North Bergen, N.J. – The New Jersey State Police Fatal Accident Unit, Crime Scene Investigation Unit, and personnel from Newark Station, are investigating a crash involving a Washington Township, Bergen County, police car that struck two pedestrians on the New Jersey Turnpike earlier today at approximately 1:06 a.m.
The preliminary investigation revealed that Jason Champion, 41, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Nuwnah Laroche, 34, of East Elmhurst, were traveling in a 2001 Cadillac Escalade when it became disabled on the southbound side of the roadway. Sometime later, both individuals were pedestrians in left, northbound lane in the area of milepost 115, when they were struck by a Washington Township Police car driven by 46-year-old Officer Arsenio Pecora.
According to the Washington Township Police Department, Officer Pecora was returning from training at Fort Dix at the time of the accident. The victims were pronounced deceased on scene at 4:33 a.m. via telemetry. The cause and circumstances of the crash are currently under investigation.
Garrett said he was looking forward to what his office characterized as his first official town hall.
“There is nothing more important to me, as the representative of New Jersey’s 5th District, than hearing from my constituents. I look forward to having a thoughtful discussion about the issues affecting our state and our country on Thursday night,” Garrett said in a statement.
Posted: May 05, 2015 10:44 PM EDTUpdated: May 06, 2015 8:05 AM EDT
U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, R-5th Dist., will answer questions on Thursday at what is believed to be his first town hall since taking office in 2003.
Garrett, a Wantage resident, will make an opening statement and take questions from the audience.
The town hall will be held at the banquet hall at Lafayette House Restaurant, in Lafayette, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The New Jersey Herald, in an editorial board meeting with Garrett last fall, asked if he would be willing to hold a town hall meeting.
“Congressman Garrett said if we would come up with a venue and an agreed-upon date, he would be there,” Herald Executive Editor Bruce Tomlinson said. “We accepted the challenge and after some exchanges got it scheduled.”
Tomlinson said this event is an extension of the Herald’s role of providing information to its audience.
“We are happy to be able to facilitate this first-ever town hall meeting for constituents from the 5th District to ask questions directly to their congressman and hope they take advantage of it,” Tomlinson said. “We also trust that after this inaugural outing, he will continue to schedule more such events on his own.”
Email questions
Those who are unable to attend the event but wish to submit questions for Garrett can do by emailing them to the New Jersey Herald by noon Thursday [email protected]. Submissions should include “town hall meeting” on the subject line and also include the person’s name and town. Tomlinson said submitted questions will be worked in as time allows.
MAY 6, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
* State looks to fine misleading labelers of out-of-state produce
New Jersey is cracking down on the practice of out-of-state farm and dairy produce being sold under the label of “local.”
The state Department of Agriculture has proposed rules that will define what can and can’t be labeled as grown in New Jersey. It is seeking public comment before making a final decision on whether to adopt them.
The proposed rules require any products labeled “locally grown” or “locally produced” — including fruits, vegetables, milk and cheese — to state also where they originated if they came from a state other than New Jersey.
The penalty for “false, misleading or improper labeling, marketing or identifying of farm products offered for sale in New Jersey as ‘local’ when they are not grown or produced in New Jersey” would be $100 for the first offense and $200 for subsequent offenses.
Marilyn Russo, a member of the state Board of Agriculture, said the board’s main concern is vendors buying produce out of state, perhaps from California or Pennsylvania, and saying it originated in New Jersey by using the word “local.” Some produce has misleadingly carried New Jersey’s “Jersey Fresh” label, the promotional campaign introduced 30 years ago, she said. The sale of such items has created confusion among customers as to exactly what they are buying, she said.
MAY 5, 2015, 9:45 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015, 10:28 PM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Westfield Garden State Plaza confirmed Tuesday that it has signed five new luxury fashion brands as tenants, solidifying the Paramus mall’s profile as a center for high-end fashion.
Versace, Ferragamo, Longchamp, Burberry and Hugo Boss, with their Fifth Avenue pedigrees, will open this fall in a space created by the relocation of Victoria’s Secret and other stores. The deals will give the Plaza the only Versace store in New Jersey, and will help it match offerings at its two rivals for upscale mall shoppers — The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack and The Mall at Short Hills. Riverside has Hugo Boss, Burberry and Ferragamo shops, and Short Hills has Burberry and Longchamp stores.
