Month: September 2012

Hearing on Real ID licenses Friday

A state Superior Court judge will hear arguments Friday on whether New Jersey can implement nationally standardized drivers’ licenses.

The state Motor Vehicle Commission planned to roll out the new licenses in May but was stopped by an injunction issued by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Paul Innes after the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey sued.

The ACLU claims the MVC erred by revising proof-of-ID rules without a full public vetting and that the changes could affect civil rights by requiring that all documents, including birth certificates, be in English, and that the homeless will have difficulty proving citizenship under the proposed regulations.

The tougher rules would require drivers to show Social Security documents as proof of ID and would no longer allow use of certain primary documents, such as a recently expired passport.  (Jordan, Asbury Park Press)
https://www.app.com/article/20120918/NJNEWS1002/309180099/Hearing-Real-ID-licenses-Friday?nclick_check=1

RENDERING OF THE DAYTON COURTESY OF APPEL DESIGN GROUP

Village officials view changes to proposed housing development in Ridgewood

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 2012, 2:28 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Changes to the application for a multi-family housing development on South Broad Street were met with overall applause on Tuesday, but Ridgewood Planning Board members said they need more time and information before making a decision on the proposal.

Updated plans for The Dayton, a luxury rental project put forward by Short Hills-based Garden Homes, were detailed for board members this week following a seven-month hiatus. The recess in the application hearing was called in February to allow village officials the opportunity to conduct a study on the impact of a large housing development in the Central Business District (CBD).

Garden Homes is seeking an ordinance that would rezone the area around the former Brogan Cadillac site and amend the Ridgewood Master Plan to allow multi-family housing there.

The village’s multi-page report, prepared and presented at Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting by Ridgewood Planner Blais Brancheau, indicated that only certain sections of the CBD were suitable for a large housing development. In addition, various conditions and points of concern were raised in the report.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/170371736_Village_officials_view_changes_to_proposed_housing_development_in_Ridgewood.html

CRS report: number of able-bodied adults on food stamps doubled after Obama suspended work requirement
September 19, 2012 | 7:13 am

Obama administration officials have insisted that their decision to grant states waivers to redefine work requirements for welfare recipients would not “gut” the landmark 1996 welfare reform law. But a new report from the Congressional Research Service obtained by the Washington Examiner suggests that the administration’s suspension of a separate welfare work requirement has already helped explode the number of able-bodied Americans on food stamps.

In addition to the broader work requirement that has become a contentious issue in the presidential race, the 1996 welfare reform law included a separate rule encouraging able-bodied adults without dependents to work by limiting the amount of time they could receive food stamps. President Obama suspended that rule when he signed his economic stimulus legislation into law, and the number of these adults on food stamps doubled, from 1.9 million in 2008 to 3.9 million in 2010, according to the CRS report, issued in the form of a memo to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

“This report once again confirms that President Obama has severely gutted the welfare work requirements that Americans have overwhelmingly supported since President Clinton signed them into law,” Cantor said in an emailed statement. “It’s time to reinstate these common-sense measures, and focus on creating job growth for those in need.”

https://washingtonexaminer.com/crs-report-number-of-able-bodied-adults-on-food-stamps-doubled-after-obama-suspended-work-requirement/article/2508430#.UFnYp7JlRD2

Emails reveal Justice Dept. regularly enlists Media Matters to spin press
Published: 12:56 AM 09/18/2012

Internal Department of Justice emails obtained by The Daily Caller show Attorney General Eric Holder’s communications staff has collaborated with the left-wing advocacy group Media Matters for America in an attempt to quell news stories about scandals plaguing Holder and America’s top law enforcement agency.

Dozens of pages of emails between DOJ Office of Public Affairs Director Tracy Schmaler and Media Matters staffers show Schmaler, Holder’s top press defender, working with Media Matters to attack reporters covering DOJ scandals. TheDC obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act request. (RELATED: TheDC’s complete coverage of Media Matters)

Emails sent in September and November 2010 show Schmaler working with Media Matters staffer Jeremy Holden on attacking news coverage of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation scandal

Read more: https://dailycaller.com/2012/09/18/emails-reveal-justice-dept-regularly-enlists-media-matters-to-spin-press/#ixzz26uB6hPR0

Romney tries to pivot with push on Obama redistribution comment
By Justin Sink – 09/18/12 04:41 PM ET

Mitt Romney’s campaign looked to pivot Tuesday from his controversial “47 percent” comment by highlighting new audio that shows President Obama saying in 1998 that he “believe[s] in redistribution.”

The Republican presidential candidate, appearing on Fox News, defended his comments during which he said “47 percent” of voters are “dependent on the government” by saying he was drawing a contrast between his own economic vision and that of the president’s.

“Frankly we have two different views about America,” Romney said. “The president’s view is one of a larger government. There is a tape that came out where is the president is saying he likes redistribution. I disagree. I think a society based upon a government centered nation where government plays a larger role and redistributes money, [that’s the] wrong course for America.”

