Governor Cites Cranford Baseball Card Seller, Lost To Coronavirus

CRANFORD, NJ — During his daily coronavirus press conferences each afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy has taken to giving short profiles of New Jersey residents lost to the virus. Recently, they've included father/daughter doctors who worked in Union County, and a Westfield duo who raise money for local businesses. And this past Thursday, he cited former Cranford resident Howie Arnesen, who coached Little League, worked for local supermarkets, and ran a baseball card store in downtown Cranford.

Last week, Murphy said, "Let’s start by remembering Howard Arnesen — Howard Arnesen, Jr., I might add, of Cranford, known as Howie. He was a member of Cranford High School’s class of 1960. Howie graduated from Rutgers in 1966, a member of the Alpha Chi Ro fraternity. He made his career as a senior system analyst for both supermarkets, General and Wakefern. But many locals remember him more fondly as the longtime owner of the First Place baseball card store that stood in downtown Cranford. Howie was a sports enthusiast, coaching for the Cranford Little League in the 1960s and 1970s, and his voice was often the one announcing Pop Warner football."

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Murphy added, "In 2003, he retired to Florida. But his roots were in Cranford and he returned to his hometown in 2018. As I heard from his daughter, by the way, if my math is right, Howie’s grandparents, talk about having your roots in town, moved to Cranford in 1922. Howie, when he passed, was 77 years old. He is survived by his daughter Pamela, who I had the great honor of speaking with yesterday. She’s a probation officer in Union County."

He added that he was also survived by "Howie’s son Jeffrey, his grandson Jimmy. That’s Pamela’s son, and by the way, she has a picture of Pamela, Jimmy, and Governor Christie. I promised her when the dust settled and this awful thing passed that we would take a picture, the three of us together, so she could have both the last administration and this administration."

He added, "Howie’s also survived by three sisters and a niece and a nephew. He is reunited with both his wife Carol and his son Scott along with many other family. May God bless Howie and his family."

Howard Arnesen's obituary can be found here.

On Monday, Mayor Patrick Giblin said there had been a total of 417 confirmed cases of the virus in Cranford, including two new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours — one of a person in the community, and one in a long-term care facility.

In total, the township has suffered 81 fatalities. That's up from 43 fatalities two weeks ago, more than half of which were in long-term care facilities. See this story about how the fatalities broke down last month, and see below for more about long-term care.

Here are some other Cranford and New Jersey updates on testing, nursing homes, and more:

• On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the state had confirmed 898 new cases of the virus, and 198 more people had died since the day before. The state death toll is now 9,508. READ MORE.
• On Thursday, April 30, the state had reached an all-time high death rate due to the virus. Murphy had said that 460 New Jerseyans had been lost to the virus in 24 hours, or one person every three minutes. The daily fatality rate has come down since then.

NEW STATEWIDE CONTACT TRACING

• The governor said Tuesday that in order to start reopening, the state is planning to trace people who've had contact with patients, and institute other measures. READ MORE.

GIVING OR GETTING HELP IN CRANFORD

• Here is a story about how seniors and the needy can get food or food delivery.
• There are many Cranford resources for seniors, the needy, the hungry, and those who need help for an emergency. If you need help, contact town officials or browse resources via the town website.
• Mayor Patrick Giblin has posted information about where to get tested, about not feeling isolated during social isolation, about domestic violence, unemployment benefits, and more in each nightly newsletter. To read some of his nightly newsletters, click here or click here.
• Here is a story about the local branch of the Front Line Appreciation Group.

UNION COUNTY TESTING

• The Union County Covid-19 Drive Thru test center has new hours. The center is available to Union County residents who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. First responders and front-line health workers who are experiencing symptoms can also contact the center, regardless of their place of residence. Testing is free. To find out more about testing in Union County, click here.

SCHOOLS

• Cranford schools will close five calendar days earlier than originally intended.
• On April 14, after Spring Break ended, Cranford schools instituted new distance learning procedures and grading policies. READ MORE.
• Over the weekend, Murphy clamped down on in-public graduation ceremonies, saying they need to be held virtually. On Monday, he clarified and said that "wave parades" and other graduation and birthday celebrations are OK if they respect social distancing.
• Last week, Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey schools will be closed for the rest of the year. After discussing with the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governor said that spring sports will not resume for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.

NURSING HOMES

• The state has begun releasing death toll statistics for long-term care facilities like rehabs and nursing homes. See the list here.
• New Jersey residents have become alarmed at the high number of residents who have passed away in nursing homes, rehabs, and similar facilities, and have charged that the facilities are undercounting the numbers and not adequately protecting residents and staff. The state has faced questions for weeks from the press about how they will address the problems.
• They announced plans last week to increase testing at some long term care facilities and to bring in the National Guard to help make changes.
• You can report problems with long term care facilities here, or if you suspect coronavirus related misconduct, here.

EVENTS

• The town has canceled the Memorial Day Parade, but will have an alternate celebration. READ MORE.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

• Cranford Patch has published a simple Open-or-Closed Directory for local businesses during the coronavirus shutdown. Dozens of submissions have come in. See the directory here.
• The Cranford Chamber of Commerce recently released a video, thanking those who shop local.
• Here's what you need to know about applying for unemployment and other benefits during coronavirus. MORE.
• Read more about unemployment, small business, and other coronavirus regulations and benefits in New Jersey here.

Here are statewide coronavirus resources:

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222

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