NJ education committee postpones Hearings on teacher tenure reform
The drama over a teacher tenure reform in New Jersey continues to twist and turn, as legislators jockey for position and Gov. Chris Christie makes clear his opinion, if not his precise intentions.
Much of the latest guessing arose this week with the sudden postponement of education committee meetings on Monday in both the Senate and Assembly. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Senate Committee to consider 17 Superior Court judges for nomination
Senate Democrats and Gov. Chris Christie have headed off a fight that could have made the shortage of Superior Court judges in Essex County even worse.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday will consider 17 Superior Court judges for renomination, including three from Essex County. The full Senate will then take the nominations up next Thursday. (Friedman, The Star-Ledger)
https://www.nj.com/news/index.
New Jersey April Tax revenue collections 5.3% below budget goals
New Jersey’s April revenue was 5.3 percent below Governor Chris Christie’s targets as income and business taxes fell short, leaving collections $230 million behind forecasts for the first 10 months of this fiscal year.
The state collected $3.26 billion last month, less than its projection of $3.44 billion. Income taxes were 2.8 percent less than forecast and corporate levies were 22.1 percent under budget, Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said in a statement. (Servetah and Dopp, Bloomberg)
Jersey youth coach is charged with assault at Yankees game
Published: Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 12:24 AM
Friday night at Yankee Stadium, a New Jersey youth pitching instructor and his brother were charged with assaulting a retired FDNY lieutenant.
Keith Stamler, 32, who grew up in Vernon and was drafted by the Texas Rangers, and his brother, Brad, 34, allegedly threw to the ground former firefighter Richard Kelly, 46, hitting his head against the concrete and then continuing to hit and kick him.
Kelly was with his two sons, ages 13 and 16, his friend Bill Spade and Spade’s two sons, ages 10 and 17.
Keith Stamler is the general manager of ProPlayer, a year-round baseball school in Hawthorne. He recently threw out the first pitch at Ridgewood’s Baseball & Softball Association’s opening day
https://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2012/05/jersey_youth_coach_is_charged.html
23rd Annual Community Hymn Festival at West Side Presbyterian Church
Many Local Choirs Will Participate
Multiple Choirs Set for Annual Community Hymn Festival On Sunday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m., choirs from multiple Bergen County churches of all denominations will participate in the 23rd Annual Community Hymn Festival at Ridgewood’s West Side Presbyterian Church. The ecumenical event is open to the public.
Co-sponsored by the John R. Rodland Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Northern NJ Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, over $150,000 has been awarded in scholarships to future Church musicians. Rodland Scholarships are the largest such awards to Church Music majors in the nation, funded by a fall campaign and free-will offerings at the festival. This year’s winner of a $9,000 first prize is Christopher Gaza, a Masters of Music candidate at University of Oklahoma. Ganza will perform at the festival. “Songs, Hymns and Spiritual Songs through the Ages” is the theme of this year’s festival. Organists and choir directors from the various participating churches will direct or play for the over-80-voice choir, hand-bell choir, and brass ensemble. Great hymns of the Church, as well as anthems such as H. Parry’s I Was Glad When They Said Unto Me (sung at the Royal Wedding last fall), and V. Thompson’s My Shepherd Will Supply My Need will be featured. Singers are invited to join the chorus at the only rehearsal on Tuesday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. Music will be provided. The church is at 6 S. Monroe St., corner of W. Ridgewood Ave.
A Censored Race War :The media ignore racially motivated black-on-white crime.
By Thomas Sowell
When two white newspaper reporters for the Virginian-Pilot were driving through Norfolk, and were set upon and beaten by a mob of young blacks — beaten so badly that they had to take a week off from work — that might sound like news that should have been reported, at least by their own newspaper. But it wasn’t.
The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel was the first major television program to report this incident. Yet this story is not just a Norfolk story, either in what happened or in how the media and the authorities have tried to sweep it under the rug.
Similar episodes of unprovoked violence by young black gangs against white people chosen at random on beaches, in shopping malls, or in other public places have occurred in Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Los Angeles, and other places across the country. Both the authorities and the media tend to try to sweep these episodes under the rug.
https://www.nationalreview.com/articles/299918/censored-race-war-thomas-sowell#
Court strikes down NLRB rule to speed up union elections
By Kevin Bogardus – 05/14/12 06:39 PM ET
A federal judge ruled Monday that a contentious union election rule proposed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is “invalid.”
In an 18-page memorandum opinion, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg struck the regulation down, saying the labor board only had two members when it voted on the final rule in December 2011. Boasberg said the agency needed at least three members to have a quorum for action on the rule.
“According to Woody Allen, 80 percent of life is just showing up. When it comes to satisfying a quorum requirement, though, showing up is even more important than that. Indeed, it is the only thing that matters — even when the quorum is constituted electronically. In this case, because no quorum ever existed for the pivotal vote in question, the Court must hold that the challenged rule is invalid,” Boasberg wrote.
https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/227327-federal-court-strikes-down-nlrbs-union-election-rule
The Freedom Of The U.S. Capital Markets Is Under Attack
By REP. SCOTT GARRETT Posted 05/14/2012 06:14 PM ET
Are you fed up with our lackluster recovery and stubbornly high unemployment? Do you wonder why, three years after we officially pulled out of the Great Recession, we still haven’t hit our economic stride? Look no further than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The reason economic growth is stuck in neutral is because the Obama administration is determined to regulate risk out of our capital markets. Put another way, President Obama believes that state-controlled capitalism is the best path to economic prosperity.
As a free-market capitalist, I couldn’t disagree more with President Obama’s vision for America’s economy. I believe that market-driven capitalism fueled by free ideas, free people and the freedom to take risk is what creates economic prosperity.