Romney was referencing a YouTube video linked prominently on the influential website the Drudge Report. It’s from a 1998 conference at Loyola University. In the clip, Barack Obama, who was an Illinois state senator the time, discusses fighting against anti-government sentiment through government reforms, and says that he believes in the idea of redistribution.

https://thehill.com/video/campaign/250183-romney-pushes-new-audio-of-old-obama-redistribution-comment

Movie Actor Andrew McCarthy of St. Elmo’s Fire September 20th @ 7:00pm at Bookends

Andrew McCarthy ,Thursday, September 20th @ 7:00pm at Bookends
Actor from the movie: St. Elmo’s Fire, Andrew McCarthy, will sign his new book: her new book: The Longest Way Home Books available Sept. 18th.

Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.

While we try to insure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.

Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726

Obama’s Security Breach In Libya Is Ignored By American Media
September 17, 2012 2:08 PM

As the liberal American press and ultra-liberal bloggers inundate the Internet and newsprints with criticisms of what Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential challenger to President Barack Obama, said about Obama during the Libyan attacks and murders, throngs of foreign press and few American outlets tell the real story involved with the White House’s role in the incidents that we now know could have been prevented.

After the American media grabbed and held the pro-Obama headlines against Romney’s comments and took Obama’s “Romney shoots first and aims second” quote to iconic proportions, the rest of the world is reporting that the Obama administration knew about the planned-attack on the Benghazi, Libya Embassy where four Americans, including United States Ambassador Christopher Steven was murdered.

That strong allegation needs to be “the story”, not the political-trouncing of Mitt Romney, a man who has nothing to do with the White House, the U.S. Embassy, or the deadly and non-deadly attacks on our United States Embassy’s around the world. “The story” obviously involves the White House and the president within – Barack Obama – not the Massachusetts challenger.

https://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/09/17/obamas-security-breach-in-libya-is-ignored-by-american-media/

Ridgewood requests bids for removal of 140 trees

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2012, 10:57 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Ridgewood officials are seeking a private vendor to help trim the list of more than 140 trees in the village that have been targeted for removal.

Members of the Village Council approved the request for proposal (RFP) to tackle the specific task, a move that buys more time as the village continues to explore hiring options for its tree maintenance department.

With two workers scheduled to retire in coming weeks, the village’s tree staff will dwindle to one full-time employee to supervise the division’s operations, which include tree removal, pruning and planting, among other duties.

Following a discussion during last week’s work session, council members opted to immediately address the tree removal list while eventually replacing the retiring workers. The number of trees identified by village staff for removal peaked at 159 earlier this summer, but work over the past month has reduced the count into the 140s.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/170179346_Ridgewood_requests_bids_for_tree_removal.html

NJ received less stimulus than national average

Squeezed by the recession, New Jersey received slightly less in federal stimulus money per capita than the national average, and the largest proportion of it went to fund unemployment insurance, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said.

The state received $1,377 per capita in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, according to a report released by the bank Monday.

That compared with $1,500 per capita nationwide and $1,614 per capita in New York.

The National Bureau of Economic Research, the federal body that determines when a recession starts and ends, said the recession began in December 2007 and concluded in June 2009, a few months after the stimulus law was passed.  (Morley, The Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/170134856_NJ_received_less_stimulus_than_national_average.html

TORNADO WATCH REMAINS VALID UNTIL 7 PM TONIGHT

WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION FOR WATCHES 643/646
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
339 PM EDT TUE SEP 18 2012

TORNADO WATCH 643 REMAINS VALID UNTIL 7 PM EDT THIS EVENING FOR
THE FOLLOWING AREAS

IN NEW JERSEY THIS WATCH INCLUDES 5 COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY

BERGEN ESSEX HUDSON
PASSAIC UNION

IN NEW YORK THIS WATCH INCLUDES 7 COUNTIES

IN SOUTHEAST NEW YORK

BRONX KINGS (BROOKLYN) NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)
ORANGE QUEENS
RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND) ROCKLAND

General Motors pushing U.S. to sell stake: report
Sept. 17, 2012, 11:34 a.m. EDT
By William Spain

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — The Treasury Department is resisting General Motors’ push for the government to sell off its stake in the automobile maker, The Wall Street Journal reports. Following a $50 billion bailout in 2009, the U.S. taxpayers now own almost 27% of the company. But the newspaper said GM executives are now chafing at that, saying it hurts the company’s reputation and its ability to attract top talent due to pay restrictions. Earlier this year, GM GM -1.41% presented a plan to repurchase 200 million of the 500 million shares the U.S. holds with the balance being sold via a public offering. But officials at the Treasury Department were not interested, as selling now would lead to a multibillion-dollar loss for the government, the newspaper noted.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/general-motors-pushing-us-to-sell-stake-report-2012-09-17