URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE…UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 709 AM EDT SAT OCT 29 2011
…A HISTORIC EARLY SEASON SNOWSTORM FOR INTERIOR SECTIONS OF THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY…SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT AND NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY…
NORTHERN FAIRFIELD-EASTERN PASSAIC-WESTERN BERGEN-ROCKLAND- NORTHERN WESTCHESTER- 709 AM EDT SAT OCT 29 2011
…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EDT SUNDAY…
* LOCATIONS…INTERIOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY…THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY AND SOUTHWEST CONNECTICUT…MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 287 AND THE MERRITT PARKWAY.
* HAZARD TYPES…HEAVY WET SNOW AND STRONG WINDS.
* ACCUMULATIONS…8 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW.
* WINDS…NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH.
* TEMPERATURES…IN THE MID 30S.
* VISIBILITIES…ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.
* TIMING…IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS…PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE NEARLY ALL SNOW…POSSIBLY BEGINNING AS OR MIXING WITH RAIN AT THE START. ELSEWHERE…A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW TODAY SHOULD CHANGE TO ALL SNOW FROM WEST TO EAST FROM MID AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING…AND THE SNOW COULD BE HEAVY AT TIMES. SNOW SHOULD GRADUALLY TAPER OFF IN INTENSITY LATE TONIGHT.
* IMPACTS…WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS DUE TO SNOW COVERED ROADS AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES. STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY WET SNOW WILL RESULT IN DOWNED TREES…TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES. THE DAMAGE COULD BE QUITE EXTENSIVE WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR AN AREA OF WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW AND STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL… KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT…FOOD…AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.
>Pascack Valley residents to state: ‘We need our hospital’
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011 BY JASON BRAFF MANAGING EDITOR PASCACK VALLEY COMMUNITY LIFE
Township of Washington – The 1,000 plus Pascack Valley residents in attendance at the state Health Planning Board’s public hearing to reopen the old Pascack Valley Hospital were loud and clear: they want their hospital back.
“The bottom-line is that this a matter of need and a matter of life and death,” said Emerson Mayor Carlos Colina, one of many that testified to the board on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at Westwood Regional High School.
Politicians, emergency technicians, physicians and residents presented their case for a new hospital in Westwood and shared varying personal stories.
The hearing was held as part of the board’s process to make a recommendation to the state health commissioner to determine whether or not a certificate of need should be granted to Hackensack University Medical Center to reopen the hospital as a 128-bed acute-care facility.
>Valley Renewal : Residents of Ridgewood, we have a right to expect that the best interests of Ridgewood as a whole must be the determinant
Residents of Ridgewood, we have a right to expect that the best interests of Ridgewood as a whole must be the determinant.
If it is objectively and demonstrably in the best interests of Ridgewood that Valley receive approval for its expansion plans, then the Village Council should vote accordingly. They will obviously need to be prepared to defend their vote to those of us who disagree with it, but if they can do so with a straight face, then that is all we have a right to ask for as taxpayers and residents.
On the other hand, if it is not objectively and demonstrably in the best interests of Ridgewood as a whole that Valley receive approval for its expansion plans, then the Village Council should vote it down.
This is the single largest expansion plan of any business entity in village history, involving major changes to the village Master Plan. The onus is and must continue to be on Valley to demonstrate that Ridgewood’s best interests are being served. If a Ridgewood Council Member makes a decision in his or her political capacity to vote no on such a plan, he or she should not be placed in fear of any lawsuit.
>Push for Pascack hospital is political THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011 By SAM PASSOW COLUMNIST
To say the movement to open a new hospital on the site of the closed Pascack Valley Hospital is not about politics is naïve.
Not that the residents who packed Westwood Regional High School’s two auditoriums last week for a hearing with the state health planning board were there with a political agenda. Wearing green shirts provided by Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), which runs the satellite emergency room at the Pascack site and plans to open a new hospital with the help of a for-profit company, their pleas for a new hospital after their old one closed were made with a genuine concern for their quality of life.
