Stymied charter school files suit against three school districts
As New Jersey’s battles over charter schools have increasingly gone suburban, one charter school is fighting back in a legal counteroffensive that could have statewide implications.
The Princeton International Academy Charter School (PIACS) has filed suit against three districts that have openly fought its existence, contending that they have unlawfully used public funds in their two-year campaign against the school.
Although approved by the state, the charter has yet to open. It has needed two extensions while it battles for potential sites in Princeton and now South Brunswick, two of the districts named as defendants. The third is West Windsor-Plainsboro. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
>State Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr: Tax numbers show Christie was right
One of New Jersey’s most powerful Republicans says there’s new evidence that Gov. Chris Christie was right to reject the budget Democrats sent him.
Christie sparred with Democrats in June over how much money the state would take in from taxes over the next year. The Republican governor slashed $1.3 billion in spending off the Democratic plan before signing the fiscal year 2012 budget, saying Democrats had relied on overly optimistic projections.
State Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. says July’s collection numbers match Christie’s projections. Kean says that shows the state would be in major trouble if Christie had listened to Democrats. (The Associated Press)
>FLOOD WATCH…LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE ACROSS MOST OF THE TRI-STATE THROUGH THIS EVENING.
FLOOD WATCH…CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
459 AM EDT MON AUG 15 2011
…LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE ACROSS MOST OF THE TRI-STATE
THROUGH THIS EVENING…
.AS A SLOW MOVING STORM TRACKS SOUTH OF LONG ISLAND THROUGH
THIS EVENING…IT WILL CONTINUE TO USHER AN ABUNDANT AMOUNT OF
MOISTURE INTO THE TRI-STATE REGION. THIS MOISTURE IS BEING ACTED
ON BY THE STORM…CREATING THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED FLASH
FLOODING ACROSS MOST OF THE TRI-STATE INTO THIS EVENING.
NORTHERN FAIRFIELD-NORTHERN NEW HAVEN-SOUTHERN FAIRFIELD-
SOUTHERN NEW HAVEN-EASTERN PASSAIC-HUDSON-WESTERN BERGEN-
EASTERN BERGEN-WESTERN ESSEX-EASTERN ESSEX-WESTERN UNION-
EASTERN UNION-PUTNAM-ROCKLAND-NORTHERN WESTCHESTER-
SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER-NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-BRONX-
RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)-KINGS (BROOKLYN)-NORTHWESTERN SUFFOLK-
SOUTHWESTERN SUFFOLK-NORTHERN QUEENS-NORTHERN NASSAU-
SOUTHERN QUEENS-SOUTHERN NASSAU-
459 AM EDT MON AUG 15 2011
…FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING…
THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR
* PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT…NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND
SOUTHEAST NEW YORK…INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS…IN
SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT…NORTHERN FAIRFIELD…NORTHERN NEW
HAVEN…SOUTHERN FAIRFIELD AND SOUTHERN NEW HAVEN. IN
NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY…EASTERN BERGEN…EASTERN ESSEX…
EASTERN PASSAIC…EASTERN UNION…HUDSON…WESTERN BERGEN…
WESTERN ESSEX AND WESTERN UNION. IN SOUTHEAST NEW YORK…
BRONX…KINGS (BROOKLYN)…NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)…NORTHERN
NASSAU…NORTHERN QUEENS…NORTHERN WESTCHESTER…NORTHWESTERN
SUFFOLK…PUTNAM…RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)…ROCKLAND…
SOUTHERN NASSAU…SOUTHERN QUEENS…SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER AND
SOUTHWESTERN SUFFOLK.
* THROUGH THIS EVENING
* AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 1.5 INCHES OF RAINFALL…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER
AMOUNTS POSSIBLE…IS FORECAST TO FALL IN THE WATCH AREA…ON
TOP OF THE 2 TO 11 INCHES OF RAINFALL THAT HAS ALREADY FALLEN.
