MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Republican Committee will hold a special election convention to fill a vacancy on the Board of Freeholders on Saturday, February 1. The convention is set for 9:00 a.m. at the County College of Morris in Randolph.

The election is to fill the seat of Heather Darling  who resigned 11:59 p.m. December 31 to become the Morris County Surrogate.

Chatham Township Mayor Tayfun Selen, Pequannock Councilwoman Melissa Florance-Lynch, former Pompton Lakes Councilman Christian Barranco and former Morristown Councilwoman Alison Deeb, are in the race for the seat vacated by Heather Darling.

The race changed last month when Attorney General Gurbir Grewal charged former Freeholder John Cesaro, with accepting a bribe from a cooperating witness, attorney Matthew O’Donnell. As of now Cesaro did not drop out of the race to return to the freeholder board.

MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County’s new Surrogate Heather J. Darling, Esq., has announced a partnership between the Surrogate’s Office and the Morris County Bar Association’s Reduced Fee Referral Program to match attorneys with residents who cannot afford legal services and do not qualify for free or pro bono legal services.

This new program is offered at no cost to the taxpayers of Morris County.

“As a practitioner in the Surrogate’s Court for many years, I am familiar with the difficulties people face in trying to navigate the guardianship or probate processes without legal counsel when necessary legal counsel is unaffordable for them. For this reason, I am pleased that we were able to work with Jennifer McAndrew Vuotto and the Morris County Bar Association to bring this program to the citizens of Morris County,” Darling said.

Matters within the Surrogate’s Office, which are currently included in this program, are wills, guardianship and probate issues.

Guardianship includes a declaration of incapacitation to handle one’s own affairs. It can be a complicated matter for people who had been caregivers without the need for a court intervention.

Probate is another difficult matter for family members once a loved one has passed and grieving survivors learn the difficulty in administering the decedent’s estate.

In New Jersey, Title 3B is the statute which addresses guardianship and probate. The statute can be complex and difficult to navigate without legal training and practice.

“Bottom line, this program will be a way to bridge the gap for those who have been legally left behind,” said Deputy Surrogate Chris Luongo, Esq.

To participate in the program, individuals must qualify financially by demonstrating they fall within certain financial criteria, with eligibility limits higher than those of most pro-bono services.

“When we started this program, we wanted to ensure that as many people as possible had access to counsel as they navigated the Court system. There are many litigants who do not qualify for assistance, yet still, have difficulty affording an attorney. Those are the litigants we set out to help and have succeeded in helping the most,” said Vuotto, who is co-chair of the Morris County Bar Association Reduced Fee Referral Program.

Attorneys who want to participate in the program can apply through the Morris County Bar Association. They must have a demonstrated knowledge of matters within the Surrogate’s Court and the ability to undertake said matters in a timely and productive fashion.

MORRIS COUNTY —  Morris County residents are invited to a special “Community Rally Against Hate’’ on Thursday, January 9, at 5:00 p.m. in Randolph, with a goal of standing united against hatred and bigotry that recently has targeted the Jewish community and other faiths in our state and nation.

The event, to be held at the Gottesman RTW Academy at 146 Dover Chester Road is sponsored by the Morris County Board of Freeholders, in coordination with Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon and Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, and clergy from across the county.

MORRIS COUNTY — The artwork of 14 fine art professors from County College of Morris (CCM) is being featured in an exhibition at The Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster as one of  its first exhibits of the new year.

Titled REPRESENTING: Artwork of the County College of Morris Fine Art Faculty, the exhibition takes place January 17 through February 27. An opening reception, featuring talks by several of the artists, takes place Friday, January 17, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Center for Contemporary Art is located at 2020 Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster, NJ 07921.

Fine Art Professor Keith Smith is curating the exhibition. Smith’s artwork has been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton and the Morris Museum in Morristown.

REPRESENTING showcases the work of CCM professors who teach the foundational and intermediate art courses that lead to an Associate of Fine Arts degree. Each member of the CCM fine arts faculty is an exhibiting professional artist.

“Although the artwork in this exhibition spans a variety of media and styles, it is linked by exceptional craft and creative competence,” says Smith.

Full-time professors participating in the exhibition, along with Smith, are Clayton Allen and Todd Doney. Also participating are adjunct faculty members Marco Cutrone, Kathy DeFilippis, Patrick Gallagher, Andrea Kelly, Deborah Kelly, Charles Mulford, Barbara Neibart, John Reinking, Robert Ricciotti, Eileen Sackman and Leah Tomaino.

To learn more about the Fine Arts Program at CCM click here.

PARSIPPANY — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) and Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-At Large) introduced H.R. 5542, the Mitigate Methane Now Act, legislation to encourage the replacement of old, home distribution pipelines which are a major source of methane leakage across the country and to help mitigate climate change immediately.

New Jersey is home to some of the oldest natural gas infrastructure in the country. These aging pipes that bring natural gas to New Jersey homes leak harmful gases like methane into our atmosphere. Methane is 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide – and though a relatively short living gas, it’s effect on warming the climate cannot be understated: the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reports that methane is more than 80 times as effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, making it a prime culprit for our warming temperatures.

States through the Northeast have been working with their utility commissions to strategize on how to replace these old and leaking pipes. Typically, costs of essential pipeline repair and replacement are passed on to consumers. This bill will help ensure that lower- and fixed-income consumers are protected from increases in their monthly bill when these important repairs and modernization efforts occur. H.R. 5542 provides money to states to offset rate increases for low-income consumers.

“New Jersey’s aging infrastructure is an issue for our families and our environment,” said Representative Sherrill. “While there is interest in our communities to accelerate the replacement of worn distribution pipelines for safety, reliability, and environmental benefits, a variety of barriers exist, including cost. Our bill will help replace old pipelines, mitigate methane emissions, and have an immediate effect on our efforts to tackle climate change.”

“I am proud to introduce this legislation today with Rep. Sherrill. Repairing and replacing old, leak-prone infrastructure in the natural gas distribution system will protect our communities from potentially dangerous explosions, save consumers money, and reduce potent methane emissions that fuel climate change,” said Representative Blunt Rochester, a member of the House Energy & Commerce Energy Subcommittee. “This bill is good for the environment, good for our economy, and good for Delaware.”