New Jersey residents enjoyed nearly 3 percent growth in their personal income over the past year, another good sign for a state economy that’s seen its share of mixed signals in 2016. Still, that rate trailed the national pace, mirroring a long-term trend that’s been playing out since the end of the Great Recession. John Reitmeyer, NJSpotlight Read more
The school system is eating up my income.
They are having committees to study why people over 55 are leaving. Shiela Brogan is on the committee. The survey showed that moving is a financial decision. She needs to pay attention.
Complete agreement with all of the above. Taxes are out of control. And as for the moving truck option, don’t think for a minute that Ridgewood taxes will make the town and your home desirable to young families. Nice towns with lower taxes and higher rated schools surround us. Pay for your own pre-K and Ridgewood teachers need to get a grip on reality when it comes to their demands.
Driving out seniors is not going to help the school population or tax base. Add-ons like this may be the last straw for many who already get nothing from approximately 2/3 of their enormous property tax bite. Tired of hearing that good schools help property values, etc. The fact is that this school system has been going down the tubes for years and the world at large is finally starting to realize it. Throwing more millions at it won’t help. Eliminate half the jobs at the Ed Center and resolve the teachers’ contract dispute before coming to taxpayers for more and more.
As for property values: People will just look at other towns – Allendale, Wyckoff, HoHoKus Upper Saddle River, Ramsey, Montvale, Woodcliff Lake all have lower taxes and comparable if not better schools. Yes, Ridgewood may have a certain status and reputation in its favor but times are different now. The town has changed and more changes are could be on their way. BOE needs to keep a strong position that considers taxpayers. Our teachers are already higher paid than most and pre-school should be the parents’ responsibility.
Schools used to be top class in the entire country 25 years ago. Now it’s all on fumes of past reputation. Current teachers care more about their health benefits than they do about our students, which is sad.
file photo by Boyd Loving
As a 20 year resident who had three children go through the schools I offer the following thoughts. Ridgewood is not an easy town to live in and is getting more difficult every year. The school system and performance has steadily declined while the costs are out of control, $100M budget today will be how much in 10 years? The teachers are nasty, do not help the kids at all, and many of us require multiple tutors to get the kids good SAT and college test scores. How many of us had to use tutors? The town in-fights on everything from a sports field to housing to development to traffic. We spend money to improve the train station, but many residents cant park after 7:00am, there is also no way to pick-up or discharge passengers. We add a bike lane in the busiest section of town and back up traffic in all directions for untold miles. Anyone ever able to get a new stop sign or police enforcement on a road that supports speeding, have to wait for something awful to happen before getting attention? Every spring people plant lawns and gardens and every summer, Ridgewood (only Ridgewood) sends out the ‘deputies’ to fine those who water their lawns.
The taxes on my home have almost doubled in 12 years, value has not risen (in fact may have fallen) while services, roads, parking, etc have all remained stagnant.
After 20 years and with a sense of regret we will fold the tents here and move on. I am sure someone will move in a be very happy as we were, but I do suggest we all understand that times are changed and not for the better
I am very concerned that newly formed committees/boards/councils etc. (arts, access, more) will consider part of their mandate to come up with countless expensive projects to propose to the council, who should bravely but firmly deflect like mad and say NO to all of them. We do NOT need a performing arts center, etc.–like many things, that was another Aronsohn plan to get his picture in the paper. It didn’t happen in time for that, so let’s scrap it. Even if partial grants can be applied for, such things always involve big bucks from property taxes. We have to stop working so hard to attract more people to visit and move here, because that just creates more problems. We cannot absorb more traffic, for one thing.
