Bottle King to purchase Herold’s Farm property in Glen Rock
March 4, 2015, 4:34 PM Last updated: Wednesday, March 4, 2015, 6:17 PM
By Chris harris
staff writer |
The Record
GLEN ROCK — After more than 75 years on Fair Lawn’s border, Herold’s Farm and Garden Center on Prospect Street will soon have new ownership.
Bottle King agreed to acquire the 2.8-acre property in Glen Rock “a few weeks ago,” the liquor store chain’s president Ken Friedman confirmed Wednesday.
Friedman said as soon as the deal is finalized, the land will be “developed as a retail space,” and that Bottle King’s current location just across the street will be shuttered.
Ground could be broken at the site within months, Friedman said, adding that it will be “about a year” before the new store opens.
Friedman said Bottle King does good business in Glen Rock, which partly inspired interest in purchasing the land.
MARCH 6, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Students should expect to begin classes before Labor Day this coming fall as the 2015-2016 Ridgewood Public Schools calendar, approved on Feb. 23, features an early start, among other minor tweaks.
Although opinions were varied on the individual decisions the Board of Education had to consider, trustees were ultimately able to build a general consensus and approve the new calendar by a 4-1 vote.
Board President Sheila Brogan, Vice President B. Vincent Loncto and trustees Christina Krauss and James Morgan all voted in favor of the updated calendar.
The final calendar contains a convocation date of Aug. 31, which is a Monday, for teachers and staff, followed by a professional development day and students arriving on Sept. 2.
A three-day break will take place from Feb. 15 through Feb. 17 and the last day of school for students – Ridgewood High School (RHS) graduation – will fall on June 20, 2016. The calendar also includes two built-in snow days.
Reader says Sarcastic Retorts by Deputy Mayor Unwarranted and Unacceptable in the Village of Ridgewood
Can we define how civil it was the way they treated Councilwoman Knudsen last night???? PUCCIARELLI was like a thug with his sarcastic retorts in the face of her comments.
I presume Councilwoman K. said something reasonable or supportive of what the average resident would expect the council to do, Councilman P. disagreed with her because of some personal agenda he’s got going, and, because he’s one of the three amigos, he had license to ridicule her in accordance with the “new normal” of civil discourse in Ridgewood. What got him spun up this time?
You have to watch it on the ustream. The meeting was so long that it is in two separate U-streams. Go to this one first: https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/59529870
Susan’s zinger begins at 2:16:20, but back it up a bit and listen to what Mike Sedon says about the fact that the local hiring law has been broken repeatedly in the past 25 years. Now the three amigos want to change the law to reflect the way it has been followed (illegally). In other words, they have been breaking the law all along, so let’s change the law.
Susan claims that the Open Public Meetings Act was broken last week when they made her leave the closed session and go home. At one point Albert actually got sarcastic about it, and Susan came right back at him for his snotty comment.
Susan and Michael were aces, absolutely on point and the other three were a total train wreck.
Ms. Knudsen appears to have been deceptively advised to recuse herself when the statute required no such thing.
This is uncivil in the extreme.
One’s mind further boggles at the inexplicable statement by Atty. Rogers that although for 25 years the town has been acting ‘inconsistent with the ordinance’ in failing to accord Ridgewood residents hiring preferences when the ordinance required such preference, this does not mean that the village has been ‘breaking the law’. What the heck is the difference between acting inconsistent with an ordinance, and breaking the law, other than using about five extra syllables to say the same darn thing? And the cure for this is to change the ordinance, not fix the hiring practice? You’re right, Mr. Sedon and Ms. Knudson, the real news story here is not a defective ordinance, but a systematic flouting of a law leading to a generation’s worth of Ridgewood-based applicants being improperly snubbed in favor of non-residents.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. The village manager and village attorney sound concerned about improperly snubbed residents potentially seeking to undo some recent hiring decisions.
Bergen County’s property taxes among nation’s highest
MARCH 4, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015, 2:33 PM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Bergen County homeowners had the fifth-highest average property tax bill in the nation, at $11,159, last year, according to a new survey by RealtyTrac, a California real estate information company. Passaic County’s single-family tax bill averaged $8,904, according to RealtyTrac.
Nationally, property tax rates average 1.3 percent of the property value, according to RealtyTrac.
Three New York counties — Westchester, Nassau and New York, or Manhattan — as well as Marin County in California had higher average property tax bills than Bergen, according to the survey.
