Author: James

Posted on by — Leave a comment

WEST BERGEN MENTAL HEALTHCARE PRESENTS LEVEL 1 AUTISM SPECTRUM WORKSHOPS

Autism1
August 20,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , The Level 1 Autism Services Department (formerly Asperger’s Related Disorders) at West Bergen Mental Healthcare will present three workshops for professionals, family members and students. The co-facilitators are West Bergen professionals who are Masters and Doctoral level clinicians.
Participation is limited. The fee is $25 per workshop; pre-registration is required. All workshops will be held at the West Bergen Center for Children and Youth, One Cherry Lane, Ramsey, NJ. Please complete the registration form on our website: www.westbergen.org and mail it with your check payable to West Bergen Mental Healthcare. Questions may be directed to Amy Whritenour at (201) 934-1160.

1. Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorders 101 (formerly Asperger’s 101): – Designed for those new to the diagnoses or interested in better understanding this disorder and the changes being made to the diagnosis. Attendees will learn the diagnostic criteria, associated features and strengths of the population. Presented by Michela Tripodi, LPC, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM

2. Therapeutic Social Skills for Individuals with Level 1 Autism Spectrum and Related Disorders – This Workshop will provide education on understanding the scope of social skills development frequently needed by those diagnosed with Level 1 Autism Disorders. The nature and complexity of social skills, various techniques and tools and how to target social skills development within the natural environment for children through adolescents will be examined. Presented by Loren Galese, LAC, on Tuesday, September 13, 1:00 to 2:30 PM.

3. Two or Three for One: The Complexity of Co-Morbidity (additional diagnosis) in Level 1 Autism and Related Disorders – This Workshop will review the symptoms and criteria for the most commonly experienced co-morbid disorders and examine various treatment options. Presented by Cory Birch, LPC, ACS, Thursday, September 15, 12:00 to 1:30 PM.

West Bergen is a non-profit organization providing a wide range of psychiatric and counseling services for all age groups with various levels of need. West Bergen is committed to meeting the psychological needs of each of its clients with sensitivity and responsive, innovative services of the highest quality. West Bergen strives to improve the quality of life in Bergen County and beyond – one life at a time. For further information on West Bergen and the services it provides please call (201) 485-7172.
– 30 –
Contact: Carol Cohen, Director of Development, (201) 444-3550.

Posted on by — 6 Comments

So Why Name Names in Ridgewood

August 20,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police Arrest three adults and one juvenile on Orchard School property . Reader asks ,”I know that they are adults, but you did not need to publish their names?”

If the news agency asked the police for this information the the police must provide it. So you may not like it but it is the law and the news agency know it.

N.J.S.A. 47:1A-3(b) provides that the following information (not records) concerning a criminal investigation shall be available to the public within 24 hours or as soon as practicable, of a request for such information:

1. where a crime has been reported but no arrest yet made, information as to the type of crime, time, location and type of weapon, if any;

2. if an arrest has been made, information as to the name, address and age of any victims. Exceptions to this are:

(a) when there has not been sufficient opportunity for notification of next of kin of any victims of injury and/or death to any such victim; or

(b) where the release of the names of any victim would be contrary to existing law or court rule.

In deciding on the release of information as to the identity of a victim, the safety of the victim and the victim’s family, and the integrity of any ongoing investigation, shall be considered;

3. if an arrest has been made, information as to the defendant’s name, age, residence, occupation, marital status and similar background information and, the identity of the complaining party unless the release of such information is contrary to existing law or court rule;

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Reader says I feel sick about the endless pathetic attempts to manipulate and deceive Ridgewood by Aronsohn and his minions

3 amigos

Does anybody actually believe the kid had anything to do with that letter? A show of hands, please. Letter ends, “Let’s get it done”–has a teenage boy ever said or written that sentence, especially about a parking garage? Comical idea. But mostly, I feel sick about the endless pathetic attempts to manipulate and deceive us. Are Aronsohn’s minions being treated to the marketing programs of White Horse Strategies? They’re working so hard to fleece us. More important, could all these selfish, destructive, impossibly contemptuous people please shut up and go away or become honest? Either will do. Tired of identifying their ploys and rejecting them.

the letter: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/ridgewood-news-letter-new-driver-frustrated-by-lack-of-village-parking-1.1640429

