NJ bans trash-talking at high school sporting events
June 20, 2013, 12:46 PM
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood, N.J. , Just when you though you were safe from further stupidity and big government meddling and further impingement on free speech.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association and the state Attorney General’s Office have announced the new policy on Wednesday that would bar New Jersey high school athletes who engage in “talk trash” and could find their teams penalized and themselves under investigation by the state Civil Rights Division.
They say it brings athletic events into line with the state’s anti-bullying law for schools. The new sports policy goes into place this fall.
Participants art sporting events could be in trouble if they make harassing statements related to gender, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or religion. Referees would also be required to report incidents for possible further investigation.
LEARN Act from U.S. Rep. Garrett Would “Return” K-12 Policy to States
By Andrew Ujifusa on June 19, 2013 4:21 PM
The big federal news this week has been Sec. Arne Duncan’s announcement that his department is willing to allow states that have received No Child Left Behind waivers to postpone the use of student growth on state tests in personnel decisions for an additional year, up until the 2016-17 school year. But one member of Congress, Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey, wants to take “flexibility” for states in an even bolder direction: He wants states to be able to opt out of No Child Left Behind accountability entirely, no strings attached.
My Politics K-12 colleague Alyson Klein mentioned Garrett’s proposal at the end of a June 17 blog post about conservative arguments possibly hindering reauthorization of NCLB. The Local Education Authority Returns Now (LEARN) Act, which Garrett announced he reintroduced June 17, “will give states the option to opt out of No Child Left Behind. In return, the federal government would provide taxpayers of the opt-out state a tax credit, thereby keeping money in the pockets of taxpayers instead of sending it to Washington, D.C.” H.R. 2394, which has 18 original co-sponsors, would work through three steps, according to a press release describing the bill.
Rapper Ghostface Killah endorses GOP Rep. Garrett’s Democratic opponent ah whats his name ….
By Alexandra Jaffe – 06/19/13 05:59 PM ET
Democrat Roy Cho, running to unseat Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), has received the endorsement of noted rapper Ghostface Killah, a member of the iconic rap group the Wu-Tang Clan.
In a tweet issued Wednesday, Ghostface, lesser known as Dennis Coles, implored his 440,000 followers to support Cho.
“I need yall to check my man @roycho5 website https://www.roycho.com & help get him that CONGRESS SEAT,” he tweeted, with a photo of Cho
Actor James Gandolfini 51 died suddenly of a heart attack
Actor James Gandolfini died suddenly after a suspected heart attack while on holiday in Rome to attend the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily. He was 51. Gandolfini will be forever known for his portrayal of mob boss Tony Soprano on the seminal HBO series The Sopranos, which eventually won him 3 Emmy Awards and a $1,000,000-an-episode paycheck.
Overweight, balding, rough around the edges with a thick New Jersey accent, Gandolfini was the opposite of a marquee leading man, destined to be a character actor. Yet he proved through his masterful acting that he could make Tony Soprano sexy and smart, towering and powerful. Chris Albrecht who greenlighted the crime family saga at HBO in 1999 and approved Gandolfini in the role, just emailed Deadline: “Absolutely stunned. I got the word from Lorraine Bracco and just got off with Brad Grey who had just heard from David Chase. We had all become a family. This is a tremendous loss.” (Grey was the executive producer and Chase the creator of The Sopranos.) And Gandolfini’s managers confirmed the actor’s death. “It is with immense sorrow that we report our client James Gandolfini passed away today while on holiday in Rome, Italy,’ said Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders. ”Our hearts are shattered and we will miss him deeply. He and his family were part of our family for many years and we are all grieving.”
Public Hearing on Refunding School Bonds in the Amount of $5,500,000 .Following a presentation by McManimon, Scotland and Baumann, LLC & Phoenix Advisors, and the opportunity for comments for the public, the Board approved a Refunding Schools Bonds ordinance, providing for the refunding of all or a portion of the outstanding callable refunding school bonds, series 2004 of the school district, dated October 15, 2004, issued in the original principal amount of $10,040,000.The purpose of the refunding is to incur an interest cost savings for the School District.The Board also approved a resolution calling for the Adoption of The Refund ing Form and Sale of School Bonds in the amount of $5,500,000.
The Board approved the contract for Daniel Fishbein, Superintendent of Schools, for the period July 1, 2013 through July 1, 2018. The contract has been approved by the
Executive County Superintendent as required by law.
The Board approved an agreement between Source4Teachers and
the Ridgewood Public Schools to provide substitute staff, including substitute teachers and paraprofessionals, to fill temporarily open positions at the request of the District on an as-needed basis, for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014.
