Ridgewood NJ, President-elect Donald J. Trump today announced Jared Kushner will serve as Senior Advisor to the President. Kushner will work closely with Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon to execute President-elect Trump’s agenda. Together, Bannon, Priebus and Kushner have formed an effective leadership team.
Kushner, a widely respected businessman and real estate developer was instrumental in formulating and executing the strategy behind President-elect Trump’s historic victory in November. Kushner has chosen to forego his salary while serving in the administration.
“Jared has been a tremendous asset and trusted advisor throughout the campaign and transition and I am proud to have him in a key leadership role in my administration,” said President-elect Trump. “He has been incredibly successful, in both business and now politics. He will be an invaluable member of my team as I set and execute an ambitious agenda, putting the American people first.”
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus added, “Jared is a visionary with a rare ability to communicate with and assemble broad coalitions of support. His entrepreneurial mindset will be a great asset to the team as well as his open mind, adaptability and keen intellect.”
“It is an honor to serve our country,” said Kushner. “I am energized by the shared passion of the President-elect and the American people and I am humbled by the opportunity to join this very talented team.”
Half of young people have so many emotional problems they cannot focus at school, a study has found.
Some 48 per cent of youngsters said that they experienced problems during their school years that prevented them from concentrating on their academic work.
Of these, 46 per cent did not talk to anyone about their problems, mainly because they did not want other people to know that they were struggling.
Mahwah NJ, An overturned dump truck that was involved in a two (2) vehicle collision blocked three (3) travel lanes of Route 17 northbound in Mahwah on Monday afternoon, 01/09. Mahwah PD, FD, and EMS units responded to the incident along with a paramedic team from The Valley Hospital and several NJDOT crews. The dump truck’s driver was seriously injured and transported by ambulance to a hospital. the driver of the other vehicle involved in the mishap, a beige colored minivan, was not injured. Mahwah FD personnel attended to a crash related fluid spill. A flatbed tow truck removed the damaged minivan; a heavy duty wrecker was required to right the dump truck and remove it from the scene.
Ridgewood NJ, Small business Optimism soared in December by the most since 1980 as expectations about the economy’s prospects improved dramatically in the aftermath of the Trump election.
The National Federation of Independent Business gauge jumps to 105.8 in month after presidential election and expectations for business conditions are highest since 2002
The National Federation of Independent Business’s (NFIB) index jumped 7.4 points last month to 105.8, the highest since the end of 2004, from 98.4. While seven of the 10 components increased in December, 73 percent of the monthly advance was due to more upbeat views about the outlook for sales and the economy, the Washington-based group said.
Ridgewood NJ, guess that 23-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax take has finally taken effect. Drivers report a surge in New Jersey Gas Prices.
In the well-publicised deal, with Governor Christie, Democrat Senate President Steve Sweeney and Democrat Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto agreed to the huge gas tax increase.
Prices of regular unleaded gasoline in June were around $2.10 and now prices seem to have stabilized at $2.33. While other media sources are filled with wild stories of OPEC meddling and Russian hacking conspiracies, in the words of former President Bill Clinton its the “TAX” stupid.
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 09, 2017 at 12:55 PM, updated January 09, 2017 at 5:19 PM
Unions representing locomotive engineers filed a lawsuit to overturn a state law that prohibits NJ Transit engineers from operating trains if their motor vehicle driver’s license is suspended.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court Trenton on Monday by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD). Union officials contend that the state law, which was signed by Gov. Chris Christie in August, conflicts with federal regulations, is punitive and doesn’t improve safety.
The bill was proposed in May after news reports of an NJ Transit locomotive engineer who was still operating trains while his driver’s license was suspended for 10 years.
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 09, 2017 at 4:07 PM
Is tying the expiration date of driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations to a driver’s birthday the solution to easing long lines at state Motor Vehicle Commission agencies?
Two proposals with variations on that theme are winding through the New Jersey legislature.
