OCTOBER 29, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015, 11:49 AM
BY BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
With Halloween taking place tomorrow, a number of village organizations have put together events for the spooky holiday.
courtesy of Charlotte Pillow’s Facebook
OCTOBER 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
There’s no doubt that Pillow, who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at an early age, is aware of the negative aspects of the disease. But with a decade of experience dealing with diabetes, it has actually become a positive change in her life, and she has spent her more recent years raising awareness of the disease and counseling those who were in the same position as she once was during her elementary school days.
In medical terms, Type 1 Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce a hormone called insulin, which helps get glucose, used by the body for energy, from the bloodstream into the cells of the body. About 5 percent of people with diabetes have this form of the disease.
But in the world of a third grade girl at Hawes Elementary School, it manifested itself in the form of a voracious thirst and appetite and frequent trips to the bathroom.
OCTOBER 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY GREG TARTAGLIA
SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD — Mika Tamura was waiting to be surprised, and was she ever.
The Ridgewood High School junior knew she had put together a strong performance at last Friday’s Bergen County gymnastics championships. Still, she wanted to hear the official announcement of all-around scores from meet director Trisha Piotrowski.
“In third place, with a score of 37.225, from Ridgewood…”
Tamura set a career high. By a lot. And she wasn’t the only one.
Ramapo’s Emma Johnson (meet-record 38.7) and Samantha Marion (38.025) did the same to finish 1-2. Their school set a meet record by scoring 113.175 to top Ridgewood for the title, despite the fact that the Maroons (111.375) posted their highest total in nine years.
The top four teams — which also included Pascack Regional and Holy Angels — combined to tally 437.375 points, obliterating the previous mark for top-four aggregate (426.45) set in 2006.
OCTOBER 28, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015, 9:30 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
American Legion Post 53 hosted a dinner at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (OLMC) Church two Fridays ago in honor of Blue Star families.
Such families have at least one member currently in the military. They can be distinguished by a Blue Star Banner placed on the front of their house, with the number of stars on the banner representing the number of family members currently in the military. These banners are restricted to immediate family only.
“All veteran organizations give a Blue Star Banner to families who have a member … serving in the military,” said Robert Paoli, commander of Post 53. “The banner is displayed in the window of the home or perhaps hanging on the front door.”
The village has a large Blue Star family population, according to Paoli.
“Ridgewood has currently 25 (Blue Star) families,” he said. “I have given out over 100 banners in my tenure in the legion in the last several years.”
The annual dinner, which was invite only, took place in the OLMC parish center, and was catered by Mangiamo Restaurant & Pizza in Paramus.
OCTOBER 29, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015, 10:04 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Last week marked the beginning of the 10th year of the Ridgewood Academy for Health Professions (RAHP) program.
During the kickoff on Tuesday, 36 Ridgewood High School sophomores took a tour of Valley Hospital in order to get an idea of what goes on behind the scenes, and of what kind of work they would like to pursue as part of RAHP.
“This is their first exposure to RAHP,” said Maureen Curran, manager of media relations and communications at the hospital. “This shows them all of the different aspects of the program, which lets them choose what they want to continue with.”
The program takes RHS students interested in working in medical professions and gives them firsthand experience in that field.
“It definitely looks good on their college applications,” said Sandra Kunzle, the RHS liaison to RAHP. She added that the majority of RAHP students pursue degrees in pre-med or other healthcare-related fields.
RAHP was created in 2005 by Peter Diestel, executive vice president of Valley Hospital; Sheila Brogan of the Board of Education; and Bob Hutton, a former Board of Education member.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/students-get-glimpse-of-career-option-1.1444189
Thank you Marcia. Great letter. Last night our mayor went after Ms. Jacqueline Hone in this matter, deliberately and nastily. She was great, she calmly came right back at him and stated that she has emails from Robert Abbatomarco stating all of this, she held up a notebook with all the information she has carefully collected and collated. Aronsohn said he talked to Robert Abbatomarco and everything Ms. Hone said was completely untrue. He called a concerned resident a liar. REALLY? This is how you conduct business? Instead of meeting with Ms. Hone, as she has requested on numerous occasions, and going over the facts together, he just calmly “says” that her information is wrong.
