>N.J. Senate panel approves bill preventing trafficking of tigers and their body parts
A Senate panel has approved a measure intended to serve as an international model to prevent trafficking in tigers and their body parts.
The bill (S3061) would establish strict reporting and registration requirements for captive tigers in New Jersey to prevent their illegal trade. It cleared the Senate Economic Growth Committee unanimously.
“This bill will send a message throughout the country and indeed the world that this illegal trade in tiger parts is horrible,” said its sponsor, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union). (Friedman, The Star-Ledger)
>Ridgewood artists share holiday spirit Thursday, December 1, 2011 BY EILEEN LA FORGIA STAFF WRITER The Ridgewood News
Laura Paray, an instructor at the Ridgewood Art Institute (RAI), said this year’s Holiday Show is “special.”Our community is giving back,” she said, referencing the partial proceeds from the show that will benefit The Emmanuel Cancer Foundation.
The foundation serves New Jersey’s children with cancer and their families by providing emotional, material and emergency financial support. Their mission is to provide a variety of specialized services, at no charge, to any New Jersey family facing the challenges of caring for a child with cancer.
The Members’ Holiday Show is a win-win for the community. Three gallery rooms are filled with paintings in oil, watercolor and pastel, and all the paintings are for sale.
Due to recent power outages, many residents are exploring the possibility of using generators during until power can be restored. The following article in The Record may provide useful information, Click Here for more Information:
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011 BY REBECCA D. O’BRIEN STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
It’s an all-too-familiar sound now disrupting the calm of North Jersey streets: the buzz of generators.
As North Jersey recovers from another massive storm and parts of many communities are still without full power, sales of private home generators have spiked. And so have the concerns of officials scrambling to ensure they’re used safely.
“Between the generators and people using ovens to warm their houses, the Fire Department has received a ton of calls for carbon monoxide alarms,” said Bergenfield Councilman Charles Steinel, a former fire captain.
>Ridgewood News editorial: Hitting the restart button
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The Ridgewood News
The scene at Tuesday night’s Village Council meeting to formalize the governing body’s opposition to The Valley Hospital’s “Renewal” plan was far from the raucous display at last year’s Planning Board meeting, when an amendment to the Master Plan was approved.
>Village of Ridgewood : Crossing Guard Position Applications
The Ridgewood Police Department is accepting applications for anyone interested in becoming a School Crossing Guard. Posts are a minimum of two (2) hours a day. Work may even be available during times when school is closed (winter/summer breaks). Please contact the Ridgewood Police Records Room at (201) 251-4531 for blank applications and questions. The Village of Ridgewood is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
>New Jersey Choral Society presents “on a winter’s night”
Bergen and Essex County – Celebrate the beauty and light of the holiday season as the New Jersey Choral Society presents “on a winter’s night” on Saturday, December 3 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, December 4 at 3:00 pm in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, 30 North Fullerton Ave., Montclair. A third performance will be presented on Sunday, December 11 at 6:00 pm in Ridgewood’s West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 South Monroe St.
Under the direction of dynamic conductor Eric Dale Knapp, the New Jersey Choral Society will present an uplifting program featuring such festive works as Bach’s “Magnificat in D major,”“Fantasia on Christmas Carols” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and “Gloria” by Randol Alan Bass. Seasonal favorites include “In the Bleak Midwinter,” “Lo how a Rose e’er Blooming” and “Angels we have Heard on High” as well as the beautiful Christmas anthems “Night of Silence” and “There is no Rose of such Virtue.” Organist Linda Sweetman-Waters and a full orchestra will accompany the chorus. The NJCS Children’s Chorale and soloists Alicia Luick, Ryan Milkwick, Megan Knapp, David Adams and Keith Harris will be featured. Come one hour prior to concert times for The Inside Line, a complimentary lecture about the music for all ticket holders.
In support of the Center for Food Action, the New Jersey Choral Society will be collecting nonperishable food items at each concert. Donated food items can be deposited in one of the receptacles in the lobby. The Center for Food Action is a non-profit organization that provides emergency food, rental and utility assistance, counseling and advocacy for people in need.
Advance tickets are $20.00 for general admission, $17.00 for students, seniors, and patrons with disabilities, and $12 for children 12 and under (Add $5.00 at the door). Group discounts are available. The West Side Presbyterian Church and the Church of the Immaculate Conception are both wheelchair accessible. For reservations or more information, visit https://www.NJCS.org or call the New Jersey Choral Society at (201) 379-7719. Funding has been made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Government workers would no longer be able to be paid for unused sick leave but could use the value of that time to offset their costs for health benefits after retirement, under the latest legislative proposal to revamp sick-leave rules.
Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, D-Camden, introduced legislation this week that would attach an actuarial value to accumulated sick leave that exceeds 60 days, then permit retiring public employees to use that value to reduce their post-retirement medical benefits by up to $7,500.
