community news from Livingston

A teenager was hospitalized on Tuesday, March 17, following a collision while he was driving his motorcycle, Livingston Police said. At 3:45 p.m., Jordan Steinberg, 19, of Livingston was operating a Honda motorcycle travelling west on West Northfield Road in the left lane. A 2017 Acura RDX operated by a 17-year-old male from Livingston made a left turn from Crescent Road onto West Northfield Road into the path of the motorcycle. The motorcycle then struck the passenger side of the Acura. Steinberg complained of pain and was transported to Morristown Medical Center. The driver of the Acura, unidentified because he is a minor, received a summons for careless driving. CS Photo

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Venus defeated the Challengers in recent play to claim the 2020 Livingston Adult Women’s Volleyball League championship. Shown here, Venus includes Seval Bilgin, Ingrid Whu, Wen Li, Sally Fong, and team captain Liz Lopez. Also on the team are Ritu Sohal and Janna Teytel.

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Welcome, readers, to your weekly coronavirus update.

We don’t need to tell you what’s happening right now, however, it’s our job to do so, so bear with us for a brief recap. As of Wednesday, there were two confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, and the disease it causes, COVID-19, in Livingston. Additionally, there were more than 200,000 reported global cases and more than 8,000 deaths related to the virus. At that time, the United States cases approached 6,500, including 108 deaths. In New Jersey, we have 427 positive cases, and five deaths, as of 2 p.m. on Wednesday. All U.S. numbers are likely much higher, as we are testing the smallest percentage of our population of any developed nation. On Monday, as President Trump suggested the U.S. outbreak could extend late into the summer, the federal government said Americans should avoid groups larger than 10 people.

For almost nine years, Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) has directly delivered donated coats, family clothing, diapers, toiletries, socks, gloves and more to the homeless and those living below the poverty line. Now, LPI is re-inventing itself, as physical donations and on-site deliveries are on hold during the coronavirus outbreak.
Noted LPI founder and director Jeff Friedman, “LPI will ship bulk cases of new items directly from wholesale vendors to our eight Newark and East Orange distribution associates. We are soliciting immediate funding to make it happen. To personally help the homeless and profoundly poor, especially now, you can do it conveniently on Paypal at paypal.me/lpinj; on our Facebook funding page at Livingston Philanthropies, Inc.; or by mail to LPI, P.O. Box 247, Livingston, NJ 07039. Tax-deductible individual and family contributions make all the difference.”

Livingston High School’s spring production, Shrek: The Musical, will be staged this week. Performances will take place today and Friday, March 12 and 13, at 7 p.m., and on Saturday, March 14, at 2 and 7 p.m.

Based on the DreamWorks Animation motion picture and the book by William Steig, the show was originally produced on Broadway by DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions.

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Property taxes to support the schools on the average Livingston home, valued at $700,000, will go up $199, business administrator Steve Robinson said at the Monday night Board of Education meeting.

That is an increase of 2.1 percent over 2019. The 2020 school tax on the average home will be $9,622, Robinson said; the tax levy on the general fund is $110,919,955.

The total budget of $128,944,023 comprises three elements that make up the total general fund: general current expense ($115,736,391); capital outlay ($3,151,733); and transfer of funds to charter schools ($93,306).

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Several town organizations met last Wednesday, March 4, with the Township Council and manager Barry Lewis to discuss their requested budgets for the upcoming year.

The roughly two hour meeting was broken up into three sections, focused on Senior, Youth and Leisure Services (SYLS); Department of Public Works; Engineering, Water, and Sewer; and the Police Department. Those departments, exclusive of general debt and the library, account for about 75 percent of the annual budget, and over 90 percent of the capital budget, which is why the Council and manager focused on them prior to finalizing the 2020 budget. During the past few years, the meeting between the Council and department heads had not been open to the public. This year, the meeting was open, though no residents attended.

A planned delayed opening for Livingston Public Schools this past Tuesday, March 10, was instead changed to a full day Professional Development Day for staff and a school closure for students. One of the two remaining snow days will be used, so the day will not have to be made up.

The day was used to train staff in remote online instruction, should it be necessary due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The instruction is an act of preparation, and there are no current confirmed coronavirus cases in Livingston as of press time.

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Philip V. Coviello of Livingston died on Thursday, March 5, in Saint. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.

Born in Castelforte, Italy, Mr. Coviello settled in Newark in 1935, and moved to Livingston in 1958.

He was a World War II Army veteran and a member of the 101st Airborne Division, 506th Regiment E Company. He worked for the US Postal Service in Newark for 38 years before retiring.

Mr. Coviello was the husband of the late Marie (née Vecchio). He is survived by his children, Lucille Duetsch and her husband, Thomas; Jean Hennessy and her husband, Gerald; and Phillip J. Coviello and his wife, Katherine; his sisters, Anne Vellucci and Jean Coviello; seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Services were held at the LaMonica Memorial Home on Tuesday, March 10, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Philomena Church. He was interred at Hollywood Memorial Park in Union.

Vincent R. Farley, 92, died on Wednesday, March 4. Born in Newark, he lived in West Orange and Livingston before moving to Toms River five years ago.

Mr. Farley was a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, and served in World War II. A graduate of Seton Hall University, he worked as an operations manager at White Motors in New York City and Morristown for 30 years, retiring in 1982.

Mr. Farley was predeceased by his wife, Victoria; his son, William; and his grandson, Scott. He is survived by his three sons, Robert and his wife Susan; Peter and his wife, Marie; and Michael; his sister, Kathleen Losi and her husband, Ken; and four grandchildren.

Visiting hours are from 9:30 to 11 a.m. today, Thursday, March 12, at Quinn-Hopping Funeral Home in Toms River. A funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. Burial will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover.

Condolences and memories may be shared with the family by visiting quinn-hoppingfh.com.