A large group of volunteers and supporters braved the snowstorm on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 to gather at lakeside in Braddock Park and observe a moment of silence at 10:41, the time when Nevaeh Hernandez “became an angel,” in her grandmother’s words. The group then walked around the perimeter of the frozen lake.

Nevaeh’s mom, Stephanie Conteron, and grandmother Sandra Rivera joined forces with Rebecca Hendricks from the End-Fluenza Project to hold the remembrance event on the one-year anniversary of Nevaeh’s passing. The six-year-old North Bergen kindergartner contracted the H1N1 strain of flu during the 2018 outbreak. Her relatives, many of whom work in healthcare, planned the remembrance walk to honor her memory and to raise awareness of the vital importance of vaccinating children.

Hendricks founded the End-Fluenza Project after her own daughter, Scarlet, died from the flu in 2014. In addition to sponsoring walks, she regularly visits elementary schools to give talks to raise awareness of the dangers of the flu and the importance of hygiene in preventing the spread of disease.

The “Remember Nevaeh” event received strong support from the local medical community and the co-workers, friends, and family of Nevaeh’s parents. EMS and police vehicles and personnel from North Bergen and West New York participated, along with representatives from the North Bergen Health Department and North Hudson Community Action Corporation (NHCAC), who provided free flu vaccines to attendees.

After the walk the participants convened in the North Bergen Nutrition Center, where a raffle raised money for the End-Fluenza Project. Then, as a DJ played, everyone sat down to share a delicious meal cooked and donated by supporters and attendees.

For more information on the End-Fluenza Project, visit http://www.endfluenzaproject.org.

NJ TRANSIT is working with Passaic, Bergen and Hudson Counties to assess the restoration of passenger service between Hawthorne and Hackensack. Of particular interest are development opportunities and constraints in the study corridor and extending service into Hudson County connecting to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System (HBLRTS).

The study will build off previous efforts and consider a range of modal options, station locations, and the potential of transit friendly land uses along the corridor.

Preliminary goals of the project include: Improve mobility options improve transportation connectivity, support economic growth opportunities, develop a cost-effective project, & enhance quality of life and minimize adverse environmental impacts.

A public meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019 to share information on this project. The meeting is at Eastside High School, 150 Park Ave., Paterson, NJ.

North Bergen’s first “Walk to End-FLUenza” takes place at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 in Braddock Park, beginning at 9003 Bergenline Ave. The theme of the walk is “Remembering Nevaeh,” and it is dedicated to Nevaeh Hernandez, a 6-year-old kindergartner from North Bergen who lost her life to the flu one year ago on Feb. 12, 2018.

The walk will take place regardless of the weather. There will be heated tents and mobile units for the comfort of participants.

The End-FLUenza Project is an organization filled with people who were affected by the flu. Their goal is to increase vaccination rates among children by empowering families with the knowledge to make informed decisions about vaccination and preventative lifestyle changes, as well as to keep alive the memory of those lost to the flu.

The CDC estimates that in the 2017-2018 flu season there were 959,000 hospitalizations and 79,400 deaths. More than 48,000 hospitalizations occurred in children under 18 years old.

The walk to End-FLUenza is one of the organization’s major fundraising events. To register visit www.walktoendfluenza.com/nevaeh

Magalys Garriga, whose daughter Jannette died in a campus apartment at Rowan University in 2017, is unable to sue the school over her daughter’s suicide, a state appeals court has ruled, saying she missed a legal deadline by seventeen days.

Garriga said “paralyzing” grief caused her delay in filing a notice of tort claim with the college. She also said she “only became aware, several months after her daughter’s suicide, that professors and counselors at Rowan University may have pressured (her daughter) to take her own life.”

Jannette Garriga was a 27-year-old from North Bergen, Hudson County, and was a clinical psychology doctoral student at Rowan.

Her mother’s arguments had previously convinced a judge to extend the deadline to file, which came 90 days after the student’s death. However, a two-judge panel overturned the order, saying Garriga had not proved her delay was due to “extraordinary circumstances.”

Read more at www.legalreader.com