One bill, proposed by state Senator Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, that would change when vehicle registrations expire, was approved by the state Senate Transportation Committee on Monday and heads to the full senate for a vote. An identical bill cleared the Assembly Transportation Committee in November.
That bill would make registrations expire on the numerical day that corresponds to the same number as vehicle owners date of birth, under his bill. In other words, if a driver was born on May 15 and their registration is set to expire in November, the date for the expiration would be Nov. 15.
Ridgewood NJ, The Village Council is well aware that there is ample parking in town and they are simply trying to redistribute the cars. This is a sensible solution instead of putting up an unneeded, unsightly, unwanted and unaffordable parking garage.
The plan to get CBD employees away from the “prime spots” up near the restaurants is a great one. However, it does seem that there might be too many CBD-Employees spots set aside, based on these photos. There was a ton of empty spaces for them Monday mid-morning and again mid-afternoon. Perhaps the number will need to be reduced. There was also ample parking available in the lots as well as on street for shoppers and diners.
Kudos to the VC for working toward resolving this. I am confident that they will be monitoring the ebb and flow of open parking spaces in the weeks ahead, and probably adjusting things as needed. But it is more and more obvious that a massive garage is not needed and it never was.
Ridgewood NJ, An overabundance of open parking for shoppers/diners and for CBD Employees on Monday mid-morning and again on Monday mid-afternoon in Prospect, Hudson, N. Walnut, Cottage, and Chestnut lots.
Ridgewood NJ, 2017 Supplemental School Tax Billing – As per the Village residents’ November 2016 affirmative vote to approve a permanent $929,800 school tax Levy increase to support a full day kindergarten program for the school district, supplemental tax bills are required to reflect this increase. Questions can be directed to Dr. Alfredo Aguilar, the school district’s Business Manager at [email protected]
or 201/670-2700 x10503.
Both the supplemental school tax bills and the current tax bills are due on February 1st & May 1st 2017.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A last-minute decision by the Obama administration to designate election systems as critical infrastructure drew intense criticism from state and federal elections organizations on Monday.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced the move Friday with 30 minutes’ notice to the National Association of Secretaries of State and U.S. Election Assistance Commission, an independent bipartisan federal agency that develops voluntary voting guidelines and certifies voting systems.
Officials at both agencies are criticizing the department for what they said was a failure to work with state officials to fully answer their questions about the designation before making the change.
“We’re having trouble understanding exactly what they’re going to do, that we’re not already doing,” Connecticut Secretary of State Denise W. Merrill, who heads the national secretaries association, told The Associated Press. “States were already doing much of this (security work) themselves using very different products.”
from the maybe-these-are-the-‘smart-people’-who-can-fix-Comey’s-encryption-&# dept
Law enforcement has a number of informants working for it and the companies that already pay their paychecks, like UPS, for example. It also has a number of government employees working for the TSA, keeping their eyes peeled for “suspicious” amounts of cash it can swoop in and seize.
Unsurprisingly, the FBI also has a number of paid informants. Some of these informants apparently work at Best Buy — Geek Squad by day, government informants by… well, also by day.
According to court records, Geek Squad technician John “Trey” Westphal, an FBI informant, reported he accidentally located on Rettenmaier’s computer an image of “a fully nude, white prepubescent female on her hands and knees on a bed, with a brown choker-type collar around her neck.” Westphal notified his boss, Justin Meade, also an FBI informant, who alerted colleague Randall Ratliff, another FBI informant at Best Buy, as well as the FBI. Claiming the image met the definition of child pornography and was tied to a series of illicit pictures known as the “Jenny” shots, agent Tracey Riley seized the hard drive.
Not necessarily a problem, considering companies performing computer/electronic device repair are legally required to report discovered child porn to law enforcement. The difference here is the paycheck. This Geek Squad member had been paid $500 for digging around in customers’ computers and reporting his findings to the FBI. That changes the motivation from legal obligation to a chance to earn extra cash by digging around in files not essential to the repair work at hand.
