PSE&G customers can apply for payment assistance with winter heating bills
With chilly weather here, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) reminds customers that the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is accepting applications for the 2015/2016 heating season. LIHEAP is a program run by the State of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs that helps low-income residents with their heating and medically-necessary cooling bills.
“We want low income families to know that help is available,” said Greg Dunlap, vice president of Customer Operations for PSE&G. “Under LIHEAP, those who are income eligible may receive an average of $300 toward their heating bills.”
LIHEAP eligibility is based solely on the prior month’s household gross income and household size. To be eligible for LIHEAP benefits, the applicant’s household gross income must meet specific monthly income guidelines. For more information, to download a LIHEAP application, or to find out where to apply, visit pseg.com/help or call the New Jersey Home Energy Assistance hotline at (800) 510-3102. Applications are also available at PSE&G’s 16 walk-in Customer Service Centers. Applications and copies of all requested documents must be submitted by April 30.
The LIHEAP application is also an application for the Universal Service Fund (USF). USF is a program created by the State of New Jersey that can lower the amount low-income households pay for gas and electric bills with a monthly credit of $5 to $150. Applications for USF are accepted year-round. Seniors over age of 65 or disabled adults collecting Social Security Disability may also be eligible for the New Jersey Lifeline Credit program. NJ Lifeline provides a $225 yearly credit on your PSE&G bill.
PSE&G households who are not eligible for low income programs and are behind in their PSE&G bill should visit pseg.com/help for other programs like the PAGE and TRUE Grant or NJ SHARES.
Solo exhibition by artist Sarah Nicholls at Guttenberg Arts Gallery
Sarah Nicholls is a visual artist who makes pictures with language, books with pictures, prints with type, and animations with words. She often uses found language and metal type, combining image, visual narrative, and time. “Reading Time,” a solo exhibition of her works, is a reading room installed in the gallery at Guttenberg Arts that invites visitors to engage with monologues, brochures, ephemera, manifestos, scientific matter, propaganda, and alternate histories in the form of printed language. Included are a range of publications and a selection of prints which collectively revolve around the authority of the printed word. Reading Time is on view from Jan. 7 through Feb. 6 at Guttenberg Arts, 6903 Jackson St.
Nicholls, currently an artist in residence at Guttenberg Arts, has written a collection of self-help aphorisms, publishes a series of informational pamphlets, and recently completed a field guide to extinct birds. Her limited edition artist books are in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, Rutgers, Stanford, UCLA, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others. For 12 years, she ran the studio programs at the Center for Book Arts in NYC. Currently she teaches letterpress at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
Ribbon cutting ceremony for veterans’ memorial in Braddock Park is Jan. 21
The grand opening of the new veterans’ memorial in James J. Braddock North Hudson Park will take place at noon on Thursday, Jan. 21. A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on the site of the former “dust bowl” at the north end of the park, across from the Burger King on Bergenline Avenue at 90th Street.
North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, County Executive Thomas DeGise, Freeholder Anthony Vainieri, and other officials will be present. There will be a tour of the new facility, which is dedicated to U.S. veterans.
A lunch vendor will be present for anyone who wishes to utilize their lunch hour.
High Tech HS receives $20K grant from Verizon Innovative Schools Program
High Tech High School’s nationally recognized STEM program (science, technology, engineering, and math) received a funding boost thanks to a $20,000 grant from Verizon’s Innovative Schools Program. The occasion was marked with a ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at the school.
The funds will be used to support High Tech’s “Project Lead the Way” curriculum, which aims to prepare students for the cutting edge careers of tomorrow with a particular focus on biomedical technologies. Verizon Director of External Affairs Mark Bocchieri was on hand to officially present the check to Hudson County Schools of Technology Superintendent Frank Gargiulo and High Tech High School Principal Dr. Joseph Giammarella. The event was also attended by school district leaders and students in the school’s STEM program.
“We are extremely proud of our teachers and students in our school’s STEM program,” said Gargiulo. “These students will be the scientists, engineers, and doctors of tomorrow, and this grant will further aid them in their career pursuits.”
While the grant is very competitive and numerous schools apply for an award, only five schools are chosen throughout the state of New Jersey to receive the grant in a competitive application process that was spearheaded by HCST Board Secretary Joseph Muniz and his staff.
“We are so happy that our program was chosen for this grant,” said Biology and Biomedical Science teacher Priscilla Isip. “It will help with many aspects of our STEM program, including with equipment and field trips. In particular, we hope students can visit hospitals to meet with doctors and pathologists, as well as local police stations to meet with sheriffs and learn about their CSI investigations.”