News

The Township Council held its first regular meeting of 2021 on Monday, January 11, during which the Essex County clerk was issued a proclamation and the first resolutions of the New Year were passed. The meeting was livestreamed and may be viewed on the Livingston Township, NJ Facebook page.

At the start of the Council meeting, Mayor Shawn Klein made a statement condemning the “hateful and seditious act at the Capitol,” and held a moment of silence for the officer, a New Jersey native, “who died protecting the Capitol from insurrection.” An additional statement was later issued by the entire Council and may be seen elsewhere in this edition of the Tribune.

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As the district completes two weeks of all-remote learning following the winter break, the Livingston Board ofEducation meeting on January 11 focused on the resumption of hybrid school, with students learning some days from home and some days in the classroom, in the face of a significant drop of in-person students since Thanksgiving. The meeting was held on Zoom and is posted on the school district’s Facebook page.

The meeting was held specifically to elicit feedback prior to a final draft of the district plan, Board president Sam Messer said. “I’m thrilled to see the level of engagement that we have tonight,” she said. “The purpose of the meeting is so we can engage in some creative, collaborative problem solving.”

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Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) has partnered with the Living-ston Lions’ Club to aid the homeless, announced LPI founder and director Jeff Friedman.
“As the extreme needs of the homeless and hopelessly poor continue after ‘giving season’ ends like the crash of a sledgehammer, I am pleased to announce that Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. has begun a new partnership with the Livingston Lions’ Club,” he said. “Enabled by Livingston’s continued generosity, LPI recently shipped hundreds of new winter gloves and hats for distribution at a Harrison Lions’ Club food pantry event. Livingston resident and New Jersey Lions district governor Nalit Patel and his son, Bansi, recently visited LPI World Headquarters (my garage) to pick up new stuffed animals for distribution at a big Lions event in Paterson.”

The West Essex Tribune is celebrating more than six decades of showering the first baby of the new year with an assortment of gifts generously donated by our advertisers. The first baby of 2021 born to Livingston p arents will be named the winner of the Tribune’s 63rd annual First Baby Contest.

The rules to determine the winner are the same each year: The first baby of 2021 must be born in a nearby hospital to parents who currently reside in Livingston. The exact time of the birth must be certified in writing by the attending physician.

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As is tradition in town, the Livingston Township Council held its annual organizational meeting on the morning of New Year ‘s Day. The meeting, typically held at the Senior/Community Center, was instead held virtually this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Still, hundreds of volunteers were appointed to the township’s various committees and boards, the 2020 mayor and deputy mayor were selected, and a few surprise guests appeared during the meeting due in part to its being held remotely. There were a few minor technical difficulties during the roughly 90 minute proceedings, but the virtual ceremony allowed more people to view the meeting and do so safely from their homes. Shawn Klein was unanimously voted by the Council as the next mayor, and Ed Meinhardt was unanimously selected as deputy mayor. Both previously held those positions in 2017. Rudy Fernandez concluded his third term serving as mayor.

Vineeta Khanna was sworn in to the Livingston Board of Education at the group’s reorganization meeting on January 4; Samantha Messer, who had served as vice president of the Board in 2020, was elected president, and concluded the meeting with a plea for suggestions and ideas as the district wrestles with its re-opening plans.

The meeting was held virtually on Zoom and live-streamed on the Livingston Public Schools Facebook page. Most participants were in their homes, but superintendent Matthew Block, board secretary Steven Robinson, and Messer were in the central office conference room, masked and socially distanced. Robinson administered the oath of office to Khanna via Zoom.

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Essex County’s vaccination sites, including the one in the former Sears at the Livingston Mall, are currently open.

Limited doses of the vaccine are available, and the State Department of Health has compiled a phased-in approach to ensure the vaccine is distributed in a fair and equitable manner until larger quantities of the vaccine become available. Essex County released the following information on the vaccine distribution.

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The Federated Church of Livingston hosted a food drive recently to benefit the Communnity FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ). Collections were received the week of December 6 through 13. These included a curbside drop-off on Sunday, December 13.

In all, the congregation collected 350 pounds of food, equivalent to 876 meals to support the FoodBank.

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Although the holidays are over, Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) is continuing to purchase items for the homeless.
“ ‘The Giving Season’ may be over, but the ‘Needing Season’ continues,” said LPI founder and director Jeff Friedman. “Families suffering from lack of financial access to the most basic necessities of life continues to grow each week, as mom and dad lose jobs during this devastating pandemic.”
Friedman reminded Livingston residents that LPI’s successful “Personal Shopping/Shipping to the Homeless” initiative continues into the new year. He is encouraging neighbors “to continue shopping online for the homeless, profoundly poor and disenfranchised, particularly now, while sales are widely available.” 
LPI volunteers, he added, are also shopping and shipping this week, “utilizing monetary donations to do the buying for those who would rather leave the shopping to us.”

COVID-19 vaccinations have begun at various vaccination centers throughout Essex County, including the former Sears building at the Livingston Mall. The Livingston Mall location is serving residents of Livingston, as well as residents of Belleville, Maplewood, Millburn, Newark, Orange, and South Orange.

The vaccination center at the Sears location opened Saturday, December 26, and will be open Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., by appointment only. At this time, only healthcare workers in phase 1a are eligible to receive the vaccine.

The Moderna vaccine will be administered at the Sears location vaccination center and must be dispensed in two doses. The two doses must be given a minimum of 28 days apart.

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