The announcement by the Plaza comes as two of North Jersey’s other major malls deal with concerns about empty space and weigh decisions that could determine their long-term survival. The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack has more than 100,000 square feet of space that was vacated by Saks Fifth Avenue. Paramus Park has been talking for years about a movie theater wing, though work has yet to begin.
In addition to online retailing, which threatens the mall industry nationwide, North Jersey malls face the future opening of the American Dream shopping and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands.
The Plaza has been on a campaign to attract more upscale retailers ever since its leasing coups in the 1990s, when it landed North Jersey’s first Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus stores. In recent years, the mall has added Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co. The new tenants will be located near those high-end neighbors, on the lower level.
North Jersey is fertile territory for affluent shoppers. The median household income in Bergen County is $83,974, ranking it 42nd among the nation’s 3,143 counties, according to the latest data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Last year the Plaza opened a fashion wing that included stores by designers Tory Burch and Vince Camuto, as well as a Microsoft store. Pirch, a high-end appliance showroom, opened in a corner of that wing in March.
The mall has added more than 40 retailers over the past year.
Ridgewood NJ, Touch-a-Truck 2015 Rolls Into Ridgewood May 14 Join Us for a Day of Imagination & Fun! Imagine taking a seat behind the wheel of a real police cruiser ready to roll, climbing aboard a shiny fire truck as you prepare to battle a blaze, exploring up-close a fleet of the other emergency and public works vehicles you’ve only seen at a distance on the streets of Ridgewood. Treat your children to a day of hands-on adventure, featuring opportunities to climb on board the vehicles that touch their lives, when “Touch-a-Truck 2015” rolls into downtown Ridgewood’s Memorial Park at Van Neste Square on Thursday, May 14 (Rain date: Thursday, Oct. 8) . Ridgewood emergency and public works vehicles will be ready for action along the Oak Street side of the park from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. as the local heroes who serve the Village also will be on hand to share their favorite tales about the exciting work they perform every day. As an added bonus, they’ll be a Safetytown Kiddie-Car Driving Track hosted by the Ridgewood Police Department and Little Ivy Learning Center. . . a special Truck Storytime hosted by the Ridgewood Public Library and more! Touch-a-Truck, a free event co-sponsored by the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce and the Village of Ridgewood, is coordinated by Ridgewood’s Little Ivy Learning Center as part of its ongoing commitment to serve our community’s children and their families. We look forward to meeting your family on Touch-a-Truck Day!
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Friends of Music is hosting The Korean Traditional Dance of Choomnoori’s performance, “Korean Traditional Dance and Music Night”, on Saturday, May 9th, at 7:00 pm, at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. This event showcases Korean performing arts, and includes traditional musical instruments, dance, martial arts and costumes, in celebration of Asian-Pacific Heritage Month. The event will also feature Ridgewood music students, the Washington Sorichung, and Jang Star Taekwondo. This event is suitable for children. Tickets are $10. Contact Kristen at [email protected], or purchase at the door.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Police Department is pleased to announce the 2nd annual Chief Michael Feeney, Jr. Police Academy scheduled from Monday June 22nd 2015 to Tuesday June30th. The academy is open to Ridgewood Residents entering 6th 7th and 8th grades in the fall of 2015.This year’s academy will feature demonstrations from The Ridgewood Police Department, Bergen County Sheriff’s Department K-9 and Bomb Squad, Police Motorcycles, Ridgewood Emergency Services, Ridgewood Fire Department a Helicopter landing as well as demonstrations from various other agencies. A field trip to the Bergen County Law and Public Safety Complex in Mahwah is scheduled for Wednesday June 24th. This year we added a trip to see a Jackals baseball game at Montclair State University on Wednesday July 1st 2015 the day after the academy graduation, attendance is optional. The cadets will also be asked to March in the Ridgewood 4th of July Parade. Applications are available at the Ridgewood Police Station 2nd floor police desk. The deadline for applications is Monday June 1st 2015. The fee for the Academy is $40 per student which includes two shirts per student a baseball hat a water bottle and transportation to our field trip. There is an additional $18 per student fee if they will be attending the Jackals Game Wednesday July 1st.