THIS COULD RESULT IN THE FLASH FLOODING OF URBAN AREAS AND FAST
RESPONDING SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS LOCATED ACROSS MOST OF
NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY…SOUTHEAST NEW YORK…AND SOUTHWESTERN
CONNECTICUT.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.
YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION
SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.
>Gallup: Obama job rating sinks below 40% for first time
By Michael A. Memoli
August 14, 2011, 10:31 a.m.
President Obama’s summer woes have dragged his approval rating to an all-time low, sinking below 40% for the first time in Gallup’s daily tracking poll.
New data posted Sunday shows that 39% of Americans approve of Obama’s job performance, while 54% disapprove. Both are the worst numbers of his presidency.
Obama’s approval rating has hovered in the 40% range for much of 2011, peaking at 53% in the weeks following the death of Osama bin Laden.
>I’m writing these comments because I don’t want the discussion of the Village Manager’s increase to end.
Several points that have emerged so far from the discussion are (1)the faulty justification for the increase by members of the VC was the Manager’s achieving substantial saving for the Village. This I assume was the result of his firing of a large number of Village employees two years ago and his negotiation of new contracts with the Police and Fire Department Unions. However, after the firings it was so obvious that the Village wasn’t functioning that many of those jobs had to be filed in the following year. The Union contracts which the Village manager negotiated was used as justification for giving him a raise by the Mayor, who said: I don’t believe that in the present state of the economy anyone should get increases, but if the Union guys get them, then everyone should. The fact is that the Village Manager negotiated an unwarranted increase for the Police and Fire Unions, when instead he should have insisted in reductions in the Police Depatment staffing and the restrucuring of the Fire Department and as a minimum substantial contributions to their health and pension plans. If the Manager did such save the Village thousands of dollars, why are out taxes going up by 7%.
(2) A 12% increase, under no circumstances, can be justified. Even if the Village manager was doing a great job, there is no basis for raising his salary retroactively to an amount that is completely out of line with what other public employee earn. One blogger suggest that this may have been promised to him when he was hired.
(3) The attitude of certain members of the Village Council must be addressed. Several of the newer members have suggested that they were not required to take into consideration what the public might have said in making the decision as to the Manager’s increase. Yet, at the last meeting, the Council backed down when it heard the outcry from the public in regard to a cell tower at the Fire House. Or stated another way, you can’t have selected hearing.
>Kids from Paterson share summer fun at Ridgewood’s Graydon Pool
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2011
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
At the height of a balmy August day, a group of children cautiously inched toward the water at Graydon Pool, waiting for permission from their counselors to jump in. While this scene may seem typical of any summer day at the pool, for the children of Paterson’s CAMP YDP gathered on the park’s western beach, it was anything but.
Each year for four weeks in August, Graydon Pool and Ridgewood’s Citizens for Swimming host children from the North Paterson-based CAMP YDP, which stands for A Community Association with a Ministry to the People Youth Development Program. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, children from a variety of grade levels are accompanied to the pool by counselors and spend the afternoons enjoying Graydon alongside Ridgewood residents.
>LOVE AND CAPITALISM CO-EXIST?
Liberalism’s ultimate genius, however, is its Orwellian capacity to saturate our society with newspeak and newthink.
DR. J. K. LYLES) – Capitalism is the most loving economic system ever devised by human beings. From its first cogent articulation in 1776, Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations explained capitalism as the only economic system that linked a person’s self-interest to the highest possible service to mankind as a whole.
It is crucial to recognize that “self-interest,” in this sense, refers not only or even ultimately to self-service but instead to the larger impulse of a person to serve and support his or her family. This distinction, between one’s self-interest and family interest (rooted in love), is pivotal to understanding the true nature of capitalism. Capitalism is not founded upon greed. Capitalism is founded upon love – the love of one’s spouse and children.
“Blasphemy!” Our state-sponsored culture derides service to one’s family as selfish, short-sighted, pedestrian. Is it? Ask yourself, what motivates you? Are you truly motivated by the quest for money and possessions? Are you sure? For instance, if you could amass 100 billion dollars this year, wouldn’t you trade every penny of that, instantly, for the health and survival of your son, your daughter, your spouse?
