>In letter to Governor, NJ businesses oppose subsidized power plant scheme
>Cell Towers : Its Déjà vu all over again
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ – Its Déjà vu all over again looks like the bid request that was put out before last nights meeting was pulled by the council from the agenda. And once again the question remains what is the appeal with the T-Mobile push for Barnett Place?
On the surface it doesn’t seem to be as lucrative for the Village as the Fire House .The Moratorium on Wireless Telecommunication Facility Special Committee people were simply looking for some ground rules for residents and wireless company to provide service and minimize impact on neighborhoods.
The council seems split on the idea of a Special Committee and with good reason ,as we all know often the best intentions create unintended consequences . We are not big fans of government committees but a standard set of regional ground rules for both wireless companies and residents seems a bit over due .According to the Special Committee people we “presently have proposals for the construction of three cellular towers (“wireless telecommunications facilities”) within approximately one mile of each other ” .
Everyone knows that all three will not be built. The conflicting proposals leave residents with a moving target and cell companies unable to properly plan a seamless network strategy .The current system works like musical chairs companies are forced to propose as many towers as possible , hopefully spreading out the resistance and latching on to the first one that get through the process ,while ditching the others .
>More discord over school aid plan
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>Moody’s Places U.S. on Review for Downgrade As Debt Talks Stall
By John Detrixhe – Jul 13, 2011 6:01 PM ET
Moody’s Investors Service put the U.S. under review for a credit rating downgrade as talks to raise the government’s $14.3 trillion debt limit stall, adding to concern that political gridlock will lead to a default.
The Aaa ratings of financial institutions directly linked to the U.S. government, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Banks, and the Federal Farm Credit Banks, were also put on review for cuts, Moody’s said in a statement today.
The U.S., rated Aaa since 1917, was put on review for the first time since 1995 on concern the debt limit will not be raised in time to prevent a missed payment of interest or principal on outstanding bonds and notes even though the risk remains low, Moody’s said. The rating would likely be reduced to the Aa range and there is no assurance that Moody’s would return its top rating even if a default is quickly cured.
>A Coup d’état at the Zoning board of adjustment
Pj Blogger and the Staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ – Fireworks were felt at the Zoning board of adjustment meeting when both Doug Cronk, a former council candidate, and Dean Vellis, a Fields Use Policy proponent, were not reappointed to the board.
It seems the Village is looking to clean house to avoid any impression of conflict of interest before the controversial H-Zone ,Valley Renewal Village Council special meetings. The Village is looking to avoid a repeat of the “I forgot to tell anybody my father was a Valley Trustee ” death bed confession of a former Village Mayor.
Many viewed the move as unexpected but is was rather difficult to not notice the impression that Doug Cronk and his running mate Brian Dowd ran a very pro Valley campaign , perhaps accepting contributions and as many allege campaign support from Valley Hospital itself , Doug also finds himself involved with the “bogus” pro Valley Renewal group that has sprung up from the “artificial turf”. Cronk and Dowd were defeated by current members Deputy Mayor Tom Riche and Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh.
Dean Vellis who runs the junior football program in the Village, and is a big proponent of youth sports may have been targeted because of the continued anxiety over whether many of the ‘turf and field light projects have been alleged to have been misrepresented to the public.
The other elephant in the room was the mishandled “Action Park” Graydon pool project which was under the thumb of none other than Melinda Cronk the wife of Doug.
The house cleaning had already started with the “sudden departure” Planning Board Chairmen David Nicholson a Valley ally who was presiding over an extremely unpopular tenure at the Board.
While Cronk and Vellis claim the vote not to re-appoint was politically motivated the Village Council seems to have woken up to the fact that it is a new day in the Village and the last 15 years of “we can do what ever we want and your gonna pay for it” are now over.
A new professional atmosphere is reemerging and perhaps the council is beginning to see both the liability and the folly of the all the incestuousness and parochial self interests that has so tarnished the image of the Village .
>AMBER Ready: The Moonlighting Cop, The Wanna Be Mogul and The Killer App That Wasn’t
Editors Note: A link was added to the section referencing Fairview Police Chief John Pinzone.
Editors Note II: A paragraph discussing the indictment of former AMBER Ready CEO Kai Patterson was inserted, along with a link to the indictment and his comment about the matter.