Ridgewood Water Consumer Forum Tuesday, August 2 at 7:00 pm in
the Youth Center of Ridgewood Village Hall. Village Hall is located at 131 N. Maple Ave.,
Ridgewood. Space is limited, so please register by contacting Donna Omelianuk,
Ridgewood Water, at 201-670-5500 ext. 271 or by email at [email protected]
Water Questions!
by Linda McNamara
After talking to many people and watching council meetings when the issues of Ridgewood Water have been discussed ( planning to attend tomorrow night’s meeting!) I was wondering if a card could go out to all the residents in the village as well as to the other towns who use Ridgewood Water with a list of things a home owner can/ should do in order to achieve the best quality of water for home use. I have talked to the water department directly and have received good in formation but a lot of us are still uncertain about what we should be doing. The following are concerns/ questions that have been brought to my attention:
1. How do I find out if my pipes are in need of replacement? I have heard that
there are still many houses with intake pipes that are targeted for replacement
but many of these people are unaware of this. Who pays for this?
2. Better advertisement of how you can get your water tested and the ability to
buy a kit at Village Hall with directions about how to complete the process.
3. I have read in the paper that charcoal filters are recommended for everyone
and if this is the case, what does that involve and what is it removing?
4. How long are we supposed to run our water before use? I have heard
any where from 30 seconds up to 20 minutes. An employee at the water
department suggested filling one’s bath tub and turning on the outside
faucet for several minutes.
5. Many residents are purchasing reverse osmosis units. Is this recommended
and what is this protecting us from?
6. Many residents are concerned about the high levels of chlorine in the water.
Can this be explained and is it permanent?
My biggest concern is that while the town is good about getting information out, unless it is sent to every resident and user of Ridgewood Water, there are many who will never see this information. I have heard concerns from people who actually are the most informed and they are unsure. Quality water is so important to every individual and a simple fact sheet( possibly something we could put on our refrigerator door!) would be of great service to all users of Ridgewood Water. Thank you so much for your attention to this important matter.
A common theme I keep hearing from my neighbors who call to question a policy or problem with the town departments is that when they question a policy which creates a hardship for issues like overnight parking code enforcement on several large home expansions the Village depts employees often say that it’s the neighbors are grinding old axes against other neighbors complaining about barking dogs,cars In the streets…unkept lots..this nanny nation mentality further foster the local government to create so many rules and codes on simple issues of common sense..if a hedge or a new addition to a back or side yard create a hazard the town should talk to them and seek a compromise rather than those codes and expanding mandates that take away too many rights like parking a legally owned car in front of the taxpayers House if expanded family number of cars exceeds the capacity of their garages and small driveways..common sense..overnight call in to the police if limited when you have no options and your children drive to school or work from their home too .A simple residents pass on back window would take care of this entire issue.I want the police doing other important things at night for the town and their administration than parking monitoring.
BY DANIEL CHANG AND EMILY COCHRANE
Federal health officials on Monday advised pregnant women to avoid a Miami neighborhood— marking the first time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned against travel to any area within the continental United States — as a Zika outbreak in South Florida has led to 10 more local cases spread by mosquitoes.
The advisory extends to all expectant mothers, and women planning on becoming pregnant who have traveled to a one-square-mile area north of downtown Miami — including Wynwood, Midtown and the Design District — on or after June 15, said CDC Director Tom Frieden.
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article93057392.html#storylink=cpy
By Geoffrey Dickens | August 1, 2016 | 5:36 PM EDT
Two weeks ago at the Republican National Convention (RNC) a grieving mother blasted Hillary Clinton for the debacle of the 2012 Benghazi attack. Last Thursday, at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), grieving parents gave a speech criticizing Donald Trump for his statements against Muslims.
While all the grieving parents deserve sympathy, the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) network evening and morning shows seemed to only care about the parents that showed up at the Democratic Convention. Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazla’s DNC appearance earned 55 minutes, 13 seconds of Big Three network coverage, nearly 50 times more than Pat Smith, whose RNC speech honoring her son earned just 70 seconds of airtime.
(And How To Get Around It)
August 1,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The tuition cost was haunting. The dorm bill was daunting. The laptop your favorite college freshman just had to have cost more than your first car.
Now all she has left to do is hit the college bookstore with her list of required textbooks. Don’t be surprised if she comes out crying.
