Postal workers continue hunger strike against proposed delivery cuts
By Alicia M. Cohn- 12/22/12 11:33 AM ET
Despite most of Congress leaving town for the holidays, postal workers are continuing a hunger strike protesting legislation to save the United States Postal Service (USPS) through budget cuts.
The hunger strike began Tuesday and is expected to end late Saturday, according to The Washington Post.
Six former and current postal workers, part of a group called Communities and Postal Workers United, are calling the strike “six days starving to save six-day delivery.” Their goal is to stop Congress from reducing postal delivery to five days a week.
NYPD Exploring Ways To Search Online For ‘Deranged’ Gunmen
December 21, 2012 3:48 PM
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – In the wake of the Newtown massacre, the NYPD is examining ways to search the internet for potential “deranged” gunmen.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that their searches would be similar to those being used to spot terrorist chatter online.
“And what we’re talking about is publicly available websites, chatrooms, that sort of thing,” Kelly said, adding that algorithms could be used. That will enable us to use, perhaps, commonly used terms that are used by people engaged in this sort of activity,” he said.
Something different, I know this is a bit off the beaten track for this blog but we though readers may enjoy the insights in this article. Chryssoula Katsikoudi is Middle East Analyst, education and human rights activist .
Is Jordan the next Middle East conflagration of political and social
December 23,2012
Chryssy Katsikoudis
Geostrategic Forecasting Corporation
The recent protests that swept through Jordan in response to the governments decision to cut fuel subsidies has now turned into calls for overthrowing the Monarchy of King Abdullah II. Some of the extreme slogans included chants from the “Arab Spring” favoring “democracy,
justice, and freedom.” However, the Middle East has been known for not particularly being engaged in democratic reforms, especially intervention from the West, such as the United States, has caused further American hostility. Jordan has been politically unstable in the last few years,
and many argue that the hopes and chants for “democracy, justice, and freedom” are another set of extreme slogans used among a generally reformist opposition.
In today’s world, many Muslims and non-Muslims believe that democracy is at constant odds with the Islamic faith. The issue is not about transition, but whether Islam can support a democratic order. What makes democracy so controversial in the Middle East, also in many
other cultures around the world, is the fact that it has a unique historical root in the West. However, as much politically unstable as Jordan is, it is unlikely it will collapse or be exposed to Jihad Islamist fanatics like we are seeing in Somalia at the moment.
Unlike Syria or Iraq at the moment, Jordan is a fairly middle-income country – despite its budget crisis – with a strong and respectable military. Its state legitimacy and the people of Jordan interacting allows the country to invest in jobs, medical care, and most importantly education. Women’s issues have also taken a step forward, however, many women’s rights activists argue there is still a lot to be done. Ever since Jordan’s independence from Britain in
1946, women’s movement have fueled the engine of gender-inequality in the country. Educated women were granted suffrage by 1955, but it was not until 1974 where all women were granted the right to vote. In 1993, the first female candidate was elected in the lower house of Parliament
soon after following the first women appointed to the upper house of Parliament.1 Despite its past and recent turmoil, as a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, Jordan seems to be the most “democratic” government in the Arab world today. A country exposed to conflict in the
North and financial crisis, it is the least corrupt. Or so it seems;
In Jordan, murder is punishable by death, but so called “honor killings” which are still happening on many occasions, the courts have the right to commute or reduce the sentence, particularly if the victims family is asking for leniency. Why is it that men are not fully
prosecuted for murdering female relatives over honor-crimes? How can a country who represented to the international community as a legitimate, and prosperous state, by celebrity Queens such a Noor and Rania, to be so patriarchal; at the same time when current Queen Rania
is portrayed as a symbol for female equality by her people?
Ahmad Ghashmary, a unique and rare male feminist, has been a passionate advocate to stop social and legal acceptance of men murdering female relatives to honor-crimes. In 2006, the Jordanian Supreme Court suspended Fatima Habib from her position as a trial judge because she
had sentenced Saleh Radwan to death for killing his younger sister, Dana, when he discovered that she was having an affair with a male friend of his. Saleh went on saying that his sister has
ed. Sanja Kelly and Julia Breslin, “Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa,” (New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2010), pp. 193.
