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>Charter schools sue state, claiming they’ve been shortchanged

>Charter schools sue state, claiming they’ve been shortchanged


A group of Jersey City charter schools have sued the Christie administration to correct what they say has been a stark underfunding of their schools, throwing a twist into the ongoing debate over how New Jersey’s charters are paid for.

The four charter schools — Learning Community, Golden Door, Soaring Heights, and Ethical Community charter — have petitioned acting education commissioner Chris Cerf to address what has been a longstanding disparity in the how Jersey City and several other districts’ charter schools are funded.

In the petition, the schools contend that they are put at a unique disadvantage because of Jersey City’s massive property tax abatements, which draw the school district additional state aid – called adjustment aid — that is not shared with the charters.  (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/1130/0053/
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>Poverty rate for school-age kids growing faster in N.J. counties

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Poverty rate for school-age kids growing faster in N.J. counties

Poverty rates for school-aged children increased by a statistically significant rate in more than 60 percent of New Jersey’s counties between 2007 and 2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates for income and poverty released today.

Nationally, that was the case in a little over 20 percent of counties, according to the Census Bureau.
Thirteen of New Jersey’s 21 counties experienced significant poverty rate increases for families with children ages 5 to 17 in that time span: Bergen, Camden, Cape May, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties.  (Symons, Gannett)

https://blogs.app.com/capitolquickies/2011/11/29/poverty-rate-for-school-age-kids-growing-faster-in-n-j-counties/
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>Susan McCorkindale, Saturday, December 3rd, 1:00pm at Bookends

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Susan McCorkindale theridgewoodblog.net

Susan McCorkindale, Saturday, December 3rd @ 1:00pm
Former Ridgewood Resident, Susan McCorkindale, will sign her book:  500 Acres and No Place to Hide.

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

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>All Seasons Chamber Players perform concert, Dec. 11

>All Seasons Chamber Players perform concert, Dec. 11

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011
TEANECK SUBURBANITE

The All Seasons Chamber Players will return to the Ridgewood Public Library Sunday afternoon, Dec. 11 for a 3 p.m. concert. The popular classical ensemble has been performing at the Ridgewood Library annually for many years. This concert is part of the Sunday Afternoon Performance Series of the Friends of the Ridgewood Public Library.

The library, located at 125 North Maple Ave. in Ridgewood, provides excellent concert facilities and is handicapped accessible. There is a $3 suggested donation at the door. Refreshments may be purchased at the snack shop at intermission. For more information or directions, call the library at 201-670-5600.

The program, entitled Vive la France! will offer three centuries of chamber music by famous French composers from the baroque era to the 20th century. The featured work will be a musical tour de force – Maurice Ravel’s great Piano Trio in A Minor (1914). The program will also include a baroque Trio Sonata in D by Jean-Marie Leclair; the tuneful and playful Dolly Suite for Piano Duet by Gabriel Faure; and the ever-popular Sonata for Flute and Piano by Francis Poulenc. Robert Lawrence, co-director for programs, will introduce each piece to the audience with personal spoken program notes.

https://www.northjersey.com/community/events/134807113_Chamber_Players_to_perform_.html

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>Council needs to get itself together

>Letter: Council needs to get itself together

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2011  
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Council needs to get itself together

To the editor:

What is going on with the Village Council? They clearly have their heads buried in the sand. Let’s start with the situation at Ridgewood Water: more than 26 percent increase over two years; lawsuit pending from neighboring towns alleging misappropriation on funds; meters that haven’t been read in more than a year without any notification to customers; software update to read meters that is more than a year and a half overdue; no notification to customers now that the technology is in place and the meters need to be retrofitted. Now the council is going to pass another special ordinance to override the 3 percent yearly increase ordinance; another 5 percent increase bringing the total for three years to more that 30 percent. Ridgewood Water is being completely mismanaged by Frank Moritz and the council needs to take action.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/134479783_Letter__Council_needs_to_get_itself_together.html

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>NJ state parks could open up to logging business under Legislature bill

>NJ state parks could open up to logging business under Legislature bill


Private companies might get the green light to launch commercial forestry and logging businesses in New Jersey’s state parks under a bill making its way through the state Legislature.

The proposal to allow the state Department of Environmental Protections to award a five-year contract to a project manager to oversee a forestry harvest program has drawn the ire of environmentalists, who say the legislation has no guarantees that public access to the parks will not be affected by falling timber.
“They’re going to cut down trees, and there’s no need for it,” said West Orange resident Carol Rivielle on Tuesday, a day after she attended an Assembly Environment Committee hearing on the commercial forestry bill. Rivielle is a member of the League of Humane Voters.  (Jordan, Gannett)

https://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20111129/NJNEWS10/311290046/NJ-state-parks-could-open-up-to-logging-business-under-Legislature-bill
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>Perth Amboy may become a hub of wind turbine industry

>

DonQuiote theridgewoodblog.net

Perth Amboy may become a hub of wind turbine industry

Perth Amboy officials are pursuing state help to turn a 100-acre waterfront site into a hub of wind turbine manufacturing, hoping to bring hundreds of green-energy jobs to the Middlesex County city.
A bill in the Assembly would expand a law that targets aid for a new port in Paulsboro, Gloucester County. Companies that set up wind energy facilities in Paulsboro can grab shares of up to $100 million in state tax credits.

The amendment would make other sites eligible for the tax breaks in support of offshore wind — including Perth Amboy, where green manufacturing companies would have easy access to major highways and rail lines as well as Newark Liberty International Airport, a city official said.  (Jordan, Gannett)

https://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20111127/NJNEWS1002/311270043/Perth-Amboy-may-become-a-hub-of-wind-turbine-industry
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>Medical pot growers face a new hurdle

>Medical pot growers face a new hurdle


It took years for advocates of medical marijuana to sell New Jersey lawmakers on the idea of allowing certain patients to legally use pot.