A small company in Morris County, New Jersey is evidence the first of how very bad things happen to good ideas when Wall Street gets involved.
Like most Wall Street initiated disasters AMBER Ready (AMBER stands for Americas Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) began with some noble intentions. The backstory: In 1998, a veteran computer engineer named Kai Patterson witnessed firsthand the horror his secretary went through when her son was abducted by her estranged husband. Specifically, he was struck by law enforcement’s waste of time in trying to get recent pictures and accurate descriptions of the missing, a problem that virtually guaranteed a lower chance of safely recovering them. (The secretary’s son was found unharmed a year later.)
Fast forward to late 2008. Patterson has given up more lucrative corporate work and is now working full-time on the issue, having raised some capital from John Thomas Financial, a scrappy young investment-bank. Convinced that his old model of having a small army of marketers canvass malls, school fairs and PTA conventions for customers to sign up via personal computer is inefficient, he hired a mobile-phone applications developer called Blinglets. Unlike previous versions, this would enable any customer with a cell phone to download their children’s pictures and key identification data to a form AMBER Ready provided. In event of an emergency, within a few minutes police throughout the region could have everything they need to coordinate recovery operations.
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Corey Taylor, Friday, July 15th @ 6:00pm
Lead Vocalist for Slipknot & Stone Sour, Corey Taylor, will sign his new book: The Seven Dealdly Sins
Books available: July 12th
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.
Please call the store for details.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
>Village will hold Valley Hospital meetings at Ridgewood High School
TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2011
BY KELLY EBBELS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
At least seven Village Council special meetings will be held beginning in September to discuss The Valley Hospital expansion proposal, officials announced Monday.
Special meetings to discuss The Valley Hospital’s expansion proposal will be held this fall in the Ridgewood High School Campus Center.
The meetings will be held at the Ridgewood High School (RHS) Campus Center. The meeting location is a crucial aspect of the proceedings, in light of incidents at last June’s Planning Board meeting at George Washington Middle School, when council members voted to alter the Master Plan to allow Valley to proceed with its “Renewal” project. Hundreds of people were left standing outside the facility due to capacity limitations. Residents also protested a lack of parking at that meeting.
The council has the final vote on whether to amend the village’s “H zone” ordinance and allow the expansion.
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>NJ Senate to investigate MVC computer crash
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NJ Transit is just OK, says a customer survey
Despite the mediocre rating, many say they use the system even though they have a car.
By Wayne Parry
Associated Press
POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. – NJ Transit riders are not thrilled about the price of a ride, late trains and buses and service interruptions, and they gave the sprawling statewide system mediocre marks in a new customer-satisfaction survey.
Yet the riders realize that few better alternatives exist. About two-thirds of respondents said they used the public transit system even though they had a car, and would recommend the system to friends and relatives.
https://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/125469363.html
>Christie’s increase in school aid is detailed
By Rita Giordano
Inquirer Staff Writer
The Christie administration released new school aid numbers Tuesday that detail Gov. Christie’s $850 million increase in state education funding.
The increase was disclosed last week with the governor’s $900 million in line-item vetoes on the fiscal 2012 budget passed by the Legislature, but the district-by-district breakdown was not.
The governor’s $850 million increase in school aid is less than the more than $1 billion the Legislature wanted but more than the $250 million increase Christie proposed in the winter.
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$200 Beer Pong Tourney every Wednesday night @ Blend Bar
Wednesday, July 20 at 9:30pm – July 21 at 12:30am
Snatch Alley is spreading to Ridgewood @ Blend Bar every Wednesday Night. Come down each and every Wednesday night for your chance at winning the weekly $200 Pong Tourney.
*** $200 cash paid to winning team each Wednesday Night ***
Double elimination Tournament (at least two games)
Sign up at bar ~ 9pm – 11pm
Tournament Starts ~ 10pm
$5 a player / $10 a team
Music: DJ
*** DRINK SPECIALS ***
$3 Beers (all bottles and drafts)
$3 House Wines
$3 Mixed Well Drinks
Don’t forget to invite your friends, don’t want them to miss out on the competition.
www.snatchalleytables.com
https://snatchalleypong.com/rules/