 

Posted on by — 8 Comments

Readers say Plenty of Parking even with People Waiting for seats at Raymonds

clock_cbd_theridgewoodblog

Well I went to Raymonds for lunch yesterday and had a choice of four, yes four parking spaces within direct line of sight of the restaurant. The restaurant was packed, people waiting for seats. Now I know all you garage supporters will say that this was mid August so of course there was plenty of parking. But town was jumping, people were in Van Neste, Raymonds was crazy busy, and yet there was tons of parking. Like 8:11 said, some kids will do anything to get their parents to buy them a car, including write letters about how there has been a parking problem for 20 years and the author is only 18. So ridiculous.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Ridgewood One of Many New Jersey Towns to Sue Hospitals Over Property Taxes

Valley_Hospital_theridgewoodblog
August 20,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, In April Ridgewood joined over two dozen other municipalities, including Teaneck, Englewood, Wayne, Paterson, Pequannock and North Bergen challenging the tax exempt status of their local hospital

Like Ridgewood many of these municipalities are looking for new sources of cash to lower their high property taxes, local officials have now filed tax appeals challenging the tax-exempt status of 35 nonprofit hospitals according to NJ Advance Media for NJ.com .

The litigation continues to gain momentum in response to last year’s precedent-setting tax court ruling and settlement which required Morristown Medical Center to pay Morristown $15.5 million in lieu of property taxes. The judge in that case found the hospital operated like a for-profit entity and should share the cost of public safety and other municipal services.

While the Morristown case took 5 years to see it through ,so far two of the 35 cases have been settled already, resulting in additional revenue for the city of Elizabeth and Edison Township.

The settlements have already paid off for local taxpayers.The property tax rate has declined in Morristown by 2 cents this year, as a direct result of the “historic” agreement reached with Morristown Medical Center’s parent company, Atlantic Health Systems.

Ridgewood has quietly pursued Valley Hospital on the same grounds .It has been often repeated that Valley’s current 15 1/2-acre main campus would owe about $4.5 million in taxes if it were fully assessed. That is before the major increase in size by the proposed renovation double its size .

The N.J. Hospital Association says the tax-exempt status of these hospitals have been challenged:

Clara Maass Medical Center (Belleville)
Jersey City Medical Center (Jersey City)
Monmouth Medical Center (Long Branch)
Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus (Lakewood)
Saint Barnabas Medical Center (Livingston)
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (Newark)
Holy Name Medical Center (Teaneck)
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center (Englewood)
Hunterdon Medical Center (Raritan Township)
Bayshore Community Hospital (Holmdel)
Hackensack UMC Palisades (North Bergen)
Jersey Shore University Medical Center (Neptune)
Raritan Bay Medical Center (Old Bridge)
Raritan Bay Medical Center (Perth Amboy)
Riverview Medical Center (Red Bank)
Chilton Medical Center (Pequannock)
Overlook Medical Center (Summit)
Newton Memorial Hospital (Newton)
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (Rahway)
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick)
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset (Somerville)
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (Hamilton)
Trinitas Regional Medical Center (Elizabeth)
CentraState Medical Center (Freehold)
Virtua Memorial Hospital (Moorestown)
St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center (Paterson)
St. Joseph’s Hospital Wayne (Wayne)
JFK Health (Edison)
Shore Memorial Hospital (Somers Point)
The Valley Hospital (Ridgewood)
Capital Health (Hopewell)
Kennedy University Hospital (Stratford)
AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center City Campus (Atlantic City)
AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Mainland Campus (Galloway)
Princeton Healthcare System (Plainsboro & Princeton)

Posted on by — 8 Comments

Catholic school faculty member sues school after she’s fired for being gay

Kate Drumgoole (on right) was FIRED from her job at Paramus Catholic High School,

BY MEGAN CERULLO
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, August 19, 2016, 4:55 PM

A lesbian teacher was fired from Paramus Catholic High School after administrators learned that she was married to a woman, according to her lawsuit.

Kate Drumgoole, 33, was the school’s head basketball coach and dean of guidance when the school fired her in January.

After a family argument, Elaine Vanore, the sister of Drumgoole’s wife, Jaclyn Vanore, sent the same-sex couple’s wedding photos to school administrators, according to the lawsuit.