A recent study by the United States Government Accountability office showed that the average prices for textbooks have risen 82 percent in just 10 years.
Many expected that internet access would help bring costs down, but the college textbook industry appears to be keeping students from saving money by using such tactics as college specific books, book bundling and eTextbooks, all of which raise prices.
Luckily there is something you can do about it. You just need to do a little homework before classes start. “There are many ways you can save when buying textbooks that the college textbook industry doesn’t want you to know about,” says Chris Manns of the price comparison websites CheapestTextbooks.com andTextbookRentals.com. Both free services help students locate the cheapest prices for millions of books.
Here’s his list of the ways the college textbook industry gets you to pay more, and some tips for paying less:
• College Specific Books: Colleges have started asking students to buy college specific books. They take a commonly used textbook and have it printed with the college name and course number on the cover. This gives the book a new ISBN (International Standard Book Number) that is typically only available at the college it was made for.
The workaround: Ask the professor if it’s OK to use the book’s common version. “The common version will be available online and, in almost all cases, be much cheaper and apart from the cover, it’ll be the exact same. When you rent or buy it online, you’ll be able to rent or buy it used from anybody,” Manns says.
• Book Bundling: Students are sometimes required to buy a “book bundle” with extra class materials that add to the cost. “These bundles often include items the professors aren’t even using,” Manns says.
The workaround: Email the professor or wait until the class starts and ask if the professor will be using the supplemental material. “If the answer is no, then buy just the textbook online,” Manns says.
• New Editions: “This problem has been around a long time,” Manns says. Publishers release new versions of books every few years, even though little changes. Usually, buying an older edition gives you the information you need. Older editions often cost less than $25.
• eTextbooks: eTextbooks are usually more expensive than buying a book used or renting it, and they typically expire after six months or a year.
The workaround: Shop around. Most eTextbooks are available from multiple sellers. If you have the option, go old-school and buy the hard cover or paperback, which will typically be much cheaper. “That way you can keep it if you want, or you can sell it later,” he says.
• Timing: Sometimes students don’t learn what textbooks they need until a couple of weeks before classes start, giving them little time to shop around.
The workaround: Don’t worry too much about getting your books before classes start. If you don’t mind a little inconvenience, then wait until you’re a couple of days into the school year before buying. “The professor might even tell you that you don’t need the book,” Manns says. If it’s required, you can shop online and still have the book within a couple of days.
About Chris Manns
Chris Manns is the managing director of the price-comparison websites CheapestTextbooks.com and TextbookRentals.com.He’s been in the business of helping students find the cheapest prices for their textbooks since 2001.
file photo by ArtChick
August 1,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most frightening, yet least understood ailments we face as human beings.
The loss of memory – forgetting family, friends and the most important events of our lives – is painful, tragic and heartbreaking for anyone who is close to the person suffering from the disease.
But Alzheimer’s doesn’t just arrive one day, full blown. It begins its insidious work long before the patient has a hint of what’s happening.
“Research suggests Alzheimer’s disease starts in your brain decades before you experience any symptoms,” says Daniel Amen, M.D., a clinical neuroscientist and brain imaging expert who also is the founder of Amen Clinics (www.amenclinics.com), which treat patients at six locations around the country.
He says the good news is you can find out what’s happening in your brain and, while there is no known cure for Alzheimer’s, there are things you can do to better care for your brain.
Amen, author of the New York Times bestseller “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life,” uses SPECT scans to examine his patients’ brains. SPECT stands for single-photon emission computed tomography. Amen says the brain-imaging device can show the abnormal patterns of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia in their early stages and also can help distinguish multiple forms of dementia.
“That’s critical information,” Amen says, “because the varying types of dementia often have similar looking symptoms – at least in the early stages – but each type has its own ‘signature’ blood flow pattern in the brain that’s revealed with SPECT imaging.
“Identifying the type of dementia a person has is important because the treatment that works best for one type may not be effective for another type.”
