Month: June 2013

Suprise ,Suprise , Ridgewood school district may hire more administrators
Friday June 21, 2013, 11:18 AM
BY  LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

The district is seeking two new administrators for next year who, if hired, would join Ridgewood in addition to the director of technology already being sought.

Incoming extraordinary state aid will determine whether the still-unspecified new positions are ultimately filled, but educators believe Ridgewood will likely receive enough aid to justify the new positions.

Whatever the result, even the move to look for new administrators in Ridgewood is significant. The district had to reduce its administrative staff several years ago after losing its anticipated state aid, so the search is a move toward the reinstallation of past positions. Many other districts have administrative ratios better than Ridgewood’s, according to state data.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/212485931_Ridgewood_school_district_may_hire_more_administrat

Valley Rendering by Z. Putnins and C. Benson

Valley Hospital puts up marker at height of proposed new building
Friday, June 21, 2013
BY  BARBARA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
The Record

RIDGEWOOD — An orange marker was erected on top of The Valley Hospital to represent the height one of the new buildings will reach if a proposed expansion plan is approved, in response to requests by residents and Planning Board members who are concerned by the size of the project.

The square mesh atop poles was erected Wednesday morning at 94 feet high, representing the height of one of the proposed buildings with rooftop mechanicals, said Megan Fraser, a hospital vice-president.

Residents remained skeptical, saying an orange square doesn’t really help them visualize how a building that high will look in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

“It’s in the center of the building and the one they’re proposing will sit closer to the school property line,” said Lorraine Reynolds. “You can’t judge what a 94-feet-high massive bulk building will look like based on a stick.”

Jonathan Drill, an attorney for Valley, told the Planning Board the hospital had set up the marker at one of two meetings the village held on the issue this week. “We put this up because that’s what you asked for,” he said.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/212442701_Valley_Hospital_puts_up_marker_at_height_of_proposed_new_building_shows_height_of_proposal.html#sthash.bGldeTj3.dpuf

Mike Zegen of Ridgewood is on HBO’s hit show Girls
Friday, June 21, 2013
BY  LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

If people who watch television or go to the movies haven’t heard of Ridgewood High School (RHS) graduate Mike Zegen already, it’s likely just a matter of time.

They may have seen him but just don’t know it yet.

Zegen, a former RHS New Player who entered the Ridgewood school system in fifth grade and whose parents still live in the village, is the newest cast member of the hit HBO show “Girls.”

“All my scenes so far have been with [show creator and star] Lena [Dunham], and she’s wonderful,” he said about two weeks into the shooting of Girls’ third season. “She’s just so down to earth … You couldn’t ask for a better boss.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/television/212439311_Mike_Zegen_of_Ridgewood_is_on_HBO_s_hit_show_Girls.html#sthash.EeKWC348.dpuf

Revealed: the top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant

Fisa court submissions show broad scope of procedures governing NSA’s surveillance of Americans’ communication

Top secret documents submitted to the court that oversees surveillance by US intelligence agencies show the judges have signed off on broad orders which allow the NSA to make use of information “inadvertently” collected from domestic US communications without a warrant.

The Guardian is publishing in full two documents submitted to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (known as the Fisa court), signed by Attorney General Eric Holder and stamped 29 July 2009. They detail the procedures the NSA is required to follow to target “non-US persons” under its foreign intelligence powers and what the agency does to minimize data collected on US citizens and residents in the course of that surveillance.

The documents show that even under authorities governing the collection of foreign intelligence from foreign targets, US communications can still be collected, retained and used.

The procedures cover only part of the NSA’s surveillance of domestic US communications. The bulk collection of domestic call records, as first revealed by the Guardian earlier this month, takes place under rolling court orders issued on the basis of a legal interpretation of a different authority, section 215 of the Patriot Act.

https://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/20/fisa-court-nsa-without-warrant

State Department unclassifies first official photos from aftermath of Benghazi

‘Allah-u-Akbar’: State Department unclassifies first official photos from aftermath of Benghazi attack, including jihadi graffiti left behind

By David Martosko In Washington

PUBLISHED: 16:39 EST, 20 June 2013 | UPDATED: 23:13 EST, 20 June 2013

A set of seven stunning photographs emerged Thursday, showing the first official glimpse of the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2012 terror attack on the U.S. Consulate Special Mission Compound in Benghazi, Libya that left US. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead.

The grainy, scanned pictures, released by the advocacy group Judicial Watch, were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request lodged with the U.S. Department of State. They are the first images of the Benghazi attack released by the State Department.