The Junior Police Academy has proven to be a valuable experience for all involved and has provided a vital link between the Police Department and the youth of Ridgewood. Further, the Junior Police Academy has afforded students a deeper understanding of the Police function as well as an increased ability to see what the Police and the community can do to serve the Village. The overwhelming success of our first Junior Police Academy class has far exceeded the expectations of everyone involved. This program attracts a highly motivated group of recruits, and the Instructors thoroughly enjoy their interaction with these young people. We look forward to another great class.
Won Moon Joo in a photo from his 2012 Tenafly High School yearbook.
MAY 5, 2015, 4:28 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015, 11:19 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY AND MINJAE PARK
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
The college student from Tenafly detained in North Korea sought to be arrested and hoped his arrest would lead to better relations between North Korea and South Korea, he said in an interview that aired Tuesday on CNN.
Speaking at a hotel room and appearing relaxed, even smiling at times, Won Moon Joo, 21, said he intended to cross into North Korea from China. To do so, he had to pass two barbed wire fences and a cross a river before he was stopped by soldiers.
Joo, a student at New York University, was vague about his motivations for entering the country.
Related: Tenafly resident detained in North Korea says he crossed into country on purpose
“Once the thought of entering the DPRK seeped into my mind, I couldn’t really escape it. I guess I constantly thought about it,” he said, referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the name North Korea gives itself.
You would think he would be all over this discussion with his crying and complaints about Teachers pay, benefits and pensions.
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Where is his vitriolic claim that the “Union Thugs” in the NJEA are destroying the state? Why have we not seen his post on this discussion that because of the NJEA Union Thugs businesses are leaving the N.J. and so are residents!
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And how many times did we hear “N.J. Has the highest Property Taxes in the Country” because of the Public Safety wages and benefits, and lets not forget pensions? Shouldn’t he be here making the same claim about the BOE budget?
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I will tell you why we hear crickets and nothing from him on this discussion, he doesn’t care about the BOE budget. That isn’t important to him. What is important to him is vilifying Public Safety employees, specifically Police and Firefighters. That’s what he is all about, nothing less and nothing more.
MAY 5, 2015, 6:05 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015, 11:15 PM
BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The Vukobratovic family of Wyckoff returned to their “empty house” on Tuesday night, but they did so knowing that the tragic story of Otto, their German shepherd shot by a policeman during a mistaken burglary call, is likely to get a formal review by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
That was the result of a sometimes emotional Wyckoff Township Committee meeting where the family had gone demanding answers to what happened — step-by-step — last Wednesday in the moments leading up to Patrolman Kyle Ferreira’s shooting 5-year-old Otto twice in the back yard of family’s Lawlins Road home.
The meeting also saw boisterous picketing outside Township Hall by about 60 people — some with their dogs — who questioned the appropriateness of Ferreira’s response to what police say was an attack by Otto. And it included an apologetic Police Chief Benjamin Fox again expressing his department’s pain and regret over the incident, as well as Mayor Kevin Rooney’s stern condemnation of how Ferreira has been pilloried on social media even as a police review of the incident is continuing.
May 12th – Final Day for Primary Election Registration
The Village Clerk’s Office and the League of Women Voters of Ridgewood would like to remind voters that May 12th is the last day to register to vote in the Primary Election (June 2nd). Voter registration forms are available at the Village Clerk’s Office at Village Hall or can be downloaded at www.njelections.org. In person registration on May 12th will be held in the Village Clerk’s Office from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and in the Library Lobby from 4:30p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Evaporating liquidity and higher US interest rates will cause huge market swings with potentially catastrophic consequences, Institute of International Finance warns
By Szu Ping Chan
6:41PM BST 04 May 2015
Investors face a “painful” adjustment in a world of evaporating liquidity and higher US interest rates that will trigger huge market swings with potentially catastrophic consequences, the Institute of International Finance has warned.
Timothy Adams, the chief executive of the IIF, which represents the world’s biggest banks, described liquidity as the “top issue” at high level meetings of central bankers, chief executives and other financial institutions.