“dishonored the family.”2 Outraged by the sentence, some of the male judges wanted to sign a petition to appoint a male judge to the Supreme Court to give “proper justice to the dishonored man.”3 And so they succeeded; Habib was believed to be in favor of women and that was a good
enough reason to welcome the Courts decision to replace her. Judge Habib said in one of her statements that the Supreme Court decision to reverse her sentence was “barbaric.” She went on saying, “It will take us ages to convince people here that women are human beings, that they are
as wise as men if not wiser sometimes.”4 This case was only a sheer example of how extremists spread propaganda claiming that women’s emancipation is a Western plot designed to eliminate Islamic morals. Khaled Abou El Fadl, a Professor of Law at the University of California in Los Angeles, and a Muslim, argues in his book “The Great Theft” that Jihad and the treatment of women in Islam are the two most controversial and misunderstood topics about the Islamic faith; and I believe he is absolutely right. The issue of women in Islam, as well as Jihad, invokes the images of oppression and cruelty against women. However, the sole problem does not lie with Islam as a religion itself, but the fact that ultraconservative and extremists have adopted the truth about the Islamic faith and formed Islam’s image into a dominant role to be misunderstood by the world, especially the West. This patriarchal society lead by supremacy has turned honor killings justifiable, when in reality it has absolutely nothing to do with Islam.
After all, when we see all the turmoil and protests going on in Jordan recently, the media and many lead us to believe that Jordan is nowhere near from collapsing, and all this is just another “riot” that will pass; but the problem lies much deeper that that. Yes, Jordan does have
strong international relationships and a strong military, but is that all it takes for a developed, and “democratic” country as many claim, to be on verge of collapse? What if women were suddenly to take the streets of Amman and started a revolution as they have in Tunisia a few years ago?
Isn’t the oh so influential Queen Rania a symbol for women’s emancipation?
In the midst of all the struggle for women’s equality in Jordan, Ahmad Ghashmary believes there is hope. In 2007, he has launched a new group called “LAHA” which means “For Her” in Arabic to encourage activism for women’s rights. He believes changes must come for women if they are not to lose half of their society. However, as much as we love to hope this fine activist will succeed to get his massage through, the real problem is not only social attitudes in families but with the “government” itself, or more so the Courts.This attitude of understanding the motives for killing relatives as an excuse to reduce or pardon the sentence will guarantee the social collapse of Jordan; if murder is punishable by death, then so shall honor killings be. A country cannot prosper “democratically” is distinctions like that are made. Women can no longer be trapped in a maze; trying to find their way out of a
long road ahead.
ed. Nasser Weddady and Sohrab Ahmani, “Arab Spring Dreams,” (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012), pp.
110.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid, pp. 111.
NJ TRANSIT PILOTS REAL-TIME SERVICE INFORMATION FOR BUS CUSTOMERS
MyBus Now pilot program begins on Mercer County-area bus routes on December 13
December 13, 2012
NEWARK, NJ — NJ TRANSIT today announced the launch of MyBus Now, the agency’s first real-time service information system for bus customers, which will kick off December 13 as a pilot program on 16 Mercer County-area bus routes.
“The launch of the MyBus Now pilot program marks an important step toward systemwide implementation of this vital customer information tool,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein. “With access to real-time bus location and arrival information literally at their fingertips, bus customers will be able to make informed decisions about their travel, even while on the go.”
MyBus Now will use “smart bus” technology to provide customers with access to real-time bus arrival estimates to a specific bus stop within a 30-minute window. Customers will be able to access the information in three ways: from a desktop computer through njtransit.com, from a web-enabled smartphone through the mobile version of njtransit.com, and via SMS-text messaging directly to their cell phones.
