By Monica Prestia @stefani_style www.stefanistyle.com 1/6/25

In Vineland, New Jersey, at Cumberland County Technical Education Center (CCTEC), an extraordinary guardian is safeguarding students and staff while bringing a sense of comfort and security to the community. K9 Meadow, a specially trained security dog from Skool Dogs, is redefining school safety with an innovative and proactive approach.

School safety remains a top concern nationwide, with educators, parents, and communities searching for effective solutions to prevent potential threats. Enter K9 Meadow, a four-legged protector who is not just a security measure but a beloved part of the school community. From walking the halls to interacting with students, Meadow seamlessly integrates into the daily rhythm of school life while maintaining an unwavering readiness to respond to emergencies.

Meadow is part of a groundbreaking initiative spearheaded by Skool Dogs, a company operating state-of-the-art training facilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida. With a mission to address safety concerns in schools, places of worship, and public spaces, Skool Dogs patented Active Shooter Response Program equips K9s with the skills to identify and respond to potential threats. These dogs are trained to detect firearms, ammunition, explosives, narcotics, and more—a critical capability in today’s world.

Meadow, named in honor of Meadow Pollack, a victim of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, works tirelessly to ensure the safety of students and staff at CCTEC. Handled by Steve Manera, Meadow exemplifies the dedication and effectiveness of the Skool Dogs program, bringing both security and a sense of community to the school.

What sets Skool Dogs apart is their commitment to proactive safety measures. Unlike traditional security approaches, which often involve reactive responses, Skool Dogs’ K9 units live within the schools they protect during school hours. This unique approach allows them to build relationships with students and staff while fostering a sense of peace and safety in the school environment. For students at Cumberland County Technical Education Center, seeing Meadow each day offers a reassuring presence—a constant reminder that their safety is a priority.

“Having K9 Meadow at our school has been transformative,” says Dina Rossi, school superintendent at CCTEC. “Not only does she provide an added layer of security, but she also brings joy and comfort to our students and staff. Meadow is truly part of our family.”

The post Revolutionizing School Safety:Skool Dogs K9 Heroes in Action first appeared on River View Observer.

Abraham Santiago award-winning author, and film documentarian, has become the most prolific writer on acappella music, over the past fifteen years. Santiago has appeared on the radio from California to New York. He received numerous awards, his latest being the Vinyl City Hall of Fame Award in October 2019. As of this date, no one has come close to, giving us the historical and social connection to the birth of Acappella music that began in the 1960s. Moreover, he was the first person to write, produce, and direct the first documentary film on the history of acappella as a genuine regional art form. He was also the first to produce an animation cartoon on acappella groups singing in the R&B style.

The post Former Jersey City Resident Abraham J. Santiago Pens New Book ‘Underated Singing Groups’ first appeared on River View Observer.

The newest series of Westerns by Dusty Saddle Publishing is a genre-expanding, steam-punk universe of action and suspense interwoven with moral ambiguities, cultural allegories, and a dash of political satire.
To top it off, the author of these fatalistic yarns hails from a land far from America’s former frontier, Jersey City – Timothy Herrick – believed to be the only New Jersey author in the Dusty Saddle roster, the largest Western Fiction publisher in the industry.

The post The Knolland Parables: Western Series by Jersey City Writer saved by GenrePowerhouse Dusty Saddle first appeared on River View Observer.

Three of his honors were for work performed for the Hudson Reporter newspaper group, and five were for the TAPinto Bayonne news website.

Passantino received the Hildy Johnson Award for his story, “Smack Surges in Hudson County,” which appeared in The Weehawken Reporter. The GSJA bestows the honor for the “outstanding print or broadcast news story of the year.”

Along with Hudson Reporter colleague Al Sullivan, Passantino took home a second-place award in the Print/Investigative Reporting category for “Electronic Cheating? School District Investigates Possible Smart Phone Cheats.” The story ran in the Bayonne Community News.

Passantino won second place in the Photography, Essay category for “Snow Daze; After the Blizzard,” which ran in the Bayonne Community News. The photo series chronicled the city following a 20-inch snowfall.

For TAPinto Bayonne, Passantino won in the photography categories of Spot News, General News, and Portraits & Personalities.

