Bergen Freeholders defeat contract to absorb Demarest police into county police
Friday, December 28, 2012 Last updated: Friday December 28, 2012, 4:15 PM
BY DEENA YELLIN AND JOHN ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
The Bergen County freeholders Friday rejected a contract that called for the county to police Demarest, with several freeholders saying the proposed savings of the 7-year-deal were not clear enough.
By a 4-3 vote, the board voted against the proposal. Freeholders John Mitchell, John Felice, David Ganz and Joan Voss voted no. Freeholders Robert Hermansen, Maura DeNicola and John Driscoll voted yes.
The Demarest Council introduced and voted on a seven-year contract last week calling for the Bergen County Police to absorb the 13-member department and provide the borough with service. The council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and final vote on the issue on Monday.
Christmas Trees can be brought to the Graydon Parking Lot at any time. Your cooperation with the disposal of your Christmas tree is requested as each tree dropped off allows for less street debris and for crews to keep on schedule.
You may drop your tree off in the designated area of the Graydon Pool Parking Lot (Linwood and Northern Parkway corner) seven days a week beginning immediately. Each tree is chipped and 100% recycled for use in the Village.
While we will begin the process of collection at the curb, we are asking for your continued assistance which everyone exhibited during the disposal of Sandy debris.
It’s Not OK To Be Shitty: Guy Fieri, BuzzFeed, And The Tyranny Of Stupid Popular Things
Will Leitch
Will Leitch, contributing editor at New York Magazine, “media” columnist for Sports on Earth, and editor emeritus of Deadspin, is filling in for Drew Magary on today’s Thursday Afternoon NFL Dick Joke Jamboroo. Leitch has written four books. Find more of his business at his Twitter feed.
Last month, New York Times food reviewer Pete Wells spent 1,057 words tearing apart Guy Fieri’s Times Square restaurant Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar. Wells went full-hog in the review, calling the watermelon margarita “some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde” and referring to his nachos as “unlovable.” The review itself is more ranty than coherent or particularly sharp—Wells rips the menu as a place “where adjectives and nouns spin in a crazy vortex” which sounds like literary criticism as delivered by an eighth grader—but it did do an excellent job of further ensuring that I will never eat at Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar. It was obnoxious and not half as clever as it thought it was, but you know, it did the trick. (Though there’s still a little part of me who wonders if we’re undervaluing donkey sauce as a potential global source of renewable energy.)
What surprised me, though, was the backlash to Wells’s review. Fieri himself went after Wells on the Today show, which is fine; it’s his restaurant, after all. What was strange was how many people thought Wells had unrealistic expectations for Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar, that he was somehow at fault for actually eating the food and deciding whether it was good or not. This came out most clearly in an unaired Saturday Night Live skit, which seemed to imply that Wells was wrong to to think there was any chance the food would be anything but horrible in the first place. It’s Guy Fieri, the mindset went, of course it’s lousy. He’s just a successful TV personality. But, uh, he’s a chef, right? This is what he does for a profession, yes? Just because you imagine his chain restaurant is awful doesn’t mean it’s OK if it actually is.
…
I bring all this up because I think we’re starting to care more about popularity and financial success than legitimate quality. All right, so that’s hardly news; that’s always been the case, as a general rule, for most of humanity’s reign. But now the smart people are doing it: People who should know better. I’m talking about you, dear reader: You, me, all of us.
You see this everywhere, from box office results to online pageviews to Nielsen ratings to freaking Twitter followers. More people watch the NFL on television than any sport so therefore IT IS THE BEST SPORT. You have fewer Twitter followers than the person you’re criticizing? YOU’RE A HATER. You don’t like that album that went platinum? YOU JUST JEALOUS. BuzzFeed has put a bunch of pictures of kittens together in a way that is easily passed around by idiots? THEY HAVE FIGURED OUT THE INTERNET THEY ARE SUCH BRILLIANT PACKAGERS OF CONTENT THE FUTURE OF MEDIA. We have become a culture that, because we can quantify things in a way we’ve never been able to before, are acting as if those numbers are all that matter.
