MORRIS COUNTY — An Overdose Fatality Review Team (OFRT) is being launched in Morris County through a partnership between Prevention is Key (PIK) and the Morris County Division of Public Health to combat the rise in overdose deaths.

The OFRT has enlisted the support of multiple agencies and organizations to begin analyzing data, identifying regional trends, and evaluating strategies to address opioid overdose deaths in Morris County. The initiative is being funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New Jersey Department of Health under a successful model program developed in Maryland.

OFRTs consist of local, multi-agency, multi-disciplinary teams of professionals in a position to conduct comprehensive, yet confidential reviews of overdose deaths to ultimately improve response, prevention, treatment and public awareness services.  By fully understanding more about overdose deaths in the county, local health officials can more effectively direct policies, practices, and partnerships to prevent future overdoses and allocate prevention resources and services where they are most effective.

“The idea of gathering a group of individuals from diverse professions to share their perspectives and experiences, and to learn from one another in order to make a recommendation on how to prevent future overdose deaths feels like a massive step in the right direction, and I’m happy to be part of that process,” said Samantha Neville of PIK, who will serve as the coordinator of the Morris County OFRT.

“Opioid overdose fatalities continue to be a serious public health crisis affecting individuals and families from all walks of life. The Morris County OFRT will play a critical and integral role in the development of critical interventions for the prevention of opioid misuse and fatalities,” said Morris County Health Officer Carlos Perez, Jr. Ph.D.

In offering $100,000 grants to cities and counties throughout New Jersey last year, the NJDOH explained that the review teams can uncover the individual and population factors and characteristics of potential overdose victims. Knowing the who, what, when, where, and how of fatal overdoses provides a better sense of the strategies and coordination needed to prevent future overdoses and results in the better allocation of overdose prevention resources and services, according to the NJDOH.

“The Department recognizes the importance of local solutions to bring about a larger change that is needed to address the overdose crisis,” said New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli when the grant opportunity was rolled out last year. “The power of Overdose Fatality Review Teams is that they combine robust data with local partnerships, which is the perfect public health recipe for success. These teams will bring about innovation to help end the overdose epidemic.”

According to the NJDOH, the Maryland project improved the quality of referral systems, enhanced outreach to families to provide overdose prevention and treatment services by local health departments and other providers; identified new audiences for its naloxone training, and amplified overdose awareness.

The NJDOH summarized the responsibilities of all OFRTs in the state:

• Conduct multi-agency/multi-disciplinary reviews of all available information on an individual who dies from an overdose; promote cooperation and coordination across agencies involved in overdose investigations;
• Establish policies and procedures for pooling all available information on overdose deaths from local, county, and state government agencies, law enforcement, private entities that maintain privacy and confidentiality and comply with all applicable State and Federal privacy and confidentiality legal requirements;
• Identify points of contact between deceased individuals and healthcare, social services, criminal justice, and other systems involved;
• Identify the risk factors that put individuals at risk for drug overdose within their jurisdiction; and
• Recommend how to improve local partnerships, policies, and practices to prevent overdose deaths.

Morris County and Prevention is Key are pursuing partnerships with the following agencies and organizations to form an Overdose Fatality Review Team.  Partners may include, but are not limited to:

The Municipal Alliances network in Morris County
Morris County Stigma-Free Communities Initiative
Morris County Mental Health Addictions Services Advisory Board
Catholic Charities
Hope House
Daytop New Jersey
Grace Counseling Center
Morris County Aftercare Center
New Bridge Services.
Hope One
Various public schools
Morris County Department of Human Services
Morris County Prosecutor’s Office
Morris County Sheriff’s Office and Correctional Facility
Morris County Emergency Medical Services
Morris County Medical Examiner
Atlantic Health System
Saint Clare’s Health System

PARSIPPANY — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) was named this week to the Higher Education and Workforce Investment Subcommittee on the House Education and Labor Committee. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over education and workforce development beyond the high school level, including the Higher Education Act, adult education, postsecondary career and technical education, apprenticeship programs, science, and technology programs, domestic volunteer programs, and national service programs.

