Shelly Kennedy will speak on the dangers of Agenda 21 and the Redevelopment Plan and the Foreclosure Act
NJTPC General Meeting- May 15, 2012 -(Tuesday) – 7:00 PM
124 Essex Street, Rochelle Park, NJ – Harley Davidson Building
Rochelle Park, NJ, Agenda 21 issue has been on the forefront since last year and on Tuesday night NJTPC will feature a very special guest speaker, Shelly Kennedy.
Shelly Kennedy is a local NJ activist, and our resident “go to informed person” for Agenda 21matters . She is a member of the NJ Tea Party Caucus and works to inform and advise on the dangers of Agenda 21.
Shelly has been a recent guest speaker on the Tea Time cable show. She will be discussing how the Redevelopment Plan and the Foreclosure Act converge to enforce mandates on your individual towns and how it may affect your home residence as an asset. She will answer your questions and explain what you can do to avert Agenda 21 and its attacks on private property
Fort Lee cracks down on jaywalking after 3 deaths
May 11,2011
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ The Fort Lee Police are cracking down on jaywalking, steering pedestrians into the crosswalks or pay a significant fines.
Tickets for jaywalking in Fort Lee are $85 . According to police the idea is to save live lives . Police Chief Thomas Ripoli told the Bergen Record newspaper more than 20 pedestrians have been struck in the town this year. Three people have been killed. I am not sure of the numbers but I am sure the numbers in Ridgewood are significantly higher .
The Fort Lee Police have stopped 575 jaywalkers since the beginning of the year and issued 117 tickets since mid-March. Capt. Keith Bendul tells the Record that the police are also targeting motorists who do not stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, as required by law.
Ridgewood Native Julian Lynch Recognized as 2012 Scott Kloeck-Jenson Fellow
Global Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has awarded Julian Lynch a Scott Kloeck-Jenson Fellowship in support of his graduate work in Anthropology and Ethnomusicology, specifically on the role of festivals and music in India and their place within narratives of social change. Lynch, from Ridgewood, NJ, is recognized for his work that deepens international understanding and promotes global social justice. More information on Lynch, along with each of the other five fellows and their individual projects, can be found at https://global.wisc.edu/skj/fellows/.
The work of this year’s fellows embodies the Wisconsin Idea, the belief that education should influence and improve the lives of people beyond the university classroom. Scott Kloeck-Jenson, after whom this award is named, lived his life by this principle.
This year’s fellows again represent a broad range of country interests and disciplinary approaches. In addition to Lynch, the following graduate students will conduct research & internships in memory of Scott and his legacy:
• David Bresnahan, a doctoral student in African history, whose current research interests focus on pre-colonial coastal East Africa.
• Erin Kitchell, a master’s student in geography, whose academic interests include land-use planning in pastoral zones, local responses to climate risk in the Sahel, and the role of social learning in decision-making about environmental issues.
• Vijay Limaye, a joint Ph.D. student in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Department of Population Health Sciences, who will be working as an intern at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi, India, exploring the health consequences of ambient air pollution (particulate matter and ozone), a growing problem in many Indian cities.
• Nancy Rydberg, a doctoral candidate pursuing a joint degree in Educational Policy Studies and Development Studies, whose current research focuses on how war, forced migration, displacement and war-related poverty relate to gendered changes in the material and social circumstances of communities living in northern Uganda.
• Bethany Wilinski, a doctoral student pursuing a joint degree in Educational Policy Studies and Curriculum and Instruction, who this summer will work as an intern for USAID in Ethiopia, assisting with an education project focused on facilitating home-school connections for children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.
In its 12th year, the Scott Kloeck-Jenson Fellowship and Global Studies have provided 102 students with travel to more than 50 countries to pursue work and research on peace and social justice issues. Scott was completing doctoral work on rural poverty in Mozambique province of Zambezia with his family on a Fulbright scholarship. There, he was also the field director for the Land Tenure Center’s Mozambique project. He was due to return to the U.S. in January 2000 to complete his dissertation with UW–Madison but, tragically, on June 23, 1999, Scott, his wife, Barbara, and their two children, Zoe and Noah, were killed in a car accident in South Africa.