In Spot News, he won first place for his photo titled “Sad Day,” taken following an apparent suicide in a downtown Bayonne park.

In General News, Passantino took both first and second places for “Just Super,” a picture of a super moon taken from The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, and for “A Tale of Two Bridges.”

In Portraits & Personalities, he again took the two top spots; for “My Turn,” where he captured the image of a child waiting anxiously for his father to share ice cream, and “May I Help You?”, a shot of a dog “manning” the counter in a veterinarianâ€s office.

The honors were presented for work completed in 2016.

CAPTIONS:

• 1. Snow Daze
• 2. My Turn
• 3. May I Help You?
• 4. Just Super
• 5. Sad Day
• 6. A Tale of Two Bridges

The post Passantino Wins Eight Awards from New Jersey Journalism Organization first appeared on River View Observer.

According to NBC4 News the actor is fine and has been treated for some gashes.
A later report indicated that Ford walked away from the accident to a waiting ambulance.

Ford has survived previous plane and helicopter crashes in the past.

A video released by NBC4 News shows the plane Ford was piloting right before the crash.

Source www.NBCNewYork.com

The post Actor Harrison Ford Hospitalized After Plane Crash in California first appeared on River View Observer.

The post Operation Christmas Child Gets Underway first appeared on River View Observer.

By Ricardo Kaulessar- Photos by Ricardo Kaulessar 

The funeral for Jersey City Police

Officer Melvin Santiago on Friday offered a somber pause, a reflective respite from a very tense week for law enforcement and the public at large.

The 23-year-old was laid to rest at St. Aloysius Church on West Side Avenue, mourned by grieving family and friends, his fellow officers, and elected officials. Also, hundreds of officers from locations as far away as Philadelphia lined the street outside when his casket was brought into the church.

Santiago was killed on July 13 at around 4 a.m. when the rookie officer and his partner, Ismael Martinez, responded to a 911 call about an armed robbery at the Walgreens Pharmacy on Communipaw Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard. Authorities said the assailant Lawrence Campbell, 27, did not rob the drug store but assaulted a security guard and took his gun, which he used to fire close range at Santiagoâ€s vehicle with a bullet hitting Santiago in the head and killing him. Police returned gunfire that killed Campbell.

Since then, emotions have run high amongst those outraged at Santiagoâ€s death and those who were upset over Campbellâ€s death.

Rumors circulated during the week that there would be retaliation from street gangs against local police for Campbell being killed as well as the unrelated death of Lavon King, 20, whose confrontation with a Jersey City police officer on June 24 that led to him being shot dead when trying to wrestle away the officerâ€s gun. Authorities said while King was affiliated with the Bloods, Campbell was not known to have any gang connection.

And there was the tearing down by the city of memorials put up separately for Campbell and King, each located within blocks of one another on Martin Luther King Drive, in response to negative reactions by residents and others outside the city who viewed the makeshift shrines as glorifying criminal behavior and anti-police sentiment. Supporters of the memorials told local media they were erected to remember members of their community who lost their lives.

In the midst of this tumult, city officials and police brass sought to get the focus on Santiago for giving his life in the line of duty by honoring him with a posthumous promotion to detective and the departmentâ€s Medal of Honor. And by giving him the kind of funeral befitting a fallen hero.

Remembering Melvin Santiago

 

Charles Reynolds in 1883. Clarence Weir in 1921. Caspar Buonocore, Jr. in 1973. Melvin Vincent Santiago in 2014. They are among the 39 men who died while on the job during the Jersey City Police Departmentâ€s 185 years of operation.

The 39th member of this tragic fraternity laid in a closed casket in a packed church that resonated with tributes, prayers and music as part of a solemn farewell to Santiago.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop in his eulogy for Santiago called him “hard working and conscientious, good and courageous, strong and considerate” and pointed out how those traits served the rookie cop well in his seven months on the job working out the cityâ€s tough West District.

“And whether it was neighbors’ yelling, domestic disputes, or the threat of gun violence, Melvin was intent upon good prevailing over evil, protecting the vulnerable, and order maintained in our community,” Fulop said.

