Bayonne Briefs

Marist Family Carnival

Rides, carnival games, food and a beer garden will be featured at the Marist Family Carnival at Marist High School on 1241 Kennedy Blvd. The event will take place Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4 from 6-10 p.m., and Sunday June 5 from 1-7 p.m. For more information, visit marist.org or call 201-437-4545.

Color-A-Thon Fundraiser and 5k Run

The Lincoln Community School PTO will host a fundraiser and 5k run on Saturday, June 4 at 9 a.m. at the 16th Street Park. At the end of the donation period, a 5k Color-A-Thon event will take place. The students can walk, run, skip or cartwheel through a course where they will get blasted by color dust. A $30 registration fee is required to attend. Visit bayonnenj.org/parks for more information or call 201-996-7957.

Tackle ALS Fundraiser on June 4

In July 2015, Brandon Smith started showing symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function. The cause is unknown, and there is no cure yet.
Smith is a basketball coach, football coach, and security guard at Bayonne High School. His wife, Christyann Altamirano, says that since his diagnosis, “he’s been the same old Brandon, happy and always smiling.” A Bayonne native who attended BHS, Smith coached basketball at the high school for eight years and football for four. Later this year, he plans to coach the Bayonne Renegade, a youth football program for kids ages 6-14.
So, come out and support Brandon Smith: Tackle ALS this Saturday, June 4 at 1 p.m. at Veterans Stadium, 198 West 25th Street and Parks Road. The entrance fee is $5 and is free for kids. The event will feature Smitty’s Alumni All-Stars. There will be 50/50 raffles, basket raffles, shirts for $15, a $2 Ice Bucket Challenge and a donation table. DJ Tony Mariano will perform at the halftime show.

Presidential Primary Election Wednesday, June 7

The presidential primary election will be held Tuesday, June 7. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Residents should have received their local polling information in the mail, but can find their polling location online using a tool on the Hudson County voting information web page: http://www.hudsoncountynj.org/voting-information/. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are running for the Democratic nomination, with Clinton edging Sanders in the delegate count. The Republican ballot is more of a formality at this point, with Donald Trump being the presumptive Republican nominee.

Verizon strike ends

The largest national labor strike in nearly five years ended this week after the CWA and IBEW came to an agreement in principle with Verizon. The contract has yet to be ratified, but strikers will return to work on Wednesday. Verizon retreated on some issues surrounding pensions and their ability to outsource work in the future. In a press release, Verizon said, “The agreements allow for greater flexibility in call sharing to better serve customers, and give us the ability to offer special buyout incentives to associates. Associates will receive a wage increase of 10.5 percent over four years. In addition, as part of our goal to accelerate growth in wireline broadband, there will be 1400 additional associate hires over the term of the contract.”
Frank Ferrante, a Verizon technician for 26 years and a Bayonne resident, is pleased with the agreement and is happy to return to work. “It looks like we won,” he said. “It’s all worth it in the end. This was for the middle class in this country. Corporations cannot be doing this to hard-working people.”

© 2000, Newspaper Media Group