“Focus on and investment in our students and our workforce is absolutely essential to help our country get to the other side of this crisis,” said Rep. Sherrill. “Programs that build and support a strong workforce pipeline, connect students with the jobs of today, and ensure Americans have the training they need to adapt to the jobs of tomorrow will help to jumpstart our employment recovery from this pandemic and provide long-term benefits. I am excited to work with my colleagues on the Higher Education and Workforce Investment subcommittee as we get past this pandemic and support getting Americans back to work and our economy back on track.”

Rep. Sherrill is also a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

PARSIPPANY — This morning, the Chair of the Parsippany Republican Party, Lou Valori, announced his candidacy for Mayor.  As Council President of a 5-0 Republican Council under former Mayor Barberio, Valori has long been complicit in the political favoritism, budget gimmicks, and overdevelopment that had plagued Parsippany for years.

Valori has demonstrated a severe lack of integrity over the course of his political career. In 2013, Valori released a recording of Mayor Barberio offering him a job in exchange for political favoritism, an allegation Valori described as a bribe and reported to the Prosecutor’s Office. Just four years later, Barberio and Valori ran on the same ticket; a ticket the voters resoundingly rejected. If Valori would run with a man he accused of bribery, what would he do for his friends? Perhaps this is why Parsippany voters ousted Valori by over 800 votes in the 2017 election. This marked the most lopsided defeat for an incumbent Republican Councilman in township history.

The former Council President is also remembered for restricting public comments at Township Council meetings. His refusal to allow residents the standard amount of time to speak was reversed when Mayor Soriano took office.

Valori’s failures extend beyond the Parsippany government. As Chair of the Parsippany GOP, Valori saw his own Vice-Chair, former Freeholder, and Councilman John Cesaro, arrested on bribery charges. Although this arrest took place over a year ago, Valori has yet to comment. Valori has also failed to condemn the January 6th riot at our nation’s Capitol, after standing shoulder to shoulder with QAnon and Proud Boys members at a Trump rally in Parsippany on September 12.

Even out of office, Valori has continued to advocate dangerous policies for Parsippany residents. For months, Valori has pushed for the development of a children’s park in his home neighborhood of Glenmont Commons. As Council President, he and Mayor Barberio hosted not just one, but two, election year groundbreaking ceremonies on a plot of land planned to become a children’s park. The only problem? The township did not own the land. When Mayor Soriano came into office, his ask to the owner about this former construction staging site was routine: the soil needed to be tested for contaminants before our children could play there. To this day, the property owner, a major Valori donor, has not permitted soil tests. And to this day, with the full facts known, Valori continues to push for the township to acquire this land and construct a children’s park, without environmental testing.

That, in a nutshell, is the type of leadership Parsippany can expect from a Valori administration.

Parsippany voters had the good sense to reject Valori once. The decision to do so again is an easy one. A vote for Valori is a vote for political favoritism, budget gimmicks, overdevelopment, dishonesty, and putting Parsippany families in jeopardy.

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

Case No: FMCE 21-000768
Division: Family

ARLES TORRES, Petitioner

and

GLORIA TORRES A.K.A. GLORIA GOMEZ, Respondent

NOTICE OF ACTION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
(NO CHILD OR FINANCIAL SUPPORT)

TO: GLORIA TORRES A.K.A GLORIA GOMEZ, (Respondent’s last known address) Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey

YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an action for dissolution of marriage has been filed against you and that you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to in on ARLES TORRES VIA HIS ATTORNEY ALICE BAQUET, ESQUIRE whose address is 10661 N. KENDALL DRIVE #218, MIAMI, FL 33176 on or before March 19, 2021, and file the original with the clerk of this Court at 201 S.E. 6th Street, Room 4130, FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA 33301 before service on Petitioner or immediately thereafter. If you fail to do so, a default may be entered against you for the relief demanded in the petition.

The action is asking the court to decide how the following real or personal property should be divided: (insert “none” or, if applicable the legal description of real property, a specific description of personal property, and the name of the county in Florida where the property is located) THERE IS NO PERSONAL OR REAL PROPERTY TO BE DIVIDED.

Copies of this court documents in this case, including orders, are available at the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office. You may review these documents upon request.

