Ricigliano Wins Bitter Battle Against Choi

EDISON – Councilwoman Antonia Ricigliano is one step closer to becoming Edison’s first female mayor after defeating incumbent Jun Choi in Tuesday’s primary.

The two-term councilwoman had the backing of the township’s Democratic Committee as well as the local police union, but still trailed Choi by 18 points in a poll taken two weeks before election day.

“Does it get any better?” Ricigliano asked at her campaign headquarters on Tuesday night. “I couldn’t believe it. When the phone call came in, I didn’t know who it was—it was Mayor Choi conceding. We didn’t even have all the numbers on our board yet.”

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Corzine To Face Off Against Christie In November

STATE – Unpopular incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine will face liberal Republican Christopher J. Christie in November after both men secured primary wins Tuesday.

At his victory celebration, Christie told a crowd of supporters, “I am honored by the confidence you continue to show in me. I will work hard each and every day, just like all of you do, to prove to you that your confidence was well-placed.”

Christie defeated his more conservative rivals, former Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan and Assemblyman Rick Merkt. With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Christie led Lonegan 55 percent to 42 percent, with Merkt drawing just 3 percent of the vote.

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Plainfield Mayor Wins Narrow Victory

UNION COUNTY — Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs won by a narrow margin in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, defeating a field of five opponents that included a city councilman, a school board member and the chairwoman of the municipal utilities authority.

Just four Union County communities had contested primaries, though 17 of 21 held elections. There are no local elections this year in Clark, Elizabeth or Rahway.

Freeholder chairman Alexander Mirabella and Freeholder Deborah Scanlon, along with Democratic party-endorsed candidate Mohamed Jalloh won the Union County Freeholder primary race. In November, they will face Republicans Anthony Sytko, Nicole Cole and Modesto Miranda Jr.

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H1N1 Flu Cases Confirmed In Middlesex County

MIDDLESEX COUNTY—Four cases of H1N1 flu have been confirmed in Middlesex County, according to the Middlesex County Public Health Department.

Three of the cases, two from Highland Park and one from Edison, are from an influenza cluster in students from a private parochial school in Piscataway. A cluster is defined as two or more individuals with symptom onset within seven days of each other who have common exposure, i.e. school.

The private school was closed for a week, and reopened on Monday, June 1.

County health officer David A. Papi said, “We have been working closely with the school, local physicians, parents, and all local health departments in the county, particularly Piscataway and Edison health departments.”

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Linden Budget Calls For Tax Increase, Furloughs

LINDEN – Municipal taxes will rise about $100 for the average Linden resident under the proposed 2009 budget, which calls for furloughs of city employees and deferrals of municipal pension contributions.

Taxes will go up $103 on a property assessed at the city average of $141,100. While the planned increase is smaller than in recent years, the average municipal tax bill will climb to $2,100.

The proposed 2009 budget comes in at around $88 million, more than $4 million less than the 2008 budget, which was $92.5 million. But the tax increase is necessary because revenue is down more than $4 million.

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Gang Member Sentenced For 2006 Murder

ELIZABETH—A Jersey City man was sentenced to 60 years in state prison on Friday after having been found guilty of first degree murder, Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow announced.

Omar Holmes, 24, must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, officials said.

In March, after a three-week trial and less than a day of jury deliberations, Holmes was also convicted of several weapon offences, said Assistant Prosecutor Michael Henn, who handled the case.

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Supreme Court Approves Revised School Funding Formula

STATE – New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled last week that Gov. Corzine’s revised school aid formula can replace the system instituted by the Abbott school funding case that has sent billions to 31 city school districts during the past 30 years.

The court unanimously ruled that the School Funding Reform Act adopted by lawmakers last year is “a constitutionally adequate scheme.”

Earlier this spring, state Attorney General Anne Milgram told the court that the revised formula spreads money based on “children’s needs, not children’s zip codes.”

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Rahway Races

Runners take off at the start of the PowerBar Mayor’s Trophy 5K Run on Memorial Day in Rahway. The winners of the race were G. G. John of East Orange and Almlemtseh Misganaw of Ethiopia. (Photo courtesy of the Rahway Recreation Department)

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Museum Makes History Come Alive

CLARK—Are you tired of the same thing every weekend? 

The Dr. William Robinson Plantation and Museum, located at 593 Madison Hill Road, offers something old and exciting for the whole family. The museum’s Living History Weekend will take place Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, June 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

 

Civil War-era history will come alive at the Dr. William Robinson Plantation and Museum in Clark this weekend. (File photo)

Some highlights of the weekend will be Civil War re-enactors from the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer, Company D, The 6th New York Independent Battery, from Rahway, dancing and underpinning demonstrations from the period. 

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Elizabeth Public Schools To Receive Innovations Grant

ELIZABETH – Elizabeth Public Schools was selected as one of 25 school systems nationwide to receive a 2009 HP Innovations in Education grant. Targeted at school systems serving students in grades 6 through 12, the grant program is designed to help educators address the need for raising student achievement in math and science and increase student awareness in high-tech college and career opportunities.  

John E. Dwyer House of Elizabeth High School will receive an HP Innovations in Education award package of HP technology, cash, and professional services valued at more than $265,000. Technologies such as wireless HP tablet PCs, wide-format HP DesignJet printers, high-power mobile workstations, mini-notebook PCs, and HP graphing calculators, will be used in innovative ways to fundamentally redesign the student learning experience.  

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McManus Student-Athletes Honored

Two students from McManus Middle School were recently honored for their high academic achievements at the 2009 POP Warner Little Scholars Eastern Region Luncheon and Awards Ceremony. Sixth grader Brianna Armstead was the winner of the Eastern Region POP Warner $1,000 scholarship. Eighth grader Joseph LeBlanc was also honored. They are pictured with school board member Lisa Ormon. (Photo courtesy Linden Public Schools)

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Scholarship Winners

The Rahway Youth Soccer Association Board recently awarded Amy Geis and Brittany Casares with the John Blair Scholarship, worth $500.  It was presented at the Sideliners Dinner by Tom Woodrow, current RYSA Chairman of the Board. (Photo courtesy of Rahway Youth Soccer Association)

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Award-Winning Artist

Athena Gerasoulis of Edison, a fourth grader at the Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison, captured first place in the nationwide 2009 Creative Student Art Contest for her “vivid color usage and imaginative interpretation of the theme, ‘Outside World.’” She received a $250 check and $250 art supply gift certificate. She is pictured with her plaque and artwork at right. Athena is the daughter of Dr. Apostolos Gerasoulis and Xiaolan Zhang. (Photo Courtesy of Xiaolan Zhang)

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