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Downtown for the Holidays- Ridgewood Tree lighting Friday, December 2, 2016

Christmas tree

Downtown for the Holidays-Ridgewood Tree lighting
Friday, December 2, 2016 • 5:30-9:00pm

December 1,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood Nj, One of our favorite Ridgewood events is right around the corner: The Annual Tree Lighting Celebration.

Streets will be closed to traffic from 5:30pm. Plan to shop a little; you can expect some nice discounts at Ridgewood stores from 5:30-7:00pm. Stop by to see Santa in the Park. Listen to live music by the Village clock.

At 7:00pm, enjoy entertainment from RHS Concert Band, Art of Motion, and Porch Light Productions.

And at 7:30pm, don’t miss the tree lighting!

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Goldman Says Trump’s Presidency Will Benefit Stocks in Almost Every Sector

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#MAGA comes to Wall Street.

by Julie Verhage

After years of slowing earnings growth and little in the way of excitement for many Wall Street analysts, many are now hopeful that President-elect Donald Trump will finally make things interesting.

When collating data for the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Analyst Index — a proprietary measure of growth across different sectors of the S&P 500 — the firm included a question this month on what the election of Donald Trump will mean for the industries covered by those surveyed. Turns out, they are rather optimistic.

“This month, we asked analysts to comment on how the results of the U.S. election will affect companies in their respective sectors,” the team led by Avisha Thakkar writes in the new note. “While their responses suggest that there is still uncertainty about the sector-level impact, the majority of sectors are anticipating favorable effects,” they say, adding that expectations of lower tax rates and economic stimulus are among key reasons for the favorable outlook.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-30/goldman-says-trump-s-presidency-will-benefit-stocks-in-almost-every-sector

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ESPN Loses Over a Half Million Subscribers

Boycott NFL #boycottNFL

The Nielsen estimates revealed that ESPN lost 555,000 subscribers during the last month.

In other words, ESPN essentially lost the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. This, coming on the heels of last month, the worst month in ESPN history, where the network lost621,000 subscribers.

In the last two months, ESPN has lost 1,176,000 subscribers, a subscriber loss nearly the size of the city of Dallas, Texas. ESPN currently has just over 88 million domestic subscribers. In 2013, a mere three years ago, ESPN had 99 million subscribers. That’s right, in the last three years, ESPN lost somewhere in the neighborhood of ten million subscribers, the rough equivalent of the combined populations of New York City and Phoenix.

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2016/11/30/espn-loses-half-million-subscribers/

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Workers protest for $15 minimum wage at Newark airport

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Katie Park , @kathspark3:43 p.m. EST November 29, 2016

In New Jersey, the minimum wage is $8.38.

NEWARK – As part of a national demonstration, workers part of the Service Employees International Union converged at Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday afternoon to rally for a $15-per-hour minimum wage — which is what New York airport workers make, organizers say — and to advocate for fairer working standards, according to numerous reports.

The coalition of workers — made up of workers from airports, fast food restaurants, Uber and taxi companies — started the “civil disobedience” march in Manhattan, then moved down into northern New Jersey to continue the campaign for a $15 wage, dubbed “Fight For 15,” according to Newark Patch.

https://www.app.com/story/news/crime/jersey-mayhem/2016/11/29/workers-protest-15-minimum-wage-newark-airport/94619784/?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics

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Supreme Court: Bloomfield cameras exempt from OPRA

village council meeting assult

file photo Village Council Meeting altercation

 

Erin M Roll , NorthJersey5:27 p.m. EST November 29, 2016

A Bloomfield resident’s search for township security camera footage has encountered a roadblock at the state Supreme Court.

The court overturned a prior Appellate Division ruling that said that Patricia Gilleran had the right, under the state’s Open Public Records Act, to view footage taken by the security cameras on the exterior of the Municipal Building.

The court’s Nov. 22 decision ruled that the security footage was not open to general public access under the state’s public records laws.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/essex/bloomfield/2016/11/29/supreme-court-bloomfield-cameras-exempt-opra/94611110/?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics

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AS DROUGHT WORSENS, RENEWED CALLS FOR RELEASE OF LONG-OVERDUE WATER PLAN

B3HXXR

JON HURDLE | NOVEMBER 29, 2016

Water-supply advocates argue that plan — last updated in 1996 — can’t deal with current shortages, possible pollution from sewage treatment plants

Drought has deeply depleted the water level at New Jersey’s Spruce Run Reservoir.

As New Jersey’s drought worsens, state advisers on water supply are renewing their call on the Christie administration to release a blueprint for water planning that has not been publicly updated since 1996 despite a legal requirement to do so every five years.

