Ridgewood NJ, The event will open to the public on Thursday, May 21 at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center at RHS with music and dance performances. Sharing the Arts will perform A Whole New World from Aladdin, and the advanced dance class will perform to a piece played by the Symphonic Band. Guests will have an opportunity to explore the artwork and displays throughout the first floor before moving to the Little Theatre for a concert of small ensembles.
On Friday, the festivities will continue as high school staff, faculty, and students are immersed in over 1000 pieces of artwork. They may also attend various performances and demonstrations throughout the day. This two-day extravaganza is truly one of the feature events of the Fine and Applied Arts Department.
Thursday evening’s gala is open to the public and free of charge.
Ridgewood, N.J., Kings Food Markets (Kings) is excited to bring back its exclusive 24 Hour Just Picked Promise this summer, beginning on Friday, May 22. The program is designed to bring Kings’ customers locally grown, farm-fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs within 24 hours of being picked – giving shoppers the benefits of a local farm stand in the convenience of their neighborhood food markets.
“Each summer, we look forward to bringing the Just Picked Promise Program to our customers,” said Judy Spires, president and CEO of Kings Food Markets. “This exclusive program allows us to deliver the freshest produce available from our shoppers’ local community. As soon as customers see the Just Picked Promise seal, they know they are purchasing high quality products just like what they find at their local produce stand.”
Kings works with a network of more than 25 regional farmers – in towns such as Vineland, Mullica Township, Swedesboro, Landisville, Buena, Hammonton, Newfield, Medford, New Lisbon and Millmay, NJ – to deliver all of its Just Picked produce fresh to Kings stores within 24 hours of being hand-picked. Local farmers supplying the program select only the freshest, seasonal products in the morning, and through an expedited distribution process, they are delivered to Kings’ stores and prepared for sale the next day. The program is unique to Kings and was developed in partnership with Massachusetts-based Red Tomato, a non-profit organization committed to better connecting farmers and consumers.
“Freshness equals time,” said Paul Kneeland, vice president of Produce, Meat, Seafood and Floral for Kings Food Markets. “That’s why we are so proud to bring back our 24 hour Just Picked Promise. Our growers are committed to bringing the freshest, highest quality local produce to our stores every delivery.”
Kings customers looking to support local farmers and buy the freshest produce available can look for the 24 Hour Just Picked Promise seal in Kings’ stores. The items available at each store will vary daily; although, customers can expect to find such summer staples as arugula, basil, cilantro, lettuce, squash, mint, blueberries, cucumbers, kale and tomatoes with the Just Picked Promise. For the latest updates on which Just Picked products are available or for weekly recipes, customers can visit Kings’ website (www.kingsfoodmarkets.com), follow Kings on Twitter (@KingsFoodMkts) – using the hashtag #KingsJustPicked – or like Kings on Facebook (www.facebook.com/kingsfoodmarkets).
The program will run in Kings stores Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.
MAY 20, 2015, 4:56 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015, 12:36 AM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office will join a growing number of police agencies around the country whose officers wear body cameras to record their interactions with the public, officials announced Wednesday.
Forty-seven of the county’s approximately 500 officers will use the cameras as part of a $70,000 pilot project to be financed with forfeiture funds, Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino said at a news conference. No date has been set to begin using the cameras, he said.
Saudino said he will first ask for guidance from a panel of law enforcement officials and community leaders selected by the Bergen County freeholders. The panel will address civil liberties and privacy concerns raised by the relatively new technology.
Saudino, who was accompanied at the news conference by County Executive James Tedesco, said they decided to start as a pilot program “because there are many valid issues raised regarding the proper operation of these devices.”
“My objective is to strike the right balance to implement this program on a permanent basis,” Saudino said. |“It’ll take as long as it takes to do |it the right way. We’re not in a rush.”
Otto, the 5-year-old German shepherd that was shot and killed by a Wyckoff police officer, is shown in this photo provided by the family.
MAY 20, 2015, 12:57 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015, 8:06 PM
BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
WYCKOFF — A police internal report has been released showing the chain of events that ended with an officer’s fatal shooting of a family’s dog on April 29.
The report released Tuesday by the Police Department includes a description by Lt. David Murphy, who had been on traffic duty near Lawlins Road, of the shooting’s immediate aftermath.
Murphy found Patrolman Kyle Ferreira “very distraught” and “pacing back and forth” after he’d responded to the wrong address on a possible burglary call and shot Otto, the Vukobratovic family’s 5-year-old German shepherd.
“He was shaking his head and several times, he put both hands on top of his head. To me, he appeared to be visibly upset by whatever events had transpired prior to my arrival,” Murphy said.
