A U.S. Department of Homeland Security employee who traveled to China was told to return to her job in Newark earlier this month, despite protocol that mandated a 14-day quarantine period to screen for coronavirus, according to a report by The Washington Post.

Earlier this month, the woman, who works at the Newark office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, returned from traveling to China and asked her boss if she should stay home in quarantine, the Post reported.

But her boss told her to come back to work by Feb. 10, in violation of a mandatory coronavirus quarantine period of two weeks, the report said.

Last month, the U.S. Postal Service issued its 43rd Black Heritage stamp honoring Gwen Ifill, one of America’s most respected journalist.

As Black History Month comes to a close, the Springfield Avenue post office in Newark held a brief ceremony Friday to honor Ifill with the unveiling of a special enlargement of the stamp.

“The United State Postal Service remains committed to educating and informing America and the world about the many achievements and contributions noted from African-Americans,’’ said Silvia Glover, postmaster of the Newark office.

By John Goldstein

For decades, dreams of a Newark renaissance have been shattered by the reality of major challenges. We have a high poverty rate and low number of homeowners. Even the massive public investment in the Prudential Center and the Performing Arts Center seemed unable to light a fire under the local economy.

As the city and the nation recovered from the recession, momentum began to build. Panasonic and Audible moved their corporate headquarters to Newark, and Prudential built a gleaming new tower. Parts of downtown awoke, with new luxury apartments, celebrity chef-owned restaurants, Whole Foods and a Nike store.

Real estate speculation, especially downtown, resulted in massive sales like the Pavilion apartments, a $70 million project, and Newark’s Gateway Center, a $300 million project.

A former New Jersey governor may become the first person to head a civilian panel tasked with reviewing the policies and procedures of a county prison.

On Wednesday evening, the Essex County Board of Freeholders will vote on whether to approve former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey to serve as chairman of the nine-person Essex County Civilian Task Force, conceived of last year to review operations at the Essex County Correctional Facility.

McGreevey would serve in the position in a volunteer capacity, according to a county spokesperson.

Today, for something completely different, let’s pause to note some positive news in Trenton, the progress in the long fight to address the state’s fiscal crisis.

No, this is not a joke. Over the last decade, New Jersey has invested more than $20 billion into its depleted pension funds. In the decade before that, the state invested only $2.5 billion. That’s undeniable progress.

And the trend towards sanity, which began under Gov. Chris Christie, is accelerating. Gov. Phil Murphy and Senate President Steve Sweeney are rivals who can’t seem to stand each other personally. But they agree on this.