>Pearl Harbor survivor, 90, still on mission to tell story
Seventy years have not dulled the memories of Bob Kerr.
One need only look at the detailed map of the Hawaiian island of Oahu he drew for me off the top of his head on a napkin during our lunchtime conversation.
Kerr, 90, is one of an estimated 8,000 survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, who are still alive. Telling that story became a big part of his life.
>Sentencing delayed on loan scam conviction of Ronald J. O’Malley, the onetime chief of Bergen County’s public financing agency
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011 THE RECORD
Next week’s sentencing of Ronald J. O’Malley, the onetime chief of Bergen County’s public financing agency convicted of brokering fraudulent loans through his private mortgage firm, has been delayed to give court personnel more time to complete a pre-sentencing report.
U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh on Monday rescheduled the sentencing of the former Bergen County Improvement Authority chairman and his co-defendant, Laura-Jean Arvelo of River Vale, from Dec. 12 to Dec. 21.
O’Malley, of Upper Saddle River, was the CEO and co-owner of a Ridgewood firm that employed Arvelo as a loan officer and vice president.
Indicted on 68 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud and loan application fraud in 2010, they pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy count in August and admitted scheming with others to defraud lenders by falsifying client income and employment data on mortgage loan applications and supporting documents.
Program Highlights -Concerto for Wind ensemble; Susses Mummers Christmas Carol; children’s march; Piano concerto; Holiday Favorites. Reatured Guest Soloist – Ron Levy, Piano Friday, December 9 at West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 S. Monroe St., Ridgewood. Prelude at 7:30pm; Performance at 8:00pm. Tickets – Adult $20; Senior (62+) $15; Student $7. children under 13 free with paying Adult/Senior. Information: 201/493-9030
>Pearl Harbor attack, 70 years ago, still fresh in the memories of old sailors By Bruce Newman
From Dec. 7, 1941 until long after VJ Day and the end of World War II, Americans referred to the Japanese strike against Pearl Harbor as a “sneak attack.” In his declaration of war before a joint session of Congress the next day, President Franklin Roosevelt captured the nation’s shock and fury, promising it would be “a date which will live in infamy.”
But on this 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, with old war wounds healed and racial sensitivities heightened, the phrase used more often to describe that day is “surprise attack.” For most Americans, the “infamy” of Dec. 7, 1941 has receded since Sept. 11, 2001.
The survivors of those doomed ships — many from the Bay Area — are mostly hard of hearing now, but the buzz and the boom of the bombs from that day still ring in the ears of John Tait of Concord, Ed Silveira of Hayward and Dempson Arellano of Antioch. Gordon Van Hauser, who lived in San Carlos until his death in 2008, often spoke of his service not in terms of fighting for his own life, but for the life of his country.
>Successful sports programs are proportionate to the towns value
Here’s a fact: Successful sports programs are proportionate to the towns value, just as much as the education is. The two together are killer. Like it or not, that’s our culture. Who do you think wants to move into our village? Highly educated, successful, motivated, involved, and wealthy people.
They want their kids to play sports and get a phenomenal education. Sports are an attraction. Look what Schiano has done for Rutgers by fielding a good football team in the past 5 years. He put Rutgers on the map. That’s how it works. Our town is more valuable as a result.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 345 AM EST WED DEC 7 2011
…HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT…
WESTERN PASSAIC-EASTERN PASSAIC-HUDSON-WESTERN BERGEN- EASTERN BERGEN-WESTERN ESSEX-EASTERN ESSEX-WESTERN UNION- EASTERN UNION- 345 AM EST WED DEC 7 2011
…FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM EST THIS MORNING THROUGH LATE TONIGHT…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON HAS ISSUED A
* FLOOD WATCH FOR A PORTION OF NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY…INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS…EASTERN BERGEN…EASTERN ESSEX…EASTERN PASSAIC…EASTERN UNION…HUDSON…WESTERN BERGEN…WESTERN ESSEX…WESTERN PASSAIC AND WESTERN UNION.
* FROM 10 AM EST THIS MORNING THROUGH LATE TONIGHT.
* AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL PASS JUST SOUTHEAST OF THE REGION LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT…BRINGING A PERIOD OF MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY RANGE FROM TWO TO TWO AND ONE HALF INCHES…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO FALL DURING THE FIRST HALF OF TONIGHT.
* THE RAIN MAY LEAD TO FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS…POOR DRAINAGE AND URBAN AREAS…AND ROADWAYS. THE LARGER RIVERS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO REACH FLOOD STAGE AT THIS TIME.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON CURRENT FORECASTS. YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE FLOOD WARNINGS. THOSE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLOODING DEVELOP.
>Revitalizing NJ’s healthcare industry, one hospital at a time
A shuttered or downsized healthcare facility means much more than the loss of medical services. It means lost jobs, lost revenues, and lost taxes — both on the local and the state level.
