State agency adopts new rules for renewable energy
The state has adopted new rules aimed at increasing investments in renewable energy systems in New Jersey.
The regulations, adopted in the New Jersey Register issued yesterday, deal with how owners of solar systems, wind turbines, and other renewable sources of energy connect with the regional power grid and get credit for the electricity their systems produce.
Beyond encouraging new investments in renewable energy, the rules should avert the need to build new power plants powered by fossil fuels and alleviate the demand for new spending on huge transmission projects, according to the rules adopted by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
Accoring to sources in las Vegas In what is sure to be a boon for the Las Vegas Strip’s many beer pong-friendly locations, Olympic officials have announced beer pong will be an official event at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Long considered to be a frontrunner to become a “demonstration summer sport,” beer pong has surprised critics and leap-frogged the lengthy approval process to become a recognized sport in record time.
NJ TRANSIT DESIGNATES SELECTED ‘BIKE-FRIENDLY’ TRAINS ON WEEKENDS
Newly revised Bike Aboard program expands travel options for bicyclists effective August 11, 2012
August 6, 2012
NEWARK, NJ — In response to customer requests regarding bike access at train stations, Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chairman James Simpson and NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein today announced the designation of selected “bike-friendly” trains on weekends and other improvements in support of the transportation needs of the cycling community.
“After gathering valuable input from members of the cycling community, we worked to make some common-sense changes that help make NJ TRANSIT one of the most bicycle-friendly systems in the region,” said Commissioner Simpson. “By implementing designated bike trains on weekends on most of our rail lines, in addition to the regular weekend trains, we are providing capacity for up to 7,200 bicycles on Saturdays and Sundays combined.”
“Following Commissioner Simpson’s call for a quick resolution to customer concerns about bicycle access, we took a fresh look at our Bike Aboard program to identify further adjustments that would enable us to significantly expand access for our bicycle-riding customers,” said Executive Director Weinstein. “The expanded capacity on weekends will make cycling to train stations a viable option for more customers, allowing them to complete the ‘last mile’ between the train station and their destinations.”
Effective Saturday, August 11, all weekend trains on the Raritan Valley Line and Atlantic City Rail Line and on rail service to and from Hoboken Terminal will become “bike-friendly” trains, providing capacity for up to 12 bicycles per train. The current policy allows for bicycle access only on open rail cars, meaning if four cars of a six-car train are open to customers, that train can accommodate only eight bicycles. Under the newly revised Bike Aboard program, train crew members will be able to open unused rail cars on designated bike trains as needed to provide additional capacity for cyclists.
As part of the expanded Bike Aboard program, NJ TRANSIT will be offering 418 designated bike trains on weekends on the Raritan Valley, Main/Bergen County, Pascack Valley, Gladstone, Montclair-Boonton and Atlantic City Rail lines. An additional 273 non-designated bike trains on weekends can accommodate up to two bicycles per car on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast and Midtown Direct lines.
Starting in October, NJ TRANSIT rail timetables will be reprinted to clearly indicate designated bike trains with a special bicycle icon near the train number.
To ensure the agency stays in touch with the needs of the cycling community, NJ TRANSIT has named employee Rob Angello, Project Manager of Capital Programs and a cycling enthusiast—as the agency’s new “Bicycle Advocate” to give further voice to the concerns of cyclists during internal policy discussions. Questions and comments about NJ TRANSIT’s Bike Aboard program received via the “Contact Us” form on njtransit.com will be forwarded to the Bicycle Advocate for review.
In addition, NJ TRANSIT has implemented a streamlined internal process for resolving issues about bike access in real time when customers contact the Transit Information Center at 973-275-5555 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily, when the agency provides live operator assistance.
NJ TRANSIT’s Bike Aboard program does not require preregistration or permits, and there is no additional charge for bringing bicycles onboard trains.
Below are the highlights of NJ TRANSIT’s expanded bicycle policy:
Collapsible bicycles are permitted on all NJ TRANSIT trains at all times.
Standard-frame bicycles are permitted on many NJ TRANSIT trains as described below.
On weekdays: Bicycles are permitted on all weekday trains on all lines except inbound trains that end in Hoboken, Newark or New York between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and outbound trains that originate in Hoboken, Newark or New York between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. These trains are indicated by a Q in public timetables. Trains on which bicycles are permitted may accommodate up to 2 bicycles on each single-level rail car and up to 8 bicycles on each multilevel rail car subject to crowding or the accessibility needs of other customers.