The survey also confirms what Garden State homeowners have found out the hard way: New Jersey’s property taxes are among the highest in the nation, averaging more than 2 percent of a single-family home’s value each year. Passaic actually had a higher tax rate (2.98 percent) than Bergen (2.07 percent), apparently reflecting Passaic County’s lower property values.
Nationally, property tax rates average 1.3 percent of the property value, according to RealtyTrac.
March 5, 2015 Last updated: Thursday, March 5, 2015, 3:01 PM
By Mark Krulish
Staff Writer |
The Ridgewood News
Ridgewood officials gathered at Village Hall last Saturday morning for a discussion between department heads and the governing body about some details of the municipal budget, including the needs of various departments and anticipated spending.
The seven-hour roundtable meeting was a departure in style from previous years and talks centered on the Department of Public Works, the Building Department, Health Department, Parks and Recreation, Fire Department, Police Department, Engineering and Human Resources, along with a closing discussion on the capital budgets.
Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said one of the goals for the meeting was to present the best numbers possible, but there would not be any indication of the final figures or tax impact to residents until closer to budget introduction.
Sonenfeld noted that some increases in spending were attributed to the need for repairs to an aging infrastructure and upgrading the village’s technology.
Red-wig suspect in robbery of Glen Rock bank arrested in Atlantic City
MARCH 5, 2015, 9:23 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015, 9:35 PM
BY JIM NORMAN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The mysterious woman who is suspected of hiding her identity under a bright red wig to hold up the Glen Rock Savings Bank last month was arrested in Atlantic City by the FBI on Thursday, authorities told The Record.
No details of the arrest were provided, and the name of the woman was not revealed, but law enforcement sources confirmed that her crime wave – which also allegedly took her to the scene of a holdup at the Greenwich Bank & Trust Co. in Greenwich, Conn., on Jan. 30 – was at an end.
“Yeah, they got her,” said one law enforcement source who asked not to be identified because the chief investigative agency in the case was the FBI and not local police departments. “It’s a good pinch,” the source said.
The woman got away with more than $100,000 in the Glen Rock holdup after brandishing a large, long-barreled handgun that authorities later said was a paintball gun.
In the earlier stick-up in Greenwich, authorities said security video showed that the woman did not wear a wig at that time, but appeared have dark hair cut in a short style, and appeared to use the same gun. The amount that she took in Greenwich has never been revealed, but was believed to be far less than the haul in Glen Rock, a source said.
Glen Rock police had described the robber as about 5-foot-7, of medium build and wearing a black coat and white boots. As she ran out of the bank, the woman dropped the weapon nearby.
In Greenwich, police said the robber had the same build and had worn a dark coat and light-colored boots.
Netflix May Already Regret Its Support for the FCC’s New Net Neutrality Rules
The agency’s new Internet rules will only make the web worse.
Over at Wired, Geoffrey Manne, the Executive Director of the International Center for Law and Economics, has one of the very best critical takes on the Federal Communications Commission’s decision last week to overhaul the way broadband Internet is regulated in order to enforce net neutrality rules. Manne makes a couple points that are worth repeating.
The first is that the new regulations give the agency license to go far beyond what supporters of the Title II/net neutrality regime have said is necessary—and, in doing so, may actually inhibit more valuable and effective consumer protection regulations from the Federal Trade Commission:
You were sold a bill of goods when activists told you net neutrality was all about protecting “the next Facebook” from evil ISPs. Think about it: If you’re “the next Facebook,” who do you think is more worried about you? Your ISP, or Facebook itself? If the problem is between Facebook and its potential challengers, hamstringing ISPs is an awfully roundabout way of dealing with it. Especially because we already have a regulatory apparatus to deal with issues related to competition: antitrust laws.
But consider this irony: Now that ISPs are regulated under Title II as common carriers, the Federal Trade Commission can’t enforce its consumer protection laws against them anymore.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be antitrust enforcement, but we did just hobble our most significant and experienced consumer protection authority. That seems like a mistake if we’re enacting rules that purport to protect consumers.
This may not be exactly how it all plays out, but it’s not a bad bet. We don’t know for sure, of course, in part because we haven’t even seen the full FCC order yet; indeed, according to an agency statement earlier this week, it hasn’t even been finalized yet.
