by HANS A. VON SPAKOVSKY February 21, 2016 12:00 PM
Several well-funded organizations — including the League of Women Voters and the NAACP — are fighting efforts to prevent non-citizens from voting illegally in the upcoming presidential election. And the United States Department of Justice, under the direction of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, is helping them.
On February 12, these groups filed a lawsuit in D.C. federal court seeking to reverse a recent decision by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The Commission’s decision allows Kansas and other states, including Arizona and Georgia, to enforce state laws ensuring that only citizens register to vote when they use a federally designed registration form. An initial hearing in the case is set for Monday afternoon, February 22.
Ridgewood NJ, U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett will be on the podium next month at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, joining the Republican presidential candidates and other prominent conservative officials.
Businessman Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are among the past and present GOP presidential candidates on the speakers’ list. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke at the conference in 2015.
The invitation comes as Garrett (R-5th Dist.) is precieved to be New Jersey’s most vulnerable congressional incumbent and will face a well-financed Democrat, former Clinton White House speechwriter Josh Gottheimer, this fall. Gottheimer raised $1.4 million last year, which was more than Garrett. Mr Gottheimer is another PR person like Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn given his disastrous tenure in Ridgewood residents may not share any enthusiasm for the media darling given the bad taste the Jim Mac Greevey mouth piece has left in Ridgewood.
Gottheimer is funded by Big Government donors,who are pro Wall Street bailouts, pro-corporate welfare , pro-crony capitalist types looking to remove the last impediment to getting their hands on more tax payer money.
“It’s not easy being a conservative from New Jersey but Scott Garrett has consistently led on conservative issues,” said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which sponsors the annual conference.
Garrett is a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans. He was criticized for reportedly telling his colleagues that he would not support the House Republicans’ fundraising arm because it backed gay candidates.
U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett says criticism of his stance on gay marriage is a distraction from his efforts to improve the economy.
“Hardworking families know that good jobs are still hard to come by and the American Dream is stifled by big government,” Garrett said in a statement announcing his appearance at CPAC. “Our complicated tax code is more punitive than fair, thousands of new regulations bog down innovators, and the nearly $20 trillion national debt is jeopardizing our future. But being a conservative is about solving problems, and that’s why I’m proud to join CPAC to discuss solutions that will jumpstart our economy and return our nation to prosperity.”
The Republican presidential race expanded across the country Sunday, and polls show the real estate mogul ahead in eight of the dozen states voting in the next nine days.
Trump has now won primaries in two very different states, center-right New Hampshire and evangelical-dominated South Carolina. And the Republican Party system of choosing a presidential nominee favors candidates who continue to win early primaries and caucuses.
“He seems to have about a third of the Republican electorate under his spell, and it’s a durable, non-ideological coalition,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor at Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball Sunday.
The biggest hope for stopping Trump is for a single strong challenger to emerge, and so far that hasn’t happened.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., finished second Saturday in South Carolina, but he was 10 percentage points behind Trump and barely edged Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, even though Rubio barnstormed the state with popular Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
Rubio also lacks an obvious state where he can win in the next few weeks. He should be a favorite in Tuesday’s Nevada caucus. Rubio lived in Las Vegas as a child, was a church member, and Sunday picked up the endorsement of Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nevada. But a CNN/ORC poll last week showed Trump with a huge lead, with more support than Rubio and Cruz combined.
By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times – Sunday, February 21, 2016
SPARTANBURG, S.C. | Republicans’ turnout streak continued, with GOP voters shattering their South Carolina primary record Saturday night.
With almost all precincts reporting, more than 737,000 votes had been counted. That was more than 20 percent higher than 2012, when about 603,000 voted.
It follows record GOP turnout in Iowa’s caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary earlier this month.
By contrast, Democrats’ turnout has tumbled from its 2008 records in all three contests, including Saturday’s caucuses in Nevada. About 80,000 voters took part in the caucuses, with was 33 percent less than 2008’s level.
Following Donald Trump’s victory in the South Carolina GOP primary, talk radio host Glenn Beck urged his Facebook followers to join him and his family in fasting for GOP candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 97%
.
“I would like to ask you to join me and my family Monday in a fast for Ted Cruz, our country and the Nevada caucus,” Beck wrote on his Facebook page after the South Carolina election results showed a decisive double-digit victory for Trump, whose candidacy Beck has been staunchly opposed to.
MAHWAH — The Bergen County-owned archery range at Campgaw Mountain remained closed over the weekend, as Bergen County officials investigate allegations in a power struggle splitting members of one of the oldest archery clubs in North Jersey.
