Month: July 2012

Ridgewood 9-10 Little League valiant in State Final Four
FRIDAY JULY 27, 2012, 1:11 PM
BY RON FOX
CORRESPONDENT
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

GLASSBORO — Reflecting on the Ridgewood 9-10 Little League team’s trip to the State Final Four, manager Matt Sullivan had nothing but positives to deliver.

The Ridgewood 9-10 Little League team won the Skills Competition at the New Jersey State Final Four. FRONT ROW, from left: Jack Wittmaack, Michael Lia, Peyton Mikita, Luke Notaro, Matt Crawford and Brian Skettini. MIDDLE ROW, from left: Big Ben Reinke, Cameron Blair, DJ Sullivan, Matt Favieri and Will Calandra. BACK ROW, from left: coach Doug Calandra, manager Matt Sullivan and coach Bob Mikita.
“There’s a learning curve, and this was a really positive experience,” Sullivan said after his team was eliminated. “We went so far, and now the kids realize the potential that they have.”

He knew there would be a period of adjustment playing at such an elite level, and his kids adjusted extremely well.

“It’s going into the unknown,” he said. “You expect to see Andy Pettitte on the mound, but then the kids saw that the pitchers were kids like them and that every pitcher they faced, they hit hard.”

Ridgewood won the opening game in the double-elimination tournament with a potent attack, 11-3, over Elmora. They then lost the next two and it was over. Yet the team did not go down without a fight.

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/163975456.html

Ridgewood Farmers market

Drought spells trouble for U.S. farms, but may present advantage for N.J. growers

While a drought in the nation’s breadbasket has driven down crop supply and pushed up food prices for consumers, New Jersey’s slightly improved climate has yielded more crops in the state, and allowed local farmers selling on the national market to bring in more money, according a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture
“New Jersey has been fortunate to escape some of the really bad drought conditions centered in the Midwest,” spokesman Jeff Beach said. “We had our spells, and we got to a point where we would have been having a problem, but then we had rain last week and it was enough to keep it from becoming drastic.”  (Eder, NJBIZ)

https://www.njbiz.com/article/20120726/NJBIZ01/120729890/Drought-spells-trouble-for-US-farms-but-may-present-advantage-for-NJ-growers

Christie doesn’t budge on bogus greenhouse gas initiative

On a day when the state was pummeled by a spate of unusually severe thunderstorms, Gov. Chris Christie, as expected, vetoed a bill that would have required New Jersey to participate in a regional initiative to reduce “greenhouse gas emissions”.

In vetoing the bill (S-1322), identical to a measure he also rejected last year, the Governor said in his message to lawmakers that it would only “foist higher costs on New Jersey’s ratepayers.’’

The issue has emerged as a contentious dispute between the Republican administration and business interests against Democratic lawmakers, allied with clean energy advocates over the costs of a 10-state initiative to stem pollution from power plants contributing to global warming.  (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0726/2249/

There is no higher priority for the National Football League than the health and wellness of our players

Dear NFL Fans:

The letter below was distributed today to all current and former NFL players, as well as team and league personnel. We will continue to update you on important league initiatives.

To All NFL Personnel:

There is no higher priority for the National Football League than the health and wellness of our players. It is for this reason that we are launching NFL Total Wellness, a comprehensive new initiative for current and former NFL players, as well as league and team personnel. Its mission is to build on our programs and services that enhance the physical and mental health of our people.

NFL Total Wellness will empower players to make positive health decisions; promote help-seeking behaviors in connection with behavioral and mental health issues; provide education on family safety; and enhance transition programs that help players adjust to new stages of life.

Dr. David Satcher, former Surgeon General of the United States and current director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, will advise NFL Total Wellness. Dr. Satcher has already conducted 14 mental health forums over the past two years for former NFL players and their families. He will expand his role to facilitate more wellness events across the country. He also will provide online webinars on www.nflplayerengagement.com and consult with the NFL on its health programs and services.

Leading the NFL Total Wellness initiative will be NFL executives Robert Gulliver and Troy Vincent. Gulliver, the NFL’s Chief Human Resources Officer, joined the league in 2010, having previously held senior HR leadership roles at Wells Fargo & Company. Vincent, the vice president of NFL Player Engagement, is a five-time Pro Bowl cornerback and former president of the NFL Players Association (2004-2008).

Members of our NFL family are not immune to the challenges that all individuals face.

