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The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Man Charged With Animal
Cruelty for Killing Dog
COUNTY — A Connecticut man
has been charged with third-degree
animal cruelty after allegedly forcing a dog out of a moving vehicle on
the Garden State Parkway last month,
killing it, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced last
week.
Timothy Yowell, 65, of Bristol,
Conn. was charged and subsequently
released on a summons with a future
court date.
A joint investigation involving the
New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA)
and the New Jersey State Police determined that Yowell was driving a
Mazda southbound on the Garden
State Parkway in Clark on September
11 when the incident occurred, according to Union County Assistant
Prosecutor Jill O’Malley, who is prosecuting the case. The dog was believed to be struck by a rear portion of
Yowell’s vehicle before being fatally
struck by a second vehicle, Ms.
O’Malley said.
Yowell did not stop his vehicle and
instead left the area, according to a
prosecutor’s office press release.
When the dog’s remains were recovered by a NJSPCA sergeant, a tag
was also recovered indicating that
the dog belonged to Yowell, Ms.
O’Malley said.
The complaint against Yowell
marks the first time third-degree animal cruelty charges were filed in
Union County since “Patrick’s Law”
was signed into law by Governor
Chris Christie last summer. The legislation, named for a pit bull that had
suffered severe abuse in Newark, stiffened penalties and increased fines
for incidents of animal abuse.
Convictions on third-degree offenses can result in terms of three to
five years in state prison.
Raritan Valley Panel
To Discuss One-Seat
Ride at Oct. 27 Meeting
CRANFORD — The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition will host a special
evening meeting on Monday, October 27 at the Cranford Community
Center.
The meeting will be an update on
the one-seat ride service on the Raritan
Valley line and allow commuters to
ask questions or identify other issues
related to service for stations on the
Raritan Valley Line. Further information related to the time of the meeting and meeting agenda will be announced shortly. The agenda will include an update from the coalitions
October 8th one-seat ride briefing
with NJ Transit.
TEAM WORK.. Pictured, from left to right, Union County Young Republican
Chairman Designate J.D. Bryden, 2013 Republican County Freeholder candidate
Ira Geiger, Union County Republican Sheriff Candidate Michael Ince, and
Rahway Republican Mayoral Candidate Patrick Cassio at a gathering in Rahway
on October 5.
A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION
WF Rec. Panel Discusses
Improvements to Fields
By KATE BROWNE
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times
WESTFIELD — With the fall sports
season in full swing, members of the
recreation commission focused on the
condition of the town’s athletic fields
at their meeting Monday night.
Commission Chairman Peter
Echausse and other members provided overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents, players, and
coaches on the new turf fields at the
Sid Fay/ Houlihan complex.
Mr. Echausse then presented a summary of his recent meeting with the
Town Council’s Finance Committee.
According to Mr. Echausse, at the
meeting, he and other Commission
members provided a strategic overview of the condition and operation of
the Memorial Pool complex and the
athletic fields. He noted the council
supported the Commission’s efforts
to protect the community’s investment
in these facilities by expending the
funds necessary for maintenance.
Mr. Echausse and Recreation Director Bruce Kaufmann then outlined
for their fellow Commission members several possible future capital
improvement projects including repairs to the bathrooms and walking
paths at Tamaques Park and townwide replacement of the bleachers.
The Commission discussed possible
repairs to several of the baseball fields
at Gumbert Park after last month’s
presentation by Dan Duffy and Noah
Ament on behalf of the Westfield Baseball Association (WBA).
According to Mr. Duffy and Mr.
Ament, Westfield Baseball has one
of the largest baseball programs in
the state. More than 1,500 children in
grades 1 to 10 participate and there
are an average of four games a day
during the season which runs from
April to November. In addition, the
WBA hosts the annual Cal Ripken
Championship, a Knights of Columbus charity tournament, and the
Buddy Ball program which matches
children with developmental disabilities to non-disabled ‘buddies.”
Because all of the fields used for
baseball are grass there are dozens of
instances each season where games
have had to be cancelled, postponed,
or moved to out-of-town fields due to
poor field conditions particularly
fields two and three at Gumbert. Mr.
Duffy and Mr. Ament, both of whom
are officers in the WBA, shared doz-
The Law Office of
Francis M. Smith, ESQ.
ens of photographs of the fields with
the Commission as well as instances
where umpires and coaches from visiting teams had expressed concern
regarding what they perceived as dangerous conditions.
Members of the Commission expressed support for partnering with
the WBA to investigate the feasibility
of modifying and repairing the fields
so as to decrease the annual maintenance costs and allow more children
to play more baseball more often.
In other business, Mr. Kaufmann advised that a preliminary review of data
obtained from other municipalities
which own and operate community pools
suggested that the annual membership
and guest fees at Memorial Pool were
among the lowest in the state and the
pool is one of only three in the area
which is completely self-sustaining.
Ms. Beth Dencker updated the
members on the results of her participation at the recent Westfield Green
Team meeting, which is part of a
state-wide initiative known as Sustainable New Jersey. Ms. Dencker
explained that the town had entered
into a new partnership with the state
Department of Fish and Wildlife
which would mean additional funds
may be available to do work at
Mindowaskin Park.