Is there really any amount of money that could atone for the death of one’s child? What about personal acclaim, fame, power, service to Man? Would any of these atone for any singular harm that might befall one’s own family, harm occurring because of one’s pursuit of such goals? In this it is easy to declare that capitalism is not motivated by greed. Capitalism is motivated by honor – the honoring of one’s family.
>The past two Village Council elections were that too many voters focused on one issue
The problem in the past two Village Council elections was that too many voters focused on one issue, Valley Hospital, and didn’t ask enough questions to the candidates regarding how they would cut costs and bring down property taxes.
Nor did the voters ask enough questions regarding the candidates’ plans for increasing the health of the downtown, dealing with the BOE, and improving village services. People blindly voted for the CRR candidates without requiring them to give us sufficient details as to how they would deal with the non-Valley issues facing the village.
>Neighbors-helping-Neighbors
John Fugazzie NhN Leader.
I want to invite you to become a Neighbors-helping-Neighbors member, we have an incredible group of people who are willing to help each other, our group has been in existence for just a little over 6 months now starting up in River Edge Library in January and we have helped 11 people find jobs including me back in May ! All of our meetings start at 7pm on Tuesday in Bergenfield and Hawthorne Libraries, Wednesday in Cresskill, and Thursday in River Edge all starting at 7pm sharp and it is helpful if you can be on time as we start into agenda and go around the room to heac member and it is important to know what each person is looking for so you can help with the networking and target company suggestions.
As the awareness of our group meetings is increasing we are experiencing increidible growth with new library programs coming on stream each week, Westwood Library Aug 15; Ridgewood Sept 8, Lodi Sept 12, Sussex County Library- Newton NJ. Sept 13 Libraries in process of being set up are, Closter, Rockaway Twp, Waldwick and Englewood, and we also have some out of state programs begining to take the initial stages to organize. NhN members are free to attend any programs we set up and for the programs held on different nights you can network members from any of these libraries.
Please go to our web site and down load the very helpful materials that members of our group has put together, beginning a job search is a great one to start with. www.neighbors-helping-neighbors.com
The key to moving to our successes page is to stay positive! network like crazy and dont be affraid to help the others in our group, the group has incredible karma and i promise you attending weekly meetings and working with our wonderful neighbors who are in the same situation will help you find what you need.
>Does true leadership exist anymore in our local government?
We are mad as hell, at the way the Village is being governed and we are not going to take this anymore. What are you people thinking? Small town dirty politics during a depression is going to bring you down, except for Paul Aronsohn who voted no on the pay raise.
We would like to see the job descriptions of all paid governmental personnel in the Village and a history of wage increases.
Should the Village Manager serve as a mayor of a another community? That could very well be a conflict of interest and a violation of his fiduciary responsibility.
This Village is no longer appealing to many of our residents. Our roads are in disrepair. The parking issue has been bounced around for decades. Parking of course is less of an issue since the downtown has been going downhill for years.
The Village Engineer has been policing sign permit violations so tickets in the amount $125. can be slapped on hardworking small business owners.
Does true leadership exist anymore in our local government? I think the system needs a total revamping by the local residents. Throw out the self serving guys immediately.
We the people are fed up with all the bullshit coming out of the Village Hall.
>Climate Change Hoax : Reader Points out the Obvious
Maybe Perry is right. How do climatologists explain the previous periods of extreme global climate change over millions of years, since fossil fuels have only been used over the past couple hundred years or so? Oh, right. it must have been a series of mysterious huge asteroid collisions that triggered extremely warm periods, followed by an ice age, followed by subsequent warming periods (which we have not witnessed since in the past several thousand years).
Or, maybe the climate around the globe naturally tends to change over thousands of years, seeking some equilibrium. Which do you think is more plausible? Given the misinformation and questionable “facts” put forth in favor of the current global warming debate, one must seriously question the premise that fossil fuels are the culprit. Maybe it is true. But, until there is truly indisputable evidence, I’m a skeptic.