The Highway Trust Fund: Politics and Permanent Solutions
March 5th 2015
Washington, DC , the Highway Trust Fund’s shortfall has been hot topic lately. Increased spending and the erosion of the gas tax has led to an ongoing deficit, which is estimated to accumulate a $168 billion shortfall over the next decade. Unless something is done to fix it, the trust fund will run dry by mid-year 2015.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have put forth permanent solutions that either cut trust fund spending or increase revenue. However, due to political differences, lawmakers will likely opt to pass poor temporary policy such as pension smoothing or compulsory or voluntary taxes on multinationals’ offshore earnings in order to keep the trust fund from going broke this May.
If lawmakers decide to look for revenue instead of cutting trust fund spending, their source of revenue should be long-term and should connect drivers as closely to the cost of funding the roads as possible, according to the latest report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
One option is to increase the gas tax, adjust it to inflation, and offset that increase by reducing another tax by the same amount of revenue. Besides being revenue neutral, there are good policy reasons for this swap:
Unlike some other taxes, the gas tax is relatively less distortive. It doesn’t significantly impact economy or reduce the incentive to invest. By lowering more distortive taxes, such as the capital gains tax, and raising the same amount of revenue from non-distortive taxes, not only would the Highway Trust Fund have enough revenue, but the economy would grow as a result.
Although the gas tax isn’t perfect, it more effectively connects government revenue to related expenditures than, say, the individual income tax.
By closing the funding gap in the Highway Trust Fund, lawmakers would have additional time to focus on bigger questions, such as: To what extent should the federal government be involved in infrastructure spending? How much should the federal government spend? What alternative funding mechanisms for the trust fund would best ensure its long-term solvency?
The foundation’s report examines the option of increasing the gas tax by about $168 billion over the next decade ($15 to $17 billion annually) and offsetting the costs with one of five different tax cuts. Using the Taxes and Growth Model, the paper illustrates the impact these tax changes would have on the U.S. economy.
“Our model reveals a number of tradeoffs in this swap” said Tax Foundation Economist Kyle Pomerleau. “If Congress would like to make this change pro-growth, one option would be to lower the capital gains tax rate. If Congress would like to address distributional concerns with the gas tax but aren’t concerned with economic growth, an option would be to expand the earned income tax credit. If Congress would like to maintain neutral distribution and growth while fixing the trust fund, one option would be to expand the standard deduction.”
Full report: Options to Fix the Highway Trust Fund
New Jersey reform plan won’t stop double-dips or $100,000 pensions
By Mark Lagerkvist / March 5, 2015
3 SCOOPS – Sen. Fred Madden is a triple-dipper collecting $248,000 a year from a state pension and two public jobs
By Mark Lagerkvist | New Jersey Watchdog
Double-dipping public officials and retirees collecting $100,000 a year or more from New Jersey state pensions have little to fear from the sweeping reforms proposed by Gov. Chris Christie.
The blueprint drafted by the governor’s Pension and Health Benefit Study Commissionpromises to help the state retirement system escape a $170 billion funding deficit by cutting benefits, freezing existing pension plans and eventually ceding the risks and responsibilities to the labor unions of public employees.
“We will tackle this problem, and we will solve it,” declared Christie last week in his annual budget address. “This is what real leadership produces for our people.”
Yet numerous excesses and abuses will remain – with or without the proposed reforms.
For openers, roughly 2,000 retired public officials would continue to draw six-figure pensions for the rest of their lives. The recommended changes would not affect anyone already retired, including members of the unofficial ‘$100K Club.’
Double-dipping would continue to be legal in New Jersey.
The task force cited New Jersey Watchdog’s investigations of abuses including double-dipping – the common practice of early retirees returning to public payrolls to collect both a salary and pension from government coffers.
“The commission’s sense is that, given the size of the system and the extent of its other problems, the double-dipper issue may not be financially material,” stated the study, which did not offer any data to support that conclusion.
“It has great symbolic importance, however, as the double-dippers have become the ‘face’ of a dysfunctional public pension system,” it continued. “For this reason, the task force should consider ways to further limit this practice.”
The commission suggested that double-dippers should contribute to the cost of their medical coverage just as other public employees do. But such a measure may only amount to a minor disincentive.
Consider the case of Fred Madden, a triple-dipping state senator from Gloucester County.
Madden rakes in $248,082 a year — $85,272 as a State Police retiree, $49,000 as a state legislator and $113,810 as dean of law and justice of Rowan College at Gloucester County. Since he retired at age 48 in 2002, Madden has collected $1 million in pension checks in addition to his public salaries.
“Obviously, I don’t have a problem with people doing it,” Madden told New Jersey Watchdog in 2012. “I don’t have a problem with it at all.”
