Category: Public Info

Union County Sheriff Joseph Cryan thanks Florence Duggan of Westfield for the donation of pet oxygen masks to the K9 Search and Rescue Unit from the Sussex Hills Kennel Club. The officers from the K9 unit are (from left) Officer Ryan Wilson, Sgt. Brian Howarth with K9 Devante, Officer Timothy O’Grady, Detective Anthony Gialanella and Officer Bryan Frew.

The K-9 Search and Rescue Unit’s assignments include searching buildings, locating missing persons, detecting narcotics, detecting explosives/explosive devices and specialized patrol functions. The services of this unit are requested by law enforcement agencies throughout Union County, and sometimes beyond the county limits. They also respond to calls which include providing assistance to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Drug Enforcement Agency, New Jersey State Police, U.S. Customs, U.S. Postal Police and the U.S. Secret Service.

(Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholders Christopher Hudak and Sergio Granados attended Opening Day for the 70th season of Union County Youth League Baseball at Warinanco Park in Roselle. Boys and girls 8-15 years old from throughout Union County participate in the league. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce a call for visual artists to participate in the County’s first Art Outside The Box public art project.

Art Outside The Box is a new countywide creative placemaking project created to support Union County visual artists by offering a nontraditional exhibition opportunity that broadens and diversifies public exposure to art murals.

“Art Outside The Box is an innovative public art project that seeks to engage residents and visitors by integrating visual art with public spaces in our communities,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “The Freeholder Board is proud to provide opportunities that celebrate creativity, enhance community identity, and encourage cultural tourism.”

This call for entries is open to all 2D visual artists (painters, photographers, printmakers, graphic and computer/digital artists) residing in or working in Union County. Artists are invited to submit up to four different designs for project consideration. The deadline for entry is August 1, 2015.

The theme for this submission of Art Outside The Box entries is diversity. Artists should submit work that is uplifting, colorful, and appropriate for people of all ages.  There is no fee required to participate.

Offered as part of Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh’s Building A Community of the Arts initiative, a total of nine original artworks will be selected to cover traffic control boxes in Elizabeth, Linden, and Rahway, NJ. Each artwork will be reproduced on a special vinyl adhesive film and professionally applied to the exterior of the pre-selected traffic control boxes. 

Funded by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Art Outside The Box project will provide a $200 honorarium for each artist whose work is selected.  Details about the project, including entry form, traffic control box locations, reference samples, and artist agreement are available online at www.ucnj.org/artoutsidethebox.

Deadline for entry is August 1, 2015.

Entries will be juried and selected for the program based on artistic excellence, technical merit, the ability to complement the setting and how well it translates into large-scale viewing.

For further details about how to participate, please call the Union County Department of Cultural Heritage at (908) 558-2550 or visit our website at:  ucnj.org/artoutsidethebox.

Union County, NJ – Each year, dozens of Union County students in grades one through 12 join a Union County 4-H club to explore their favorite interests and activities. This year a select group of seven 4-H’ers from Union County qualified to demonstrate their knowledge of cryptology, the U.S. Constitution, and other topics at the statewide 4-H Public Presentation Contest held at Rutgers University in June.

Competing among a statewide field more than 150 students divided into groups, Union County 4-H’er Adrian Lam was awarded the “Best in Room” honor for his speech entitled “Journey to the East.”

“On behalf of the Freeholder Board, I’d like to commend Adrian and all of our Union County 4-H contestants on a job well done,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohammed Jalloh. “Participating in this statewide event gives students the opportunity to pursue their passions and is testament to their hard work and commitment.”

4-H is a long running national youth development program. It originated in efforts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to connect rural youth with up-to-date farming practices and community health information, through a nationwide network of county-based Extension offices.

In its modern iteration, 4-H clubs offer young people the chance to develop expertise in a wide range of topics while gaining experience in public speaking, organization, team building and other essential skills. Union County 4-H clubs include horticulture, history, archery, Lego robotics, cooking, pet care and much more.

The 4-H schedule runs concurrently with the school year. Each spring the students can provide a formal presentation of their project before a live audience. The presenters who earn a score of “Excellent” are invited to participate in the statewide contest each June.

