Ridgewood Planning Board member resigns from post
Thursday February 7, 2013, 5:27 PM
The Ridgewood News
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Costantino Suriano stepped down from the Ridgewood Planning Board last week, citing personal reasons and the inability to devote the appropriate amount of time to |participate in discussions and |decisions.
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Suriano, who was not present at Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting, is an attorney who travels extensively, both domestic and abroad, for business purposes.
The resignation, which was discussed briefly at last week’s Ridgewood Council work session and announced again at this week’s board meeting, comes at a significant time.
Ridgewood Public Schools : EMERGENCY MINIMUM DAY ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8
February 7, 2013
Tomorrow, Friday, February 8th, weather conditions are expected to deteriorate after school begins. All students will be dismissed at the Emergency Minimum Day schedule as follows:
RED Program
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Kindergarten AM Classes
8:45 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Kindergarten PM Classes
Cancelled
Grades 1-5
8:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Grades 6-8
8:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Grades 9-12
7:47 a.m. – 12:18 p.m.
Cafeterias will not operate and lunches will not be provided. If there is any change to this schedule you will be notified as soon as possible.
Thank you and have a good evening.
Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Ridgewood Public Schools
NJ TRANSIT Announces Systemwide Cross-Honoring in Advance of Winter Storm – Friday, February 8 and Saturday, February 9, 2013
In preparation for the impending winter storm, NJ TRANSIT operations, customer service and police personnel are taking steps to minimize delays and ensure service reliability and safety. Customers are strongly advised to check njtransit.com before traveling for up-to-the-minute service information.
Full System-wide cross-honoring in effect: NJ TRANSIT will offer full systemwide cross-honoring for the entire service day Friday, February 8 and Saturday, February 9, enabling customers to use their ticket or pass on an alternate travel mode—rail, light rail, NJ TRANSIT bus or on private bus carriers at no additional cost.
Additionally, NJ TRANSIT is encouraging customers to consider traveling early on Friday due to the expected impact of the storm on the evening commute. Early getaway service will be offered on select rail lines Friday afternoon.
View schedules for Friday here.
View rail schedules here.
Please note that NJ TRANSIT will closely monitor the crowds at New York Penn Station, Hoboken Terminal and the Port Authority Bus Terminal and make further adjustmentsto service as necessary.
Customers are advised of the following:
Systemwide: NJ TRANSIT plans to operate a regular weekday schedule on Friday, February 8, and a regular weekend schedule on Saturday, February 9. Depending on the impact of the storm, it may be necessary for NJ TRANSIT to modify service as conditions change.
Bus Service: While every effort will be made to continue operating bus service throughout the state, customers may experience delays or detours on their routes in the event of extreme winter weather conditions. Customers are advised to plan accordingly and anticipate disruptions to bus service.
Travel Advice: For the latest travel information, visit njtransit.com or access our Twitter feed at @NJ_TRANSIT prior to starting your trip. In the event of delays or service adjustments, NJ TRANSIT will provide the most current service information via the My Transit alert system, which delivers travel advisories for your specific trip to your cellphone, PDA or pager. (If you are not yet a My Transit subscriber, we encourage you to sign up at njtransit.com/mytransit) Service information is also available by calling (973) 275-5555 or from broadcast traffic reports.
Listen closely to public address announcementsat stations for late-breaking service information.
Stairs, flooring and platforms can be slippery, so please use caution when walking along wet surfaces or any outdoor surface exposed to the weather. Use extra care when boarding or exiting buses and trains. Report slippery or unsafe conditions to bus operators, train crews or NJ TRANSIT staff.
During this time, customers should allow for additional travel time. For further information, please call NJ TRANSIT Customer Service at (973) 275-5555.
MAJOR WINTER STORM TO IMPACT THE TRI-STATE AREA FRIDAY INTOSATURDAY..
WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
355 PM EST THU FEB 7 2013
…MAJOR WINTER STORM TO IMPACT THE TRI-STATE AREA FRIDAY INTO
SATURDAY…
…WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM FRIDAY TO 1 PM EST
SATURDAY…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW …WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM FRIDAY TO
1 PM EST SATURDAY.
* LOCATIONS…INTERIOR NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY.