Bergen Bowmen longtime members Joann and Joe Mills of Ridgefield Park say a band of “impostors” has taken over the non-profit club through improper elections in December and that they’re worried about the club’s future and that of the range its members have helped maintain for decades. But those who call themselves the new leaders of the Bergen Bowmen and their supporters argue online that they were fairly elected and that ousted members must turn over club records.
The tension is a notable low point for the 60-year-old storied club, which had a membership of about 70 last year and has drawn newfound interest among fans of the archery-heavy book series “The Hunger Games” and its film versions, as well as “The Avengers” movie. Over the years, the club has been a leader in promoting archery in North Jersey, while also backing state legislation expanding the black bear hunt and allowing hunters to donate venison to soup kitchens.
The county has stopped processing permits needed by the club to access the range until the two sides “completely” resolve the dispute, said a Feb. 5 letter by Deputy County Counsel John Libretti.
Jack Spoto, executive vice president of the United Bowhunters of New Jersey, said his organization isn’t “picking sides,” but called the infighting a “shame.”
“It means a lot of archers aren’t allowed to go to Campgaw and shoot and practice,” he said. “We’re trying to help the county get the archery range up and running until the infighting is over. We’d be willing to allow the county and archers to use our insurance policy.”
The fight over who are the “real” leaders of the club is playing out over competing “official” websites and Facebook pages — all named “Bergen Bowmen.” A key question is: Who has the legal right to obtain the $2 million in general liability insurance that Bergen County requires? The club must have it to be eligible for a $100, one-year club permit allowing members to shoot arrows at the Campgaw range.
The range also has been open to the general public. Typically, it costs a county resident $12 for an annual archery permit for the range, and $60 for a non-resident, who must show proof of homeowner’s or renter’s insurance.
Bergen’s nearby Darlington County Park is one entity handling archery permits. A park employee who answered the phone Friday said the range would “hopefully” reopen soon, but that it was closed over the weekend because “of a problem with archery clubs.”
The two factions are trading allegations of actions amounting to criminal conduct. Libretti, the deputy county counsel, wrote that the Bergen Bowmen members and affiliates can’t access the range “until further notice,” and that the county will “remove and prosecute as trespassers” any members or associates who try to do so.
“Meanwhile, various county departments are conducting investigations in an attempt to sort through the myriad of allegations alleged by all parties,” Libretti wrote to leaders of both factions, Joel Riotto of Demarest and Joann Mills, whom he addressed as secretary of the Bergen Bowmen.
Bergen County spokesman Mike Pagan said that given the investigation, county officials are not allowed to comment on any related matter.
When reached by phone, Riotto declined to discuss the dispute. The bergenbowmen.com website lists him as the 2016 membership data committee chairman and a past Bergen Bowmen president.
“It’s not a lack of a desire to cooperate,” Riotto said, “and again I caution you, do some due diligence before you quote anyone. You may find it’s possible that you’ve been misled.”
Ridgewood NJ Ridgewood Wrestling earned its fourth straight team title but this championship was as close as it gets. The Maroons topped runner-up Garfield by 8 1/2 points. They won by 70 points in 2015, 32. 5 points in 2014 and 41 points in 2013…There was a wrestler from Garfield or Ridgewood in 11 out of the 14 finals and three head-to-head matchups between the district’s top two teams.
All five of Ridgewood’s champions ; Matt Binstock (145), Julian Bangash (152),Ashmaz Dugulubgov (170), Kyle Inlander (182) and Jake Hall-Goldman (220) were seniors.
Most outstanding wrestler was Ridgewood’s Kyle Inlander who won a marquee bout against Elmwood Park’s Sammy Santos to earn the honor. Inlander checked in at 29-3 and was the No. 1 seed at 182 while second-seeded Santos entered the tournament with a record of 35-2. Inlander was able to fight off Santos on an 8-7 decision to win his third straight title.
Science and technology inspire us to ask insightful questions and get amazing answers. This month, many students are working hard on wonderful exhibits showing the results of their own experiments at school science fairs throughout Northern New Jersey.
Super Science Saturday was founded 28 years ago to bring together student science exhibits from many different schools to encourage learning about and appreciation of science and technology in our daily lives. Professional scientists also have joined in with their own interactive exhibits and shows.
Student science exhibits remain a vital part of Super Science Saturday and show the broad interests, creativity and knowledge of Northern New Jersey students. Several generations of students fondly remember attending and exhibiting at the event.
In that spirit, the Super Science Saturday all-volunteer Executive Committee again invites students to showcase their exhibits at our 28th annual, award-winning event from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Ridgewood High School, 627 East Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood.
Billed as “Northern New Jersey’s biggest science extravaganza,” Super Science Saturday is a free, non-competitive event that recently won a prestigious New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame Award for encouraging the “Advancement of Invention and Process,” among students of all ages.
