Jersey City volunteers post flyers for missing young man
JERSEY CITY – Several community activists and volunteers from Jersey City spent the weekend posting fliers to help locate Ian Burnet, a 22-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student who disappeared in New York City on Dec 30. Burnet has cousins in Jersey City, including well-known community activist Althea Bernheim.
“As the saying goes, no news,” said John Hanussak, a Jersey City Democratic Committee member who is helping the Burnet family post fliers in Manhattan. “The hope is that Ian is just getting some alone time. There has been discussion that maybe he’s in a homeless shelter.”
Hanussak added that police and the family have contacted several hospitals in the New York City metro area to determine whether Burnet may be injured and unconscious and listed as a John Doe. However, he did not know which specific hospitals have been contacted thus far.
Burnet left Virginia on Dec. 26 and boarded a bus bound for New York City, where he had planned to spend New Year’s with friends. His parents received a text from their son the next day, on Dec. 27, and he had some type of communication with a roommate back home on Dec. 30, according to information released on fliers. Hanussak added that Burnet is known to have had a meal on December 30 as well. His movements after December 30 are unclear.
According to information posted by his brother on reddit.com (see our breaking news item at hudsonreporter.com), Burnet had been staying in New York with people he did not know too well.
The family has set up a webpage at findianburnet.com.
On the flier Burnet is described as 5’ 10” with brown hair and green eyes. A photo of the coed that accompanies the flier shows Burnet with curly hair.
When posting the fliers, Bernheim said that volunteers are targeting libraries, transit hubs, and parks.
Anyone interested in helping the family with putting up posters can call Hanussak at (201) 704-2279.
Anyone who thinks they may have seen Burnet, who is officially registered as a missing person, is encouraged to contact Det. Sanchez, Det. Davis, or Sgt. Greene in the New York Police Department’s 30 Precinct at 451 West 151th Street. The investigators can also be reached at (212) 690-8842. – E. Assata Wright
Infamous Hoboken SWAT lieutenant about to undergo hearings
HOBOKEN – The former Hoboken police lieutenant whose behavior made headlines across the region after the now-infamous 2005 and 2006 SWAT trips to Louisiana is about to head to the first of possibly six hearings to fight for his job back, according to a report on NJ.com.
Angelo Andriani was part of a group of police officers and officials who travelled to Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina with the now-defunct Hoboken SWAT team to offer assistance to the flood-ravaged region. However, during the trip, Andriani was photographed with waitresses from Hooters holding weapons from the Hoboken SWAT team’s arsenal.
Other photos showed officials and officers allegedly consuming alcoholic drinks out of syringes and seductively posing with the women, all while wearing clothing with Hoboken police emblems.
Separately, five SWAT officers who were ethnic minorities filed a discrimination suit against Andriani and the department around the same time.
Andriani was suspended with pay pending an investigation – at a rate of pay, according to the report, of $11,000 a month.
While Andriani was suspended, he allegedly flashed his badge in a Tampa airport after being involved in an alleged verbal altercation. In May 2010, the city terminated Andriani.
Since that time, he has been fighting for his job back. In October 2010, a judge ruled that he should have been suspended, and not fired, for his behavior in Tampa, according to the NJ.com report.
“The city is confident that Mr. Andriani’s termination for [his behavior] will be upheld,” said a March 2011 letter from Mayor Dawn Zimmer to the City Council.
The story says Andriani is expected to appear before an administrative law judge on Jan. 20, Feb. 10, April 2 and 3, and May 1 and 2. – Ray Smith
Princeton University holds Summer Journalism Program
Princeton University will hold an all-expenses-paid summer program for high school student journalists from low-income backgrounds. The program, in its 11th year, will take place for 10 days from July to August on the Princeton University campus.
To be eligible, students must currently be juniors in high school, must live in the continental United States, have an unweighted grade point average of at least 3.5 (out of 4.0), have an interest in journalism, and have a combined parent/guardian income of no more than $45,000.
The deadline for the application, available at https://fs4.formsite.com/pusjp/form1/secure_index.html, is 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Finalists will be interviewed by program directors, and will be asked to provide an official transcript, an income-tax return of their parent/guardian, a teacher recommendation letter, and clips from their high school newspaper or other publication (optional).