ASBURY PARK PRESS

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MONDAY 01.11.16

Game on
Arcades offer escape for
locals in winter @Play

Drug war
in N.J. turns
to recovery

Winterfest lights
up Asbury Park
Light of Day event boosts Parkinsons research

State Police team up

with ex-addict in battle
KEN SERRANO @KENSERRANOAPP

New Jersey State Police Capt. Juan Colon has a new

and unlikely ally in the states war on heroin. He is
teaming with a former addict-turned-drug counselor
to go beyond the task of tracing the deadly poison
from the Columbian poppy fields to the drug-dealerstamped packet found on the body of overdose victims.
Colon has been collecting data since 2009 to battle
the states burgeoning heroin epidemic. Now Colon,
who runs the Drug Monitoring Initiative for the state,
has turned to John Brogan, a former addict who steers
heroin users into treatment, to provide another layer
of information that may help save lives.
Brogan, Colon and others in the anti-heroin effort
met for the second time at the Regional Operations Intelligence Center at State Police headquarters in Ewing. Because Colons research stopped at overdoses, a
good portion of the world of heroin was invisible to
him and those who rely on his data. That data helps law
enforcement agencies reduce what Colon calls drug
harm burglaries, gang gun violence and overdoses. That may mean taking down a supplier or tracing
heroin deaths to the same dealer to bring stiffer
charges.
Brogan will be tracking the path of users who entered into treatment.
Were showing the tracking from where they manufacture heroin all the way out to treatment and then
the desired result of recovery, Brogan said.
The information will give Colon and others an idea
of why drug harm is going up or down. If arrests are
going down, some law enforcement action may be
working, Colon said. But an increase in treatments
may also be a factor.
Its a good indicator, Colon said. John is filling in
some blanks. Hes into the network of providers,
whats going on in the industry.
When the heroin epidemic gained momentum in
See DRUGS, Page 8A

JASON TOWLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

So Watt performs during the Light of Day Cover Me show on Sunday at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.

AMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP

AND CHRIS JORDAN @CHRISFHJORDAN

ASBURY PARK - It was a crowded

party on Sunday inside The Stone Pony, where audience members held
beers and bobbed their heads to hit
songs performed by some of New Jerseys best cover bands.
But it was no party that launched
the Light of Day Winterfest and its series of concerts more than 15 years
ago.
Tony Pallagrosi, Light of Day Foundations executive director, co-founded the organization with friend Bob
Benjamin after Benjamin was diagSee LIGHT, Page 5A

To see a
video from
MARY IUVONE/CORRESPONDENT

John Brogan, a former heroin addict, speaks during a

meeting held between health care professionals and State
Police Drug Monitoring Initiative staff on Friday.

Sundays concert,
visit

JASON TOWLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

APP.com.

Vocalist Sally James of So Watt performs Sunday.

Those with disabilities find work, purpose with their help

JERRY CARINO CARINOS CORNER
EATONTOWN - Christian Barlow
packs tubes of toothpaste, three at a
time, to prepare them for shipping.
Later in the day, he might assemble dog
toys or affix mailing labels on boxes.
His tasks at the Center for Vocational Rehabilitation seem simple, but for
people with disabilities, they make a
profound difference.
I love it here, said the 32-year-old Barlow, a Sea
Girt resident. The people are nice and I have a lot of
special friends that support me. It keeps me from
being bored at home. Id be lost without this job.
The Center for Vocational Rehabilitation has been
around for 55 years, providing a variety of services to
500 local folks with mental illness, cognitive impairment and physical disabilities. With a warehouse that

Aides say Obama will use State of the Union to reflect on not
just the year ahead but his entire presidency. STORY, 1B

employs 75 people and a supported employment program that places 15-20 people into outside jobs each
month, CVR sits at the intersection of goodwill and
industry a reminder that the two are not mutually
exclusive.

Learning the basics

Most people CVR works with are referred by New
Jerseys Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the
Commission for the Blind, but anyone can give me a
call and well point them in the right direction, said
Maria DeSeno, CVRs vice president of employment
services.
When people come here they start at the very
bottom, which is assembling product, DeSeno said.
Some of them will become line supervisors, making
See CVR, Page 8A

ADVICE
BUSINESS
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL

TANYA BREEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Gregory Vallese of West Allenhurst boxes pet toothpaste at

the Center for Vocational Rehabilitation on Tuesday.

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LOTTERIES
OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
WEATHER

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VOLUME 137
NUMBER 9
SINCE 1879