Columns/Opinions

Congratulations Graduates

It is a very special day for many of our Livingston families. Today, Thursday, June 22, students from Livingston High School’s Class of 2023 are attending their graduation ceremony and receiving their diplomas.

For many, high school graduation marks the transition to secondary education, with students taking what they have learned in Livingston and applying it in the greater world. High school graduations are a bridge from one part of life to the next, whether it is to college, directly to the workforce, to military service, or a gap year. We wish our seniors luck in wherever their respective bridges take them. We eagerly look forward to seeing all that this class will accomplish.

Juneteenth

After becoming a federal holiday two years ago, Juneteenth will be observed on Monday, June 19, with many people having a day off work tomorrow, Friday June 16, which is 2023’s federally recognized date of observation.

For millions of non-Black Americans, observance of this holiday may still be very new. Juneteenth is a celebration of June 19, 1865, the date that a Union Army general arrived in Galveston, Texas to inform enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended, President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and they were free.

Last year, I had a “Little Free Library” installed near the side door of the Tribune office. Inspired by a feature story in our paper, I purchased the kit to make the library, and a couple of lovely young men in town built and installed it for me. They even included a couple of books to get us started. My staff and I brought in books from home that we were done with, and stuffed the library full.

I was ridiculously excited about our little library, and checked it every day to see what books had been taken. At first, there didn’t seem to be any action at all, but after a few weeks, people discovered the library. Books that I was sure would be gone in an instant, instead sat on the shelves for weeks or even longer. Some that I thought nobody would want were snatched up instantly. I had so much fun watching the shelves to see what was claimed.

My twin boys turned three last month, which is just mind-boggling to consider. It still feels like yesterday that they were born, in May of 2020, which was certainly an interesting time to become a first-time father of two to say the least.

Yet, it also feels like much longer than three years when I stop to consider all the diaper changes, uneaten meals, and protested bedtimes. If there’s one thing I was told before the boys were born that rings true, it is, most certainly, that the days feel long but the years feel short. It’s interminable, and yet it’s also gone by like a breeze.

And at three years old, they really are a lot of fun! I can have actual conversations with them. They’re getting into board games (which is wonderful, but I never need to play Candyland again). They recently had their first soccer practices. I can take them to the occasional movie.

Dear Editor: A Livingston resident called me this week to report how he was scammed by someone pretending to be from Microsoft; texting him and stating his computer was hacked, loaded with malware and needed to be repaired.All that was required was granting entry to his computer and a few minutes to correct it to avoid any contamination.

Of course this was a scam using false identification. The scammer had used AI to create a false Microsoft listing and what seemed to be legitimate Microsoft identification.

Allowing the scammer to take control of his computer resulted in the taking of much of his personal information. This led to the taking of thousands of dollars from the resident’s bank account. Plus, an attempt at identity theft. The attempt at identity theft was thwarted but required changing credit cards, bank accounts and other asset registrations, plus freezing credit bureau accounts.

Welcome to the Tribune

While the West Essex Tribune’s regular readership will not notice many changes to this week’s issue, some are picking up our paper for the first time. This week’s edition is a TMC (Total Market Coverage) issue, the second of four newspapers this year that we will send to every home in Livingston.

Dear Editor: A Livingston resident called me this week to report how he was scammed by someone pretending to be from Microsoft, texting him and stating his computer was hacked, loaded with malware and needed to be repaired.All that was required was granting entry to his computer and a few minutes to correct it to avoid any contamination.

Of course this was a scam using false identification. The scammer had used AI to create a false Microsoft listing and what seemed to be legitimate Microsoft identification.

Allowing the scammer to take control of his computer resulted in the taking of much of his personal information. This led to the taking of thousands of dollars from the resident’s bank account. Plus, an attempt at identity theft. The attempt at identity theft was thwarted but required changing credit cards, bank accounts and other asset registrations, plus freezing credit bureau accounts.

Last month, the Township Council issued a proclamation and passed a resolution declaring “Book Choice Freedom” in Livingston.

The resolution confirmed the township’s support of residents’ freedom to read whatever books they please, and denounced censorship and the efforts of “some individuals, groups, and public authorities” to “remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label ‘controversial’ views, to distribute lists of ‘objectionable’ books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society.” The resolution also noted that “the freedom to read is essential to our democracy,” and that the township “encourages free people to read freely, now and forever.”

Through the end of this week, concluding on June 4, the Livingston Police Department is conducting a seat belt enforcement and education initiative, as part of the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign to crack down on unbuckled motorists and passengers.

These check points can easily be spotted throughout town – and that’s the point. This high visibility, high saturation patrol is designed not simply to hand out tickets, but rather to reiterate the lifesaving value of wearing a seat belt. It is something that is so simple, yet so many people still choose not to buckle up despite it being the easiest way to protect oneself on the road. More than 15,000 lives are saved nationally each year due to seat belt use, according to the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.

In March, Senator Anthony Bucco introduced legislation, S3739, which would delay the state’s fourth round of Fair Share Housing obligations by three years. Last week, that bill added several co-sponsors in Senators Jon Bramnick, Edward Durr, Holly Schepisi and Kristin Corrado, indicating some level of support for it.

The next ten-year round of affordable housing requirements is currently slated to begin in 2025, while the bill requests a delay to July 1, 2028. The COVID pandemic and related shutdowns, which have stymied municipalities from satisfying their third round obligations, was cited as the reason for the delay.

This certainly reflects the situation in Livingston, where the town is still dealing with legal battles related to its third round obligations.