He warned that the raft of regulation introduced in the wake of the 2008 crisis could potentially cause market gyrations larger than last October’s “flash crash” in US Treasuries.
While Mr Adams supports tougher rules that have made the banks more resilient, he said a complex web of regulatory reform may have left banks less able to respond to the next crisis.
“There’s just less capacity for making markets,” he said. “Officials will say: we expect some volatility and this was part of this broader scheme of regulatory reform. But for the private sector there is this issue of: is the total effect of all of these various regulatory changes likely to produce outcomes larger than each individual regulatory reform and its consequences?
“The cumulative unintended could end up being much larger than the one-off intended – we just don’t know.”
A new Federal Emergency Management Agency policy requiring states to address climate change before they can become eligible for grant funding is drawing fire from congressional Republicans.
The regulations, part of a FEMA State Mitigation Plan Review Guide issued last month, are not set to take effect until next March. But lawmakers are demanding an explanation for the rules now.
In a letter to FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate, the lawmakers said they’re concerned that the agency’s decision will create unnecessary red tape in the disaster preparedness process.
“As you know, disaster mitigation grants are awarded to state and local governments after a presidential major disaster declaration,” they wrote. “These funds are crucial in helping disaster-stricken communities prepare for future emergencies.”
The letter was signed by Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), David Vitter (R-La.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.).
In the revised guide, the agency said mitigation planning regulation requires consideration of the probability of future hazards and events to reduce risks and potential dangers.
“Past occurrences are important to a factual basis of hazard risk, however, the challenges posed by climate change, such as more intense storms, frequent heavy precipitation, heat waves, drought, extreme flooding and higher sea levels, could significantly alter the types and magnitudes of hazards impacting states in the future,” FEMA said in its guide.
But in their letter, the senators said climate change is still being debated, citing “gaps in the scientific understanding around climate change.”
The Ridgewood Board of Education adopted its $101.2 million budget, a plan that calls for an average school tax increase of $194.65.
MAY 5, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015, 10:13 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Board of Education unanimously approved the district’s $101.2 million budget last week, adopting a financial proposal that supports a new administrator hire, technology updates and curriculum enhancements.
The district’s spending plan will increase school taxes by $194.65 for the average Ridgewood home assessed at $690,662. The rise in taxes represents a total increase of 2.04 percent over last year’s bills, according to Alfredo Aguilar, the schools’ business administrator.
During a brief review of the budget on April 27, Aguilar highlighted the 13 new courses planned for the middle and high schools, completion of the 1:1 Chromebook initiative at the middle school level, and maintenance projects such as window replacements at George Washington Middle School and roadway repairs at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.
He also noted various ways in which the district will attempt to curb spending, such as auditing school phone lines in an effort to convert to digital lines and cancel those that are not in use; installing additional solar panels to decrease energy expenses; and participating in a statewide consortium to purchase faster Internet access at a reduced cost.
Though some trustees said that the budget is not perfect, they agreed that it is a responsible plan that reflects the entire district and achieves the BOE’s goals.
“We have a sound budget, but we’re reminded of the challenges in front of us,” said BOE Vice President Vince Loncto, adding that the board’s responsibility is an “imperative to maintain the quality and reputation of the public schools” while “minimizing the impact on the taxpayers.”
Valley Health System is leasing space at Mack-Cali Centre III in Paramus. – (MACK-CALI REALTY CORP.)
By Beth Fitzgerald, May 4, 2015 at 1:20 PM
The Valley Health System of Ridgewood has expanded its Paramus footprint with a 10-year lease for 73,978 square feet at the Mack-Cali Centre III in Paramus.
The Mack-Cali property has two towers joined by a seven-story atrium with an on-site café with outdoor seating.
Valley spokeswoman Megan Fraser told NJBIZ “The site is close to the hospital’s Paramus campus, which includes a cancer center and same day surgery center.”
She said it’s also near a 15-acre property that Valley acquired last year.
“As more and more physicians choose to become a part of the system’s Valley Medical Group, we need to offer easy-to-access, beautiful office space for our doctor and their patients,” Frazer said. “In addition, to continue to positively impact the health of the population we serve, we envision developing new clinical and preventive medicine and wellness programs at that site in years to come.”
