. These fine emergency responders saved our home in less than ten minutes of my call to 9-1-1.”

Editor’s Note: Each year, the various veterans’ posts in Livingston submit a piece for publication about a particular branch of the armed forces in preparation for the Memorial Day Parade. The Jewish War Veterans of the USA Post 740, named for the late Dan Michelson, this week submitted an article by Stephanie Rudy, U.S. Navy, ret.

On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the purchase of two vessels to be armed for a cruise against British merchantmen, thus creating the Continental Navy which is considered the first establishment of the U.S. Navy. In 1972, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt authorized the Navy to celebrate its birthday on October 13 in honor of the establishment of the Continental Navy in 1775.

The Unites States Navy is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Services. It is also the most powerful and largest navy worldwide.

Dear Editor:

Wow! It’s May, which means we are approaching the Cycle For Survival NJ event being held in Livingston (where it all started!) outside at Haines Pool on May 14 from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. I will be there in the morning sharing a bike as part of “Team: A Mission Continued… Jennifer Goodman Linn.”

This amazing organization was started in 2007 by Livingston’s Jennifer Goodman Linn and her husband, David, when Jenn was fighting her battle against sarcoma. Jenn’s legacy continues as Cycle for Survival has evolved into a national cancer fundraising organization run by Memorial Sloan Kettering and has already this year raised $300 million dollars!

What makes CFS unique? 100 percent of the money raised by CFS goes to research and clinical trials with zero administrative costs. All research is shared with other major cancer centers, and money for clinical trials is distributed within six months.

Municipal Clerk

For the first time in many years, there has been a shake-up at Livingston’s municipal clerk office, following the retirement of Glenn Turtletaub and the promotion of deputy clerk Carolyn Mazzucco into the head position.

Glenn is retiring after more than 30 years of service to his hometown, including 11 years as municipal prosecutor and 21 years as township clerk. The municipal clerk position is vital to the success of a community’s operations and the functioning of its governing body. During his tenure, there have been dozens of Council members, mayors, and township managers. But through it all, Glenn was always there, steady and rock solid, a veritable lighthouse in a sea of change.

With the advent of warmer weather, we are seeing more people – especially children – out around town. That means it’s time to think about vehicle and roadway safety. This past month, the state conducted its “UDrive. UText. UPay” campaign, cracking down on distracted driving. But it’s not just about avoiding traffic tickets; it is about personal responsibility and weighing the value of human life.

According to the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, talking and texting on cell phones is the number one cause of distracted driving among drivers of all ages. Nine people in the United States are killed each and every day in crashes that involve a distracted driver, the CDC’s Transportation Safety division reports.

While distracted driving used to be characterized by using one’s rear view mirror to apply make-up or eating a full meal in the car, it is now defined in a whole new manner, thanks to cell phones.

Dear Editor:

Now is the time – is history repeating itself? Although we entered World War II in December 1941 (with the attack on Pearl Harbor), the United States was building tanks, planes and armaments in 1940. Besides our military, our homefront rose to the challenge!

From the book Freedom’s Forge by Arthur Herman, this is the story of our homefront during World War II.

One of the topics discussed at the Five on Five meeting concerned an issue currently facing the community: a crossing guard shortage. Crossing guards tend to be older (typically, they are retirees), and much of that demographic has been slow to return to the role since the COVID pandemic closed schools in 2020.

It has become a real problem in town. Crossing guard positions all need to be filled. And with additional housing complexes expected to be built in the coming years, it is likely that there will be even more students in Livingston’s schools. With that will come more traffic, and an even stronger need for good people to help guide our children across busy roadways.

There is nothing more important than keeping our students safe traveling to and from school. So, out of necessity, Livingston’s police officers have been covering the empty posts, at the expense of everything else they would otherwise be doing.

Last week, Livingston’s Township Council and the Board of Education held a “Five on Five” joint meeting. The ten combined members of the Council and the Board, along with other township and school district officials, gathered to discuss shared business matters. This past meeting covered a wide variety of topics, ranging from how the township and schools can support what will soon be a Ukrainian “sister city” of Livingston, to how the building of housing complexes will affect the school population.

These types of meetings do not happen often, but they are invaluable to our community. The work done by both the Council and the Board helps shape the quality of life for Livingston’s residents and students. But, for most things, they are cordoned off from one another, operating almost completely independently on major decisions.

Dear Editor:

Since the charity’s inception, The Tribune has been tremendously loyal to Cycle for Survival. The paper’s advocacy for our cause has significantly contributed to our New Jersey success; large numbers of Livingston people have joined the battle, in good part due to your coverage. We thank you!

So much has changed due to COVID, and we are all distracted by the pandemic. But one thing did not change. People got cancer, and people died from cancer. Fact: more people in our country lost their lives to cancer than to the virus.

During two recent meetings – one with the Township Council, and the other a joint meeting of the Council and Board of Education – Natalia Sawka shared her family’s personal connection to the war in Ukraine, using it as a way to connect the greater Livingston community with the horrors that are currently ongoing half a world away.

Sawka and her family have done incredible things in the past month. They have helped their Ukrainian hometown of Chervonohrad by supplying funds to provide food for three daycare centers that are housing 150 people. Her family also opened their Ukrainian apartment to house nine people and is providing direct financial support to an additional 20 people. This grassroots effort has taken on the name “Friends of Chervonohrad.”