coronavirus

Rich Lisk, the Executive VP of of the NLL's New York Riptide and GF Sports, has quite a story of success and survival.

Lisk, the latest guest on SportsJam with Doug Doyle, talks about how he beccame a sports marketing guru, his love of the Jersey Shore and now Long Island, and how sports helped him deal with "the nightmare" of growing up in an abusive household.

WBGO's Bob Hennelly, who is also a reporter for the Chief Leader, talks to WBGO News Director Doug Doyle about how first responders and civil service workers in New York City haven't had all their stories told.

Kevin Williams is a legendary sports host who is the Director of the Shore Sports Network and has been covering sports for WOBM in Ocean County for nearly 41 years.  

Williams created the WOBM Christmas Classic, a 32-team boys and girls basketball tournament that's been around for nearly 37 years.  

Kevin is the latest guest on SportsJam with Doug Doyle as the former colleagues practiced social distancing during the coronavirus crisis.  Williams and Doyle were the play-by-team at WOBM in the early 1990's.

Mayor de Blasio calls it a good day as he points out positive coronavirus data for New York City.    

The mayor seemed more upbeat than previous days when talking about the data.  In a recent 24 hour period, the number of people admitted to city hospitals for suspected coronavirus was down significantly, the number of people in IC units is lower slightly as is the percentage of people testing positive.

As COVID-19 cases continue to soar in New Jersey, addiction treatment providers who are usually in close contact with people who use drugs have been figuring out how to continue offering services — at arm’s length.

With the state’s harm reduction centers cutting back their hours and in-person consultations becoming trickier, advocates for those with addiction worry that the coronavirus pandemic may cause other public health emergencies to worsen while nobody’s watching.

The latest edition of Ask Governor Murphy on April 23 focused on how New Jersey is handling the coronavirus.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, practicing social distancing, joined the show from his home.  The show was hosted by WNYC's Nancy Solomon.

Calls and social media questions focused on nursing homes, the need for more PPE, unemployment and the desire for the Governor to change his mind about closing the state's parks and golf courses,

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is calling on the federal government for assistance as it works to stop the spread of COVID-19 and limit its impact on the city’s budget.  

Just a few short weeks ago the city put in several of its own stimulus packages to help residents but now Baraka says those, along with the additional burden on health, public safety and sanitation services have put a significant dent in the city coffers. Baraka says if they don't get help, they may be forced to furlough city employees and face possible buyouts.

Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District is partnering with the City of Newark, The Greater Newark Conservancy, and Rutgers Newark medical students, along with a host of other local organizations, to feed seniors and families in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

Executive Director Anthony Smith says the multi-organizational partnership has allowed them to expand on their already existing initiative to provide fresh produce and healthy meals to seniors in the Lincoln Park community Newark.

Food banks in New Jersey are finding business is booming as more and more people lose their jobs.

Fulfill … a food bank in Monmouth and Ocean Counties … is serving about 200,000 people these days … up from about 136,000.

And it has served about 364,000 meals … up about 40 percent. Kim Guadagno … president and CEO … says they’re trying to help the resort areas.

Westchester County was the epicenter at the beginning of the pandemic … and food banks there had a lot of on the job training in how to deal with a surge in demand.

Matthew Honeycutt is vice president for development at Feeding Westchester … he says one problem has been manpower.

New York City officials are getting ready to do wide scale coronavirus testing once the tests become available.  In the coming weeks, a test and trace program will get going.  Mayor Bill de Blasio says this involves quickly tracking down and assessing people in contact with someone with coronavirus.

With little traffic right now, legislation is expected to be introduced at the virtual city council meeting today that would shut many New York City streets in an effort to battle coronavirus.

This has widespread support among city lawmakers. Councilman Brad Lander says the legislation would close 75 miles of streets in all five boroughs to allow new Yorkers more room for social distancing and for exercise.

 New York City plans to honor the heroes on the front lines battling coronavirus. 

Mayor de Blasio guarantees the first thing the city will do when the coronavirus pandemic dies down is have a ticker tape parade along Broadway for health care workers and first responders.

“This parade will mark the beginning of our renaissance.  But it will also be most importantly a chance to say thank you.”

The mayor says the parade will speak to a kind of heroism that is intrinsic to who we are as New Yorkers.

A group of New York City lawmakers is calling for the subway and bus system to be shut down temporarily because of coronavirus.

Robert Holden is one of four council members who signed off on a letter to Governor Cuomo asking for the transit system be shut down for at least a week for a deep cleaning.

He points to stats showing about 25-hundred MTA employees have tested positive for coronavirus.

WBGO News is hosting a DIGITAL CONVERSATION ABOUT NEWARK on April 21 (Tuesday) at 3pm and you are invited to join in.  

The event is part of the News Voices-Free Press partnership that began a year ago in the WBGO News Deparment, made possible by a grant from the Dodge Foundation.  

Planned events in June in New York City are being cancelled.

Popular events like the Pride March and Puerto Rican Day Parade where hundreds of thousands gather annually will not happen in June

“A lot of these events will be postponed.  I want to be clear.  The permits are being cancelled for June.  But the event organizers, a lot of them are looking at doing something later in the year.”

There is data showing the worst has past with the coronavirus in New York State, but New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says folks need to keep social distancing.

The mayor says with the weather getting nicer, officers will be ramping up enforcement of coronavirus related restrictions.

“This is a horrible disease. We have seen the toll it’s taking. And if we let it back in the door, it will reassert itself."

Mayor de Blasio wants new Yorkers to send in pictures of violators to NYC.gov

Alex Urrea, CEO of Eduscape, has been leading educational companies for more than 20 years.  Urrea says passion is to reach as many learners as possible by leveraging technology to personalize the learning process and give teachers and students an active voice in their education.

Urrea spoke to WBGO News Director Doug Doyle about how Eduscape, based in Montvale, New Jersey is working with schools and parents during the coronavirus pandemic.

New York City will remain quiet in May with more events cancelled because of the coronavirus.  Mayor de Blasio says parades; concerts and rallies along with other non-essential permitted events will not take place in May. De Blasio says it’s not looking good for June either…after being asked about the Pride March.

“We got a lot we got to get done to be safe for June.  We are far from out of the woods.  So we are talking to people who organize those big June events.”

Since January 8th, 1948, Easterseals New Jersey says it has worked to meet the continuously growing needs of people with disabilities and the families who love them here in New Jersey.

Easterseals New Jersey CEO Brian Fitzgerald talked to WBGO News Director Doug Doyle about how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted his organization.

Even before Eddie Cotton officiated the Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis fight in 2002 in Memphis, Tennessee, he was legend in Paterson, New Jersey.

Cotton, who served as the first black president of the Paterson City Council, died early this morning at the age of 72.  He had been hospitalized for more than a week after contracting the coronavirus.

Paterson public historian Jimmy Richardson says Cotton was extremely popular in town.