Every so often, it’s fun for me to put together a hodgepodge column about local happenings — and that time has arrived. So here it goes.
• I am writing this during the first week of August and so far, for the last month, it seems there are a lot of campaign signs already up for one election slate in Kearny (Ferreira) while there are none up for the other slate (Doyle.)
It’s always interesting to see where the signs pop up — like the one for the opposition at the home of the deputy mayor or on various businesses. These signs always seem to cause much too much consternation when one considers how little the signs often translate into the votes cast. Still, there is nothing typical about this election so it will be interesting to see how this all pans out on the coming months leading to November.
Five seats are up for grabs — the mayoralty and one seat in each of the town’s four wards.
• Last week, I had a chance to spend about an hour with the Kearny Junior Police Academy. That day, the Kearny Fire Department put on a demonstration for the cadets on how the department uses the Jaws of Life and other tools to extract someone who is trapped in a vehicle after a crash. It was a great demonstration led by fire Capt. Ron Protokowicz and several firefighters.
It was also a great reminder of the collaboration between the fire and police department. That doesn’t happen in every community, but we are lucky it’s ordinary here.
Many thanks, also, to Sgt. Jack Grimm for inviting me and COP Officers Janitza Aquino, Ryan Brady and Jordan Miranda for all the great work they do with the kids and the community.
Speaking of the COP unit, if you happen to read this on Tuesday, Aug. 5, don’t forget it’s National Night Out and there are plenty of festivities in our local towns. Be sure to head out and spend some time with your neighbors and police officers.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.