Students from any school or who are home-schooled are welcome to exhibit. Signing up and bringing exhibits to Super Science Saturday is free, easy and convenient. Exhibits may be brought to Ridgewood High School from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, or starting at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, the day of the event. Volunteers will be there to help you find your exhibit space. Parents can sign up at supersciencesaturday.org so we can reserve a space for their student’s exhibit.
Students do not need to stay with their exhibits for the entire event. They can enjoy the 9:30 a.m. show by special guest “Thomas Edison” (wonderfully played by actor Patrick Garner of Montclair), witness interactive exhibits of robotics, wind energy and drone racing, and see a live video presentation of arctic core sampling and what it tells us about the earth’s climate history. There also are ever-popular events, such as the Great Paper Airplane Fly-off, 28-foot Egg Drop Challenge and model rocket launches, and interactive exhibits by 60 amateur and professional scientists.
Through Super Science Saturday, students can showcase their science projects to a much larger audience and be inspired by all of the educational and fun shows and exhibits at the event. For more information on Super Science Saturday, please visit supersciencesaturday.org.
MichaelAaron Flicker
Head of the Super Science Saturday Executive Committee
When the new SAT is given for the first time on March 5, many high school students across North Jersey will be sitting it out.
They’re concerned that the test, uncharted and unfamiliar, will be too much of a gamble despite test makers’ pledge that the new version will focus more on what students learn in school and less on test prep and “tricks.” Even some guidance counselors and experts are urging students to wait before taking the new test or to take an alternative college-entrance exam called the ACT.
“We have been talking about this at length,” said Kelly Peterfriend, counseling supervisor at Northern Highlands Regional High School, who is recommending that students take the ACT. “The reason is that you have to give the College Board, the colleges and the test-prep companies time to see what the new test is all about.”
The SAT, created in the 1920s and administered by the non-profit College Board, remains an important measure for admission at many colleges, and in an academically competitive area like North Jersey, students may spend months or even years preparing for the exam. But now, those lessons could mean little as students sit for an exam with a new format, content and questions — one where strategies long taught by tutors no longer apply.
While experts say the test changes could be good for students in the long term, the current crop of high school juniors say they feel confused and worried about the choices before them, and how the changes will affect their scores and college prospects.
In response to your email circulating Sunday afternoon; I was not on the list of recipients, but a friend forwarded it to me. You sent it to a selected list of “friends/neighbors,” yet you did so by blind cc. Therefore no one who received it knows who else got it. How strange.
Why would you send such an announcement to a selected, secret group of residents? Isn’t your suggestion of reintroducing the bond ordinance one that should be shared with ALL residents, not just a few? And more importantly, why wouldn’t this be suggested at an Open Public Meeting, with all five of our elected officials present, rather than in an email of this sort? I am baffled by your choices here.
I am one of the petitioners, as you are well aware. In fact, this morning I waved to you, called out and invited you to cross the street when you were watching us from the corner of Prospect and Hudson, but you opted to ignore my invitation and walk away without even waving back. As one of the petitioners, I am shocked to be characterized by you as participating in an initiative that is “fueled, in part, by misinformation and outright lies.” Why didn’t you cross the street and talk to us, or for that matter why didn’t you cross Maple Avenue yesterday when you were in the King’s parking lot watching us in the Elks Club? Indeed, in the interest of the civil discourse that you espouse so frequently, an actual conversation with us would have gone a long way. You would have learned, first-hand, that we are not fueled by misinformation and outright lies. We are being scrupulously accurate and honest in our endeavor.
Your suggestion that “The people of Ridgewood deserve better” is completely insulting. We ARE the people of Ridgewood; do you envision that all of us are somehow invaders from another town? As you have surely witnessed from your various observation posts in the last two days, we are not only the people of Ridgewood, but we are a large number or the people of Ridgewood. We are exercising our rights under the law, doing so pleasantly, appropriately, respectfully, and with accurate information. We are putting in long hours, in freezing temperatures and in the rain, and all for one common reason – because we care about Ridgewood.
How disappointing that such an unprofessional and potentially slanderous letter was sent by you in your official capacity.
Ridgewood NJ, looks like the Mayor is scared, and running on the defensive. On one hand the Mayors trying to be conciliatory , while calling the petition signers outright liars and of coarse still trying to back Susan and Mike into a corner of blame and shame.
On Saturday the Mayor was in the Kings lot watching the people go in and out of the Elks Club. On Sunday he was over by the Village Green cafe watching the petitioners and one called out to him to come over and sign a petition and he turned and walked away. After that, and only after that, the latest email came out. Meanwhile the Ridgewood blog has been assured the petitioners are all redoubling they’re efforts to get as many signatures as they can.
I am writing to you with an update on our parking deck initiative … and I am doing so with a great deal of excitement.
