> NJ Transit wants to know what commuters think of the agency
NEWARK — It’s survey time for NJ Transit riders again and more than 10,000 riders have already voiced their opinion about the agencies train, bus and light rail service.
“There are 10 days left (to take the survey) and we’re ahead of schedule,” said John R. Durso Jr., NJ Transit spokesman, who added that 10,441 riders have taken the survey so far.
The data gathered in the quarterly survey is reported in NJ Transit’s Scorecard, where riders grade the agency’s services from on-time performance to cleanliness of trains and buses. The data also guide NJ Transit’s decisions about allocating resources and service levels.
“We’re asking our customers to tell us what they like and what needs to be improved and where we can enhance their traveling experience,” Durso said.
New Jersey’s attorney general told Muslim leaders Saturday that he was still looking into the extent of New York Police Department surveillance operations in the state, yet stopped short of promising a formal investigation during a meeting that both sides characterized as productive.
Leaders from different New Jersey Muslim organizations met with Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa and state and federal law enforcement officials for nearly three hours in Trenton to discuss concerns over the NYPD’s activities in the state. (Associated Press)
Feeling overburdened, N.J. residents keep eyes on tax-cutting talk in Trenton
As the income tax cut Gov. Chris Christie included in his budget plan, and a competing property tax credit proposal from Democrats, get more coverage in the state, an overwhelming majority of registered voters have finally recognized New Jersey as one of the highest-taxed states in the nation, though their concerns about not getting their money’s worth from the taxes they pay is nothing new, according to a poll.
“Historical data show that state and local taxes in New Jersey have been among the highest in the nation for at least the past 40 years,” said David Redlawsk, director of the Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, in prepared remarks. “But it took a while for people to fully recognize that fact, even though complaints about taxes have been around as long as taxes themselves.” (Staff, NJBIZ)
>In New Jersey, a battle over a fluoridation bill, and the facts
For all its renown as an engine of pharmaceutical and biotechnology progress, New Jersey has long lagged in what public health officials call one of the 10 biggest health advances of the last century: fluoridating its water.
While 72 percent of Americans get their water from public systems that add fluoride, just 14 percent of New Jersey residents do, placing the state next to last, ahead of only Hawaii, and far behind nearby New York (72 percent), Pennsylvania (54 percent) and Connecticut (90 percent).
A bill in the Legislature would change that, requiring all public water systems in New Jersey to add fluoride to the supply. But while the proposal has won support from a host of medical groups, it has proved unusually politically charged. (Zernike, The New York Times)
>Legislation brewing to help state’s small brewers
When Ocean Township native Mark Edelson opened Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in Maple Shade almost three years ago, he hired 100 employees to prepare and serve food, clean dishes, work the bar, and brew his nationally award-winning beer. As owner of eight other Iron Hill locations in Pennsylvania and Delaware, Edelson dreams of spreading his concept and his beer across New Jersey. But he won’t be able to do that. State law limits him to two brewpubs and prohibits him from selling or sampling beer outside his always-bustling establishment. (Nurin, NJ Spotlight)
>Ridgewood Chamber Easter in the Park Sat, April 07, 2012 Time: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM Van Neste Park, Ridgewood, NJ
Join the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce for Easter in Ridgewood
There will be lots of arts and crafts, music, and entertainment for the entire family!
The Easter Parade will begin at 11:00am. Following the parade, families will be able to take Photos of their children sitting on the Easter Bunny’s lap.
There will be lots of arts and crafts, music and entertainment for the entire family. Ride the Trolly – Bunny Express will travel through Downtown Ridgewood For more details call 201-445-2600/email: [email protected]
NJ school board elections? These holdouts are sticking with spring
They have become the holdouts, the handful of New Jersey school districts that have gone against the grain and decided to keep their school elections in April, at least for now.
Under a law passed this winter, districts were allowed to move their elections to November as a way to boost voter interest. What started as a trickle quickly became a torrent: 468 districts — nearly nine in 10 — have made the move.
The big lure was that those making the switch would not be required to put their annual budgets to the voters, as long as they stayed below the state’s 2 percent property tax cap. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
> BOE Elections :We have excellent schools today, but the District faces numerous challenges if it is to maintain this position by James Morgan
On Monday, I filed petitions to run in the April 17 election for the Ridgewood Board of Education for the one year term unexpired term.
I did so because I believe that the Board can and must do much more to serve the Village’s children and taxpayers. The BOE sets the District’s policies and provides operational oversight. Only by fully and openly discussing how it performs these duties can the Board make the best decisions for our schools’ future. I believe that I can make a difference by expanding the public’s involvement in the Board’s deliberations.
We have excellent schools today, but the District faces numerous challenges if it is to maintain this position. Every resident of the Village should be concerned with this election regardless whether or not they have a child in school. Beyond the future of our children, the continued excellence of Ridgewood’s Public Schools is the most important driver of our home values. The school budget of almost $90 million represents 2/3 of our real estate taxes. I believe that I can offer a constructive voice on behalf of everyone in Ridgewood.
The challenges facing our schools are significant. Among these are Ridgewood’s below average peer district average test scores at the middle and high school for the last two years, a technology plan driven by hardware rather than curriculum opportunities, an expired teachers’ contract, incomprehensible budgets presentations and a Board structure that excludes the public from participation.