In addition, the group had obtained
a $25,000 grant from Walmart Corporation which will be used to fund
improvements to the Conservation
Center on Lamberts Mill Road and
was in the planning stage for an Earth
Day cleanup program. The group
would like to repeat the success of
last year’s event where the Westfield
High School boy’s lacrosse team
played a leading role in the volunteer
efforts by securing the participation
of more town sport’s teams.
The Commission’s next meeting is
Monday, November 3.
Cyber Security Talk
Open To Public At Kean
AREA – Members of the public
are encouraged to make a reservation
for a public discussion Assembly
Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R21st, Westfield) will hold on cyber
security with state Homeland Security officials on Monday, October 20,
at Kean University. Mr. Bramnick
will lead the discussion with experts
on how the public and corporations
can protect themselves from cyber
security theft. The 1 p.m. event will
be held in the STEM Auditorium,
Room 221. To reserve a seat, please
call Glen Beebe in the Assembly Republican Office at (609) 847-3400 or
e-mail GBeebe@njleg.org.
INJURED?
County Clerk Rajoppi
Launches Voter App
COUNTY – Union County Clerk
Joanne Rajoppi has announced the
launch of Union County Votes, a free
new mobile app designed to help Union
County residents connect quickly and
easily with accurate information about
voting and elections.
Of the more than 3,000 counties in
the U.S., Union County is one of only
two that offer mobile voter information. Sonoma County in California
has introduced a similar service.
“Union County Votes leverages the
mobile communications platform of
the 21st century to engage more citizens in the democratic process, to
exercise their right to vote and to run
for public office,” Ms. Rajoppi said.
“Our goal is for every resident to have
Union County Votes on their cell phone
or tablet.”
The Union County Votes app enables voters to find their polling place,
request voter registration forms and
vote-by-mail ballots, view sample
ballots, follow unofficial election results in real time, and much more.
The app also provides information
for persons interested in becoming a
poll worker or running for office, including election filing dates and district maps.
“If you are a voter, a candidate for
office, or if you simply enjoy following election returns after the polls close,
I encourage you to download Union
County Votes,” Ms. Rajoppi said.
Union County Votes also enables
users to receive automatic notifica-
SP Health Dept. to
Hold Flu Shot Clinics
For Seniors Oct. 25, 27
SCOTCH PLAINS — The Scotch
Plains Health Department has announced two scheduled seasonal flu
inoculation clinics for Scotch Plains
senior residents (proof of residency
may be required) 65 years of age and
older; as well as persons with a chronic
health condition.
The first clinic will take place Saturday, October 25, between the hours
of 9 a.m. and noon, in the court room
of the municipal building on Park
Avenue. The second and final clinic
will be at St. John’s Baptist Church,
located at 2387 Morse Avenue, on
Monday, October 27, between 10 a.m.
and noon.
Seniors are reminded to bring their
Medicare cards with them to the clinics. All non-senior residents will be
charged a nominal fee of $15. For
further information, please contact
the Scotch Plains Health Department
at (908) 322-6700, extension 309 or
extension 310.
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tions in case of unplanned changes to
the election schedule, including
changes in polling places.
“The mobile app is a powerful tool
for keeping the elections process running smoothly during emergencies or
other unforeseen events,” Ms. Rajoppi
said. “Hurricane Sandy demonstrated
just how important it is to ensure that
each voter can receive up-to-date information quickly and accurately.”
Out-of-county residents will also
benefit by having access to their
County Clerks’ and Boards of Elections’ contact information through the
app. Along with 15 distinct functions,
Union County Votes features easy-tocustomize tabs that enable each user
to flag their favorites for quick access.
A version in Spanish is available, and
countdowns to Election Day and poll
closing time are also featured.
The searchable features of Union
County Votes do not capture user information, ensuring privacy.
List of Features of the Union
County Votes App: 1. Am I Registered?; 2. Register to Vote; 3. Request
a Vote By Mail Ballot Application; 4.
Important Dates; 5. Where do I vote?
View Your Sample Ballot; 6. How to
Vote; 7. Campaign Finance; 8. District Maps; 9. Apply to Work at a
Polling Place; 10. Election Results;
11. Accessibility Information; 12.
Obtain a Candidate’s Petition; 13.
Military and Federal Overseas Voters; 14. Contact Us, and 15. Find
your county.
Union County Votes is available
now for free download at both the
Apple and Android app stores, or by
QR code. A free QR reader is also
available in the App Store.
For more information about Union
County Votes including a
downloadable Fact Sheet with QR
codes, and for all other services of the
Union County Clerk, visit ucnj.org/
ctyclerk or call (908) 527-4787.
County Seeks Public
Comment from Seniors
COUNTY – The Union County
Board of Chosen Freeholders has
announced that it will hold a public meeting for Union County Seniors for input on the “2015 Area
Plan.”
The public meeting will be held
Monday, October 6 at 9:30 a.m. at
the Union Township Community
Action Organization located at
2410 Springfield Avenue in Union.
The meeting will be conducted by
the Union County Department of
Human Services, Division on Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC).
Staff from ADRC will present an
overview of the plan, including the
impact of existing conditions on
seniors and their families, caregiver
needs, service strategies, demographics, and policy trends.
For more information about the
2015 Area Plan meeting, call the
ADRC at (908) 527-4870 or 1800-820-8226. For information
about services for senior adults in
Union County, call ADRC toll-free
at 888-280-8226 or visit the
county’s website ucnj.org
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