The seven Union County contestants in the statewide event were:

• Adrian Lam of Westfield, Journey to the East (Best in Room award)
•  Vivek Sreenivasan of Westfield, Cryptography: The Language of Secrets
• Kyle Grant of Union, President Barack Obama’s Morehouse Commencement Speech
• Jada Peterson of Rahway, how to make chocolate chip brownies.
• Isaac Oluwaku of Union, the Bill of Rights.
• Ken Adibe of Hillside, music foreshadowing
• Camille Herbert of Plainfield, gardening

For more information about Union County 4-H contact 4-H Agent James Nichnadowicz at 908-654-9854 or Nichnadowicz@njaes.rutgers.edu, or visit ucnj.org/rce.

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Union County Mosquito Control will be spraying for adult mosquitoes tonight between 7:30pm and 11:30pm. The spraying will be predicated on the weather conditions; rain and high winds will cancel the operation. The areas to be sprayed are as follows:

• Berkeley Heights– Bristol Ct. and the B.H. D.P.W. yard, Bolton Blvd.
• Clark– Conger Way, Colonial Rd., Francis Dr., Back lot of St. Agnes church area
• Cranford-Dartmouth Rd. , Park St., Maryland & Fairfield Ave.
• Elizabeth– Clarkson Ave., Peterstown area, Trumble St.
• Fanwood– Fanwood Place
• Hillside– Harvard ave., Cornell Ave., Aldine St., Westminster area
• Kenilworth– Dorsett Dr., Water Company Rd.
• Linden– Tremeley Pt. area, Bradford Ave., Lexington Ave., Marion Ave., Miner Terrace
• Mountainside– Watchung Reservation, Fitness Trail off Mountain Ave.
• New Providence– Gails Dr. ( Manor Care), Grove St.
• Plainfield– First St., Abbond Ct., Reeves Terrace, Wiley Ave., Cushing Rd., Knollwood Ave., Kenyon Rd., Woodland Ave., Stelle Ave., Madison Pl.
• Rahway– Leesville Ave., Main St., Central Ave., New Church St., Church St., River Rd., Elizabeth Ave., Scott Ave., Whittier St., Donald Ave.
• Roselle– Chestnut St., Columbus Ave. (Athletic Field), Westbrook Woods Condos, Roselle golf course area (Raritan Rd.)
• Scotch Plains– Algonquin Dr. area, Frank St., Tempe Ct., Pheasant La., area behind R.W.J. on Lambertsmill Rd.,
• Springfield– Layng Terrace, Diven St.
• Summit– Kent Pl. Blvd, Stockton Rd. area, Ascot Way area
• Union– Gifford Ct., Brighton St. Akzo Nobel Morris Ave., Fairway Dr., Caldwell Ave., Vauxhall Rd. 2000 Block area, 1075 Dawes Ave.
• Westfield – Livingston St., Windsor Ave., Marcellus Ave., Norwood Dr.
• Winfield– Union County Parkway
• Union/Kenilworth – Galloping Hill Golf Course
• Municipal Parks– Linden Memorial Pk., Roselle Sylvester Pk., Westfield Mindowskin Pk and Tamaques Pk., Union Biertempful and Rabkin Pk.,
• County Parks– Clark Oakridge Pk., Elizabeth Mantano Pk., Cranford Nomahegan Pk. Lenape Pk., Mountainside Echo Lake Pk., Plainfield Joe Black Pk. Cedar Brook Pk.,  Mountainside Watchung Reservation and Loop Area, Rahway Rahway Park, Roselle Warinanco Pk., Hillside Conant Pk.,   

(From left) Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Bruce H. Bergen visits with Jewish Family Services Executive Director Tom Beck and Case Worker Elie Bodner at the nonprofit’s community garden outside their office in Elizabeth. They are joined by James Nichnadowicz of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, which is funded through Union County, that helps maintain the community garden. Last year the garden produced 1,200 pounds of food. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Sheriff Joseph Cryan (R) thanked VFW Post 2433 Commander Leo Graf (3^rd R) and past Commander and Quartermaster Bob Johnsen (2^nd R) as they presented the Sheriff’s Office K9 Search and Rescue Unit with 5 K9 ballistic vests Post 2433 donated.  The officers from the K9 unit are (from left) Officer Ryan Wilson, Detective Anthony Gialanella, Officer Timothy O’Grady, Officer Bryan Frew and Sgt. Brian Howarth. K9 Ruger is wearing one of the donated vests. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholder Vernell Wright (3^rd from left) congratulates incoming UNICO National President Dr. Ann Walko (second from left). They are joined by Anthony Bengivenga (first, left), President of the Westfield Chapter of UNICO, and (fourth , left), Joe Almeida, President of the Union Chapter of UNICO.

