Jersey City residents in court regarding death of disabled woman
Two Jersey City women appeared in court Thursday after being arrested in connection with the death of a bedridden and mentally disabled woman on July 9, according to a NJ.com report.
Helene Hutchinson, 45, and Florence Garland, 78, were in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City to answer charges of neglect of their relative Wendy Garland, 33, who suffered from cerebral palsy and Downs syndrome. Florence Garland was the victim’s mother and Hutchinson her sister.
Police found Garland dead in her bed a week earlier at the family’s Woodlawn Avenue home. She was in a second-story room with a damaged roof, and the temperature was over 100 degrees, according to reports. Officials said the house was infested with insects.
The two women, who were released on their own recognizance, were told in court that the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating their case for presentation to a grand jury.
Animal shelter board resigns abruptly
The Liberty Humane Society, Jersey City’s animal shelter, has announced that their Board of Directors has resigned and that past presidents Laura Moss, Bonnie Yost Suozzo and Diana Jeffrey will serve as an interim board.
The five board members who resigned were John O’Keefe, Pui Chi Wong, Norrice Raymaker, Gia Arturo, and Jin Park. The resignations apparently took place because the board wanted shelter management to set a limit on the number of dogs that can be housed at the shelter in order to save money, but the board’s request was not being heeded. The board also accused the shelter management of mismanaging their finances.
Liberty Humane’s Executive Director Joanna Hopkinson said in an announcement that the interim board will work quickly to appoint new members to the governing board.
“We are confident that this crisis can be turned into an opportunity for LHS,” Hopkinson said.
Sires announces Medicare will mail out $250 checks to seniors
Rep. Albio Sires (D-13) announced on Friday that Medicare will start mailing out $250 checks to tens of thousands of senior citizens.
In a press release sent from his office, under the recently enacted health reform law, seniors who fall in the “donut hole” coverage gap in 2010 will receive this one-time tax-free $250 rebate. The checks will continue to be mailed monthly over the next several months as seniors enter the coverage gap.
“This is the first example of how the health care reform law will strengthen Medicare and help seniors,” said Sires in the released statement. “Prescription drugs cost many seniors thousands of dollars a year, and this check is a down payment on reducing prescription drug costs, including the 109,000 seniors in New Jersey who hit the donut hole last year.”
According to Sires, the checks are just the first benefit for seniors in the Medicare Prescription Drug program. Beginning in January 2011, seniors in the coverage gap will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs. Medicare recipients will receive the $250 check automatically once their drug costs for the year hit $2,830 without the need to fill out any paperwork.
For more information, contact the congressman’s office at (201) 222-2828 in Jersey City, or Medicaid.
City of Water Day Festival coming to Liberty State Park
The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance’s 3rd annual City of Water Day Festival is coming Liberty State Park in Jersey City on Saturday, July 24 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The City of Water Day Festival is a free event celebrating the New York-New Jersey metropolitan region being surrounded and shaped by water and how that situation has to be preserved.
Activities in Liberty State Park will include: free narrated harbor boat tours, kayaking, car-free biking, and other waterfront activities; water-themed arts, crafts, and games for children; narrated walking tours; food vendors, and more.
Visit www.cityofwaterday.org and www.waterfrontalliance.org for more information about the festival.
NJDOT to shift Route 1&9 in Jersey City
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has announced upcoming traffic pattern changes on Route 1&9 in Jersey City as reconstruction continues on the northern portion of the highway.
Starting this weekend, NJDOT will conduct temporary overnight single-lane closures in both directions to shift Route 1&9 southbound traffic to the eastern portion of the highway onto the newly completed bridge decks. A new work zone will be established on the western side of Route 1&9 from Spruce Street to just north of the Tonnelle Circle.
The new work zone is anticipated to be in place Monday morning, July 19, and will be defined with concrete construction barriers. Once the new work zone is established, Route 1&9 will continue to maintain two traffic lanes in each direction.
The $250 million federally-funded project will replace the Routes 1&9 viaduct over St. Paul’s Avenue with a new structure on a new alignment north of the present structure. The existing Route 1&9 viaduct was constructed in 1928 and is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete.
NJDOT will also build new approach roads to safely connect to Route 1&9, Route 7, Pulaski Skyway, Route 139, Route 1&9 north of Tonnelle Circle and local streets in Jersey City. The project will provide a more continuous flow of traffic and safer connections to the roadways that form a vital link to this region’s transportation network. Construction completion is anticipated in spring 2013.
NJDOT will employ Variable Message Signs on Route 1&9 to inform motorists of the changes in traffic patterns. Real time travel and construction information is available online at www.511nj.org