At the NJ American Society for Public Administration 2026 Public Service Awards May 13, at St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, Kearny Councilman George Zapata was honored with the Public Administration Student of the Year Award by Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration. Seen here with Zapata, left, is Montclair and former Kearny Business Administrator Steve Marks, who encouraged Zapata to enroll in the program some years back. Marks received the Distinguished Public Service in Government Award.
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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.