Ridgewood NJ , In the Record’s recent editorial Failure to disconnect even the far left leaning Bergen Record had to admit ,”were the Village Council and the municipal administration? No one knew for at least 14 years that a council or Planning Board member had improper contracts with the town?
And as a readers so eloquently said ,”So let me get this straight, Mayor Aronsohn who voted for letting Riche do the work is now saying it was illegal. Then why did he vote YES! He was the one who gave approval NOT Riche. It’s like a cop tells me I can buy some pot and then arrests me for smoking it!
The Record: Failure to disconnect
Friday, June 7, 2013
The Record
A COUNCIL member should not do business with the municipal government he represents. That principle is not hard to grasp.
But for some inexplicable reason, it was not followed in Ridgewood, where Councilman Thomas Riche has had a long-standing business relationship with the village through his telecommunications firm, Extel Communications.
Senior housing plan pitched in Ridgewood
Thursday June 6, 2013, 2:04 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
A developer’s proposal presented at Wednesday’s Ridgewood Council meeting could bring an assisted living community to the Central Business District as well as a public parking facility that will add at least 100 new spaces to the downtown.
Partners at Kensington Senior Development, based in White Plains, N.Y., outlined a preliminary draft of their plan to redevelop the municipal parking lot area at the Franklin Avenue and North Walnut Street intersection. At that spot, the development team hopes to build three floors to accommodate 88 assisted living units and approximately 3,000 square feet of street-level retail space.
The third component of the idea is one of the biggest eye catchers: Kensington has offered to fully fund the construction of a two-level, 180-space parking garage adjacent to the assisted living building. According to Harley Cook, one of the firm’s founders, the cost to build the garage amounts to $4.5 million.
NSA’s Verizon Spying Order Specifically Targeted Americans, Not Foreigners
The National Security Agency has long justified its spying powers by arguing that its charter allows surveillance on those outside of the United States, while avoiding intrusions into the private communications of American citizens. But the latest revelation of the extent of the NSA’s surveillance shows that it has focused specifically on Americans, to the degree that its data collection has in at least one major spying incident explicitly excluded those outside the United States.
In a top secret order obtained by the Guardian newspaper and published Wednesday evening, the FBI on the NSA’s behalf demanded that Verizon turn over all metadata for phone records originating in the United States for the three months beginning in late April and ending on the 19th of July. That metadata includes all so-called “non-content” data for millions of American customers’ phone calls, such as the subscriber data, recipients, locations, times and durations of every call made during that period.
Aside from the sheer scope of that surveillance order, reminiscent of the warrantless wiretapping scandal under the Bush administration, the other shocking aspect of the order its target: The order specifically states that only data regarding calls originating in America are to be handed over, not those between foreigners.
Lonegan running for US Senate; Doherty backing him
Steve Lonegan is running for senator.
Fellow movement conservative leader state Sen. Mike Doherty (R-23) met with Lonegan today and decided to throw his support behind Lonegan. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Carroll throws his support behind Lonegan for U.S. Senate
Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-25) said he intends to support Steve Lonegan in the GOP Primary for U.S. Senate.
“Absolutely,” Carroll told PolitickerNJ.com, referring to the news first reported by PolitickerNJ.com that Lonegan is running for the seat vacated by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Attention RHS students…Pre-order your RHS Daily Planner for the 2013-2014 school year now through June 21 and you will be set for September! Planners are available for pre-order at a cost of $7 each and will be available for pick up in the RHS School Store beginning Friday, August 30.
Enduring the red-light contagion
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
By JOHN CICHOWSKI
ROAD WARRIOR COLUMNIST
“Why is everybody honking at me?”
This noisy distraction was occurring so frequently, especially when she was stopped at traffic lights, that Toni Trobiani thought she might be committing some terrible driving faux pas.
“First, I thought other drivers didn’t like my car,” said the Maywood reader. “I even checked to see if there was some sticker on my bumper that I wasn’t aware of.”
But there wasn’t. The problem wasn’t Toni’s taillights, either. The problem was the attitude of the drivers behind her.
“There’d be … a pedestrian with a stroller crossing the street in front of me and some idiot behind me will blast the horn!” she said. “It’s obnoxious!”
It took a while, but Toni finally figured out what was happening. So did Bergenfield’s Roy Contiliano, who had experienced the same thing.
“People don’t want the driver ahead of them to stop at red lights before making right-hand turns,” said Roy. “It’s a travesty!”
