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Posted on November 29, 2014January 20, 2019 by James — Leave a comment

Less cash in the tank, more in the bank: Lower gas prices boost N.J. drivers’ bottom line

file photo By Boyd Loving

Less cash in the tank, more in the bank: Lower gas prices boost N.J. drivers’ bottom line

NOVEMBER 28, 2014, 11:30 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2014, 11:40 PM
BY NICHOLAS PUGLIESE
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Lissette Mendez got so fed up with high gasoline prices over the summer that she started looking for a new job with a shorter commute. Now, not only is the job search less urgent, but she can also set a little money aside for her daughter’s education.

Joseph Christ was able to splurge on a nine-day motorcycle trip to the Grand Canyon in October, just months after he stopped using his beloved 1996 Ford Bronco, whose appetite for gas cost him $120 per fill-up, in favor of a fuel-efficient sedan.

Aaron Carr hadn’t filled the tank of the family car to the top in more than seven months, buying just $20 at a time, hardly enough to budge the fuel gauge. But now, for the last few weeks, he’s been putting unspent gas money “on ice,” saving it for a rainy day.

Just as the holidays arrive, so has a measure of relief for New Jersey drivers. At an average of $2.71 per gallon as of Friday, state gas prices are at their lowest point in nearly four years and about 50 cents less than they were just three months ago. If they remain there, drivers are expected to save roughly $400 annually, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“It’s like going back in time,” Frank Cappiello, 62, of Elmwood Park said as he and his wife treated their 2½-year-old granddaughter to a morning ride Thursday. “There’s money left over in the checkbook.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/less-cash-in-the-tank-more-in-the-bank-lower-gas-prices-boost-n-j-drivers-bottom-line-1.1143456

Posted on November 29, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — 4 Comments

‘Stupidity’ consultant agrees to testify

‘Stupidity’ consultant agrees to testify

By Sarah Ferris – 11/25/14 06:00 AM EST

Jonathan Gruber, the former ObamaCare adviser in hot water for his comments about the “stupidity of the American voter,” has agreed to testify at a House panel next month, setting up a healthcare showdown in what could be the final week of this Congress.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will also hear from Obama administration official Marilyn Tavenner, who is under fire this week for using inflated enrollment figures for the healthcare law.

“Both Mr. Gruber and Administrator Tavenner have agreed to testify,” committee spokeswoman Caitlin Carroll told The Hill.

Both figures have played a role in major political headaches for the Obama administration, which is facing new allegations of “repeated transparency failures and outright deceptions” from Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).Gruber, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will be grilled for a number of speeches he has given since 2010 that blame the Obama administration for intentionally obscuring details of the healthcare law in order to assure its passage.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/225236-stupidity-consultant-agrees-to-testify

Posted on November 28, 2014November 30, 2014 by James — 3 Comments

Two cats die in Ridgewood house fire

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Two cats die in Ridgewood house fire
November 28,2014
Boyd A. Loving

Ridgewood NJ, Numerous 911 calls were received by Ridgewood FD shortly after 3:00 PM on Friday, 11/28 reporting a basement fire at 303 South Pleasant Avenue. First arriving units observed smoke coming from a second story window and the back door. All occupants of the home and a dog had safely evacuated the home prior to arrival of the fire department. However, two (2) cats were reportedly trapped inside; both succumbed to smoke inhalation despite the valiant efforts of Ridgewood Emergency Service members who performed CPR and administered oxygen. No injuries were sustained by humans. The fire was contained to the basement but there was smoke damage throughout the home. Origin of the fire is under investigation. Glen Rock PD assisted with traffic control. Glen Rock FD, Waldwick FD, Ridgewood EMS, and Ridgewood Emergency Services were all called to the scene. South Pleasant Avenue was closed between Spring Avenue and Grove Street while emergency personnel worked.

Photo credit:Boyd A. Loving

Posted on November 28, 2014June 27, 2021 by James — Leave a comment

Falling ice injures pedestrian in Ridgewood

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Falling ice injures pedestrian in Ridgewood
November 28,2014
Boyd A. Loving

Ridgewood NJ, Ice that fell from the roof of a building located at 7 North Broad Street in Ridgewood reportedly struck a pedestrian walking on a sidewalk below, causing minor injuries to the man’s head. Ridgewood PD, FD, and EMS units were dispatched to the scene shortly after 12 noon on Friday, 11/28. The victim sought refuge from the falling ice in the basement’s building; he was treated there by Emergency Medical Technicians and refused transportation to a local hospital. The building’s owner, Mr. Rocco Berardi, was seen arriving at the location shortly after the incident was reported, and talking with police officers. Some snow was still observed on the roof of the building as emergency personnel worked inside.

