Wine tasting will benefit foster children
Hudson County CASA’s (Court Appointed Special Advocates) 10th Annual Wine Tasting fundraiser featuring world-class wines, foods and desserts, a premium spirits tasting, cork pull and silent auction will take place on Friday, April 8, from 6 to 10 p.m. at Battello, 502 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City. Proceeds from this event support CASA’s advocacy work on behalf of Hudson County foster children.
More than 90 wines selected by Cork Wine & Spirits will be featured at the tasting and accompanied by foods and desserts by Battello. The night will also include a tasting of premium spirits, a silent auction, cork pull, and free valet parking.
Hudson County CASA will honor Traci Telemaque, managing attorney of the New Jersey Office of Law Guardians, Northern Region, UPS foster families, and CASA volunteers John Sullivan and Carol Kobak. Silent auction items include a one-week stay in Martha’s Vineyard, an African safari and two tickets to Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof with dinner at Sardi’s.
Tickets may be purchased online for $100 or at the door on the night of the event for $125. Tickets may also be purchased at Cork Wine & Spirits at 1450 Washington St. in Hoboken. For tickets and more information, please visit www.hudsoncountycasa.org.
Freeholders urge NJ Transit to provide overnight service on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail
The Hudson County Board of Freeholders has urged New Jersey Transit to provide overnight service on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.
Mass transit is vital to the residents of Hudson County in that it takes thousands of residents to work, school, recreational venues and other important destinations. It also reduces pollution and traffic congestion and saves energy.
The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail provides daily service to Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, Union City and North Bergen. It has stations at Newport, Exchange Place Hoboken Terminal to provide commuters connections to the PATH system.
The light rail does not provide service from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. The freeholders maintain this nightly period of closure imposes an undue hardship on its commuters who do not have accessible mass transit alternatives to and from New York City and their homes during the hours of closure.
Freeholder Chairman Tilo Rivas and the board have urged New Jersey Transit to provide continuous, overnight service on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail so that commuters during the hours of 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. are not unduly burdened. If New Jersey Transit does not provide continuous service to commuters, they say, then it should provide bus shuttle service alternatives for commuters during the hours of 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.
JC main library to reopen during renovations
The Jersey City Library’s main branch on Jersey Avenue will reopen on Sept. 6, although officials warn the library will still close from time to time due to renovations.
A window replacement project will proceed in June and will continue until the end of 2016.
Individual departments will be closed during the window replacements.
Phase II of the project will start this summer and continue until spring 2017. The phase III construction work will start by the end of the year and will involve all building spaces with replacement of the heating system, new central air conditioning and construction of a new
book stacks building in the rear where a state-of-the art auditorium will be on the first floor.
“We understand the need to reopen to the public and have formulated a plan and timetable that
will allow us to continue with these important renovations and construction while offering residents access to the city’s Main Library,” said Library Director Priscilla Gardner. “We are grateful that city government has taken a focused look at the Main Library’s current renovation status, as well as provided the capital improvement funds for this major project that when complete will provide a greater service to the public.”
The original schedule had the Main Library reopening on or before the end of March; however,
the building was unable to reopen, pending evaluation by the architect of record, Helena Ruman.
Blockbuster medical deal allows JCMC to be part of massive medical network
Rumored for weeks, the merger of St. Barnabas Medical Center with Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center will allow Jersey City Medical Center to become part of an 11-hospital mega-medical network.
RWJBarnabas Health will be valued at about $5 billion and will likely handle medical care for about half of the state’s population.
Officials at Jersey City Medical Center hinted last month that the merger was in the works, awaiting only approval from the state.
This week the state approved what is seen as the second biggest medical merger deal in the history of New Jersey.
The organization will be based in West Orange.
HCCC offers math fundamental course
Hudson County Community College’s Non-Traditional Programs is offering ABE: Math Fundamentals. This course is designed to improve reading and writing, and teach the important skills necessary for decoding and recognizing all of the letters of the alphabet and everyday words and word groups in short, simple texts. Practice writing and organizing sentences, grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Classes will be held on Saturdays from April 9 until June 11, and take place from 1:30 until 5:30 p.m. Tuition is $299 and classes will be held at the Journal Square campus. Payment is due at time of registry, and can be paid via cash or check in person and via credit card online. For more information contact the department of Community Education at (201) 360 – 4246, or CommunityEd@hccc.edu. If you would like to view more about the class, or other classes offered, visit http://www.hccc.edu/communityeducation/ to check out the catalog