Walko, a professor at Kean University, is also a resident of Scotch Plains. She begins her tenure as President in July. UNICO National is the nation’s largest Italian-American non-profit service organization whose chapters engage in philanthropic, cultural, educational and anti-bias activities.  The organization has 140 chapters nationwide.

Photo by Lamar Mackson, Public Information Division

Union County Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski (R) joined employees from McKinsey & Company working on an Adopt a Park Project in the Watchung Reservation. The employees volunteer their time for the cleanup and the company provided equipment, materials and tools to help with the improvement project. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

United Way of Greater Union County and Community Partner Organizations to Combat Issues Affecting Families In Need

Elizabeth, New Jersey ~ The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders has approved funding for United Way of Greater Union (UWGUC) to implement Union County’s Focus on Families initiative that will integrate economic development, workforce development and family services in a comprehensive effort to support families, particularly those most in need. The initiative calls for the building of two new Family Success Centers (Union and Rahway) and the implementation of a Youth Employment Program (will open by the end of the year).

The highly-anticipated initiative will integrate the UWGUC Family Success Center model with resources and programs offered through the Union County Families Resource Network (The Network).  The Network, a partnership created by United Way of Greater Union County in 2008, boasts an impressive list of social service agencies, community-based organizations, employers and training facilities, and resource providers that promote strengthening families.  Through the management of a consortium of service providers, UWGUC will also implement a new youth employment initiative (known as the Youth Employment and Training program) funded by the Union County Workforce Investment Board (WIB).  The consortium will collectively provide services customized to train and employ 150 teens and young adults ages 14-21years old.  The initiative will officially begin July 1st and run through 2016.

“When our families do well, the community thrives,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh, who announced the program as part of his initiatives as Chairman for 2015, and serves as a liaison to the WIB.   “Our families must have the basics – jobs that provide enough income to support a decent standard of living, safe streets, effective schools, and affordable health care. This initiative creates a comprehensive partnership between private, non-profit and government sectors in Union County and leverages our effort in support of these goals.”  

The Youth Employment & Training program is designed to find and engage employers who will provide summer internships, year-round pre-apprenticeships and on-the-job-training opportunities. Youth will also receive supportive services that include adult mentoring, guidance and counseling (mental health, drug and alcohol abuse, etc.), financial literacy education, entrepreneurial skills training, tutoring, study skills training, and dropout prevention services. The intent is to expose youth to the workplace and teach them the responsibilities of keeping and excelling in a job, and ultimately a career.  

“The Chairman’s initiative is very timely,” stated Union County Freeholder Sergio Granados, who is a liaison to the WIB.  “As the economy improves and the needs and demographics of local communities continue to evolve, the linking of economic development, workforce development and family support provides an excellent opportunity for our families to improve their quality of life.”

The Freeholder Board has appointed a task force to monitor the progress of the initiative to ensure families and youth receive the necessary support and services.  Consortium partners will report to UWGUC and the County to provide coordinated efforts and make adjustments to programs as necessary. The services may adjust, as data is analyzed and used for programming.  As UWGUC leads the way, the first year of operation will be devoted to executing the initiative and hosting regular planning meetings among the consortium partners to assure that target levels of service, best practices and quality improvement measures are being performed.

“I’m pleased our community leadership and elected officials are behind this work.  We have worked diligently to bring together those who have the resources to help support families in need.  Our data shows us that when families grow stronger, children do better in school, and the quality of life in neighborhoods gets better,” states James W. Horne, President/CEO of United Way of Greater Union County.

For more information call 908-353-7171 or visit www.uwguc.org.