I found New Jersey Acting Comptroller Kevin Walsh’s report on the Essex County COVID-19 Vaccination Program and the subsequent NJ Advance Media coverage of it (“…County spent COVID funds with little oversight, report finds.”) to be short-sighted and unfair.
It seems they have forgotten all the death and destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many health care workers remain traumatized to this day by the lives lost, children orphaned and families shattered.I personally will not forget the vision of three freezer trucks in the hospital parking lot to accommodate our patients who succumbed to this deadly virus.
In a time of fear and ignorance, the Essex County program offered hope and science to combat this deadly disease. County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. and his staff that procured and administered COVID-19 vaccines to the public saved thousands of lives.
In addition, these vaccinations were shown to sharply reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations, which likely saved millions of dollars.
Shame on Walsh’s office and NJ Advance Media for counting dimes and being critical of DiVincenzo for taking action when his constituents needed help. As a physician, I prefer you both just say “thank-you”and be on your way.
Sabino R. Torre, M.D., West Orange
Irresponsible to print Trump juror profiles
I was appalled to read in the April 21 Star-Ledger the Bloomberg News article, “These 7 men and 5 women will decide Trump’s fate,” which profiled the 12 regular jurors sworn in for the current New York trial of former President Donald Trump.
I heard news channelsrepeat New York State Supreme Court Juan Merchan’s orders that stressed the importance of maintaining the privacy of these 12 citizens who are doing their civic duty. That point was obviously lost on this paper and those who make final decisions on what should be published.
Although the article did not have the jurors’ names of addresses, it is not difficult to identify them based on the in-depth descriptions.
The tremendous amount of stress and sense of responsibility each of these jurors feel to not only render a fair judgement, but also to live without fear for their safety, and that of their families and friends, ought to be obvious.
If jury tampering or intimidation is to be avoided, the editors of this paper totally missed the boat on this one and demonstrated extremely poor judgement. There is plenty of time to learn about the jurors, post-trial. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to know anything about them throughout the trial duration, other than that they are 12 citizens, seven men and five women, who have given up their normal lives in the hope that we can move on from this.
Sometimes human decency and compassion over rules what may be legal or sells newspapers.
Carrie Weissman, Bridgewater
Connect dots between Putin and many in GOP
I have often wondered why more in the media haven’t explored the clear messaging from certain members of Congress that favors Vladimir Putin.
The Russians said the quiet part out loud this past weekend after U.S. military aid for the Ukrainians was funding was passed. Russia continues to seek to create chaos in the United States, andmore than half of Republican House of Representatives members appear OK with this, as evidenced by their votes against the aid bill.
Putin confidante and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev decried the $61 billion in aid, and said he wished America would plunge into civil war as quickly as possible.
In 2018, eight Republican members of Congress went to Moscow —over the July 4th weekend!: Sens. Richard Shelby (Alabama), Steve Daines (Montana), John Thune (South Dakota), John Kennedy (Louisiana), Jerry Moran (Kansas) and John Hoeven (North Dakota),and Rep. Kay Granger (Texas) spent that holiday in Moscow’s U.S. Embassy. They were the first congressional delegation to go to Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014.
Recently, another GOP senator, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, in rejecting the aid bill, said that some of Putin’s points that Ukraine can’t win the war are accurate. Johnson’s remarks are disgraceful.
There needs to be more coverage on the Putin-GOP connection, especially since the Russians will be working hard to spread disinformation that benefits Donald Trump in advance of the 2024 election.
Betsy Clarke, Pottersville
Better idea to find space for the unhoused
On April 22, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that asks if homeless people who sleep in public spaces can be legally punished, or if doing so where there is no available shelter is “cruel and unusual” punishment under the Eighth Amendment.
Around the same time, I read how the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a private nonprofit, has expanded into buying up hotels, helping to house the homeless in large scale projects, and providing extensive on-site needed services. The foundation started out by paying off mortgages for families with brave first responders and military personnel who died.
One article about the Supreme Court case stated that “on any given night, more than 650,000 people in the United States are experiencing homelessness, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development.”
Tunnel to Towers is proving that efforts to help house the homeless can indeed work. So, a lesson is being learned. Our veterans are often homeless for sure.
Can you imagine how many of the 650,000 homeless in all of our cities could be helped if the tens of billions of dollars spent by taxpayers on global warming solutions, and for services for undocumented immigrants, were used instead for housing? I am sure there would be money left over.
By the way, I have I have no connection to Tunnels to Towers (“T2T”) in any way.
David F. Lipton, Toms River
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