“After everything was brought to their attention, they fired her,” said Lawrence Kleiner, an attorney for Drumgoole.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/catholic-school-educator-sues-fired-gay-article-1.2758385

Posted on by — 1 Comment

40 people arrested in massive N.J. child porn crackdown

40 people arrested in massive N

By S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on August 18, 2016 at 6:26 AM, updated August 18, 2016 at 10:42 PM

HAMILTON — Forty men hailing from every corner of New Jersey have been charged in a statewide crackdown on the distribution of child pornography, authorities announced today.

The six-month investigation, dubbed “Operation Statewide,” tracked horrific images of the sexual exploitation of minors circulating on internet file-sharing networks to individual IP addresses, which led police to home addresses in each of the state’s 21 counties, authorities said.

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/08/40_people_arrested_in_massive_nj_child_porn_crackd.html#incart_most_shared-news

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Yes, It’s Possible to Hack the Election

VOTE_theridgewoodblog

By RICHARD CLARKE

NEWS ANALYSIS — Aug 19, 2016, 10:25 AM ET

After reports of alleged Russian hacking into Democratic Party computer networks, some commentators have suggested that the Russians could hack the results of the U.S. elections. Other analysts have, well before this year’s campaign, suggested that election results in the U.S. could be electronically manipulated, including by our fellow Americans. So could an American election’s outcome be altered by a malicious actor on a computer keyboard?

I have had three jobs that, together, taught me at least one thing: If it’s a computer, it can be hacked. For Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, I served as the White House senior cybersecurity policy adviser. For President Barack Obama, I served on his five-person post–Edward Snowden investigative group on the National Security Agency, intelligence and technology. And for over a decade I have advised American corporations on cybersecurity.

Those experiences confirm my belief that if sophisticated hackers want to get into any computer or electronic device, even one that is not connected to the internet, they can do so.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hack-election/story?id=41489017

Posted on by — 5 Comments

Trump Plays the Role of President in Louisiana

Louisiana flooding

GOP nominee tours disaster area while Obama, Clinton won’t be parted from politics and rest

by Keith Koffler | Updated 19 Aug 2016 at 2:28 PM

In a brilliant maneuver perfectly timed to complement his campaign revamp, Republican nominee Donald Trump today landed in Louisiana to witness first-hand the devastation wrought by flooding not seen there since Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast in 2005.

Trump’s arrival on the scene helps him on a number of levels. Most importantly, it provides a dramatic contrast to Hillary Clinton and President Obama, both of whom have neglected to visit a region where more than a dozen have died and tens of thousands have been forced out of their homes.

https://www.lifezette.com/polizette/trump-takes-role-president-hard-hit-louisiana/

Posted on by — 1 Comment

The Bergen County Sheriff’s Department B.C.I. called in on two Ridgewood Break-Ins

Bergen County Sheriffs department theridgewoodblog.net 1
file photo by Boyd Loving
August 19,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, On 8/8/16 the Ridgewood Police report that a Terhune Road resident arrived home and observed his home had been burglarized by forced entry. Det. Henky arrived on scene and investigated. The Bergen County Sheriff’s Department B.C.I. unit was notified and responded to the scene and processed the scene. The detective bureau is investigating the incident.

On the same day a commercial building located on South Maple Avenue reported a burglary in the past. The actors forced entry into the building and removed items from within. Det. Henky responded to investigate and contact the Bergen County Sheriff’s B.C.I. unit to respond and process the scene. Evidence was collected at the scene by B.C.I. for processing. The detective bureau is investigating the incident.

Posted on by — 13 Comments

Ridgewood’s Benjamin Franklin Middle School Goes Solar

BF Solar
August 19,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The solar panels were approved by the Board of Education in 2015, and were supposed to be erected last summer, but were pushed back for various reason to this summer.