Starting Thursday, December 13, customers of bus routes that operate out of NJ TRANSIT’s Hamilton Garage will be able to use MyBus Now to access real-time service information. The 16 bus routes, which serve communities in Mercer County and parts of Somerset and Middlesex counties, include:
No. 600 Trenton-Plainsboro (U.S. 1 Corridor)
No. 601 The College of New Jersey-Trenton-Hamilton Marketplace
No. 602 Pennington-Trenton
No. 603 Mercer Mall-Hamilton Square-Yardville-Hamilton Marketplace
No. 604 East Trenton-Trenton Transit Center
No. 605 Montgomery Township-Princeton-Quaker Bridge Mall
No. 606 Princeton-Mercerville-Hamilton Marketplace
No. 607 Ewing-Trenton-Independence Plaza
No. 608 Hamilton-West Trenton
No. 609 Ewing-Quaker Bridge Mall
No. 610 Trenton-Princeton Seasonal Service
No. 611 Trenton-River View Plaza Circulator
No. 612 Lawrence-West Windsor
No. 613 Mercer Mall-Hamilton Square-Yardville-Hamilton Marketplace
No. 619 Ewing-Quaker Bridge Mall-Mercer County College
No. 655 Princeton-Plainsboro
NJ TRANSIT selected Hamilton Garage for the pilot program because the relatively small size of its operations and the fact that none of its bus routes intersect with other garages provide an ideal testing environment. The pilot will enable NJ TRANSIT to address any issues with the system prior to a full systemwide rollout in spring 2013.
NJ TRANSIT is currently taking delivery of 1,145 new buses that are already equipped with smart bus technology provided by Clever Devices LTD. In addition, NJ TRANSIT has procured additional smart bus platforms to retrofit the remaining buses in the agency’s fleet, including those on routes operated by private carriers under contract to NJ TRANSIT.
The Clever Devices platform offers many operational and customer benefits, including automatic bus stop announcements, vehicle condition monitoring, passenger counting and real-time location reporting. The data provided through this technology will allow for greater efficiency in terms of scheduling, planning and maintenance of the NJ TRANSIT bus network.
MyBus Now builds on NJ TRANSIT’s “MyBus” system, which launched in October 2010. Based on a system of bus stop ID numbers—unique five-digit numbers NJ TRANSIT has assigned to each of its bus routes—MyBus enables customers who have cell phones with SMS (text messaging) capabilities to receive bus schedule information for a specific stop directly to their cell phones. Customers can optain their bus stop ID online at njtransit.com, or from MyBus signs posted at bus stops statewide.
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Readers takes an unconventional view of of the Connecticut School Shooting
December 23,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, A readers pointed out a creepy idea and reminded us that Al Qaeda in the past has targeted schools and school children .
On September 1, 2004, Beslan’s Secondary School Number One was taken over by Islamist Chechen terrorists. 1200 adults and children were taken hostage on what was supposed to be an exciting first day of school. When the siege ended 3 days later, 344 were dead, including 186 children. Hundreds more were wounded.( https://www.nationalterroralert.com/2007/09/17/the-terrorist-threat-to-our-schools-pt-1/ )
Then speculated ,what would happen if a misguided lone wolf was convinced that this was the thing to do? A disgruntled alienated youth playing video games all day long is a perfect recruitment target .
Al Qaeda Targets Our Schoolchildren
September 25, 2007
By Marc Sheppard
Nearly 6 months have passed since I first challenged the inexcusable refusal by DHS and FBI authorities to publicly connect the obviously connectable dots representing an unnerving number of alarming events — particularly in the wake of the Beslan school massacre. These include:
Videotapes confiscated in Afghanistan showing al-Qaeda terrorists training to takeover a school [newly available Video]
Spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith‘s declaration of al-Qaeda’s “right” to kill 2 million American children
An Iraqi national with known terrorist connections caught with a computer disk containing information detailing Department of Education crisis planning for U.S school districts.
Two Saudi men – one wearing a black trench coat despite the Florida heat — terrifying a busload of Tampa schoolchildren by boarding a school bus and remaining for the entire ride to school, all the while laughing and speaking Arabic.
