>Ridgewood Village Council members are expected to voice their opinions tonight on The Valley Hospital’s proposed $750 million expansion
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2011 BY MARY JO LAYTON STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
Ridgewood Village Council members are expected to voice their opinions tonight on The Valley Hospital’s proposed $750 million expansion, although a formal vote isn’t expected until next week, officials said.
A large crowd is expected at Ridgewood High School, where council members will weigh in on whether the hospital’s plan to double in size should be permitted through changes to the village master plan.
The council has several options: to introduce the ordinance, which would change the master plan; recommend changes to it; defeat the proposed amendments in the hospital zone; or take no action at all. If the council were to introduce an ordinance to change the master plan, the hospital would still need approval from the Planning Board to proceed.
>Village Seeking Volunteers to Serve on Library Board and Parks, Recreation, and Convervation Board
The Village Council is looking for residents who are interested in volunteering to serve on the Library Board of Trustees and the Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board.
The Library Board of Trustees is the governing board for the Ridgewood Public Library and its employees. The Board of Trustees works with the community to establish Library policy. They also secure funds to carry on services to the public, and set goals and objectives.
The Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board recommends rules for use and monitors recreation facilities. The Board coordinates community recreation programs and develops and updates the long-range Master Plan for recreation in the Village.
All interested residents should fill out a Citizen Volunteer Leadership form (found on the Village website under “Forms”), and send it along with a cover letter indicating on which board or committee the resident wishes to serve, and a biography or resume to:
Mayor Keith Killion Village of Ridgewood 131 North Maple Ave. Ridgewood, NJ 07451
>Food stamp usage, child poverty on the rise in N.J.
The national poverty rate is at 15.3 percent, the unemployment rate is around 9 percent, and people are continuing to feel the pinch in New Jersey. According to just released census figures, about one out of 15 state households received food stamps in 2010.
NorthJersey.com reported that while New Jersey came in at No. 2 in household income last year, 215,000 households got food stamps, an increase of 23.2 percent from 2009. Also, in 2010, one of every seven children was determined poor.
The US recession started back in 2007, and the number of people living in poverty has reached an all-time high. According to PressTV, child poverty rates are now at 25 percent or higher in ten states. (Holt, New Jersey Newsroom)
Both Republicans and Democratic state legislators want to tighten rules for police disability pensions, which have risen sharply after two state Supreme Court rulings had loosened qualifications.
A Republican proposal, expected to be introduced Monday, would reduce accidental disability payments to as low as 40 percent of salary, from the two-thirds of salary that it is now.
It would also require police and firefighters to undergo further medical review in order to obtain disability benefits. If disabled workers are able to earn extra income in a new job, they will capped from making more than they did previously. (Method, Gannett)
…Just another example on how today’s union bosses mislead the public.
For years, unions have created a myth around manufacturing in the United States having been destroyed by the [ insert perjorative here ].
The fact is, manufacturing is not dead in the United States. It is a myth created to mislead the public on unions’ own destructiveness on companies and the jobs of employees. What union bosses have been screaming about is, in fact, the decline of unionized manufacturing.
>Start the Christmas Season at Bethlehem Sunday December 4
The members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church invite everyone to a Christmas concert on Sunday, December 4 at 3:00PM. Please join us for this free concert at in our sanctuary located at 155 Linwood Ave. in Ridgewood, NJ. We will be celebrating the blessed birth of Christ and the love of family and friends. What better place than Bethlehem to start off the Christmas season! This concert will also be the kick-off event for Bethlehem’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2012.
The concert will feature classic and contemporary Christmas songs and instrumentals plus a carol sing along. Greg Caldarone and The New Jersey Brass Quintet will perform a free concert “Christmas: The Joy and Spirit 2011”. Come celebrate this joyous time of year with old classics and contemporary Christmas favorites. The NJ Brass Quintet is a fabulous ensemble that will immediately give you that warm wonderful feeling of an old fashioned Christmas. Greg Calderone will feature some classic Christmas songs as well as some newer ones.