District Leadership Structure The Board discussed a proposal by the superintendent to re-establish former administrative positions that had been previously cut due to budget constraints. The proposed phase-n plan would be to hire one of two supervisors for the 2013-2014 school year. Funding would come from breakage and extraordinary aid. The Board voted to proceed with the hiring of one supervisor, pending further discussion following the extraordinary aid announcement by the state.
CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION EXPANDS ‘MYBUS NOW’ PROGRAM TO NORTH JERSEY BUS ROUTES
Real-time service information pilot now available throughout New Jersey
June 17, 2013
NEWARK, NJ — Marking the next step in the Christie Administration’s efforts to provide real-time bus information to NJ TRANSIT customers, NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein today joined customers and invited guests at Newark Penn Station to announce the latest expansion of MyBus Now, the agency’s first real-time service information system for bus customers, to serve 110 North Jersey-area local/intrastate bus routes—making it available throughout the Garden State.
“MyBus Now places real-time bus location and arrival information literally in the palms of our customers’ hands, enabling them to make informed decisions about their travel, even while on the go,” said Executive Director Weinstein. “This next phase enables us to provide this customer amenity throughout New Jersey. The final phase will include bus service traveling into and out of the Port Authority and George Washington Bridge bus terminals by the end of the year.”
MyBus Now, which first launched in fall 2012 as a pilot program serving Trenton-area bus customers and was expanded in April 2013 to include South Jersey and Philadelphia-area bus routes, uses “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 can 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 today, customers of local/intrastate bus routes that serve communities throughout North Jersey will be able to use MyBus Now to access real-time service information.
NJ TRANSIT’s Hamilton Garage was selected for the first phase of the pilot program because of 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 success of the initial phase and the subsequent expansion of the pilot into South Jersey continue NJ TRANSIT’s path toward a full systemwide rollout of MyBus Now later this year.
Currently, the statewide agency is 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 stops—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 obtain their bus stop ID online at njtransit.com, or from MyBus signs posted at bus stops statewide.
How to Use MyBus Now
From a desktop computer: Visit mybusnow.njtransit.com. Select either “bus times” or “bus map.”
Bus Times: Enter your five-digit bus stop ID or select your bus route, direction of travel and bus stop from the drop-down menus.
Bus Map: Click “Routes” and select up to 10 routes, or click “Find Stop” and follow the directions in the dialog box to view the real-time location of buses on a Google map. Buses are represented by bus icons that display an arrow to indicate the direction of travel. Hover over the bus icon to display the estimated arrival times for the next four bus stops. Click the bus icon for additional options, including links to “route schedule” (PDF of the bus timetable) and “route progress” (a timeline of the bus trip by stop).
From a web-enabled smartphone: Visit njtransit.com and select MyBus Now to view a streamlined version of the web page. Select your bus route from the list or enter your five-digit bus stop ID.
From a cell phone with SMS-text messaging: Text your five-digit bus stop ID to MyBus (69287). Instead of returning the next scheduled trips, MyBus Now will provide real-time information for routes in the pilot program. For all other routes, MyBus will continue to provide information for scheduled trips.
MyBus Now is also improving the functionality of NJ TRANSIT’s IVR (interactive voice response) system. Now, when customers call NJ TRANSIT at 973-275-5555, they can use the automated prompts to enter their bus stop ID number to receive real-time predicted arrivals 24/7 for stops within the Trenton/Mercer County area, South Jersey and Philadelphia area, and North Jersey local routes. For bus stops outside of these areas, customers will receive scheduled arrival information.
Systemwide Improvement to “My Bus”
As a reminder, MyBus customers can now receive schedule information for a specific route by texting MyBus (69287), followed by a space and the route number. For example, to find schedule information for the No. 73 specifically for the bus stop located at Newark Penn Station (bus stop ID number 18835), text MyBus (69287) the following text: 18835 73. The system will return only scheduled trips on the No. 73 route, even though the bus stop is served by other bus routes
N.J. lawmakers, Governor Christie reach deal on budget bill
Wednesday June 19, 2013, 9:56 PM
BY JOHN REITMEYER
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
The Record
State lawmakers will take up a budget bill during committee meetings Thursday morning after finalizing a deal with Governor Christie on Wednesday, a key legislative leader said.
Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, told The Record late Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with the Republican governor resulted in an agreement on a bill that will largely resemble the $32.9 billion spending plan Christie put forward in February.
“We have a deal in place,” Sarlo said. “All the language has been finalized.”
Protesters in Brazil Revolt against Big Government
Jun 19, 2:26 AM (ET)
By BRADLEY BROOKS
SAO PAULO (AP) – Tens of thousands of Brazilians again flooded the streets of the country’s biggest city to raise a collective cry against a longstanding lament – people are weighed down by high taxes and high prices but get low-quality public services and a system of government infected with corruption.
