Author: James

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Ridgewood School Teacher Contract Negations Rest in the Hands of a Mediator

BOE_theridgewoodblog
August 5,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Board of Education negotiations with the REA  have moved at a methodical pace according to the BOE press release on July 23, 2015 :
The Ridgewood Board of Education and the Ridgewood Education Association (“REA”) are parties to a Collective Bargaining Agreement that began on July 1, 2012 and ended June 30, 2015. Negotiations with the REA towards a new Agreement began in February 2015.
At this initial meeting, impasse was declared over the differences in the REA’s and the Board’s proposals pertaining to health insurance premium contributions. The REA proposed a reduction in Chapter 78 contributions. The Board told the REA that it would not agree to change or reduce the formula percentages set forth by Chapter 78. In 2011, Governor Christie signed into law P.L. 2011, c. 78, better known as “Chapter 78.” Chapter 78 mandated that all public sector employees contribute to their health benefit premiums. These contributions were to be phased-in over four (4) years under a statutory formula; after which they would be subject to collective negotiations.
On June 30, 2015, teachers and secretaries of the Ridgewood Public Schools completed the mandatory four (4) year phase-in. Since our first meeting in February, the Board and the Association have met four more times in March and April and with the state appointed mediator in May and June.
Our last meeting was on June 2, 2015, when the Board and the Association met with the Mediator for several hours, without success. The Mediator advised us that she would be deferring the negotiations to the fact-finding stage. Factfinders are assigned through the NJ Public Employment Relations Commission and they, like mediators, specialize in public sector negotiations. A Fact-finder’s initial role may be very similar to the role of a Mediator, and likely attempt to mediate a settlement. The Board and the REA will continue to negotiate with each other in good faith in a respectful manner. While the parties work with the Fact-finder, all of the terms and conditions of the current Agreement continue. During this time, the teachers and secretaries will continue to receive their full salaries and benefits.
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Fallen Tree Closes Goffle Road for Several Hours on Tuesday

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photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook
Fallen Tree Closes Goffle Road for Several Hours on Tuesday
August 4,2015
th staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hawthorne NJ, A large tree fell in front of 400 Goffle Road, Hawthorne near, Diamond Bridge Avenue, at approximately 1:00 PM on Tuesday, 08/04. The falling tree hit an electric transformer and downed several primary electric lines, which in turn ignited a major brush fire.
Goffle Road was closed for several hours in both directions between Diamond Bridge Avenue and Macfarlan Avenue in Hawthorne. PSE&G reported numerous power outages in the area; it was unknown whether Verizon & Cablevision outages existed. Response by Hawthorne PD, EMS, and FD. One (1) person was removed from the scene by ambulance; it is unknown whether his/her condition was related to the incident.
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ICANN posts proposal to end US oversight of Internet

Internet1

AFP – Mon 3 Aug, 2015

The overseers of the Internet on Monday published a keenly anticipated proposal to step out from under US oversight.

Under the plan, nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) would create a separate legal entity that would be contracted to handle key technical functions of the online address system.

A “Customer Standing Committee” would monitor performance of what would essentially be an ICANN subsidiary, and a review process involving stake-holders would be put in place.

ICANN would remain based in Southern California, and any major structural or operational changes to the foundation of the Internet’s addressing system would require approval of the nonprofit organization’s board of directors.

The 199 page proposal was posted online at icann.org, where a note said that a public comment period would end on September 8.

ICANN president Fadi Chehade said last month that the end of the US role is now set for mid-2016, with the transition pushed back by a year to allow time for input from the Internet community and review by the US government and Congress.

ICANN will become an independent entity without US government oversight for the Internet’s domain and address system, Chehade said, noting that the transition is likely to take place between July and September 2016.

https://in.news.yahoo.com/icann-posts-proposal-end-us-171818173.html

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NJ Transit offer for rail workers includes 10-percent pay raise

Ridgewood-Trainstation1_theridgewoodblog

NJ Transit has offered its unionized rail workers a 10-percent pay increase over 7.5 years, according to a summary released by a coalition of union groups. But that raise would be offset by a big increase in employees’ health insurance costs, which could translate to a pay cut for about 1,400 workers, according to the unions. (Christopher Maag, The Record) https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-transit-offer-for-rail-workers-includes-10-percent-pay-raise-health-insurance-cost-increase-1.1385871

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Incumbent to run unopposed for Ridgewood Board of Ed again?