An even bigger task, some advocates are now finding, may be persuading towns to approve places for them to do business.

Eight months after being selected by the state, only two of six groups approved to grow and sell marijuana to qualifying patients have firm sites. Others have run into stiff local opposition, including in Burlington County.
Ken Wolski, executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey, watched residents of Upper Freehold rally Tuesday against a proposed legal pot farm in their town.
“It struck me,” Wolski said, “as townsfolk with torches and pitchforks chasing them out of town.”  (Mulvihill, Associated Press)

https://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20111126_Medical_pot_growers_face_new_hurdle.html
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>Former N.J. State Police lieutenant picked to run medical marijuana program

>Former N.J. State Police lieutenant picked to run medical marijuana program


A retired State Police lieutenant was named today to run the state’s fledgling medical marijuana program that is expected to begin operating next year, Health and Senior Services Commissioner Mary O’Dowd announced.
John H. O’Brien Jr., a 26-year veteran and retired lieutenant of the New Jersey State Police, and “an expert in the use of FBI and New Jersey criminal history record systems,” will begin on Dec. 5, according to O’Dowd’s announcement.

John H. O’Brien Jr., a 26-year veteran and retired lieutenant of the New Jersey State Police, and “an expert in the use of FBI and New Jersey criminal history record systems,” will begin on Dec. 5, according to O’Dowd’s announcement.  (Livio, The Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/former_nj_state_police_lieuten.html
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>Audit: Record number of licensed N.J. accountants are lying about education

>Audit: Record number of licensed N.J. accountants are lying about education


New Jersey officials say they have uncovered a disturbing trend this year: A record number of accountants — usually considered among the most honest and trusted professionals — have been lying about their education.
Worse yet, they’ve been lying about a class on ethics.

A recent audit of New Jersey’s licensed bean counters from 2006 to 2008 found that 4 percent of them — about 780 of 20,000 — falsely reported they returned to school for the course, which the state requires them to take every three years.

What’s more, many of those caught by the review were also lying about having taken other continuing education classes, required to keep accountants sharp in areas ranging from getting taxpayers the largest refunds to keeping tabs on millions of dollars in public money.  (Baxter, The Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/audit_record_number_of_license.html
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>As Christmas approaches, retailers take aim at online shops that don’t charge sales tax

>As Christmas approaches, retailers take aim at online shops that don’t charge sales tax


The loss of revenue for the state and the loss of competition for retailers in New Jersey “compounds daily,” said New Jersey Retail Merchants Association president John Holub, because of online retailers that avoid the 7 percent sales tax.

“The lost revenue is important,” Holub said. “Bricks-and-mortar stores, before they even open their doors, are at a 7 percent disadvantage because of the lack of these online, Internet-only retailers’ failure to collect sales tax.”

The association commissioned a study, done by the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University earlier this year, which showed in 2009, the state lost an estimated $171 million in revenue from Internet-only retailers not collecting sales tax. That amount could increase to nearly $300 million by 2015.  (Caliendo, NJBIZ)

https://www.njbiz.com/article/20111128/NJBIZ01/111129883/As-Christmas-approaches-retailers-take-aim-at-online-shops-that-don%27t-charge-sales-tax
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>New Jersey nurses charge religious discrimination over hospital abortion policy

>New Jersey nurses charge religious discrimination over hospital abortion policy


A dozen nurses in New Jersey have rekindled the contentious debate over when health-care workers can refuse to play a role in caring for women getting abortions.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court Oct. 31, 12 nurses charge that the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey violated state and federal laws by abruptly announcing in September that nurses would have to help with abortion patients before and after the procedure, reversing a long-standing policy exempting employees who refuse based on religious or moral objections.

“I’m a nurse so I can help people, not help kill, and it just doesn’t seem right to me,” said Beryl Otieno-Negoje, one of the nurses. “No health professional should be forced to choose between assisting abortion or being penalized at work.”  (Stein, The Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/new-jersey-nurses-charge-religious-discrimination-over-hospital-abortion-policy/2011/11/15/gIQAydgm2N_story.html?hpid=z3&tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost
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>Easing end-of-life care

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Easing end-of-life care 

End-of-life care is always a difficult issue.In New Jersey it’s also one that is both costly and aggressively pursued: The latest Medicare study by the nonprofit Dartmouth Atlas, which analyzes nationwide variations in healthcare, found that nearly 25 percent of New Jerseyans spent a week or more in the hospital intensive care unit in their last six months, compared with the national average of 15 percent. In that time they saw an average of 11 doctors, compared with eight for the nation. Medicare spending averaged $65,436 in the last two years of life in New Jersey, compared with $53,441 for the U.S., according to the Dartmouth Atlas review of 2003 to 2007 Medicare data.  (Fitzgerald, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/1129/0024/
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>N.J. hospitals’ operating margins creep up

>N.J. hospitals’ operating margins creep up


New Jersey’s hospitals saw operating margins rise slightly in 2010 despite a weak economy.
While 70 percent of the state’s hospitals had modest gains, 30 percent remain in the red.
Operating margins — or money left over after all patient expenses are paid — were 2.3 percent in 2010, compared with 1.7 percent in 2009, according to an annual report released Monday by the New Jersey Hospital Association.

Kerry McKean Kelly, spokeswoman for the association, declined to release the names of New Jersey hospitals with operating deficits.

The report attributed the slight uptick to aggressive cost-reduction strategies, such as layoffs, service cutbacks, hiring and wage freezes, and postponing or downsizing capital projects.  (Stilwell, Gannett)

https://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20111129/NEWS02/311290020/N-J-hospitals-operating-margins-creep-up?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|State