> Disaster buyouts get mixed response from local officials
Local officials in one oft-flooded North Jersey town are counting on big savings through the federally supported buyouts of high-risk properties, but at least one mayor said the township could be left footing a heavy bill that won’t relieve future storm recovery costs.
“It’s important that residents who agree to a voluntary home buyout make, dollar for dollar, what their home was worth before flood damage,” said Pompton Lakes Mayor Katie Cole. “The homeowners are going to get back 75 cents on the dollar from FEMA, but the rest still has to be made up, and that will come from the county or our township.” (Eder, NJBIZ)
State Office of Clean Energy aims to stabilize solar sector
The state wants to extend utility-run solar programs, a measure long advocated by industry lobbyists as a way of averting a crash in the fast-growing sector.
In a straw proposal developed by the state Office of Clean Energy with input from industry stakeholders, the agency recommends an extension of utility-sponsored programs to promote solar through long-term contracts with homeowners and businesses or solicitations with solar developers. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
> Tyler Clementi : Is Ravi the patsy and poster boy for anti-gay bias
Reader brings up some uncomfrtable points about the Tyler Clementi case
The death of a young man or women is always a tragedy and I know that it’s someone in town and not a day goes by that my heart does not ache for the family but it’s like getting Capone on tax evasion.
First my thoughts on bias crimes are different than most and may run against the norm.
For example – a gay roommate is disgusted that his hetero roommate is having sex in their room with a local divorcee who prefers younger men. He sets up a webcam and plans to broadcast it. The kid finds out and OD’s because he’s ashamed. The media comes out and calls it a prank gone tragically wrong. Would the gay roommate be looking at 10 years for bias? I don’t think so.
Call me crazy but there is something more not being said about this case. What Ravi did was wrong but the other circumstances don’t seem to add up.
· Why is the prosecutor focusing on Ravi and cut his accomplice a deal?
· M.B. was supposed to be a twentysomething and turns out to be 32. Had Clementi been 1 year younger, M.B. may have been charged as a predator.
· Where was the security at the dorm? As a parent, I had to sign in and out of my daughter’s dorm when visiting. Now, it’s OK when some scruffy 30+ y/o drop in?
· Upon finding out about the webcam, Clementi takes a day, lives his normal life, hops in his car, drives right past Ridgewood and onto Fort Lee to jump. Did he feel that he had no safe haven @ home? The parents said they were upset when he came out to them. Even the parents feel that Ravi should receive no jail time.
· There are stories of heteros being barged in on, video’ed and pics plastered all over the net that have shamed the victim. I don’t hear an uproar about them.
This is not for publication but I just get the feeling that Ravi is set up as the patsy and poster boy for anti-gay bias. IMHO he should receive some kind of punishment for his violation of Clementi’s privacy but there are complicit parties to his death that will walk off with no culpability.
> Readers debate Special Ed Programs at Ridgewood Schools :
Anonymous said… Yes, the dollars are increasing but are the number of students increasing?
Answer that first, because if the number of students is increasing then of course the $’s are increasing. THEN determine if the increased students correspond with the increase in $’s.
If the number of students does not correspond with the $’s then you can argue more intelligently. Blanket statements about the expense of special ed will get you nowhere.
The irony here of course is that towns with good special ed towns attract families with special ed students, so the better job you do the more it is going to cost you in the long run.
Basking Ridge has a high population of special ed kids……. not because they breed kids with dev delays but because they have a great reputation and folks move there for their services.
Let’s keep in mind that these kids will cost us as taxpayers one day or another. Would you prefer society educate them to be productive citizens when they are kids or that they become burdens on society later on as adults?
5:25 PM
Anonymous said… It is one thing to pay for education of special needs students it is quite another to pay for all the additional costs that are never ending. Due to the way the laws are written, nothing is automatically off limits. Home programs, extended year programs, evaluations costing several thousand dollars and lets not forget lawyers costs. While mainstream education has seen funding cutbacks due to the poor economy, no so special education. Parents and advocates keep asking for more and while public schools are limited to 2% increases, not so private special education schools who openly court parents of special needs students. There needs to be a balance.