BOE_theridgewoodblog
August 5,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, School board incumbent Vince Loncto is running unopposed for another three-year term on the five-member Ridgewood Board of Education. Loncto currently serves as BOE vice president.

This is now the second time the BOE has managed to pull this off . Leading once again to questions about notification . When were the BOE packets available, when was the public notified ?
If notification has not gone out is it legal ? What are the remedies or did no one really want to run for the BOE? Clinging to power or what are they so scared of ?

In 2013, the Ridgewood school board voted to move its election from April to the general election in November. The move also eliminated the public vote on the school budget, as long as the annual school tax increase remains under 2 percent. Election Day is now Tuesday, Nov. 3.

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Housing ordinances ready for hearing before Ridgewood Council

days are numbered

AUGUST 4, 2015    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2015, 11:14 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Ordinances dealing with the amendment to the village master plan will soon be headed back to the council after a consistency review was performed by the Planning Board.

At the July 21 Planning Board meeting, members undertook the review required by Municipal Land Use Law and found the ordinances were consistent with the master plan amendment that was adopted in June.

A letter reflecting this determination will be sent to the village clerk and council, said Planning Board Chairman Charles Nalbantian.

The Planning Board as a whole will review the letter with Nalbantian at its next meeting on Aug. 4. Then, the council will take up final discussions, culminating in a final public hearing and vote.

After a lengthy public hearing process, the Planning Board approved in June zoning changes to allow multifamily housing in the Central Business District (CBD).

The AH-2 zone was created purely for housing and is intended to require affordable housing in new development. The B-3-R and C-R zone ordinances are also written to incentivize affordable housing, but allow mixed-use development.

A fourth zone, the purely commercial C zone, was also adopted.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/housing-ordinances-ready-for-a-final-vote-1.1385919

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Donald Trump: “I pay as little as possible” in taxes

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By REBECCA KAPLAN FACE THE NATION August 2, 2015, 10:49 AM

Presidential candidate Donald Trump said Sunday that he pays as little in taxes as possible just like every other taxpayer in America.

“I fight like hell to pay as little as possible for two reasons. Number one, I’m a businessman. And that’s the way you’re supposed to do it,” Trump said in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “The other reason is that I hate the way our government spends our taxes. I hate the way they waste our money. Trillions and trillions of dollars of waste and abuse. And I hate it.”

Trump has not yet released his tax returns, but said he has “no major problem” with doing it. And he said he may tie a release of his tax returns to a release of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails from her time as secretary of state.

Trump: Patience for the presidency?

The State Department is in the process ofreviewing and releasing more than 55,000 pages of emails Clinton sent and received while in the Obama administration. Clinton has come under fire for using a private email server to conduct business rather than her official government account, and fresh questions emerged last month about whether Clinton used her personal email account to send classified information.

Trump predicted the questions over Clinton’s email practices will “be a devastating blow for Hillary,” and said she would be “in big trouble” if there is “an honorable prosecution” (something he said is unlikely because the prosecutors “are all Democrats”). He compared Clinton’s troubles as a far worse version of the scandal that engulfed former CIA Director David Petraeus, who pled guilty earlier this yearto giving classified information to his mistress and biographer.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-i-pay-as-little-as-possible-in-taxes/

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Cybersecurity bill could ‘sweep away’ internet users’ privacy, agency warns

big-brother-poster

Sam Thielman

Homeland Security admits Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act raises concerns while corporations and data brokers lobby for bill as it returns to Senate

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday said a controversial new surveillance bill could sweep away “important privacy protections”, a move that bodes ill for the measure’s return to the floor of the Senate this week.

The latest in a series of failed attempts to reform cybersecurity, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (Cisa) grants broad latitude to tech companies, data brokers and anyone with a web-based data collection to mine user information and then share it with “appropriate Federal entities”, which themselves then have permission to share it throughout the government.