The residents want a full-service hospital close to them. Who wouldn’t? But they weren’t the only ones to speak at the hearing. They were treated to a parade of state and local officials. A common refrain that night was that the residents are in overwhelming support of getting their hospital back. Again, that’s obvious. Why would anyone in the community say no to that?
But a representative from Valley Hospital in Ridgewood asked everyone to look outside of the region. Pascack Valley wasn’t the only hospital to close recently. At least a handful in New Jersey shut their doors in just the last five years. When residents in Paterson and Plainfield lost their hospitals they held rallies pushing for new ones, but the Pascack Valley effort is different.
>Great Quality Dress-up Items Now at Harding Pharmacy
Harding Pharmacy located at 305 E Ridgewood Ave in Ridgewood, NJ, invites you to shop for great quality dress up items that can be used for Halloween or pretend play all year long. We have fairy costumes, wings, princess capes, musical chicken dance skirts, wands, tiaras, spiderman cape and knight costumes! Also, our cards are ALWAYS just 99 cents! Please, stop by! Parking is conveniently located in our own lot next to the store.
>Ridgewood school board interviews six candidates for open seat
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011 BY JOSEPH CRAMER STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Board of Education (BOE) interviewed six candidates this week for the seat left vacant by trustee Charles Reilly’s departure last month.
Six candidates applied and were each questioned by board members on Monday night regarding their professional backgrounds, reasons for applying for the position, and goals as a potential BOE trustee. The decision on Reilly’s replacement will be announced at a public meeting on Nov. 7.
Among the candidates – James Morgan, Gwen Sullivan, B. Vincent Loncto, Janice Willet, Rei Shinozuka and Eric Gross – several themes were consistent across the six interviews. All expressed a desire to contribute to the reputation of the Ridgewood school district, which was a primary reason behind moving to the village for many of the candidates.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011 BY KELLY EBBELS STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The trial in the case of the 2008 drowning of a 13-year-old boy at Graydon Pool began this week, with attorneys poised to bring their arguments forward and expert witnesses to testify.
Soo Hyeon Park, who, with his family, was visiting from Korea when they went to Ridgewood’s municipal pool as guests of the Kim family, drowned on the afternoon of July 15, 2008. Details of the drowning, notably the time at which the incident was first reported, have been disputed by the Village of Ridgewood and the Park family.
The Park family has sued the village for negligence and for emotional distress. The village had filed countersuits against the Park family as well as the Kim family, arguing that they owed a duty of care to oversee their son and to explain the pool’s rules to the guest family, respectively.
A Superior Court judge dismissed the Kim and Park families of culpability in summary judgments in June.
>Christie Talks To WCBS 880 About ‘Occupy,’ Obama & 7 Train October 26, 2011 10:18 PM
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joined WCBS 880 anchors Steve Scott and Wayne Cabot for an interview Wednesday and discussed a wide range of topics, including Occupy Wall Street, the 2012 presidential election and how it feels to be governor.
LISTEN: You Can Listen To The Full 11-Minute Interview Here
What Do You Think Of 7 Train Running To New Jersey And How To Pay For It?
Christie: “I like this idea a heck of a lot better and here’s why: it would do what the ARC tunnel was originally supposed to do, which is to connect New Jersey with the East Side of Manhattan and that makes this project infinitely better than the ARC Tunnel. Secondly, we’re approaching this as a partnership, unlike the ARC tunnel. The ARC tunnel was a partnership just between the federal government and the state of New Jersey and the federal government was paying about 30 percent of the cost and New Jersey was paying about 70 percent. Here, we’re looking at this as a partnership between New Jersey, New York City, New York state and the federal government.”
>New York City Officials Reach Agreement On Pension Reform By: Bobby Cuza
City officials were joined by municipal union leaders Thursday afternoon to announce an agreement on a new pension system that will consolidate funds under a unified board in hopes of producing higher returns and lowering costs to the city. NY1’s Bobby Cuza filed the following report.