Three of them show Arabic-language spray paint graffiti. According to translations provided to MailOnline by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, they likely read ‘Thrones of HamzaIn’; ‘Allah-u Akbar’; and ‘Unity of ranks.’ The group’s translator emphasized that his analysis was preliminary.

‘Allah-u-Akbar’ is a familiar rallying cry among Islamist radicals, meaning ‘God is great.’

Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2345440/Allah-u-Akbar-State-Department-unclassifies-releases-official-photos-aftermath-2012-Benghazi-attack-including-jihadi-graffiti-left-behind.html#ixzz2Wqujm17n

Steve Lonegan calls for “full and complete audit of IRS practices concerning the deliberate targeting of existing conservative public policy organizations.”
June 20,2013

BOGOTA – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mayor Steve Lonegan urged Cory Booker and other candidates to join him in signing a letter calling on the Inspector General for Tax Administration to conduct a “full and complete audit of IRS practices concerning the deliberate targeting of existing conservative public policy organizations.”

Sponsored by the Free Congress Foundation and the Leadership Institute, the letter cites examples of the IRS’s deliberate targeting of existing conservative groups at the same time at which the IRS was targeting newly established conservative organizations.

“The IRS’s targeting of conservative organizations – both existing and newly formed groups – is an outrageous assault on Americans’ constitutional right to political free speech,” Mayor Lonegan said. “Regardless of one’s political affiliation, we should all be opposed to government agencies targeting people based on their political beliefs. I hope Cory Booker and his colleagues will join me in signing this important letter.”

Focus of Valley Hospital hearings shifts to construction concerns
Thursday June 20, 2013, 4:06 PM
BY  DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

The construction manager retained to oversee the proposed expansion at The Valley Hospital anticipates the first phase of the project, if approved, will take no more than six years to complete, with visible outdoor work lasting a total of 40 months.

In his two nights of presentation before the Ridgewood Planning Board this week, Phil Centineo, senior project manager at Torcon Inc., stressed his commitment to worker and neighborhood safety while asserting his firm’s history of finishing large-scale projects on or before deadline with little impact to the surrounding areas.

Board members and residents living in the hospital’s vicinity, however, questioned several proposed site plan specifics, ranging from the daily number of construction vehicles that will access the work zone to the process in which Torcon selects its diesel dump trucks, among other equipment.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/212376731_Focus_of_Valley_Hospital_hearings_shifts_to_construction_concerns.html#sthash.WoPLfGzx.dpuf

Volker time????

Volker Time? Global sell-off raises turbulence fears
Last updated: June 20, 2013 11:19 pm
By Ralph Atkins in London and Michael Mackenzie in New York

An abrupt global sell-off in equities, bonds and commodities on Thursday has fuelled fears that the world is entering a fresh phase of financial turbulence as the US Federal Reserve prepares to ease its large-scale asset purchases.

Emerging markets were among the worst hit in volatile trading after Ben Bernanke, Fed chairman, on Wednesday set out the case for slowing the pace of QE3 this year as the US economy picks up momentum. As the dollar strengthened, gold prices tumbled by as much as 4.8 per cent to a two-and-a-half-year low. Oil fell 3.3 per cent

https://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ea02f2fe-d9c2-11e2-98fa-00144feab7de.html#axzz2WoMfFtWS

Ridgewood Garage, Moving ,Yard and Estate Sales

GARAGE SALE FRI 6/21 & SAT. 6/22 9-3PM (175 ELMSLEY CT, RIDGEWOOD)

175 Elmsley Court at North Murray Avenue
Furniture (antique and newer), old china (some chintz),Wallace Nutting collection and other artwork, decorative accessories,collectibles,books and more

MOVING SALE – RIDGEWOOD,NJ 165 Claremont Rd
Moving Sale Saturday June 22nd 10:00 – 3:00 and Sunday June 23rd 10:00 – 3:00
– Deco Buffet, china cabinet & vanity.
– Modern Glass dining table with black laquer bases and 8 Italian cherry wood and black laquer chairs.
– Entertainment center, Yamaha surround sound system
– Assorted couches, tables , chairs
– Childs desk with matching night stand
– Bodyguard Magellan Plus Treadmill
– Fabrics, housewares, board and electronic games
– Collectables, dolls, crystals, sewing machine
– Power tools
– Sporting gear, skis, helmets, backpack
– Much Much More

NO EARLY BIRDS ! 165 Claremont Rd

Garage Sale – Saturday June 22 (Ridgewood)
30 S. Pleasant Ave.
Saturday June 22
9am to 3pm
Bikes, toys, baby items
Bedding and other household items