MORRIS COUNTY — The Denville Moms Network launched on Wednesday, May 1.

Their goal is to be your go-to resource for everything in and around Denville, Randolph, Morris Plains, Mountain Lakes, East Hanover and Parsippany.

Their site was founded with the simple goal of saving you time and energy by providing a collection of local events and resources while building a supportive mom community.

The Denville Moms is an ever changing and growing community for moms to come for information, advice, or just a place to feel supported. They have a calendar of events, a resource guide, and general information that is helpful to local families.

The Denville Moms Network is part of The Local Moms Network, a quickly growing digital media company consisting of over 80 hyper-local platforms (like The Denville Moms) in 21 states across the country, all run for and by fellow moms.

They provide crucial resources, an updated activities calendar, introductions to talented local moms, useful guides and fun events, all with the goal of “giving moms the gift of time” as well as a sense of community.

TLMN has over 150k Instagram followers, over 125k monthly page views, and has created over 100 flexible jobs for entrepreneurial moms across the country who share the passion for their suburb.

For more information email by clicking here.

MORRIS COUNTY — Thirty-three million dollars that should be going to firefighters and their families facing tragedy or financial hardship is being diverted for Gov. Phil Murphy’s FY2020 budget needs. The proposal, which is one sentence buried on page 552 of Murphy’s 592-page budget plan, was blasted by Assembly Conference Leader Anthony M. Bucco today.

“Gov. Murphy vowed against raiding the clean energy, unemployment compensation, and affordable housing funds to plug budget holes, but he’s willing to take money away from firefighters who put their lives on the line to protect our citizens,” said Bucco (R-Morris). “He doesn’t have his priorities straight. It’s a disgrace that the governor would fund his agenda on the backs of firefighters.”

The money from the relief fund, known as the New Jersey State Firemen’s Association, goes to paying for expenses like burials for fallen firefighters, the educational needs of their widows and surviving children, and costly medical bills. The NJSFA is funded through a two percent tax levied on fire insurance premiums written by out-of-state insurers for New Jersey properties.

“This money is not a reserve to fix our state’s budget problems. This will be a one-shot revenue of $33 million,” said Bucco. “If Murphy is willing to target needy firemen and their families, who will he hit up next year?”

Bucco requested an opinion from the Office of Legislative Services on Murphy’s ability to divert these funds from a dedicated account and, if necessary, plans to stop it by introducing legislation.

MONTVILLE — Crave City held it’s official ribbon cutting Grand Opening on Saturday, May 4. Crave City is located at 6 Route 46, Pine Brook Plaza, Pine Brook.

Crave City serves Acai bowls and so much more. They combine a health shop, dessert shop and coffee shop all into The Crave City.

The store is equipped with free wifi, charging stations or you can enjoy music, watch TV,  and great eats.

Crave City is open Monday through Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

For more information call (973) 396-8899 or click here to view their website.

MORRIS COUNTY — Every second Saturday in May, letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America collect the goodness and compassion of their postal customers, who participate in the NALC Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive — the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

NALC is America’s largest one-day food collection event that provides millions of pounds of food to local hunger relief agencies. To help, all one needs to do is place non-perishable food items in a bag next to the mailbox before letter carrier arrives on Saturday, May 11, and the letter carrier will do the rest. Food collected is donated to local food pantries.

In the areas of Madison, Florham Park, Hanover Township, Mountain Lakes, Boonton and Boonton Township the food will be donated to the Interfaith Food Pantry, which serves Morris County residents. Some of the items most needed are canned soup, canned fruit, canned tuna, evaporated, dry or shelf stable milk, peanut butter, pasta sauce in cans or plastic jars, canned beans, canned meats and meals, rice, pasta and cereal.

In the past 14 years more than 371,000 pounds of food from the Letter Carriers Food Drive has been donated to the Interfaith Food Pantry and distributed to Morris County families in need. “We have worked with the local etter carriers for many years and are so grateful for their hard work and for their partnership in our efforts to fight local hunger”, said Carolyn Lake, Interfaith Food Pantry, executive director. “They truly care and understand that many hardworking people still struggle with the high cost of living here in Morris County and may be one illness or car breakdown away from needing food assistance.”

The Interfaith Food Pantry is celebrating 25 years of “neighbors helping neighbors” and has been supplying emergency and supplemental food since 1994 to Morris County residents in need. Clients are low income working families, the unemployed, people with disabilities, and seniors living on fixed incomes. In 2018, the Interfaith Food Pantry helped more than 10,000 Morris County residents and distributed 1.2 million pounds of food. For more information click here or call (973) 538-8049.

MORRIS COUNTY — Local law enforcement members and representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigations held an Active Shooter Training Seminar at the County College of Morris on Thursday, May 2. Multiple members of local law enforcement including Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Lieutenant Jan Monrad, Morris County Sheriff James Gannon, Lieutenant Will Harzula of the Randolph Police Department, FBI Special Agents Scott Nawrocki and Matthew Richert, and County College of Morris Security Director Harvey Jackson presented on the subject. The seminar was attended by over 100 professors and administrators of the college.

The training focused on the best practices to utilize in the event of an active shooter threat on the County College of Morris Campus. A similar training was held at the County College of Morris in October of 2018. This seminar furthered the training from last year, and covered the policy and procedure of the County College of Morris, as well as the resources available to the college. Following the presentation, a question and answer session was held for the professors and administrators in attendance. These professionals pride themselves on ensuring their students’ safety, and were eager to raise any comments or concerns they had on the protocol.

Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp, who was in attendance, said, “All of our students in Morris County deserve the right to further their education in a safe environment. These trainings are important as they ensure that the members of the faculty and staff are aware of the appropriate procedures, and have the capability to instinctively react in the event of an active shooter incident. Thanks are in order to all of the presenters for joining us today”.

PARSIPPANY — Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) voted to take credible steps to address climate change by keeping the United States in the Paris Climate Agreement and requiring the Administration to have a specific plan to limit national greenhouse gas emissions. Congresswoman Sherrill co-sponsored H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which requires a plan for the country to meet its agreed upon reductions to greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and fulfill contributions to fight climate change.

“New Jersey residents know all too well the real threat posed by climate change and the 100-year storms that hit our communities with alarming frequency,” said Congresswoman Sherrill.“I’m proud to co-sponsor the effort to affirm our commitment to mitigate climate change and let the world know that the United States is prepared to address this pressing national security threat.”

According to Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans see an impact in their local communities from climate change. In an April 2019 survey from Rutgers-Eagleton, two-thirds of New Jerseyans said they were, “concerned about the effects of climate change on their life, their family members, or the people around them.”