JULY 8, 2015, 9:50 AM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015, 3:38 PM
BY STEFANIE DAZIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
ELMWOOD PARK – The search for the gator roving the Passaic River is over.
Authorities captured the alligator around noon today after launching a boat to get close enough to the creature.
Media and Elmwood Park officials gather on the banks of the Passaic River after a fisherman reported seeing an alligator in the water.
The alligator was spotted this morning by a fisherman, Luis Acosta, who called police around 8:20 a.m. after he saw the alligator about 15 feet away while he was fishing for carp.
“I noticed something moving,” Acosta said. “I thought it was a snapping turtle.”
He then thought it might be a floating log. But suddenly, “I saw his whole body. His legs, his tail. I said, ‘wow.'”
He was relieved when authorities also spotted the alligator. “If that alligator goes inside the water, they’re going to think I’m crazy,” he said.
The report of the exotic resident of the Passaic set off a frenzy of activity in the area, with police, fire and wildlife officials rushing to the scene – followed by people who heard about the creature and wanted to get a look.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is looking to move 2,150 jobs from New York City to Jersey City, the latest expansion of the financial institution across the Hudson River.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority on Thursday is expected to consider an application by the New York City-based bank for a $19 million subsidy over 10 years, the second round of tax credits for the firm in about a year as the state seeks to create jobs in the Hudson County city.
New Jersey’s unemployment rate was 6.5% in May, compared with New York state’s 5.7% and 5.5% for the nation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Haddon/Wall Street Journal)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off A high school wise guy is determined to have a day off from school, despite what the principal thinks of that
“classic teen coming of age movie ”
Join us in Memorial Park at Van Neste Square for family fun and entertainment. We show films great for the whole family on a 25 foot screen and professional sound system. Bring snacks, a picnic blanket, and get ready for a great evening with your community.
0n several Wednesday nights from June to August – The Ridgewood Guild will feature a complimentary movie for your enjoyment! Pack a picnic basket, bring your family and pull up some turf in Van Neste Park. Movies start when the sun goes down…about 9pm (8pm in August). July 8 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off July 22 – Momma Mia!!! (Special Event) August 5 – Murder on the Orient Express August 19th – Harry Potter (Special Event)
Great Duck Derby at Graydon – Join the Famiily Fun – July 11th
Third annual, Great Ridgewood Duck Derby
Ridgewood NJ, On Saturday, July 11th, Ridgewood Parks & Recreation, in cooperation with Jacobsen Landscape Contractors of Midland Park, will be hosting the Great Ridgewood Duck Derby at Graydon Pool. Come out and embrace the national “Come Alive Outside” campaign and join us for an afternoon of fun family activity. This event will feature an array of different types of entertainment. There will also be a number of different kinds of activities throughout the day such as beach games, a sand sculpture contest, duck decorating, face painting, and ultimately concluding with an exciting rubber duck race down the Ho Ho Kus Brook.
This is a catered event pre-registration is a must and the deadline for advance sales is July 10th. The cost to take part in this fun family event is $10 per person ($20 per person non-residents) which includes one rubber duck, a SACK Picnic lunch of sandwich, beverage, chips and cookie.
The “Come Alive Outside” campaign started in 2010 by Jim Paluch in hopes of combating the sedentary, indoor lifestyle that is contributing to a multitude of adverse effects in our society. Playing outside has more benefits than just the physical, outdoor play can help children develop social skills, reduce stress, and increase their self-confidence. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 60 minutes of free play outside daily is essential for a child’s development which is why it is the “Come Alive Outside” campaign’s mission to create opportunities for children to get outside for some good healthy fun. Other events that have been hosted by the “Come Alive Outside” committee have been the award winning “Fire and Ice – A Winter Festival”, Bike, Hike and Discover and the Harvest Moon Family Hoedown, and the annual Duck Derby.
To register for the Great Ridgewood Duck Derby you can either stop by the Stable, 259 N. Maple Ave and complete registration or go online at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass (Graydon Pool). The rain date for this event will be on Sunday July 12th. Please call the Parks & Recreation Department at 201-670-5560 for further information.
By Melanie Batley | Tuesday, 07 Jul 2015 11:35 AM!
