COVID-19: Cyber Criminals Pose as CDC with “Alert” about Facility Closing

Frank L. Cahill
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COVID-19: Cyber Criminals Pose as CDC with “Alert” about Facility Closing

MORRIS COUNTY — Cyber scammers are trying to take advantage of the COVID pandemic by getting Morris County residents to click on an internet link with “information” supposedly sent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warns the Morris County Office of Information Technology.

The scammers are using the COVID-19 pandemic to find creative ways to weaken your defenses.

In this instance, a supposed CDC email includes the following intense subject line: “NOTICE OF CLOSING YOUR FACILITY AND DISINFECTING THE AREA – BY NCDC WH 20982 COV-19 Due To Recent Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic.”

You are instructed to download an attachment that is supposedly a letter from the CDC claiming they will close your workplace. If you download the file, however, you will find that it is actually a malicious program designed to gain access to your organization’s sensitive information.

How to beat the bad guys:

  • Think before you click. These malicious actors are playing with your emotions and this threat relies on panicked clicking.
  • Never click a link or download an attachment from an email you weren’t expecting. Remember, even if the sender appears to be from a legitimate organization, the email address could be spoofed.
  • If you receive a suspicious email that claims to be from an official organization, such as the CDC or World Health Organization (WHO), report the email to the official organization through their website.

Stop Look Think – Don’t be fooled!

Get more information on COVID-19 scams from the Federal Trade Commission by clicking here.

Township Council Agenda Meeting for Tuesday, August 18

Frank L. Cahill
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Township Council Agenda Meeting for Tuesday, August 18

PARSIPPANY — The Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills will conduct its regularly scheduled council meeting Tuesday, August 18 at 7:00 p.m.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be held via a web conferencing program named WebEx. This program will allow the public to listen in to the meeting and to participate during the public portion session only. This program uses a “raise hand” button in the software to address those who wish to speak during the public portion.

Please be advised that in order for a member of the public to speak during the public portion, they will need to provide their first name, last name, email address, address, and city accurately. Anyone not using their real name and address will not be allowed to speak during the public portion.

  • Click here to download the council meeting agenda.
  • A WebEx link to access the meeting will be available shortly.

For more information, please contact the Township Clerk’s office at (973) 263-4351 or email pthclerk@parsippany.net.

An Update from Dr. Barbara Sargent: iPad or Chromebook for Seventh Grade Students

Frank L. Cahill
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An Update from Dr. Barbara Sargent: iPad or Chromebook for Seventh Grade Students

PARSIPPANY — An open letter from Dr. Barbara Sargent.

Dear Parsippany-Troy Hills Seventh Grade Families,

For the past several years, the district has piloted a 1:1 device initiative at our high schools that have provided students the opportunity to have either an iPad or Chromebook to use at school and at home for their academic studies.

The goals of the 1:1 program include:

  • Provide equity to all students through common technological device access;
  • Facilitate students’ confidence and proficiency in using technology as a tool to enhance learning;
  • Promote opportunities for students to demonstrate the ethics and etiquette necessary with technology use;
  • Offer access to all information anytime, anywhere.

All high school students are provided with Chromebooks for use at school and home for their academic studies.  As we expand our initiative into lower grades, we are excited to provide a Chromebook to 7th-grade students.  Students in Grades 6 and 8 will still have access to devices separate from this 1:1 initiative, and Grade 6 students are scheduled to receive their own Chromebooks later in the school year.

Mr. Gray and Ms. Stout will communicate separately about the procedures for getting Chromebooks to the 7th-grade students.  Please look for messages from Central and Brooklawn Middle Schools for further information.

Sincerely,
Dr. Barbara Sargent
Superintendent of Schools

Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill adds Second Zoom Meeting

Frank L. Cahill
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Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill adds Second Zoom Meeting

PARSIPPANY — Parsippany-Troy Hills Councilmembers Janice McCarthy and Emily Peterson hosted a successful town hall Zoom call with Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill last week. The call was not without some unexpected technical issues as hundreds of people attempted to join the call but were told that they were overcapacity.

According to an email sent out to attendees of the event by Mikie Sherrill’s Political Director, Ben Silva, the attendee capacity was exceeded following a surge of enthusiasm around the event, with sources indicating that there was an excess of 300 people who attempted to join the meeting.  As a result, there will be a second Sherrill Zoom call on Tuesday, August 18.  To register, visit mobilize.us/sherrillforcongress or pardems.org.