On weekends: Bicycles are permitted on all weekend Raritan Valley, Gladstone, Montclair-Boonton, Main, Bergen County, Pascack Valley, Port Jervis, and Atlantic City Line trains. These trains will be designated bike trains and will accommodate up to 12 bicycles per train. Larger groups may be accommodated with advance reservations by calling our Group Sales Department at 973-491-7220. Bicycles are also permitted on all Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast Line and Morristown Line trains with the exception of trains ending in New York between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. and trains originating in New York between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Trains on which bicycles are permitted may accommodate up to 2 bicycles on each single-level rail car and up to 8 bicycles on each multilevel rail car subject to crowding or the accessibility needs of other customers.
On holidays and business days before holidays: Bicycles are not permitted on trains (with the exception of the Atlantic City Line) on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, day after Thanksgiving, Sunday after Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Bicycles are not permitted on the day before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but are permitted on the holidays themselves.
Other times: Bicycles are not permitted on substitute bus service during rail service outages.
*The revised policy will be available on njtransit.com starting August 10.
The Real Poll Numbers
By Dick Morris on August 6, 2012
The media is trying to create a sense of momentum and of inevitability about the Obama candidacy. One benighted Newsweek reporter even speculated about a possible Democratic landslide.
On Friday, I saw the real numbers. These state-by-state polls, taken by an organization I trust (after forty years of polling) show the real story. The tally is based on more than 600 likely voter interviews in each swing state within the past eight days.
The trend line is distinctly pro-Romney. Of the thirteen states studied, he improved or Obama slipped in nine states while the reverse happened in only four. To read the media, one would think that Romney had a terrible month. In fact, the exact reverse is true.
Romney is currently leading in every state McCain carried plus: Indiana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Nevada, North Carolina, and Colorado. If he carries these states, he’ll have 228 electoral votes of the 270 he needs to win.
Legal Services audit raises questions about eligibility verification
An audit of Legal Services raised questions about uncertainty over verifying financial eligibility of clients.
An audit released today of the Legal Services program found that although expenditures were recorded properly, there were problems ascertaining the “reasonableness” of those expenditures because Treasury could not verify the financial eligibility. (Mooney, State Street Wire)
N.J. towns blame state for part-timers on pension rolls
Part-time work for the New Jersey towns of Leonia, Saddle Brook and Elmwood Park helped attorney Brian Giblin rack up pension credits worth $33,143 a year, even after a 2007 state law made contractors like him ineligible.
Giblin was among five attorneys singled out in a July 17 audit by Comptroller Matthew Boxer that found 202 people improperly enrolled in the state pension system. The potential cost of retirement payments to those attorneys, engineers and other professionals is at least $1.9 million annually, Boxer said, and probably much more because his office surveyed only 159 of New Jersey’s more than 1,000 towns and school districts. (Young, Bloomberg)
LAS VEGAS — Senate Majority Harry Reid again deflected questions Monday about releasing his tax returns, even as he continued to pound the demand for Mitt Romney to make more of his own public.
Instead, Reid pointed to the financial disclosure forms he files as a member of Congress, which provide different information.
MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2012
BY DEBRA LYNN VIAL
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
There’s a saying about the lazy, hazy days of summer. These kids have never heard it.
There’s no time to lie around playing video games when there are laps to be swum or home runs to hit.
In late June, the summer leagues come to life in North Jersey. A whole season’s worth of swim meets, baseball and soccer games, roller hockey, diving, you name it gets crammed into a few hot weeks.
A typical day for Courtney Flanigan, 13, is a morning swim practice followed by an afternoon soccer session. In the evenings, it’s game time for at least one of the sports.
“Last week, I left the swim meet after my race and went to the next town over for my soccer game,” said Courtney, a Paramus resident. Her hair was still dripping wet when she scored her first goal.
The hard work has paid off: She has four first-place ribbons from swim meets. And her soccer team is undefeated.
Does she miss not being able to sleep late or spend a day goofing around with friends? “Not at all,” she said. “My friends are on my teams.”
NJ’s Supreme Court to make ruling on Kyleigh’s Law
Young drivers in New Jersey may soon learn whether they need to display red decals on their vehicle license plates.
The state Supreme Court is due to issue a ruling Monday on whether “Kyleigh’s Law” violates privacy and leaves young motorists vulnerable to predators.
Named for a New Jersey teenager who was killed in a 2006 crash, the measure is meant to aid police in enforcing restricted privileges for young drivers. It was upheld last year by a state appeals court. (Associated Press)
New Jersey’s Motor Vehicles Commission and the American Civil Liberties Union are trying to reach a deal on whether the state can require more documents from those seeking driver’s licenses.