The Water Supply Advisory Council, a group of water company executives, nonprofits, and water users, is expected to urge Gov. Chris Christie and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin to publish a new version of the Statewide Water Supply Plan that was submitted to the governor’s office in 2012 and has not been seen in public since.

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/11/28/as-drought-worsens-renewed-calls-for-release-of-long-overdue-water-plan/?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics

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5 N.J. professors make conservative group’s ‘watchlist’

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By Kelly Heyboer | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on November 29, 2016 at 1:14 PM, updated November 29, 2016 at 5:07 PM

PRINCETON — When Peter Singer heard a conservative group put out a new watchlist singling out college professors with “leftist” and “radical agendas,” the veteran Princeton University professor was not surprised to hear he was on it.

Singer, a professor of bioethics, has come under fire in the past for his controversial views on animal rights, euthanasia and the morals of killing disabled babies.

He is one of five professors from New Jersey universities listed on the Professor Watchlist released last week by Turning Point USA, a non-profit conservative group. The list of nearly 200 professors is designed to “expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom,” according to the website.

https://www.nj.com/education/2016/11/5_radical_nj_professors_make_conservative_groups_w.html?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics#incart_river_home_pop

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McGreevey prison program moving from church at center of FBI investigation

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By Sara Jerde | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on November 29, 2016 at 4:53 PM, updated November 29, 2016 at 4:59 PM

PATERSON — A non-profit prison re-entry program housed in a Paterson building at the center of an FBI investigation is moving mid-December to another facility nearby to accommodate more people.

The FBI raided Paterson city offices earlier this month searching for documents related to the renovation of a Montgomery Street property where the non-profit New Jersey Re-Entry Corporation is located.

Gov. James McGreevey, who helps administer the program, acknowledged Tuesday that the investigation “expedited” the non-profit’s relocation, but that the organization had planned on moving to another space to help more people.

“It expedited our plans as we had the intention of developing or providing increased space to accommodate a greater number of clients,” McGreevey said. “It seemed an appropriate time to secure a different site.”

https://www.nj.com/passaic-county/index.ssf/2016/11/mcgreevey_prison_program_moving_from_building_at_center_of_fbi_investigation.html?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics#incart_river_home

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President-Elect Donald J. Trump Announces New Vice Chairs and Executive Committee Members Serving on Presidential Transition Team

Pence and Trump
November 29,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

(New York, NY) – President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect and Chairman of the Presidential Transition Team Mike Pence announced the addition of new Vice Chairs, Executive Committee members, and key staff leadership who will join the Trump-Pence Presidential Transition Team.

Joining the distinguished group of Vice Chairs are Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis, Kathleen Troia “KT” McFarland, Congressman Tom Reed and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and U.S. Senator Tim Scott. Also joining the Executive Committee are: Congressman Sean Duffy, Congressman Trey Gowdy, Congressman Dennis Ross, Pastor Darrell Scott and Kiron Skinner.

President-elect Trump’s Presidential Transition Team Vice Chairs and Executive Committee consist of:

Vice Chairs:

Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Dr. Ben Carson
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin
Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, USA (Ret.)
Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
Incoming Deputy National Security Advisor Kathleen Troia “KT” McFarland
Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY)
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC)

Executive Committee:

Congressman Lou Barletta (R-PA)
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
Congressman Chris Collins (R-NY)
Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI)
Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC)
Jared Kushner
Congressman Tom Marino (R-PA)
Rebekah Mercer
Steven Mnuchin
Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA)
Congressman Dennis Ross (R-FL)
Anthony Scaramucci
Pastor Darrell Scott
Kiron Skinner
Peter Thiel
Donald Trump Jr.
Eric Trump
Ivanka Trump
RNC Chairman and incoming White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus
Trump Campaign CEO and incoming Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the President, Stephen K. Bannon

President-elect Trump also named additional key leadership staff positions supporting the Presidential Transition Team: Aaron Chang, Steven Cheung, AJ Delgado, Jeff DeWit, Jessica Ditto, George Gigicos, Michael Glassner, Stephanie Grisham, Katrina Pierson and Sean Spicer.