6:53 PM
Anonymous said… 5:25 – I appreciate your thoughtful approach to this issue. I would like to point out that the majority of the kids receiving accomodations will not be burdens to society when they leave school. I fully expect my classified, mainstreamed child (whose only accomodation is additional time on standardized tests) to go to a college where I will pay for additional support services, if necessary. After that, I expect that he will integrate nicely into the workforce and be self-sufficient. Yes, he might need more time than others to become independent, but it will be on my time and my dime. I expect I’ll be working until I’m 70 or so but it’s what we parents do.
8:42 PM
Anonymous said… This is a train wreck waiting to happen. While I am sympathetic to the parents of speacial needs children, the budget math will eventually break down and something will have to give. Special ed needs to be funded at the state level, not the local level. Otherwise, the 2% cap will be impossible to maintain in future years as special ed costs continue to skyrocket. The only thing that may save us is if birth rates fall and we have fewer kids in the schools at some point in the future.
TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2012 BY EVONNE COUTROS STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD – Village officials are applying for federal grant money to offset the cost of a flood remediation project that would clean up the Hohokus Brook and possibly alleviate overflow issues.
The estimated cost of two of three phases of the project is $400,000 to $425,000, Mayor Keith Killion said.
“We’re applying for $325,000 in grants,” Killion said. “This is something the village wants to do to provide relief to residents [living in the flooded areas] of the brook.”
The money could come from the Department of Agriculture and would offset a plan to “de-snag” and “de-silt” the brook, Killion said. Tree stumps, fallen trees and debris would be removed from the brook from the north end of the village south to the border with Glen Rock. The plan would also rid the brook of sand islands and rocks in the winding waterway.
The state’s offshore wind development law is working as intended — even though two consultants panned the first proposed wind farm, concluding that the benefits of the project are outweighed by its cost to ratepayers, according to Christie administration officials.
Testifying at a legislative hearing on progress to develop several wind farms off the coast of New Jersey, the thumbs down given to the Fishermen’s Energy project three miles off Atlantic City should not be viewed as a failure, according to Stefanie Brand, director of the Division of Rate Counsel. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
> Last call to register for annual Author Luncheon to benefit Ridgewood Library
MONDAY MARCH 5, 2012, 11:19 AM THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Egan will be the guest speaker at Friends of the Ridgewood Library’s 23rd annual Author Luncheon on Thursday, March 15 at the Woodcliff Lake Hilton. Reservations are due by Thursday, March 8.
Egan’s 2011 novel “A Visit from the Goon Squad” won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was also awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award. Egan’s other works include “The Invisible Circus”, a novel which became a feature film starring Cameron Diaz; “Look at Me”, a finalist for the National Book Award in 2001; and “The Keep”, which became a national bestseller. The author will speak and sign copies of her books.
Secret NYPD surveillance in N.J. was not so secret, former officials say
It was no secret.
Although recent disclosures that in 2007 the New York Police Department spied on Muslims in New Jersey have unleashed a furor, interviews with a dozen former state and federal officials show the department’s presence here was widely known among the state’s law enforcement officials.
In fact, it seems that after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, almost everyone — including Gov. Chris Christie, who was U.S. Attorney for New Jersey at the time — knew to varying degrees the NYPD was scouring the state, where some of the hijackings were planned and one was launched. (Baxter, The Star-Ledger)
Surveillance must be considered case by case Christie says
Gov. Chris Christie said today that law enforcement surveillance programs initiated without probable cause are not inherently wrong and should be reviewed on a case by case basis.
