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>Outrage over court program that rewards juvenile offenders with gifts

>Outrage over court program that rewards juvenile offenders with gifts 


Camden County officials are outraged over a court program that rewards juvenile offenders with gifts such as computers and iPods for completing their probation, according to the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill.

Freeholders issued a news release this week demanding the state courts end the program, which is offered only in Camden County. The statement described the program as a “disgraceful expenditure of taxpayers’ funds” that sends the wrong message.

The freeholders said many other children are working hard in school to get good grades or to find jobs to help their families and cannot afford iPods, notebook computers, and similar items.  (Associated Press)

https://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20111125_Outrage_over_youth_incentives.html
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>Steve Rothman says it costs more to make a penny and nickel than the coins are worth

>Steve Rothman says it costs more to make a penny and nickel than the coins are worth


Penny-pinching holiday shoppers may be more thrifty than you think.

The U.S. Mint spends more to make coins stamped with portraits of Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson than the currency is worth, according to U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman.

“Currently it costs more than a penny for the U.S. Mint to make a one cent coin and more than a nickel to make the five cent piece,” Rothman (D-9th Dist.) said in a statement submitted to the Congressional Record on Nov. 2. Rothman’s statement called attention to an opinion article in the New York Times written by a Bergen County freeholder that suggested alternate materials  for penny production.  (O’Neill, PolitiFact New Jersey)

https://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2011/nov/24/steve-rothman/steve-rothman-says-it-costs-more-make-penny-and-ni/
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>Santa’s Schedule

>

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Santa Breakfast, Gifts, Movie
Sponsored by Chamber of Commerce

Saturday, December 3 9:30am – Breakfast with Santa at Park West Tavern – Reservations: 201/445-5400 10:00am – Santa arrives E. Ridgewood Avenue on a Fire Truck – giving gifts at Columbia Bank; entertainment ARt of Motion 10:30am – Free Kids Movie at Clearview Cinema – title to be announced www.experienceridgewood.com

SANTA IN THE PARK

Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce
Santa will be in the Park at Van Neste Square – Dec. 3, 2 to 4pm; Dec. 10, 11am to 4pm; Dec. 17, 11am to 4pm; Dec. 24, 11am to 2pm

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>The bridge is in trouble because the BOE — its owners — deferred necessary maintenance.

>The bridge is in trouble because the BOE — its owners — deferred necessary maintenance.


Let’s not spin this as a good thing. The bridge is in trouble because the BOE — its owners — deferred necessary maintenance. By this argument, if the BOE stops maintaining the High School building itself maybe it will fall down and we can get a new one. It’s only money, after all.

Charlie Reilly’s comments are worth examining:

“Recently resigned trustee Charlie Reilly spoke up as a member of the public to defend the decision to delay bridge repairs in favor of other capital improvements from a budgetary standpoint.

“To say that expenditures on this bridge could have been done, and that we had the resources to do it, is completely fallacious,” he said, adding that the bond referendum vote would likely have not passed if bridge repairs were incorporated.”

So the BOE, knowing that the bridge had serious structural issues as documented in the 2009 engineering report, hid that fact during the bonding process. Reilly’s comment that expenditures could have been done is itself fallacious. The BOE had $48M to work with. Do we seriously think fixing or rebuilding the bridge would have caused the bond not to pass? 

These are apologies after the fact. The BOE knew the situation, deliberately did nothing, and now we have a much larger bill to pay.

Rebuilding this bridge will cost hundreds of thousands.


 Deal Zone_125x125show?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=205477

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>Dining Out Under $50: Baste in Ridgewood

>Dining Out Under $50: Baste in Ridgewood

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2011
BY JEFFREY PAGE
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
THE RECORD

Eating Out on $50 is a monthly restaurant feature. Two people determined to spend only $50 on dinner, drinks, tax and tip will discover just how much can be purchased for so little.

What do you do after the waiter takes your order? Sip wine? Hum along with canned music? Watch TV? Talk with your dinner companion?

At Baste, you can browse the bookshelves. That’s where, among a collection of about 50 titles, I found “At the Center of the Storm” by George Tenet, the former director of the CIA; Bob Woodward’s “Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate”; and a biography of Harry S Truman.