Ms. Hone was not the only resident they went after last night. Clearly their nerves are frayed.
Keep up the good work everyone.
OCTOBER 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A teachers’ rally took place Monday outside the Education Center.
The event occurred just before Michael Yannone, president of the Ridgewood Education Association (REA), entered the building to commence the second and potentially final negotiating session with a mediator present between the REA and the Ridgewood Board of Education.
“This is a sign of unity for the negotiating team that’s about to walk in there,” Yannone said at the event. “As a member of that team, I greatly appreciate this.”
Ridgewood Board of Education President Sheila Brogan said while a settlement wasn’t reached at the meeting, “The board understands the teachers’ wish for a settlement. We too want to settle the contract.
“We had a positive dialogue, but were unable to settle the contract,” she said. “The fact finder spent the evening talking with both sides and decided to move the process to a formal fact-finding hearing.”
According to Brogan, the fact finder is scheduled to return to Ridgewood on Feb. 3.
“At the hearing, he will listen to both sides and issue a non-binding opinion in an attempt to settle the contract, she said.
“Moving forward, the board’s negotiating team is willing to meet with the REA’s team to resolve issues and settle the contract.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/rea-rallies-as-talks-continue-1.1444781
file photo by Boyd Loving
Dear Resident,
I am writing to speak with you about our early experiences this leaf season.
As you know last year we introduced the “No Leaf Left Behind” initiative and introduced changes to the leaf pick-up process. This year, we held our second leaf summit with all of our staff engaged in the leaf process to review post-mortem results from last year as well as to think through new enhancements to the processing of leaves. For example, we are introducing a new piece of equipment to our tool box, a claw, that we think will add value. If we see a significant improvement we will buy another claw for next year. We also rebid the leaf removal process for Section B – we have a new contractor this year based on lowest bid requirements.
Importantly, we heard you last year about the need for strict enforcement of the leaf schedule, particularly the issue that some residents and/or their contractors were placing their leaves in the street right after a collection cycle thereby causing many leaves left on the streets for weeks. In our recent letter that was mailed to all residents with the leaf schedule, we also indicated that we would strictly enforce the leaf schedule and that summonses would be issued. Unfortunately I can report to you that we did compliance monitoring on various streets within Area A after leaf pick up was concluded on October 22nd and we had a very large number of violators. Over two days, we had over 40 summonses to be written – this was also a limited review…. we could have documented many more and this is not acceptable for our community.
I want to explain to you why I decided not to issue summonses in these cases – instead we are issuing warnings. It turns out that violating the leaf ordinance, even the first time, requires a court appearance by the resident; fines begin at $50. It was this court appearance that resulted in the decision that warnings would be issued for the first week of leaf collection in each Leaf Area. Summonses will begin the second week in each Area. Please remember that the homeowner is responsible for his/her landscaper. We have been in contact with registered landscapers and shared the schedule with them as part of our communications strategy.
A couple of other points to share with you. First, we did get a bit of an early start in Area A this year which caused some confusion for residents. Our intent was always to loop back to those streets that we started early but I apologize for any confusion that this may have caused. Secondly, as we did last year we will add collection dates to the schedule if they are needed. Since the leaves seem to be falling slowly this year, I anticipate that this will be the case. Please check our website (www.ridgewoodnj.net) for updates, and I will send E-Notices when needed.
Our staff is reminding all residents to not place recycling barrels or basketball hoops in the roadway during leaf collection as these objects cause a safety issue and unnecessary maneuvering of our vehicles. Additionally, leaf piles in the street cause potentially dangerous conditions by narrowing the street for vehicles, so residents should avoid parking close to leaf piles or driving over them.
Effective collection of leaves is an effort that requires the Village and its residents to be collaborative and mutually supportive. As a result, I would like to request again that you let us know how we can perform better and be more sensitive to your requirements. We are breaking in a new contractor as well as new equipment and we will closely monitor this but you are our eyes and ears and therefore we are reliant on you to help make this process more effective.
