NBPD backpack drive going on now
Residents can help the North Bergen Police and the New Jersey National Guard collect new or gently used backpacks for the children in the community from now through Wednesday, Aug. 26. The dropoff location is the New Jersey National Guard Recruiting Station (trailer) located at 8901 Bergenline Ave. All backpacks collected will be donated to the department of child protection and permanency of Hudson County.
Guttenberg senior cruise on July 17
The Hudson County Executive and Board of Chosen Freeholders invite Guttenberg seniors to be their guests on a cruise on the Hudson River on Friday, July 17. Pick up will be at 10:30 a.m. at the Guttenberg Town Hall. Attendees will return back to Guttenberg by 3:15 p.m. Lunch and beverages will be included. There are a limited amount of tickets and registrants must sign up prior to the day of the event.
P.E.A.K. program receives Patricia F. Kane Environmental Educator Award
This year’s Patricia F. Kane Environmental Educator Award was awarded to North Bergen’s P.E.A.K. (Providing Enrichment & Accelerated Knowledge) sixth grade program. The award was presented by the New Jersey Audubon organization based on the “Habitat Passport Program” which has been incorporated in the P.E.A.K. curriculum since 1982.
During the first half of the school year students in the program take field trips to various locations throughout northern New Jersey to study different habitats. Students then take this knowledge and record it into a “habitat passport” journal where each habitat has its own page of information presented in a unique way. Each student who successfully completes their journal receives a Jr. Naturalist Award from New Jersey Audubon. Students who excel at this task receive a special blue ribbon award for excellence.
“The P.E.A.K. program is a staple in the North Bergen School District,” said Mayor Nicholas Sacco. “I would like to personally congratulate our P.E.A.K. educators and our students who made this award possible. They worked tirelessly to achieve this great feat and now have a prestigious award to show for their efforts.”
“This is a great recognition for our P.E.A.K. program,” said North Bergen Schools Superintendent Dr. George Solter. “The P.E.A.K. 6 program’s students excelled in their environmental academics with the guidance of their teachers and have been justly rewarded with this very prestigious award.”
Amtrak chairman says Hudson train tunnel is on track
A new train tunnel linking New York and New Jersey, seen by experts as crucial to relieving the bottleneck under the Hudson River, is on the verge of getting underway, according to a story in Crain’s New York Business.
“We’re doing it,” Amtrak Chairman Anthony Coscia told the Crain’s editorial board Wednesday.
Coscia said Amtrak could begin the environmental review process this fall, and has already spent about $300 million on preparatory work and land acquisition, even though the estimated $15 billion needed for the larger Gateway project, which includes the tunnel, has not been lined up.
By Coscia’s reckoning, a tunnel has to be built sooner or later, and sooner is better. The two heavy-rail tunnels connecting New Jersey and New York are over a century old and outmoded. Officials predict that within 20 years, one or both tunnels will need to be closed for repairs. That would reduce capacity to six trains per hour, down from 24 trains per hour now.
Undersecretary of Transportation Peter Rogoff said recently the Gateway was “the most important rail project in the United States.”
Funding for the project isn’t set yet. Coscia said Amtrak has sketched out a potential financing package that includes federal funds, infrastructure bonds and Amtrak’s own cash. The project’s numerous stakeholders can be expected to chip in, which would include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New Jersey Transit, New York City, the states of New York and New Jersey, the federal government and of course Amtrak.
The Gateway project was unveiled in February 2011 after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, citing potential cost overruns, killed another project called Access to the Region’s Core, which was to include a train tunnel under the Hudson.
The new rail lines would boost commuter capacity on New Jersey Transit by 75 percent, relieving what is considered the worst transit bottleneck in the country. Gateway would also allow Amtrak to expand its high-speed Acela service, which is necessary for the development of state-supported high-speed rail in New York.
Man arrested after crashing into four cars on drive through North Hudson
A driver was arrested after hitting a car in James J. Braddock North Hudson Park and then fleeing south on Boulevard East, crashing into three other vehicles along the way.
