MORRIS COUNTY — On Monday, March 21, officers of the Morris County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Morristown man with Unlawful Possession of a Handgun, a crime of the third degree, and Certain Persons Not to Possess a Firearm, a crime of the second degree at the Morris County Courthouse Complex. (Click here to read the previous post in Parsippany Focus)

At approximately 10:43 a.m., William Cole, 53, entered through the security checkpoint at the entrance to the Morris County Administration & Records Building located at 10 Court Street for an appointment with his probation officer. After placing his belongings in an assigned container to be X-rayed, Morris County Sheriff’s Officer Frank Pirog screened the items through the machine.

He discovered that Cole was in possession of a modified pistol concealed in Cole’s backpack. Further investigation determined it to be a BB gun, which Cole surrendered to Officer Pirog.

Cole was charged on a complaint warrant and remains lodged in the Morris County Correctional Facility.

Entrances to the Morris County Courthouse Complex are heavily monitored by surveillance cameras and uniformed Morris County Sheriff’s Officers, who are trained to operate metal detectors and X-Ray machines that expose weapons, real and imitation. Signs are clearly posted at all entrances that weapons are not permitted in the Courthouse Complex buildings.

“The Morris County Sheriff’s Office continues to uphold the safety and security in and around the Morris County Courthouse Complex with aggressive, proactive security safeguards.  People who bring illegal weapons to the area will be caught and charged,” said Sheriff James M. Gannon.

Editors Note: A complaint or a charge is merely an accusation. Despite this accusation, the defendant is presumed innocent until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MORRIS COUNTY — Senator Joe Pennacchio reacted to word that the Senate Democrats will launch a special legislative committee to review delays with legal marijuana sales in the state, reiterating calls for a Senate Select Committee investigation of nursing home deaths during the pandemic.

“The Legislature is going to get to the bottom of legal pot paralysis. While we’re at it, let’s get rolling with a bipartisan panel to examine the policies and decisions that may have contributed to 10,000 COVID-related nursing home deaths,” said Pennacchio (R-26). “Prioritizing an investigation into the shortcomings of legal marijuana in New Jersey is an insult to the souls lost in nursing homes and their loved ones. It makes no sense.

“It shouldn’t be ‘either/or.’ The horrible loss of life in senior care facilities across the state reflects the heart-breaking failure of a system intended to protect our most vulnerable citizens,” Pennacchio continued.

Since May 11, 2020, when he announced his resolution to form a bipartisan investigative Senate Select Oversight Committee, Pennacchio has pressed Democrats to consider the factors behind the nursing home carnage, including a directive from the Administration requiring facilities to admit patients with COVID and prohibiting them from testing residents for the virus.

“We need to understand what was going on inside the nursing homes, and how directives from the Administration impacted the level of patient care and the spread of the virus inside locked-down, isolated facilities. There’s no reason the Senate can’t scrutinize both issues,” said Pennacchio.

“The families who lost loved ones during the pandemic are desperate for answers. With bipartisan support, we can address their questions and take steps to prevent similar tragedies in the future,” the Senator concluded.

MORRIS COUNTY — Early voting for the 2022 Primary Election begins Friday, June 3. There will be early voting machines throughout Morris County. All registered voters in Morris County are eligible to vote early.

Starting on Friday, June 3 (from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.), Saturday, June 4 (from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) and Sunday, June 5 (10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.), Parsippany residents can go to any of the eight sites and vote on a voting machine. Voters may also mail in their ballots or use the drop boxes located in Morris County.

The locations in Morris County are:

• Morris Plains – Central Park of Morris County; 2 Executive Drive
• Boonton – The Boonton Township Municipal Building; 155 Powerville Road
• Denville – Denville Town Hall Community Room; 1 St. Mary’s Place
• Whippany – Hanover Community Center; 15 North Jefferson Road
• Madison – Madison Hartly Dodge Memorial; 50 Kings Road
• Morristown – Morristown Municipal Building; 200 South Street
• Mount Arlington – Mount Arlington Civic/Senior Center; 18 North Glen Avenue
• Mount Olive – Mount Olive Municipal Building; 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Budd Lake

Click here for detailed information.

Can I still choose other voting options?

• Apply for a vote-by-mail ballot and return it one of the following ways:
  1. Mail: It must be postmarked on or before 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, and be received by your county’s Board of Elections on or before Monday, June 13.
  2. Secure Ballot Drop Box: Place it in one of the county’s secure ballot drop boxes by 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7.
  3. Board of Elections Office: Deliver it in person to the county’s Board of Elections Office by 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7.

• Or, vote in person at your polling place, from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, June 7. Accommodations will be made for voters with disabilities.
• Party Change Deadline- April 13, 2022
• Voter Registration Deadline – Tuesday, May 17, 2022
• Election Day – Tuesday, June 7, 2022

NOTE: Vote-by-mail ballots CAN NOT be returned to your polling place for this election.

MORRIS COUNTY — Food banks and community pantries could continue using single-use plastic and paper bags for an additional six months under a bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Aura Dunn and passed by the Assembly and Senate on Thursday.

New Jersey’s strictest-in-the-nation single-use bag ban goes into effect on May 4. Stores and food service businesses will be prohibited from selling or providing single-use plastic or paper carryout bags to customers. Dunn’s bill (A2065) gives food banks until November to come into compliance with the law.

“People who cannot afford food also can’t afford to pay for a bag to carry the donations they rely on to feed their families. As costs rise due to inflation, people are making sacrifices, but feeding your family shouldn’t be one of those,” Dunn (R-Morris) said.

Under the bill, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is required to proportionally distribute 500,000 reusable bags to food banks and pantries like soup kitchens throughout the state.

“This bill prevents the plastic and paper bag ban from having unintended, but negative impacts on those who are struggling. Examining the real-world consequences of our laws is imperative to find a solution that supports these nonprofits and the communities they serve,” Dunn added.

Joe Nametko, the mayor of Netcong, says the town’s community food bank provides meals and supplies to 150 to 175 people on average each week since the second week of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kiwanis Clubs in Northern New Jersey, including Parsippany, Roxbury, and Rockaway have been supplying food since COVID-19 and have distributed 478,400 pounds of food serving 11,980 families, 23,121 children with a retail value of over $800,000.

“During weeks leading up to holidays, the number of meals we provide in the way of pre-bagged food items goes much higher,” Nametko said. “Currently, residents who can afford to purchase their own food are kind enough to bring their used plastic bags to our foodbank where they are inspected and eventually re-used. As a member of the Morris County Solid Waste Advisory, I do my best to ensure packaging that finds its way to our foodbank is recycled, reused, or repurposed. This measure gives us the gift of time to adopt new ways to ensure our operations are not only meeting the law, but our community needs.”

PARSIPPANY — There was not an empty seat in the trattoria at the March monthly meeting of the Sons of Italy as members came out in force to celebrate the swearing-in of Lodge 2561’s new slate of Officers for 2022-2024. The Lodge was honored to have in attendance the National Financial Secretary and Past State President, Lou Santoro, and N.J. State Trustee, Joe Saetta, who together administered the Oath of Office to all the newly elected Lodge Officials.

Assuming the reins of Office from Immediate Past President, John Lonero, was long time Lodge member and Parsippany resident, Robert Adamo. President Lonero, who was credited with a highly productive term of office commented, “It’s been an honor to serve as Sons of Italy President for the past two years.  COVID 19 presented challenges, but I’m proud of how our Lodge stepped up and raised funds for the charities we support.”

The slate of new Officers include:
Robert Adamo – President
Joseph Jannarone, Jr. – First Vice President
Michael Fazzio – Second Vice President
Michael Zambito – Treasurer
Nicholas Jannarone – Recording Secretary
Sean Clark – Sargent at Arms
Philip Parziale – Orator

Trustees: James Torsiello, John Gangone, Frank Campisano, Robert Wilhalme, and Edgard Mercado.

Committee Chairs include Michael dePierro, Scholarships; Louis Amato, Food/Special Events;  Joseph Jannarone, Jr., Fundraising/Philanthropic; James Torsiello, Golf Outing; and Patrick Minutillo, social media.

On a local level, Lodge 2561 is an affiliated member of the Supreme Lodge of the Order of the Sons of Italy in America, the largest and longest established Italian American organization in the United States, founded in 1905 in Little Italy, NYC as a support system to assist Italian immigrants assimilating into their new Country. Today the organization has over 600,000 current members and supporters throughout the Country.

Morris County’s Lodge, one of 29 Lodges in N.J., is a non-profit organization that proudly contributes thousands of dollars to worthwhile local charities and families in need. Among the causes that Lodge 2561 supports are; The Parsippany Food Pantry, St. Peter’s Church, St. Ann’s Church, Battered Woman’s Shelter of Morris County, High School Scholarships, The Valerie Fund, Parsippany Day Care Center, Cooley’s Anemia, and St. Jude’s, among others. The Lodge regularly purchases and dispenses gift cards from locations such as Shop Rite and Walmart to assist families in need.  The group, with some great Italian Chefs, is also known to generously prepare several delicious Italian-style dinners each year to assist local causes.

Lodge 2561 currently boasts approximately 100 community-minded members and meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month at a local restaurant, where lodge business and upcoming charitable endeavors and needs of the community are addressed.

The organization’s National Headquarters is located near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with a mission to preserve Italian culture in the United States, while identifying solutions to the problems and issues facing Italian Americans today. The charitable arm of the organization has invested more than $164 million in scholarships, medical research, cultural preservation, disaster relief, and other causes.

To learn more about Lodge 2561 and their upcoming events, visit their website by clicking here or “Like” their Facebook page at Order Sons of Italy in America ~ Lodge 2561.

MORRIS COUNTY — Enrollment for the 9th Annual Morris County Public Safety Youth Academy has opened, with limited space available for the intensive week-long course for young Morris County women and men entering grades 9-12.

The deadline to apply is April 18, 2022. Click here for the application.

The academy will be held from July 25 to July 29 at the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy, Parsippany.

The program, run by the Morris County Department of Law & Public Safety/Office of Emergency Management, in partnership with the Morris County Sheriff’s Office and Morris County Park Police, and funded by the Morris County Board of Commissioners, is a five-day program that is open to all Morris County students who are enrolled in Grades 9-12 in the fall of 2022.

The program is free of charge to the cadets and their families.

The Academy is a uniquely designed program that provides high school students exposure to and a better understanding of the various facets within the field of public safety. This program has been designed to target Morris County’s young adults at a time when they are making decisions regarding their future education and careers.

“They are in the process of making educational and life commitments that could potentially impact their careers, their character, and their communities,” said Morris County Commissioner Doug Cabana. “We want to give them a chance to see if public safety might be a way for them to go.”

“This is an investment in the youth of our county, and a chance to interest some of the brightest young people who live in Morris County to consider being future leaders in our vitally important public safety team,”’ said Morris County Commissioner Tom Mastrangelo, who is the county governing board’s co-liaison to the Department of Law and Public Safety.