the staff of the Ridgewood blog
RHS Alumni Association is working on a small mystery. Someone found this RHS diploma for Candace Young and mailed it back to the RHS Alumni Association. The Association is looking for any meaningful connection to get it back to her. She is from the Class of 1980.
Any and all help appreciated. RHS Alumni Association Contact https://www.rhsalumniassociation.org/contact.php
Updated June 19, 2017
Posted June 19, 2017
By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Although a topic in Trenton for three years, the campaign to legalize marijuana in New Jersey officially begins Monday when a Senate committee will discuss how the potentially billion-dollar industry should be regulated.
So what will it take for you to be able to legally buy recreational pot in New Jersey?
Gov. Chris Christie is vehemently opposed to legalizing marijuana and he has six months left on his final term. And the election for governor will matter for supporters of legalizing pot: Democratic candidate Phil Murphy supports legalization but Republican candidate Kim Guadagno does not.
Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), the bill’s sponsor, said he wants to begin the discussion now to build support among his colleagues in the legislature and across the state.
“Now is the time to begin shaping New Jersey’s recreational marijuana program,” Scutari said. “We will have a new governor next year and we should be prepared to move forward with a program that ends the prohibition on marijuana and that treats our residents fairly and humanely.”
Here’s what you need to know about the road to legal pot in New Jersey.
Here’s what the legal pot bill would do
Scutari’s bill, (S3195) based on visits to Colorado’s thriving recreational program would:
Decriminalize marijuana possession of up to 50 grams “immediately” and allow people who have been arrested for pot possession to expunge their records;
Establish a Division of Marijuana Enforcement in the state Attorney General’s Office which would create the rules used to govern the legal market of growers and sellers;
Allow people to possess up to one ounce of dried marijuana, 16 ounces of edible products infused with cannabis, 72 ounces in liquid form and seven grams of marijuana “concentrate;
Impose a sales tax on recreational sales beginning at 7 percent in the first year, climbing to 10 percent in the second year and jumping five percent more each year until it reaches 25 percent. Taxes on medical marijuana would be abolished.
Give the five existing medical marijuana dispensary nonprofit groups first crack at selling recreational pot.
Mahwah NJ, on Monday a judge vacated a temporary restraining order filed by Mahwah Township against the Ramapough Lenape Indians.
The restraining order was imposed on a 14-acre prayer ground the Ramapoughs at the edge of a housing development.
Mahwah officials claimed that the Ramapoughs are in voilation of zoning laws because of tents, teepees and other structures they erected on the site, which is within a conservation zone and flood plain.
In an opinion issued by Superior Court Judge Charles E. Powers, “the township has not demonstrated that the temporary restraints are required to prevent imminent and irreparable harm,” .
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page
June 20,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hawthorne NJ, Hawthorne Police and Fire department personnel responded to a reported “tree into a house” at 43 Kingston Avenue, Hawthorne during a series of violent thunderstorms on Monday afternoon, 06/19. No injuries were reported in the incident.
It is unbelievable if not one of our council members attended this event!!! Instead of wasting your time on silly squabble, bet down to the issues that affect each and every tax payer in Ridgewood. We do not want to turn our town over to developers who are going to destroy the Village and line their pockets under the banner of “fair housing.” Can someone confirm whether or not we participated in this event and whether we are taking an active ole in supporting this Assembly womens’ efforts? And if our council people are not, they should consider resigning because they really are not addressing the most pressing issue facing and threating our town. Its outrageous that our council members are fiddling while Rome starts to burn beneath their feet! Arohnson and his ilk turned the town over to developers. But this group is doing nothing to try and take it back. Its time for action.
Updated on June 18, 2017 at 8:19 AMPosted on June 18, 2017 at 8:15 AM
BY CRISTINA ROJAS
For NJ.com
TRENTON — Trenton will lose out on $3.3 million in federal block grant funding over a three-year span — the result of years of mismanagement and sloppy recordkeeping under the city’s previous two administrations.
The funding cut approved earlier this month represents the city’s only recourse to repay Community Development Block Grant money that officials say was improperly used between 2007 and 2013.
A series of audits by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development found that $3,322,313 in costs for the block grant program were unsupported, unallowable or unreasonable and required repayment. But because the city can’t afford to reimburse HUD with non-federal funds, the amount it owes will be deducted from future block grants, beginning with the 2016 funds that have not yet been released.
By Dino Flammia June 18, 2017 9:00 PM
To escape a domestic violence situation more than 20 years ago, Newark resident Janet Duran needed to find work that would pay well enough to support herself and her child, and not interfere with attaining a college degree.