Officers from the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the scene of the crash in Braddock Park about 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, July 5. There they found a damaged 2004 Subaru station wagon partially on the sidewalk. The driver, a North Bergen resident, told the officers she was traveling east on Riverview Drive South inside the park “when a silver 4-door Mercedes-Benz went around her vehicle, into oncoming traffic, then swerved into her, hitting the front of her car,” according to a press release from Hudson County Sheriff Frank X. Schillari.
The Subaru was disabled by the crash and wound up on the sidewalk while the Mercedes continued south on Boulevard East.
The sheriff’s office broadcast a BOLO (be on the lookout) with a description of the Mercedes. Simultaneously, 911 calls began coming into the Sheriff’s office and several municipal police departments about a vehicle driving erratically on Boulevard East.
After hitting three other vehicles, the Mercedes came to rest at 49th Street and Boulevard East. The driver, a 34 year-old man from Parsippany according to northjersey.com, was arrested by Weehawken police.
High Tech’s Wendy Ide participates in Veterans History Project
Wendy Ide, a senior in the High Tech National Honor Society (NHS) and resident of West New York, under the guidance of veteran instructors David Polito and Joan Marie Bellotti, participated in the Veterans History Project, an enterprise sponsored by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. High Tech High School, located in North Bergen, accepts students from throughout the county.
The Veterans History Project collects, preserves, and makes accessible accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may better understand the realities of war. Ide participated in this project by interviewing her grandfather, Ernest R. Vierk, a World War II veteran, at High Tech’s radio station. Her interview, recorded over the phone with the assistance of Chris DePierro and Robert Meyer, members of High Tech’s Broadcasting and Video Production Departments, revealed how Vierk served in the 44th Infantry Division and participated in a specialized army German language training program. One of his duties included interviewing prisoners of war.
The interview was a moving experience for Ide and her family, since Vierk had never before shared his World War II experiences with his own family. The recorded log of the interview and personal World War II artifacts donated by Vierk have been sent to the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.
High Tech’s Tania Houwayek receives Outstanding Senior in French Award
High Tech High School’s Tania Houwayek, a resident of Union City, has been awarded the 2015 American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) Outstanding Senior in French Award, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech High School.
The AATF Award was founded in 1927 to recognize the achievements of outstanding students and their teachers. It is presented annually to a graduating senior who demonstrates excellence in the study of French as well as exceptional commitment to the French language and the many cultures associated with the French language or a derivative thereof. Recipients must complete at least three years of French at the time of graduation and be non-native speakers of French to qualify for the AATF Award,.
A member of the High Tech French Club and Societe Honoraire de Francais, Houwayek has been a studious member of Dr. Laje Gashi’s classes for four years at High Tech, competing in the National French Contest, participating in National French Week, and taking part in the French Poetry Contest.
See ‘Jurassic Park’ outdoors on July 16
The North Bergen Public Library presents Cinema under the Stars on Thursday, July 16 at 8 p.m. A free screening of “Jurassic Park” will be held in the parking lot at 8411 Bergenline Ave. Bring a chair, blanket, and snacks. For more information call (201) 869-4715 or visit nbpl.org.
Sixth Annual Butterfly Day is July 26
The highly-anticipated Butterfly Festival is back. Join a fun-filled day of butterfly walks and identification techniques, plus many free activities for the kids on Sunday, July 26. Children 12 and under can join a butterfly costume contest. Butterfly Day is co-sponsored by the Bergen County Audubon Society and the North American Butterfly Association.
This free event takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Meadowlands Environment Center,
2 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst.
Catch a movie in the park this summer
Hudson County’s Movies in the Parks take place on Wednesday and Friday nights this July and August at six different parks in Hudson County.
Bring your blankets and lawn chairs and enjoy an evening of free movies and popcorn. Screenings start at sundown. July sunsets are at 8:30 p.m. and August sunsets at 8 p.m. All movies are subtitled in Spanish. Events are wheelchair accessible. Visit wpanj.org/movies-in-the-parks-2015 for more information and a full schedule.