Catrillo sentenced; several other indicted pols plead not guilty
Last week was a busy week regarding the July 23, 2009 arrests of 44 political and religious leaders in an FBI sting.
On Friday, Guy Catrillo, a former planning aide for the city, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for allegedly taking money from a government informant posing as a Jersey City developer.
Catrillo was fired from his job in September after he pleaded guilty.
On Thursday, City Councilman Mariano Vega, former Jersey City MUA commissioner Joseph Cardwell, and former city housing inspector John Guarini all pleaded not guilty to corruption charges pertaining to accepting and/or facilitating the acceptance of bribes from government informant Solomon Dwek. And on Wednesday, Brian Neary, the attorney for former Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, tried to have her case dismissed but Judge Jose Linares. But Linares ruled against Neary’s claims. That means jury selection will start on Monday.
Alleged shooter in JC man’s death surrenders
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said on Wednesday that Barshay Jacobs, 21, a suspect in the Jan. 8 shooting death of Jersey City resident Ronald Jordan, surrendered Wednesday morning in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan.
DeFazio said investigators believe Jacobs was one of the alleged shooters of Jordan, 21, who was sitting in a Wegman Parkway home around 3:15 a.m. on the morning of Jan. 8. That’s when two men entered the house and allegedly opened fire on Jordan, who died minutes later as a result of a gunshot to the head.
The other suspect in Jordan’s murder, Dante Bland, was apprehended on Jan. 14 and was charged with murder, possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose.
DeFazio said Jacobs, whose last-known address was Ocean Avenue, faces the same charges as Bland. Jacobs was also issued the same $1 million cash bail as Bland.
Jordan’s death was the first homicide in Jersey City this year. The second took place later that day when Jordan’s friend, Ezekiel Sims, 31, was shot dead around 11 p.m. in a stairwell in the Marion Gardens housing complex.
DeFazio said while the shootings are related, the ongoing investigation into Sims’ and Jordan’s murders has not established the “precise relationship between the two shootings.” But DeFazio did say there was a “retaliatory aspect” to not just the Sims and Jordan murders, but other shootings that go back to last year.
Anyone with information on the Jordan and Sims shootings can contact the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office at (201) 915-1345.
Charter school raises $4K for those in need
Learning Community Charter School, at 2495 Kennedy Blvd. in Jersey City, announced that its students raised over $4,000 for the St. Aloysius food pantry located down the block from the school. Learning Community, previously located in downtown Jersey City, recently purchased and moved into the former St. Aloysius Academy school building this past summer. It is a K-8 school with 458 students.
“We chose the St. Aloysius food pantry for two reasons. One, it was important to us that we honor the former St. Aloysius Academy that used to be in this building.” said Principal Janet Ciarrocca. “The second reason is that the students wanted to help our neighbors who are struggling during the economic downturn. Giving back to the community and being good citizens is at the core of our school values.”
This is the fourth year the school has done a penny drive for charitable causes. The school has raised $14,000 in pennies over the past four years for different charities. A check was presented recently to the St. Aloysius food pantry.
CASA continues volunteer recruitment
Hudson County has over 750 children in foster care. Most have been removed from their homes for abuse or neglect. Hudson County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) is currently recruiting volunteers interested in helping children in the foster care system and advocating the best interests of abused and neglected children. CASA works through trained community volunteers to insure that needed services and assistance are made available to children while helping to move them toward safe and permanent homes.
Information sessions will be held on Feb. 2 from 6 to 7 p.m. in Room 901 of the Hudson County Administration Building, 595 Newark Ave. (rear entrance), Jersey City.
For further information, please call (201) 795-9855, e-mail mveenhof@hudsoncountycasa.org or visit their website at www.hudsoncountycasa.org.
African Diaspora Film Series comes to JC
ArtMattan Productions and Jersey City Museum present the sixth Annual African Diaspora Film Series on Friday, Jan. 29 from 1:30 to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 30 from 1 to 5 p.m. Jersey City Museum is located at 350 Montgomery St.
