MORIS COUNTY — A Red Flag warning has been issued due to the enhanced threat of fire spreading to our area. We’ve been asked a few times….. “What does a Red Flag Warning mean?”A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly due to a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and dry fuels. Any fires that develop may quickly get out of control and genome difficult to contain.
“So what does this mean for me?” When a Red Flag Warning is issued, everyone should refrain from any type of open flame or improperly discarding certain things. This includes refraining from campfires and fire pits and properly discarding hot coals from BBQs and cigarettes. Anything that has the potential to spark a small fire, should be looked at very closely.
Please make sure to do your part, and if you see a small fire, dial 9-1-1 immediately as the fire may spread and become out of control very quickly. — with Lake Hiawatha District 4 and Parsippany Troy-Hills Fire District 6 in Parsippany.
MORRIS COUNTY — The Market Street Mission will be hosting our annual National Day of Prayer event on Thursday, May 5. This year, the event will be held on the Morristown Green at noon. In case of inclement weather, we will meet in the Market Street Mission chapel at 9 Market Street in Morristown.
Please join us in person on the Green to hear from local pastors and leaders as we spend time in worship and lift up our country and community in prayer. If you cannot attend in person, you can find a live stream of the event on the Market Street Mission Facebook page by clicking here.
The National Day of Prayer was first signed into law by President Truman in 1952, and it stands as an annual event dedicated to intentional communal prayer.
This year’s national theme is “Exalt the Lord”, and we would love to have you join with the Market Street Mission to commemorate the day and pray for our nation and our neighbors in need. At the Mission, we believe in the power of prayer, and we see lives changed by God’s love every day. We could not do our work without your prayers and support!
Click here to download a 10-day prayer guide leading up to the National Day of Prayer event. You can also learn more on the National Day of Prayer website by clicking here.
The Market Street Mission is an experienced organization with a proven method of helping to fight alcoholism, substance abuse, hunger, and homelessness in northern New Jersey. As a private non-profit, they rely on the charitable support of compassionate donors to provide more than 110,000 meals and 30,000 nights of shelter per year among three locations.
For more information on their emergency services, free addiction recovery program, community counseling services, and thrift store click here
File Photo. Photo for illustration purposes only. The actual incident may not reflect the photo.
HANOVER — Hanover Township Sgt. Anthony Vitanza arrested Mr. Jason Burkam, 18, East Hanover for possession of CDS, on Wednesday, April 6.
Sgt. Vitanza responded to Glen Drive apartments for a report of multiple actors driving a blue jeep attempting to break into a vehicle.
Upon arrival, the blue Jeep was located and stopped for further investigation. After speaking with all occupants of the Jeep, Mr. Burkam, the driver was arrested and charged with possession of CDS and possession with the intent to distribute.
He was also issued motor vehicle summonses for open container of marijuana and prohibited turn. He was released pending his court date.
HANOVER – Hanover Police Officer Tim Dalgauer arrested Mr. Daryl Aiken, 57, from Morristown for shoplifting on Saturday, April 9.
Officer Dalgauer responded to the Shoprite to speak with loss prevention regarding shoplifting that occurred on several dates by Mr. Aiken. Officer Dalgauer viewed surveillance videos and witnessed Mr. Aiken stealing several items on several different days in March totaling $767.66.
Officer Dalgauer was able to obtain Mr. Aikens address and responded to his residence in Morristown. Mr. Aiken agreed to respond to Hanover Police Headquarters in his own vehicle and was arrested and charged once at headquarters with shoplifting.
HANOVER – Hanover Township Officer Daniel Acquaro arrested Mr. David Fuentes-Pineda, 21, North Bergen for criminal mischief on April 10.
Officer Acquaro responded to a parking lot of a business on Apollo Drive for a report of a large car show causing a disturbance.
Upon arrival he observed a vehicle attempting to leave the area by driving through the grass but got stuck in the mud.After several commands to turn off the vehicle and to step out of the vehicle Mr.Fuentes-Pineda eventually complied. While attempting to obtain Mr. Fuentes-Pineda’s information he refused to provide and became combative. After a brief struggle, he was arrested and charged with obstruction, resisting arrest and criminal mischief.
He was also issued motor vehicle summonses for failure to comply with officers direction, reckless, bald tires, no inspection, careless, tinted windows, unsafe vehicle and avoiding a traffic control device.
Mr. Fuentes-Pineda also had an active warrant and after posting bail he was released pending his court date.
The Tidy Titans team of CCM students who won two of three prizes in a recent national data analytics competition, Angela Cavalli, Zach Herman, Maxwell Bilyk, Dylan Jay and Paul Cohen
MORRIS COUNTY — A group of students at County College of Morris, calling themselves the Tidy Titans, recently crushed the American Statistical Association (ASA) national Data Fest competition for community colleges, winning both Best in Show and Best Use of Statistical Analysis.
Coming up winners, earning two of three awards, were Dylan Jay, Mendham; Paul Cohen, Morris Plains; Angela Cavalli, Dover; Maxwell Bilyk, Lake Hopatcong; and Zach Herman, of Denville, all students in CCM’s Data Analytics Certificate Program.
In the weekend-long competition, the CCM team analyzed data provided by the Yale School of Medicine, consisting of 2 million rows and 131 columns, to determine how Elm City Stories – a game-based program that teaches adolescents about making good decisions and avoiding risky behavior – can identify at-risk students.
“Dylan led the team, plowing through the data dictionaries and figuring out what all the codes meant,” says Professor Kelly Fitzpatrick. “Paul spent time helping everyone better understand the games and did a great job demoing the games for the class. Max programmed the analysis in Python, while Angela and Zach worked in R. The team then spent five hours on Sunday finalizing their results. They choose to perform cluster analysis in Tableau after tiding the data in R/Python.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such a talented team of students for this competition,” says Cavalli of her experience competing in Data Fest. “I have been learning R this semester in Professor Fitzpatrick’s Data Science class, which proved to be very useful to tidy the data we received and present a meaningful takeaway. The experience has motivated me to take my coding skills to the next level.”