Algis Setikas, who lives across the street at 621 Lawlins Road, had reported the possible burglary after finding damage to a window screen and exterior light bulb. The report said he had gone to the Police Department in person so as to not disturb his wife, recovering from surgery, or his newborn.
Minutes later, a police car pulled up in front of his house, but the officer never came to the door. As Setikas walked towards the car, the report said, he heard “four or five consecutive loud bangs,” and looked across the street to see Ferreira in what he described as a “shooting stance.” Setikas checked on his family, then ran to the Vukobratovics, yelling to Ferreira that he had the wrong house.
“He observed that the officer was standing on the driveway outside of the gate with his hands on his head, looking upset and distraught,” the report said.
MAY 18, 2015, 7:12 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015, 11:09 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
HO-HO-KUS — A multifamily housing complex is being pitched for the borough’s downtown.
The proposed three-story development would have 27 one- and two-bedroom units. It would also have nearly 13,000 square feet of space for retail use and 9,300 square feet for offices.
Plans submitted to the Ho-Ho-Kus Planning Board show the proposed project would include some units of affordable housing.
Helmed by the borough’s Mechanic family, the owners of several properties throughout borough, the development would be built on 2.12 acres located in the heart of downtown, affecting 619 North Maple Avenue and 217 and 239 First Street.
To make room for the construction on the south side of North Maple Avenue, some demolition is planned, including the razing of Granny’s Attic, an antiques shop.
“The project will include significant architectural upgrades with careful attention to streetscape, together with enhanced drainage, landscaping, lighting and other site improvements which will present an aesthetically pleasing and appropriate redevelopment of the property,” the application states.
MAY 20, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015, 1:19 PM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Eric Lipkin was five years old when he met Bernie Madoff at his financial services firm.
He was a student and a track star at Paramus High School when he started doing company clerical work for his father, Irwin, who worked for Madoff. And by the time Eric Lipkin joined the company himself, right out of high school in 1991, he had developed a “reverence” for Madoff.
So said Lipkin’s attorney in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Wednesday, where he sought to explain why his client, a Ridgewood resident, participated in Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme, preparing documents that he knew were fraudulent.
“One of the things that made him attractive to Madoff was he was very dependable, and he follows orders,” attorney James Kieran Filan told the court.
Filan offered the explanation at a 90-minute hearing, before a federal judge sentenced Lipkin, 41, to nine months home detention and 200 hours of community service for is role in the $17 billion scheme, to which he pleaded guilty in 2011. Lipkin also agreed in court to forfeit $1.4 million.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain said she was swayed to give a much lighter sentence than federal guidelines suggested because of Lipkin’s role, as described by prosecutors, in helping the government build a case against others involved in the Madoff scheme, and the help he gave the trustee pursuing funds from Madoff’s firm, Bernard L, Madoff Securities, to compensate the scheme’s victims. Lipkin faced a maximum sentence of 70 years in prison.
On Tuesday, former Madoff controller Enrica Cotellessa-Pitz, who has also cooperated with prosecutors, received a similar sentence.
“There is no question that Mr. Lipkin engaged in serious, gravely wrongful conduct, and did so knowingly in material respects,” Swain said, adding that the scheme “shattered dreams and changed lives forever.”
Still, she added, “he has been humbled by what has happened and the court is convinced that his remorse is genuine.”
One-quarter of people with healthcare coverage are paying so much for deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses that they are considered underinsured, according to a new study.
An estimated 31 million insured people are not adequately protected against high medical costs, a figure that has doubled since 2003, according to the 2014 national health insurance survey by the Commonwealth Fund.
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Rising deductibles — even under ObamaCare — are the biggest problem for most people who are considered underinsured, according to the 22-page report.
“The steady growth in the proliferation and size of deductibles threatens to increase underinsurance in the years ahead,” the report warns.
The data is an early warning sign for the Obama administration, which has promised that the millions of people who gained insurance under the president’s law would have affordable access to healthcare.
The survey found that millions of people are paying into the insurance system but are largely unable to reap the benefits.
People who purchase the lowest-quality health insurance are also less likely to see a doctor when they are ill or injured because they fear their high out-of-pocket costs.
“People who have high deductibles do tend to skimp on healthcare,” the study’s lead author, Sara Collins, told reporters.
When people do see a doctor, the costs accumulate quickly.
Half of underinsured adults and 41 percent of privately insured adults with deductibles of $1,000 or higher were paying off accumulated medical bills of $4,000 or more, the report found.
Demonstrators demanding their just rewards for raising hell on the streets of Ferguson turned out in force last week for another demonstration to get money they said they were owed by the George Soros-funded activist group Missourians for Reform and Empowerment, according to Twitter postings collected by the conservative news aggregate site Weasel Zippers.