Safety, Assurance and Enrichment Found in the Y’s After School Program

Frank L. Cahill
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Safety, Assurance and Enrichment Found in the Y’s After School Program

MOUNTAIN LAKES — While the new school year may look different than before, one thing remains the same: the Lakeland Hills Family YMCA’s afterschool program continues to be a place where children can remain active, learning and engaged during their time out of school – a critical time for all school-age children, especially as they continue to adjust to the many changes related to COVID-19. Each year, the Y works to provide engaging activities in a caring and safe environment after school, and this year will be no different.

“The Lakeland Hills Family YMCA has served the local community for more than 45 years, during which we have made it through many challenging times together, none perhaps as impactful as COVID-19,” said Rosemary Linder Day, Director of Marketing. “As an organization dedicated to youth development, we know how important it is that our children have a safe and enriching environment for learning, both in and out of school. We are pleased to be able to provide this space to the children in our community, allowing their invaluable social, emotional, physical, and academic growth to continue long after the school day ends.

The Y’s afterschool program provides care for hundreds of children during the school year. Through a balanced approach to youth development, the program offers activities, mentorship, and academic support, nurturing the potential of all participants throughout the school year. Financial assistance is available to ensure every child and teen has the opportunity to learn and grow at the Y. As many school districts are planning to use a rotating on-site/virtual schedule, the Y is also modifying its afterschool schedule to better support families when their children are learning virtually. Participants in the afterschool program will be able to come to the Y on-site when not in school. Parents should call Shannon Bujoreanu at (973) 507-7037 for more information, or email
Shannonb@Lhymca.com.

In order to help keep kids and staff healthy and safe throughout the school year, the Lakeland Hills Family YMCA, following CDC, state and local requirements and guidelines, has adopted several changes to its day-to-day operations, including:

• Mask requirements for staff and children
• Daily health screenings for children and staff
• Reduced capacity in group activities
• Participants will be grouped into “neighborhoods”

All information on the Y’s children’s programs is online by clicking here.

About the Y
Driven by its founding mission, the Y has served as a leading nonprofit committed to strengthening community for more than 175 years. The Y empowers everyone, no matter who they are or where they’re from, by ensuring access to resources, relationships, and opportunities for all to learn, grow, and thrive. By bringing together people from different backgrounds, perspectives, and generations, the Y’s goal is to improve overall health and well-being, ignite youth empowerment and demonstrate the importance of connections in and across 10,000 communities nationwide. Click here for more information.

Letter to the Editor: Where is “our Attorney General and the Voice of the Supreme Court, Third Branch of Government?

Letters to the Editor
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parsippany focusDear Editor:

I am outraged that President Trump is aware that the U.S. Postal Service will need additional funding to handle the mail-in election ballots, but he refuses to provide any additional assistance.  In my opinion, this is a blatant attempt to cry foul if Joe Biden wins this election.  I believe Donald Trump will manipulate the mail-in ballot system to his advantage.  This is another example of our self-serving president, who runs the county like his former game show “The Apprentice”.

The country is in crisis.  We need solid leadership, not some politician that puts his personal interests before the interests of the country.  The economy is important, but more important are the lives of the American people.  This pandemic has shown the true colors of this politician.  Send kids back to school before getting a handle on the numbers for the state’s rate of transmission, cut back on the additional unemployment benefits but attempt to earmark funds for a new FBI building, force mother’s back to work who are caring for young children whose daycares have closed, neglect to put the proper emphasis on the serious nature of the pandemic. SHAME ON YOU.

What America needs right now is enough food to feed the hungry, financial support so that people can keep their homes and apartments, stricter penalties for people who refuse to wear a mask in retail stores,  faster turnaround time for COVID-19 testing and follow-up contact tracing, support for small businesses to keep them from having to close their doors, and other support to keep the American people afloat until the crisis has passed.

We are not political pawns.  We are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, and uncles trying to protect our families from the horrors of this pandemic.  Our lives are hard. Many people are juggling jobs, childcare, and family responsibilities while barely having enough to eat and pay their bills.  Oh yeah, I know that to President Trump this sounds like we are bleeding heart liberals or socialists but on the contrary, we are all just trying to survive.