“Marcia the Musical Moose” Holiday Children’s Show at Ridgewood Village Hall
December 27,2012
Boyd A. Loving
10:15 AM
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department invited Marcia the Musical Moose to entertain preschool and early elementary children during the holiday recess, Thursday, December 27th, 11 a.m. The show was held in the Anne Zusy Youth Center, 131 North Maple Avenue.
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
In a nutshell (as Marcia’s friend Sally the Squirrel puts it), this variety show was filled with audience participation and included music, sing-a-longs, silly magic, and puppets.
Robotics Workshop and Competition at Ridgewood Library, Friday December 28th ,1 to 3:30 p.m. Space limited; register at ridgewoodlibrary.org or call 201-670-5600, ext. 110.
Ridgewood High School graduate shares his music in village schools
Thursday December 27, 2012, 4:51 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Just watch local musician Andrew Nieporent play the guitar and sing at a local coffee shop, and his passion for music is obvious.
Andrew Nieporent shares his love of music with Ridgewood students.
It’s no wonder. Music helped Nieporent come into his own far before there was an in-district program like Ridgewood Intensive Services (RISe) to help kids with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).
Even though it wasn’t easy dealing with Asperger’s syndrome, an ASD that can cause delays in the development of certain skills, Nieporent, 26, has clearly prevailed.
After three years of work, “Butterfly,” his first full-length album with his band Andrew Nieporent and the Nonspecifics, came out in August. He also graduated Ramapo College last May with bachelor’s degrees in communications and music.
Now, he is helping other people on the autism spectrum succeed in Ridgewood. He has worked for the past four months as a teacher’s aide with the RISe program at Benjamin Franklin Middle School (BF).
The program, which has gradually grown since it began with one class in 2003, offers students with an ASD at BF, Glen School, Ridge School and George Washington Middle School (GW) the opportunity to attend regular education classes when appropriate, according to Supervisor of Special Programs Kerry Huntington.
Each Friday, Nieporent teaches music to his three students. His future goal is to become a music therapist for children with autism.
Same Cliff Different Day
Tyler Durden’s picture
12/28/2012 07:08 -0500
We could say that news is actually relevant or matters in this “market” but we would be lying, just as we would be lying if we said that this market has not become so utterly predictable, with yesterday’s late day market surge – on yet another ridiculous catalyst – visible from so far away, it was almost painful to watch it take place in real time. Sure enough, futures are now sliding back, and giving back much of yesterday’s gains – but don’t worry, in a day full of even more meetings and flashing red headlines, at least some combination of carefully phrased MSM words will set off today’s algo-driven buying frenzy, guaranteeing yet another “retail investor” decides they have had it with this farcical “free market” casino for ever.
…
As noted earlier, none of this actually matters. What matters is today’s second to final episode of the Fiscal Cliff drama, summarized by Jim Reid best: President Obama is expected to meet with Congressional leaders at the White House today. The meeting will be attended by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The President had a call with Reid, Boehner and Pelosi late Wednesday night to receive update on the negotiations but no details about the conversations have been given. As noted by the Washington Post, perhaps the most significant development is that McConnell, who has signalled an interest in cutting a deal, will be engaged directly in White House discussions for the first time. According to the WSJ, most officials believe any deal is most likely to emerge in the Senate so all eyes will be on the congressional leaders’ meeting later today ahead of a hectic (and cold) weekend ahead for those in Capitol Hill. Beyond that, the Dow Jones Newswires also noted that Republicans will hold a closed-door caucus meeting at 9am ET Monday.
And just in case political headlines were not enough, prepare to see massive market surges on flashing red headlines forecasting clear skies: “while the House may be in session from Sunday through to the 2nd of January, we may need to watch the weatherman for some cues on how travel plans will be affected by the Northeast winter snow storm that is causing havoc in many parts of the country.”