A Nobel Prize-winning scientist who supported President Barack Obama has said that he does not believe global warming is a problem, and has openly criticized the president for his position on the issue.
“I would say that basically global warming is a non-problem,” Dr. Ivar Giaever announced during a speech at the 65th Nobel Laureate Conference in Lindau, Germany, last week, according to Climate Depot.
Quoting Obama’s warning that “no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change,” Giaever said it was a “ridiculous statement.”
“I say this to Obama: Excuse me, Mr. President, but you’re wrong. Dead wrong,” he said, according to Climate Depot.
“Obama said last year that 2014 is [the] hottest year ever. But it’s not true. It’s not the hottest.”
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report on 07/06/2015 patrol units responded to the rear of 158 East Ridgewood Avenue for a report of a vehicle fire. Patrol officers were first to arrive and determined that a 4 door sedan was engulfed in flames. Patrol units also determined that the vehicle was unoccupied. The vehicle was extinguished and no other property damage was caused. The owner of the vehicle reportedly left it running while inside a restaurant.
According to sources the Volkswagen Jetta was being used as a delivery vehicle by the Tito Burrito’s restaurant in Ridgewood was destroyed by an engine compartment fire shortly after 5 PM on Monday, 07/06. The vehicle was parked behind the restaurant at the time of the fire. Ridgewood FD units responded to quell the blaze. No injuries were reported. The vehicle was removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog and the Ridgewpood Police Department
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Polis report that on 07/04/2015 patrol units responded to the area of 57 East Ridgewood Avenue for a report of a suspicious male. A further investigation revealed that a 37 year old Hackensack man was on the roof tops above 43 East Ridgewood Avenue.
The male party was found to be wearing a Captain America costume and determined to be heavily intoxicated. The male party was removed from the roof by officers in fire department ladder truck. He was transported to the Valley Hospital for treatment.
Lets face it the State is run like crap, roads arnt paved , bridges are falling down, pension go unfunded and yet we suffer the highest taxes in the land
Its time for everyone involved in state government to just step down TRENTON — Democratic state lawmakers will soon introduce legislation that would force Gov. Chris Christie to resign from office because he is running for president, NJ Advance Media has learned.State Sens. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) and Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), who are expected to co-sponsor the bill, said they are fed up with Christie’s frequent absences from New Jersey this year in the run-up to last week’s announcement that he’s running for the White House. The bill would require Christie and any future governor to resign in order to run for president.
“He’s not doing the state any good by spending the bulk of his time out of state,” Lesniak said. “And even when he’s in-state, he’s focusing on what he has to do to get elected president — which often runs contrary to what he ought to do for the state.”
In America, is it possible to have open, vigorous, no-holds-barred debate?
Is it? Is it really possible?
It’s a shame we have to even ask the question but consider the following:
– If you question the theory of climate change (formerly known as global warming till that was discredited), you’re attacked as neanderthal.
– If you disagree with the Supreme Court’s bare majority (5 to 4) ruling on gay marriage, you’re called a bigot.
– If you argue that separation of church and state was never meant to separate us from church, you’re targeted as a raving evangelical.
– If you defend the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms, you’re a threat to society; among those who “cling to their guns.”
– If you seek to have a reasonable discussion about the waves of illegal immigrants coming across our southern border, you’re termed a racist.
– If you opposed Obamacare, you are have no compassion.
– If you defend capitalism, financial success and property rights, they call you selfish and greedy.
– If you don’t want your kids to be subjected to government-sponsored sex education or a curriculum that reinvents American history, you’re accused of being unenlightened or, worse yet — guilty of parental neglect.
– If you defend states’ rights, you’re divisive. If you’re weary of radical Islamists and you’re wondering when we’ll respond in kind, you’re a war-monger. If you don’t admire European-style socialism, you’re myopic and provincial.
– If you speak up on these or similar matters, you’re likely to be branded mean or jingoistic or imbecilic.
This is what we’re dealing with. This is what “argument” has been reduced to. And it’s juvenile, self-serving, demagogic and ultimately destructive.
As a high school and collegiate debater I learned that there were at least two sides to every issue and that issues can and should be fairly and fully aired based on fact. But today we have a government, a media and a popular culture that engage in name-calling, broad-brushing, stereotyping, band-wagoning, hand-wringing, fear and intimidation. All of these are among the worst types of propaganda.