But Amen also says there are steps that anyone can take to keep their brains healthy long before Alzheimer’s becomes a concern. Those include:
• Maintaining a proper diet. People who focus on healthy eating often are worried about their waistline, but the brain also benefits from or is harmed by what’s on the menu. Too many Americans sustain themselves on a diet filled with sugar and processed foods, which are associated with dementia and depression, Amen says. For a healthier mind, he says, there are “super foods” that nourish the brain such as various fruits, vegetables, fish and nuts.
• Avoiding too much alcohol and tobacco. Heavy alcohol and tobacco use lowers blood flow to the brain and reduces the ability to think over time.
• Exercising the brain. Activities such as dancing, tennis or table tennis (which Amen calls the world’s best brain sport) boost your coordination. Mindful exercises like yoga and Tai Chi reduce anxiety, depression and increase focus.
“In spite of the natural process of aging, you actually have a choice in how fast your brain ages,” Amen says. “What you choose to do – in other words, your behavior and habits – can speed up or slow down the rate at which your brain declines with age.”
About Daniel Amen, M.D.
Daniel Amen, M.D., (www.amenclinics.com) is a clinical neuroscientist and brain imaging expert who heads Amen Clinics, which are located in Orange County, Calif., Atlanta, San Francisco, New York City, Washington, D.C., and the Seattle area. He has written numerous books, including “The Amen Solution: The Secret to Being Thinner, Smarter, Happier” and “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.” Dr. Amen also has appeared as a guest on such TV shows as “The View” and was a consultant for the movie “Concussion.”
August 1,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Politicians call them heroes and strangers thank them for their service.
But when their enlistment comes to an end, veterans need more than a pat on the back as they return to civilian life. They need jobs.
And increasingly, they seem to be getting them because the unemployment rate among veterans has been on the decline in recent years. In May, the veteran unemployment rate was 3.4 percent, down from 5 percent for the same month in 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That compares to a 4.7 percent overall unemployment rate.
“I think in the last several years there has been a focus on the importance of hiring veterans and many businesses have taken that to heart,” says Nick Baucom, a U.S. Marine veteran who makes hiring veterans a priority for his company, Two Marines Moving (www.TwoMarinesMoving.com).
“But probably the biggest reason that the unemployment rate for veterans has trended downward is that, as a group, veterans bring with them experience and attitudes that make them great employees.”
Baucom’s moving company employs more than 100 veterans between its two locations – the Washington, D.C., area and Miami. He’s wants to hire more because his company is booked three to four weeks in advance and he could use the extra help.
“But with the unemployment rate for veterans dropping, it’s becoming more challenging to hire them,” says Baucom, who also is author of “On the Move: A Marine’s Guide to Entrepreneurial Success.”
“I can’t complain too much, though, because I’m glad so many other employers are seeing the benefits of having veterans in their workforce.”
Baucom says there are several reasons veterans make topnotch employees, including:
• Their tenacity. Veterans know what perseverance is all about, if for no other reason than they survived boot camp, an arduous challenge that puts a person’s fortitude to to the test. Marines, for example, must prove they can hike 20 miles carrying a fully loaded pack.
• Their decisiveness. People in the military don’t always have the luxury of taking all day to analyze a situation before making a decision. Yes, they must gather data and understand it thoroughly – but they understand the need to do it expediently. “A 90 percent solution now is better than a 100 percent solution later,” Baucom says. “Both in the Marines and in the business world, I’ve found that waiting for that 100 percent solution just leads to paralysis.”
• Their initiative. Anyone in the military learns to follow orders. But they also understand that there are situations when they need to take action in the absence of orders. If something needs to be done, they don’t have to wait to be told.
“I know that Marines go through quite an ordeal in their training and in carrying out their missions,” Baucom says. “When we ask them to move a piano, it probably doesn’t seem all that difficult in comparison.”
About Nick Baucom
Nick Baucom is the founder and owner of Two Marines Moving (www.twomarinesmoving.com), a moving company that has operations in the Washington, D.C., area and Miami. Baucom, who also is author of “On the Move: A Marine’s Guide to Entrepreneurial Success,” served in the U.S. Marines from 2002 to 2008, and was in Iraq in 2003.