Right now, the pensions for city employees reside in five different pension funds, each with their own separate board overseeing investment decisions, with 58 trustees in all. It’s a system critics say is inefficient, duplicative and outdated. Web Extra
“Right now, if we want to make an investment, it’s like turning the Queen Mary around in the Hudson River. By the time you do it, you may be going in the wrong direction,” said Stephen Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
On Thursday, labor leaders joined the mayor and city comptroller to announce a new way of doing business: All five funds will be overseen by a single unified board, which will hire a new chief investment officer, independent of any one elected official, to manage the money. The aim is to produce higher returns and, in turn, lower costs to the city.
“The extra investment dollars that pension funds earn free up city taxpayer dollars that can instead go for police and fire protection and for teachers’ salaries or to pay for all the other essential city services,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
> FLAGS ORDERED FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28
Upon Executive Order from Governor Chris Christie, flags at Ridgewood schools will be flown at half-staff on Friday, October 28, 2011, in recognition and mourning of a brave and loyal American hero, United States Army Staff Sergeant Jorge M. Oliveira of Newark, who tragically lost his life while heroically and selflessly serving his country in Afghanistan while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
>Garrett Unveils Proposal to Reform Secondary Mortgage Market
WASHINGTON, DC, October 27, 2011 –
Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, today unveiled his proposal to reform the secondary mortgage market to ensure robust private investment in the U.S. mortgage market without a government guarantee.
“Since taking control of the House in January, we have remained steadfast in our drive and determination to end the ongoing bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, protect taxpayers from future bailouts, and encourage private capital to re-enter the secondary mortgage market,” said Garrett. “Now that we have taken the important step of introducing a series of bills to wind down the government-backed mortgage twins, it’s time to start thinking about the ways we can jumpstart the private market to step in once they’re gone. My proposal to reform the secondary mortgage market will facilitate continued standardization and uniformity, ensure rule of law and legal certainty, and provide investors with the standardization and transparency necessary to ensure that a deep and liquid market develops in the absence of Fannie and Freddie.”
“Most, if not all, of my colleagues, Republican and Democrats alike, recognize the status quo is unsustainable. The government-sanctioned duopoly of Fannie and Freddie is not only systemically dangerous to our economic security, it’s un-American,” added Garrett. “For too long the government’s manipulation of the housing market has crowded out private market participants at the expense of the American taxpayers. It’s time to move from the era of crony capitalism that defined our housing finance system during the last century to an era of free market capitalism that will define our housing finance system in the next century.”
Garrett’s proposal to reform the secondary mortgage market will do the following:
1. Facilitate Continued Standardization and Uniformity of Mortgage Securitization
Direct Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) to create several categories of mortgages with uniform underwriting standards for each. Direct FHFA to develop standard and uniform securitization agreements and representations and warranties. Streamline the process for securities that meet the standard underwriting characteristics and securitization agreements to be sold to investors. Provide FHFA authority to ensure underwriting and securitization standardization compliance. Abolish risk-retention provisions included in Dodd-Frank.
2. Ensure Rule of Law and Legal Certainty
Remove conflicts of interest between servicers and investors. Clarify the rules around the eligibility of obtaining second lien mortgages. Require mandatory arbitration on disagreements between investors and issuers on reps and warrants. Prevent regulators from unilaterally forcing investors to reduce the principal of loans they have invested in. Allow for the appointment of an independent third party to act for the benefit of investors in mortgage-backed securities. Standardize servicer accounting and reporting for restructuring, modification or work-out of loans used as collateral.
3. Provide Additional Transparency and Disclosure
Increase the quality of the loan level information and the disclosures that investors can use to evaluate the value of the mortgages. Ensure investors have sufficient time to review and analyze disclosed information before making investment decisions. Increase pricing transparency by disclosing pricing history on securitization deals. Require the creation of an individualized marker for each loan within a securitization.