I do wish them well. Wishing they will be successful in all (or even some) of the pledges they made as candidates is wishing a positive outcome for all in town , isn’t it?
I also expect them to hold true to those promises and if they do not, then we all need to stay on them to do the things they pledged, which is what put them in office.
The hard reality though is that we have been running an unsustainable model here for a long time now, and it’s time to change that and focus on getting the basics fixed like infrastructure that is falling apart all over town.
The current VC (and BOE) found “magic money” for lightning detection systems and all kinds of other things that — while perhaps are nice to have if you have unlimited bucks – are not nearly as impt to me as having decent streets, curbs, working storm drains, sewers and other “mundane” stuff. Though maybe not as sexy as all the extras, that stuff affects nearly everyone in town every day. Yet those things have been badly neglected for years — and all the while money was found for all kinds of other projects.
Meanwhile, taxes go up-up-up, money is also found for retro raises and bonuses, and yet there’s never any money to fix the basics. I really hope the new group will give some long needed attention to that.
Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO
By Danielle Kucera, Sanat Vallikappen and Christine Harper – May 11, 2012 12:10 PM ET
Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire co- founder of Facebook Inc. (FB), renounced his U.S. citizenship before an initial public offering that values the social network at as much as $96 billion, a move that may reduce his tax bill.
Facebook plans to raise as much as $11.8 billion through the IPO, the biggest in history for an Internet company. Saverin’s stake is about 4 percent, according to the website Who Owns Facebook. At the high end of the IPO valuation, that would be worth about $3.84 billion. His holdings aren’t listed in Facebook’s regulatory filings.
Saverin, 30, joins a growing number of people giving up U.S. citizenship, a move that can trim their tax liabilities in that country. The Brazilian-born resident of Singapore is one of several people who helped Mark Zuckerberg start Facebook in a Harvard University dorm and stand to reap billions of dollars after the world’s largest social network holds its IPO.
Water Main Break – Godwin & West Side Avenues
Boyd A. Loving
May 11 ,2012
1:04 PM
Ridgewood, NJ Construction crews working on a gas main replacement project for PSE&G struck a water main this morning at the intersection of Godwin and West Side Avenues.
Personnel from Ridgewood Water arrived at the scene within 30 minutes to repair the break.
Ridgewood PD officers directed traffic, and Ridgewood FD personnel stood by to assist in the event escaping water made its way into any nearby homes.
Restaurant review: Village Green in Ridgewood
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2012
By ELISA UNG
RESTAURANT REVIEWER
The dishes at Village Green look so striking that it’s almost a shame to eat them. Almost.They are constructed with such care and precision, it’s as if the ingredients were precious jewels. Thick chunks of crabmeat drape over delicate wontons; long, crisp-skinned gnocchi nestles in with pine nuts and cubes of butternut squash. Chambord pastry cream smothers layers of puff pastry.
I first awarded three stars to Village Green in 2008, and am now cheering on its evolution under chef Kevin Portscher, who purchased the restaurant last summer. The Culinary Institute of America graduate’s résumé includes five years in one of the most prestigious kitchen jobs in Ridgewood – chef de cuisine at Latour.
New Jersey lawmakers can be stunningly tone-deaf when it comes to ethical missteps
New Jersey lawmakers can be stunningly tone-deaf when it comes to understanding how their actions appear to the public. Or maybe they just don’t care.
Consider, for instance, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, the Democratic state party chairman who always seems willing to dismiss this or that outrage in Trenton as “the way things get done.” According to PolitickerNJ, late last year, Wisniewski was one of three co-sponsors of a bill that would have exempted Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus from new caps on excessive charges for outpatient procedures related to auto insurers’ personal-injury protection policies. (Courier News)
Some sour notes as arts education tries to strike balance in schools
A new report on the state of arts education in New Jersey reflects the quandary of how to strike a balance between the recognized needs for music and the visual arts with the financial and testing realities that public schools face.
While the report paints a picture of how schools are coping with that balance, the news was not all rosy, with fewer students — and teachers – in art classes. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Residents are misguided if they think Paul Aronsohn is a layup for Mayor
The election is over and two new faces have emerged on the Village Council. What makes you all think they are going to bow down and kiss the feet of Paul Aronsohn?