CLINTON CASH OFFICIAL DOCUMENTARY MOVIE ( FULL )
I just saw an excellent documentary called “Clinton Cash” on One America News Network (FIOS Channel 616) that ended a little while ago. It outlines timelines when Bill Clinton received money for speeches in countries like Haiti, Canada, Russia, Columbia and many more and the deals Hillary Clinton made as Secretary of State either immediately prior to or following Bill Clinton’s speeches.
Interestingly, they mention that although Hillary Clinton said on Fox News today that Bill Clinton has been receiving money for speeches since he was no longer president, he speech fees tripled and more during the time Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. A must watch.
Also, I googled “Hillary’s America” because me and my parents wanted to go to see it in the movies,and the theaters that were playing it are suddenly unreachable by phone because of high call volume. I’ve heard the documentary was pulled from the theaters and I can’t find it online. Does anyone have any information?
It is despicable that the media is controlling our political process in the United States by holding back information they do not want people to know about, and spreading rumors and fanning the flames of less important events. I will never buy a newspaper again, and I’ve unsubscribed to my daily news from northjersey.com. I do not want to hide my head in the sand. I want the real news! Let the people choose their candidate without interference from the media or from our current president who has no business campaigning and speaking for HIllary Clinton to keep his political agenda going. I’m tired of liberals saying Republicans are spreading fear and gloom and doom when it is in fact them who are spreading fear and rumors to win the election and not talking about the real issues.
Good morning everyone,
It has come to my attention that a “volunteer” is going door to door with a petition telling residents I do not support equal pay for women. Considering the fact that I am a female who has worked since the age of 14 the concept that I don’t support equal pay is ludicrous at best. I can only assume they are trying to pressure me to support a piece of proposed legislation for which I recently abstained. I abstained because as drafted the legislation would have created unnecessary costly litigation while further hurting New Jersey businesses. In particular the legislation would have retroactively imposed legal standards on companies without ever having given them an opportunity to comply. The result would have been tens of millions in lawyers pockets, not pay equality for women. Indeed I told the sponsors of the bill that if certain modifications were made they would have my support. If you ever wonder where I stand on an issue or why please reach out.
Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi
1983 : “I want my MTV !” – Pat Benatar
Beavis and Butt-head, Daria, and Total Request Live emerge from the vaults on MTV Classic.
Over the years, MTV has been the impish child, the rebellious teenager and the devil-may-care twentysomething.
Now, as it rounds into middle age, the network that brought a cultural revolution to television is making a big bet on nostalgia. In an old Art Deco building in Los Angeles, engineers are feverishly digitizing old VHS tapes filled with live performances and interviews from the many musicians and stars that have graced MTV’s studios in the past 35 years, assembling one of the world’s greatest libraries of pop culture ephemera. A network that has been an afterthought, VH1 Classic, is being transformed into MTV Classic, a new home for old hits Beavis & Butt-head, Daria and Jackass and reruns of music shows Unplugged and Storytellers.
MTV Classic marks a major strategic shift at MTV, which has typically shunned its past. Executives wanted to create the next Jersey Shore and Total Request Live rather than relive the good old days. But the network, owned by struggling media giant Viacom Inc., has suffered from falling ratings and a lack of buzzworthy hits.
The village is becoming a flip model of graduations then For Sales signs as TAXES ,financial pressure ON JOB holders and families impacted by corporate downsizing and then college costs ,drive midlife families and seniors who have paid dearly for decades .We all loose unless we work to change this Tax and Spend model.Cost of money finding can only go up from current low interest rate and low energy costs environment ..more risks ahead..taxes likely to rise to meet
Inflation and general funding requirements.FEEL GOOD PROJECTS SHOULD BE derailed.Health Barn,full day Kindergarden. Ideas about performing arts and other build outs should be shelved.Ridgewood is worth the Fight. Versus the moving truck solution..