A March FBI/DHS bulletin noting “recent suspicious activity” by foreigners who drive school buses, are licensed to drive them, or have actually managed to purchase them right here at home. Including “members of the unnamed extremist groups” who have obtained commercial drivers licenses with school bus endorsements.
Osama bin Laden’s promise that the 2004 terrorist attack at Beslan will happen many times over in the United States.
In that time, little or nothing has been done to relieve parents’ understandable anxieties, despite the fresh dots which continued to accrue on this disturbing non-puzzle.
Dots like the seventeen full-sized yellow school buses reported stolen from charter schools, business schools and private bus companies in Houston, Texas, over the past few months. Connect to that and previous disturbing stories the fact that thousands of school bus radios have also been stolen (2000 in California in 2005 alone), and the images shaped should be triggering earsplitting alarms throughout all branches of media and law enforcement.
But instead — the silence looms apparent while the question remains: Why?
How Instagram Is Teaching Us About Big Government
James VelasquezDecember 22, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Instagram, the popular photo-sharing and social-networking service acquired this year by Facebook, faces a strong public backlash over a newly proposed terms of service agreement that allows your photos to be sold to outside businesses without either compensation or consent.
This move, while certainly savvy from the profit perspective, caused a huge pushback from the application’s users. Whether they sent complaints, deleted photographs, or removed their entire account, the consensus seems to be that the change was a violation of a larger, somehow more fundamental agreement about the nature Instagram’s service. This sentiment was enough to motivate Wired’s Mat Honan:
“By putting terms in place that offered no way to opt out, short of deleting your account, Instagram delivered an ultimatum,” he writes. “And so I quit Instagram on principle. Because I’m tired of contributing to the commodification of my own existence.”
“The commodification of my own existence.” Amazing sort of phrase. It is an American sentiment: a principled defense of the individual and the ownership of your own being, an assertion of the liberty that comes with life.
But if this is the proper response to “commodification” in the business world, why do we continue to tolerate it in politics?
After all, Instagram only wants our photographs. Perhaps they figured that Americans—being so accommodating to politicians and bureaucrats who insist on having power over land, homes, wages, television, cars, health care, and retirement funds—could stand to give up control over their venerated pictures of bare feet and empty plates.
Whether it’s the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), our lives have never been more subjected to the whims of an unelected, “progressive” bureaucracy.
When it comes to government power grabs, it turns out everything is a commodity.
And who better to make the point than the Godfather of Liberalism, Woodrow Wilson?
“Suppose,” he imagines, “that I were building a great piece of powerful machinery, and suppose that I should so awkwardly and unskillfully assemble the parts of it that every time one part tried to move it would be interfered with by the others, and the whole thing would buckle up and be checked. Liberty for the several parts would consist in the best possible assembling and adjustment of them all, would it not?”
He goes on to make the appropriate conclusion: “Human freedom consists in perfect adjustments of human interests and human activities and human energies.”
So there’s the liberal view: Human beings are nothing more than component parts of a giant “Liberty Locomotive.” We are the commodities, and when our masterful engineers tell us that we must move one way or another, go to one place or the next—who could rightfully object?
But take heart: At least when it comes to Instagram, liberty prevails. The complaints triggered a rapid apology, and the company made clear that “we respect that your photos are your photos. Period.”
Americans eagerly await such respect from our government.
Ridgewood surges to wrestling tournament championship
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012
BY BRIAN FARRELL
SPORTS EDITOR
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
FLANDERS — The season got off to a great start Saturday for the Ridgewood High School wrestling team.
Through excellent performances from many individuals in the Maroons’ first year of participation in a tough Mount Olive High School Christmas Tournament, Ridgewood captured the championship of the 13-team field, marking the first time since 2001 that a RHS wrestling team had won a tournament title, last copping the crown at the Mahwah Holiday Tournament.
The other teams in the tournament were host Mount Olive, Middletown North, Madison, Bernards, Mendham, Newton, Kinnelon, Pequannock, Butler, Bloomfield, Old Tappan and New Fairfield, CT.