Marc Brown calls it an “epidemic” that’s spreading from town to town. He even sent me a list that tracks this “disease.” He diagnosed two of the most virulent cases at Highland and East Ridgewood avenues in his hometown of Paramus and another on Wyckoff Avenue in Waldwick, where signs prohibit right turns on red. Marc said people make a right there anyway.
Marc’s list also included another intersection in Paramus at Chadwick Road and East Ridgewood Avenue. In Ridgewood, a problem spot is the train underpass eastbound at Linwood Avenue and Garber Square.
Bergen County Freeholders adopt budget with tax increase, cuts in police spending
Wednesday June 5, 2013, 10:12 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
The Bergen County Freeholders approved a 2013 county budget Wednesday that trims about $2.3 million from the budget proposed in January by County Executive Kathleen Donovan.
By a 6-1 vote, the board adopted a $498-million spending plan that will mean a tax increase of $24.63 for the owner of the average home, assessed at $324,200.
The budget also marks the first time in three years that overall county spending will go up. This year’s budget is about $11 million more than the $487-million budget the board adopted in 2012.
Freeholder Maura DeNicola cast the lone dissenting vote, saying she saw areas in the budget where more cuts could have been made.
DeNicola also questioned the wisdom of slicing $700,000 from the payroll of the 81-officer County Police Department. County budget officials say the budget will not require any layoffs, but DeNicola questioned how that could be.
“This is not the time to lay off police officers, no matter what uniform they are wearing,” DeNicola said.
Ridgewood residents scold, praise council over handling of councilman’s work in village
Wednesday June 5, 2013, 10:02 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — There were two types of resident opinions at Wednesday night’s Village Council work session: those disgusted by Councilman Thomas Riche’s recently revealed and longstanding business relationship with Ridgewood, and those disgusted with the council’s handling of the matter at a previous meeting.
“It was disgraceful,” said Lorraine Reynolds, referencing the council’s May 22 discussion, which focused on Riche’s North Haledon-based Extel Communications and the 14 years of work it has performed for the village.
Since the 1970s, Ridgewood’s code has barred village officers or employees, “elected or appointed, paid or unpaid,” from being “interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract with the village for work done or for materials or supplies furnished.” Yet, Extel Communications, which provides telecommunications equipment and service, has been performing work for the village since “before Floyd,” according to Riche, referring to the 1999 tropical storm.
Riche was first elected to the council in 1998 and served until 2002. He was reelected in 2010 after several years on the Planning Board.
Both Republicans and Conservatives have had mixed feelings about Christie for some time. He was supported by Republican groups and Conservatives. The Tea Parties rallied around his promises when he originally ran for Governor, and worked on his campaign – boots on the ground to get out the vote.
Then, he started doing some things that made us pause, such as openly and blatantly ignoring the dangers of Islam and Shariah law. Don’t you know he has been in bed with the militant – and even the terrorist – wings of the Islamists? It started way back, when he was a Prosecutor. He was, and is, a close friend of Imam Mohammed Qatanani, at the Passaic mosque, who was in this country illegally, having lied on his Immigration forms. He left out the fact that he had been in jail in Israel on terror-related charges and was an admitted member of Hamas. When Immigration found out, they tried to deport him, but Christie intervened in the Imam’s favor. To keep this short, I’ll cut to the chase. Christie’s appointment of Sohail Mohammed to the NJ Superior Court was a quid pro quo for his successful legal effort to keep Qatanani from being deported, just as was Christie’s appointment of McKenna, an Assistant Prosecutor who worked for Christie, as head of NJ Homeland Security, because Christie had sent him to testify at Qatanani’s trial, and give a good character reference.
Thinking Christie may not have known the truth about Islam, and the Imam, I explained all the details to him. I don’t believe he ever paid attention. Then, when he was directly challenged over his appointment of Mohammed, he viciously attacked the questioners on TV as a diversion, and never actually addressed the accusations.
All of this is available on the internet, so you can research it yourselves. Please. Don’t just take my word for it.
That brings me to the present. Refusing to take advantage of the death of Sen. Lautenberg, and appoint a Republican – or, God forbid, a Conservative to finish out the term – he will hold a special election just 3 weeks before the regular election, which the Democrats have a good chance of winning. This is total insanity, and nobody else in his position would do such a stupid thing. The upshot of this is that there is no way the people who put him into office – and it was large groups plus all the Tea Parties who did it – will vote for him ever again if he betrays us by allowing the special election instead of appointing a Republican. I have supported Christie and donated money, in the past, despite my reservations in some areas, but not now or in the future. With his refusal to appoint a Republican, he just slit his own throat, politically. I don’t think he’ll win re-election as Governor now, let alone get to run for President in 2016.