And things got a little noisy in MORE’s St. Louis office during the May 14 confrontation.
According to WZ, the white guy the demonstrators say they’ll “f*ck up” is Jeff Ordower, MORE’s founder and a guy with leftist credentials so impeccable he’s got a Huffington post bio that shows he’s not only a graduate of the AFL-CIO Institute and a former Service Employees International Union organizer, he’s also openly gay and an LGBT activist to boot. (Sorry, ladies.)
Ridgewood NJ, Parents and guardians are invited to a special program on the topic of concussions in youth sports. RHS Head Athletic Trainer Nick Nicholedes and Gerard Gioia, Division Chief of Neuropsychology and Director of the Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education Program at Children’s National Health System, will be presenting information at Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium on Monday, June 1 at 7 p.m.Click here for more information.
MAY 19, 2015, 10:14 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015, 10:42 AM
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Around 150 members of Bergen County building trades unions attended an East Rutherford Council meeting on Tuesday urging the borough to pass a resolution and introduce an ordinance for the bonds necessary to pave the way for completion of the American Dream project. The Council passed the resolution.
EAST RUTHERFORD — About 150 members of area trade unions came to Borough Hall on Tuesday evening to urge the Borough Council to take the next steps necessary so the American Dream project can get fully under way, and the governing body did just that.
Taking action before a standing-room-only audience that overflowed into the halls, the council — despite several dissenting members — passed a resolution revising terms of its bond agreement with developer Triple Five for the shopping and entertainment complex. In addition, the council introduced an ordinance relating to the Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes, or PILOT program, associated with the development.
With those actions, part of a plan to have the borough act as a no-risk conduit for construction loans, the state Local Finance Board will now be able to review the amended finance agreement for approval. The goal is to get the ordinance on the agenda for the board’s June meeting.
The actions came as Rick Sabato, president of the Bergen County Building and Construction Trades Councils, implored the local governing body to support the project so that many of the area’s unemployed union members can get back to work. A year ago, Sabato estimated that American Dream will create jobs for 9,000 of his members over the next three years and beyond.
file photo Boyd Loving
MAY 20, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015, 9:49 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Scheduled for removal by the end of this month, the temporary cell tower fixed near a Route 17 gasoline station has received, at most, another year of life.
Ridgewood zoning board members, at their May 12 meeting, granted AT&T’s request to extend the terms of a previous resolution permitting the installation and operation of a temporary cell tower on wheels (COW) at the Exxon Mobil facility along the state highway. The resolution, which was given a five-month extension in January, now expires May 31, 2016.
Prior testimony by AT&T representatives claimed the need for a cellular facility in that location to offer seamless coverage of newer technology, namely 4G and LTE networks, as required by the Federal Communications Commission. In its current state, the firm’s adjacent 120-foot tall permanent monopole cannot accommodate equipment needed to provide the mandated coverage, thus the installation of the COW.
AT&T, operating under its Cingular Wireless brand, filed an application earlier this year seeking zoning board permission to begin monopole upgrades, which would include the replacement of three antennas and the installation of three new ones. Judy Fairweather, attorney for AT&T, noted in January that the COW would be in place while the company and Board of Adjustment reviewed the merits of the monopole improvements.
WESTWOOD – An opportunity for Bergen Republicans to pick up a mayoral seat in Westwood in the aftermath of disturbances among local Democrats can still be gained if the local Westwood GOP puts pen to paper, according to Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO) Chairman Bob Yudin. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
The premier road race in northern New Jersey. One of the longest running races in the tri-state area. There is something for everyone: 10K, 5K, Road Mile, Fun Run – the must-run event for all!
THE 2015 RACE REGISTRATION IS OPEN
Please join us on Memorial Day in 2015 we hope to make the race better than ever. It will be our 40th running!
Register now by mail in form or online at Race Forum.
Online registration closes on THRUSDAY!
“All ages, all abilities, all welcome!”
The Fred d’Elia Memorial Day Ridgewood Run is a family-focused day of events that provide a fun environment in a festive open-park atmosphere. Seven distinct events provide the center of activity. They start at 8:15 AM and continue until after the conclusion of the Fun Run at noon. The road races are run through the tree-lined streets of the Village of Ridgewood NJ. Ridgewood is located in Bergen County bordering Rockland, Westchester, and New York counties.
The Fred d’Elia Ridgewood Run was created by Manfred (Fred) d’Elia and his wife, world-class runner Toshiko d’Elia, in 1976. Tired of driving his wife into Manhattan for competition with the New York Road Runners, Fred decided to create his own race to attract serious runners to their hometown. The inaugural Ridgewood Run took off with runners sporting hand-made bib numbers with Fred acting as race director, course certifier and timer. “With no money to put on a race, we all had our tasks,” recalls Toshiko d’Elia. “I hand-delivered all the race applications around town to save on stamps and our daughter Erica, was handed a black dri-marker to make race numbers.”