Alexey Klementiev, ThinkStock
“The easiest way out,” she says, was entering the world of sex work. Since then, on and off, she’s “dabbled in a bit of everything” sex trade-related, except webcam services, to make ends meet. And it’s still helping to pay the bills.
“I just go out. If someone’s interested, they’ll come speak to me,” she said. “I just kind of bounce around from city to city.”
BY TED SHERMAN
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
NEWARK–What’s the penalty for writing a bad check?
It could run into a lot of money for the federal government, after jurors in New Jersey were apparently stiffed out of their $40-a-day pay.
Hundreds of U.S. Treasury checks sent out by the U.S. District Court in New Jersey to jurors over the past two weeks unexpectedly bounced, saddling many with hefty bank fees after they were cashed and then returned. One juror said he learned there was a problem after his bank deposited the check without question, and then hit him with a charge.
The court promised to make good on any losses.
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/apparently_this_courts_money_is_no_good.html
June 19,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, There is an old saying that “cash is king.” But when it comes to forming a legitimate business or industry in the United States, digital currency has dethroned cash.
Those in the cannabis industry, which operates mainly in cash, know this all too well, as their industry is having trouble legitimizing itself, raising money laundering and monitoring fears from the U.S. government. Banks, which are federally regulated, are hesitant to work with cannabis companies because marijuana is still illegal under federal law, and that’s why it’s forced to be a cash-only business.
But Steve Janjic, CEO of Amercanex (www.amercanex.com), the first fully electronic cannabis marketplace, is changing that through an electronic wallet known as ACE Pay.
“The only legal way for the industry to do what it is doing is because of our system,” Janjic says. “We had to build a real payment system for it to survive. Without a regulatory system, we would never get the buy-in of the federal government, which now has everything it needs to regulate the industry, collect taxes, etc.”
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, nearly 20 percent of Americans do not have access to electronic banking, a bank card or a credit card. Because of this, they deal in cash.
ACE Pay provides a bank account for those who utilize the system, forcing money to change hands electronically, much like PayPal.
Janjic says that those on the system can obtain a physical card if they desire, and that the ACE Pay system is fully automated so banks do not have to add extra staff. Thanks to a proprietary algorithm, those who are on the system will only be allowed to purchase cannabis once a day and minors will not be allowed to make purchases.
Currently, 37 states and the District of Columbia have either legalized some form of marijuana use or possession, or are in the process of doing so. Colorado has been the most successful, fully legalizing marijuana in 2012. Despite its success, Janjic says that 30-35 percent of the state’s marijuana is still purchased on the black market because of its cash-based nature.
“There are many states that could gain from fully legalizing marijuana,” Janjic says. “Struggling states could start growing cannabis, which could help turn their economies around.”
If other states in the union choose to follow Colorado’s model, it could be a windfall in new revenue for those states. According to Fortune, Colorado collected more than $150 million in taxes from the legal sale of marijuana in 2016. The first $40 million annually collected from taxes on marijuana sales is earmarked for public school projects. Not only is the cannabis market in Colorado generating tax revenue for the state, it is also creating more than 18,000 jobs annually.
About Steve Janjic
Steve Janjic is CEO of Amercanex (www.amercanex.com), founded to provide a transparent, neutral and non-manipulated marketplace for institutional cannabis-industry participants, including growers and retailers. The company, a commodities exchange for the rapidly growing industry, strictly adheres to the centralizing regulatory and reporting requirements to local and regional regulatory authorities. Janjic is also the former global head of eFX Sales and Distribution at Tullett Prebon, one of the world’s largest institutional brokerage firms, with 168 years in the marketplace. While with Tullett Prebon, he has established a global sales force focusing on institutional e-commerce and prime brokerage sales/distribution teams.
Home bakers in New Jersey stew over country’s last ban
By Josh Cornfield | AP June 18 at 12:09 PM
TRENTON, N.J. — There’s only one thing preventing baker Mandy Coriston from selling the Irish soda bread she makes from her great-grandmother’s recipe inside her old cast-iron skillets: She lives in New Jersey.
New Jersey is now the only state in the U.S. where people can’t sell home-baked goods after a Wisconsin court this month invalidated that state’s ban.
Wisconsin officials have said they may appeal the judge’s decision, but the state Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would allow home bakers to sell without a license.
A push by a group including Coriston to overturn New Jersey’s law has drawn plenty of supporters over the last eight years, but one state lawmaker has so-far blocked it from being considered because of concerns over public health issues.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/home-bakers-in-new-jersey-stew-over-countrys-last-ban/2017/06/18/138bc4ce-5440-11e7-840b-512026319da7_story.html?utm_term=.f19524357047
June 19,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, With festival season on the come up it’s increasingly important you remember to stay safe. Especially in New Jersey and elsewhere on the East Coast, as police have now issued health warnings for a new kind of “IKEA” ecstasy tablet.