According to the Ridgewood Board of Education ,Eight Ridgewood schools have been receiving a portion of their electricity from solar power since late 2012/early 2013 ; • Ridgewood High • BF Middle • Glen • Hawes • Orchard • Ridge • Somerville • Travell •

Total installed solar capacity of 841 kW • 2014 solar energy production of ~875,000 kWh • 2014 savings from using solar energy ~$70,000

BF Middle School will add • 329.4 kW Carport Mounted System • $0.125/kWh year 1 PPA Price with a 3% Escalator • Year 1 Savings ~$18,000 • 15-Year Savings Potential >$275,000

Information was pulled from March 25,2015 presentation from Verterra :https://www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/923620/File/solar/Verterra%20Solar%20-%20Phase%20II%20Presentation.pdf?7fcb75&d7f070&d7f070

Posted on by — 2 Comments

HazMat Issues Delay Make Ho Ho Kus Accident Clean Up

HazMat Issues Delay Make Ho Ho Kus Accident Clean Up

photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page

August 18,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ho Ho Kus NJ, A seemingly minor, injury free, one (1) vehicle crash created major headaches for HoHoKus PD and FD personnel on Wednesday night, 08/17 when the driver of a Saturn SUV drove over a traffic control island, knocked down two (2) traffic control signs, and ruptured her vehicle’s fuel tank in the process. The entire contents of the fuel tank spilled onto East Saddle River Road near Wiermus Road. Members of the Mahwah FD HazMat unit were dispatched to assist HoHoKus FD in containment of the spill and the subsequent cleanup.

14086277 556423761210328 7474653180820812172 o

Making matters worse, the initial towing company called to remove the vehicle from the scene could not transport the contaminated absorbent material, so delays occurred as a result of another towing operator having to be called. No word from police on the scene as to how many, if any, summonses were issued to the Saturn’s driver.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Comey’s legal error undermines law enforcement with ‘Clinton Defense’

FBI Director James Comey

By Ron Sievert, contributor

As I read the recent comments of FBI Director James Comey regarding his recommendation not to pursue criminal charges against Hillary Clinton over the use of a private email server, I naturally wondered why an investigator was making final judgments on the interpretation of the law when that function has always been assigned first to the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney.

In doing so, he ignored one statute (18 USC 793 (f) related to gross negligence — see the recent The Hill article on the execution of an Iranian spy) — apparently disregarded the knowing destruction of government documents, and then, perhaps of equal legal concern, he added the wrong mental state to the statute prohibiting knowing removal of classified documents with intent to retain them at an unauthorized location. (18 USC 1924).

Specifically he required that the government prove “willfulness” or knowing violation of a specific law under 1924 before he would proceed against the improper removal of thousands of classified documents to her private Blackberry and server.

Ignorance of the language of the actual statutes was thus a defense. In his congressional hearing he seemed to attribute this to DOJ. Although I have no doubt that some in DOJ, given the Department’s reputation for caution, might have gone overboard and asked for this mental state, it is not the law and was never applied that way in my 25 years as a federal prosecutor with the exception of tax, export and currency prosecutions.

https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/crime/291796-comeys-legal-error-undermines-law-enforcement-with-clinton-defense

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Readers tell Obamacare Horror Stories

obamacare_theridgewoodblog

My son has been paying $2,100 a month for one of these individual insurances. When his daughter broke her elbow, his wife had to call 13 physicians before finding one who would see an 11 year old child! This policy was a replacement for his policy of last year –which was just as bad– which the insurer dropped to join the Hackensack group only. Now he has been notified that this one is leaving NJ at the end of the year. He’s in business for himself and really doesn’t know what he is going to do. And, of course, before Obamacare he had a policy that they loved with much lower premiums. But what Obama really meant was “if you have a policy you like, you can (dream on) keep it.”

Posted on by — 20 Comments

Ridgewood Police Arrest three adults and one juvenile on Orchard School property

Ridgewood _police_theridgewoodblog

file photo by Boyd Loving

August 19,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood police report that on 08/09/16 ,Sgt. Finch arrested John A. Dougherty the 4th, age 18 of Ridgewood, N.J., Colin H. Parr, age 19 of Ridgewood, N.J., Kihyun Lee, age 18 of Ridgewood, N.J., and a male juvenile .

Sgt. Finch located the above persons on Orchard School property during the evening hours. The three adults and one juvenile were found to be in possession of C.D.S. and Drug Paraphernalia. All were transported to police headquarters for processing. The juvenile was released to the custody of parent with a pending juvenile complaint. The three adults were processed, served with complaint summonses, advised of the pending court date and released.