The Maroons were led by champions Joe Oliva, who pinned in the finals at 126 pounds, Nick Saglimbeni (132) and Stephen Gerdner (145), both of whom prevailed by 1-0 decisions.
https://www.northjersey.com/sports/184378711_Ridgewood_surges_to_wrestling_tournament_championship.html Congratulations to the RHS Wrestling Team
Ridgewood High School’s Ryan Neville and Nick Salamone made the 2012 All-Suburban boys cross-country first team
Ridgewood NJ, Both Ridgewood High School’s Ryan Neville and Nick Salamone made the 2012 All-Suburban boys cross-country first team. NMaing Ridgewood the only school beside Don Bosco to have two or more runners on the squad.
RYAN NEVILLE, Ridgewood — This junior proved to be a perfect complement to the Maroon lineup, scoring valuable points as his team continued its winning ways with a third straight state-sectional title. His personal ledger included a 31st at the Bowdoin Invitational, a 10th in the Maroon Invitational Groups 3-4 race and a 55th in the Shore Invitational C race.
Neville opened the postseason with an 18th in the Big North Freedom Division. A 14th in the Bergen A championships and a seventh in the North 1, Group 4 meet preceded a 14th at the BMOC and a 45th in the State Group 4 finals.
NICK SALAMONE, Ridgewood — After being named to the second team in 2010 and 2011, a strong senior campaign helped him move up to the elite unit this year. He was fifth at the Bowdoin Invitational, then won the Maroon Invitational Groups 3-4 race and ran 13th in the Shore Invitational C race before starting the final month with a sixth in the Big North Freedom Division.
Salamone was third in the Bergen A meet and came through with a win in the North 1, Group 4 meet to lead the Maroons to the team championship. After a seventh in the BMOC, he was 16th in the State Group 4 finals and, given a wild card into the SMOC, he placed 24th in his final high school race.
4 from Ridgewood High School named to 2012 All-Suburban girls cross-country
Ridgewood NJ , The Ridgewood High School was well represented 2012 All-Suburban girls cross-country , with 10 Ridgewood High School women named for the 2012 All-Suburban girls cross-country .
KELLY CLEARY, Ridgewood — It was a consistent season for the sophomore, who will be a major contributor in 2013. She finished 39th at the Bowdoin Invitational before winning her first major race, the Ridgewood Invitational.
Cleary’s postseason started with a ninth in the Big North championships and a sixth at the Bergen A meet. Her 12th-place finish in the North 1, Group 4 meet and an 18th in the BMOC preceded a 57th in the State Group 4 finals that ended her season a step short of the State Meet of Champions (SMOC).
EMILY FISHBEIN, Ridgewood — The Maroons’ annual success is based on the depth of their lineup, and this junior helped her team to four major-meet team titles, including their 26th Bergen Meet of Champions crown.
Individually, Fishbein was 30th at the Bowdoin Invitational and 16th at the Big North championships, followed by and a personal best of fifth in the Bergen A race. She placed 10th in the North 1, Group 4 meet and 12th in the BMOC before closing her campaign with a 105th in the State Group 4 meet.
CATHERINE PAGANO, Ridgewood — After a freshman campaign that was derailed by a stress fracture, this sophomore came back stronger than ever and was the consensus leader of the Maroons. She ran fifth at the Bowdoin Invitational and was second in the Shore Invitational championship race before embarking on the postseason with a third at the Big North meet.
Pagano placed second at the Bergen A meet, then won the North 1, Group 4 title. she took third in both the BMOC and the State Group 4 finals before closing the year with a 15th-place showing in the SMOC, the highest finish by a sophomore in the state.
LAURA WEISBERGER, Ridgewood — This junior continued to get stronger as the fall wore on, solidifying her presence in the lineup as the postseason began.
Overcoming a stress fracture in the early going, Weisberger got things going with an 11th-place finish in the Big North championships and followed that with a third in the Bergen A meet. After finishing eighth in the North 1, Group 4 race, she ran a 25th in the BMOC and a 53rd in the State Group 4 finals, missing out on the SMOC.
and FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
SAM HALVORSEN, Ridgewood — Year in and year out, there seems to be a solid freshman runner on the Maroon squad, and this rookie can stand with the best of them. She ran nine races and finished in the top five in every one, beginning with fourth-place outings in both the Season Opener and the Darlington freshman meets as well as the Ridgewood Invitational.
