Month: May 2013

file photo by Boyd Loving

FEMA addresses flood maps in post-Sandy meeting with Bergen County towns
Tuesday April 30, 2013, 7:52 PM
BY  KAREN SUDOL
STAFF WRITER
The Record

Six months after superstorm Sandy walloped the state, Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives met with local officials in Bergen County on Tuesday to address questions about home elevation requirements and flood-plain maps.

Officials from 23 Bergen County towns were invited to the two-hour event held at the county administration building in Hackensack. The county-sponsored meeting was the third in a series with FEMA and that are designed to connect towns with the resources needed to recover, said Peter Incardone, deputy chief of staff for the Office of the County Executive.

“We here at the county are mindful of the fact that the circumstances that came to us as a result of Hurricane Sandy didn’t end a day, a week or a month after Sandy,” said Ed Trawinski, the county administrator.

One area of concern was FEMA’s flood maps. When the storm struck, FEMA was already working on revised flood plain maps but issued “advisory” maps for the coastal areas in December to guide rebuilding. The state subsequently adopted those maps that established a higher and significantly expanded flood plain and are used by insurance companies to set premiums as well as govern rebuilding.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/FEMA_addresses_flood_maps_in_meeting_with_Bergen_County_towns.html

Dog Owners: FREE Micro-chipping by NJ Federation of Dog Clubs and Ramapo Kennel Club on May 15

Lost pets with microchips are up to 20 times more likely to return home

What exactly is a microchip?

A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and placed between your dog’s shoulder blades under a veterinarian’s supervision. Implantation is quick, easy and virtually painless — similar to a vaccine injection — and can be performed during a regular clinic visit.

A microchip is not a tracking device. It can only be “turned on” for a few seconds at a time by a handheld microchip scanner that is passed over to read the microchip’s unique encoded number. The microchip number is the only information stored in the microchip so it is very important you immediately enroll your pet’s microchip with your contact information.

By enrolling your pet’s microchip, your name, telephone numbers, emergency contacts and other vital information are linked to the microchip number and stored in American Kennel Club’s Companion Animal Recovery’s (AKC CAR) database. When a lost pet is found, AKC CAR is contacted and our recovery experts will call you to help reunite you with your pet.

The Responsible Pet Ownership Committee, along with AKC CAR, The New Jersey Federation of Dog Clubs and the Ramapo Kennel Club will be supplying free Micro-chips, implantation, and registration to the first 75 dogs who attend the May 15th clinic. This free implantation will be held in conjunction with the Village’s free rabies clinic. Dr. Sherif George Mosaad, from the Farview Animal Clinic in Paramus will be present to implant the micro-chip which is quick and painless and done with a syringe.

The clinic will be held on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at the Recycling Center, East Glen Avenue, Ridgewood, and will be available for the first 75 dogs.

Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan , Sally Kellerman at Bookends
Wednesday, May 1st @ 7:00pm
Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the M*A*S*H movie, Sally
Kellerman, will sign her new book: Read My Lips
Books available: April 30th

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

Valley Hospital’s numbers challenged
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
BY  MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITER
The Record

After years of waging an expensive campaign and filing multiple lawsuits to block the opening of a Westwood hospital — claiming that there are already too many beds in Bergen County — The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood is pressing its case for an expanded facility that would include more than 450 beds.

The hospital has now been forced to defend its position, after questions from Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn about why Valley’s proposed bed count remains the same — as it has for six years — even though a 128-bed hospital is opening in June in Westwood.

Valley’s argument against the Westwood hospital — declines in population growth and admissions, 300 empty beds every night in Bergen County — fueled a regional health care battle that played out in court and behind the scenes in Trenton with high-powered lobbyists, sophisticated public relations campaigns and millions in market share at stake.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/205513631_Hospital_s_numbers_challenged.html

Janet Napolitano Department of Homeland Security – Did she know?

Saudi Arabia ‘warned the United States IN WRITING about Boston Bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2012’

Saudis developed intelligence separately from Russia, which also warned the U.S. about the accused Boston bomber
A letter to the Department of Homeland Security allegedly named Tsarnaev and three Pakistanis as potential jihadis worthy of U.S. investigation
Red flags from Saudi Arabia to have included Tsarnaev’s name and information about a planned explosive attack on a major U.S. city
Saudi foreign minister, national security chief both met with Obama in the oval office in early 2013

By David Martosko and The American Media Institute

PUBLISHED: 22:46 EST, 30 April 2013 | UPDATED: 03:39 EST, 1 May 2013

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sent a written warning about accused Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2012, long before pressure-cooker blasts killed three and injured hundreds, according to a senior Saudi government official with direct knowledge of the document.

The Saudi warning, the official told MailOnline, was separate from the multiple red flags raised by Russian intelligence in 2011, and was based on human intelligence developed independently in Yemen.

Citing security concerns, the Saudi government also denied an entry visa to the elder Tsarnaev brother in December 2011, when he hoped to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the source said. Tsarnaev’s plans to visit Saudi Arabia have not been previously disclosed.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317493/Saudi-official-Kingdom-warned-United-States-IN-WRITING-Boston-Bomber-Tamerlan-Tsarnaev-2012-rejected-application-entry

Airline, Airport Employees Caught Abusing Security Badges
Badges seized by DFW Airport police
By Scott Friedman
Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013

An exclusive NBC 5 investigation uncovered police reports showing workers at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport abusing their security badges, even using them to help family and friends skip the checkpoints to board flights.

Government officials and a top airline executive were among those caught.

“Sometimes, unfortunately, humans do some really stupid things,” said airport security consultant, Larry Wansley.

At DFW, thousands of employees have Secure Identification Display Area (SIDA) badges. But SIDA badges can only be used by employees that are on-duty and they’re not allowed to take anyone else through the door with them.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/Airline-Airport-Employees-Caught-Abusing-Security-Badges-205288061.html