Individual tickets per screening are $10, students and seniors $8, Jersey City Museum members $7.
The schedule of film screenings for Friday and Saturday:
Friday, 1:30 p.m.: “Glorious Exit” by Kevin Merz, Nigeria/Switzerland, 2008, 75 mins., a documentary in English and German with English subtitles. At 3:30 p.m., “The Journey of the Lion” by Fritz Baumann, 1992, 90 mins., a docu-drama in English.
Saturday, 1 p.m.: “Candombe” by Rafael Deugenio, 1993, 16 mins., a docu-drama in Spanish with English subtitles, followed by “Sons of Benkos” by Silva Lucas, 2003, 52 mins., Spanish with English subtitles, also a docu-drama. There will be a discussion and Q&A following the screening. At 3 p.m.: “Pro-Black Sheep” by Clayton Broomes Jr., USA, 2009, 109 mins., drama in English. Clayton Broomes Jr. will make a special appearance and lead a Q&A following the screening.
For more information about the African Diaspora Film Series, please visit www.nyadff.org.
Loew’s celebrates 80th anniversary with films from 1930s
To celebrate its 80th anniversary year, every month the Loew’s Jersey Theatre, 54 Journal Square in Jersey City, will present three iconic films of each decade from the 1930s thru the 1980s. This month, films highlighting the decade of Art Deco glamour and the Great Depression:
Friday, Jan. 29 at 8 p.m.: “The Thin Man,” starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan, Nat Pendleton and Cesar Romero, directed by W.S. Van Dyke. (1934, 93 mins., B&W)
Saturday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m.: “Top Hat,” starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick, and Eric Blore, directed by Mark Sandrich, music by Irving Berlin. (1935, 99 mins., B&W). Then at 8:40 p.m., “Gold Diggers of 1933,” starring Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee, Warren Williams, Ginger Rogers, and Sterling Holloway, choreography by Busby Berkeley, directed by Mervyn LeRoy. (1933, 96 mins. B&W)
Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for seniors (65 and older) and children (12 and younger).
For more information, call (201) 798-6055 or www.loewsjersey.org.
Cultural ensemble holds CD release party
New Jersey’s premier bomba and plena dance and drum ensemble, Segunda Quimbamba, will issue its debut recording “Aquí También” a compilation of eleven original and traditional tunes that explore the beauty and rhythmic force of Puerto Rico’s drums – the drums of bomba and of plena.
The CD release party is on Jan. 29, 7 p.m., at Hard Grove Café on Grove Street in Jersey City.
“Aquí También” was produced by the Segunda Quimbamba Folkloric Center and all proceeds will go directly to SQFC to benefit its instructional dance and drum workshops, student scholarships and its publications and dissemination efforts. The Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, charitable organization incorporated in New Jersey and serves to promote the music of Puerto Rico.
To learn more about the Segunda Quimbamba Folkloric Center, visit their MySpace page at myspace.com/segundaquimbamba.
College choir to sing on tour in Jersey City and Bayonne
Members of the Saint Michael’s College Liturgical Choir will sing in Jersey City and Bayonne during their tour from Feb. 5th through 7th. The choir includes 28 Saint Michael’s students, 15 Saint Michael’s alumni and community members.
Saint Michael’s College is a liberal arts residential Catholic college located in the Burlington area of Vermont.
Their schedule is as follows: Friday, Feb. 5, Mass at 9 a.m. at Hudson Catholic High School in Jersey City, and Mass at 1 p.m. at Marist High School in Bayonne.
The group will be accompanied by the Rev. Brian Cummings, SSE, Saint Michael’s director of Edmundite Campus Ministry and a Jersey City native, who will preside and preach at the masses to be celebrated. Choir Director Jerome Monachino, Saint Michael’s associate director of Edmundite Campus Ministry for Liturgical Music, will lead the choir.