Halvorsen followed with a pair of second-place finishes in the Maroon Invitational freshman race and the Brett Taylor freshman run. She then ripped off four straight winning performances, beginning with the Big North freshman race and continuing with the Bergen County freshman and the Doc Braver junior varsity races. She closed the season with a victory at the State JV/Freshman Championship Meet.
In observation of the Christmas holidays, Ridgewood Village Hall will be closed December 24 and 25. Village Hall will reopen Wednesday, December 26 at 8:30A.M.
Rearyard Garbage and Curb Recycling will be collected on Monday, December 24. The schedule is suspended on Tuesday, December 25 and will resume on Wednesday, December 26.
Insurance can ease stress, and cause it, for property owners struggling to rebuild lives
SATURDAY DECEMBER 22, 2012, 11:40 PM
BY KAREN SUDOL STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Dan and Gina McDonnell have been told that their insurance will cover replacement of the floors in their Seaside Heights summer home that was filled with as much as 4 inches from Sandy’s surge.
But the torn fence outside their nearby rental apartment? Not covered. Improvements mandated post-Sandy to storm-proof their air conditioning system? Also not covered.
Navigating the often-frustrating and time-consuming maze of their flood and homeowners’ policies is proving to be a job in itself for the couple, said Gina McDonnell, whose main residence is in Oakland.
“Even though we don’t have as much to do as rebuilding an entire house, there is a lot of red tape to go through and it’s stressful,” she said.
The storm left the couple’s ranch-style summer home on Sumner Avenue in Seaside Heights with as much as 4 inches of brackish water in various rooms. Carpets from three bedrooms and the enclosed front porch were removed and furniture cleared. Many waterlogged items could not be salvaged and were placed curbside.
Holiday Tidbits : Mistletoe Effective Against Colon Cancer
December 22, 2012 8:23 AM
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Australia (CBSDC) – Researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia have found another purpose for mistletoe – apart from helping potential suitors steal kisses around the holidays.
Mistletoe could also be used to help the effectiveness of chemotherapy, or could even act as an alternative to chemotherapy for treatment of colon cancer, according to Newswise.
The American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C. noted on its official website that colorectal cancers are preventable – as many as 45 percent of occurrences could be curbed with dietary and habit modifications.
Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce thanks many contributors to Tree Lighting
To the editor:
Ridgewood’s “tradition” continues. Thank you to everyone who supported this year’s Downtown for the Holiday’s Tree Lighting Celebration 2012.
The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce would like to publicly recognize and thank everyone who generously supported this year’s event. Shopping and dining locally is the best way to say thank you to the Ridgewood business district. Thank you to all thousands of residents, families and friends who shared the tree lighting and entertainment of this special evening in Ridgewood.
In alphabetical order, thank you to: American Legion Post 53; Art of Motion; Arthur Murray Dance Studio; Atlantic Stewardship Bank; Bagelicious; Baumgart’s Café; Ben & Jerry’s; Ben Franklin fourth-grade music department; Boiling Springs Savings Bank; Camp Wekeela; CC Van Emburgh Funeral Home; Christmas Tree Fund; Clearview Warner Movie Theatre; Coldwell Banker; Country Pancake House & Restaurant; Columbia Bank; Cupcakes by Carousel; Daily Treat; Duxiana; Elise Chelak; From the Top Music Studio; Haagen Dazs; Harmony Celebration Chorus; Kevin Downs Tree Service and staff; LeMi Fashions; Life Opportunities Unlimited; Little Ivy Learning Center; Mark Santa; mayor and council; Natalie Weil; North Jersey Community Bank; Old Stories New Views Family Therapy; Orpheus Club of Ridgewood; Park West Tavern; Porch Light Productions; Project Interact; residents, friends, families; Richard Bassler and Family; Ridgewood AM Rotary Foundation; Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce; The Ridgewood News; Ridgewood Women Gardner’s; Ridgewood YMCA; RHS Marching Band; RHS Orchestra; RHS Singers; Sakurabana Japanese Restaurant; TD Bank; Take 4 Band; The Aristocrats Band; The Office Bar & Grill Restaurant; The Valley Hospital; Troast Vision & Hearing Center; Ulrich, Inc.; Van Dyk Healthcare; village manager; Village of Ridgewood Municipality; police/fire/parks public works; Washington Elm VFW Post 192; West Bergen Mental Healthcare; West Ridgewood Dental Professionals; Wostbrock Home; and all the stores and restaurants.