Greg Caldarone, award winning singer/recording artist, has been sharing his vocal talentsin our local churches and establishments for several years. He will feature Christmas classics such as “O Holy Night” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” as well as more recent songs such as David Freidman’s “Just In Time For Christmas” and of course Michael Card’s ” Joseph’s Song” (a signature for Greg). He will also feature an original Christmas Song of his own.
The New Jersey Brass Quintet will be performing a special holiday concert featuring music from their CD “Christmas; The Joy and Spirit” They will perform Christmas; The Joy and Spirit, Ceremonial Music for Brass and Organ arr. by S. Drummond Wolff along with other holiday pieces.
There will also be a sing along to get us all in the spirit of Christmas. The sing along will include “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “What Child Is This”, “Angels We Have Heard on High”, “Hark the Herald Angels” and “Joy to the World”.
The New Jersey Brass Quintet is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the cultural enrichment of the community in which it serves. The musical ensemble’s programs include educationally oriented children’s concerts, park concerts in a “Village BrassBand” setting, and special concerts for various occasions in addition to traditional
chamber music concerts. Its repertoire ranges from earliest madrigals to the most contemporary compositions available.
The dedicated professional musicians that compose the NJBQ bring a high degree of talent and creativity to the ensemble. Each member of the quintet is an experienced educator as well as an accomplished performer.
Greg Caldarone is a singer/entertainer/ recording artist, specializing in popular standards and Italian favorites, recipient of the Universal Jazz Coalitions “Dakota Staton Award”. Also a professional song leader. Greg will include Michael Card’s ” Joseph’s Song”, A song that is frequently requested of him at Christmas. He has been a song leader in music ministries in our community for 20 years. For more about Greg Caldarone go to https://www.gregcaldarone.com/
We truly hope to see you and wish everyone a joyous holiday season and a beautiful finish for 2011. Admission is free, however a free will offering will be welcome. CDs by both Greg Caldarone and The NJ Brass Quintet will be available at the concert.
The members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Ridgewood want you to know that God has a plan for you and he loves you. Our faith is in Christ. Our guide is in the Bible. Our love is for all. Come celebrate with us. We offer 2 Sunday services: Contemporary Praise Service at 8:45am and Traditional Worship at 11am with Sunday School and Bible Class at 10am. Please join us at 155 Linwood Avenue, Ridgewood.
>Health Department to take on licensing of single-room surgeries
Each year, hundreds of thousands of surgical procedures are performed as same-day surgeries in the state’s nearly 230 outpatient surgery centers, a growing list of procedures that includes spine, joint, and bone operations; cataract surgery; plastic surgery; dental implants; and colonoscopies. The state Department of Health licenses hospitals and multiroom ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), but it doesn’t license single-room surgical practices housed in a doctor’s office. They come under the purview of the state Board of Medical Examiners, which licenses doctors. But that could change during the lame duck session of the state legislature: on Monday, the Assembly Health Committee will hold a hearing on a bill to make all surgical facilities subject to uniform licensing by the health department. (Fitzgerald, NJ Spotlight)
The New York Comptroller’s Office is reviewing whether the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey incorrectly included hidden executive bonuses in figures used to calculate their pensions.
The annual bonuses were given to only 11 “essential” employees in 2002 and are equal to between 4.5 percent and 11 percent of their salaries, The Record reported this week. The extra payout, called Longevity I, was one of several that Port Authority lawyers initially refused to disclose because they said it would be an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
Agency officials later acknowledged they have included the perks in employee earnings reported to the retirement system, effectively boosting pensions for some of the region’s highest-paid public employees. (Boburg, The Record)
>Route 17 lot rezoned in Ridgewood Monday November 21, 2011, 10:31 AM BY JOSEPH CRAMER STAFF WRITER The Ridgewood News
The Ridgewood Planning Board unanimously has voted to amend the village Master Plan allowing for a rezoning of two properties along Route 17 from residential to highway commercial (HC).
The potential rezoning of the property, encompassing what’s commonly referred to as the Burroughs property as well as a lot housing the Ridgewood Commons office building, has been discussed extensively at past meetings of the board. A public hearing and vote was held last Tuesday.