* HAZARD TYPES…HEAVY SNOW.
* ACCUMULATIONS…SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 10 TO 14 INCHES…WITH
LOCALIZED HIGHER AMOUNTS WITHIN DEVELOPING SNOW BANDS.
* TEMPERATURES…FALLING INTO THE UPPER 20S BY FRIDAY EVENING.
* VISIBILITIES…ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.
* TIMING…THE STRONGEST WINDS AND HEAVIEST SNOW WILL OCCUR FRIDAY
EVENING INTO SATURDAY MORNING.
* IMPACTS…HEAVY SNOW AND WINDS WILL MAKE FOR DANGEROUS DRIVING
CONDITIONS WITH VISIBILITIES NEAR ZERO IN WHITE-OUT CONDITIONS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW
ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN
EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL…KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT…FOOD…
AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.
A Whole Lotta Nothing: Kenneth Gabbert will remain village manager in Ridgewood
Thursday February 7, 2013, 1:28 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — Kenneth Gabbert will remain the village manager for at least the next few months, according to a statement from Mayor Paul Aronsohn.
The statement — composed by the entire council — says that the governing body “has agreed to work toward a common goal and is establishing an evaluation process for the village manager and will closely monitor it over the next few months.”
Earlier this week, administration sources contended the embattled village manager would be asked Wednesday night by a contingent of three council members to resign.
It is not clear if Gabbert was actually asked to step down during the closed session.
Reader says Aronson, Pucciarelli and Hauck are subverting the public’s right to be a part of the process
The parking ticket accusation as a defense of Aronsohn and his running mates’ violation of the Sunshine law is pretty pathetic. As citizens we should be asking ourselves why our mayor and his campaign team are so bent on getting all of these developments through with little or no cost benefit analysis being done. The whole thing reminds me of how Valley got the Master Plan amended – through back room deals and closed door meetings. Does anyone remember when half the people wanting to attend the Planning Board vote at GW were shut out?
The Village is in a very scary place right now. The ticket of Aronson, Pucciarelli and Hauck are clearly operating and voting as one. With this majority, they appear to be meeting privately to determine what they think is right for the rest of us. They are subverting the public’s right to be a part of the process and trying to cram their own ideas down our throats.
And then when someone has the audacity to question the Mayor or his team we get this type of political vindictiveness. Parking tickets? Really?
How stupid does the media think we really are?
Febuary 6,2013
By Ziad Abdelnour
I woke up this past Saturday morning and accessed my media channels to find out that all was well. An Associated Press article declared a healthy jobs market, fantastic auto sales, a surging housing market, and a stock market rocketing to new all-time highs. What’s not to love? If the mainstream media says the economy is as good as new, it must be so. Why should we let facts get in the way of a good storyline? The stock market has surged to 2007 highs, so the country’s employment situation must be strong.
The S&P 500 has regained almost all its losses since October 2007 as Bernanke and Washington politicians chose to save Wall Street and screw over Main Street. The working age population has risen by 12.8 million since 2007 and there are 4 million less Americans employed.
I guess facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored…. The December Household Survey from the BLS being touted by the mainstream media as proof of a jobs recovery told a slightly different story:
The number of unemployed Americans went up by 126,000 in one month
Another 169,000 Americans left the workforce evidently because their stock market gains made them wealthy.
There are 250,000 more Americans unemployed than there were in September 2012.
There are 6,000 less Americans employed than there were in October 2012.
The unemployment rate reported to the masses went up to 7.9% (the true rate reached 23%).
This is just the picture over the last few months. The picture since 2007 is beyond horrific, as more than 10 million Americans have left the workforce. Everyone knows people willingly leave the labor force when the economy crashes and their net worth is reduced by 30%. Who needs a paying job then? Just because there are 101 million working age Americans not working and the labor participation rate of 63.6% is at a three decade low, certainly doesn’t mean we aren’t experiencing a tremendous jobs recovery, according to the mainstream media.