Since its inception, this homespun race which is always held on Memorial Day has grown to 3,500 nation-wide participants who compete for prize money in the 10K, 5K, masters mile, and elite mile events. There is also a Fun Run/Health Walk for children and walkers. The Henry H. Kessler Foundation Wheelchair 10K was introduced in 2001 with an outstanding field of 23 athletes and in 2002, 40 athletes attended, including world record holder in the 10K, Krige Schabort from South Africa, who set a new course record of 19:56 in 2006.
The evolution from hand-made bib numbers includes time clocks at every mile, ChampionChip scoring and online registration. Despite these state-of-the art devices, the event remains runner-friendly. It is truly a community-driven event. The North Jersey Masters Track and Field Club, started by the d’Elias’ in 1976, are the organizers of the race.
Park Ave BMW of Maywood has been the major sponsor since 1996. The Ridgewood YMCA is the perfect sponsor for the Fun Run/Health Walk, and the Valley Hospital is the proud sponsor of the Elite and Masters Mile races. All sponsors have a very strong commitment to the community.
Proceeds of the Ridgewood Run provide donations to support local charities and organizations. Main beneficiaries in past races were the Special Olympics New Jersey, the Ridgewood YMCA, the Kessler Foundation, the Village of Ridgewood Parks and Recreation, Social Service Association, College Club. Assistance is also give to other local charitable organizations and scholarship recipients.
The close proximity to New York City gives families from the NY Metropolitan area a chance to celebrate the holiday by spending a fun-filled weekend that concludes with a day of healthy exercise. At the Ridgewood Run, one spouse might run the 10K, the other the 5K, and then accompany the children in the Fun Run.
The Ridgewood Run has established itself as the must-run road race in the NY-NJ-Connecticut area on Memorial Day. The North Jersey Masters (NJM), the premier running club in Northern NJ, has been the organizer of the race since it’s inception in 1976. In those years NJM has built a reputation for hospitality and the ability to put on a quality day for all participants (see Race History).
Race Amenities in 2015 are:
commemorative made in the USA high-tech performance T-shirt – a real keeper!
a Flat & Fast USATF certified course;
B-tag Timing;
Mile Clocks
Water Stops
a Family Team competition in the 5K;
Photography by Sports Memories.
Awards and Prizes are plentiful: 1) Prize money to the top three finishers in the 1-Mile races, top 3 finishers in the 5K and 10K. 2) New Balance Gift Certificates and trophies to the top three finishers in each five-year age-group bracket. 3) Finisher’s Medal to all registered finishers of the Ridgewood YMCA Fun Run/Health Walk, 10 years and younger.
Mark your calendar to celebrate Memorial Day 2015 at the
Fred d’Elia Ridgewood Run!
Monday, May 25, 2015.
MAY 19, 2015, 12:48 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2015, 10:33 PM
BY SALVADOR RIZZO
STATE HOUSE BUREAU |
THE RECORD
In a rare moment of agreement, analysts for Governor Christie and the Legislature’s independent budget office said Tuesday that no matter how the state Supreme Court rules in a dispute over funding New Jersey’s pension system, there is no more money left this year to restore more than $1 billion that Christie cut from a payment to the retirement plans.
Using his veto powers at the start of the fiscal year, Christie reduced a $2.25 billion payment to $681 million, defying pension-reform laws he signed in his first term requiring the higher payment for the strapped retirement system. Public-worker unions promptly sued, arguing that a 2011 law Christie signed gave them a constitutionally protected right to the full amount.
As the case made its way through the courts, the state kept making payments to schools, hospitals, universities and hundreds of other programs. Now with only weeks left before the end of the fiscal year, almost all of the $33.1 billion in the state budget has been paid out, said David Rosen, the budget chief at the independent Office of Legislative Services.
“If the Supreme Court were to direct the state to make the full pension payment before June 30, I’m not sure that that’s fiscally or physically possible,” Rosen testified before the state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, citing “the constraints that we have on how we could come up with that money.”
MAY 19, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2015, 10:00 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood Board of Education members voted at a May 4 meeting to keep a treasurer of school monies on the district’s books and leave the post open until a qualified candidate is hired.
The position comes with a 2015-16 pay rate of $5,000, a salary amount that remains unchanged from the current year.
The board’s decision, settled by a 4-1 vote, comes on the heels of a recent financial supervision breakdown that essentially led to the theft of nearly $1 million in parking meter coins from the Village of Ridgewood.
“We’re all mindful that our village suffered an incident … we all want to have proper oversight,” said BOE Vice President Vince Loncto.
