Ramy’s beloved mother, Maha Abukaila passed away on July 14th 2017, after battling with breast cancer for eleven years.

Maha Abukaila was born on September 28th, 1961, in Egypt. She immigrated to Jersey City thirty years ago, and gave birth to her only child Ramy, there. They would later move to North Bergen. She was one of five siblings, three sisters and a brother who passed away. Mrs. Abukaila was married to Moe Gabr.

Maha worked in a family-owned cafe with her brother for many years, until she was physically unable to do so. Customers were attracted to her generous nature and warm personality. Ramy proudly tells us that his mother’s hospitality and kindness was unmatched. He says, “she would feed you until you couldn’t even look at food anymore”.

She was accepting of anyone and everyone, no matter their backgrounds or beliefs. Mrs. Abukaila loved selflessly, putting everyone’s needs above her own. For example, she’d always make sure the birthdays of loved ones and the holidays were celebrated on a grand scale.

Even after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, and soldiering through many surgeries, her spirits remained high. Ramy recalls her buying many gifts for people, just to make their day more special. Unfortunately however, the cancer eventually metastasized into her brain, which made her very weak and unable to do what she loved.

Ramy and his family took care of Maha until her last days. She longed to be with them till the end. Ramy says that she was “truly a warrior amongst [them] all”.

Ramy is so grateful for the woman his mom was and for what she taught him. As a single mother, Ramy saw his mother at her weakest moments and her strongest. He saw the sacrifice that an immigrant mother made, to help her son succeed and be happy. He says he credits his unwavering respect of women to her.

Maha Abukaila made North Bergen a better place. Her community misses, and will never forget her. HudPost stands in solidarity with the Abukaila family, during this time of mourning.

North Bergen resident Ivelisse Diaz is reaching out to the community in an effort to find her missing 16-year-old cockatiel.

On July 15th, Diaz’s bird escaped from her 45th street home. According to the reward flyer, the grayish bird has the distinctive feature of having no chest feathers.

“He is greatly missed,” writes Diaz. “If you have any information please call 212-606-1997 or e-mail diazi@hss.edu”

Dana Hojnowski has received the Excellence in Education Award from the New Jersey Clean Communities Council (NJCCC) for her work engaging students in North Bergen in anti-litter campaigns. Hojnowski, North Bergen High School teacher and Environmental Coordinator, was nominated by Tom Stampe, Recycle Program Aide of the North Bergen Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA). Stampe notes that there are “so many reasons” Hojnowski deserves this recognition, including bringing 35 students on a Saturday to clean blighted areas of town and other clean up projects.

On May 20, 22 of Hojnowski’s students painted over graffiti and picked up more than 1,000 pounds of garbage and more than 900 pounds of recyclable materials.

Another one of Hojnowski’s efforts, in partnership with the MUA, the North Bergen Green Team and the high school’s environmental club, and through a sponsorship with Home Depot, resulted in a school garden that will beautify the high school grounds and includes a tree planted in remembrance of former teachers.

The ribbon cutting for the garden, on May 11, was attended by the district superintendent and numerous school officials, staff and students. Hojnowski credits a team of environment and community-minded organizations and individuals with these projects’ successes.

“These events could not happen if I did not have the continued support of my Science Supervisor, Jared Keshishian, and our North Bergen Board of Education,” Hojnowski said. “I am especially grateful for working with Mr. Stampe,” she said. “He offers the students many opportunities to feel good about giving back to their community and making their environment a better place, which is why I believe in this club. I think I’ll nominate HIM next year!”

NJCCC is a comprehensive, statewide litter-abatement program that has served New Jersey residents and visitors for more than 25 years. Learn more at njclean.org.

After a year-long battle with cancer, North Bergen educator, Sherlyn Telcide, passed away at the age of 34.

In November of 2016, Telcide received news that she had been diagnosed with Mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive form of cancer that primarily develops in the lining of the lungs or the abdomen.

Sherlyn is survived by her husband Alex and their children Devin and Aiden, her parents Wilma (Natali) and Danilo Diaz and her brother Danilo Diaz.

Many turned to social media to express their grief and remembrance of Telcide.

Visitation will take place on Monday from 3 – 9 PM. Funeral Services will take place on Tuesday, 11:00 AM at Barquin Funeral Home in Guttenberg, NJ 07093.

Interment to follow at Fairview Mausoleum, Fairview, NJ.

In Lieu of Flowers please make donations to Mesothelioma Peritoneal foundation.

http://www.curemeso.org

A state appeals court rejected arguments made by lawyers representing the North Bergen Board of Education (NBBOE) claiming that the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller should be “required to explain why they wanted to conduct an audit of the board’s operations and finances before the board turned over relevant documents,” according to the New Jersey Law Journal.

According to the report, the case began in March of 2015 when the former state comptroller informed the NBBOE that it would be “subjected to a random audit, in which it would be required to provide a wide range of documents detailing its spending practices and costs, and a host of other business practices.”

While the board apparently supplied some documents, it did not turn over all information requested, resulting in the comptroller being granted an order from a Superior Court judge obligating the NBBOE to “provide full assistance and cooperation with any audit, and unduly delay the conduct of the audit.”

That decision was unanimously upheld by a a three-judge Appellate Division panel.

All of this begs some questions, like, does the NBBOE have something to hide? If not, why fight an audit from the independent Office of the State Comptroller?

The comptroller is an independent office that Mayor and state Senator Nicholas Sacco voted to establish. This raises the question – does the State Senator/Mayor now think the comptroller isn’t so independent, and that the NBBOE wasn’t randomly selected, rather, his arch-nemesis Gov. Chris Christie pushed for the audit?

Speculation aside- one thing we do know is that the NBBOE fought the audit, and it should be interesting when the comptroller publishes their findings.