Minnesota senator Al Franken queried the DHS in July; deputy secretary of the department Alejandro Mayorkas responded today that some provisions of the bill “could sweep away important privacy protections” and that the proposed legislation “raises privacy and civil liberties concerns”.

Much of the attention on Cisa has been directed at companies such as Google, Facebook and Comcast, which have large hoards of internet user behavior. But arguably more important are data brokers. Among the groups lobbying for the passage of Cisa are Experian, which tracks consumer trends using information from loyalty cards and other sources and licenses the information to help target advertising; Oracle, whose Data Cloud product works similarly; and Hitrust, which aggregates healthcare information.

The paragraph generating the most concern can be found in section 4 of the bill: “[a] private entity may, for cybersecurity purposes, monitor A) the information systems of such a private entity; B) the information systems of another entity, upon written consent of such other entity […] and D) information that is stored on, processed by, or transiting the information systems monitored by the private entity under this paragraph.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/03/cisa-homeland-security-privacy-data-internet

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How a deeper dive by Apple could crush this market

apple

Published: Aug 4, 2015 10:38 a.m. ET

Crumbles by commodities and the Colossus of Cupertino have been getting much of the blame for the stock market slumping in seven of the past 10 sessions.

“If AAPL doesn’t find its footing soon, it may risk a deeper drop,” writes Andrew Nyquist, over at See It Market.

And as goes the largest company by market value, so goes the whole U.S. stock market. Or at least a further slide by Apple would act as a mighty powerful brake on the S&P 500 SPX, -0.05% SPY, -0.06%  , where it’s about 4% of the benchmark, and on the growthier Nasdaq 100 NDX, -0.44% QQQ, -0.43%  where it’s a 14% chunk.

So, what’s the matter with Apple AAPL, -3.06% ? For the first time since September 2013, the tech giant’s stock has knifed under the closely watched 200-day moving average. Many chart lovers use that as a guide to a stock’s long-term trend.

Also, Apple has entered into what’s often called “correction territory,” by dropping more than 10% from its peak. Go here for more on the iPhone maker’s technicals, from one of MarketWatch’s resident chart nerds, Tomi Kilgore.

Nyquist suggests Apple, which closed at $118.44 on Monday, could tumble into the $109-to-$115 range — an area the tech giant jumped out of in January, after quarterly results crushed forecasts.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-a-deeper-dive-by-apple-could-crush-this-market-2015-08-04

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Sex with robots to be ‘the norm’ in 50 years, expert claims

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“People may also begin to fall in love with their virtual reality partners”

11:59, 4 AUGUST 2015
BY DAVID WATKINSON

Humans could soon be having sexual relationships with robots, a top academic has claimed.

Dr Helen Driscoll said advances in technology mean the way in which humans interact with robots is set to change drastically in the coming years.

Dr Driscoll, a leading authority on the psychology of sex and relationships, said ‘sex tech’ was already advancing at a fast pace and by 2070, physical relationships will seem primitive.

Already you can order a mannequin partner online. And robotic, interactive, motion-sensing technology is likely to become more and more central to the sex industry in the next few years.

“It could really start to enable mannequin partners to ‘come to life'”, according to Dr Driscoll, from the University of Sunderland.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sex-robots-the-norm-50-6190575

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After deaths at Hard Summer, experts push for new approaches to festival drug use

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By AUGUST BROWNcontact the reporter

After two drug-related deaths on the opening night of Hard Summer music festival at the Fairplex in Pomona this weekend, festival organizers, city officials and dance music fans continue to debate the best ways to prevent such tragedies.

As major festivals like Hard Summer grow — this year, the two-day event expanded from 40,000 to 65,000 fans for each night — County Supervisor Hilda Solis has called for a temporary ban of raves on county property, a move that echoes the ban on raves at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum after a teenage girl’s drug death in 2010.

Solis said that clearly the board action back then was insufficient and that further stronger action is needed.

