Pam Hersh

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) is projected to receive approximately $30 million, establishing a critical partnership with the larger National Institutes of Health-funded RECOVER initiative to study long-term and delayed impacts of COVID-19 in children and lead a national collaboration with the potential to recruit from any state to investigate these outcomes. Impacts of infection with the virus SARS-CoV-2 that present or persist more than 30 days are collectively referred to as post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Among the first PASC recognized is Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a severe acute inflammatory illness, which typically begins unexpectedly about a month after the initial infection. Children with MIS-C have fever and other symptoms that may include inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, circulatory system and skin that sometimes mimic another rare illness, Kawasaki’s Disease. Beyond MIS-C, children are also susceptible to what is commonly referred to as “long COVID.” A team of researchers at Rutgers have studied COVID-19 and MIS-C from shortly after it was first described in the United States. “Children and adolescents are susceptible to long-term symptoms. Some have brain fog. READ MORE

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Highland Park is seeking feedback from people who live, work, shop, and eat in the borough for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP). An online survey will help determine the projects and priorities designed to revitalize and rejuvenate the borough’s Woodbridge Avenue corridor and its adjacent residential neighborhoods. The goal is to create to a more welcoming gateway into the Highland Park community and to nurture economic development. In October, Highland Park was awarded a five-year NPP designation which includes an initial $125,000 grant to generate visible, tangible change in the Woodbridge Avenue District driven by local residents and business owners. It is anticipated that the Woodbridge Avenue District will receive up to $125,000 a year for five years to assist with economic and community development. READ MORE

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Prior to a recent performance of the American Repertory Ballet’s (ARB) The Nutcracker, I heard no one mutter ‘break a leg, the theatrical, ironic, ‘good luck’ wish to performers.  I did overhear, however, one presumptive father tell his daughter: “Go out there and wow the audience. Prove to Mr. Covid that there’s no stopping you.” The young woman smiled, put on her mask, and bounded into the theater. I did a lot of smiling as I watched my granddaughter Lily perform in two routines – dances performed by my daughter on the same stage for the same ballet company decades ago. Although as a grandmother I was focused on Lily’s flawless (of course) performance, I also was stuck by the profound difference between the show of 1987 and that of 2021

‘Mr. Covid’ was this year’s invisible participant, lurking in the minds of the performers,’ instructors,’ and producers’ minds, but thankfully not within the dancers’ bodies. Covid was the Grinch that stole the show last year, but not this year. READ MORE

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Highland Park’s downtown tree lighting will be Nov. 27, with a visit from Santa on a fire truck. An additional treat is that Highland Park’s gingerbread house competition returns this year. From 7-8 p.m. all are welcome at the Welkovitz Pavilion next to 212 Raritan Avenue for the annual tree lighting, complete with music, caroling, hot chocolate, candy canes, and Santa on a fire truck. The Gingerbread Houses will be on display at the Saturday Nov. READ MORE

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Rutgers University and Tel Aviv University (TAU) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in mid-November 2021 that will further the collaboration between the two research universities and establish a presence by TAU at the NJ Innovation & Technology Hub, a 550,000-square-foot, $665 million project in New Brunswick, N.J. The Hub will be home to a new Rutgers Translational Research facility and the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The MOU was signed in Tel Aviv, Israel, by Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway and Ariel Porat, president of TAU. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy joined the ceremony virtually. “I traveled to Tel Aviv to sign this memorandum of understanding in person because this is an important initiative that reflects Rutgers’ commitment to excellence and our recognition that there is no limit to the power of partnerships,” Holloway said. Rutgers and TAU have previously collaborated on projects, including a monthly series of joint scientific symposia exploring research topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, drug discovery, cybersecurity, gene therapy, nanomaterials and ancient and modern identities in Yemen. The MOU will amplify the universities’ alliance by establishing a research grant program to seed what are expected to be enduring collaborations across disciplines between Rutgers and TAU. READ MORE

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Princeton Ballet School presents The Nutcracker Suite: Scenes from a Holiday Classic, a one-act suite of dances inspired by The Nutcracker. This unique outdoor production, features Princeton Ballet School students and pre-professional Trainees, plus professional dancers from American Repertory Ballet on Saturday afternoon, November 13, 2021.Click here for tickets to the 1:00 pm or 3:30 pm performances $15 General Admission $10 student/seniors password: PBS10Highland Park is particularly fortunate to obtain this taste of The Nutcracker event that preceeds the American Repertory Ballet’s full production of The Nutcracker in upcoming weeks at theaters throughout New Jersey.The Highland Park show will be outdoors at the Welkovits pavilion in downtown Highland Park, next to Main Street Highland Park at 212 Raritan Avenue. Chairs will be provided, but feel free to bring your own if you have more comfortable ones!This event is made possible thanks to the generous support of:* Miller’s Rentals * New Jersey State Council on the Arts * Middlesex County Cultural & Heritage Commission
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Jonathan Scott Holloway, whose tenure is being shaped by a profound political reckoning and other global challenges, told an audience gathered for his inauguration as Rutgers’ 21st president that he believes education paired with public service can save democracy as he announced initiatives to make the university a leader in serving the common good. “Our daily news cycles have left us with a national rhetoric about politics, knowledge, citizenship and service that seems to take delight in mocking efforts to shore up institutions, to pursue ideas, to disagree civilly, to serve the common good and to share in our wealth,’’ Holloway said in his address, which was livestreamed at watch parties on the Rutgers-New Brunswick, Rutgers-Newark, Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences campuses. “I despair at this state of affairs, but instead of seeing colleges and universities as a manifestation of all that is wrong in our society, I see them as all that can be right.’’

Holloway highlighted his belief in the excellence that exists at Rutgers and his plans to build toward something even greater as he outlined his vision that focuses on access, research and service. “When I look at Rutgers, I want to see a place that aspires boldly to be both a leading engine of world-changing research and a vehicle for social mobility for students across the socioeconomic spectrum,” Holloway said. “This is what excellence looks like.”

Holloway’s inauguration, traditionally the official installation of the president, took place more than a year after he joined Rutgers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. READ MORE

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If you are reading this and have not yet voted early or by mail, please get to your polling place Tuesday, Nov. 2, 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. Democracy is fragile, and voting is the glue that holds it together. Even though the two Highland Park Council members Stephany Kim-Chohan and Tara Canavera are running unopposed for re-election to council, they need to know that people care. With your vote, you can hold them accountable for their job of representing you in an ethical, intelligent, and caring manner.  In all the other positions on the ballot including that of governor, the incumbents have challengers.  Earn the privilege of citizenship by voting. There are two public questions to be voted upon. READ MORE

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The intersection of Raritan Avenue and North Fourth Avenue is being investigated by Highland Park Place as an intersection of concern, after two people in two different incidents were hit by cars at this  during the month of October. In  the first incident, the man succumbed to his fatal injuries. A man in his 70s riding a bike was hit by a car there on the morning of Oct. 17.  Then on the morning of  Oct. 19, a woman was hit trying to walk across the same intersection. READ MORE

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All Rutgers University faculty and staff must be vaccinated by Dec. 8 for the university to comply with an executive order signed by President Joe Biden, Antonio Calcado, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a message to university employees. Biden signed Executive Order 14042 on Sept. 9 requiring that employees of entities with federal contracts be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Guidance from the Federal Worker Safety Task Force affirmed that the order applies to Rutgers. READ MORE

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