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On Monday, April 27, Livingston’s Township Council held a livestreamed meeting to discuss the town’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its upcoming budget. The township was granted an extension to pass this year’s budget due to the pandemic.

The meeting, a combined conference and regular meeting that was held via the video conferencing service, Zoom, was shared on the Livingston Township Facebook page. There were more than 60 live viewers during the meeting, and about 1,500 people had watched at least part of the meeting by noon on Tuesday.

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Life came full circle when Brett Ratner, a resident of Fairfax Drive and a 2012 graduate of Livingston High School, was able to make and donate protective face shields for nurse Laura Romeo and the medical community at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. Romeo, a 1983 graduate of LHS, was the very same nurse who took care of Brett when he was born. According to his mom, Cheri, who graduated from LHS with Romeo, Brett and his siblings, Cheryl, Alyssa, and Joey, “were eager to help the Saint Barnabas medical community, which took such wonderful care of their grandfather before he passed four months ago (not from COVID-19).” Shown above, the Ratners – mom Cheri; Alyssa, LHS class of 2016; dad Scott; and Brett assemble face shields. (Joey, LHS class of 2014, helped too, but stopped to take the photo.) Below, Brett delivers the completed shields to Romeo. “I am so proud of Brett and all of the work our medical community is doing,” said Cheri Ratner.

As Livingston’s contributions continue to arrive, Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) volunteers are actively purchasing food items for Newark’s stressed food pantries, announced the Livingston charity’s founder and director, Jeff Friedman.
LPI shipped 80 cases of bottled spring water and 200 loaves of bread to Newark Emergency Services for Families (NESF). Amina Bey, NESF’s executive director said, “In the past two days, Newark Emergency Services for Families has distributed over 500 packages of food, diapers, toiletries and cases of water to the residents of Essex County. Special thanks to our partners, the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, the Salvation Army, and Livingston Philanthropies for their generosity and support.”

The fourth and fifth graders in the Livingston Library’s “XTreme Readers” book club met as scheduled on March 31, despite the coronavirus quarantine, to discuss their regularly scheduled book. However, the meeting was a virtual one, held on Zoom.

The kids already had physical copies of the selection, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, but Gina Vaccaro, the librarian who leads the group, found that many aspects of the meeting had to be changed.

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Beth Lippman of the Livingston Business Improvement District submitted this photo of Camuso holiday decorations packed up and awaiting the holiday season. “Hang in there,” she wrote, adding jokingly that we should all take a lesson from the Camuso fi gures – “These guys shelter in place ten months a year!”

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At Tuesday night’s school budget forum, the Livingston Board of Education and administration decided to reschedule the public hearing about the school spending plan to Thursday, May 7, in order to have as much information as possible before formalizing the budget.

The later date also gives the Board more time to hear from the community and take into consideration their concerns and questions, said Board president Ronnie Konner. The hearing had been scheduled to take place on Monday, April 27, which will still be held as a regular school board meeting.

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A brief but fierce storm squall passed through Livingston on Tuesday afternoon, April 21. Shown here, it took down a tree at 29 Grand Terrace, which blocked the roadway in the area of North Mitchell Avenue. CJM Photo

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As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues, long term care facilities are continuing to be hit hard in the United States. More than 7,000 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19 nationwide, according to reports. In New Jersey, at the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak with the second most cases in the country, the problem is concerning enough that governor Phil Murphy is asking his attorney general to investigate certain facilities and their responses, specifically a nursing home in Andover where reportedly more than 70 residents have died from COVID-19. New Jersey has more than 400 long term care facilities, and experts have predicted for weeks that outbreaks in these types of facilities would be particularly deadly. Most are now barring visitors and asking all employees to wear the proper equipment and be screened for symptoms, but staffing issues and a lack of gear has posed problems and dangers.

By Jeff Friedman
Editor’s Note: This week, Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. founder and director Jeff Friedman reflects on how the pandemic has changed so much in our lives, including the way LPI assists the homeless.
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It is difficult to visualize Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) making regular deliveries to distribution associates in Newark just five short weeks ago. LPI volunteers distributed new men’s socks and toiletries gift bags at Penn Station just a week earlier, and delivered a large women’s wardrobe to our friends at Willing Heart Community Center’s Clothing Boutique.

The Livingston Police Department and more than 20 of Essex County’s local municipalities held a “Heroes’ Salute” parade past Saint Barnabas Medical Center on Tuesday, April 14, to recognize “the incredible efforts of medical staff battling the coronavirus.” Essex County has the third highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Jersey.

Joined by over 50 cars, the procession displayed signs, banners, posters and flags to pay tribute to the men and women fighting COVID-19 at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. The parade included first responders and police, fire, and first aid vehicles from Livingston, West Orange, East Hanover, South Orange, North Caldwell, Caldwell, Roseland, Millburn, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Orange ECPO, Belleville, Bloomfield, East Orange, Nutley, Essex County Sherriff, Maplewood, and West Caldwell