You can view Downtown for the Holidays Tree Lighting Celebration on the Chamber website at experienceridgewood.com Please stop by and say “hi” to Santa in Van Neste Park on Saturdays until Dec. 22 and ride the free Santa Trolley from noon to 4 p.m.
The Chamber of Commerce apologizes if we missed anyone; we certainly appreciate everyone’s dedication to Ridgewood. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Holidays and best wishes to you and your families. Please shop and dine locally in Ridgewood. As a reminder, free parking will be available in the Business District on Dec. 15 and 22; thank you mayor and council.
Thinking of Starting a Family? Already Pregnant? Get Off to A Smart Start for You and Your Baby!
There’s so much to consider when you are planning for a new baby. Celebrate your journey and get the support and guidance you need at a free, fun and informative afternoon that will include information on A Smart Start, Valley’s baby planning service.
Join us:
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Noon to 3 p.m.
The Valley Hospital Robert & Audrey Luckow Pavilion
One Valley Health Plaza
Paramus, NJ 07652
(behind the Fashion center)
Enjoy light refreshments, mingling and goodie bags. Check out the fabulous selection of items for sale.
Education presentations (each program will be offered twice):
• 12.30 to 1 – Center for Holistic Birth
• 1:15 to 1:30 – Family Education class overview
• 2 to 2:30 – Center for Holistic Birth
• 2:30 to 2:45 – Family Education class overview
Shop and Visit our Information Tables and Demonstrations:
• Visit assorted vendors and start your “wish list” for items for yourself and your baby
• Yoga demonstration
• Get answers to your questions about pregnancy, delivery, and baby at the
Ask a Professional booths
• Baby equipment demo compliments of Buy Buy Baby
Your family and friends are welcome. Please register in advance by email at ASmartStart@ValleyHealth.com or by calling 201-291-6151.
Start the New Year with Senior Programs at Ridgewood Recreation
Start the New Year with
Senior Programs with Ridgewood Recreation
January/February Session
The Ridgewood Department of Parks and Recreation is pleased to offer winter programs for active senior adults at the Community Center, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood.
Don’t stay in; the senior bus runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call 201-670-5500, ext 200 for details or to make reservations.
A variety of classes offered are as follows beginning the week of January 7, 2013:
Mondays Zumba 10:30 a.m.
Tuesdays Silver Strength & Motion 10 a.m.
Mindful Meditation 11 a.m.
Wednesdays For Men Only – Men’s Fitness 9:15 a.m.
The Art of Chinese Brush Painting 9:30 a.m.
Jazzercise 10:30 a.m.
Chair Yoga 11:30 a.m.
Fridays Silver Strength & Motion 10:30 a.m.
Each class is $24 for 6 sessions; priced for Ridgewood residents 55 and older. Registration may be open to others if space is available; additional fees will apply. Please let us know if special accommodations are needed for any program.
In addition, don’t miss our free Classic Movie Tuesday, sponsored by The Hobbyists Unlimited, the first Tuesday of each month, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
January 8th – “Chariots of Fire” (1981)
February 5th – “One, Two, Three” (1961)
March 5th – “Grand Illusion” (1937)
You may register in person or by mail to The Stable, 259 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information call 201-670-5560. A listing of programs with all details and the registration form can be found at www.ridgewoodnj.net/recreation.