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — 1 Comment

Hack Friday : Black Friday cybercrime is unstoppable.

Hack Friday : Black Friday cybercrime is unstoppable.

By Tal Kopan

11/28/14 8:06 AM EST

This holiday shopping season, kicking off with post-Thanksgiving deals, millions of Americans will almost certainly have their credit or debit card information stolen by overseas hackers.

Just like last year.

Twelve months after data from 40 million cards were stolen from Target, beginning a year of escalating hacks of retailers’ payment card systems, not much has changed beyond awareness.

The absence of federal action reflects the difficulty of improving cybersecurity. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree on the goal of improving the security of the nation’s networks, but disputes over even small details can sidetrack progress. Congressional action has been bogged down in side fights, and industry-led changes have been slow and narrow. Executive action, and power, on the issue is limited, and most administration efforts have been designed to encourage retailers to take extra precautions against theft, rather than apply new regulations.

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

The Bright Star of Bethlehem Advent Weekly Worship Series

The Bright Star of Bethlehem Advent Weekly Worship Series

To be Held at Bethlehem Lutheran

The members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church invite everyone to spend the Christmas season at Bethlehem. Please join us for any of the services listed below in our sanctuary located at 155 Linwood Ave. in Ridgewood, NJ. We will be celebrating the blessed birth of Christ and the love of family and friends. What better place than Bethlehem to spend the Christmas season!

During these troubled and unsettled times, find the true comfort and joy that Christ brings this Advent season with the Comfort and Joy weekly Advent series for traditional worship. Each week in this series, parishioners will find out about the different types of comfort Christ comes to bring (revealed in Isaiah 40) and experience the resulting joy that can be lived out in Advent. Hymns in the series include “Comfort, Comfort Ye My People,” “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry,” “Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel,” “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates.” Each service begins at 7:30 p.m.

DECEMBER 3: THE PEACE OF CHRIST (Isaiah 40:1-2): True peace comes only through Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that he brings. He ends warfare without and within. He is the DECEMBER 10: THE PARDON OF CHRIST (Isaiah 40:3-5): We prepare the way of the

Lord through repentance, as the forgiveness we receive through Christ makes the rough places of DECEMBER 17: THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST (Isaiah 40:6-9): We remember that Christ is present with us now & that he will come again in glory on the Last Day.

DECEMBER 21: SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM: Please join us as the students of our Sunday School lead the worship service at 9:30am.

DECEMBER 28: 1ST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS: THE POWER OF CHRIST (Isaiah 40:10-11): God himself came to live among us & be our Savior, but his power was displayed in the weakness & humility of the manger & the cross. This service will begin at 9:30am.

We truly hope to see you and wish everyone a joyous Christmas season and a beautiful finish for 2014. The members of Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ridgewood want you to know that God has a plan for you and he loves you. Our faith is in Christ. Our guide is in the Bible.

Our love is for all. Come celebrate with us. For our regular worship schedule, we offer 2 Sunday services: Contemporary Praise Service at 8:45am and Traditional Worship at 11am with Sunday School and Bible Class at 10am. Please join us at 155 Linwood Avenue, Ridgewood.

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

Shaw’s Book Shop to Hold Story Time Sat. Dec. 6

Shaw’s Book Shop to Hold Story Time Sat. Dec. 6

Come and hear the classic story “Polar Express” and receive a silver bell. Shaw’s Book Shop will be holding story time on Saturday December 6 at 5pm, just before the Home for the Holidays parade. The theme for this year’s parade is children’s books. Shaw’s Book Shop is located at 79 Westwood Avenue, Westwood.

On Christmas Eve, a doubting boy boards a magical train that’s headed to the North Pole and Santa Claus’ home. We follow a beautifully illustrated story of this young boy’s quiet night ride with other children, on the Polar Express train to the North Pole, a “huge city standing alone at the top of the world, filled with factories where every Christmas toy was made.” Our narrator is the fortunate child, picked by Santa, to receive the first gift of that Christmas. He knows exactly what he wants, a simple gift that will help him continue to believe in the magic of Christmas, a silver bell from a reindeer’s harness. Polar Express is a wonderful book for those who want to believe in the spirit of Christmas every day of every year.