There also are some of Baste chef Alex Gorant’s favorite cookbooks. “We thought [books] might be an interesting way to spend the time until dinner arrives,” Gorant, a part owner, told me a few days after my visit.

https://www.northjersey.com/food_dining/134481153_Dining_Out_Under__50__Baste_in_Ridgewood.html

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>Rasmussen: 62% Plan To Spend Less On Gifts This Year

>Rasmussen: 62% Plan To Spend Less On Gifts This Year
Saturday, November 26, 2011

Most Americans plan to spend less money on gifts than they did last year, and fewer adults will be doing their shopping on the Internet.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 62% of American Adults say they’ll spend less on gifts than they did a year ago, while just 11% say they’ll spend more.

https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/holidays/november_2011/62_plan_to_spend_less_on_gifts_this_year

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>Traditional Thai, but With Surprises

>Traditional Thai, but With Surprises

Ridge Thai is warmly decorated in mellow gold and mahogany tones, with Thai artwork.
By SCOTT VEALE
Published: November 25, 2011

WHEN was the last time you were surprised by mee krob, those sweet, crispy rice noodles that appear on many a Thai menu, or by pad Thai, which has a way of losing its luster after only a few bites? You might find yourself surprised, and pleasantly so, at Ridge Thai, a tiny but well-focused restaurant in downtown

Those two are among a number of worthy items on a large, varied and reasonably priced menu of traditional Thai dishes, some familiar, others less so. The owners, Supat and Temduang Techaratanaprasert, moved to New York from Bangkok in the early 1980s and opened their place in Ridgewood in 2005. She’s the chef and runs the show while he works as the manager of Pongsri Thai Restaurant, on Manhattan’s West Side, where he has been since the couple arrived.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/nyregion/traditional-thai-but-with-surprises.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimesdining&seid=auto

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>’Company Policy: We are not hiring until Obama is gone’

>‘Company Policy: We are not hiring until Obama is gone’

WACO, Ga. — A west Georgia business owner is stirring up controversy with signs he posted on his company’s trucks, for all to see as the trucks roll up and down roads, highways and interstates:

“New Company Policy: We are not hiring until Obama is gone.”

“Can’t afford it,” explained the employer, Bill Looman, Tuesday evening. “I’ve got people that I want to hire now, but I just can’t afford it. And I don’t foresee that I’ll be able to afford it unless some things change in D.C.”

https://www.11alive.com/news/article/214228/3/Company-Policy-We-are-not-hiring-until-Obama-is-gone

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>ARC rail tunnel’s high price tag, financial impact criticized at transportation forum

>ARC rail tunnel’s high price tag, financial impact criticized at transportation forum


Had New Jersey not pulled the plug on it, the ARC commuter train tunnel to New York City would have been a transportation Frankenstein that crippled the state with debt, siphoned money intended for crumbling roads and bridges, and failed to take riders where they wanted to go.

That was the dire scenario described today by state Transportation Commissioner Jim Simpson during a Newark Regional Business Partnership transportation symposium.

“The tunnel project was sucking the life out of the rest of the system and the state,” Simpson said from the top floor of One Newark Center, in front of big windows that framed the Manhattan skyline and North Jersey’s extensive network of roads, rails, bridges and runways. “…You’d have to shut the Pulaski Skyway and shut the Wittpenn Bridge.”  (Frassinelli, The Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/defunct_arc_tunnels_shortcomin.html
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>Pedestrian Struck, South Broad Street, Ridgewood

>

Pedestrianstruck4 theridgewoodblog.net

photos courtesy of Boyd Loving

Pedestrian Struck, South Broad Street, Ridgewood
11/25/2011
Boyd A. Loving

At approximately 9:05 PM on Friday, November 25, the Ridgewood Police Department received a telephoned report of a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle in front of the NY Sports Club on South Broad Street in Ridgewood.