Gun owner map ricochet: Blogger publishes journalists’ personal data
A newspaper published names and addresses of thousands of legal handgun owners, generating widespread criticism. In retaliation, a blogger mapped the names and addresses of the journalists.
The flap over the newspaper that published information about handgun owners in two New York counties has ricocheted back toward the news organization.
Thousands of critics – including some journalism professionals – have weighed in. And at least one blogger has retaliated by publishing the names and addresses of editors and executives at the Journal News, the publication headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., north of New York City and part of the Gannett organization.
Still, the Journal News is not backing down. Editors say they’ll publish information on handgun owners in a third county (Putnam) once county officials have responded to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that resulted in tens of thousands of names and addresses in Westchester and Rockland Counties.
Will ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Accelerate Millionaire Deaths?
Published: Thursday, 27 Dec 2012 | 5:04 PM ET
By: John Carney
Because the “fiscal cliff” will not stop for death, it looks as if death’s carriage may make a “kindly” stop to pick up some American millionaires this year, to paraphrase Emily Dickinson.
In 2010, after a year in which the estate tax was zeroed out altogether, Congress passed a law that set the estate tax at 35 percent and exempted all estates under $5 million, adjusted for inflation. That law expires in January 2013 when the exemption will fall to $1 million and the tax will rise to 55 percent.
Many families are faced with a stark proposition. If the life of an elderly wealthy family member extends into 2013, the tax bills will be substantially higher. An estate that could bequest $3 million this year will leave just $1.9 million after taxes next year. Shifting a death from January to December could produce $1.1 million in tax savings.
It may seem incredible to contemplate pulling the plug on grandma to save tax dollars. While we know that investors will sell stocks to avoid rising capital gains taxes, accelerating the death of a loved one seems at least a bit morbid—perhaps even evil. Will people really make life and death decisions based on taxes? Do we don our green eye shades when it comes to something this serious?
2011 Uniform Crime Report : Ridgewood shows drop crime rate
December 27,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, According to the 2011 Uniform Crime Report which was released last Friday by the state Attorney General’s office, the Village of Ridgewood reported a total of 193 crimes in 2011, nearly 30 fewer incidents over the previous year.
While violent crimes in Ridgewood increased from seven in 2010 to eight in 2011 and the total number of non-violent offenses decreased to 185. There was an increase in motor vehicle thefts for 2011,with 5 stolen vehicles reported ,that compares with zero for 2010.
Larcenies accounted for 78 percent of all non-violent crimes in Ridgewood,dropping by 21 to 144 in 2011 and 36 burglaries were reported in Ridgewood during 2011, that’s down from 50 in the previous year. Ridgewood also reported 2 arsons,
Ridgewood’s overall crime rate per 1,000 residents came in at 7.7. down form the previous year’s study of 8.9. In comparison with municipalities with similar size populations, but not similar demographics Ridgewood’s crime rate is lower than Lyndhurst (18.1), Lodi (16.7), Rutherford (15.7), Englewood (14.6) and Cliffside Park (9.3)., but its higher than some of our surrounding neighbors who have various populations but more similar demographics like Glen Rock (6.1), Midland Park (7.7), Township of Washington (5.5), Westwood (7.0) and Wyckoff (7.7).
While the state of New Jersey saw and uptick of 3% in crime in 2011 ,both Ridgewood and Bergen county saw decreases .
The annual report is based on statistics filed with the New Jersey Uniform Crime Reporting System by all state law enforcement agencies.
Bergen County Central dispatch
December 27.2012
Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan
As a general rule, we encourage local government to save money by consolidating services. So we like Bergen County’s plan to offer police and fire dispatch service to all 70 municipalities through the county’s new, but so far underused, dispatch center in Mahwah.
The idea sounds like a free service, but it really isn’t. The county’s plan is not to specifically charge municipalities, but county taxpayers would still support the system, not to mention maintaining what is officially called the Public Safety Operation Center. Ever since the $12.4 million center opened in 2010, the county has struggled to line up towns to use it.
