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This week, Jeff Friedman of Livingston, founder and director of Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI), has announced that a local law firm has made a donation to assist the Livingston-based charity’s “Personal Shopping for the Homeless” initiative.
LPI, which prior to the pandemic collected coats, clothing, toiletries and other items for the homeless in Essex County, is currently focusing on “Personal Shopping for the Homeless,” encouraging donors to purchase new items for the homeless or offer monetary donations to enable the non-profit organization’s volunteers to do so.
Mandelbaum Salsburg PC., a national law firm with headquarters in Roseland, recently gave the initiative a boost with a major contribution to LPI.

STORM PREP: The Livingston Department of Public Works was prepared for snow and ice storms predicted for this week. They had ten dump trucks with snow plows, all loaded with salt, plus two pay loaders ready in the parking lot near the Haines Memorial Pool on Monday afternoon, February 15. Jerry Siskind Photo

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In light of what he said appears to be the “continuing public misimpression” of township health officer Lou Anello’s role in directing schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically the belief that he has decision-making authority over school remote and in-person learning decisions, township manager Barry Lewis has issued a statement clarifying the matter. His statement, included in its entirety below, explains that the Livingston Health Department is a conduit that shares state and federal information with Livingston Public Schools. Lewis also said that school-related decisions, while based on state guidance, ultimately fall on the district.

A man who most recently served as a volunteer coach for Livingston High School athletics this past fall, Steven Brooks, has been charged with criminal offenses related to child pornography, according to an update sent out Tuesday afternoonby Livingston Public Schools superintendent Matthew Block.

According to a press release from the United States Attorney General’s office and other reports, Brooks, 34, of Morristown, was employed as a fifth grade teacher in the Summit school district, and helped run the Livingston Soccer Club. According to a press release, acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig said he has been charged in connection with production, possession of, and mailing of child pornography.

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REST IN PEACE: Shown here, bunting hangs on Town Hall in honor of the late Chuck Tahaney, the former township manager after whom the building was named. The American flag is also flying at half mast. For more about Tahaney and his impact on Livingston, read our editorial on page A-4 of this issue of the Tribune. MI Photo

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CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY: Construction of the new Camuso storage barn began with digging post holes for the footings, shown above. “Big shout out to Scoot, Jimmy, Paul E., Hugh, and Mike Stolfi,” said “Chief Elf” Tom Cooney. “We had Celtic Tree Service use a Bobcat to remove the ‘Blizzard’ last Friday so we could get to work.” Below, earlier this week, the storage barn had begun to take shape. TC and MI Photos

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 Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) founder Jeff Friedman invites Livingston residents to “join their neighbors in providing for the homeless, profoundly poor and disenfranchised, especially during the pandemic.” Friedman, who was preparing to leave for Newark with a load of new coats, gloves, hats, diapers, men’s socks and items from cleaners, said, “Philanthropic residents can find sales on Amazon or other websites and ship directly to LPI World Headquarters (my garage). Or, you can drop items themselves without contact.” Friedman may be contacted at njhomeless@aol.com or 973-533-9336. He asks residents to visit LPI’s newly updated website at njhomeless.org, or “empower LPI volunteers to do immediate procurement of what is needed most by unthinkably poor folks at paypal.me/lpinj or P.O. Box 247, Livingston, NJ 07039.”

Livingston residents, elected officials, and committee members gathered at the corner of Northfield Road and South Livingston Avenue Saturday afternoon to commemorate the hanging of a Black Lives Matter banner. The banner was placed across the pergola at Roosevelt Plaza.

“Livingston has always been a warm and welcoming community, but now that is loud and clear,” said Amy Ipp, Black History Month Committee co-chairperson, during the dedication

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A large portion of the February 8 Board of Education meeting was devoted to questions and concerns from parents about the status of hybrid and remote learning in Livingston.

Parents asked how the Millburn school district is providing more in-person learning time — five days per week at the elementary level than Livingston, and several were critical about the Livingston district’s reliance on the township Health Department for guidance during the pandemic. Livingston has a resourcesharing agreement with Millburn, and Louis Anello is the health officer for both towns.

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The Township Council held a regular meeting on Monday, February 8, during which members passed a resolution pledging to reduce the carbon footprint for construction in town and approved a redevelopment plan for an area of Route 10, among other business. Also discussed was a salt shortage following last week’s snow storm, the to-be-built DPW garage, and the future of the Northland Cemetery. The meeting was livestreamed and may be viewed on the Livingston Township, NJ Facebook page.

The meeting began with a presentation commemorating Black History Month. Alyse Berger-Heilpern and Saba Kahn, co-chairpersons of the Livingston Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, and Keith Hines, Black History Month Committee cochairperson, all spoke to the Council. They discussed the variety of events being held this month, as well as the Black Lives Matter banner that was hung in town last weekend.