>SCHOOLS CLOSED ON MONDAY, JANUARY 16 FOR MLK DAY: COMMUNITY OBSERVANCE IS AT 10 A.M.
The Ridgewood Public Schools will be closed on Monday, January 16 in observance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Ridgewood community will celebrate Dr. King’s birthday with an interfaith service at 10 a.m. at the Ridgewood United Methodist Church, 100 Dayton Street. This year’s theme is “The Power of One, the Strength of Many.”
>Ridgewood News editorial: Teachers should attend charity basketball game
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2012
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Education Association’s decision to pull teachers from a charity basketball game was a disappointing turn in contract negotiations with the school district.
Information from the contract negotiations is not made available to the press, but we can ascertain from the REA’s decision that they are not going well.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/137235708_Playing_games.html
>Ridgewood Water to replace five vehicles
Thursday January 12, 2012, 4:10 PM
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Ridgewood Water will receive about $150,000 in funding to pay for new operations vehicles to replace defunct or damaged ones.
The Village Council voted in favor of a resolution Wednesday night granting contracts to two New Jersey car dealerships to provide five new vehicles to replace current models that Ridgewood Water officials say are worn down from use.
The contracts provide for three 2012 Ford Transit Connect XL vans, a Ford F250 pick-up and a rack truck, according to Director of Operations Frank Moritz.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/137205973_Five_Ridgewood_Water_vehicles_will_be_replaced_.html
>PSE&G Warns Customers About Payment Scam
Individuals in Hispanic Neighborhoods Targeted
(January 12, 2012 – Newark, NJ) – PSE&G is alerting its customers not to be defrauded by a scam in which individuals misrepresenting themselves as PSE&G employees threaten to turn off electric and gas service if payment is not made to them that day.
The scam involves payments using Green Dot MoneyPaks and seems to be targeting Hispanic neighborhoods in PSE&G’s service territory. As noted on the MoneyPak packaging and on the company’s Web site (www.moneypak.com), to protect themselves from fraud, consumers should treat the MoneyPak like cash and only use the MoneyPak number with businesses on their approved partner list.
Here is how the scam works:
• A Spanish-speaking individual pretending to be a PSE&G employee calls customers saying they “work for PSE&G in the disconnect collection department.”
• They tell customers their account is in arrears and their utility service will be discontinued unless they make a payment using a prepaid debit card.
• Customers are told to purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak at any convenience store, use cash to put money onto the card, and then provide the number on the card to the person who called them.
• Customers are advised that if they do not immediately call back and provide the MoneyPak information, their service will be turned off that day.
• Typically, after the customer provides that MoneyPak number, the scammer transfers the funds to a prepaid card, and cashes it in at an ATM.
What to do if you get a call
When PSE&G makes an outbound phone call to customers, the caller ID will identify the call as coming from PSE&G and customer-specific information is shared with the customer. If customers do not receive the correct pieces of information, they likely are not speaking with a PSE&G representative. If customers feel uncomfortable and they know they have an outstanding balance that needs to be resolved, they should hang up and call PSE&G directly at 1-800-436-7734 or visit a local PSE&G Customer Service Center. Service Centers are open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM with locations listed on customer bills and online at: https://www.pseg.com/centers
Any customer who has doubts about the legitimacy of any call from PSE&G, especially one in which payment is requested, should call the utility directly.
PSE&G is working with law enforcement to investigate the matter and is also reaching out to its contacts at local community service agencies asking them to spread the word to their clients.
The Better Business Bureau also is warning customers to be on guard for a rising tide of scams involving MoneyPaks, which can be used to fund PayPal accounts and to pay phone, cable or other utility bills, or credit card bills.
>BREAKING : Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce Rejects Paul Arohnson Endorsement
Councilman Paul Arohnson, Village Liaison with the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce, lobbies Chamber seeking political re-election endorsement over other Councilmen despite ethics rules forbidding political endorsements.
Ed Sullivan led the charge to have the Chamber back Paul. After Following heated discussions; Chamber declined the request due to several obvious conflicts with Mr. Arohnson being the Village Liaison with the Chamber, the Chamber’s need to remain a non-political and business centric body, the Chamber’s charter rules forbidding endorsements and controversies of this type and vocal dissatisfaction with Mr. Arohnson’s performance as Liaison.
Several of the Chamber are now reportedly seeking to replace Mr. Arohnson as Liaison who is viewed by many as a failed career politician; insensitive to the needs of local residents and businesses.
>Comparing Ridgewood High School to other high schools in the area is just wrong. RHS should always be looking to the top HS in the country to continue giving our students the best education
Rethinking Advanced Placement
THE NEW A.P. Caroline Brown, an A.P. student at the Bancroft School in Worcester, Mass.
