MORRIS COUNTY — Impact 100 Garden State has awarded County College of Morris (CCM) an $110,000 grant to launch the Dover College Promise (DCP), which will prepare students for college, along with providing them with scholarships to cover tuition at CCM.

Working with The Educational Center in Dover, DCP will provide low-income middle and high school students in the community with college readiness training and support, along with guaranteed scholarships to attend CCM provided they graduate from high school in good standing. Scholarship funding will be provided by the CCM Foundation.

DCP builds upon CCM’s mission to provide exceptional programs and services to the larger community. It also stems from the college’s Dover Initiative that CCM launched earlier last year to learn how it can better serve that community.

“Through the Dover College Promise, we can help uplift a community for generations by providing students with support and access to a quality higher education so they can pursue rewarding careers,” said Dr. Anthony J. Iacono, CCM president.

“Now, we can officially begin a path of college readiness – which is wrapped with support systems for not only the student, but also their families – to prepare students in the Dover community to attend CCM,” said Dr. Pam Marcenaro, dean of Learning Support and Opportunity Services at CCM, who will be serving as project director.

DCP will provide students with tutoring, college preparation classes, mentoring and community based service learning programs. Once enrolled at CCM, they will continue to receive support services. They also will be able to apply to take part in the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program, which provides comprehensive resources to foster academic success.

“Dover Promise offers the students of our community a unique opportunity to progress their skills, build increased credentials and gain preparation that will position them for competitive careers that will benefit both their own lives and the greater community to which they will contribute,” said Dr. James McLaughlin, Dover schools superintendent. “We are immensely grateful to County College of Morris for their interest and investment in our students.”

CCM will work with The Educational Center to identify students most likely to benefit from the DCP program and to offer its support services at that location. The center has been involved with assisting students and families in Dover for over 20 years.

“We’re so excited that we can now do more for the Dover community,” said Ed Lopez, founder of The Educational Center and an EOF counselor at CCM, who will serve as DCP project coordinator. “The best impact you can have in a community is through education. We’ll now have even more Dover students earning college degrees and lifting up their families. That’s transformational for the community.”

In the first year, slated to begin fall 2020, DCP will enroll thirty 10th grade students. At full capacity, the program is expected to serve 146 students annually.

Impact 100 Garden State is a women-led, all-volunteer, philanthropic organization where each member contributes $1,000 a year to award grants to nonprofits that assist underserved populations in Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties.

PARSIPPANY — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Chairwoman of the House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, applauded the committee passage of her Election Technology Research Act of 2019 (H.R. 4990). This bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Representatives Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), and Frank Lucas (R-OK), will give the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) new resources to conduct research to promote the security and modernization of U.S. voting systems.

“Election security is a bipartisan concern, and our committee is working together to address vulnerabilities with our voting systems,” said Representative Sherrill. “Our democracy only works if all eligible citizens can participate in elections and be confident that their ballots have been accurately cast and counted. The Election Technology Research Act of 2019 will help to ensure that the technical underpinnings of our election architecture are solid.”

 The Election Technology Research Act of 2019 will authorize new research and standards activities to strengthen the technology supporting elections systems. Specifically, this bill will:

• Authorize research activities at NIST on cybersecurity, privacy, auditing, and other important areas of research related to the security and integrity of elections;
• Establish an Elections Systems Center of Excellence at NIST to foster collaborations between NIST, universities, state and local governments, and private stakeholders;
• Authorize new research grants for elections systems research and education at NSF;
• Direct NIST to carry out specific tasks supporting secure elections, including providing technical assistance to state and local election officials on implementation of cybersecurity and privacy standards;
• Require a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to assess the impact of NIST’s activities; and
• Amend the Help America Vote Act definition of “voting systems” to include not just the voting machines but also electronic poll books and voter registration systems.

On June 26, 2019, House Science Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee Chairwoman Mikie Sherrill held a hearing with voting technology and election administration experts to discuss U.S. election system technologies and research recommendations made in the 2018 National Academies report Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy. The report and the expert testimony from that hearing helped informed the development of the Election Technology Research Act of 2019.

Representative Mikie Sherrill is a former federal prosecutor and a U.S. Navy veteran. On her last tour, she served as a Russia policy officer, and handled interactions between the United States Navy and the Russian Federation Navy. In June, Representative Sherrill announced her endorsement of a series of bipartisan bills in the House and Senate to address foreign interference and election security.

Statement following first day of public impeachment testimony.

After hearing testimony based on second and third party hearsay it is vital that the Congressional Committee hear directly from the Whistleblower. Complicating his ability to testify is that The Chairman of the that Committee, Adam Schiff, claims he has no knowledge of who the Whistleblower is??? Seriously??? That the American public is suppose believe that Schiff does not know who the Whistleblower is but a direct Statement from the Ukrainian President that our President did not pressure him in anyway is discounted by the very same Adam Schiff. Schiff feels a need to keep the supposed Whistleblower shielded for protection, yet the same supposed Whistleblower has no problem going public to create a GoFundMe Page with over a quarter of a million dollars in that account. Americans are paying attention and they don’t like what they see.

Senator Joseph Pennacchio
New Jersey’s 26th Legislative District

MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon and founding partners in the Hope One mobile substance use recovery program this week received an award from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

On behalf of Hope One, Sheriff Gannon accepted the 2019 IACP/Security Industry Association Michael Shanahan Leadership in Public/Private Cooperation Award on October 29, at the IACP’s Annual Banquet in Chicago.

“Hope One was based on a simple concept of treatment providers and specialists bringing critical recovery and resource services directly to people who may be too exhausted, frightened or overwhelmed by addiction to seek help on their own,’’ Sheriff Gannon said in accepting the award. “Hope One, with its steadfast, compassionate team, has saved lives and is committed to keep doing so,” he added.

The Sheriff’s Office and its Hope One partners – Rockaway-based Center for Addiction Recovery Education and Success (CARES), Daytop New Jersey, Prevention is Key and the Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris – are the collective recipients of the award named in honor of retired University of Washington Police Department Chief Michael Shanahan.

Family Promise of Morris County, which specializes in finding emergency and permanent housing for homeless individuals and families, came aboard Hope One after its launch to make sure clients had essential toiletries and assistance in finding housing.

Sheriff Gannon was joined at the awards event by Undersheriff Mark Spitzer; Corporal Erica Valvano, who is the coordinator of Hope One; and Madine Despeine-Udoh, the Director of Self Help, Advocacy and Education for the Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris. Hope One is a mobile substance use recovery and resource outreach vehicle. It travels to locations in Morris County that are known for opioid overdoses, homeless encampments, community soup kitchens, and areas where at-risk populations are known to congregate.

As of Oct. 28, Hope One has logged 1,629 hours on the road in 356 stops. The staff has made nearly 10,000 contacts with individuals, trained 2,075 people in how to reverse an opioid overdose with Narcan, assisted 154 people in getting into rehab and recovery programs, and linked another 118 people with mental health services.

With a stigma-free approach and toiletries, snacks and beverages to put visitors at ease, the Hope One staff from the start has made a new contact every 10.8 minutes.

For more information on Hope One click here.