Today the leaves are not quite brown but the skies are grey – Ridgewood dreamin’ on such a Autumn’s day……
Best,
Roberta Sonenfeld
Village Manager
201-670-5500, ext. 203
I can add one point/question – why do all of our major choices about development projects in Ridgewood come down to a yes or no on something that is just too big? Valley – needs to modernize, not double in size. Sealfons, Ken Smith and Brogan sites – need to be developed but not at triple the current density. Schedler Property – can be improved to serve the people of the village that owns it but without cutting all the trees down. Parking – we need to improve the parking situation in town but not with a multi-story structure that will be as big as the churches across the street and around the corner.
It seems that both the Planning Board and Council have failed to “get it”. Valley has been shot down on multiple occasions. The apartments are on hold because an angry mob showed up to shout the Council down before they could vote on it. The neighborhood east of 17 is resolved to vote any Council person out of office as they come up for re-election. And now this parking behemoth comes before us.
Our Council bears a healthy dose of the blame for all of this. In each case they appear to have made up their minds far in advance of finishing any impact or financial studies and even farther in advance of weighing public opinion. In addition there always seems to be some cozy relationship between one or more Council members and the applicant. Our Mayor is sending out personal appeals to vote “Yes” on the parking structure just as the (less than complete) “studies” are released. I always feel like the Council is rushing to get things pushed through and approved before the public has a chance to digest what’s being decided.
It’s with a healthy dose of skepticism that I’ll vote NO on Garage-zilla. Back to the drawing board folks – please present us with some smaller options.
Oct. 29 2015,
Lee Fang
Over the last two presidential debates, both Democratic and Republican candidates have asserted that the television news media is biased and has done a poor job informing voters of the most pressing issues in the election.
And while their focus is on things like the type of questions asked by debate moderators, they are overlooking much clearer signs of potential conflicts of interest. Fundraising disclosures released this month and in July reveal that lobbyists for media companies are raising big money for establishment presidential candidates, particularly Hillary Clinton.
The giant media companies that shape much of the coverage of the presidential campaign have a vested stake in the outcome. From campaign finance laws that govern how money is spent on advertising to the regulators who oversee consolidation rules, the media industry has a distinct policy agenda, and with it, a political team to influence the result.
The top fundraisers for Clinton include lobbyists who serve the parent companies of CNN and MSNBC.
The National Association of Broadcasters, a trade group that represents the television station industry, has lobbyists who are fundraising for both Clinton and Republican candidate Marco Rubio.
Presidential campaigns are obligated by law to send the Federal Election Commission a list of lobbyists who serve as “bundlers,” collecting hundreds of individual checks on behalf of a candidate’s campaign.
CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, is represented on Capitol Hill by SteveElmendorf, an adviser to Clinton during her 2008 campaign, who is also known as “one of Washington’s top lobbyists.” He’s lobbied on a number of issues important for media companies like CNN, including direct-to-consumer advertising policy.
Elmendorf, according to disclosures, has raised at least $141,815 for Clinton’s 2016 bid for the presidency.
Comcast, the parent company of NBC Universal, which includes cable networks NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC, has a number of lobbyists on retainer who are working to raise cash for the Clinton campaign, including Justin Gray, Alfred Mottur, Ingrid Duran and Catherine Pino.
Much of the $5 billion expected to be spent over the course of the 2016 presidential election cycle will be on cable and network news advertisements. The election-related spending bonanza is singularly boosting the profit margins of many media companies, as we’ve reported.
