>51% See Occupy Wall Street Protesters As Public Nuisance
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Enough is enough as far as most voters are concerned when it comes to the Occupy Wall Street protesters. In fact, 51% of Likely U.S. Voters now view the protesters as a public nuisance. Only 39% see them as a valid protest movement representing the frustrations of most Americans,
>Crisis : Payouts for unused sick days
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood – total obligation, $7,203,566.23; obligation per taxpayer, $861.41
(RIDGEWOOD-NJ) The Ridgewood blog to a look to see how we got here and how this problem can be fixed. The sick time is a contractual obligation . The contract can not be opened unless both parties agree and you know that’s not going to happen. I would suspect that when these contract run out the sick time with be brought into negations. This nothing new it has been in the contract for over 30 years.
Back in the day when a police officer only got paid $11,000. 00 per year it was a nice added perk. Even though the pay was low most public sector jobs were prized for the steady work ,,pension ,healthcare and benefits .But now when police are now earning in excess of $100,000 it has become a very different story and unsustainable. .
The story gets worse because the good cops who show up every day build up a ton of unused sick days . Unfortunately their conscientious work ethic is rewarded by only getting payed out a potion of there unused days when they retire .However the guys who use their sick days up regularly could often still qualify for a nice payout if they played their cards right .
Worse still is the officer who started out making $11,000 per years 30 years ago are now getting paid over $200,000 a year and when they retire the sick days are payed out not at the $11,000 a year rate or prorated but at the $200,000 a year rate.
So the guys who shows up everyday get punished ,but if you force everyone to use there sick days you end up raking up a lot of expensive over time.
It will be very difficult going back and take away this perk and it is no secret the Ridgewood blog is no fan of public service unions , but we do think the Village should live up to its promised obligations. The simple answer is to reset new hires by continuing to push down starting salaries and perks .Moving forward look for some opportunities to buyout some older expensive contracts. In this way the Village can deliver on its promises and new hires will get accustomed to less generous packages.
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Undercover Operation Results In Charges Against 12 Allegedly Unlicensed Contractors
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
NEWARK – The staging place for the undercover operation was a four bedroom, three bathroom Cape Cod-style dwelling that, like many homes in its Lyndhurst neighborhood, suffered extensive structural and mold damage as a result of floodwaters caused by Tropical Storm Irene. The home served as the base for a multi-agency, four-day undercover operation to expose allegedly unregistered home improvement contractors seeking to capitalize on the August 2011 natural disaster that left many homeowners in desperate need of home repair help.
As part of the operation, Division of Consumer Affairs investigators, posing as homeowners, responded to home repair advertisements shortly after the floodwaters receded. The investigators invited a total of 16 contractors to visit the undercover house, examine the damage, and provide repair estimates.
>Heed the warnings at Ridgewood High School footbridge
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood school district reported this week that some students are ignoring signs prohibiting pedestrian traffic on the footbridge that connects Stevens and Stadium fields at Ridgewood High School (RHS).
“This is a serious safety concern,” said RHS Co-Interim Principal Basil Pizzuto in an email to parents.
An engineering report issued in December found deterioration of the bridge’s foundation, and it was shut down until repairs could be made. The bridge has been a topic of discussion at the Board of Education for a number of years, and became an even bigger issue with flooding from the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook caused by major weather events in 2011.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/136791933_Heed_the_warning_signs.html
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Bids for updates to Ridgewood Village Hall are opened
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Officials are moving ahead with plans to improve Village Hall’s ability to withstand extreme weather conditions, taking measures to make the first floor flood resistant and improve operational capacity in the event of a power outage.
The village is currently advertising two separate requests for proposals (RFPs) from outside professionals to examine infrastructural components of Village Hall, which has been plagued by power outages and significant flood damage in the aftermath of two recent storms.
>Market Competition and Consumer Choice Act (S-2664)
Post BY THOMAS BRACKEN
Telecom bill would boost economic climate
by Thomas Bracken, President and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
As we close the books and reflect on 2011, many families and businesses are not doing much better than they were this time last year. The housing market has seen little improvement, unemployment remains high and too many small businesses continue to close their doors.
Yet, I’m struck by the optimism I see every day when talking to business owners and workers about the future. People want, and to some degree need to believe that 2012 will bring a better tomorrow. There is also growing confidence in the Christie administration’s efforts to improve the business climate in New Jersey.
Lawmakers in Trenton say they are focused on getting people back to work and improving the economy. That’s welcome news for me and the members of my Chamber. In order to build a better business environment for companies to grow and prosper the Legislature must enact pro-growth policies that reform how New Jersey treats businesses that invest and operate here.
For example, telecommunications companies like Verizon invest billions of dollars in New Jersey and employ thousands of workers, but thanks to outdated government regulations these companies cannot freely compete for consumer business. The market for communications products and services is dramatically different today than it was even five years ago. Dramatic growth and demand for wireless and Internet technologies have reshaped how we communicate. However, government rules regulating telephone providers have not changed in decades. These outdated rules should be modernized to encourage investment, job growth and innovation.
Our elected officials are considering legislation that can remedy this problem. S. 2664, the Market Competition and Consumer Choice Act, will reform how New Jersey regulates phone and cable providers and update the law for the 21st century. The bill is one very important step lawmakers can take to improve the business climate in New Jersey as we enter 2012.
Earlier this year, the legislation passed the State Assembly with strong bipartisan support on a vote of 66-7. The Senate has been considering the bill for quite some time and it is important that they follow suit and pass this important reform before adjournment.