Under the task force’s proposal, Madden could keep collecting all three paychecks under the task force plan, though he might have to start contributing to the cost of his state medical plan.
Ultimately, Madden and his colleagues in the Democratic-controlled State Legislature will decide whether to adopt any or all of the reforms being proposed by a Republican governor with presidential aspirations.
Meanwhile, New Jersey’s pension dilemma grows bleaker for both pensioners and taxpayers.
The unfunded liability of the state retirement system is $170 billion, according to the most recent official numbers from the state Treasury. That figure includes:
$82.7 billion in unfunded liability for the pension plans of state workers.
A $20.7 billion shortfall for the pensions of local government employees who collect retirement checks from the state.
$53 billion in unfunded health benefits for state retirees.
$13.8 billion to cover the post-employment benefits of local government workers.
“The situation is not only getting worse, it is fast approaching the point at which it will be beyond remedy,” warned the task force study.
Ridgewood Library Offers Organic Farming & Backyard Gardening Class
Mon, March 09, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM
Ridgewood Public Library, 125 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Organic Farming & Backyard Gardening,
Monday, March 9, 7pm.
Natural and sustainable growing methods, safe seed/fertilizer sources, how to compost, natural pesticide control and more.Ridgewood Library Valley Hospital Wellness Partnership
Tue, March 10, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Ridgewood Village Hall, 131 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Brain Food and Brain Health
Tuesday, March 10, 7-8:30pm.
Did you know some foods can promote alertness while others keep us calm? Learn to make food choices for your body’s needs. All welcome, registration required.
Please call 1-800-825-5391 or visit www.valleyhealth.com/events. Please note location: Annie Zusy Youth Lounge at the Community Center.
Ridgewood Library 26th Annual Author Luncheon
Wed, March 11, 2015
Time: 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Seasons, Washington Tsp, NJ 07676
26th Annual Author Luncheon
Wednesday, March 11, 11am-3pm.
Featuring Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train,
Seasons, Washington Township, NJ.
Reservation forms available at Ridgewood Library service desks
Take home a piece of knowledge!
Do not miss this opportunity to experience Michael Herklots as he
guides you through this component tasting.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 6:30-8:30 PM
Davidoff Lounge
at The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood
$20 per person, limited availability
Special deals available at event only
Reserve your spot now
(201) 447-2204
The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood | 10 Chestnut Street | Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
Phone: 201-447-2204 | Email: [email protected]
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00AM – 5:30PM and Thursday Night 6:30PM – 8:30PM
Following up on the February 24th Civility Roundtable, residents are invited to attend the next meeting on March 9th . We will explore how communication and behavior shape our perspectives. The meeting will be held at 7:30pm in the Senior Lounge at Village Hall.
Rev. Jan Phillips will lead the discussion. Everyone is welcome to attend.
If Not Now … When? Will the GOP Majority Ever Stand for Anything?
Jim DeMint / @JimDeMint / March 03, 2015
It is never the right time to do the right thing in Washington, D.C.
The phrase I heard most often from Republican leadership while serving in the House and Senate was, “This is not the right time to have this fight.”
Whether the issue was balancing the budget, school choice, patient-driven healthcare, eliminating earmarks, raising the debt limit, ending big, crony handouts like the Export-Import Bank or any stand against the continued growth, favoritism and intrusion of big government, conservatives were always told to wait. Wait until conservatives have the majority. Wait until we have the White House. Wait until we are reelected.
We’re seeing that “wait” attitude in practice today as the House votes on a “clean” Department of Homeland Security funding bill. Despite the fact that Republicans have majorities in both the House and the Senate that were elected on a pledge to fight against President Obama’s executive amnesty, and despite forcing through a big spending bill at the end of 2014 with the promise they would fight later on Homeland Security appropriations, they are now punting the issue entirely.
The phrase I heard most often from Republican leadership while serving in the House and Senate was, “This is not the right time to have this fight.”
On the other side of the aisle, I noticed a much different attitude, especially on big, liberal goals like government-run healthcare. Despite being faced with strong public opposition and the potential end to their political careers, the Democrats used false promises and every imaginable procedural trick to pass the government takeover of a sixth of America’s economy, along with one of the largest tax increases in our history.
Every Democrat in the House and Senate voted for Obamacare. And none of them even knew what was in it. Many have since lost their bids for reelection, but for liberals, the ends justify the means, and they are willing to accept huge political losses to advance their ideology.
