The Municipal Election, to be held on May 8, 2012, will elect three Councilmembers to the Village Council. There are six candidates running for the three open seats. The polling hours are 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Any questions concerning the Municipal Election should be directed to the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 201 or by email to: [email protected]
April 17th is the final Voter Registration (Municipal Election) 4:30pm – 9:00pm in Village Hall Lobby
THURSDAY APRIL 5, 2012, 2:58 PM BY DARIUS AMOS STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Board of Education (BOE) reached another landmark on the road to reopening the Ridgewood High School (RHS) footbridge, but there are still numerous milestones yet to pass.
The pedestrian footbridge connecting Ridgewood High School’s Stadium and Stevens fields. School board trustees on Monday unanimously awarded the bid for bridge repairs to Orange-based Zenith Construction. The company’s bid for $83,000 received the thumbs up after the BOE reviewed three bids as well as the project options outlined by architecture and engineering firm LAN Associates.
Saturday, April 7th – At 11am join the Easter Bunny in Memorial Park at Van Neste Square for some FREE – family friendly fun…visit the Easter Bunny and take your family photos, walk in the Bonnet Parade, enjoy the arts/crafts/music! SPECIAL SURPRISE- Ben & Jerry’s will be having an Easter Egg Hunt in the Park – Weather Permitting. RIDE the BUNNY TROLLY EXPRESS .
All activities are free! Maps will be available at the Bunny Tent to show all the locations to visit and/or ride the Bunny Trolley Express around town and visit the locations for the in-store fun! Special THANK YOU to Ridgewood News, North Jersey Community Bank, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Feeney Funeral Home for sponsoring this year’s event.
Questions: www.experienceridgewood.com or 201/445-2600 “Easter in the Park” has become a “tradition” in Ridgewood – lets keep is going! Please email – [email protected] – call the Chamber 201-445-2600 or mail back the form that you would like to participate in this event – that will bring many families to the Village. RSVP’s should be at the Chamber office by 3/23/12. Thank you!
>The ongoing failure of the BOE to reach an agreement with our teachers by Jim Morgan
I am a candidate for the Ridgewood Board of Education running for the open one-year term in the April 17 schools election.
I would like to address the ongoing failure of the BOE to reach an agreement with our teachers. My opponent has led the BOE negotiating team since the summer of 2010. He asserts that his role in these stalled negotiations is the reason he should be reelected. I believe that his record of no real progress in these critical negotiations is reason enough he should be replaced on the BOE.
The negotiations are conducted under strict rules of secrecy. I know no more about the issues than any other resident of the village.
What I do know is that the old contract expired more than nine months ago on June 30, 2011 and that there is no indication that an agreement will be reached anytime soon. Thus far the teachers have continued to work professionally under the expired contract, but there are signs that they are under increasing strain. This unhealthy situation potentially hurts our children and drives a wedge between the district and teachers, our most valuable classroom asset. My opponent’s reliance on rigidly following the “suggested” state framework for negotiating a new agreement delays resolution.
While the fact-finding process that my opponent has followed might produce a contract, it may also be several months before the mediator actually issues a report. If the parties do not agree with the recommendations, the state suggested timetable calls for a round of intense negotiations.
Why wait before intensifying face-to-face negotiations? The state does not require that the board follow the fact-finder process. As management, it is the BOE’s responsibility to set its own timetable. There is no legal reason hard bargaining cannot be initiated now. The oft mentioned “informal contacts” with the union is no replacement for real negotiations.
Once a new contract has been signed, there will necessarily be a healing process between the teachers and the district before everyone is again fully focused on our mutual goal – providing our children with an excellent education. The longer that the process is drawn out, the longer this healing will take.
To be clear, I do not advocate giving into contract demands that are unfavorable to the district. The BOE must protect the interests of the village’s taxpayers in these negotiations and our financial resources are very tight. The final contract must reflect these realities and be one we can all support. A policy of stalling the start of real negotiations, however, is in no one’s best interest.
As with many BOE challenges, we need fresh, creative thinking, not a continuation of business as usual. I will bring this perspective to the board of education. I ask for your vote on Tuesday, April 17, in the school elections.
>NFP Big Miss: 120K, Expectations 205K, Unemployment 8.2%, “Not In Labor Force” At New All Time High Tyler Durden on 04/06/2012 08:32 -0400
March NFP big miss at just 120K. Unemployment rate declines from 8.3% to 8.2%. Futures slide, for at least a few minutes before the NEW QE TM rumor starts spreading. The household survey actually posted a decline in March from 142,065 to 142,034. Considering Birth Death added 90K to the NSA number, the actual number was almost unchanged. And as always, as we predicted when Goldman hiked its NFP forecast yesterday from 175K to 200K saying “if Goldman’s recent predictive track record is any indication, tomorrow’s NFP will be a disaster”, Goldie once again skewers everyone. Finally, Joe LaVorgna’s +250,000 forecast was just 100% off… as usual.
The unemployment rate drops to 8.2% for one simple reason: the number of people not in the labor force is back to all time highs: 87,897,000.
>Appellate Court Denies Request to Block Pascack Valley Hospital Project in NJ Written by Sabrina Rodak | April 06, 2012
An appellate court panel has rejected a request by Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., and Englewood (N.J.) Hospital and Medical Center to stop plans to reopen former Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, N.J., according to a Record report.
This rejection allows Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center and its partner, Plano, Texas-based LHP Hospital Group, to begin their $90 million project to open the former hospital as the 128-bed Hackensack University Medical Center at Pascack Valley. The facility is scheduled to open next year.
