City Hall announces holiday schedule
The City of Bayonne’s City Hall has announced the holiday schedule for Dec. 24 and 25 for city services.
City Hall, the Bayonne Free Public Library, and the Constable Hook Recycling Center will be closed on Dec. 24 and 25.
Garbage and recycling regular pick-ups are in effect on Dec. 24. There will be no garbage and recycling pick-ups taking place on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.
On-street parking meter regulations, parking permit regulations, and street sweeping will be suspended on Dec. 24 and 25.
Parking in parking utility lots is free for non-commercial vehicles through Tuesday, Jan. 1.
Mayor Smith goes to Washington
Mayor Mark Smith and his wife Patricia had dinner with President Barack Obama at the White House for annual Christmas Party on Tuesday, Dec. 18, officials confirmed.
Earlier this year, Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell received a similar invitation to attend St. Patrick’s Day events where he met the ambassador to Ireland.
“When I got the invite, I thought it was a joke,” O’Donnell said.
Smith’s invitation may have come as a result of his status as chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization or because Bayonne – like several other towns in Hudson County such as Hoboken and Jersey City – suffered significant impacts as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
Unoccupied building catches fire on 22nd Street
A fire broke out in a vacant building at 90 E. 22nd Street at about 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 14, doing significant damage to the first floor apartment, but there were no injuries.
Upon arrival, firefighters encountered heavy smoke outside a vacant building, with fire traveling up the rear of the structure. Firefighters forced entry to the structure and extinguished heavy fire in a rear bedroom and kitchen on the first floor, and extinguished additional fire in a rear bedroom on the second floor – apparently resulting from flames extending up the rear of the building. The fire resulted in significant damage to the first floor apartment, fire damage to the second floor apartment, fire damage to the exterior rear siding, and smoke and water damage throughout. The fire was brought under control shortly after 9 p.m., and there were no reports of injuries. The building was reportedly unoccupied when firefighters arrived. The fire investigators initial report indicates that the rear bedroom may have been where the fire originated, but could not rule out combustibles immediately outside the bedroom window. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The Police Department and Building Department were at the scene.
Lautenberg to introduce ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines
U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg announced this week plans to reintroduce his high-capacity magazine ban legislation in January, at the beginning of the 113th Congress.
“In light of yet another horrific shooting tragedy, it is clearer than ever that there is no place in our communities for deadly high-capacity gun magazines and I will keep working to pass my bill to reinstate the ban on them. If we don’t pass a high-capacity magazine ban this year, it will be the first bill I introduce when the new session of Congress begins in January. These high-capacity magazines, which were used in Newtown, Aurora, Tucson, Virginia Tech, and so many other tragedies, were designed for one purpose only – to shoot and kill quickly. We must take immediate action to ban high-capacity gun magazines and assault weapons so that we can prevent the next massacre.”
In the 112th Congress, Senator Lautenberg introduced the “Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act” to prohibit the manufacture and sale of ammunition magazines that have a capacity of, or could be readily converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Lautenberg plans to reintroduce his legislation in the new year.
State legislation pushes for research for rare, deadly infant disease
Legislation sponsored by Senators Richard J. Codey and Sandra Bolden Cunningham that would establish a program to better educate medical examiners in the state about sudden, unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) and improve research of this rare condition was approved today by the Senate Health, Human Services & Senior Citizens Committee.
“Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy is a rare condition that affects younger or middle-aged people who die without a specific, clear cause. However, we still know relatively little about why certain people are affected,” said Senator Codey (D-Essex, Morris). “Opening the door to additional research on this condition could be the key to finding its cause, and ultimately to saving lives.”
While the condition is known among the medical community, the amount of data available on SUDEP is shockingly small. The bill (S-2227) would create a uniform way of collecting information on this gravely serious issue and help to expand medical research into the condition. First, the bill would require the State Medical Examiner, in consultation with the Commission of Health and the State Board of Medical Examiners, to establish a program to educate medical examiners in the State about sudden, unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).
The bill would require medical examiners to include, as part of their investigation into the cause of death, questions that would determine if the person in question had epilepsy. If a medical examiner’s findings in an autopsy are consistent with the definition of known or suspected SUDEP, the medical examiner would be required to indicate SUDEP as the cause or suspected cause of death and request from the authorized survivors of the decedent that the decedent’s relevant medical information be sent to a SUDEP registry. The medical examiner would also be required to make a request to the deceased’s family members that the brain be donated to help facilitate research.
“The more opportunities we have for research on sudden unexpected death in epilepsy the better chance we have of establishing interventions to prevent additional fatalities,” said Senator Cunningham. “This program will train medical examiners to identify this condition during an autopsy and to help facilitate research, which is critical to improving our understanding of this rare but tragic disorder.”
Autopsy plays a key role in determining the diagnosis of SUDEP, yet the Institute of Medicine has found that SUDEP may be underreported for several reasons, including a lack of awareness about SUDEP among medical examiners. The cause of SUDEP is not known, and opportunities for its prevention have been hindered by the lack of a systematic effort to collect information about people who have died from SUDEP, as is done with many other disorders. Senator Codey introduced the bill after being approached by those in the medical community that study epilepsy.
The committee approved the bill by a vote of 10-0. It now heads to the full Senate for a vote.
Menendez pushes for post-Sandy disaster relief aid
During the United States Senate’s consideration of the emergency appropriations bill last week, which would provide $60.4 billion to states affected by Hurricane Sandy, U.S. Senator Menendez spoke on the Senate Floor to urge his colleagues to pass the Sandy Relief Package quickly and in its entirety.
Menendez, who will frequent the Senate Floor throughout the week to work with his colleagues to pass the package, said, “Just because scenes of the damage are no longer showing in living rooms across the country, doesn’t mean that the recovery is over… now is not the time for the federal government to walk away.”