More of a problem is the FBI’s tactics. While it possibly could have simply pointed to the legal obligation Best Buy has to report discovered child porn, it proactively destroyed this argument by apparently trying to cover up the origin of its investigation, as well as a couple of warrantless searches.
West Point Army Band Sunday, January 29, 2017 3:00PM
January 9,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The West Point Concert Band will perform its annual Marches Concert at West Side on January 29 at 3 pm as part of the West Side Concert Series. Admission and parking are free; donations are welcome. For more information, please visit westsideconcerts.org.
The West Point Band, the U.S. Army’s oldest active band and the oldest unit at the United States Military Academy, traces its roots to the Revolutionary War. At that time, fifers and drummers were stationed with companies of minutemen on Constitution Island, across the river from West Point. In 1778, General Samuel Holden Parsons’ 1st Connecticut Brigade crossed the Hudson River and established West Point as a permanent military post. After the American Revolution, Congress disbanded most of the Continental Army, but “the 55 men at West Point,” members of the 2nd Continental Artillery, remained. Among their ranks stood at least one drummer and one fifer, who alone maintained the tradition of military music at West Point.
With the establishment of the United States Military Academy in 1802 came an increased demand for military music. As the academy grew, it needed fifers, drummers and buglers to drill the new cadets and provide an audible order to their duty day. In 1817 the ensemble was named the “West Point Band,” and by this time was performing on a full range of instruments, which included two bassoons, two Royal Kent bugles, a tenor bugle, ten clarinets, three French horns, a serpent (an early bass horn), cymbals, a bass drum, eight flutes, and two trumpets.
Today’s band consists of four components: the Concert Band, the Jazz Knights, the Hellcats and Support Staff. They combine to form the Marching Band. The organization fulfills all of the official musical requirements of the Academy, including military and patriotic ceremonies, public concerts, sporting events and radio and television broadcasts, as well as social activities for the Corps of Cadets and the West Point community.
As the senior premier musical representative of the United States Army, the band has appeared at many historical events. It performed at the dedication of the Erie Canal; at the Chicago and New York World’s Fairs; and for the funerals of Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt as well as the inaugurations of numerous presidents. Additionally, the West Point Band has collaborated with some of the finest musical ensembles in the country, including the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Pops. Members of the West Point Band have also been showcased in Carnegie Hall and featured on The Today Show, 60 Minutes, Dateline NBC as well as on documentaries occurring on The History and Discovery Channels.
Comprised of graduates from America’s finest music schools, the musicians of the West Point Band continue to present provocative performances to audiences nationwide while providing the Corps of Cadets with a piece of living history.
West Side Presbyterian Church
6 S Monroe St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Phone: (201) 652-1966
One of the first big education stories to hit headlines in 2017 was the announcement that New York state will be offering free college to its residents this fall. According to The Washington Post, this offer of governor Andrew Cuomo’s stems from the fact that college is now viewed as a necessity:
“‘College is a mandatory step if you really want to be a success,’ Cuomo said Tuesday at LaGuardia Community College in Queens. ‘And the way this society said we’re going to pay for high school because you need high school, this society should say we’re going to pay for college because you need college to be successful. And New York state is going to do something about it.”
It struck me that Governor Cuomo might benefit greatly from a little fable from 1904 by American author George Ade. The fable, entitled The One or Two Points of Difference Between Learning and Learning How, describes two schoolboys named Bradford and Otis.
Bored by lessons and eager to be working in the real world, Bradford scorns higher education and goes into business for himself, working his way up the ladder by his own common sense and elbow grease.
Otis, on the other hand, is convinced that education is the pathway to wealth:
Ridgewood NJ, Simon Sinek on Millennial and Internet Addiction tries to answer the question ,”Whats wrong with Millennials”, this is something that has a lot of meaning, and this gives us a look into our lives and the errors that we make.
“So you take this group of people, and they graduate school, and they get a job, and they’re thrust into the real world, and in an instant they find out that they’re not special, their moms can’t get them a promotion, that you get nothing for coming in last, and by the way you can’t just have it ‘cause you want it. And in an instant their entire self-image is shattered.”
