>Medical marijuana farms could get quicker OKs under a Monmouth County lawmaker’s bill
A New Jersey assemblyman, saying he feels a “moral obligation” to help alleviate the pain and suffering of “deathly ill” people, plans to introduce legislation to make it easier for medical marijuana businesses to get local zoning approvals.
Since October, governing bodies in Maple Shade, Westampton, Upper Freehold, and Camden have rejected plans for pot farms and marijuana dispensaries. The votes were taken after crowds of residents at town meetings expressed fears of increased crime and a stigma against their communities. (Hefler, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
>Education advocate claims New Jersey officials “have not started or completed one single school project” in the last two years
Public school students are “trapped” in unsafe buildings, but state officials have been doing “nothing” to address the needed repairs. Even broken-down boilers and collapsing roofs are not being fixed.
David Sciarra, executive director of the Newark-based Education Law Center, made that claim while criticizing the New Jersey Schools Development Authority during his Jan. 5 testimony before the Assembly Budget Committee. (Wichert, PolitiFact New Jersey)
>State’s failure to repay unemployment loan means higher tax for employers
State employers are being billed this month for an additional $21 per employee in 2011 federal unemployment tax as a result of the state’s failure to pay back a $1.7 billion loan from the federal government.
The tax, which will total more than $80 million for state employers, is a result of the state’s failure to repay a federal government loan granted to New Jersey to help foot the bill for unemployment insurance. The tax increase is charged only to states that have had a loan balance for two consecutive years. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
>Gov. Christie orders complete review of N.J. purchasing laws, public contracting processes
Gov. Chris Christie has ordered a complete review of state purchasing laws and the public contracting processes, prompted by a report that showed one in five multimillion dollar purchases made by governments in New Jersey broke the law.
He said he intends to simplify the rules, leaving less room for errors and therefore less cover for violations.
The Record and Herald News reported last month that previously confidential figures from the Comptroller’s Office showed errors and illegal provisions in one out of every five contracts worth $2 million or more. (Fletcher, The Record)
Hazmat Response, 212 Claremont Road, Ridgewood 01/17/2012 by Boyd A. Loving 3:05 PM
Leak from truck spraying foam insulation into home under renovation spilled into two (2) storm drains on Claremont Road in Ridgewood.
Material was determined to be non hazardous, but the contractor was nevertheless required to have an emergency response crew clean material from affected storm drains.
Response by Ridgewood FD, Ridgewood PD, and Bergen County Hazmat personnel.
Shore towns target unemployment benefits for seasonal workers
Grumblings about people who manipulate the New Jersey unemployment system and collect unemployment checks while surfing in Hawaii are not new.
What is new is the source of some recent complaints.
Two Cape May county mayors want the state to refine its unemployment system, so seasonal workers at the Jersey shore are not allowed to collect. If those workers are bounced out of the system, Cape May Point — the fourth smallest town in New Jersey with a year-round population of 249 — could save $15,000 a year, according to Mayor Carl Schupp. (Stilwell, Gannett)
>Facebook Gives Politico Deep Access to Users’ Political Sentiments
Counting Twitter mentions would have you believe that Ron Paul is the most popular Republican candidate in the ongoing U.S. primaries. Umm, right.
But some social media analysis of politics is going beyond that. A partnership between Facebook and Politico announced today is one of the more far-reaching efforts. It will consist of sentiment analysis reports and voting-age user surveys, accompanied by stories by Politico reporters.
The Christie administration is preparing to announce a new round of charter schools this week, but a big question remains. What is the state going to do about a charter law that even supporters are calling one of the nation’s weakest?
The latest criticism came from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which in its annual report released yesterday placed New Jersey’s law 31st out of 42nd overall. It cited the lack of strong accountability measures tied to performance, weak funding, and limited approval and review process. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
>Reprieve for N.J. school leaders over criminal check
The more than 180 New Jersey school board members and charter school trustees who were sent notices that they were being stripped of their posts for failing to comply with a new criminal background-check requirement were given a reprieve Friday.
Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf “granted an extension to board members that received a letter of ineligibility earlier this week,” said Justin Barra, a state Education Department spokesman. “Any board member that completes the fingerprinting requirement within two weeks – by Jan. 27 – will be eligible to remain on their board if they are cleared through the background check.” (Giordano, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Ridgewood Council agrees to shop for prices on a new fire truck
MONDAY JANUARY 16, 2012, 12:31 PM BY JOSEPH CRAMER STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Village Council has delved further into the possible purchase of a new ladder truck for the Ridgewood Fire Department (RFD), authorizing officials to solicit bids to get a clearer sense of price and specifications.