Up until now, the county has been charging towns to use the system relevant to their needs. So far, 11 towns have signed up for complete dispatch services – police, fire and ambulance – and nine others use the county system for 911 calls only.
Rather than try to sign up new towns to use the system, the county now has a different idea. Forget about trying to enlist new users; just make the dispatch system available to every municipality in the county for no additional charge. The county administration theorizes that since property taxpayers already are paying for the operation center and its staff, making dispatch services available to all towns makes sense.
We agree.
It is often counterproductive for one local government entity to pay another local government entity for a service. All that accomplishes is transferring property taxes from one arm of government to another.
Still, there are hurdles to overcome before a centralized, county dispatching system becomes reality. The county would lose $1 million a year if it stops charging the towns that now pay. To offset that loss, the county has asked the state for a share of 911 fees annually generated by phone bill surcharges. It’s not known if that’s going to happen.
Some municipalities now paying for county dispatch may chafe at the idea that others may get the same service without paying. As the mayor of Northvale told The Record when apprised of the county plan, “That’s great, but what about the people that already paid?” Well, the easy answer to the mayor is that his town paid for a service it received, but that it may no longer have to do so. Notwithstanding that sentiment in Northvale, it’s hard to see mayors complaining about not having to pay for a service directly,
There also has been some griping about how the county’s proposal became known. David Ganz, the incoming freeholder chairman, said he was “embarrassed” to learn about the plan from a newspaper article. Perhaps the freeholder board should have been briefed in advance, but let’s not criticize a good idea because of how it became public.
When people need a cop, an ambulance or the fire department, they often pick up the phone. As long as the emergency service they need gets to their door quickly, they likely don’t care where the dispatcher is sitting. If Bergen County can assume emergency dispatch services for all 70 municipalities, it could be a pretty good deal for county taxpayers.
Expressing Anger Can Add Two Years to Person’s Lifespan A new study revealed that being hot-tempered and expressing your anger could be a key to enjoying a long and healthy life.
By Christine Hsu | Dec 26, 2012 03:39 PM EST
If you’re angry, for the benefit of your health, you need to let it all out, according to a new study that revealed that being hot-tempered and expressing your anger could be a key to enjoying a long and healthy life.
Researchers Marcus Mund and Kristin Mitte at the University of Jena in Germany claim that the latest findings may explain why the hotheaded Italians and Spanish live almost two years longer than the cool English who “keep calm and carry on”.
They found that exhibiting self-restraint and holding back negative emotions could have serious repercussions for a person’s physical and mental well-being.
After analyzing more than 6,000 patients, Mund and Mitte found that people who internalized their anxiety suffered from an elevated pulse.
Researchers say that over time, raised pulse can result in high blood pressure and increase a person’s risk of developing a wide range of conditions from heart disease to cancer, kidney damage and more.
A Brief History of the New Years “Resolution”
December 27,2012
PJ Blogger
Ridgewood NJ , January gets its name from Janus, the two-faced Roman god who looks backwards into the old year and forwards into the new. Janus was the patron and protector of arches bridges, gates, doors, doorways, and of coarse endings and beginnings.
In Roman times the New Year was marked with feasting and parties where Romans would make “resolutions’ similar to what we do today ,but with more of a focus on being good citizens .as aposed to personal development.
Early Puritans in America looked to avoid the hedonistic celebrations that marked the being of the New Year during Roman times and the indulgences associated with those celebrations , even going as far
by the 18th century, of avoiding even naming Janus. Instead they called January the “First Month.”
Early Puritans urged their children to skip the revelry and instead spend their time reflecting on the year past and contemplating the year to come. In this way they adopted again the old custom of making resolutions.
Jonathan Edwards an American theologian brought up in the New England Puritan culture, began the practice of writing down resolutions ,turing the written resolution into an art form. Edwards did not write his resolutions on a single day , but rather, during a two-year period after he graduated form Yale. During the time he compiled some 70 resolutions on various aspects of his life, which he committed to reviewing each week , creating what would later become the modern “Self Help ” book.