Al Pucciarelli has been a valued member of both the zoning and planning boards for years. He’s had more than an admirable career as an attorney. He has sound judgment and pledged to the residents to be fair and impartial. He will hardly vote lock step with anyone.
Gwenn Hauck has lived here her entire life. She’s volunteered her time graciously and has never been involved in mudslinging.
I’ve been privy to the scores of emails by Ridgewood council wannabes who have indicated that “Paul will lead them” on the right path. Their only job moving forward is to make good on all the campaign promises they made as individuals. Not on what Paul Aronsohn wants or demands.
Postal Service loses $3.2 billion in Jan-March
By Emily Stephenson
WASHINGTON | Thu May 10, 2012 4:38pm EDT
(Reuters) – The Postal Service said its loss widened to $3.2 billion in the first three months of 2012 and repeated on Thursday its warning that it will likely default on payments to the federal government unless Congress passes legislation offering some relief.
The agency, which does not receive taxpayer funds and has been losing billions each year as Americans communicate online, said it lost $2.2 billion in the same period in 2011.
Postal officials are pressing Congress to pass legislation that would allow the agency to move forward with its five-year business plan, including ending Saturday mail delivery. In the meantime, they have sought ways to cut costs.
The announcement came a day after the cash-strapped mail service said it was walking back a plan to close thousands of money-losing post offices and would instead slash operating hours at 13,000 locations with low traffic.
THURSDAY MAY 10, 2012, 2:58 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Paul Aronsohn’s decision to align with two newcomers ruffled some feathers last week, but 66 percent of Ridgewood’s voters thought it was not necessarily a bad thing.
The incumbent easily won another four-year term on the governing body, carrying an election-high 2,479 votes. The electorate also gave nods to first-time candidates Albert Pucciarelli (2,078) and Gwenn Hauck (1,727), both of whom earned Aronsohn’s personal endorsement at a candidates’ forum earlier this month.
By the end of Election Day, Hauck had outgained Mayor Keith Killion by 16 votes for the third vacant council seat, but nine provisional ballots were not included in the total tally. Village Clerk Heather Mailander said the Bergen County Board of Elections has until Wednesday, May 16 to verify all the provisional ballots and absentee votes.
Attempted luring of two eight year old girls in Old Tappan
May 11, 2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
( Ridgewood NJ) In a letter dated May 10 2012 Superintendent of School Daniel Fishbien reported that the district had received notice of an attempted luring of two eight year old girls in front of their elementary school in Old Tappan .
The Tappan police are seeking for questioning a tan Caucasian male or possible a dark-skinned Hispanic male in his late 30’s early 40’s driving a dark colored or possible black sedan with Jersey license plates .
Dr. Fishbien went on to emphasize that at this time no similar incidents have been reported in Ridgewood . To steal a phase if you see something say something by calling the Ridgewood Police at 911 or (201)652-3900 and encourage your children to do the same .
Anyone who has had a serious illness or injury is familiar with the dizzying array of medical bills that seem impossible to decipher, replete with codes and charges that are supposed to explain financial liabilities, deductibles, in-network charges, out-of-network fees, and the like. How is a layman expected to figure out what’s really owed, what costs could have been avoided by using in-network care, and whether or not there have been overcharges.
A bill aimed at addressing this problem will be up for discussion today in the legislature. Called the Healthcare Disclosure and Transparency Act, it requires patients to be made aware of potential financial liabilities, before they decide to seek out-of-network care. (Fitzgerald, NJ Spotlight)
Pushing patients from ER to primary care could save $400M in N.J.
More than $400 million could be saved in New Jersey each year by treating nonemergency primary-care ailments in a doctor’s office or medical center, instead of a hospital ER, according to a report released today by the New Jersey Hospital Association.
In the study, funded by a $4.8 million grant from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the NJHA, the state Department of Human Services and the New Jersey Primary Care Association examined the use of emergency departments in Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Monmouth Medical Center from September 2008 to April 2011. (Eder, NJBIZ)