You must keep the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office notified of your current address. (You may file Designation of Current Mailing and E-Mail Address, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915.) Future papers in this lawsuit will be mailed or e-mailed to the address(es) on record at the clerk’s office.

WARNING: Rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, requires certain automatic disclosure of documents and information. Failure to comply in sanctions, including dismissal or striking of pleadings. 

Parsippany Focus, 2/20/21 $50.00

MORRIS COUNTY —  Today’s Joint Committee on the Public Schools remote meeting highlighted the importance of getting teachers and children back in the classroom for full in-person learning, said the committee’s Assembly Republican members.

Legislators, state officials, education advocates, and concerned parents discussed how New Jersey can successfully reopen schools while addressing the learning loss and the social-emotional impact the pandemic has had on the students and teachers of New Jersey.

“I think everyone agrees that in-person learning is crucial, especially for children from our underserved communities that don’t have equitable access to the Internet and rely on school breakfast and lunch for their nutrition,” said Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce (R-Morris). “But since kids are still not in the classroom, it is evident that the key players are not prioritizing our families most in need. It is time to fully fund schools so that they have what they need to reopen.”

Education spending for this school year is the same as last. Murphy’s plan to increase funding by $335 million was scrapped because of revenue concerns due to the coronavirus. How the federal Covid-19 relief funding the state receives for K-12 education is being spent remains unknown.

“We can’t wait until March to reconvene another meeting,” stressed Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso (R-Monmouth). “The subject matter is just too important to put it off another month. It is imperative that the Department of Health be on our next call to discuss how we can safely get kids and teachers back to school as soon as possible. The learning loss and subpar education they are receiving are totally unacceptable and as we heard today not everyone is getting the same opportunities – our disadvantaged children are disproportionately suffering.”

On Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that 190 school districts out of more than 600 remain remote only, while 95 have moved to in-person instruction. Twenty-one districts are offering a hybrid format that combines both remote and in-classroom learning and 35 have some combination of the formats. Districts like Newark, Trenton, Camden, Paterson, Pleasantville, and Jersey City have yet to return to in-person instruction. All are among the poorest districts in the state and part of what was formerly known as Abbott districts.

“Teachers are front-line workers and as such, should be able to receive the Covid vaccine,” said Assemblyman Erik Simonsen (R-Cape May), who is also the athletic director of Lower Cape May Regional High School. “Schools are important to children’s mental health, emotional well-being and provide the support that cannot be replicated online. It’s time we move teachers up in the queue to be vaccinated – whether we use existing nursing staff and hold clinics at schools or ensure they can receive appointments at other vaccination sites – we need to make a plan and put it into action now. There are only a few more months of the school year left.”

Health care personnel, long-term care residents and staff, first responders, and individuals deemed high risk for severe illness because of certain medical conditions are currently the only ones eligible to receive the vaccine.

Despite New Jersey Acting Commissioner of Education Angelica Allen-McMillan speaking during the joint meeting, she did not take questions from legislators. As such, the Republican Assembly members are submitting a list of questions to the commissioner. They are looking for answers concerning statewide guidelines for reopening schools, mental health services for students, meeting the needs of special education students, the distribution of federal Covid-19 funding for K-12 education, and more.

PARSIPPANY — Angela Arcinas’s mom, Mary Jane, 64, died on February 3, 2021, at 1:53 a.m. just thirty minutes after being on FaceTime with Angela. Mary Jane died from COVID-19.

She was just nine months away from retirement after spending the last 44 years working as a nurse and helping and caring for so many different people. Her most important job was the job she had of being Angela’s mom, best friend, and better half.

“I cannot imagine how Angela must feel during this time. Angela is the last person that deserves to deal with this, not that anyone deserves to lose a loved one. During such a scary and unexpected time it is important to come together to support and uplift. We as a community of people that love and care about Angela and her family can come together to help lift some of the financial burdens off. I am unsure of all the costs they will be facing after nearly a month in the ICU, end of life expenses, and anything else Angela might want or need,” said Kathleen Jorgensen, a close friend of Angela.

Let’s all come together to show our love and support for Angela and her family.

Click here to donate to the GoFundMe account.