At a hearing Friday, Judge Paul Innes gave the sides until Sept. 21 to resolve their dispute. Until then, he said, the state cannot implement the stricter requirements.
That means those seeking to obtain or renew their licenses may continue to use the state’s familiar six-point ID system.
The stricter requirements are part of a federal program, known as TRU-ID, to strengthen the security of state-issued licenses and ID cards. Eventually, the federal government says, states must comply with the standards so people can use their cards to board commercial flights or enter federal buildings. (Mulvihill, Associated Press)
Ruiz puts special education at top of her next agenda
Fresh from winning unprecedented passage of a new tenure reform bill for New Jersey, state Sen. Teresa Ruiz is next taking on an issue that is no less vexed: special education.
Ruiz will hold a hearing next Thursday before the Senate education committee that she chairs, asking educators, advocates, and policy makers to discuss the system that now serves 200,000 children with disabilities in virtually every school in the state.
It’s a massive topic that spans everything from parental rights to racial segregation, and from classroom practices to taxpayer funding. And Ruiz said yesterday she wanted to learn as much as she can from the more than dozen guests she has invited. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Christie scheduled to sign historic tenure reform bill today
More than a month after the Legislature approved the tenure reform bill without a single dissenting vote, Gov. Chris Christie will sign Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey (TEACH NJ) into law today.
Christie’s office announced the scheduled signing late yesterday, after weeks of speculation of when and even if he would sign the sweeping measure. He always indicated he would, but questions mounted as to whether he would be adding any new proposals.
The signing will take place at the Von E. Mauger Middle School in Middesex at 10:50 a.m., following by a press conference. Christie also plans to meet with students beforehand. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Huntington Learning Centers, Inc. presents the 35th Anniversary Sweepstakes.
Enter-to-win and iPad or $500 scholarship!
A great opportunity for your readers as they get ready for the new school year.
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With over 300 centers nationwide, we offer a wide range of flexible solutions from academic tutoring, subject tutoring, and exam preparation for state and standardized entrance exams, such as high school entrance exams. We have helped thousands of students get the scores they want on the SAT/PSAT and ACT!
This year, we are celebrating our 35th year anniversary, and to commemorate, we have recently launched our “35th Year Anniversary Sweepstakes” where one (1) grand prize winner will win an Apple iPad and two (2) runner-up winners will win $500 Huntington scholarships to be used toward a tutoring program of their choice at a local center!
For the official contest details and rules, visit Huntington’s Facebook page here: 35th Year Anniversary Sweepstakes!
Networks That Fawned Over Obama’s World Tour Mock Romney’s International ‘Blunders’
By Scott Whitlock | August 02, 2012 | 11:42
Mitt Romney’s week-long international trip resulted in unrelentingly negative coverage from the big three broadcast networks, a stark change from the glowing press awarded to then-candidate Barack Obama’s world tour in 2008. While Obama was treated like a rock star (from the Associated Press: “It’s not only Obama’s youth, eloquence and energy that have stolen hearts across the Atlantic….”), Romney endured a focus on gaffes and the trivial.
MRC analysts examined all 21 ABC, CBS and NBC evening news stories about Romney’s trip to London, Israel and Poland between July 25 and July 31. Virtually all of these stories (18, or 86%) emphasized Romney’s “diplomatic blunders,” from his “golden gaffe” at the Olympic games to “missteps” that offended the Palestinians.
New Facebook tool may turn friends into enemies – for the Democratic cause
By John Brandon
Published August 02, 2012
Here’s one you may not “like.”
New Facebook tool may turn friends into enemies – for the Democratic cause– then flags you for more frequent campaign calls and contacts.
That’s exactly what the Democratic party is doing. The upcoming presidential campaigns are eager to get their hands on the treasure trove of voter data that 900 million users have voluntarily posted on Facebook. Enter Social Organizing, a new tool developed by Democratic activist group NGP VAN. Using it, your friends can log in to Facebook and tell the service about you. You can then be added to a caller database, pinged for ads and harassed during the entire election.
Many users think the information they post to Facebook cannot legally or ethically leave the site’s confines, noted Roger Kay, a technology analyst with Endpoint Technologies. They may be in for a surprise.
“[Facebook] was born on the idea of taking information about people and making it available to others … With political information, this sharing has become a notch more like selling out your friends,” Kay told FoxNews.com.