Throughout the 112th Congress, Garrett and his Republican colleagues on the Financial Services Committee have taken an incremental approach to gradually chip away at government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In March, House Financial Services Republicans unveiled eight bills during the first round of legislation and then followed it up with a second round of seven bills in May. To date, fourteen of the fifteen bills have been cleared through the Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee and are scheduled to be considered by the full Financial Services Committee in the next few months.
Bill could deliver what solar sector needs most: Stability
The legislature appears poised to act to stabilize a solar market that some have argued threatens to curtail the rapid growth of solar systems in New Jersey. But the initiative will have to wait until the lame-duck session after the election next month.
Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Middlesex), the influential chairman of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, said he expects to move a bill in mid-November that would deal with issues that have caused widespread uncertainty among investors as to whether solar energy is still a good bet in New Jersey. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
New Jersey’s economic development czar Tuesday encouraged the green technology industry to take advantage of incentives for start-up businesses, but some investors said they want a clear idea about planned changes to the state’s energy policy.
Caren Franzini, chief executive officer of the state Economic Development Authority, told an audience of nearly 200 at the Cleantech NJ conference about how the administration a few weeks ago won a commitment from Belgian-based Fluitec to call New Jersey home. The company has sales in 36 countries and offices in the United States, Belgium and China, and is consolidating its U.S. operations and global corporate functions here. (Jordan, Gannett)
>Letter: John Birkner, Jr. Mayor of Westwood thanks area residents for support at hospital hearing
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011 PASCACK VALLEY COMMUNITY LIFE Mayor thanks residents for support at hospital hearing
To the Editor:
It has certainly been a long time coming, but the residents of the Pascack and Northern Valleys finally had the opportunity to address the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services Planning Board. The application by Hackensack University Medical Center to open a full service acute care hospital at the site of the former Pascack Valley Hospital is now in the final stages of review. After nearly four years of working to have the hospital reopened, it was great to see that the passion, energy, and resolve of our residents has not diminished one bit, and in fact seems to have grown stronger.
The old saying “actions speak louder than words” could apply no better than to the actions demonstrated by the executive staff from both Valley and Englewood Hospitals, who after accusing the members of the State Department of Health of manipulating the application process, then claimed that they cared about the residents in our community. We expected them to speak out against the opening of our hospital, but we also expected that since they claimed to care about our residents, perhaps they would have stayed at the hearing to listen to our concerns. Instead, after they addressed the panel, their small group got up together and left the building in a display that demonstrated a clear lack of interest in what anyone in attendance has experienced because of the closure of our hospital.
>The Whitestone Associates report is critical as to why the scale of the expansion of the hospital should not go ahead
The Whitestone Associates report is critical as to why the scale of the expansion of the hospital should not go ahead – 12 trucks an hour for 8 hours a day and the foundations of local homes been damaged, these are just some of the real issues that the village as a whole will face. Together with the noise, the increased level of traffic and the general dangers posed by such an undertaking, the Village needs to look carefully as to why this project is something that we must not undertake. A legal remedy that the hospital will seek, should its plans be quashed, will amount to nothing based on the findings of this report.
We must be mindful that the Village has a duty to care for its tax-paying citizens and most importantly, for the children that will be caught in the crosshairs of this massive project – regardless of what side of town they live on and regardless of their numbers. Endangering the welfare or life of just one child is something that can not be tolerated.
Another important factor that needs to be touched on is the companies that will be potentially hired by Valley for this supposedly massive project – will the Village get an opportunity to review the track records of these companies as those records relate to health and safety history, employment history (most construction companies that undertake these sized projects have in the past been found guilty of hiring illegal immigrants and paying them below average wages off their books). What recourse will the Village have against Valley and the companies should anything untoward happen?
It’s important to remember that the issue of the expansion plan comes with numerous sub-issues that all need to be addressed and I am of the opinion that that most of those sub-issues have not been addressed or even placed on the radar.
