Police Promote Detectives, But Bollwage Still Refuses To Participate In Homicide Task Force

ELIZABETH – The city re-assigned 21 police officers to the detective bureau this week, but local officials still refuse to contribute manpower to the Union County Homicide Task force run by the county prosecutor.

In July, Mayor J. Christian Bollwage refused an order from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office to assign four city police detectives to the new task force. The mayor maintains that the prosecutor lacks the authority to make the demand. Although prosecutor Theodore Romankow disagreed, Bollwage did not relent and Elizabeth has not been a part of the homicide task force.

Earlier this week, published reports suggested that Romankow was thinking of taking over the city’s 350-member police department.

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Veterans Day Visit

Veterans Day Visit – This spring, children at the Woodbridge Child Care Center in Avenel collected school supplies for children in Afghanistan. These gifts were distributed by Army Captain Ian A. Cairns of Edison, who was stationed in Afghanistan with an Embedded Training Team (ETT). He surprised the Woodbridge children on Veterans Day with a visit to say thank you for their help and support. Cairns presented the center with an American flag which had flown over his base in Afghanistan. The Woodbridge Child Care Center is a branch of the Metuchen Edison Woodbridge YMCA. Cairns (back row, center) is pictured above surrounded by the YMCA children during his Veterans Day visit.

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Remembering Our Veterans

Remembering Our Veterans—The Sacred Heart Catholic War Veterans Post 578 held their annual Veterans Day remembrance on Nov. 11 at Sacred Heart cemetery on Johnsons Lane in the Parlin section of Sayreville. Names were read of those buried in the cemetery who gave their lives while serving their country in the time of war. American flags were placed throughout the cemetery by the post. A luncheon was held after the service at the South Amboy Knights of Columbus. Pictured above, Father Joseph Romanoski, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, says a prayer for the veterans. Photo by Diane Norek Harrison

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Summit and Elizabeth Children Benefit From Book Donation

UNION COUNTY – New Jersey Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean (R-Union) and Assemblyman Eric Munoz, M.D. (R-Summit) joined with New Jersey’s pharmaceutical and medical technology industry on Tuesday to deliver 2,000 new children’s books to two medical facilities to distribute to their youngest patients. The sites participate in Reach Out and Read, a national children’s literacy program in which doctors give books to infants, toddlers and preschoolers at check-ups and advise their parents about the importance of reading to their children.

A Prescription For Good Reading Skills--Ms. Ruby, a volunteer at Trinatas Hospital Pediatric Center in Elizabeth, reads “The Farm Box” to young patients, during a Reach Out and Read book donation event.

The donated books were delivered to the Summit and Elizabeth health care facilities under a partnership between New Jersey’s pharmaceutical and medical technology companies and their trade association, the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ), with Reach Out and Read. HINJ member companies have pledged to provide $100,000 per year for three years to support existing Reach Out and Read sites in New Jersey, expand the program to serve more at-risk children, and establish an infrastructure to help the program grow and sustain itself in New Jersey.

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Celebrate Puerto Rico Discovery Day

PERTH AMBOY—The Puerto Rican Association for Human Development invites Perth Amboy-area residents to celebrate Puerto Rico Discovery Day on Sunday, Nov. 16.

The program includes a mass at 1 p.m. at Our Lady of Fatima Church. The Puerto Rican flag raising ceremony will follow with a special recognition to outstanding community members at the Perth Amboy City Hall Circle at 2:30 p.m.

Among those recognized will be 15 members of the Senior Community Service Employment Program who were part of PRAHD’s family for many years, and who contributed to the overall agency’s daily operations. The honorees include Luz del Campo, Pedro Gonzalez, Angelica Torrico, Mario Torrico, Sergio Castro, Brigida Diaz, Alfredo Lopez, Rosario Gonzalez, Feliciano Serrano, Maria Nieva Prado, Petronila Vidal (TiTi), Idelisa Galano, Ana Maria Diaz, Ana H. Rivera, and Carmen “Millie” Diaz. In addition, a former student Julio Dejesus from Perth Amboy High School will also be recognized.

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