The deep thinkers and bullshit artists at CNBC, Fox, CNN and the rest of the captured corporate status quo mouthpieces, propagate the false storyline that the reason for Americans leaving the workforce is Baby Boomers retiring. Considering the average Boomer has $90,000 of total savings and 28% of them have less than $1,000 saved, I suspect there are few willingly leaving the workforce. The Boomers have taken on 4 million additional jobs since the low point in 2009, while the 16 to 54 year olds have lost an additional 2.9 million jobs. Does this reflect a strengthening jobs market? Does the fact that real hourly wages have fallen for the last two years reflect an improving labor market?
Inquiring minds might wonder how auto sales could be booming when there are 4 million less employed Americans and real wages are falling. Of course, mainstream media moron journalists aren’t paid to inquire, think critically, or even think at all. They are paid to regurgitate propaganda designed to keep the masses sedated and ignorant. The “fabulous” rebound in auto sales has been buoyed by the return of easy money lending, even to deadbeat borrowers with lousy credit histories. There is a reason the Federal government hasn’t attempted to spin off their 80% control of Ally Financial (aka GMAC, Ditech, Rescap). The Feds are attempting to manufacture a recovery by doling out subprime auto loans to anyone who can scratch an X on a loan document and offering 0% loans over 7 years to good credits. The losses on these subprime loans will be in the billions when the next leg down in this Crisis hits.
The taxpayer will unknowingly pick up the tab, just as they have been doing for the last five years. The trend in this is nothing but a Federal government induced fraud.
Welcome to the Age of disinformation and utter stupidity.
Ziad Abdelnour is the President & CEO, Blackhawk Partners, Inc., Oil & Gas Trader & Financier, Lobbyist, Activist, Philanthropist.
Photo credit:Boyd A. Loving Crash at East Ridgewood and Circle Avenues Injures One
February 7,2013
Boyd A. Loving
12:06 PM
Ridgewood NJ , Ridgewood Police, Fire, and EMS units responded to the scene of a two vehicle accident at the intersection of East Ridgwood and Circle Avenues on Thursday morning.
Photo credit:Boyd A. Loving
The driver of a 2- door Toyota sedan received minor injuries to her hand as a result of her vehicle’s air bags deploying. The driver of the other vehicle involved, a Ford Ranger pickup truck, was uninjured. Both vehicles were towed from the scene. Fire Department personnel cleaned up a minor fluid spill after the vehicles were towed. East Ridgewood Avenue heading eastbound was closed for a short period of time while the scene was cleared.
Principal at Passaic Valley High may carry handgun on the job
Thursday, February 7, 2013
BY MATTHEW MCGRATH
STAFF WRITER
The Record
Raymond Rotella, a career cop and former school resource officer, may become North Jersey’s first school administrator to pack a pistol when he enters Passaic Valley Regional High School each day.
The decision to arm the principal is one of several moves the district has made to beef up security following the school shootings in Connecticut late last year, including developing a rigorous registration process for visitors and installing elaborate security entrances.
“Having a teacher or a principal carry a weapon is not a policy I would have recommended for most people,” Superintendent Viktor Joganow said. “But we don’t just have someone who is trained to use a weapon, we have someone who is trained to respond to a crisis.”
Valentine’s Day Speed-Dating Event
Thu, February 14, 2013
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Dos Cubanos, 282 Rte. 4 East, Paramus, NJ 07652
Meet your Valentine on Valentine’s Day!
Why sit home alone? You can meet other
Single Professionals in New Jersey.
Go on many mini-dates all in one night.
Special pricing for AVConnexions Members and Ridgewood Rewards Card Holders. $40 or $45 for non-members.
Rev Run at Bookends Saturday, February 9th @ 3:30pm**New Time
Founding Member of RUN DMC, Rev Run, will sign his new book: Manology . Books available Feb 5th We Take Phone Orders if you can’t make the event!
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
Readers say Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli needs to apologize and resign
Let’s see, Councilwomen Walsh complained that she improperly received a ticket in light of the fact that she had a valid permit. She paid the ticket anyway, but HOW DARE SHE BRING THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE POLICE AND OTHERS. WHAT AN OUTRAGE!
Are these people serious? She did not ask for a favor or a quid pro quo. She did not threaten the police or try to use her position to get out of paying a valid ticket.