By CHRISTOPHER DREW
Published: January 7, 2011
WHEN Joan Carlson started teaching high school biology more than 30 years ago, the Advanced Placement textbook was daunting enough, at 36 chapters and 870 pages. But as an explosion of research into cells and genes reshapes our sense of how life evolves, the flood of new material has been staggering. Mrs. Carlson’s A.P. class in Worcester, Mass., now confronts a book with 56 chapters and 1,400 pages, along with a profusion of animated videos and Web-based aids that supplement the text.
And what fuels the panic is that nearly every tongue-twisting term and microscopic fact is fair game for the year-end test that decides who will receive college credit for the course.
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09ap-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
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>December U.S. Budget Deficit Wider Than Expected
Published January 12, 2012
Reuters
The monthly U.S. budget deficit climbed to $85.97 billion during December from $78.13 billion in the same month a year earlier, partly because some payments normally made in January were shifted to December, the Treasury Department said on Thursday.
Outlays rose to $325.93 billion from $315.01 billion in December 2010. Among the payment shifts to December was about $4 billion in military retirement pay that was sent early because Jan. 1 fell on a Sunday.
Read more: https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/2012/01/12/december-us-budget-deficit-wider-than-expected/#ixzz1jH7hLCQQ
>Law to let wineries ship to N.J. homes
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>Hazy Days
Real Estate’s Alex Bleeker talks about the new record, day jobs and high school bands
BY DAN BOLLES [01.11.12]
Last year, New Jersey’s Real Estate followed up their stirring self-titled debut album with Days, a release widely acknowledged as one of the year’s finest by music scribes across the country — including those at Pitchfork, which rated the breezy indie rock record among its top ten albums of 2011. That first record conjured sepia-toned images of sun-dappled seaside days and childhood innocence. Similarly, Real Estate’s latest, full of nostalgia for growing up in an American suburb, feels like the musical equivalent of a faded Polaroid.
>Addicted! Scientists show how internet dependency alters the human brain
JEREMY LAURANCE THURSDAY 12 JANUARY 2012
Internet addiction has for the first time been linked with changes in the brain similar to those seen in people addicted to alcohol, cocaine and cannabis. In a groundbreaking study, researchers used MRI scanners to reveal abnormalities in the brains of adolescents who spent many hours on the internet, to the detriment of their social and personal lives. The finding could throw light on other behavioural problems and lead to the development of new approaches to treatment, researchers said.
An estimated 5 to 10 per cent of internet users are thought to be addicted – meaning they are unable to control their use. The majority are games players who become so absorbed in the activity they go without food or drink for long periods and their education, work and relationships suffer.
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Ridgewood teachers won’t join in charity event, citing stalled contract
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2012
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood teachers, citing stalled contract negotiations, have elected not to participate in the district’s annual charity basketball game against the Harlem Wizards.
In an e-mail to the Federated Home and School Association (HSA) and obtained by The Ridgewood News, Ridgewood Education Association (REA) Chief Negotiator Laura Grasso confirmed that the teachers’ union would be abstaining from the sporting event, which normally pits Ridgewood teachers against the comedic basketball ensemble.
“The decision not to participate is a difficult one, but our teachers have been working without a contract since September and evening events are ones that we find at this time are going to be removed until a contract is settled,” she wrote.
Grasso added that the REA will contribute $500 toward the event, which is hosted by the Federated HSA each year.
>School Districts Oppose Anti-Bullying Law as an Unfunded Mandate
Rutgers’ coalition of concerned students joins with state to oppose challenge
By John Mooney, January 12, 2012 in Education
A small Warren County school district’s legal challenge to the state’s controversial anti-bullying law – or at least the cost of it – has drawn supporters and opponents to its argument, including a notable group of Rutgers students who take a “special interest” in the case.
Allamuchy’s challenge before the state’s Council on Local Mandates argues that the anti-bullying law enacted last year has amounted to an unfunded and therefore unconstitutional mandate, given all its requirements for training staff and investigating and addressing complaints.
The little-known council, established in 1996 to hear local complaints about unfunded mandates, is to hear arguments on January 27 in Trenton. Its decision is binding, with no avenue for appeal.
As expected, a few other school districts — including Ridgewood — have joined the case in making the arguments that the law has become an administrative burden.
>Taxpayer funded health insurance costs for elected officials vary
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012
BY KELLY NICHOLAIDES
STAFF WRITER
SOUTH BERGENITE
Municipal elected officials in the South Bergenite coverage area receive salary and benefits for part-time work, but not all of them choose to do so, saving taxpayers money, according to a poll taken of each town for sitting council members and mayors in 2011.
Council members who vowed not to take benefits last year have kept their word. The rest of the elected officials listed who took borough or township paid salaries and benefits in 2011 also took them in 2010. The South Bergenite’s analysis comes on the heels of Bergen County Executive Kathe Donovan vetoing meeting minutes of the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority last year, preventing the nine part-time commissioners from giving themselves health benefits.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/137160338_Council_members_still_opt_for_benefits.html