Simply stated, we are very close to making a downtown parking deck a reality. After months – in fact, years – of hard work and after 3,236 Ridgewood residents (65%) voted in support of a parking deck in last November’s election, we are in the final stages of the process … fine tuning the design, working through the finances and getting ready to put shovel in the ground.
In January, the Council voted on an ordinance to finance the parking deck on our own. Specifically, we voted 3-2 in favor of bonding up to $12.3 million to pay for the deck. Unfortunately, for bonding purposes, a simple majority of the Council is not enough.
So, in February, we voted on a different ordinance – one that would allow the Village to partner with the Bergen County Improvement Authority (BCIA), which would borrow the necessary funding and finance the deck. Again, the vote was 3-2 in favor, but since the Village would not assume any debt under this arrangement, the simple majority was enough to pass the ordinance.
In my mind, either scenario is good for Ridgewood. Both would result in a much-needed parking deck at comparable costs.
Some, however, have suggested that our vote regarding the BCIA was taken to “circumvent” the bonding process. That is simply not true. We began exploring a partnership with the BCIA in May 2013 – long before our current discussion – because there are many advantages to doing so. Better interest rates. Better amortization (payment schedule). And such a partnership would allow the Village to finance and build a parking deck without adding to our overall debt burden. Further, I am a big believer in partnerships – public/public or public/private – because they can lead to enhanced efficiencies, enhanced effectiveness and saved dollars.
Regardless, there is now a petition drive underway to prevent our partnership with the BCIA – a drive that has been fueled, in part, by misinformation and outright lies. That is unfortunate. The people of Ridgewood deserve better.
That said, in the spirit of getting this project done –once and for all – and in the spirit of doing it together as a community, I am willing to re-introduce the January bond ordinance at our March 2 Council meeting. Although I still believe that a partnership with the BCIA would be a good thing for Ridgewood, I want to give my Council colleagues another chance to make this happen.
But let’s be clear – if the full Council is still not willing to support the bond ordinance – notwithstanding all of the statements recently made by Council members – we should continue to move forward with the BCIA.
Again, I sincerely believe that either approach – going it alone or in partnership with Bergen County – would be good for Ridgewood. Either way, we must seize this unique moment. Either way, we must keep moving forward.
The Associated Press
Posted: Feb. 20, 2016 8:00 am Updated: Feb. 20, 2016 12:01 pm
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Transportation officials say ride-sharing firms won’t be blocked from operating at Newark Liberty International Airport.
The move comes just days before a ban announced by Newark authorities was due to take effect.
City officials and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey both announced late Friday that they would not bar Uber and similar services from operating at the airport.
New Jersey Transit also won’t ticket ride-share drivers at Newark Penn Station and other hubs it oversees.
The ban was due to take effect Monday. Uber had said it would compensate drivers who were fined or towed.
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on February 20, 2016 at 8:40 AM, updated February 20, 2016 at 11:17 AM
NJ Transit’s interim boss sharply criticized a federal labor panels recommendations to settle a contract with union rail workers, calling the proposal for “platinum level” health benefits “unreasonable and excessive.”
In a reply to nine members of Congress, who wrote him on Feb. 17, urging a settlement to avoid a possible strike, Dennis Martin, interim executive director reiterated that the agency and riders can’t afford the cost of a settlement endorsed by a second Presidential Emergency Board.
A federal cooling off period ends on March 13 and union rail workers can strike or management can lock them out. The unions have been working without a new contract since 2011. Talks were held as recently as Wednesday and a tentative negotiation session is scheduled for next week.
In it’s letter, members of the delegation said “NJ Transit should seriously consider the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) 249 proposal, authored by a neutral panel of independent arbitrators, as a path forward.” They also suggested the agency could use federal funds to pay for a settlement.
Martin, in his reply letter, dated Friday, told the lawmakers NJ Transit can’t tap into money from the recently authorized federal transportation funding legislation to pay for a settlement, as the lawmakers suggested.
That money is available for capital construction projects, not for regular operating expenses “such as the exorbitant wages and benefits recommended by the PEB,” Martin wrote. “Addressing the underlying unreasonableness of the excessive level and cost of the platinum level health benefits recommended by the PEB is what is required.”
Italia Di Gusto, 44 E. Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ
Event Description
Italia di Gusto invites you to a series of Culinary trip diners through various regions of Italy starting with presentation of traditional foods of Valle D’Aosta cuisine.
Chef Claudia Rovegno has prepared a menu that represents some of the traditional dishes of the Valle D’Aosta region:
-Focaccia with bresaola with arugula, topped with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.
-Homemade gnocchi with Organic Valle d’Aosta Fontina.
-Carbonade with polenta (a stew of salt-cured beef, red wine and spices)