Legislators only have one voting session day left on the calendar. Opponents’ issues have been addressed with assurances that their concerns will be mitigated. The proposed bill would simply allow telecommunications companies to compete more effectively and be responsive to consumers instead of to the Board of Public Utilities.
Passage of regulatory reform would also be a welcome signal to companies around the country that New Jersey is open for business. That’s good news for everyone on both sides of the aisle, and certainly for New Jersey’s business community. A bill very similar to this one was passed in Indiana in 2006. Consumers in that state were not only protected, as they will be in New Jersey, but within one year, telecommunications companies invested an additional $400 million to build infrastructure and create jobs in that state.
With the clock ticking, it is time to get down to business and enact S. 2664. Let’s kick off the new year right by making long-needed improvements that will enhance the business climate, attract more good paying jobs and keep New Jersey businesses and consumers connected with innovative products and services — all of which will continue the momentum of the Christie administration’s “business friendly” campaign.
>Shrinking labor force explains drop in unemployment
2011 Economic Policy Institute
Last Friday’s release of the Employment Situation report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the economy added 120,000 jobs, dropping the unemployment rate to 8.6 percent. Despite this positive sign, last month’s rate of job growth was still too low to begin healing the labor market. In her analysis of the report, labor economist Heidi Shierholz explained that most of that decline can be explained by the drop in the labor force participation rate from 64.2 percent to 64.0 percent.
“The U.S. is currently 6.3 million jobs below where it was when the recession started. But because the working-age population grows as the population expands, in the nearly four years since the recession started, we would have needed to add around 4.6 million jobs to keep the unemployment rate from rising,” wrote Shierholz.
This means the labor market is lacking roughly 10.9 million jobs.
In this week’s Economic Snapshot, EPI President Lawrence Mishel further explained how the shrinking labor force helped paint a rosier picture of November’s job growth than what the underlying data really show.
https://www.epi.org/news/shrinking-labor-force-explains-drop-unemployment/
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https://www.njtransit.com/hp/hp_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=HomePageTo
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Solar megawatts continue to climb, amid concerns about the health of the sector
>NJ life sciences generate $24.2B
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>Christie calls on Democratic legislators to reduce public employee sick pay and vacation benefits
>Big Sweet JUMBO Cupcake
Happy New Year!!!
Both cupcakes by carousel in Ridgewood and in Englewood, NJ and Carousel Cakes in Nanuet retail outlet are starting out the new year with a big, sweet JUMBO cupcake cake. This JUMBO cupcake will be in stock in 3 flavors chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet cake, or can be special ordered for birthday parties, etc. in custom colors and fillings. The cupcake feeds 14-20 people.
Cupcakes by carousel in Ridgewood
192 E Ridgewood Ave Ridgewood, NJ 07450
(201) 389-3090
After selling 7″ and 10″ cakes wholesale for almost 30 years, we decided that it’s time to branch out from the family bakery business, founded by our father in 1965, and open a sister company, Cupcakes by Carousel in Ridgewood, New Jersey to sell mini-versions of our 7″ and 10″ cake creations.
Carousel Cakes has a long history of making fine desserts; we sell our cakes to more than 700 restaurants in the tri-state area. Local restaurants and gourmet grocers include Zeytinia Fine Food Marketplace in Oakland and Englewood, Aldo & Gianni Ristorante in Montvale, Valentino’s of Park Ridge, the Clinton Inn Hotel in Tenafly. Manhattan customers include Zabar’s, the private Friars Club, EJ’s Luncheonette and the American Museum of Natural History.
Ridgewood is a wonderful town, and we are so happy to be here right next to the movie theater. We offer a full range of cupcakes for kids of all ages. We have mousse-filled cupcakes, baby cakes sold by the dozen and tons of flavors to choose from. Also, traditional frosted cupcakes and those piled high with crumbled cookies or candy. We have cupcake versions of Carousel’s different lines of white, mousse and chocolate cakes and the red velvet cake that made it onto Oprah Winfrey’s “O” list!
Our family warmly welcomes you to our little cupcake shop. Our goal is to bring a big smile to everyone who comes to visit us, and keep you coming for many yummy years to come.
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Ken Smith Lincoln Mercury dealership
Some N.J. dealers see higher sales
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012
BY RICHARD NEWMAN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
* It was a good year for many dealers, but others weren’t so lucky.
New Jersey auto dealers sold an estimated 430,000 new cars and light trucks last year, an increase of 7.5 percent from 2010 and the highest volume since 2007, when the tally was 490,000, a statewide trade group said Wednesday.
The second straight year of improved sales was driven by pent-up demand, greater accessibility to credit and stronger consumer confidence, said James Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers. Sales had bottomed out in 2009 at 340,000.
“People don’t feel as though we’re back, but maybe they are a little tired of wearing sackcloth and ashes,” Appleton said.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/136688928_Some_N_J__dealers_see_higher_sales.html
>Ridgewood to remove abandoned bikes
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 4, 2012, 2:55 PM
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood officials are planning a removal and collection program in the near future to address the issue of abandoned bicycles tying up racks throughout the village, particularly near the train station.
According to Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser, some bicycles left attached to these racks have not been moved for months and display signs of long-term abandonment. Several show significant rusting on the frames, and many have toppled over, taking up more space.
Since the abandoned cycles still occupy rack space, they present a problem for active commuters who have increasingly less space to safely chain their bicycles, according to Rutishauser.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/136682148_Ridgewood_to_remove_abandoned_bikes_.html