The Polar Express is a 1985 children’s book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, a former professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. The book is now widely considered to be a classic Christmas story for young children. It was praised for its detailed illustrations and calm, relaxing storyline. In 1986, it was awarded the Caldecott Medal for children’s literature. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its “Teachers’

Top 100 Books for Children.” It was one of the “Top 100 Picture Books” of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.

Please join us for this adventure to the North Pole and discover the magic of believing!

Shaw’s Book Shop
79 Westwood Avenue
Westwood, NJ 07675
201-666-4484

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

Sindicato Black Friday at Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

Retailers offer apps, Wi-Fi for Black Friday shopping

Retailers offer apps, Wi-Fi for Black Friday shopping

November 27, 2014 Last updated: Thursday, November 27, 2014, 8:30 PM
By JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
The Record

This Black Friday, which actually begins tonight, on Thanksgiving, getting shoppers to reach for their smartphones is almost as important to retailers as getting them to reach for their wallets.

While retailers spent the beginning of this week engaged in some of the traditional preparations for Thanksgiving night and Black Friday — stocking shelves, having door-buster specials stacked and ready to go in backrooms and warehouses, unpacking merchandise — some of the most important advance work for this weekend began right after Black Friday 2013, when retailers realized they needed to make it easier to shop by phone.

The country’s largest retailers are greeting customers this weekend with new or upgraded mobile apps that perform functions such as steering them through the store to find a specific item; comparison shopping for them and issuing a refund if they didn’t get the best price; and letting them scan for discounts while shopping.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/stores-get-more-connected-1.1142597

Posted on November 28, 2014June 27, 2021 by James — Leave a comment

NJ home building on track for best year since 2006

https://www.northjerseyprobuilders.com/ridgewood-nj-07450-general-contractor.html

NJ home building on track for best year since 2006

November 28, 2014 Last updated: Friday, November 28, 2014, 1:21 AM
By KATHLEEN LYNN

* Rentals lead way, thanks to tight mortgage standards, flat incomes

Powered by a surge in multifamily construction, home building in New Jersey is on track for its strongest year since 2006.

Builders have taken out 23,738 building permits through October, up 18 percent from the same period last year, according to data released this week from the U.S. census — and more than 60 percent of the permits have been for multi-family units. The multifamily percentage is the highest since 1964, said Patrick O’Keefe, an economist with CohnReznick, an accounting firm in New York and Roseland. As recently as the 1990s, multifamily projects accounted for about 15 percent of the home construction in the state.

O’Keefe expects builders to start more than 27,000 housing units in the state this year — coming close to the long-term averages above 30,000 a year, after dipping to lows averaging around 13,000 a year during the housing bust.

Rentals are leading the way, especially along the Hudson River. Bergen and Hudson counties have accounted for about 30 percent of the state’s home-building activity so far this year, heavily weighted toward multifamily construction.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/multifamily-housing-may-give-n-j-a-banner-home-building-year-1.1143006

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — 25 Comments

Ridgewood leaders host discussion on civility

Ridgewood leaders host discussion on civility

November 28, 2014 Last updated: Friday, November 28, 2014, 12:31 AM
By Jodi Weinberger
STAFF WRITER |
The Ridgewood News

Ridgewood leaders came together this week to discuss the need for more civility in public discourse.

With many divisive issues taking hold of Ridgewood over the last few years – Valley Hospital, multifamily housing, cell tower applications, the Graydon ramp, the Schedler debate, and Skype votes, among others – leaders believe that often conversations about these matters are hijacked by incivility.

Mayor Paul Aronsohn, who called for the meeting and invited community volunteers from various boards and houses of worship, led the meeting along with Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck and the Rev. Jan Phillips, head of the Community Relations Advisory Board of Ridgewood and Glen Rock.

A handful of residents also showed up to the Nov. 24 meeting to participate.

“This is not about stifling the conversation,” Aronsohn said. “We think this will enrich the conversation. Ridgewood is a community that thrives on discourse and interaction.”

Hauck said fostering civility is particularly challenging as it is a broader, societal issue that expands well beyond the village.

“How can we be more of a ‘we’ community in a ‘me’ world?” Hauck said. “Even as adults we struggle with cooperation, but we need to work together.”