Retired public workers who choose a medical plan that requires them to pay $1,500 a year from their pension toward their benefits, for instance, could use the value of those unused days to eliminate that cost sharing for five years. (Symons, Gannett)
>Legislation intended to increase odds of tigers’ survival in wild goes before N.J. Senate committee
Legislation intended to increase the odds of survival for tigers in the wild and serve as a model for other government agencies gets its first hearing before a New Jersey Senate committee on Thursday.
Sen. Ray Lesniak’s bill would require New Jersey’s tigers to be counted, registered and tracked to help ensure they aren’t killed for their parts.
The Democrat says he hopes to cut into the worldwide trade of tiger parts hastening the animals’ extinction. (Associated Press)
>Injured Raccoon Wanders Into Ridgewood Antique Shop Boyd A. Loving
Ridgewood Police Officer John Chuck with animal control officers Lisa Slick and Kristen Schmidt of Tyco Animal Control Services capturing an injured raccoon that wandered into Pangea Antiques and Art at 35 East Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood (201-445-4199) at approximately 12 noon on Friday, December 2.
> Main Street businesses survive without slashing prices in Ridgefield Park
THURSDAY DECEMBER 1, 2011, 10:49 AM BY DARIUS AMOS CORRESPONDENT RIDGEFIELD PARK PATRIOT
RIDGEFIELD PARK – The idea of Main Street, Anytown, USA, conjures up images of pedestrian traffic and hustle and bustle during this time of year. In some Bergen towns, the idea rings true – think Ridgewood, Englewood, Westwood, and even to some extent Teaneck. Here in Ridgefield Park, however, holiday shopping is just not part of the village landscape.
Most residents ventured out of town on Black Friday and over the Thanksgiving weekend to catch the season’s big sales. Garden State Plaza, Bergen Town Center and The Shops at Riverside lured most of the heavy spenders, while retailers along routes 4 and 17 also drew considerable shopping numbers.
“I didn’t go out on Black Friday because I wanted to avoid the craziness, but I do plan on going to the mall later today,” said Ariana Rossi, 35, who stopped in for a latte at Dunkin’ Donuts last Saturday morning. “You just can’t pass up some of the deals at those stores. Even if you’re not doing your Christmas or holiday shopping, you might want something for yourself. This is the time to hit the malls and buy.”
>Downtown for the Holidays kicks off Friday in Ridgewood
THURSDAY DECEMBER 1, 2011, 4:01 PM BY JOSEPH CRAMER STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce is going “around the world” and back again to draw residents to the village’s Central Business District (CBD) this holiday season, giving an international theme to Friday’s Downtown for the Holidays event.
The goal of the annual celebration, now in its 26th year, is to generate excitement about shopping locally for the holidays in a time where much of commerce is dominated by shopping malls and online stores, as well as provide a fun event for village families to enjoy, chamber officials said. While the tree-lighting ceremony remains the centerpiece of the event, the chamber has added a few new themes and attractions designed to broaden the event’s appeal.
>Give this council a break they inherited a slew of problems
Give this council a break. It inherited a slew of problems from the Mancuso – Pfund years when our economy was flush with money and problems that could have been fixed went unabated. Pfund left, dumping the Hospital issue squarely in the lap of his successors. They have had to deal with that. They have also had to deal with issues such as cleaning up the lingering problems associated with the multi-million dollar fiasco otherwise known as Lake Village Hall.
Give these folks time — they are not perfect, but who is, and at least they are trying.
Leaf and brush will continue to be picked up according to the schedule in the Village Calendar. Village crews will be performing this task throughout the day.
Yesterday, it was a rally in opposition to the proposed Opportunity Scholarship Act, although the sparse crowd in the Jersey City school auditorium made it more a polite gathering than a protest.
Today, advocates of the controversial tuition tax credit bill boast they will have 2,000 people on the Statehouse steps. But if history is any indication, the vast majority will be Catholic school students bused in for the day..
Either way, the people who really matter — the legislators who may act on the school voucher bill — are keeping notably quiet, even apparently among themselves.
“I haven’t heard a thing,” said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), the primary sponsor of the bill. “And you would think I would. One would hope, at least.” (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
> Rutgers-Eagleton poll: ‘Overwhelming’ support for medical marijuana; majority favors decriminalization
One day after Gov. Chris Christie attempted to kick start the state’s medical marijuana program, a Rutgers-Eagleton poll shows the public is staunchly behind him.
According to the poll, 86 percent of respondents favor legalization of marijuana for medical purposes – a current law being met with roadblocks in the implementation stage.
Yesterday, Christie named a former State Police lieutenant as the new coordinator of the program, but the poll director David Redlawsk, professor of political science at Rutgers University, wondered at the pace at which the program is progressing.
“The slowness with which the Christie administration appears to be implementing the medical marijuana law passed at the end of the Corzine administration seems to fly in the face of public opinion,” said Redlawsk. “While recent reports say some of the problem is related to the difficulties of opening the dispensaries called for under the law, public support for the concept is very strong.” (Carroll, PolitickerNJ)