While these matters require reform, my greatest concern is the Board’s approach to spending our tax dollars. Several years ago, the state capped the ability of local school boards to annually increase property taxes at 2%. The Board has incorrectly used the 2% tax increase cap on as a goal for planning the District’s operating expense budget.
This attitude is best captured in the remarks by BOE member Bob Hutton at Monday’s meeting. In commenting on how the draft budget was constructed, Bob remarked that “we know what the answer is, $1.8 million or 2%” This is an attitude can be summed up by the phase “we have it, let’s spend it”. This is a mindset that I want to change at the BOE.
The Board should be requiring the staff to justify every dollar of spending. Instead, the Board concentrates in the incremental spending and does not question whether the base from prior years is the best way to accomplish our educational goals. In Mr Hutton’s view, the 2% tax increase is there for the taking. A different approach is not impossible. Next year Glen Rock is adding teachers and programs yet keeping taxes flat. This is what Ridgewood’s Board should be setting as its goal.
This election offers the opportunity to make a positive change in the way the Board of Education does business. I am asking the people of Ridgewood to vote for me for the one-year Board seat in the April 17 election. For further information, contact me at [email protected].
>Addiction treatment providers could expand under Christie proposal
Addiction treatment providers would see a major expansion in their services under a proposal by Gov.Chris Christie to require drug treatment for nonviolent drug-addicted offenders.
Christie has proposed a $2.5 million program for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that would allow 1,000 to 1,500 people who are currently incarcerated to be released voluntarily to addiction treatment centers.
In 2013-14, Christie would begin to mandate a year of treatment for all nonviolent offenders who are addicted. The governor announced details of the proposal at the Rescue Mission of Trenton, a nonprofit that provides action treatment. (Kitchenman, NJBIZ)
New York City’s Police Department is facing mounting criticism of its secret surveillance of Muslims across the Northeast, with ACLU chapters and other groups demanding an investigation and Gov. Christie accusing the NYPD of arrogantly acting as if “their jurisdiction is the world.”
The intelligence-gathering was detailed recently in a series of Associated Press stories that reported that police monitored mosques and Muslims around the metropolitan area and kept tabs on Muslim student groups at the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers, and other schools in Upstate New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. (Delli Santi, Associated Press)
Mayors to Christie: Time to give us our money back
The lobbyist for the state’s 566 municipalities is calling on the Christie Administration to hand over more than $700 million in revenue they say legally belongs to local governments.
The State League of Municipalities has been in talks with the administration over Christie’s use of energy tax receipts to balance the state budget. League officials say the money is by law the property of the municipalities. The state merely collects it on their behalf, officials say, before paying it out each year as one of two pools of state aid. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
A Philadelphia man was caught red handed this week for using a cell phone jammer to keep his fellow passengers on a public transit bus from using their cell phones.
“I guess I’m taking the law into my own hands,” he told a reporter from NBC10 about the illegal jammer, “and quite frankly, I’m proud of it.”
Teresa Masterson, a writer at NBC10, first encountered the jammer on her morning commute and tipped off NBC Investigators. She told the blog Philebrity:
While riding the bus, my cell phone signal suddenly went out, which is not normal, and continued to search for a signal for 15 minutes. After a little while, I noticed that everyone else on the bus on his/her cell was having the same problem. Then, I see this guy (pictured at right). He’s openly holding something that looks like a walkie talkie with four antennae in his hand the whole time. Anytime someone would try their cell again, this guy would subtly turn in their direction, press a button and point it at them, then continue reading his book under his creepy hood… I’m pretty sure it was one of those devices that cuts off signals; Jennifer Lopez used one in Enough, so that’s all the scientific analysis I need.
>Senator Frank R. Lautenberg responds on “Operation Fast and Furious”
Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) initiative known as Operation Fast and Furious. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.
As you may know, Operation Fast and Furious is an ATF initiative in Phoenix, Arizona seeking to reduce violent crime associated with Mexican criminal organizations in the U.S. and to prevent these organizations from illegally obtaining firearms and explosives from the U.S. The operation is part of a larger ATF strategy known as Project Gunrunner. Through this project, ATF has recommended more than 2,500 criminals for prosecution and seized more than 10,000 firearms illegally destined for Mexico.
Operation Fast and Furious has received increased scrutiny after the December 2010 shooting death of Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry in Arizona. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) has asked for an investigation into Project Gunrunner because of concerns that ATF knew the weapon used to kill Agent Terry was bought illegally, but allowed the sale to proceed. Senator Grassley has requested that an independent Inspector General conduct a review of Project Gunrunner. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has also requested that a special counsel be appointed to investigate the matter.
During Senate consideration of a bill (H.R. 2112) funding ATF and a number of other federal agencies, an amendment was introduced that would prohibit funding for Operation Fast and Furious or other operations during which federal agents are not continuously monitoring or controlling firearms at all times. This amendment passed the Senate with my support. The bill to which it is attached must now be approved by the Senate and the House before this provision can be signed into law.
Please be assured that I am closely monitoring this issue and will keep your views in mind should the Senate consider further relevant legislation. Thank you again for contacting me
Amphibious rolling beach chair that can roll over sand and into water and float:
www.mobi-chair.com
If you think this idea is worth trying, please write to the council. Their email addresses are on the Village website. Go to https://www.ridgewoodnj.net and click on “Council & Mayor” on the left side, or:
