DENVILLE — A Rockaway resident is facing a slew of charges, including driving while intoxicated and child neglect, following a hit-and-run incident in a high school parking lot on Wednesday, April 24.

The Denville Township Police launched an investigation into the hit-and-run collision that occurred at Morris Knolls High School.

Subsequent to the investigation, David A. DeRosa, aged 44, from Rockaway, was apprehended.

DeRosa has been charged with child neglect, DWI, reckless driving, careless driving, failure to report a motor vehicle crash, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash, and improper backing.

A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. Despite this accusation, this Defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MORRIS COUNTY — Rose House, a nonprofit organization that creates forever homes for people with developmental disabilities throughout Morris County, announces its 8th annual “Day of Dreams” golf event.

The outing will be held on Monday, July 8, 2024, at the Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park. Funds raised from this year’s event will be used to purchase a van to transport Rose House’s clients with special needs to medical appointments, day programs and other places their caregivers need to take them to.

“We’ll be celebrating two special occasions at this year’s golf event,” said Rose House CEO Tom Mitchell. “Proceeds will enable us to get a new transport van at our Parsippany Group Home. This is significant because all 13 vehicles in our fleet across all six locations will have been replaced. In addition, it will commence the celebration of our organization’s 25th anniversary, which will occur less than a month after the event.”

Transport vans for special needs individuals are more costly than typical vans because they must be wheelchair accessible and include specific safety features. Rose House does not receive assistance from The State of New Jersey or Medicaid, which is why fundraisers including the golf event are essential.

The Day of Dreams event will feature a golf tournament with contests and prizes, followed by a cocktail hour and luncheon which includes a silent auction and raffles. Check-in begins at 8:00 a.m. with the tournament starting at 8:30 a.m. Registration, which includes the luncheon, is $350 per golfer or $1,400 per foursome.

Registration for golfers, sponsorships, and general donations can be made at Rose House’s official golf event by clicking here.

Those who can’t make the event but still wish to support the cause can do so by clicking here. Donors can check to see if their employers will match the donation.

Items for silent auction baskets are needed as well. Please call (973) 984-0006, x121, or email contact@therosehouse.org for more information about this event.

MORRIS COUNTY — Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) announced the launch of her resource guide and Community Project Funding application portal for the Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations process.  

“My office is constantly working to bring federal resources back to New Jersey to improve our quality of life and keep costs down for residents. Over the past three budgets, I am proud of the Community Project grants I’ve secured to address the most pressing issues of our district, such as mitigating flooding, upgrading aging infrastructure, combating auto thefts, workforce development, and more,” said Rep. Sherrill. “The Community Project funding program operates best when I work alongside community members to meet the needs of NJ-11 residents. I encourage local leaders to utilize our resource guide and submit a proposal for consideration.”

This year, each Member of Congress can submit up to fifteen requests to the House Appropriations Committee. Congressman Sherrill will fight hard for these projects but there is no guarantee that submissions will be included in the final Appropriations bill. These requests are all subject to review by the House Appropriations Committee and the Congressional budget process. To take effect, appropriations bills approved by the House Appropriations Committee must be agreed to by both houses of Congress and signed into law by the President.

If you have a Community Project proposal for the Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations process or have questions about the selection process, please review our Community Project Funding Resource Guide. You can also call the Congresswoman’s District Office at (973) 526-5668.

To submit a Community Project request, please visit our website. Representative Sherrill and her team will carefully consider and evaluate each request. Please note the window to submit project proposals is shorter this year and the types of projects allowed have changed as a result of new restrictions put in place by House Republican leadership.  

The deadline to submit an application is May 1, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.

This extremely tight deadline is driven by the guidelines of the Appropriations Committee just released yesterday and do not allow for flexibility. Submissions after the deadline will most likely not be able to be considered.       

Any project requests selected and submitted by the Congresswoman must and will be publicly disclosed, both on her website and on the website of the House Committee on Appropriations.

To learn more about Representative Sherrill’s 2024 Community Projects, click here.

MORRIS COUNTY — Sons of Italy -Lodge 2561 continues to expand its presence in Morris County, where it is well known for its charitable endeavors. At the organization’s April General Membership meeting on April 24th, they were proud to swear in an additional nine new members.

This was in addition to the 11 new members who were sworn in at the previous month’s meeting.  The well-attended meeting, with 65 members and guests in attendance, was conducted at Forte Pizzeria & Ristorante in Randolph. Lodge 2561 is now the third largest Lodge in the State of New Jersey and continues to grow in numbers regularly.

The Oath of Office for new members was conducted by Lodge President Joe Jannarone Jr., 1st V.P. Harry Mangiri, 2nd V.P. Mike Fazzio, Orator Phil Parziale, and Immediate Past Lodge President Bob Adamo. Each new member was presented with a membership packet, which included among other items an Official Certificate of Membership and Organization Lapel Pin.

New members included: Thomas Trapasso, Giancarlo Colosuanno, Richard Courtney, Louis Cuomo, Jeffrey Odee, Matt Fendler, Dan Cassidy, James Messina, and Ken Borruso.

The Sons of Italy is one of America’s largest and longest-standing Italian American organizations.

The Morris County Lodge – 2561 was founded as a non-profit organization that contributes thousands of dollars to worthwhile local charities and families. 100% of what the Lodge raises in various events goes directly back to local charities, including but not limited to the Parsippany Food Pantry, High School Scholarships, the Valerie Fund, The Shelter for Battered Women, Alzheimer’s, and many more.

Explore upcoming events hosted by the Sons of Italy at www.soi2561.org or on Facebook.