Robust economic growth requires healthy and dynamic capital markets, the ability to access credit and some good old-fashioned competition. In the past, policies mindful of basic economics allowed our capital markets to become the deepest and most liquid in the world.
In fact, our capital markets became the envy of the world specifically because government got out of the way so that they could flourish and grow.
Unfortunately, the story has changed dramatically over the last few years. Because of laws like Dodd-Frank and the tidal wave of regulations that are drowning our capital markets, pools of private capital have dried up, jobs creation has been placed on life support, and the global supremacy of our capital markets is now in jeopardy.
https://news.investors.com/article/611359/201205141814/capital-markets-need-freedom-to-take-risks.htm
File Photo by Boyd Loving
Ridgewood its Reorg time
May 15,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
The election is over and its time for the reorg, Reorganization as it is called will be held at the council meeting on July 1, the two new council members Albert Pucciarelli, Gwenn Hauck will join Paul Aronsohn , Bernadette Walsh and Tom Riche to select a new mayor for a two year term.
Contrary to popular belief the popular vote during elections makes no difference in picking a mayor. .In 2010 Councilwoman Walsh, took home the most votes and was passed over for a more experience Kieth Killion. It all comes down to a simple process ,after the new members are sworn in, nominations for mayor are submitted. The individual with most total votes among the five is then appointed and sworn in as the new mayor.
The Patch has reported the sources have said Aronsohn has support of running mates Gwenn Hauck and Albert Pucciarelli, and would have enough votes to take over the their words “largely figurehead role”. We have also heard that both Bernadette Walsh and Tom Riche, elected in 2010, have expressed also interest in the position. Riche is currently the deputy mayor and comes to the council with a lot of experience .While many witnessed Paul Aronsohn standup up in front of the whole town and say he couldn’t work with Keith ,Tom,Steve or Bernie, this in our and many peoples eyes rules him out as mayor .
Ridgewood still uses a mayor-council system based on the Faulkner Act. The mayor presides over the council meetings.,but has no veto power over decisions. His or her vote counts just like any other councilperson. However the mayor is the public face of the village, attending Village functions meeting with respective counterparts and of coarse other politicians. The mayor also presides over the council meetings.
This is again where many people have a serious problem with the two new council members for their strings attached affiliation to Valley Hospital and of councilmen Aronsohn for his deep connection to the state Democratic party and partisan out look in a non partisan town.
file photo by Boyd Loving
900 American Flags to be Placed at Valleau Cemetary – May 19th
American Legion Post 53 will be placing 900 American Flags on veteran grave-sites in Valleau Cemetery on Saturday, May 19th at 9AM. The public is invited to assist in this project. Further information – 201/445-5742
Valley Hospital : Any expansion plan MUST include some sort of PILOT (payment in lieu of property taxes)
Valley has a right to modernize, and if that requires some expansion, so be it. Its obvious that their original plan was too large. There has to be some sort of reasonable ‘middle ground here’ and hopefully a compromise will be reached.
Any expansion plan MUST include some sort of PILOT (payment in lieu of property taxes) . I’m a supporter of Valley but judging by the salaries their CEO received, and the amount of $$ doctors make (while some do not accept insurance) the ‘non-profit’ status slips past the definition.
A Pilot program must be agreed to by Valley. You can not force them into it. If they had any sense of community the would have entered in to a pilot program a long time ago. When you talk about middle ground have you ever seen Valley hospital seek any middle ground? Now with at least two of their supporters on the council and who knows if there are any other that are going to join the Dog and Pony show that hospital is going to put on. Who is going to keep tabs on Valley ‘non- prof’ status?
Because we know they are so forth coming with information. We all know how these hearing are going to go. Valley will take a few 100 sq ft off of here and a few 100 sq ft off over there and the council will proclaim that they have achieved ( reasonable middle ground) by their mediation and slap themselves on the back.
N.J. effort to reduce regulations hurt by lack of construction
While the Gov. Chris Christie administration has made overturning a decade’s worth of strict regulatory policies a top priority for the state, business owners won’t recognize the improvements until construction picks up, an economist said.
“Old perceptions die very hard, even if attempts have been made to improve the state’s tax climate and regulatory environment,” said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. “If a company was looking to add a new facility, and it has had to deal with a strict regulatory environment in the past, the CEOs still have that perception in their mind now.” (Eder, NJBIZ)
NJ Senate panel approves bill changing requirements for workers to collect disability pensions
A Senate committee on Monday cleared a bill that would change the requirements for employees seeking to collect a disability pension, despite opposition from union officials.
The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee approved the bill, designed to combat abuse of the state’s retirement systems and sponsored by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, in a 4-0-1 vote. Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, abstained, saying she wanted to bring all the interested parties together to work through the concerns raised during the hearing. (Hayes, The Record)
https://www.northjersey.com/
Revenue figures Tuesday could affect Christie tax cut plans
Governor Christie’s “Jersey Comeback” budget and his signature income tax face a major test Tuesday: a revenue report for the most crucial month of the year which pits actual tax receipts against budget projections.
Poor tax collections for the month – the news many in Trenton expect to hear – could force Christie to cut spending now to balance the current budget. And low revenues could also make it harder for Christie, a Republican, to pitch the income tax cut featured in his new budget and to convince the Democrats who control both houses of the Legislature that now is the right time to cut taxes. (Reitmeyer and Fletcher, The Record)
N.J. Treasury delays release of April revenue figures without explanation
A joint news conference between Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney wasn’t the only thing that didn’t go off as scheduled today in Trenton.
The state’s Treasury Department failed to release April revenue figures as expected. The department declined to explain the delay.
April is a critical month in the budget cycle where the state receives the bulk of its income tax collections. (Renshaw, The Star-Ledger)
https://www.nj.com/news/index.
