Rosalia Scotman, program coordinator at the hospital’s Behavioral Service Department, gives blood during the Community Blood Services drive at Jersey City Medical Center. As the surgical volume increases at the hospital, there is an increased need for blood donations.

 Local authors release new book in time for Weehawken NJ’s 150th anniversary

Known as the little town across from New York City, Weehawken has a story all its own.  Just in time for the community’s 150th anniversary, Weehawken Historical Commission members Lauren Sherman and Ellen Robb Gaulkin present the local history using more than 200 vintage images in the new book, Weehawken. 

The majority of the images in Weehawken are from the Historical Commission’s collection and from a few residents with large personal collections. A number of individuals lent or donated a smaller trove of treasured postcards and old photos previously unknown to the Commission for the book. 

One of the Photo’s we at the River View Observer found interesting was Edward Hopper’s painting East Wind Over Weehawken,

 

depicting the corner of Forty-ninth Street and Boulevard East, was painted in 1934 after a series of eight sketches he did of the site. Hopper found inspiration in the urban scenes of the city and occasionally ventured across the river to Hoboken and Weehawken. The corner does not look much different today; the concrete urn still sits at the corner retaining wall directly across from the American Legion lot. (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Collections Fund.)

Continue reading New Book and Postcards Capture History of Weehawken →

In 2003, a student’s discovery of 8.5 fluid ounces of elemental mercury in an unlocked chemistry cabinet forced a high school in Washington, D.C., to close for 35 days. The cleanup cost more than $1 million.

In August 2008, a school janitor spilled two gallons of hydrochloric acid at the Edison Technical and Occupational Education Center in Rochester, N.Y. One employee inhaled the fumes and had to be taken to the hospital for evaluation.

From elementary school maintenance closets to high school chemistry labs, outdated, unknown or unneeded amounts of hazardous or inappropriate chemicals are found in K-12 schools across the nation, poten­tially putting students and staff at risk. Continue reading Schools-Safer Schools-Creating safe learning environments for our children →