Livingston community

JV TEAM FALLS TO MOUNT SAINT DOMINIC: The Livingston High School girls’ junior varsity basketball team fell to the Mount Saint Dominic Lions, 46-34, on Wednesday, February 17, at home in the LHS Fitness and Wellness Center. Shown here, Lancer forward Avery Reiman scores on a rebound put back against Mount Saint Dominic. Don Schwartz Photo

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VARSITY LANCERS SPLIT TWO: The Livingston High School girls’ varsity basketball team was edged by the Mount Saint Dominic Lions, 36-34, on Wednesday, February 17, in the LHS Fitness and Wellness Center, but in a subsequent away game, defeated the Jaguars of Arts High School of Newark, 45-40, on Saturday, February 20. Shown here, Lancer forward Avery McLaughlin sets to make a pass resulting in a go-ahead basket against Mount Saint Dominic. Don Schwartz Photo

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Residents who would like to add one or more red maple or eastern redbud trees to their yards this spring can do so while helping the Livingston High School Key Club promote sustainability by offsetting the school’s paper usage.

Key Club is working with TreePlenish, a nonprofit organization that seeks to build sustainable schools and communities.

The Club’s goal is to sell andplant at least 160 saplings in yards throughout the community. That number is based on the amount ofpaper the high school ordered for the 2018-19 school year; Tree-Plenish estimates that planting one tree will offset 10,000 sheets of paper. The young trees range from 18 to 24 inches long. Sales will end on March 18.

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Giovanni Raimato of Livingston died Tuesday, February 16. He was 81 years old.

He was born in Calabritto, Avellino, Italy. He settled in Newark in 1966 and moved to Livingston in 1982.

Mr. Raimato worked in building maintenance for the Livingston Board of Education for ten years before retiring in 2010. Formerly, he worked in maintenance for Kushner & Schectman and Jersey Mortgage; in purchasing for Columbus Hospital; and as a welder for D’Altrui Industries.

He was a member of the Maria SS Della Neve Society at St. Lucy’s Church, Newark.

Mr. Raimato was the husband of Angela (Marcantuono) Raimato; the father of Mary Lou DePaola and her husband, Nunzio, and Antonio Raimato and his wife, April; the brother of Concetta Buonsanto; and the brother-in-law ofPasquale and Dina Marcantuono. He is also survived by four grandchildren.

This has been an unprecedented year to say the least. We have all been, in any given moment, scared, sad, anxious, or angry.

The fact that children are still not physically in school every day is certainly one of those frustrations. This is a year — and counting — that students will never get back. Children are missing out on foundational experiences and there are fears that some may be falling behind. Working parents are dealing with their own issues, trying to manage children learning from home. The frustrations abound. But the reasons for this situation are also quite obvious. Namely, we are in the midst of a deadly pandemic. On top of that, most teachers and students have yet to be vaccinated, as the state is still not allowing them (and other non-healthcare essential workers) to receive their shots.

Two weeks ago, Livingston’s school buildings were closed the Monday following a storm that dropped about eight inches of snow on the township, ending around 4 p.m. the previous day. The primary reason that the district could not safely reopen was a lack of salt to treat the parking lots and walkways. The town’s supply was depleted from the preceding week’s inclement weather, when nearly two feet of snow accumulated in town.

The problem, it seems, can be traced back to a salt dome that is too small to meet the needs of the township. The current dome can hold enough salt to treat the roads roughly twice, so additional salt must be ordered in advance of expected storms. Except, following the massive snowfall of a few weeks ago, salt was in short supply statewide, and an order for more salt was delayed by more than a week, leaving Livingston without the amount needed to treat the town.

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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JV CAGERS DEFEAT ARTS: The Livingston High School boys’ junior varsity basketball team defeated Arts, 38-25, in the LHS Fitness and Wellness Center on Thursday, February 11. Shown here, Lancer forward Anuvik Das drives the lane to score. Don Schwartz 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.