The Presidential Transition Team’s leadership staff lineup consists of:

Nick Ayers, Senior Advisor, Vice President-elect
Kellyanne Conway, Senior Advisor
David Bossie, Deputy Executive Director
Aaron Chang, Advance Lead
Steven Cheung, Director of Rapid Response
AJ Delgado, Senior Advisor
Jeff DeWit, Special Advisor for Operations
Jessica Ditto, Deputy Communications Director
George Gigicos, Director of Advance
Michael Glassner, Special Advisor for Operations
Stephanie Grisham, Press Director
Hope Hicks, National Press Secretary
Don McGahn, General Counsel
Jason Miller, Communications Director
Stephen Miller, National Policy Director
Katrina Pierson, Senior Advisor
Josh Pitcock, Senior Advisor, Vice President-elect
Dan Scavino, Director of Social Media
Marc Short, Senior Advisor, Vice President-elect
Sean Spicer, Senior Communications Advisor
Katie Walsh, Senior Advisor

Earlier this month President-elect Donald J. Trump announced that Vice President-elect Mike Pence will serve as Chairman of the Presidential Transition Team and Rick Dearborn will join the Presidential Transition Team as Executive Director.

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Dozens of towns have turned Municipal Courts into ATMs to boost their local budgets

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NJ Assembly Judiciary chair: Study municipal courts

Kala Kachmar , @NewsQuip11:24 a.m. EST November 29, 2016

The chairman of the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee said Monday he wants state lawmakers to study municipal court reform after an Asbury Park Press investigation called the fairness of the system into question and showed how municipalities increasingly rely on court fines for revenue.

“(The story) gives cause to take a step back and think this is an area that we should study and look at to determine if there should be legislative fixes,” said state Assemblyman John McKeon, D-Madison, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “Justice should be just that at all levels.”

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, R-Little Silver, said the Press report raised issues that should be a concern of every elected official.

“We have to stop looking at motorists as ATM machines,” he said. “You want to remove any profit motivation from police enforcement of any kind. When tickets are written that don’t improve safety, it doesn’t help anybody. It’s not a reasonable way to raise revenue.”

https://www.app.com/story/news/investigations/watchdog/government/2016/11/29/legislature-fix-municipal-courts/94559102/?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics

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Ridgewood Police Department have been growing beards during No-Shave November

Ridgewood Police Department have been growing beards during No-Shave November

November 30,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Members of the Ridgewood Police Department have been growing beards during No-Shave November. The goal of No-Shave November is to grow awareness by embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose, and letting it grow wild and free.

The goal of No–Shave November is to grow awareness by embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose, and letting it grow wild and free. Donate the money you typically spend on shaving and grooming to educate about cancer prevention, save lives, and aid those fighting the battle.

For more information and to make a donation to help support cancer research and treatment, click on the link below.

https://no-shave.org/team/RidgewoodPBA

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PSE&G : final paving of W. Glen Avenue in Ridgewood will be delayed until the Spring

PSEG

file photo by Boyd Loving

WEST GLEN AVENUE UPDATE

November 30,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, We have just learned from PSEG that the planned final paving of W. Glen Ave will be delayed until the Spring due to the late completion of the project and curbing required by Bergen County. W. Glen Ave is a county road and for that reason their regulations must be followed.

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The founder of Planned Parenthood would have considered many Americans unworthy of life

Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger, racist eugenicist extraordinaire

The founder of Planned Parenthood would have considered many Americans unworthy of life

By Arina Grossu – – Monday, May 5, 2014

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Recent articles have reported on an unearthed video from 1947 of Margaret Sanger demanding “no more babies” for 10 years in developing countries. A couple of years ago, Margaret Sanger was named one of Time magazine’s “20 Most Influential Americans of All Time.” Given her enduring influence, it’s worth considering what the woman who founded Planned Parenthood contributed to the eugenics movement.

Sanger shaped the eugenics movement in America and beyond in the 1930s and 1940s. Her views and those of her peers in the movement contributed to compulsory sterilization laws in 30 U.S. states that resulted in more than 60,000 sterilizations of vulnerable people, including people she considered “feeble-minded,” “idiots” and “morons.”

She even presented at a Ku Klux Klan rally in 1926 in Silver Lake, N.J. She recounted this event in her autobiography: “I accepted an invitation to talk to the women’s branch of the Ku Klux Klan … I saw through the door dim figures parading with banners and illuminated crosses … I was escorted to the platform, was introduced, and began to speak … In the end, through simple illustrations I believed I had accomplished my purpose. A dozen invitations to speak to similar groups were proffered” (Margaret Sanger, “An Autobiography,” Page 366). That she generated enthusiasm among some of America’s leading racists says something about the content and tone of her remarks.

In a letter to Clarence Gable in 1939, Sanger wrote: “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members” (Margaret Sanger commenting on the ‘Negro Project’ in a letter to Gamble, Dec. 10, 1939).

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/5/grossu-margaret-sanger-eugenicist/