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/leaders-focus-on-fosteringthe-good-1.1142831

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — 11 Comments

Ridgewood leaf collection is starting to pick up

file photo Boyd Loving

Ridgewood leaf collection is starting to pick up

NOVEMBER 26, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014, 11:52 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Village refrigerators post-Thanksgiving may tell a different story, but on village streets, there are fewer leftovers.

Leftover leaves, that is.

Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld has reported receiving positive resident input, and fewer complaints, thanks to Ridgewood’s new “no leaf left behind” program. The initiative includes the reintroduction of rakers and the outsourcing of pickups in the leafiest area of Ridgewood.

The ongoing effort is in response to residents’ chief complaint with village leaf pickup in past years: a mess of leaves left on the street.

Now, officials said, the village needs residents to help with the initiative, since many leaves have yet to fall.

So far this year, 13,933 cubic yards of leaves have been picked up. In 2013, the total number was 35,967 cubic yards, according to a Nov. 21 village email blast sent out by Sonenfeld.

“Most of our resident comments still relate to the schedule… As a reminder – if we get to your area earlier than we have indicated, we will be back,” she said. “The fact that the season is running better also has to do with each of you; following guidelines on what can be in the piles, as well as keeping the streets open so that we can work, makes us all more effective.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/village-leaf-collection-is-starting-to-pick-up-1.1141644

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

Village Hall & Lester Stable Offices Closed Today December 2 Planning Board Meeting Cancelled

Village Hall & Lester Stable Offices Closed Today December 2 Planning Board Meeting Cancelled

Village Hall & Lester Stable Offices Closed November 27 and 28

Village Hall and Lester Stable offices will be closed on Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28 in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Sanitation and Recycling will be picked up on Friday, November 28. If there are icy conditions on Friday, we ask you to bring the garbage to the curb for collection.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

NOTICE – December 2 Planning Board Meeting Cancelled

PLANNING BOARD

NOTICE OF CHANGE IN MEETING SCHEDULE

12/02/14

CANCELLED: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

In accordance with the provisions of the “Open Public Meetings Act,” please be advised that the Planning Board meeting of DECEMBER 2, 2014 in the Village Hall Court Room has been cancelled. The next Planning Board meeting is scheduled for December 16, 2014 at BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MIDDLE SCHOOL AUDITORIUM, 335 N. Van Dien Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ at 7:30 p.m.

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.

Michael Cafarelli

Secretary to the Board

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — 1 Comment

Santa makes an early visit to South Irving Street

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Santa makes an early visit to South Irving Street
November 27,2014
Boyd A. Loving
7:18 PM

Santa Claus dropped by unexpectedly at a home on South Irving Street on Thursday afternoon where 1-year old Declan and his 5-year old sister Delia were having a Thanksgiving meal with their grandparents.

Declan was a slightly unnerved by the surprise visit and kept his distance, but Delia sat right down near Santa, and had a nice 15 minute conversation with the fat man from the North Pole.

Santa did not arrive empty handed; Declan was the recipient of a toy vacuum cleaner, and Delia found a Play Doh kit when she unwrapped her present.

Mr. Claus arrived in a bright red SUV, which he told Delia he uses on every day of the year except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and was gone in a flash 15 minutes after his arrival.

As he waved goodbye to Declan and Delia, Santa did reveal that retired Ridgewood Police Department Captain and former Ridgewood Mayor Keith D. Killion was the person who wrote the North Pole and requested Santa make an early visit to South Irving Street.

Thank you Keith!

Photos by Boyd Loving

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by James — 3 Comments

OPEC Policy Ensures U.S. Shale Crash, Russian Tycoon Says

OPEC Policy Ensures U.S. Shale Crash, Russian Tycoon Says

By Will Kennedy and Jillian Ward Nov 27, 2014 10:04 AM ET

At today’s prices of just over $70 a barrel, drilling is close to becoming unprofitable… Read More

OPEC policy on crude production will ensure a crash in the U.S. shale industry, a Russian oil tycoon said.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept output targets unchanged at a meeting in Vienna today even after this year’s slump in the oil price caused by surging supply from U.S shale fields.

American producers risk becoming victims of their own success. At today’s prices of just over $70 a barrel, drilling is close to becoming unprofitable for some explorers,Leonid Fedun, vice president and board member at OAO Lukoil (LKOD), said in an interview in London.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-27/opec-policy-ensures-u-s-shale-crash-russian-oil-tycoon-says.html

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