I am asking politicians to think of us as people, not pawns on a chessboard.  Stop earmarking funds for your own political gains in bills that are supposed to assist the “common” people through this crisis.  Republicans and Democrats have to stop blackmailing each other at the expense of their constituents before they can reach a decision on a bill that will assist the American people during this pandemic.  While you debate, a mother is wondering how she will feed her children next week, a father is wondering if he will have a job tomorrow, an aunt does not know if she will be able to make her rent payment and an uncle does not know if he will have enough money to keep his utilities running or make his car payment.  The reality is salaries barely cover rent (mortgages), utilities, health insurance, and phone service even when times are good.

The government should represent us, remember “we the people”.  We should not be carrying the government on our backs.  It’s time for politicians to step-up and put personal needs aside and concentrate on the needs of the people and disregard race, creed, political affiliation, and more importantly their own personal agendas.

Diane Kerns
Friend of Parsippany Resident
Forked River, NJ 08731

28-Year-Old Man Charged with Human Trafficking, Sexual Assault, Promoting Prostitution, Criminal Coercion & Terroristic Threats

Frank L. Cahill
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28-Year-Old Man Charged with Human Trafficking, Sexual Assault, Promoting Prostitution, Criminal Coercion & Terroristic Threats

PARSIPPANY — Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Acting Chief of Investigations Christoph Kimker and Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department Chief Andrew Miller, announce the arrest of Mcquacy Goodridge, 28, West Orange.

Goodridge has been charged with four counts of Human Trafficking, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-8(a), crimes of the first degree; Sexual Assault, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2c(1), a crime of the second degree; Promoting Prostitution, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:34-1(b)(2), a crime of the third degree; Criminal Coercion, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-5a(1), a crime of the third degree; and Terroristic Threats, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3(a), a crime of the third degree.

It is alleged that between March 2019 and August 15, 2020, this defendant forced the 31-year-old female victim to engage in acts of prostitution.

The defendant is alleged to have transported the victim to different locations within Morris County to have her engage in acts of prostitution, and he collected the money received after the sexual acts were completed.

The victim stated that over the course of the past year, the defendant emotionally and verbally abused her, and threatened physical harm.

The victim also disclosed that on August 15, 2020, at a Parsippany-Troy Hills Township hotel, the defendant threatened to harm her and her family if she did not get additional clients, and forcibly engaged in an act of sexual penetration with her.

The scene at Ramada Inn on Saturday night

The defendant has been charged by warrant-complaint and is currently lodged at the Morris County Correctional Facility in accordance with Criminal Justice Reform.

Prosecutor Knapp would like to thank the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes/Child Endangerment and Major Crimes Units, the Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department and the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit and Emergency Response Team, whose efforts contributed to the investigation of the matter.

Anyone with information relating to this incident is encouraged to call Det. Martyna Ruminska of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office at (973) 285-6303 or the Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department at (973) 263-4300.

Editor’s Note: An arrest or the signing of a criminal complaint is merely an accusation.  Despite this accusation, the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until he or she has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

 

Letter to the Editor: Proposed Utility Rate Increases for Parsippany

Frank L. Cahill
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parsippany focusDear Editor:

The town council held a special meeting on July 9 to discuss monetary shortfalls in our water and sewer budgets. The focus of the meeting was a presentation by a consultant having expertise in utility rates, who first identified rising expenses and transfers to the general budget as the main causes of the problems that exist in the water and sewer budgets. Then, he proposed a solution that would

  • Raise utility rates by 39% for 2020; and then
  • Raise utility rates by 5-8% for each of the following four years.

Clearly rate increases of this magnitude will add significant revenue to the utility budgets. In fact, if adopted, our water and sewer bills will almost double in five years. However, this solution, which simply brings in more revenue without addressing the underlying problems in the utility budgets, should be rejected by the administration and the council.

Using the water budget as an example, in the last three years expenses have risen by an average of 7.3% per year. However, in the prior ten years before that, the average increase in expenses was only 2.4%. In the short term, the consultant’s solution makes it easier to pay for these rising expenses. But missing from his solution is a feasible plan to reduce out-of-control expenses. If expenses were increasing by 6-8% per year in the general budget, Parsippany would be forced to reduce them to stay within the 2% cap. The same fiscal discipline should be applied to the utility budgets.

During the council meeting, the business administrator stated that he has been cautioning the township about moving money from the utility budgets to the general budget since he arrived here. Why then would the township ignore this advice and adopt a utility rate hike plan that continues making these transfers? These annual $2.5 million withdrawals from the utilities will just continue to be a drain on future budgets and a scapegoat for future utility rate mega-increases.