That was the repeated message Tuesday night in Sao Paulo, where upward of 50,000 people massed in front of the city’s main cathedral. While mostly peaceful, the demonstration followed the rhythm of protests that drew 240,000 people across Brazil the previous night, with small bands of radicals splitting off to fight with police and break into stores.
Mass protests have been mushrooming across Brazil since demonstrations called last week by a group angry over the high cost of a woeful public transport system and a recent 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Sao Paulo, Rio and elsewhere.
Besides Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, most Democrats abandoned their civil liberty positions during the age of Obama. With a new leak investigation looming, the Democrat leadership are now being forced to confront all the secrets they’ve tried to hide.
posted on June 7, 2013 at 12:10pm EDT
For most bigwig Democrats in Washington, D.C., the last 48 hours has delivered news of the worst kind — a flood of new information that has washed away any lingering doubts about where President Obama and his party stand on civil liberties, full stop.
Glenn Greenwald’s exposure of the NSA’s massive domestic spy program has revealed the entire caste of current Democratic leaders as a gang of civil liberty opportunists, whose true passion, it seems, was in trolling George W. Bush for eight years on matters of national security.
“Everyone should just calm down,” Senator Harry Reid said yesterday, inhaling slowly.
That’s right: don’t panic.
The very topic of Democratic two-facedness on civil liberties is one of the most important issues that Greenwald has covered. Many of those Dems — including the sitting President Barack Obama, Senator Carl Levin, and Sec. State John Kerry — have now become the stewards and enhancers of programs that appear to dwarf any of the spying scandals that broke during the Bush years, the very same scandals they used as wedge issues to win elections in the Congressional elections 2006 and the presidential primary of 2007-2008.
Freeholders hold off overriding latest veto from Bergen County Executive Donovan
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 Last updated: Tuesday June 18, 2013, 7:00 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
After six months of a Punch-and-Judy routine of veto and override, it looks like Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan and the freeholders may have found the grounds for a possible bit of détente.
Donovan on Thursday issued a veto of the minutes of the June 4 meeting of the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority, this one blocking the hiring of an outside law firm.
The action marks the 28th time that Donovan has issued a veto since becoming County Executive in January 2011, including 21 against the utilities authority. Most of those vetoes dealt with the disputed issue of stipends and medical benefits for the utility commissioners, a matter that is still in litigation.
Former TWA Flight 800 investigators say new evidence points to missile strike, want new probe
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 Last updated: Wednesday June 19, 2013, 1:42 PM
BY FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press
MINEOLA, N.Y. — Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet.
The New York-to-Paris flight crashed July 17, 1996, just minutes after the jetliner took off from John F. Kennedy Airport, killing all 230 people aboard. Among those killed were flight attendant Jill Ziemkiewicz of Rutherford, and former Tenafly Borough Administrator Robert Miller and his wife, Elizabeth.
The effort to reopen the probe is being made in tandem with the release next month of a documentary that features the testimony of former investigators who raise doubts about the National Transportation Safety Board’s conclusion that the crash was caused by a center fuel tank explosion, probably caused by a spark from a short-circuit in the wiring.
“We don’t know who fired the missile,” said Jim Speer, an accident investigator for the Air Line Pilots Association, one of those seeking a new review of the probe. “But we have a lot more confidence that it was a missile.”
High-end homes in North Jersey await price rebound
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 Last updated: Wednesday June 19, 2013, 12:19 AM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN AND DAVE SHEINGOLD
STAFF WRITERS
The Record
Home sales and prices are beginning to rebound in North Jersey, but what effect that will have on the still-sluggish higher end of the market – which slumped the most in 2012 – remains to be seen.
Prices of single-family homes in Bergen County rose 5.9 percent for the first five months of this year, to a median $413,000, while prices in Passaic County rose less than 1 percent, according to multiple listing services in both counties.
Majority of Americans Don’t Trust Newspapers and Television News
According to a new Gallup poll, confidence in mass media continues to fall
By Allie Bidwell
Continuing a decades-long downward trend, fewer than one-fourth of Americans have confidence in newspapers, according to a recent Gallup poll.
[READ: Paywalls Could Be Print’s Salvation Online]
The percentage of Americans saying they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers dropped to 23 percent this year from 25 percent last year, according to a report on the poll, which was released Monday.
American confidence in newspapers reached its peak at 51 percent in 1979, and a low of 22 percent in 2008.
But newspapers don’t stand alone. Confidence in television news has also been slipping — it’s tied with newspapers this year at 23 percent, which is slightly up from last year’s all-time low of 21 percent. Newspapers and television news rank near the bottom of a list of 16 “societal institutions,” according to the report. The only institutions television news and newspapers beat out this year are big business, organized labor, health maintenance organizations and Congress. Americans expressed the most confidence in the military, at 76 percent, and small businesses, at 65 percent.
