Amy Braunstein

Stories from Amy Braunstein

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Stephen Nolan was sworn in as Highland Park's interim mayor on January 21, receiving a round of standing applause from more than a hundred onlookers in Borough Hall. He replaced three-term mayor Meryl Frank who resigned her third mayoral term on January 5th for a presidential appointment to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

January 18th the Highland Park Human Relations Commission presented Lori Freedman with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Award, before an assembly of more than 70 packing the borough Senior/Youth Center community room. The event celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and acknowledged Freedman’s dedication to social justice in the borough.

This year's ceremony theme was 'building a strong community,’ as Acting Mayor Elsie Foster-Dublin presented the King Award to a borough person “who exemplifies the work and teaching" of the late civil rights champion.

Friday, January 15, 2010
Massage Matters owner Rosa Tavares has been a borough merchant for nearly 12 years. Prior to becoming a certified massage therapist Tavares worked as a social worker for four and a half years, just at the time that acupuncture and massage therapies were gaining credence as complements to the traditional medical therapies.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
In September of 2009 Cyber Knight Computers celebrated a Grand Opening at 433 Raritan Avenue. The move followed 11 years at his Easton Avenue location in New Brunswick, but owner Mike Beberman says the borough has already been very receptive.

Monday, November 23, 2009
On November 21, a unique ensemble of modern traditionalists played to a crowd that packed the eclectic White Lotus Gallery space above Raritan Avenue. Over a hundred people, young and old, turned out for an evening meal and musical presentation by the New York City-based Gamelan Son of Lion Orchestra.

 

The newly renovated gallery in downtown Highland Park has a warehouse feel befitting its origins as a 19th century knitting factory. White Lotus Home, a furnishings maker and retailer who rents the building, has decorated the space with local artists’ work on the walls and floor. Use of the space was donated by building owner Eric Weinberg and White Lotus Home for the fundraising concert.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

 

On October 19th George Coleman was hit by a car and killed while walking to the New Brunswick Youth Center with friends. George was 15 years old, a student at the Charter School, with plans for Law School.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

On November 11th guest speakers from Elijah's Promise took to the podium at Rutgers to outline the problem of hunger in New Jersey.

Organizers told the assembled students that something is "terribly wrong" with the way we feed people in NJ.  We live in one of the ten worst states when it comes to food stamps, school breakfast, and summer food sources for school-aged children, according to the agency's director, Rev. Lisanne Finston.