Developers to present proposal for assisted living facility in Ridgewood
Wednesday June 5, 2013, 11:43 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
A Virginia-based development team is eyeing a portion of Ridgewood’s North Walnut Street parking lot as the future site of an assisted living housing facility.
The developers, who all have prior experience managing other assisted living homes, will pitch their concept for The Kensington of Ridgewood at Wednesday night’s Village Council work session.
Mayor Paul Aronsohn did not know full details of the plan, but he confirmed Wednesday morning that the proposal involves the parking lot at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Walnut Street as well as a portion of the municipal lot facing the rear of the PNC Bank building. In addition to the assisted living facility, the idea also includes the construction of a parking garage at the site.
‘Someone lives and someone dies’Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius won’t waive regulation for girl with five weeks to live: ‘Someone lives and someone dies’
June 4, 2013 | 1:07 pm | Modified: June 4, 2013 at 3:10 pm
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius rebuffed an appeal from Rep. Lou Barletta on behalf of a girl who needs a lung transplant but can’t get one because of a federal regulation that prevents her from qualifying for a transplant.
“Please, suspend the rules until we look at this policy,” Barletta, a Pennsylvania Republican, asked Sebelius during a House hearing Tuesday on behalf of Sarah Murnaghan, a 10-year-old girl who needs a lung transplant. She can’t qualify for an adult lung transplant until the age of 12, according to federal regulations, but Sebelius has the authority to waive that rule on her behalf. The pediatric lungs for which she currently qualifies aren’t available.
“I would suggest, sir, that, again, this is an incredibly agonizing situation where someone lives and someone dies,” Sebelius replied. “The medical evidence and the transplant doctors who are making the rule — and have had the rule in place since 2005 making a delineation between pediatric and adult lungs, because lungs are different that other organs — that it’s based on the survivability [chances].”
Has Mayor Aronsohn Placed Himself and Council in legal Jeopardy over Richie Allegations
June 5,2013
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , This time they really stepped in it. Recent attacks on Councilman Thomas Riche and his company Extel Communications have backfired even further with the purported Village ordnance blocking business with Council members and their firms. If accusations prove true it seems the Village signed off on for over 14 years on illegal transactions .
While Councilmen Riche has claimed he didn’t know about the law, others including the Village attorney and current and former Village manager have a fiduciary responsibility to the Village and if the allegations are proven true along with the village council may face serious legal consequences..
The Extel Communication issue recently came to the surface when mysterious anonymous letter was sent to the Mayor making the allegations .Despite the urging from the Village attorney the Mayor Paul Aronsohn went forward and presented the issue to the council.
Sources speculate the letter came from a disgruntled former employee with an ax to grind against Richie .
The village council recently approved a $24,000 contract for Extel to upgrade the fire department communications system which would make the council complicit and any wrong doing. Mayor Paul Arohnson said the village may seek an independent review of Extel’s dealings but most long time Village residents doubt it.
The loss of Extel has also left Village Emergency services, Police and Fire vulnerable to equipment failure .greatly increasing risk in case of an emergency .
Scandal Palooza: Sebelius Asked Companies to Support Health Care Law
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: June 4, 2013
WASHINGTON — Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, disclosed on Tuesday that she had made telephone calls to three companies regulated by her department and urged them to help a nonprofit group promote President Obama’s health care law.
She identified the companies as Johnson & Johnson, the drug maker; Ascension Health, a large Roman Catholic health care system; and Kaiser Permanente, the health insurance plan.
At a hearing of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Ms. Sebelius said she did not explicitly ask the companies for money, but urged them to support the work of the nonprofit group, Enroll America.
The group, led by former Obama administration officials, is working with the White House to publicize the 2010 health care law and help uninsured people sign up for coverage.
New Players Company sets stage for unique shows in Ridgewood
TUESDAY JUNE 4, 2013, 10:58 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
They’re upbeat, tragic, quirky and classic.Shows presented by the New Players Company (NPC) at Ridgewood High School (RHS) have touched on everything from the popular and well-known (such as this year’s “Aida,” past years’ “West Side Story” and “12 Angry Jurors”), to more obscure subject matter.More complex shows have included “The Secret in the Wings,” about the disturbing side of fairy tales; “Side Show,” a cult musical about conjoined twins; “The Skin of Our Teeth,” a three-part allegory about mankind; and “Flowers for Algernon,” about a developmentally disabled man who undergoes surgery to increase his intelligence, which was controversial for its sex scenes.
In 2005, there was “Red Noses” – a comedy about the black plague.
Every year, some people absolutely love the choice of shows, and some people would have preferred others.