Data Fest was founded in 2011 and has grown into a popular and intense competition for undergraduate students from around the nation. “We are so very proud of our students and the knowledge and the skills they have gained,” says Fitzpatrick.
CCM offers a credited certificate program in data analytics. Recognizing the high demand for data analysts, Fitzpatrick applied for and received a $235,000 National Science Foundation grant in 2020 to launch the program. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that data analytic jobs will grow 34 percent by 2026.
The CCM Data Analytics Certificate consists of five courses for a total of 16 credits that can be completed over the course of two semesters. Students in the program learn R, Tableau, Python, and SQL programming languages and are qualified to pursue immediate employment upon earning their certificate. No prior experience in statistics or computer programming is necessary as the program includes an entry-level course in Python and lower-level math pre-requisite statistics and data science courses. To learn more click here.
MORRIS COUNTY — The U.S. Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) coordinates Operation Take Back semi-annually. During Take Back Days, law enforcement at the state, county, and local levels run prescription-drug dropoff locations throughout the nation.
Morris County locations include:
Wegmans (34 Sylvan Way, Hanover)
Morris Hills Shopping Center (3085 Route 46, Parsippany)
ShopRite of Greater Morristown (178 East Hanover Avenue, Cedar Knolls)
Stop & Shop (245 Littleton Road, Morris Plains)
Ridgedale Middle School (71 Ridgedale Avenue, Florham Park)
CVS (471 Main Street, Chatham)
CVS (641 Shunpike Road, Chatham Township)
Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll and Sheriff James M. Gannon praised Operation Take Back.
“This operation has proven to be extraordinarily successful in helping to prevent the misuse of addictive pharmaceutical drugs,” they said in a joint statement. “The partnership of the prosecutor’s and sheriff’s Offices, in coordination with our municipal police departments and local governments, have proven to be an effective team to lead this most worthy effort.”
First Lady Tammy Murphy speaking at Parsippany Child Day Care Center
MORRIS COUNTY — Rep. Mikie Sherrill, (NJ-11) and New Jersey’s First Lady Tammy Murphy joined United Way of Northern New Jersey and its early education partners today to kick off a recruitment drive for home-based child care providers in District 11 to join a new initiative working to reverse the state’s child care deserts.
United Way recently received $1.1 million from Congress for their pilot program United In Care, which seeks to increase access to quality, affordable, and flexible child care for all New Jersey families, beginning with those living paycheck to paycheck, called ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed).
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill
“Thanks to Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, First Lady Tammy Murphy, and our partners, we are excited to bring United In Care to the children, families, and providers of District 11,” said United Way of Northern New Jersey CEO Kiran Handa Gaudioso. “High quality, affordable and flexible child care for all working parents is absolutely critical to our state’s economic recovery.”
“As a working mom of four kids, I know that the lack of access to affordable, high-quality child care isn’t just a family problem, it’s an economic problem,” said Rep. Sherrill. “Too many moms have left the workforce and too many child care providers struggle with earning enough to survive. That’s why it’s important that we find ways to fund projects like United In Care that have immediate impacts on our local communities and address the problems head-on. I am proud to have brought direct federal funding to this program to help rebuild our child care sector. Thank you to the First Lady and United Way of Northern New Jersey for all your work on this issue.”
According to United Way’s research, 37% of the nearly 22,000 families with children in District 11 were considered ALICE or in poverty and struggled to afford basics pre-pandemic.
Press conference at Parsippany Child Day Care Center
United In Care has been working to get the building blocks in place to create an alliance of child care providers within District 11, which spans parts of Essex, Morris, Passaic, and Sussex counties. The first step was identifying Parsippany Child Day Care Center, where today’s event was held, as the anchor for the pilot’s shared services model which seeks to maintain and expand the existing child care infrastructure.
The next step is to recruit up to 10 registered home-based child care providers with help from Child & Family Resources of Mount Arlington. Through United In Care, these local small businesses will access free resources, expertise, and technical support. United In Care is designed to also improve the quality of life for child care workers in the program, many of whom are ALICE essential workers.
United In Care is currently looking for home-based child care providers to join the District 11 alliance. Any business owners interested in participating can contact [email protected] or call her at (973) 220-9494. Providers can also call Child & Family Resources at (973) 398-1730.
United In Care was conceptualized during the COVID-19 pandemic as New Jersey was at risk of losing more than half its child care supply. Since its launch in 2020, United In Care has established an alliance in three other child care deserts across the state: Hudson County, Warren County, and Gloucester/Camden counties. There are many portions of District 11 where there is a scarce supply of child care, according to Childcaredeserts.org.
In addition to the federal funds, United In Care is supported by the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, Overdeck Family Foundation, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, David A. Tepper Foundation, New Jersey Health Initiatives, Barclays and Reinvestment Fund. For more information, click here.
FLORHAM PARK — Kai Youngren was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Youngren was initiated at United States Military Academy.
Youngren is among approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff, and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff, and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.
Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of undergraduate student Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the Society has chapters on more than 325 campuses in the United States, its territories, and the Philippines. Its mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”
Since its founding, more than 1.5 million members have been initiated into Phi Kappa Phi. Some of the organization’s notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist John Grisham, and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. Each year, Phi Kappa Phi awards more than $1 million to outstanding students and members through graduate and dissertation fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, funding for post-baccalaureate development, and grants for local, national, and international literacy initiatives. For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, click here.
Mr. Fuentes-Pineda also had an active warrant and after posting bail he was released pending his court date. 
