West Essex Tribune

Last week, Governor Phil Murphy announced that mask mandates for New Jersey’s schools and child care settings will end on March 7. The governor noted the small number of student COVID cases linked directly to in-school transmission (2,650 out of 1.4 million students), and the continued decline in cases and hospitalizations after the omicron surge.

The governor also made an important point. “We are not going to manage COVID to zero,” he said. “We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus.”

It appears that is the step we are approaching in this pandemic. Learning to live with COVID, and crafting a new normal. It is worth noting, too, that vaccine approval for children younger than five may be just weeks away.

Since last fall, Livingston has dealt with some issues involving its drinking water wells. At that time, quarterly letters started being sent to residents explaining that certain township wells are above the limit of a recently-regulated contaminant.

Joan Ward Pruner of Highland Beach, Florida, formerly of Livingston, succumbed to heart disease on February 10. She was 84 years old.

Mrs. Pruner grew up in East Orange and Livingston. She graduated in 1954 from Mount St. Dominic Academy in Caldwell, and went on to graduate from Berkeley Secretarial School in East Orange.

She met her husband, Leo, in a young adult church group and they married in 1957. They raised their children in Caldwell and retired to Florida in 1990.

Mrs. Pruner worked out of her home transcribing notes for court reporters while her children were young. Later, she worked in an attorney’s office in Caldwell.

She was a member of St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church in Caldwell and St. Lucy Roman Catholic Church in Highland Beach. She and her husband were also members of the Citizens’ Emergency Response Team (CERT) in Highland Beach.

By Jeff Friedman
Editor’s Note: Here, Jeff Friedman, founder and chief executive officer of Livingston Philanthropies, Inc., describes, in his own words, the work of a long-time LPI distribution partner, the New Jersey Re-entry Corporation.
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New Jersey prisoners within a year of their release dates are once again eligible to get out early due to the pandemic, according to the governor’s office.
Let’s take a moment to visualize. Just imagine… you have been incarcerated for years and finally released. The prison bus drops you and others on the corner behind Penn Station. You may have no family and little or no money, some clothing, food stamps, a bus ticket and a prison ID good for 90 days. Now what?

During the Monday, February 7, meeting of the Livingston Township Council, members passed several resolutions and one ordinance. Also discussed was a return to in-person meetings, township filming fees, and more.

The meeting was held virtually and may be viewed on the Livingston Township, NJ Facebook page.

At the start of the meeting, Livingston High School student Ben Gantman asked the Council for permission to install community libraries on township land. The libraries contain books that are free to take, and people may also leave their own books in the boxes.

The community libraries would cost about $200 per box, which Gantman said he hopes to raise through donations and fundraisers. Deputy Mayor Michael Vieira said that he would sponsor a box if the project moved forward.

Three members of the Livingston Police Department attended the funerals of two New York City officers killed in the line of duty. NYPD officers Jason Rivera, 22, and Wilbert Mora, 27, were shot while responding to a domestic violence incident on Friday, January 21. Rivera died shortly after being shot, and his funeral was held January 28. Mora succumbed to his injuries on January 25, and his funeral took place on February 2.

Livingston Police Officer Todd Compesi attended the service for Rivera, while Sgt. Jose Antunes and Sgt. Michael Herbert attended

Mora’s funeral.

The Livingston Board of Education, at its February 8 meeting, honored AAPI Youth Alliance students, and heard a review of the district’s comprehensive financial report.

AAPI Students Honored

The Board invited the members of the Livingston Asian American Pacific Islanders Youth Alliance (AAPI) to discuss their work in advocating for the passage of the New Jersey legislative bills S4021 and A6100, which mandate that students learn about Asian American history and contributions. Livingston AAPI was the only student group to work toward this goal.

Students described how they sent emails and spoke to administrators, legislators, and government and education committees, relating their experiences as Asian-American students and the need for AAPI contributions to become part of schools’ history curricula. They also thanked the Board of Education for its support.

The Livingston Lancer ice hockey team continued its undefeated season in conference play by defeating 11th ranked Westfield and Montclair in their final two games. The team finished divisional play in first place.

The Lancers beat Montclair, 4-0, with goals by Zack Silva, Dillon Schultz and two by Danny Grossbard. Assists by Silva, Spencer Solomon, Alex Selvin, Egor Tarasyuk, and Brett Conklin helped lead the offense. Once again standout defense by Andrew Qian, Jace Dockx, Brett Conklin and Alex Selvin kept Montclair off the scoreboard. Justinas Sanders had 25 saves.

The Lancers took the ice Saturday night against Westfield with the

(Continued from Page A-1) division title on the line. Grossbard opened the scoring with a power play goal, assisted by Qian and Austin Vecchio. Dillon Schultz netted the next two, including a shorthanded goal assisted by Austin Vecchio.

Carole Ann McCarthy (nee Ott) 80, died Sunday, December 26, 2021. Funeral services were held Wednesday, December 29, at the Quinn-Hopping Funeral Home of Livingston. A Mass of Christian Burial was offered at St. Philomena Church, Livingston, on Thursday, December 30, followed by interment at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover.

Mrs. McCarthy was born and raised in Newark. She attended St. Ann’s grade school in Newark, and graduated from East Orange High School, class of 1959. She worked at Oppenheim-Collins, Prudential Insurance Company in Newark, then Resistoflex in Roseland before marrying her husband, Paul J. McCarthy, in 1961. They settled in Livingston in 1966, where they raised their five children.

Rosalyn “Roz” Bendit died peacefully in her sleep at the Cogir Memory Care residence in San Rafael, California in the early morning of January 9, 2022. She was 91 years old.

Roz was born on September 30, 1930 in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Anna Katz Rosenbaum and Max Katz. She spent her early years in Freehold, New Jersey, moved to Newark for one year, and then her family moved to Kearny where she lived until her marriage. Roz attended Kearny High School and then went on to Rutgers University in Newark where she earned a B.A. in psychology. She was quite an active student during her college years, earning the honor of being selected for Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. During college, Roz was involved in the psychology club, the Tarbut Society and was assistant editor of the college yearbook.