The governor was responding to a question about the New York City Police Department’s surveillance of Muslim groups in New Jersey and at 16 area colleges. The NYPD has drawn condemnation for the program that monitors Muslim groups without probable cause. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
>Readers are concerned about Special Ed growing costs and school budget caps
Special ed is now consuming over 25% of our yearly school budget and growing by 10% a year. With a 2% cap that means the growth in Special Ed spending will become a larger percentage every year taking consuming resources from general ed. When will it reach a tipping point, my guess is that it will be within the next 5 years.
The law’s the law. Providing special ed is not optional. Expensive out of district tuitions are approved by the state. If you have a problem with the amount spent on special ed, take it up with Trenton. Ridgewood does a really good job of trying to be cost effective and smart in spending, keeping kids in district where it’s cheaper, but the system is designed solely for the benefit of students and their families.
>March 18 Cut-a-Thon at Rita’s Snips for Pips and Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Night will benefit LSHSA
Rita’s Snips for Pips, Ben and Jerry’s and the Ridgewood Library are joining together in a benefit for the LSHSA on Sunday, March 18. That day from 12-4 p.m., Rita and her staff will be holding a cut-a-thon and will donate 100% of the proceeds, including tips. All haircuts will be $25 cash donation. No checks, credit cards or debit cards will be accepted and appointments are highly recommended. Following the cut-a-thon, Ben & Jerry’s will hold a scoop night from 4-8 p.m. and will donate 20% of those proceeds. During both events, the Ridgewood Library staff will keep the little ones busy with story times at both Rita’s and Ben & Jerry’s. Rita’s is located at 20 S. Broad Street (201-612-PIPS). Ben & Jerry’s is located at 104-106 Franklin Avenue (201-612-1122).
Making a sizable exception to New Jersey’s tenure reform bill
A few critical words at the top of page 14 of the proposed tenure reform bill caused quite a stir yesterday at a Senate hearing on the measure.
The new rules — which redefine how New Jersey teachers earn and keep tenure — will not apply to “those who acquired tenure prior to the effective date” of the bill.
In other words, the bill put forward by state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), the bill that has been given the best chance yet of overhauling New Jersey’s century-old tenure system, will be grandfathered in. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
A federal judge has dismissed a case brought by several state unions seeking to overturn the pension overhaul enacted last summer, according to a release from the state Policeman’s Benevolent Association.
The suit was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds and did not rule on the actual merits of the case brought by the PBA, the New Jersey Education Association, the Communication Workers of America and other public employee unions. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
“Grow Your Business” Networking Luncheon – Smart business planning – starts NOW!
Wed, March 07, 2012 Time: 11:15 AM – 1:00 PM Hosted by: Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
March Networking in Ridgewood SMART BUSINESS PLANNING – starts NOW! Websites – 2 part seminar March 7, 2012, 11:15am-1:00pm Hosted by: Bookends 211 E. Ridgewood Ave. $20.00pp includes lunch & seminar
Part 1: Web Site Security 101: How to Protect Your Business- With more data being stored electronically, the world is ripe with opportunities for financial gain through illicit hacking and data theft. How do these attacks actually unfold? This presentation will discuss the tactics used by real-world cyber criminals. We will better understand how small businesses can protect themselves when under direct attack. Presenter: Mike Zusman – owns Carve Systems. He is an independent security reseracher with Apple/SonicWall – has his CISSP certificate and is a leader of the Mobile Application Security Project.
Part 2: “Why should a business have a website?” Do I need to sell products on my website? Principles of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Getting visitors to your website. Having an effective website. Presenter: Drawing Board Media works closely with small businesses throughout the NYC metropolitan region to design, develop and host effective online marketing strategies. Chris Garcia has been in the business for over 20 years while helping businesses understand and implement effective technolgy solutions. Do you need to update? RSVP BY MARCH 2, 2012 201-445-2600 – [email protected] $20.00pp for lunch & seminar/Networking
President Barack Obama has a bleak message for House and Senate Democrats this year when it comes to campaign cash: You’re on your own.
Democratic congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have privately sought as much as $30 million combined from Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee — a replay of the financial help they received from Obama in 2008 and 2010.
