Hot Time in the Old Town

It was a hot time in the old town on Saturday. I took my children to the Oval on Saturday for the Family Festival, stopping by the high school where I graduated a long, long time ago. LHS was reflected on the hoods of the classic cars parked in the lot. When I was a senior I actually drove a 1966 Mustang convertible, a car I sold – gasp – for less than $200 when I headed off to college.

If only I knew then what I know now!

Livingston has been celebrating the youth in town all week thanks to the efforts of an amazing Youth Appreciation Week committee headed by Alan Karpas and Martha Ackermann and coordinated by Healthy Community-Healthy Youth of Livingston, Inc.

They’ve hosted 7 days of events that culminate on Monday with the Memorial Day Parade.

We hope you are clicking onto Patch daily for news of Livingston and receiving our daily or weekly newsletter. We run half a dozen stories a day of interest to Livingston residents, covering our town and people who live and work here. We launched , blog posts written by Patch readers, to continue the conversations we are having in our homes with a broader audience.

Charter schools dominate those conversations. More than 150 comments were on stories after Monday’s BOE and Town Council meetings. Both approved resolutions against two immersion-language charter schools that, if approved, would be open to Livingston students. On Friday, the NJ Department of Education received a letter from the Livingston Board of Education listing reasons why the board members believe the applications should be denied. They won’t know until at least 90 days what the state decides.

Meanwhile, the conversation among readers seemed exhausted by week’s end. One writer, who identifies herself as Diane, said: “I think at this point everyone is just venting frustration, myself included. No one on either site of this debate is going to suddenly change their view, no matter how much is written, no matter how many meetings we have. Let's do our letter writing, let our voices be heard and then lets move on to solve world hunger.”

Last week our coverage of charter schools included:

No decision is expected until September on Mandarin immersion applications.

: Board of Education votes unanimously to send letter urging that two applications be denied.

: Patch provides video coverage of the Board of Education public forum on charter schools.

: Councilwoman Shapiro says there's no conflict of interest.

: Justin Escher Alpert contributes an opinion piece: Charter Schools in Top-Performing School Districts.

. The administration is only one obstacle to proposed measures, Democratic support may be elusive.

Here’s a rundown of the rest of the week’s top stories:

Arts

Music, charity and friends mix in Livingston.

. 40 charities, 18 bands, 2 stages and one great day.

Government

. Council topics: Tree ordinance, community outreach and street repairs.

. Bill seeks to create more aggressive language programs.

Courts

Supreme Court orders more funding for high-poverty schools but suburbs look for help, too.

Schools

. YMCA says it will close preschool but leaves door open if more children enroll.

. Ceremony recognizes their years of service to Livingston Public Schools.

. Aubrey Lewis Football Classic raises $50,000 For Horizon Schools.

. Parents gather to talk about their reactions to the documentary film.

Police & Fire

. 3 are hurt and firefighter slightly injured after accident on Passaic Ave.

. 2 were hurt when they struck a tree on wet roads heading to a football practice.

Sports

. Lancers improve to 33-0 while capturing Group 4 crown on Thursday. It opens Tournament of Champions next week.

. LHS Tennis Team takes home the sectional crown.

. Baseball, softball, tennis and volleyball continue state tournaments this week

A sports league tailored towards children with special needs is set to begin this fall.

You can find all the news on top of the Livingston Patch site by clicking on the tab for News. You can browse by Arts, Government, Business, Police and Fire, School News, Sports, Announcements and now -- Local Voices. If you're interested in blogging, email marilyn.lehren@patch.com.

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Our favorite story this past week? Dreams really do come true! The LHS marching band is heading off to Florida to perform in Disney.