The board previously voted in favor of rezoning the two properties among discussion regarding zoning of the entire Route 17 corridor.
>N.J. private sector adds 4,000 jobs in Oct. as unemployment drops
New Jersey’s private sector added 4,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate dropped 0.1 percentage points, to 9.1 percent, according to state officials.
Total employment rose by 2,500, as the public sector lost 1,500 jobs. The state’s private sector has added 38,600 in the nine months since January.
The state’s employment numbers also benefited from a revision in September’s jobs report. According to the revision, New Jersey lost 5,000 jobs, rather than the preliminary estimate of 11,100.
“That’s a significant improvement, certainly over 2010, and an indication that the state is making progress in the private sector,” said Joseph J. Seneca, an economist at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. “Now public-sector jobs have declined, but that’s by design.” (Kitchenman, NJBIZ)
>Christie seeks help of mayors and municipal officials in forcing legislative action to reduce property taxes
Gov. Christie asked hundreds of mayors and municipal officials Thursday for help in forcing legislative action on three policy proposals he said would reduce property taxes.
With Democratic leaders sitting on the dais next to his lectern, and with Democratic politicians scattered throughout crowd at the New Jersey State League of Municipalities convention, the Republican governor toned down the rhetoric he has recently employed against them.
But he said the Democrats who control the Legislature won’t move on his money-saving ideas unless local officials cajole them.
“It will not happen without your gentle encouragement,” Christie said. “And so we need your gentle encouragement in the next 60 days and beyond.”
In a flurry of statements issued minutes after Christie’s speech, Democrats returned fire on the issue of property taxes, faulting the governor for cutting state aid to municipalities instead of hiking income taxes on the rich. (Katz, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
>Reader Reminds Residents to report all solicitors
There is an important article in the Bergen Record today about burglaries. MOST occcur when someone knocks on the door, and when nobody answers, they kick it in. I always call the Police to report a solicitors, and many of the officers act as though its not a big deal. Well it IS a big deal because these are the tactics used by burglars! I once had to explain this to an officer who was clearly upset that he had to respond to this type of call for service. I told him ‘don’t expect to make detective rank’ since he was so CLUELESS. Whether its some restauranter, landscaper, house cleaner or whatever putting flyers on your door or mailbox..CALL the police and report them. THANKS
I don’t know half of it, I know all of it. I was on the inside, I worked at Cottage Place, for DeSimone. They know who I am, and most of the district knows who I am. I will, and would gladly show my contract, and how they put spins on things to force you out, but since I am involved in a law suit with the BOE, i cannot. Not, only would I be happy to show it to the Blog, I fully intend to show it the Record, so all of Bergen County can see what they truly are, and what they are capable of. And the other thing you don’t know what you are talking about the re-organization, you justify firing an African American man that worked there for 18 years, and a man with Special Needs?
And the re-organization, as you call it, as all the people in the district, and especially Cottage place know, was just a way for DeSimone to get rid of staff members that he couldn’t control, and hire all his friends. Lorenz got stuck with them, thats probably why he was arguing with them. And you proved my point, there is no disagreeing with the BOE. So don’t tell me I don’t know half of it, I know ALL of it, and lots more. They probably tortured poor Lorenz until he had enough.
And DeSimone is the boss at Cottage, and everyone knows it, so unless you actually worked there, and witnessed what really happened, I suggest you tell your “insiders” that they don’t know of what they speak of. Oh, and BTW, please show me those minutes, me and lots of others would be happy to see them.
Teachers and principals’ own report cards are getting a lot more attention.
The way educators are evaluated is changing across the country, with a switch from routine “satisfactory” ratings to actual proof that students are learning.
President Barack Obama’s recent use of executive authority to revise the No Child Left Behind education law is one of several factors driving a trend toward using student test scores, classroom observation and potentially even input from students, among other measures, to determine just how effective educators are. A growing number of states are using these evaluations to decide critical issues such as pay, tenure, firings and the awarding of teaching licenses. (Hefling, Associated Press)