And, make no mistake about it, the biggest purveyors of these techniques can be found on the left among re-branded “progressives” (aka liberals).
They preach tolerance and understanding but they practice a near maniacal form of intolerance. In the name of compassion, they will swat you down quicker than you can say “Why?” or “Where” or “When?” or “How?”
Those are question they don’t want to deal with — questions they have no intention of answering.
We’ve reached a stage of polarization where people simply do not want to be challenged. Period.
After an 18-month investigation, Macy’s has agreed to pay a $650,000 fine and hire an independent monitor to address complaints that minority shoppers faced heightened surveillance and, in some cases, wrongful detention at its flagship store in Midtown Manhattan.
The investigation, conducted by the state attorney general’s office, reviewed the internal “loss prevention” procedures employed by Macy’s at its Herald Square store as well as allegations that black and Hispanic shoppers were unfairly targeted by security officials. The inquiry found that Macy’s “detained African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities for allegedly shoplifting at significantly higher rates relative to whites,” a settlement agreement to be released on Wednesday said.
“This agreement will help ensure that no one is unfairly singled out as a suspected criminal when they shop in New York,” the attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, said in a statement set to accompany the release of the settlement document, which covers all 42 Macy’s stores in New York State.
The deal with Macy’s comes a week after Mr. Schneiderman’s office reached a similar one with Barneys New York, which agreed to pay $525,000 and institute a host of reforms aimed at addressing allegations of racial profiling at its Madison Avenue store.
The Macy’s investigation included a review of complaints since 2007 from 18 minority shoppers who claimed they had been improperly detained at the Herald Square store. Among those who complained were a black woman confronted by security workers while riding an escalator with merchandise openly draped over her arm, and a black man in the store to exchange goods.
Jul 6, 2015, 5:34 PM ET
By EMILY SHAPIRO via GOOD MORNING AMERICA
An undocumented immigrant suspected of killing a woman at a San Francisco pier said he chose the city for its sanctuary policies — that is, he knew San Francisco was a good place to avoid deportation, he told ABC station KGO-TV.
In an exclusive jailhouse interview, a KGO-TV reporter asked Francisco Sanchez, the alleged gunman, “Did you keep coming back to San Francisco because you knew that they wouldn’t actively look for you to deport you?” and Sanchez responded, “Yes.”
Sanchez, who has been deported five times, told KGO-TV he started wandering on Pier 14 on Wednesday after taking sleeping pills he found in a dumpster. He said he then picked up a gun that he found and it went off.
Following the influx of illegal immigrant minors from Central America, an official at the federal agency charged with protecting public health describes Barack Obama as “the worst pres we have ever had,” an “amateur” and “Marxist,” according to internal emails obtained by Judicial Watch.
JW got the records as part of an investigation into the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) activation of anEmergency Operations Center (EOC) to deal with the barrage of illegal alien minors last summer. Tens of thousands of Central Americans came into the United States through the Mexican border and contagious diseases—many considered to be eradicated in the U.S.—became a tremendous concern. The CDC, which operates under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), responded by opening an emergency facility designed to monitor and coordinate response activities to eminent public health threats.
This special emergency division was created after the 2001 terrorist attacks and has responded to more than 50 public health threats, including hurricanes, food borne disease outbreaks, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and the Haiti cholera outbreak. Scientists from across the CDC are brought together to analyze, validate, and efficiently exchange information during a public health emergency and connect with response partners. The EOC also coordinates the deployment of CDC staff and the procurement and management of all equipment and supplies that agency responders may need during their deployment.
It’s a major and costly operation that can stick American taxpayers with a huge tab. That’s why JW launched a probe when the Obama administration took in the illegal immigrants, initially coined Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC), with open arms last summer. JW has sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for planning records involving the border crisis as well as information relating to the solicitation of “on-demand escort services” for the 65,000 UACs that remain in the U.S. Last year JW also reported that the illegal immigrant minors have brought in serious diseases, including swine flu, dengue fever, possibly Ebola virus and tuberculosis.