>What Is Passover? The holiday’s history and observances
The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan. It commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. And, by following the rituals of Passover, we have the ability to relive and experience the true freedom that our ancestors gained. The Story in a Nutshell
After many decades of slavery to the Egyptian pharaohs, during which time the Israelites were subjected to backbreaking labor and unbearable horrors, G‑d saw the people’s distress and sent Moses to Pharaoh with a message: “Send forth My people, so that they may serve Me.” But despite numerous warnings, Pharaoh refused to heed G‑d’s command. G‑d then sent upon Egypt ten devastating plagues, afflicting them and destroying everything from their livestock to their crops.
At the stroke of midnight of 15 Nissan in the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE), G‑d visited the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn. While doing so, G‑d spared the Children of Israel, “passing over” their homes—hence the name of the holiday. Pharaoh’s resistance was broken, and he virtually chased his former slaves out of the land. The Israelites left in such a hurry, in fact, that the bread they baked as provisions for the way did not have time to rise. Six hundred thousand adult males, plus many more women and children, left Egypt on that day, and began the trek to Mount Sinai and their birth as G‑d’s chosen people.
>Owe The IRS? Bill Would Suspend Passport Rights For Delinquent Taxpayers April 4, 2012 11:57 AM
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A bill authored by a Southland lawmaker that could potentially allow the federal government to prevent any Americans who owe back taxes from traveling outside the U.S. is one step closer to becoming law.
Senate Bill 1813 was introduced back in November by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Los Angeles) to “reauthorize Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs, and for other purposes” .
R. A. Dickey,Friday, April 6th @ 6:00pm New York Mets Knuckleball Pitcher, R.A. Dickey, will sign his new book: Wherever I Wind Up. Books available March 29th
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
>Green tea could cloud Olympic doping tests By Maria Cheng, Associated Press
LONDON – Olympic doping officials are considering whether to tweak their tests after a recent British study showed green tea might hide testosterone from the standard test used to spot it.
The study was a test in a lab dish so scientists aren’t sure if the effects will be the same in people. But some experts say the results are intriguing enough that Olympic testing could be updated to include that possibility.
“It’s interesting that something as common as tea could have a significant influence on the steroid profile,” said Olivier Rabin, scientific director of the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA. He said other foods and beverages, such as alcohol, are also known to muddle test results.
Do you have a piano that is no longer being used? The district is looking for good uprights (e.g., Yamaha, Baldwin, Steinway) that have been well maintained and play and stay in tune.
Please contact Chris McCullough, District Supervisor of Fine and Applied Art, for more information at 201-670-2800, ext. 20509 or [email protected].
Village Council Elections: “When Valley gets their three candidates voted in things will change”
So Which ones are there three “Valley” candidates? . That would be (1) Gwenn Hauck, Valley Auxiliary officer or past officer and ongoing booster, and (2) Russ Forenza, outspokenly so.
As for (3), could be either Albert Pucciarelli, who is in favor of the expansion but says he would recuse himself because his law firm has represented Valley, which would not necessarily be a good thing (who would make the deciding vote in case of a 2-2 council tie?), or in a stealth way, Paul Aronsohn. In fact, wouldn’t Hauck also need to recuse herself for the appearance of potential conflict even though she has not received $$ from Valley?
Only Mayor Killion and Jane Shinozuka are exempt here. Residents who are adamantly opposed to the Valley expansion might consider “bullet voting” for the two of them to help make sure they win. You don’t have to vote for 3 candidates just because there are 3 open seats. This procedure is often recommended by people who are politically savvy.
>THIS IDEA WILL COST BERGEN COUNTY TAXPAYERS BIG TIME Posted on April 5, 2012, 9:00 AM
Buried in Friday’s Bergen Record was a little story that is sure to cost the taxpayers of Bergen County a fortune if it is implemented. But seeing how Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan loves to come up with more ways to increase her fiefdom it very well could come to be.
In a story titled Demarest to consider having Bergen County Police patrol the borough we learn that after trying to reach an agreement to share police services with the adjoining town Closter, the Demarest mayor said discussions were being held to have the county assume police responsibilities in the town. This all developed because of the loss of tax revenue in the town and the Christie imposed property tax cap putting the squeeze on the municipal budget. But the question has to be asked, if this is good for Demarest, will it be bad for the rest of Bergen County? That answer is yes. Let’s take a look at just why it is.
>Attorney General Eric Holder says court power to review laws ‘beyond dispute’ Published April 05, 2012 | FoxNews.com
Attorney General Eric Holder assured a federal appeals court Thursday that the Obama administration believes judges have the authority to overturn federal laws, after President Obama’s comments earlier this week raised concerns from the bench about his view of judicial power.
Holder, in a three-page letter to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, said “the power of the courts to review the constitutionality of legislation is beyond dispute,” though it should only be exercised in “appropriate cases.” He also claimed laws passed by Congress are “presumptively constitutional.”
Savings come slowly for hybrid, electric car owners Nashville Business Journal by Nevin Batiwalla, Staff Reporter Date: Thursday, April 5, 2012, 12:09pm CDT
Buyers of hybrid or electric-vehicles, such as Nissan’s Leaf, hoping to save money have to wait years —or even decades in some cases— for the payoff.
If you’re thinking about buying a fuel-efficient hybrid, electric or otherwise eco-friendly vehicle as a way to save money over time, do your homework — or be prepared to wait.
Buyers who choose Nissan’s all-electric Leaf ($28,421) over its approximate gas-powered equivalent, Nissan’s Versa ($18,640), will likely wait nearly 9 years until they break even, according to a new report by The New York Times that examines the cost of fuel efficiency. For drivers of the Chevrolet Volt ($31,767), the wait is even longer— 26.6 years.