“We will be doing our due diligence,” she said. “Obviously this is of great concern and very tragic,  and I cannot underscore how distraught it is to know two young women are going out to a concert and have to lose their lives thinking they are going to be enjoying themselves.”

“What passed on the board in 2010 may have been OK then. Things have changed now. Now we need to take a very serious look. … I will venture to say I will be doing that.”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-after-deaths-at-hard-summer-experts-push-for-new-approaches-to-festival-drug-use-20150803-story.html#page=1

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PUERTO RICO CONFIRMS IT FAILED TO MAKE $58M DEBT PAYMENT

Ricky Martin

Aug 3, 7:21 PM EDT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The government of Puerto Rico confirmed Monday that it failed to make a $58 million debt payment in a significant escalation of the debt crisis facing the U.S. island territory.

Puerto Rico made a partial payment of $628,000 in interest but could not afford to make the remainder, which was due Saturday, because the legislature did not appropriate the funds, said Melba Acosta Febo, president of the Government Development Bank.

The government had warned on Friday that it would not make the payment and argued that it should not be considered a default under a technical definition of the term, an argument rejected by Moody’s Investor Service and others.

“This event is consistent with our belief that Puerto Rico does not have the resources to make all of its forthcoming debt payments,” said Emily Raimes, a vice president at Moody’s. “This is a first in what we believe will be broad defaults on commonwealth debt.”

 

https://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CB_PUERTO_RICO_DEBT_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-08-03-19-21-43

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Hillary Clinton Loses Ground With White Women — WSJ/NBC Poll

hillary-clinton-what-difference-does-it-make

By PETER NICHOLAS

Many Democrats have long hoped that Hillary Clinton might expand Barack Obama‘s electoral coalition by drawing in more white women voters.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll suggests she may have a tough time pulling it off. Mrs. Clinton is losing ground with white women and many other important slices of the electorate, the poll shows, amid a spate of reports about her email practices, speaking fees and foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation.

Click to see more charts and articles from the July poll.

In June, 44% of white women had a favorable view of Mrs. Clinton, compared to 43% who didn’t. In July, those numbers moved in the wrong direction for Mrs. Clinton: Only 34% of white women saw her in a positive light, compared to 53% who had a negative impression of her, the poll found.

Mr. Obama fared poorly with white women voters in the 2012 election, losing them to Republican challenger Mitt Romney by 14 points.

For Team Clinton, the latest poll numbers are a worrisome development. Mrs. Clinton is unlikely to match the African-American turnout that propelled Mr. Obama to two presidential victories, so she has to make up the difference somewhere else. Women eager to see a woman in the White House is a logical group to target.

Mrs. Clinton, of course, is a white woman. She was raised in the suburbs and earned both college and law degrees. She’s fared well among voters with a similar background in past polls, but this month’s survey  shows that’s no longer the case.

https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/08/04/hillary-clinton-loses-ground-with-white-women-wsjnbc-poll/

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Glen Rock Biker Struck by Car

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photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook Page
Glen Rock Biker Struck by Car
August 04,2015
ths taff of the Ridgewood blog

Glen Rock NJ, A 15-year old male Glen Rock resident riding his bicycle was struck by a car and injured at the intersection of Ackerman Avenue and Rock Road on Tuesday morning, 08/04. The youth’s injuries were minor; he was treated on the scene by members of the Glen Rock Volunteer Ambulance Corps. The driver of the car that struck the victim remained on the scene and cooperated with Glen Rock police officers. The incident was reported shortly after 10 AM.

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Saab collides with a pickup truck at the intersection of South Van Dien Avenue and Grove Street in Ridgewood

Auto accident Van Dien

photo courtesy of Boyd Lovings Facebook
Saab collides with a pickup truck at the intersection of South Van Dien Avenue and Grove Street in Ridgewood
Augusr 3,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, A 4-door Saab collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of South Van Dien Avenue and Grove Street shortly before 1 PM on Monday, 08/03, pushing the truck up onto a curb, and knocking its bed cap to the ground. No one was injured in the crash, but the pickup was heavily damaged and removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Ridgewood PD Patrol Officer Patrick Elwood investigated the incident.