News

LFD RESPONDS TO ACCIDENT: Members of the Livingston Fire Department responded to the scene of a car accident at about 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 3, at the intersection of South Orange Avenue and Walnut Street. According to police, a 2017 Honda operated by Cyriacus Ibezim Jr., 24, of Union was attempting a left turn from South Orange Avenue onto Walnut Street. The Honda was struck by a westbound 1997 Ford operated by Charles Hammed, age 72, of East Hanover. Both drivers claimed to have had a green light. Neither required medical attention. The Livingston Fire Department was called out to extinguish a small fire in the engine compartment of one of the cars. That same day, fire officials went to 41 Franklin Avenue, where a car leaked gasoline onto the street. The Fire Department also answered two requests for mutual aid, from Maplewood on Monday, April 5; and from Orange, late Monday into Tuesday, April 5 to 6. CJM Photo

As of Wednesday morning, April 7, the Livingston Health Department has reported that a total of 1,943 Livingston residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since the first case was recorded in mid-March. 83 of those residents have died as a result of the virus. Compared to the same time last week, there are 72 new cases, with no additional deaths. In the past month, there have been 247 cases. Only one COVID-19-related death has been recorded in Livingston since January 6.

An age breakdown has been released for the 229 Livingston cases reported in March: 28 cases from residents ten years old and under, 56 cases 11 to 20 years, 33 cases 21 to 30 years, 16 cases 31 to 40 years, 51 cases 41 to 50 years, 27 cases 51 to 60 years, 10 cases 61 to 70 years, three cases 71 to 80 years, four cases 81 to 90 years, and one case 91 to 100 years.

David Bagoff, a resident at Brandywine in Livingston, celebrated his 100th birthday last month.

Bagoff turned 100 on March 16. He grew up in Brooklyn before moving to Monroe, where he raised his family. He has been married 66 years to his wife, Doris, with whom he still lives with at Brandywine. He has two children, Gary and Robert Bagoff, who live locally and love to come and visit.

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Jack Silberman, a seventh grader at Heritage Middle School, recently took second place in the statewide Patriots’ Pen Essay Contest, sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The theme for the essays was “What Patriotism Means to Me,” and Silberman’s essay focused on his grandfather, Walter Joyce. Joyce, a veteran, is active in the community, including the AARP and Old Guard. He has recently been working with family members and volunteers to schedule vaccine appointments for local seniors.

Following is Silberman’s winning essay about his grandfather and patriotism.

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Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) is planning another fresh produce delivery for next week to Newark Emergency Services For Families (NESF), announced LPI founder and director Jeff Friedman.
“We’re hoping to receive additional contributions to ensure as much produce as possible can go downtown for Thursday’s Community Grocery Giveaway event,” he noted. “As LPI volunteers – including Livingston resident Alan Wishengrad – will make the major buy from the Route 10 Farmer’s Market on Wednesday afternoon for Thursday’s big-deal event, it’s not too late to help with the purchase.”
Tax-deductible assistance may be provided by mail to LPI, P.O. Box 247, Livingston, NJ 07039 or immediately through PayPal at paypal.me/lpinj.

A virtual town hall on anti-Asian bias featuring stories by members of Livingston’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, and a new youth project to address stereotypes and prejudice, was held on Thursday, March 25.

Recalling the protest rally last Sunday and the candlelight vigil on Tuesday, councilman Michael Vieira noted that “Livingston is a town that comes together as one community... We live in a community where we don’t care what color skin you have, what nationality you are.”

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POWER LINE REPLACEMENT CONTINUES: The replacement of older high voltage power transmission lines in the township is continuing. Here, a tower on Old Road has been replaced with an updated model. LPI Photo

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The Livingston Planning Board met virtually Thursday evening for a brief special meeting to adopt the township’s housing element and fair share plan. The vote was the final step in the actions the Board needed to take to formalize Livingston’s meeting of the state’s third round of affordable housing mandates.

While Livingston alleges that the unmet need for affordable housing units put forth by the Fair Share Housing Center is too high, the township still must show a plan for how it will be met. This agreement was reached late in 2020.

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Beginning Monday, April 5, Livingston Public Schools will provide hybrid elementary students in grades 5, and secondary school students in grades 6-12, with additional in-person instruction.

The elementary students will attend school every day from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. 82 percent of elementary students planned to participate in person.

The secondary students will be placed in three overlapping cohorts, and attend school for four-hour days either three or four days in-person per week. More than 67 percent of secondary families have elected to return to in-person learning.

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HONORING VIETNAM VETS: Members of Livingston’s Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion Posts — including Marty Halo and Walter Wilczak, shown here — held a ceremony on Monday morning to commemorate National Vietnam Veterans’ Day. Held each year on March 29, National Vietnam War Veterans’ Day honors all U.S. Armed Forces personnel who served active duty between November 1, 1995 and May 15, 1975, regardless of the location of their service. Don Schwartz Photo

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