However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t moderate our consumption of them and preserve our landscapes and seascapes. It just means we shouldn’t blindly disrupt our economies to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, just to satisfy the rants of a handful of questionable scientists and their lemming followers. Rather, we should pursue a balance between our massive energy needs and pursuit of the most economic sources of supply to satisfy those needs.
>Gov. Rick Perry calls global warming “all one contrived phony mess that is falling apart under its own weight.”
Rick Perry to delight climate sceptics by running for president
Perry calls global warming “all one contrived phony mess that is falling apart under its own weight.” Unlike many of the other GOP presidential candidates, he hasn’t expressed concern about climate change in the past, so he won’t have to do any back-pedaling. Notorious climate denier Marc Morano is a big fan: “Based on climate views alone, anyone who is holding their nose voting for Mitt Romney because there’s no other viable candidate will now rejoice to have an option with Rick Perry.”
State Trooper Says Someone With Keys Went In Underground Vault
LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. — State police in Uniontown said a 29-hour loss of landline phone service was caused by an act of criminal mischief when someone went into locked underground Verizon vaults and shut off the power.
Trooper Timothy Kirsch said there was no forced entry at the sites on Main Street and on Route 119 in Lemont Furnace, near the Penn State Fayette campus. Police believe whoever shut off the power had keys.
Police are trying to determine if the incident, which began at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, is related to an ongoing strike by Verizon landline workers.
The local state police barracks was without phone and computer service for 21 hours, police said. Calls had to be forwarded to dispatchers who worked out of another barracks several miles away.
>I’m confused! So please explain to me the reasoning for Dr. Gabbert’s increase.
1. Did he do a wonderful job and save the Village thousands of dollars? If, so, why are our taxes going up by 7%? Where are the savings? The initial termination of employees last year, was followed this year by substantial rehirings! The budget this year is substantially greater than last year! Essential services have been reduced. Snowplowing, street paving, the Library, etc…
2. What is the rational: That he is entitled to a raise, since union employees got raises (as a result of his negotiation of the their contracts)? If so, then the more of a raise in the Union contract the more he should have gotten! Even by this irrational logic, is he entitled to a 12% raise rather than the 4% the Union’s got?
3. Why is he, the Village Manager of Ridgewood, entitled to a greater salary than the Governor of the State of New Jersey, the Mayor of Newark or the Village Managers of Paramus and the other Bergen County Towns and Villages?
4. If the Deputy Mayor draws an analogy to the private sector (as he did when he supported incentive raises for management employees) can he justify giving the Chief Executive (our Village Manager) a raise when the Village is losing money? In the private sector, the Chief Executive of a losing business many times takes a substantial reduction, until the business begins to make money?
5. Shouldn’t more light be shone on the strange coincidence that last year Dr. Gabbert got an additional $20,000 as the CFO, (until a shift in internal positions was made, not a new hiring) and this year he got a raise of $20,000? This appears to indicate that there may have been promises made to him that were never disclosed to the public when he was hired?
6. All this aside. Even if Dr. Gabbert was the absolute best Village Manager ever to walk the Earth, he should be fired if the outragous remarks attributed to him are accurate. Greater men than he have been discharged for tasteless remarks that were less offensive than his! He is an insensitive (you fill in the blank)!
7. Finally, every person who is offended by what the Village Council did, has an obligation to attend the Village Council meetings and during the public comment portion, express their anger at the Council for this dastardly deed!
>Appeals court rules against Obama healthcare mandate
By Jeremy Pelofsky and James Vicini
WASHINGTON | Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:26pm EDT
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law suffered a setback on Friday when an appeals court ruled that it was unconstitutional to require all Americans to buy insurance or face a penalty.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, ruled 2 to 1 that Congress exceeded its authority by requiring Americans to buy coverage, but it unanimously reversed a lower court decision that threw out the entire law.
The legality of the individual mandate, a cornerstone of the healthcare law, is widely expected to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Opponents have argued that without the mandate, which goes into effect in 2014, the entire law falls.