“Super PACs may be bad for America, but they’re very good for CBS,” LesMoonves, president and chief executive of CBS, memorably said.
https://theintercept.com/2015/10/29/media-fundraisers-presidential/
Who? What? Huh?? New Jerseyans Unaware of Next Week’s Election, Eagleton Says
Forty-four years after the first press release from the Eagleton Institute of Politics’ inaugural poll reported little awareness of the then upcoming 1971 state legislative elections, New Jerseyans today remain uninformed about the Legislature, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Three-quarters of Garden State residents are completely unaware that any elections will be held next week, just slightly better than the 85 percent who were ignorant in 1971, in what was then called the New Jersey Poll. Politicker Staff, PolitickerNJ Read more
YMCA Recognizes Two RHS Standouts
October 29,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, Retired Physical Educator and Soccer Coach Jeff Yearing and RHS senior Charlotte Samuels will be receiving prestigious awards at the 50th Annual Sports Award Banquet of the YMCA of Greater Bergen County. Jeff will be awarded the Special Achievement Award for his 40-plus years of contributions to Bergen County Athletics. Charlotte will be recognized with the Walter E. Goepel Amateur Athlete for her swimming accomplishments. The Awards Banquet will be Tuesday, November 24, at The Venetian in Garfield, Reception at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. If interested in attending, contact AD Keith Cook at [email protected] or 201-670-2700 ext 20510.
RHS Boys’ and Girls Soccer Teams are 2014-15 NSCAA High School Team Academic Award Recipients
October 28,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The RHS Boys’ and Girls’ varsity soccer teams were recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) with the 2014-15 High School Team Academic Award.
To qualify for this award, the team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.25 for the entire academic year. The team GPA is determined by adding every player’s GPA, then dividing by the number of players.
The Maroons soccer teams were among 398 teams nationwide to be recognized for exemplary performance in the classroom as a team during the 2014-15 academic year. RHS is among 51 schools receiving honors for both their boys’ and girls’ teams. The RHS girl’s soccer team has been recognized 16 times for this achievement.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The RHS Marching Band has placed 1st at a competition for the 3rd straight weekend. At Ridge High School the band was awarded best music, best percussion, best color guard, best visual performance, and best overall effect. The band will compete at NJ State Championships on Saturday, October 31 at Rutgers University.
The band also won first place and captured awards for Best Music, Best Percussion, Best Visual Performance, and Best Overall Effect at the USBands competition at Pequannock High School on October 10.
2015 Ridgewood District-wide Science Testing Report
Click here to read the District-wide State Testing Report for Science 2014-2015, presented to the Board of Education on October 19, 2015 by the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Cheryl Best.
BY JENNIFER C. KERR
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Results from national math and reading tests show slipping or stagnant scores for the nation’s schoolkids.
Math scores were down for fourth and eighth graders over the last two years. And reading grades were not much better: flat for fourth graders and lower for eighth graders, according to 2015 results released Wednesday for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam.
The falling mathematics scores for fourth and eighth graders mark the first declines in math since 1990.
The results suggest students have a ways to go to demonstrate a solid grasp or mastery in reading and math.
Only about a third of the nation’s eighth-graders were at proficient or above in math and reading. Among fourth graders, the results were slightly better in reading and in math, about two in five scored proficient or above.
The report also found a continuing achievement gap between white and black students.
There were a few bright spots: the District of Columbia and Mississippi both saw substantial reading and math gains.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged parents, teachers, and others not to panic about the scores as states embrace higher academic standards, such as Common Core.
“We should expect scores in this period to bounce around some, and I think that ‘implementation dip’ is part of what we’re seeing here,” Duncan said in a phone call with reporters. “I would caution everyone to be careful about drawing conclusions.”
Chris Minnich, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, echoed Duncan.
“One year does not make a trend,” Minnich said at a panel discussion Wednesday. “We set this new goal for the country of college and career readiness for all kids. Clearly, these results today show we’re not quite there yet and we have some work to do.”
The Common Core standards were developed by the states with the support of the administration. They spell out what students should know in English and math at each grade level, with a focus on critical thinking and less of an emphasis on memorization. But they have become a rallying point for critics who want a smaller federal role in education and some parents confounded by some of the new concepts being taught.
The NAEP tests, also known as the “nation’s report card,” don’t align completely with Common Core, but NAEP officials said there was “quite a bit” of overlap between the tests and the college-ready standards.