Fire Chief Jim Van Goor has appeared before the council multiple times over the past few months to present the fire department’s case for replacing a 1982 Mack fire engine with a new platform mid-mount ladder truck. Van Goor estimated the cost at between $1 million and $1.4 million to purchase.
The model would be a “middle of the road” type with respect to furnishings and specifications, not excessive but not stripped of useful features either, according to Van Goor.
>Christie still considering school election changes
Gov. Chris Christie said in Camden on Thursday that he had yet to decide whether he would sign a bill that allows for school board and budget elections to be moved to November.
Christie said the bill would have been better if it moved all school elections to the November general election, rather than creating an opt-in provision.
Christie said he believed that special interests would pressure school boards and municipalities not to move the election. (Method, Gannett)
>School Choice Week event with special guest, BOB BOWDON,
New Jersey Tea Parties United, The New Jersey Tea Party Caucus and Smart Girl Politics are proud to bring you a School Choice Week event with special guest, BOB BOWDON, creator of the education expose’, “THE CARTEL” and now executive director of ChoiceMedia.TV, an education reform news service.
Featuring: A special meet & greet with Bob Bowden Bob Bowden’s newest movie clips Panel discussion followed by a Q&A session
ADMISSION IS FREE!!! SAVE THE DATE FOR THIS HISTORIC EVENT!!! Sunday Jan 22nd, 2:00pm – 5:00pm Franklin L Williams Middle School 222 Laidlaw Avenue, Jersey City
>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 418 PM EST MON JAN 16 2012
NORTHERN FAIRFIELD-NORTHERN NEW HAVEN-NORTHERN MIDDLESEX- NORTHERN NEW LONDON-WESTERN PASSAIC-WESTERN BERGEN-ORANGE-PUTNAM- ROCKLAND-NORTHERN WESTCHESTER- 418 PM EST MON JAN 16 2012
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 AM EST TUESDAY…
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT…NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEAST NEW YORK.
.DAY ONE…THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.
>Garrett Disapproves of President’s Request to Raise Debt Ceiling Jan 12, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Vice Chairman for the House Budget Committee and Chairman of the Budget and Spending Task Force for the Republican Study Committee (RSC), issued the following statement today after President Obama requested that the statutory debt ceiling be raised by another $1.2 trillion:
“New year, same president, same story—zero fiscal discipline, surging debt and failed leadership. In the face of mounting evidence that our country’s debt crisis is reaching a tipping point, warnings from the president’s own bipartisan debt commission and repeated outcries from the American people, the Obama administration now wants to pile another $1.2 trillion of debt onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.
“Time and again, House Republicans have brought forth real solutions to address our fiscal crisis only to be met with empty chairs at the negotiating table because of the president’s refusal to step up and lead on the single, greatest threat to our country’s future. While the president and Senate Democrats hit the campaign trail with divisive rhetoric and more empty promises, House Republicans will remain in Washington working on solutions to balance the budget and pay down the debt.”
>Teachers do not seem to realize how rough things are for so many of the people who pay the taxes that fund their position.
We have a small biz with a few employees– less than we used to sadly.
I would be happy to have a job that paid $35 an hour for 40 hours, even if a condition of having it was to work another 20 or 30 hours each week for FREE.
Most self-employed people and small biz owners routinely work many hours for free- it’s necessary. In the current economy, that’s more true than ever.
Paid breaks/vacations etc? I have not had those myself for many years– if I don’t produce, I don’t get paid. And unless we continuously find new clients, projects and ways to cut costs, we can’t stay in business. No one pays us for that time either.
Insurance? This year we had to move to a $5000 deductible plan – we had a lower deduct but the carriers dropped those plans on renewal and/or raised the co-insurance etc after deduct is paid. These are HSA type plans.
Even with that $5K deductible, the premiums for a family are about $1000 a month.
Pension? Well, we still have a profit sharing plan, but past sev. years have not been able to contribute to it. Had to lay off some people too, again no other choice.
We used to be able to partially fund employee HSA accounts as an extra benefit. However a new part of Obamacare is kicking in and the percentage employers can fund such accounts has been reduced. Had to sign a bunch of “attestations” regarding that along with getting the new insurance.
So far, Obamacare has also resulted in premiums going up by much larger percentages than before it was enacted. Even the new $5K plan we had to move to went up 20% over its cost last year per info the brokers gave us.
The teacher/orig. poster doesn’t seem to realize how rough things are for so many of the people who pay the taxes that fund their position.
Tell me where to show up to get the gig the teacher has, I have an advanced degree too and so does one of our employees. What the orig. poster calls “draconian” seems pretty good to me.