Two bills now wending their way through the Statehouse are meant to address this situation, using state tax incentives to spur investment in healthcare. Legislation sponsored by Sen. Robert Gordon (D-Bergen) focuses on redeveloping facilities that have gone dark. Meanwhile, Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic) has introduced a measure to help hospitals that have kept their doors open obtain capital to expand. Both bills have been approved by the Senate Budget Committee. (Fitzgerald, NJ Spotlight)
>Speculation heavy as redistricting deadline looms
The Cook Report today reported that New Jersey’s redistricting battle, scheduled to be decided the week of December 19, is leaning toward a combined district that includes U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett’s 5th and U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman’s 9th.
The two men would then presumably battle to represent the combined district in November.
But sources tell PolitickerNJ, the combined district is just one option under exploration by the committee, which includes six Republicans and six Democrats and counts Rutgers Law School Dean John Farmer Jr. as its 13th and tie-breaking member. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
>Ka-Chung! How All Christmas Music Doubles Radio’s Ratings 10:30 PM PST 12/5/2011 by Paul Bond
Tired of hearing “White Christmas” on holiday rotation? There’s no escaping it, as more stations make the lucrative switch to the yuletide format. This article appeared in the Dec. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
More and more radio channels have been switching their formats to all Christmas, all the time — a consistent winner for radio even during a brutal 2008-2009 revenue downturn, which ended last year when the U.S. radio industry took in $20.1 billion, up 8 percent from the previous year.
>Report: N.J. Dept. of Education can consult data better to improve teaching
A report from the Data Quality Campaign says New Jersey has gotten better, but is still far behind in its use of student data to improve teaching.
New Jersey has only applied 4 of the 10 actions to use the student data well. 36 states are using all 10 elements in 2011, an increase from none back in 2005.
The Data for Action campaign’s essential elements include unique student identification, student enrollment, demographic and participation information, matching of students’ test records each year to chart their academic growth, information on untested students, teacher identifiers, student transcripts, college readiness test scores, graduation and dropout records, information to match student records between P–12 and post-secondary systems, and state audits to check the data’s quality. (Holt, New Jersey Newsroom)
>FRACKING : Effort to ban wastewater treatment questioned
Flaws have emerged in efforts by environmentalists and aligned Democrats in the New Jersey Legislature to ban natural gas drilling wastewater from being treated in the state, business leaders said at a state Senate committee hearing last week.
The proposal also applies to the disposal and storage of wastewater from fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing.
Since there are no fracking wells in New Jersey, the prohibition isn’t in sync with U.S. Supreme Court decisions that states cannot discriminate against other states‘ articles of commerce, said Ed Waters, director of government relations for the Chemistry Council of New Jersey.
Bill sponsors rewrote the bill prior to the Thursday hearing, removing all mentions of shipping or transporting the effluent, but Waters said that didn’t fix the intent of the legislation. The bill is still in the committee for possible further amendments. (Jordan, Gannett)
Even as it charges among the highest cigarette taxes in the U.S. and collects millions from an ongoing tobacco company settlement, New Jersey is stingy when it comes to anti-smoking efforts.
A report released Wednesday by the American Cancer Society, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and four other organizations concluded the state ranks 43rd in the nation in funding anti-smoking programs.
“A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 13 Years Later,” comes just two months after a separate September study on the state’s anti-tobacco efforts. It concluded New Jersey has earned about $5 billion in tobacco revenues over the past five years, with only 0.8 percent of it directed to prevention programs. (Mitchell, Gannett)
Authorities say some New Jersey counties may soon be eligible for millions of dollars in federal money to help deal with costs related to the rare October snowstorm — despite a “clerical error” on initial damage reports that county officials blamed on the state.
A state spokeswoman disputed that there was any error, but did say state officials will return to the area Monday to reassess damage to the counties of Bergen, Passaic, and Middlesex, which were all initially rejected for the money that was earlier made available to every other county in New Jersey. (Shilling, Gannett)
On Friday, December 16, from 4-7:30 p.m., K-5 students will have the opportunity to work with RHS theatre students doing fun activities to that spark creativity and teach the basics of drama. The event will be supervised by New Players Company adult staff. It all takes place at the RHS Little Theatre. Cost, including pizza dinner, is $30 for the first child; $15 for sibling. Questions? Call Meg Schaefer at 201-670-2800, ext. 20411 or mschaefer@ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Click here for the flyer and registration form : https://tinyurl.com/829fxht
>Are you taking the George Washington Bridge less since the toll hike? Published: Tuesday, December 06, 2011, 11:08 AM By S.P. Sullivan, NJ.com
Considering the tolls have gone up, and we’re not even sure where they’re going, a lot of people are grumbling about taking the Port Authority-controlled bridges and tunnels to New York.
So are you taking the train more?
The New York Times reported this week that traffic on the George Washington Bridge is down by 890,000 cars — or 4 percent — since cash tolls jumped from $8 to $12 in September.
At the same time, according data the Times collected from the Port Authority, traffic on the PATH rose by 560,000 riders — about 3.7 percent.