10 Facts on the Fiscal Cliff, Debt, and Spending
Romina Boccia
December 27, 2012 at 8:37 am
Budget policy in 2012 was characterized by deficit spending, major increases in the national debt, and a heated debate over the “fiscal cliff.”
With just days left for President Obama and lawmakers in Congress to avert a major tax hike, sequestration, and other major policy changes, today we bring you a list of the top 10 facts on federal spending in 2012:
Four years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits. Fiscal year 2012 concluded with a $1.1 trillion deficit, marking the fourth year of trillion-dollar-plus deficits. Too much spending is the root cause of the federal government’s deep and sustained deficits. At 23 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012 and on track to rise further, federal spending is growing at a dangerous pace.
National debt hit $16 trillion. On September 4, the U.S. national debt hit the $16 trillion mark. We owe more on the national debt than the entire U.S. economy produced in goods and services in all of 2012. Sixteen trillion dollar bills stacked one on top of the other would measure more than 1 million miles high, which would reach to the moon and back more than twice.
The debt limit was raised by $1.2 trillion. On January 30, the federal government raised its debt limit from a staggering $15.194 trillion to an even bigger $16.394 trillion. This increase was the last one of three granted in the Budget Control Act of 2011, a result of that summer’s debt ceiling negotiations, which allowed for a total debt limit increase of $2.1 trillion.
The $650 billion fiscal cliff distracted from the $48 trillion looming fiscal crisis. Much of 2012 was spent arguing over tax rates in the fiscal cliff debate while lawmakers ignored the much more dangerous looming fiscal crisis. As large and as major a concern as federal budget deficits are today, they stand in the shadow of $48 trillion in long-term unfunded obligations in Social Security and Medicare. Even with President Obama’s originally proposed tax hikes in his budget, the federal debt would still rise by more than $7.7 trillion in the next 10 years.
Social Security ran a deficit for the second year in a row. According to the 2012 trustees report, Social Security spent $45 billion more in benefits in 2011 than it took in from its payroll tax. This deficit is in addition to a $49 billion gap in 2010 and an expected average annual gap of about $66 billion between 2012 and 2018. Social Security’s deficits will balloon yet further. After adjusting for inflation, annual deficits will reach $95 billion in 2020 and $318.7 billion in 2030 before the trust fund runs out in 2033 and a 25 percent across-the-board benefit cut occurs.
Three years of spend-as-you-go policies without a federal budget. The last time both chambers of Congress agreed on a budget was on April 29, 2009. Since then, Congress has operated on a spend-as-you-go basis, characterized by incoherent, ad hoc budget procedures. The House passed budget resolutions each of the past two years, but the Senate failed to do its part.
The government spent nearly $30,000 per American household. The average American household’s share of federal spending in 2012 was $29,691, or roughly two-thirds of median household income. The government collected $20,293 per household in taxes in 2012, resulting in a budget deficit of $9,398 per household in 2012.
Obamacare will spend $1.7 trillion over 10 years. After the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare, the Congressional Budget Office did an update of its scoring of the law. The result: Obamacare will spend $1.7 trillion over 10 years on its coverage expansion provisions alone, including a massive expansion of Medicaid and federal subsidies for the new health insurance exchanges. This means that Obamacare will increase federal health spending by 15 percent.
Social Security was the biggest federal spending program. In 1993, Social Security surpassed national defense as the largest federal spending category, and it remains first today. The top five biggest spending programs, in order, are 1) Social Security; 2) national defense; 3) Medicare; 4) Medicaid, CHIP, and other government health care; and 5) interest on the debt.
More than 40 percent of Americans are on some government program. According to Census Bureau data and Heritage Foundation calculations, 128.8 million people in America depend on a government program for basic (or not so basic) needs, such as rent, prescription drugs, and higher education.