The CDC records obtained by JW this week include email exchanges between agency officials directly involved in the activation of the EOC to handle the health threats created by the influx of illegal alien minors last summer. In an email dated June 9, 2014, CDC Logistics Management Specialist George Roark wrote to CDC Public Health Advisor William Adams that “no country in the world would allow” the influx. Adams replies that “in ten years or less, they’ll all be voting…Commander’s intent…” Roark fires back by describing Obama as “the worst pres we have ever had…he truly is ‘the amateur’ but a Marxist too.”
Enhanced North Jersey Coast Line express weekend service to beach towns
July 6,2015
NEWARK, NJ — NJ TRANSIT is making it convenient and affordable to get to summer shore destinations with the return of express weekend rail service from Penn Station New York and northern New Jersey cities to shore communities along the North Jersey Coast Line this Sunday, June 21.
Enhanced Saturday, Sunday and holiday rail service on the North Jersey Coast Line will operate from June 21 through September 12 and utilize the agency’s dual-powered locomotives to provide a one-seat ride.
“This one-seat ride rail service from New York is a sound investment that not only gives visitors and residents easier access to some of our most popular beaches and boardwalks, it also helps take cars off the roadway and boosts tourism and the economy in our shore communities,” said Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Chairman Jamie Fox.
“Our Shore service provides a safe and reliable way to get people where they need to be to enjoy time in the sun and expands transit options for travelers along the state’s costal region,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim. “NJ TRANSIT is grateful for the continued support of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) without whom funding for this service would not be possible.”
Four round-trip express trains will operate between Penn Station New York and Bay Head. This service also features hourly train service between Bay Head and Long Branch from approximately 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Two of the round-trips will be geared to beach travelers, with an additional two round-trips providing service during the early morning and late night timeframes.
The express service will serve Penn Station New York, Secaucus Junction, Newark Penn Station, Elizabeth, Rahway, Aberdeen-Matawan, Red Bank, Long Branch, Asbury Park, and then all station stops to Bay Head, without the need of a transfer in Long Branch. A travel time savings of approximately 25 minutes is expected from the normal travel time between New York and trains such as Belmar, Manasquan and Point Pleasant.
Seating will be limited aboard the express service. Customers are strongly encouraged to purchase round-trip tickets or discounted beach packages to Long Branch, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, Bradley Beach and Belmar (a savings of $6.50) prior to the start of their trip. NJ TRANSIT beach packages are available at some ticket windows and ticket vending machines. More information on beach packages is available on njtransit.com/summer.
Customers can also purchase NJ TRANSIT tickets using MyTix mobile ticketing.
Express trains will supplement NJ TRANSIT’s regular hourly rail shuttle service between Long Branch and Bay Head, and will operate using the statewide transportation agency’s new ALP-45 dual-powered locomotives. These specialized trains will operate in electric mode between New York and Long Branch and will switch to diesel operation for travel between Long Branch and Bay Head – allowing for the one-seat ride.
The announcement follows the May 11, 2015 endorsement of the service by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), which authorized a $273,000 allocation through the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) to fund the new service.
Detailed schedules are available on njtransit.com.
JULY 7, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2015, 9:42 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Village Council held a special public meeting last month in order to make appointments to the village’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment as well as hire a new labor attorney and special labor counsel.
The Planning Board will see plenty of familiar faces return as all five appointees served during the previous year. Mayor Paul Aronsohn, board member Nancy Bigos and Councilwoman Susan Knudsen each return for a one-year term as Class I, II and III members respectively.
Number two alternate Khidir Abdalla was given a two-year term and Chairman Charles Nalbantian will keep his seat for the next four years as a Class IV member.
On the Board of Adjustment, current Chairman Joel Torielli and Vice Chairman Hans-Jurgen Lehmann each received four-year terms to continue in their respective roles.
Jennie Wilson was promoted from alternate to full board member on a two-year term while Sergio Alegre was bumped up to the position of first alternate on a two-year term.
Ines Bunza joins the Board of Adjustment as the second alternate on a one-year term.
Appointments for these two boards will be effective at their respective reorganization meetings.
In accordance with the provisions of the “Open Public Meetings Act,” please be advised that the Planning Board will hold a special public meeting on Tuesday, July 7, 2015, in the Village Hall Court Room, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ. The purpose of the meeting is to hold the Annual Reorganization Meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m. A regular business meeting will follow.
All meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work session meetings, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings which are always open to members of the general public.