Santiago was also remembered by his uncle, retired Jersey City policeman Frank DeFazio, as someone looking to follow the career path paved by DeFazio and other relatives in becoming one of the cityâ€s finest, and how he achieved that goal only to pay the ultimate price.

“You made the ultimate sacrifice … I will make sure you are never forgotten,” DeFazio said. “I love you Mel.”

Former Jersey City Police Chaplain Kevin Carter said the reason for the officerâ€s death is that “human life is so cheap today,” and that Santiago went to his final crime scene to “serve and protect” the citizens of Jersey City.

After the funeral, Santiagoâ€s casket was taken out of St. Aloysius Church by several police officers and placed in a hearse that traveled to Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington for a private burial.

Santiago is survived by various family members including his mother Cathy McBride, his stepfather Alex McBride, his father Melvin Santiago Sr., and his stepbrother Alex Jr.

The post Fallen Jersey City Police Officer Melvin Santiago Remembered at Funeral first appeared on River View Observer.

Jersey City Police Officer
Melvin Santiago

Archbishop Hebda, members of the clergy, to Kathy and Al McBride, Melvinâ€s brother Alex, all of his family and friends that are here today.  On behalf of the City of Jersey City and the Jersey City Police Department, I offer to you our deepest condolences.

Melvin Santiago was everything we would want in a police officer. He was hard working and conscientious, good and courageous, strong and considerate. To quote the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C., “It was not how these officers died that made them heroes; it is how they lived.”

Melvin had always wanted to be a police officer.  Iâ€ve been told that as a boy heâ€d travel with his uncle to the precinct to learn about the JC Police Department.

From family and friends, weâ€ve learned that Melvin kept that dream alive in his heart and worked diligently in high school and his years in college to qualify as a police officer. And, when the time came to serve, he repeatedly requested to serve in the West District so that he could guard the community which was his home, which was his family.

He was assigned to the West. Captain Mike Kelly describes Melvin as squared away in his work and manner, intent upon learning, and always trying to be better. Mike told me how Melvin would just watch the older guys, watch and learn, that he wanted to bring pride to the West, an bring honor the profession of law enforcement. Kelly would try to encourage Melvin to relax and smile. I personally think that the “Eagles” cap that Melvin wore to work put Mike a bit off.

In the year since Melvin came on the West, he participated in patrols and police work, he chased down perpetrators and arrested them, he was on the front lines of the district and handled everything that came his way.

And whether it was neighbors†yelling, domestic disputes, or the threat of gun violence, Melvin was intent upon good prevailing over evil, protecting the vulnerable, and order maintained in or community.

Melvin represented the best of that thin blue line which protects and defends civilized society from the indiscriminate violence which human beings are capable of.

Melvin understood that serving as a police officer is dangerous, but he also knew that it was the highest calling of service.

And as Melvinâ€s family knows, it was not only his willingness to make the supreme sacrifice, but his daily commitment to service, his quiet, dogged determination to be a force for good, and to give the protection of the law to the entire community — including those who would tear it down.

Melvin never excused himself from the standards that he was commanded to enforce. The self-discipline and principled behavior, which Melvin always showed, is what makes a police officer so unique, and it is also what makes the brother and sisterhood that is law enforcement so sacred.

While we ask you to protect and serve us all, we also ask you to hold yourselves to the highest standards, on the job and also in your private lives. This was a part of his service which Melvin approached with a determination which was exceptional even among police officers.

This morning, in this sacred place, we as a community express our eternal gratitude for the life and legacy of Melvin Santiago, and that of all law enforcement.

Last week when Alex wrote an essay about his brother, he expressed his gratitude in the title, “my hero.” Well Alex, Melvin is also my hero and Iâ€m quite certain heâ€s also the hero of quite a few people in this church

As every police officer will honor his memory each time they don the uniform, let all of us take a moment deepen our appreciation for Melvinâ€s life and sacrifice.

Let us also consider our larger struggle to carve out a space of order and security in this world for ourselves and our families.

Melvinâ€s service and sacrifice are a special part of that struggle, and in light of his courage, let us return to it with a renewed determination and commitment which meets his high standards.

May eternal rest grant unto Melvin, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

May his soul and all of the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

The post Eulogy for Jersey City Police Officer Melvin Santiago by Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop July, 18, 2014 first appeared on River View Observer.