Responding police and basic life support EMS units found a conscious and alert male victim partially lodged underneath a parked motor vehicle.  An advanced life support unit from The Valley Hospital was summoned due to the nature of the victim’s injuries.  The victim was medically stabilized at the scene and then transported to The Valley Hospital by Ridgewood EMS.

Based on the result of a field sobriety test conducted by responding Ridgewood PD officers, the driver of one vehicle involved in the collision was placed under arrest for DWI and subsequently transported to Ridgewood PD headquarters.

Pedestrianstruck3 theridgewoodblog.net


PedestrianstruckNYSC11 theridgewoodblog.net


PedestrianStruckNYSC12 theridgewoodblog.net



photos courtesy of Boyd Loving

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>Putting a face to New Jersey’s homeschooled students

>Putting a face to New Jersey’s homeschooled students


New Jersey has long been known as one of the least restrictive states when it comes to homeschooling, not only not requiring much of families that choose to educate their own children but also not even keeping track of who they are.

But reacting to a spate of child abuse incidents and other concerns, State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) has moved to try to put in place some rules that she calls “minimal” to at least get some accounting of the children’s existence, along with their health and education.

Weinberg, the incoming Senate majority leader, on Monday introduced legislation that would require homeschooled students to register with their home districts, submit proof of schoolwork, and present an annual medical exam.

This has been a long-running issue for Weinberg, also chairman of the Senate health committee, who sought to place some rules on homeschooled students nearly a decade ago as an Assembly member.  (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/1122/2204/
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>Healthcare drives private-sector employment in Garden State

>Healthcare drives private-sector employment in Garden State


Healthcare accounted for nearly half of the private-sector jobs created during the past 12 months, and this job creation engine has been rolling along for years. Between 1990 and 2009, three of every five jobs created in New Jersey were in healthcare “and that’s a pretty astounding number,” said Aaron Fichtner, assistant 
commissioner for labor planning and analysis in the state Department of Labor. “It’s safe to say healthcare has been our strongest industry in New Jersey overall,” he noted.

Numbers like these have inspired a major initiative to train New Jerseyans who receive public assistance for careers in healthcare. The goal of the Northern New Jersey Health Professionals Consortium is to help 5,000 people escape poverty by entering the healthcare industry over the next five years. Classes began at community colleges during the summer, and so far 368 have enrolled and 22 have finished school and landed jobs, according to Justin E. Doheny, project director.  (Fitzgerald, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/1122/2049/
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>Survey shows brighter business outlook, but continued weakness in employment

>Survey shows brighter business outlook, but continued weakness in employment


Businesses in New Jersey have reported a second year of improved sales, profits, spending and employment, according to the 2012 Business Outlook Survey conducted by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

The survey, released today, also revealed a moderately improved outlook for sales, profits and spending in 2012, but the outlook for employment remains weak.

“New Jersey is making progress towards a full recovery, but we aren’t there yet,” said NJBIA President Philip Kirschner. “There is some improvement, but many businesses continue to struggle, and they are understandably reluctant to hire.”

Nearly twice as many companies reported laying off employees as reported hiring in 2011, leaving the survey’s current-employment indicator at a negative level for the fourth consecutive year. The forecast for 2012 shows only 15 percent of companies plan to hire, 13 percent will make employment cuts and 71 percent will remain stable.  (Bourbeau, NJBIZ)

https://www.njbiz.com/article/20111122/NJBIZ01/111129950/Survey-shows-brighter-business-outlook-but-continued-weakness-in-employment
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>Registration for first session of 2012 at YMCA

>MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Registration for first session of 2012 at YMCA
Mon, December 05, 2011
Time: 8:30 AM
Location: Ridgewood YMCA, 112 Oak St. Ridgewood

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Registration for first session of 2012 opens December 5

New Year’s resolutions – we all make them but also know it’s often hard to stick with them.

Why not make a plan now to achieve your 2012 health and fitness goals at the Ridgewood YMCA. With classes starting on January 2, you’ll insure a healthy start to your new year!

Registration opens at 8:30am on Monday, December 5 for the 8 week session beginning January 2 and running through February 26. Online registration is available at www.ridgewoodymca.org.

For full program listings and schedules, please see our latest program guide.