There is no denying that Parsippany currently has problems within its water and sewer budgets and that the solution will involve some pain. But it is the general budget, not the utility budgets, where the administration and the council should first direct their attention. Increasing revenues and reducing expenses in the general budget by a sufficient amount to eliminate the transfers will repair that budget once and for all, and at the same time will strengthen the utility budgets by allowing them to retain an extra $2.5 million of their own money each year. If you take care of business on the general budget side first, a utility rate increase may not even be necessary.

Bob Venezia
Parsippany

A Message from Dr. Barbara Sargent

Frank L. Cahill
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A Message from Dr. Barbara Sargent

Dear Families,

I hope you are well and that your children are enjoying a healthy summer vacation. The schools posted Summer Assignments at the beginning of the summer, so now would be a good time to ask your kids how they’re doing with this work so that you’re not nagging, pleading, cajoling, and all those other parenting behaviors we love so much.

Governor Murphy’s daily briefing on Wednesday of this week communicated his firm stance that schools should re-open in September. This was followed up with Executive Order #175 which clearly outlines the steps districts must take if they are unable to address the minimum standards outlined in The Road Back. Our Return to School Plan addresses the standards and our work now is devoted to assigning students to classes, refining school procedures, and strengthening our instructional practices for remote and in-person learning.

I am recommending adjustments to our school calendar which includes:

Wednesday, September 2 will be a ½ day of school for Cohort A students.
Thursday, September 3 will be a ½ day of school for Cohort B students.
Friday, September 4 will be a Virtual Friday Day for all students.
November 3 (Election Day) will be a full Virtual Day for Cohorts A and B.
November 5-6 (NJEA Convention) will be school days and those days off will be applied to extend the December winter break.

We feel that these changes will provide for a smoother beginning to the school year for our staff and students. Recapturing the November days allows for consistent instructional weeks and offers a lengthier break in December.

As you prepare for your children to return to school, please remember that you will need a reliable thermometer for daily temperature checks. While we will have masks for students who forget to wear one, I am certain your children will feel more comfortable with a mask that they have chosen themselves and have worn before. Masks with valves are not allowed. A face mask with an exhalation valve doesn’t help protect others. The valve makes it easier for you to exhale, but it also lets germs out into the air. When it comes to protecting others, a mask with an exhalation valve is like not wearing one at all. “Gator” masks are also not acceptable. Children with a medical condition that prohibits them from wearing a mask must provide a physician’s note to the school nurse.

Information from the health experts and our state government is changing regularly. I will continue to communicate weekly with you to keep you apprised of our situation and plans for re-opening school.

With best wishes for your safety and good health,

Barbara Sargent, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

119,366-Square-Foot Industrial Lease on Lackawanna Avenue

Frank L. Cahill
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119,366-Square-Foot Industrial Lease on Lackawanna Avenue

PARSIPPANY — NAI James E. Hanson announces it has negotiated a lease for 119,366 square feet of industrial space at 75 Lackawanna Avenue. NAI James E. Hanson’s Scott Perkins, SIOR, represented the owner, Bee DIC Realty, in the transaction with the tenant, Commercial Furniture Transport, who was represented by Howard Weinberg of JLL.

75 Lackawanna Avenue

Commercial Furniture Transport is the region’s leader in office furniture installation and delivery, providing efficient and reliable service for businesses throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. With a large client base in New York City, the growing company sought out a large warehouse space that would allow them to continue to efficiently service the New York City market while also promising easy access to customers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Situated in between Interstate 80 and Route 46, 75 Lackawanna Avenue provides the ideal balance between ease of access to New York City as well as to markets to the west and south. The building’s 200,000 square feet of adaptable industrial space ensures that it can accommodate a wide variety of industrial users. In their search for space, Commercial Furniture Transport recognized that 75 Lackawanna Avenue’s location, along with the 24’ ceilings and 18 tailgates present throughout the 119,366-square-foot space provided the ideal home for their business.

“While the Morris County industrial market is one of the region’s smaller markets, it does present companies looking for centrally-located industrial space with an irresistible value proposition,” said Perkins, SIOR, NAI James E. Hanson and Regional Director for NAI Global Logistics. “Through a deep understanding of the benefits of the market and my 30 years of experience in the industrial field, I recognized the unique opportunity this space presented and was able to help my client capitalize on this market and secure a high-quality tenant.”

The transaction at 75 Lackawanna Avenue showcases how Perkins has grown to become one of the northeast’s most-trusted industrial brokers. He stands out as a result of his consistent ability to close industrial deals in the competitive and complex northern New Jersey market, even as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt.

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