Yet on the other side of the aisle—with the party that supposedly stands for individual freedom, limited government, free markets, American values and a strong defense—tomorrow never comes. Consider two major, pivotal issues in the future course of American history: Obamacare and executive amnesty.
The Republican leadership in Congress, K Street, Wall Street and all of their buddies in the media continue to rail that the conservative stand to defund Obamacare in 2013 hurt the party. But Republicans had one of their best elections in history in 2014, and one of the deciding issues in the election was repealing Obamacare.
The only evidence Republicans in Congress even had a pulse between the public lashing they received in 2012 and their overwhelming victory in 2014 was the fight they waged for a few days to defund Obamacare. And the leadership only pretended because of the pressure from conservatives who were demanding they follow through on their campaign promises.
However, there were times when I saw the Washington establishment will fight tooth and nail. They fight in bipartisan harmony against conservatives who push to eliminate earmarks.
I have seen the Washington establishment of Republicans and Democrats fight together for expensive bailouts, trillions in new debt, unfair and unaffordable amnesty, risky United Nations treaties, a misguided arms reduction treaty with Russia, a costly Internet sales tax, a new government travel promotion agency and more Washington control of education with No Child Left Behind.
I now hear some Republicans accepting and trying to “improve” Obamacare. And I see Republicans demanding that Congress fund the president’s unconstitutional executive amnesty and “move on to other things.”
What “other things” could possibly be more important than blocking the president of the United States from shredding our Constitution?
Some are saying we should leave it to the courts to decide, but Congress is a co-equal branch of government, and members all take oaths to defend the Constitution. If members believe these actions are unconstitutional, how can they in good conscience fund them?
Once the president succeeds in giving work permits, legal status, American jobs and public benefits to 5 million illegal residents, the next obvious steps will be to legalize and give voting rights to the more than 10 million illegal residents.
The only evidence Republicans in Congress even had a pulse between the public lashing they received in 2012 and their overwhelming victory in 2014 was the fight they waged for a few days to defund Obamacare.
Twenty-six states have taken a stand against the president’s action, and one federal judge has temporarily stopped the processing of work permits. But Obama’s Justice Department has demanded an expedited appeals hearing.
Do Republicans not know that funding the president’s unlawful actions now will allow the president to argue that Congress has confirmed his actions? Federal courts don’t often rule against the concerted action of the two other branches of government.
The absurdity of this situation is that fighting the president’s executive amnesty through Department of Homeland Security appropriations was the strategy created by Republican leaders. Now that the time to fight has arrived, the generals are running from the battlefield and blaming the infantry they told to lead the charge.
If the Republican majority in both houses of Congress is not willing to take a stand and fight against the government takeover of America’s healthcare system or the president’s arrogant usurpation of the constitutional powers of Congress, then what will they fight for? Who will stand with freedom-minded Americans who sent this majority to Washington to fight for them? I hope my former colleagues will ask themselves: “If not us, who? If not now, when?”
Church in Ridgewood seeking permits for repair work it did in 2011.
MARCH 5, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Congregants from the World Mission Society Church of God are seeking retroactive approval from the Planning Board for work performed on the grounds of its church four years ago.
A lawyer and engineer representing the religious group appeared before Ridgewood’s Planning Board on Tuesday night requesting the permits the Godwin Avenue religious institution needs for work that was done in 2011.
The unauthorized work was detected by village officials during an inspection of the Church of God site, and included re-striping of parking spots, installation of solar-powered light fixtures, and the addition of pavement and retaining walls.
Complaints from neighbors about traffic to the church and allegations regarding after-hours operations prompted the inspection, officials said.
Ridgewood announces $2.1 million settlement in lawsuit over boy’s drowning at Graydon Pool
MARCH 4, 2015, 11:23 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015, 11:30 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — A wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the village by the family of a 13-year-old boy who drowned in Graydon Pool in 2008 has been settled.
Ridgewood’s manager, Roberta Sonenfeld, said BetWinner Argentina ,the $2.1 million settlement was reached Wednesday.
Sonenfeld briefly discussed the settlement during Wednesday night’s council meeting.
Soo Hyeon Park, his sister and parents had just arrived from South Korea when they went to visit friends in Ridgewood on July 15, 2008. As he swam to a dock in the deep end of the pool with the two sons of his host, the boy began struggling to stay afloat and went under.
None of the nine lifeguards on the stands around the pool that day saw the boy while he was in distress.
In 2011, a jury had awarded Soo’s family $10 million in damages. That decision was vacated in January by the state’s Appellate Court and a new trial was ordered.
