Committee vote on Chiappone seat
Democratic Committee people will meet at Nicholas Oresko School in Bayonne on
Monday, July 26, at 7 p.m. to vote on a person to fill the state Assembly seat being vacated by Anthony Chiappone, who resigned on July 16 after pleading guilty to election reporting violations. Committee people from Jersey City and Bayonne will have to choose from a field of candidates that include James Dugan and Jason O’Donnell of Bayonne, and Joe Conte (and possibly others) from Jersey City. The person selected will serve in the Assembly until a special election in November for the remaining year on Chiappone’s term of office.
State gives city extension on budget revenue
Anticipating financing as a result of the sale of a portion of the former Military Ocean Terminal, the state has granted the city an extension on filling the $27.5 million gap in the municipal budget that ended on June 30.
The City Council voted to approve the $134 million 2009-2010 budget at its May 19 meeting, but was short in revenues. Since then, the city announced the sale purchase of approximately 130 acres of property at the MOTBY for $235 million, a portion of which the city will receive upon closing, and the rest paid over the next 24 years. The state granted the city until July 30 to make up the budget shortfall, which is expected to come out of the revenues from the sale.
“The funds are due from the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority,” said Business Administrator Terrence Malloy in response to a question from the “Community News.” “They are in process of negotiating a transaction that will meet the city’s budget needs. The July 30 date may be the date the state is allowing us to keep our books open to realize the revenue. They have been extremely cooperative with working with the city on its budget. I anticipate a positive conclusion.”
Schillari withdraws suit against Perez
Hudson County Undersheriff and Democratic Party Sheriff Candidate Frank Schillari is withdrawing a civil rights lawsuit he filed against Sheriff Juan Perez because of potentially high legal costs for taxpayers.
Perez fired Schillari shortly after he announced that he was running against the sheriff in the Democratic Primary, and then later reinstated him. Several other Sheriff’s Office employees say they have also been the victim of political retaliation because they support Schillari.
Paul Swibinski, a spokesman for Schillari, issued the following statement today:
“Undersheriff Schillari’s attorney has filed a Notice of Dismissal Without Prejudice – which means that his lawsuit can be reinstated at any time should Sheriff Perez again violate the law or harass any other Sheriff’s Officers.”
While Swibinski said Schillari still believes the firing was “an illegal political retaliation and that Schillari’s civil rights were violated,” this federal lawsuit could have cost taxpayers tens and perhaps even hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and Schillari has decided to withdraw it at this time.
“We are calling on the sheriff to keep politics out of the day to day operations of the office and to simply allow all Sheriff’s Officers and employees to support or not support any candidates they wish,” Swibinski said. “If the Sheriff or any of his agents harass, threaten, or intimidate any other employees, this lawsuit will be promptly reinstated.”
Project Child Find instated
Parents, who suspect their child – ages from birth to 21 – may have a disability that negatively affects his or her learning and live in Bayonne can contact the Special Services Office at the Bayonne Board of Education, which will provide information regarding services or programs. Call Sharon Colasurdo, acting supervisor of Special Services, at (201) 858-5870.
Bayonne student to visit Washington
Society for Science & the Public (SSP) will be hosting its second class of SSP Fellows in Washington, DC at the Fellows Institute from July 26 to the 30. Among the teachers selected from a nationwide competition will be Marie A. Aloia from Bayonne High School.
Aloia was selected from a national pool of applicants from 36 states for her vision to promote science in under-resourced communities. She will be receiving a monetary award for her classroom, along with full support to attend the Fellows Institute.
Library to hold book sale July 28 and 29
The Bayonne Public Library announced that it will hold a book sale on Wednesday, July 28, and Thursday, July 29, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on both days. The event will take place inside the library in the lobby area on the main floor. The sale will feature a variety of books. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the library, which is located at 31st Street and Avenue C.
Sires says seniors will get checks
Rep. Albio Sires said that Medicare will start mailing out to tens of thousands of seniors $250 “donut hole” checks. 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 check. 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,” stated Congressman Sires. “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.”
The checks are just the first benefit for seniors in the Medicare Prescription Drug program. Beginning, in January 2011, seniors in the donut will receive a 50 percent discount on brand named 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.
Cunningham urges Congress to support unemployment extension
A resolution sponsored by Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham, which would memorialize Congress to enact legislation to extend the 100 percent federal funding for emergency, extended and weekly unemployment insurance benefits to laid off workers, was approved today by the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee.
“This legislation is about urging Congress to act on legislation that would help to keep New Jersey’s families afloat in these tough economic times,” Cunningham said . “While we wait, and hope for these benefits to be reinstated, roughly 38,000 New Jerseyans have lost their benefits. We just came through a difficult budget process – one where real sacrifices had to be made. New Jerseyans cannot be called upon to undergo anymore cuts in necessary services.”
Senator Cunningham’s resolution, SR-80, would call upon Congress to reinstate the federal law extending additional unemployment insurance benefits that were originally enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Currently, the federal government covers up to 53 weeks of 100 percent emergency unemployment insurance funding, 20 weeks of extended unemployment insurance benefits, and an additional $25 per week supplement for all benefits. Without the enactment of legislation urged by Senator Cunningham, the 20 weeks of extended benefits would have to be covered by the state.
Local doctor named president of the AOA
Martin S. Levine, DO, who has a family practice in Bayonne, has been named president-elect of the American Osteopathic Association.
Levine, DO, an AOA board-certified family physician, was named president-elect of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) during its recent annual business meeting in Chicago earlier this month.
A fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, Dr. Levine has a family practice in Bayonne and Jersey City. He serves as associate dean for educational development at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Dr. Levine also serves as discipline chief of family medicine and clinical associate professor at Seton Hall University’s School of Health and Medical Sciences Clinical Training Center at St. Michael’s Hospital in Newark.
Gilda’s Club to get almost 10,000 new supporters
The New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs, comprising 280 women’s clubs across the state, has selected Gilda’s Club Northern New Jersey as the recipient for its 2010-12 state project, promising to help the network of cancer-support centers get back on good financial footing.
The organization said it came close to closing its doors two years ago.
“The recession had hit the organization particularly hard and it didn’t think it had enough money to keep going,” said Ruth Dugan, president of its board.
The group has since merged its centers with the Wellness Community, another cancer-support nonprofit, held numerous fundraisers, and elected new leadership. Now, as the centers continue to rebuild over the next two years, the 9,500 members of the New Jersey Women’s Clubs will help provide fundraising, advocacy, and volunteer support to Gilda’s Club of Northern New Jersey, Gilda’s Club South Jersey and the Wellness Community chapters in Bedminster, N.J., and Eatontown, N.J.