News

RTS (Recycle Track Systems NJ, LLC) became Livingston’s garbage collection vendor, effective Tuesday, September 1.

The Township’s current five-year solid waste collection contract with Waste Industries ended as of August 31. The township’s purchasing manager issued bid specifications and a request for bids for the new contract period. RTS was the lower of the two bids received for this service, and were awarded the contract.

There are no changes to the collection zones or scheduled days for pickups.

Residents should contact RTS’ customer service resources regarding missed pickups and other questions or issues. The company’s email address is Livingston@rts.com and its telephone number is 1-833-RTS-LVTN (833-787-5886).

ROAD WORK: The installation of a new asphalt binder course on Coddington Terrace, prior to the final asphalt paving, is shown here from the street intersection with West Hobart Gap Road. The work was being done by employees from Stanziale Construction on Tuesday, September 1, as part of the township’s Coddington Terrace street improvement project.

Russell Jones Photos

The Livingston League of Women Voters (LWV) will conduct a debate for the candidates for the open seat on District 4 of the Essex County Commissioners (formerly known as the Board of Chosen Freeholders) on Wednesday evening, September 16, at 8 p.m. via Zoom.

District 4 includes Livingston, the Caldwells, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Millburn, Roseland, Verona, and West Orange. Incumbent Democrat Leonard M. Luciano is being challenged by Republican Adam Kraemer. Both have ties to Livingston.

The Board consists of nine members in total, four of whom are elected at-large. Running for at-large re-election are Democrats Brendan Gill, Romaine Graham, Rufus Johnson, and Patricia Sebold of Livingston, against Republican challengers Alexandra Campisi, Gynise Gotto, Monique Headen, and Bernarda Quezada.

Livingston Philanthropies Inc. (LPI) founder and director Jeff Friedman delivers back-to-school backpacks stuffed with school supplies, cases of bottle baby formula, basic family toiletries, and more to Newark Emergency Services for Families (NESF) on Broad Street. NESF also received more than 1,000 name-brand baked goods packages from LPI’s partnership with Bimbo Bakeries in Maine. The packages arrived in time for the agency’s huge food pantry distribution event, which served hundreds living below the poverty line and/or out on the streets. To help keep the food and basic life sustenance items rolling, tax-free contributions may be mailed to LPI, P.O. Box 247, Livingston, NJ 07039, or handled on PayPal at paypal.me/lpinj.

Above, at 10:03 p.m. on Sunday, August 23, Joshua Sheerin, 19, of Ringwood, was driving eastbound on West Mount Pleasant Avenue near Eisenhower Parkway in a Ford E-350 van owned by Atlantic Ambulance. Livingston Police said Sheerin then ran a red light and collided with a 2011 Honda CR-V that was traveling on Eisenhower Parkway. The impact caused the Honda, which was being operated by Nenzly Brozey, 62, of Livingston, to roll over several times before coming to rest in the center median. Brozey was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries suffered in the crash. Sheerin received summonses for failing to observe a traffic signal and careless driving. Below, at 6:13 a.m. on Tuesday, August 25, a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe driven by Kevin Caufield, 28, of West Caldwell, was traveling on North Livingston Avenue when it struck a pole near Harrison School. Caufield, who was uninjured, told police he could not explain why he lost control of his vehicle.

Editor’s note: The West Essex Tribune has provided, on Facebook, a daily update ofLivingston’s COVID-19 cases, along with the county and state numbers, since the start of the pandemic nearly half a year ago. The county’s counts have been used for these daily updates, as the township ’s numbers have not been publicly revised on a daily basis. However, these county-reported numbers tend to rise and then fall as individuals are properly categorized within the state’s database. As a result, as soon as the Livingston Health Department begins publicly updating the numbers on a daily basis, the Tribune will begin using the township’s official count instead.

In response to a recent jump (and overall fluctuating numbers) in Livingston’s total COVID-19 cases, as reported by Essex County, the township’s health department has announced that it will soon be updating its local cases on a daily basis.

Livingston will begin the school year with all-remote learning, superintendent Matthew Block announced at the August 19 Board of Education meeting. Hundreds of people watched the four hour meeting, which was held online via Zoom and shown on Facebook Live. More than 50 people spoke during the meeting, and many more commented about it on Facebook.

While indicating that Livingston will remain in a full remote format “until we are able to effectively engage our teachers,” Block said that the district will work to bring students back to the schools, which he began to outline in a letter to families on August 24.

“It is our hope that, before the end of September, we can... begin with some of our special education programs and our youngest elementary school grade levels. We ultimately want to bring all grade levels back for in-person learning.

With the hope of creating something positive out of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of five Livingston women - Mariann Cullen, Nicole Dockx, Laura Goren, Amy Hochberg, and Neeli Margolis - are forming a grass roots wellness initiative to assist Livingston students and families. They call it “LivWell 07039.”

“Our goal is to offer our students and teachers a catalogue of free wellness group classes - ranging from emotional learning, arts, yoga/movement and meditation,” explains Margolis. “We anticipate that most classes will be held remotely, but hope to hold some in-person yoga and movement classes.”

Toward that end, they are seeking volunteers who would be willing to donate a minimum of one hour per week to teach a four to six week class.

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Mother, Daughter, Sister, Niece, Cousin, Wife, Sister-In-Law, Aunt and Friend. Valerie Collins Fletcher was all these and more.
On August 22, she lost her battle with cancer – a battle that she fought gallantly. She was a Collins, after all, and was made of sterner stuff.
A native of Livingston New Jersey, her parents, John and Melisande, surrounded her and her siblings with a home filled with love, humor and a sense of pride. After graduating from Livingston High School, Val used those attributes to land a job working on Tom Kean’s campaign for Governor of New Jersey. After her stint as a “Keanraiser,” she went on to work for Congressman Dean Gallo, Secretary of State Jane Burgio, and Don DeFrancesco during his time in the Senate.

Jeff Friedman of Livingston, founder and director of the non-profit Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) took this photo of donations for the homeless waiting for distribution by the Bessie Green Community in the parking lot across from the Prudential Center in Newark. “While the sports arena lays dormant during the pandemic, the parking lot is now used to distribute food and other basic survival items to a different crowd – the thousands of homeless and disenfranchised who have been relentlessly beaten down by the pandemic,” said Friedman. LPI, which pre-pandemic collected coats, toiletries and other items for the homeless, now solicits monetary donations to buy food for the homeless in urban Essex County. Those who would like to donate may mail checks to LPI at P.O. Box 247, Livingston, NJ 07039 or donate directly on PayPal at paypal.me/lpinj.