This is a pure attempt by Mayor Arrogant and his “partner in crime” Puke to distract us from what they did.
““You are the one who sent us down this dark road,” Pucciarelli said. Is this like Hamas saying that Israel has “opened the gates of hell”. How exactly does he plan to retaliate? Maybe he will just talk over her at every council meetying just to drive her crazy.
He needs to apologize or resign. I prefer that he resign.
Walsh, misleading? No thank god, this town has her as our watchdog, She’s doing the checks and balances for the others dirty politics! Thank You, Bernie! Going around the full council system with meetings with the developers, two by two, to make it just legal? Dirty, Dirty, Dirty. BTW: We are paying the town lawyer many dollars for these meetings
Someone explain why Riche and Walsh are being shunned from these developers meetings? We all thought this town council was divided 3-2 ! Now it’s been proven, in a very public manner. Horrific, pathetic actions against Walsh about a parking ticket and permits. She’s pointing out a problem that’s not just hers and due to her council position they claim she went about it in the wrong way? Paul you would have done the same-hypocrite. Pretty lame and I worry for this town. Can you smell Valley lurking again here or did Pascack Valley make them truly go away?
The information in this section is a working document of Village Finance and Village Manager’s Office.
The Village Council approves the 2013 budget, after a thorough process of which these documents are the current discussion following department requests and CFO/Manager negotiations with the department.
Included in this folder are:
1.) 2012 Budget Newsletter (for reference) – Click Here https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2012BudgetNewsletter.pdf
2.) 2012 Adopted Budget – Click Here https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/finance/Budgets/2012VORBudget.pdf
3.) 2013 edited budget discussion presented at 1-30-13 Council workshop
Pages 1 -14
General, budget options: base, zero increase, zero tax increase
Timeline (page 1-2)
Amount to be raised by taxation (page 3)
Budget Revenue (pages 4-6)
Budget Appropriations (pages 7-12)
Discussion of potential revenue increase (pages 13-14)
Please understand, this is not a final document. It will not be voted on by the Council in this form. There will be opportunities for you, if interested, to appear before the Council and comment or question the proposed 2013 Budget prior to final adoption by the Council. In addition to Council meetings the meeting times of department discussions with the Council will be posted on the Village’s website – www.ridgewoodnj.net
For the Report https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2013VillageBudgetStatus.pdf
This coming Saturday February 9, from 5-7pm, Ridgewood Coffee Company will be hosting an artists reception.
PrintedArt will be showing some large pieces of art by Carly Erin O’Neil, Richard Silver, Alexander S. Kunz, Brad Mitchell, David Halperin, and Manny Akis.
Three of the collection artist will be present and you will have a chance to speak to our blog editor and member of the curators team.
To RSVP: Please send an email to Klaus@printedart.com to let us know whether you plan on attending.
The Ridgewood Coffee Company is located at 90 East Ridgewood Avenue in Ridgewood, NJ 07604
For more information please call Sara Paleewong 646-291-9786
Sen. Menendezat Ridgewood REORG photo by Boyd Loving
Sen. Menendez contacted top officials in friend’s Medicare dispute
By Carol D. Leonnig and Jerry Markon, Published: February 6
Sen. Robert Menendez raised concerns with top federal health-care officials twice in recent years about their finding that a Florida eye doctor — a close friend and major campaign donor — had overbilled the government by $8.9 million for care at his clinic, Menendez aides said Wednesday.
Menendez (D-N.J.) initially contacted federal officials in 2009 about the government’s audit of Salomon Melgen, complaining to the director overseeing Medicare payments that it was unfair to penalize the doctor because the billing rules were ambiguous, the aides said.
Last year, in a meeting with the acting administrator of the agency in charge of Medicare and Medicaid, Menendez again questioned whether federal auditors had been fair in their assessment of Melgen’s billing for eye injections to treat macular degeneration, the senator’s aides said.
The agency had ordered Melgen to repay the $8.9 million, and at the time of both conversations, Melgen was disputing the agency’s conclusion. His appeal continues to this day.
Menendez’s office provided this account of his contacts with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after The Washington Post asked about the role he had played in the long-standing dispute between Melgen and the agency over his billing practices.
