The BRICK Times
Vol. 21 - No. 6
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Seniors Enjoy Meeting For Events Again
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Community News Page 10
Inside The Law Page 12
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16
Dear Joel Page 19
─Photo by Judy Smestad-Nunn Larry Quinlan, 79, makes artwork at a Senior Outreach Services event. By Judy Services had finally don’t answer back,” he “When we’re with Smestad-Nunn opened up again to joked. our own age group, so BRICK - Larry Quin- in-person programs. Nearby, Regina Mero- many things are underlan, 79, was painting “I’m finally able to see la, 80, said she was stood, like our sense a folk art American people and talk again,” happy the senior center of humor,” she said. “I flag during an arts and said the Air Force vet- had reopened because missed all the people crafts class at the se- eran. “During the pan- she missed talking to here.” nior center last week demic, I talked to my people from her own The programs and (Seniors - See Page 4) when Senior Outreach plants and TV, but they generation.
COVID Report More Positive Than Past
By Stephanie Faughnan TOMS RIVER – As the liaison to the Ocean County Health Department, Commissioner Gerry P. Little has delivered his share of bad news since officials began reporting COVID-19 updates last March. For a long while, the focus was on document-
ing numbers – both positive cases and coronavirus-related deaths. Then, fast forward and Little’s report included acknowledging the difficulty in securing sufficient COVID-19 vaccine allocations. During the height of the virus, health department officials gave daily reports of positive test
results in excess of three digits. It also was not uncommon for individual municipalities to document more than 100 cases in one day. Hospitals in Ocean County went on divert several times. Nursing homes became overrun with COVID-19 outbreaks. And – thousands ultimately lost their lives
to the novel coronavirus. In a county with more than a third of residents over 65, the struggle hit close to home. The next battle was locating enough vaccines for those considering it as an option. When Little delivered his COVID-19 report at the most recent Ocean County Commissioner’s
meeting, the first thing he did was remark on the smiling faces he saw from the dais. County directors concerned about crowding meetings returned to the meeting room for the first time in ages. Most assembled felt comfortable with removing their masks. “We have to thank our (COVID - See Page 19)
June 26, 2021
Shelter Animals Ready To Meet In Person, Too
By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK - The news has been filled with stories about “pandemic puppies” from animal shelters in Newark, Trenton, and the inner cities who were begging the public to foster animals that had been adopted during the pandemic and then returned when their owners no longer had time to care for them. “What happened to us is not the same as your open-intake shelters,” said Executive Director of Jersey Shore Animal Center Laura Fasinski. “Those are the shelters we actually pull from the overcrowded New Jersey shelters, the New York City shelters. One of the most crowded we pull from on a regular basis is the Southern Regional Animal Shelter in Vineland.” That’s not to say the Brick animal center was unaffected by the public health crisis. “Financially, it’s been very challenging,” Fasinski said. “The lack of fundraisers - we rely on donors and many of the donors didn’t have work or lost their jobs. It’s just been very difficult.” The staff held online auctions, but that didn’t bring in the money that was raised with the annual in-person gift auction or 5K race. The center’s spay/neuter clinic was shut down in March 2020, while all medical offices had to report their PPE (personal protective equipment) inventory to the state. In many cases, the state (Shelter - See Page 6)
First Residents Of Ocean Medical Center Graduate By Alyssa Riccardi BRICK – Being honored as the first class of residents at Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center, the 2018 inaugural class have officially graduated and will begin their practice in Family Medicine and Psychiatry specialties. Not only are these doctors the first to enter the Graduate Medical Education (GME) program, but they completed a three-year residency program during one of the toughest times with the COVID-19 pandemic. (Medical - See Page 2)
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