The pill is a yellow and blue brick-shaped tablet, similar to the IKEA logo, and has already landed users in the hospital thanks to its “stronger than expected” nature. New Jersey police are urging users to stay away from these pills “in the interest of their health.” As always, if you’ve taken one and/or planning to make sure you’re taking the utmost care in precaution when doing so.
file photo by Boyd Loving
Flood Watch-National Weather Service New York NY
338 AM EDT Mon Jun 19 2017
…HEAVY RAIN AND FLASH FLOODING POSSIBLE FROM THIS AFTERNOON
INTO TONIGHT…
Northern Fairfield-Northern New Haven-Southern Fairfield-
Southern New Haven-Western Passaic-Eastern Passaic-Hudson-
Western Bergen-Eastern Bergen-Western Essex-Eastern Essex-
Western Union-Eastern Union-Orange-Putnam-Rockland-
Northern Westchester-Southern Westchester-New York (Manhattan)-
Bronx-Richmond (Staten Island)-Kings (Brooklyn)-Northern Queens-
Northern Nassau-Southern Queens-Southern Nassau-
338 AM EDT Mon Jun 19 2017
…FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON EDT TODAY
THROUGH LATE TONIGHT…
The Flash Flood Watch continues for
* Portions of southern Connecticut, northeast New Jersey, and
southeast New York, including the following areas, in southern
Connecticut, Fairfield and New Haven. In northeast New Jersey,
Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union. In southeast New York,
Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), Nassau, New York (Manhattan), Orange,
Putnam, Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Rockland and
Westchester.
* From noon EDT today through late tonight.
* Numerous showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop
across the area from this afternoon into tonight ahead of a
slow moving cold front. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms have
the potential to move across the same area, leading to flash
flooding.
* Rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches are expected across the watch
area, with locally higher amounts possible.
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.
Ridgewood NJ, Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi represents 23 municipalities located in Bergen and Passaic counties, all of which have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on professional fees as a result of the failure and inaction of our State to provide guidance on how to comply with Court decisions on affordable housing.
The largest drivers of cost result from third party “intervenors” appearing and demanding to build large numbers of market rate units in exchange for providing a small number of affordable units. One of these intervenors is a non-profit organization Fair Share Housing. This non-profit has been granted enormous power in our State and has been dictating settlement terms for almost all of our municipalities.
Their deceptive practices are similar to certain retail clothing stores that used to raise their prices by 40 percent immediately before a “30 percent sale”. Indeed, Fair Share put forth a report that is being relied upon by our Courts which states, among other things, that NJ needs 280,000 units of affordable housing.
Many community leaders have reached out seeking help and guidance on how to handle this issue. In an effort to start dialogue on this topic Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi decided to host a bipartisan group of hearings. Schepisi invited Fair Share so that their point of view could be heard. Rather than attend or call or meet with me they choose to personally attack and bully Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi . A copy of their extremely unprofessional letter is attached. If you ever wonder why the large issues in NJ never get addressed, it is because of nonsense like this. I urge every municipality fighting their numbers to use a copy of this letter as one of their exhibits.
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook
June 19,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police and Fire department personnel responded to a multiple family home located on Cedar Avenue, Ridgewood on Sunday afternoon, 06/18, to assist in searching for two (2) children, both under the age of 10, who went missing from the home’s front yard for over 45 minutes. The brother and sister were eventually spotted walking several blocks away on East Ridgewood Avenue, apparently after having visited a local frozen yogurt establishment. They were picked up and returned home by a relative who had joined the search party. Fortunately, despite having crossed at least two (2) heavily trafficked streets, both children were found to have been uninjured.
June 19,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Because of Amtrak’s work this summer, the overall rail service plan for customers who will be traveling into Penn Station New York and Hoboken Terminal from July 10th – September 1st is as follows and will be in place continuously:
◊ Nearly all weekday Midtown Direct trains will be diverted to Hoboken except for the following four early morning trains, which will be operating into New York: Trains 6602, 6604, 6696 and 6306. All weekend Midtown Direct trains will operate directly into Penn Station NY.
◊ All Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast Line, Raritan Valley Line and Midtown Direct trains on the Montclair-Boonton Line will operate on regular weekday schedules with minor time changes to/from Penn Station NY.
◊ Main/Bergen, Pascack Valley and Port Jervis Lines will operate on regular weekday schedules, however, customers may need to adjust their connections to New York at Secaucus.