One new service, NFL Life Line, launches today as part of our support system. NFL Life Line is a free, independent and confidential phone consultation service and website available to all members of the NFL family, including current and former players, coaches, team and league staff, and their family members. This type of employee assistance service is considered a model for companies across all sectors.

The NFL Life Line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. All calls will be strictly confidential and not shared with the league office, teams, or any related entity. To find out more, visit www.NFLLifeLine.org.

As we enter what promises to be a very exciting 2012 season, we stand by our commitment to the total wellness of our players and former players.

Sincerely,

Roger Goodell

Waiting for a bus at the Port Authority Bus terminal

Christie blocks democrat meddling at Port Authority

Governor Christie on Thursday blocked efforts by Democratic lawmakers to make the Port Authority more “accountable”, only hours before the agency announced that one of Christie’s rejected Supreme Court nominees would get a high-ranking job there.

The developments illustrated Christie’s tight control over the Port Authority and his administration’s insistence on reforming the agency from within, despite Democratic attempts to harness anger generated by recent toll hikes on the agency’s bridges and tunnels.

Christie’s veto of a proposed state law that would have forced the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to hold public hearings before future toll increases drew an immediate rebuke from the bill’s sponsors, who said Christie killed their effort to bring more transparency and accountability to the Port Authority. The bi-state transportation agency is jointly controlled by Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.  (Boburg and Reitmeyer, The Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/Christie_blocks_proposed_law_that_would_have_forced_Port_Authority_to_hold_hearings_before_toll_hikes.html

NJ Senate Race:  Kyrillos Announces Comprehensive Jobs Plan

Receives Endorsement from National Federation of Independent Business

Trenton, July 26 2012… A little less than two months ago, Senator Joe Kyrillos announced that he was embarking on a statewide jobs tour. After 41 months of over 8 percent unemployment, and 20 million people unemployed or underemployed, Kyrillos wanted to hear directly from the job creators themselves the challenges they face.

Kyrillos toured 19 businesses of all sizes and types from Sussex to Cape May Counties and one message became abundantly clear: the policies coming out of Washington from politicians like Senator Bob Menendez are making things worse.

“Americans are struggling through the weakest economic recovery since the Great Depression,” said Kyrillos. “Families that played by the rules and worked hard are not looking for a handout or another government program, but for the opportunity to use their talent, industry, and smarts to build their own future. After listening to the difficulties these job creators face first-hand, I was able to create a jobs plan that directly addresses their needs.

“We need jobs and my plan creates them by restoring fiscal responsibility, reforming the tax code, reducing unnecessary and burdensome red tape, and restoring our nation’s place as the home of innovation. It will also establish programs to build a competitive workforce and put forth solutions to our nation’s energy crisis. The prosperity of our country is in jeopardy. We cannot afford to stay the course Bob Menendez has charted for our future. The opportunity for profound economic growth is before us, and we must seize it.”

Kyrillos also accepted an endorsement today from the National Federation of Independent Business.

“Senator Joe Kyrillos has proven himself to be a strong advocate for the small-business community,” said Laurie Ehlbeck, State Director, NFIB New Jersey. “He has established a reputation in our state for supporting measures to help businesses thrive, and we need his leadership at the federal level now more than ever. Senator Kyrillos has been awarded the NFIB Guardian of Small Business Award for his work in the New Jersey legislature, and we trust that he will continue to fight for small business in the United States Senate.”

NFIB has over 5,000 members in New Jersey. Kyrillos’ endorsement comes from NFIB’s Save America’s Free Enterprise Trust (SAFE), the association’s political action committee, and is based on positions regarding key small-business issues including health care, taxes, and labor and regulatory issues.

It’s important that internal spying takes place there are new capabilities available for people to attack us

Security is very important – It’s important that internal spying takes place – if you are innocently communicating electronically with family and friends you have nothing to worry about – but if you are planning something against the American people, no matter where you are, it is important that there be surveillance on a national level.

The risk to the American people is as high, if not higher, than it was prior to 9/11 and as we have seen with the recent murder of a number of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, terrorists can reach far and wide. We all know that there are certain buzz words that people use that are red flagged for investigation, with close to 95% of them being deemed innocent but what about the remaining 5% – what happens if there are further attacks here in the States and we find out that everything in the power of the government was not done to prevent them? Who gets the blame??? The CIA, NSA, FBI, everybody really.

Spying on those that offer a clear threat is very important and there is nothing racist about it. The Mosques, meeting places of Muslims and those that pose a religious danger to the well-being of the US need to be kept under surveillance. It is sad that this is a fact, but without keeping up the surveillance we are opening the doors to a lot of trouble.

The Irish communities were kept under surveillance during the troubles in Northern Ireland. Huge amounts of American money found its way back to the Irish terrorists that enabled them to buy weapons from Libya, the former Soviet Union, Iran and other locations where they could go on a cheap shopping spree – American money caused untold death and destruction in Ireland and the UK.

So we all need to wake up, realize the dangers that we now face and come to terms with the fact that our world has changed, that the US is not the US of 20 years ago, even 10 years ago – there are new capabilities available for people to attack us, and ruin the lives of many innocent Americans.

US must recall it is not just any country
By Condoleezza Rice

In this young century, the 9/11 attacks, the global financial crisis and the unrest in the Arab world have struck at the heart of vital US interests. If Americans want the tectonic plates of the international system to settle in a way that makes the world safer, freer and more prosperous, the US must overcome its reluctance to lead. We will have to stand up for and promote the power and promise of free markets and free peoples, and affirm that American pre-eminence safeguards rather than impedes global progress.

The list of US foreign policy challenges is long and there will be a temptation to respond tactically to each one. But today’s headlines and posterity’s judgment often differ. The task at hand is to strengthen the pillars of our influence and act with the long arc of history in mind.

https://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f4837046-d67b-11e1-ba60-00144feabdc0.html#axzz21lePU1Bw

Everything “free” on 7/29

We are having a Freecycle style “party” on Sunday, with several local friends coming over and bringing anything that they would like to freecycle. We are going to load up my driveway with items and kick back, relax, and enjoy some barbeque while (hopefully) everything finds a new home.

Our family will be giving away a variety of children’s toys, athletic equipment, and household goods. I haven’t gotten confirmation from the other families about what they are bringing.

date: Sunday, July 29
location: 619 Ellington Road, Ridgewood, NJ
time: 2PM-5PM
cost: everything is free

Please do not come early, as we won’t be ready until 2PM. We look forward to seeing you!

We’re Starting to Look Like Hoarders!!

We’re starting to look like hoarders!!! Come and help us clear the clutter!
One day yard sale, this Saturday 7/28 9-3!!

Some items included in the sale (I ‘m not willing/able to sell anything early!)
-toddler toys
-high chair
-toddler girl clothes, up to 24 months
-household items
-name brand mens and womens clothing
-leather chair
-Ikea poang chair (both chairs in great shape)
-Shark steam mop
-Dyson in need of some TLC
-Lots of books

From 2-3 everything left is 1/2 price..
I’m even setting up a table of free items. We have many things we no longer need and I hate to see them in a landfill!!!

260 Lockwood Rd.
Ridgewood, NJ

S. Pleasant Ave to Whithill.. Lockwood is at the bottom of Whithill Rd!

freecycle driveway giveaway on Sunday

We are giving away a lot of items on Sunday, July 29. Rather than list each one on freecycle, we are simply going to load up the driveway with toys and household goods, and we are inviting the CraigsList community to come by and take what they need.

location: 619 Ellington Road, Ridgewood, NJ
time: 2PM-5PM
cost: everything is free

Garage Sale (57 Pershing Ave Ridgewood NJ)

Garage Sale.. Saturday July 28th 9am to 4pm 57 Pershing Ave Ridgewood NJ

Lots of stuff….. Kilm Rug, Guitar, Bikes, Jewelry, HH items and Collectables, Books, Clothes, CD’s and Record Albums

Something for Everyone

New Jersey gives $347M in business tax cuts bipartisan support

While Governor Christie and the Democrats argued about whether the state could afford an estimated $215 million income tax cut or credit for residents, they approved without debate a set of business-tax-relief proposals that will cost the state significantly more.

The new state budget projects around $347 million in business tax relief — continuing a three-year trend since Christie took office and reflecting his and the Democratic-controlled Legislature’s shared priorities to improve the state’s business climate.

This year’s cuts were locked in through legislation passed last year — and members in both parties said there was no political will to reverse or reduce them, even while battles over income-tax and property-tax relief came down to slim cost differences.  (Fletcher, The Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/State_give_business_tax_cuts_bipartisan_support.html