JUNE 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014, 12:31 AM BY SALVATORE TRIFILIO CORRESPONDENT
Ten years ago teachers were armed with little more than a textbook and their enthusiasm to tackle the task of inspiring America’s youth to become doctors, scientists, authors or even teachers themselves.But today, educators like Willard School’s John Altieri have a slew of technologies at their disposal that allow their students experiences that were once just science fiction.
On Thursday, June 12, about 60 students at Willard School took a trip more than 1,400 miles south and nine miles off the coast of Florida, to the world’s only underwater marine habitat and laboratory, all without leaving the comfort of room 122.
“There is only so much an individual teacher can offer, and when we have other people sharing information with these kids, that enhances their education and their experience,” Altieri said.
Altieri’s second-grade class, in collaboration with first- and fifth-grade classes, became the first and only New Jersey classes to join Fabien Cousteau and his crew’s Mission-31 during a half-hour Skype session.
Ridgewood’s Matt Shippee named NSCAA High School Scholar All-American
Boys and Girls Soccer: Six from New Jersey are named NSCAA High School Scholar All-Americans
Six New Jersey high school soccer players were recognized as High School Scholar All-Americans on Wednesday by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Steven Collins of Hunterdon Central, Brett Conrads of Newton, Ridgewood’s Matt Shippee, Bergen Catholic’s Justin Yacovino, Michaela Murr of Hopewell Valleyand Whippany Park’s Dina Sheira were among the 101 selections.
According to the NSCAA web site, all nominees and votes were based upon the student athlete’s cumulative GPA and honors through the first semester of their senior year as well as on-field performance.
The Scholar All-Americans will be honored on Saturday, August 2, at the NSCAA High School All-American Brunch in Orlando.
Here’s a Crazy Idea: What About Reforming Transportation Spending Instead of Hiking Taxes? Emily Goff / June 26, 2014
Americans know the drill. When Congress faces a gap between its spending wants and available money, it is quick to ask for more money, instead of fixing the spending side of the budget ledger.
This time it’s Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who has proposed a rag tag group of revenue provisions, including hiking taxes on heavy vehicle use, aimed at filling a hole in Washington’s Highway Trust Fund (HTF). Federal gas and diesel taxes deposited in to the HTF go to pay for road, bridge, transit, and other surface transportation projects in the states.
Yup, you got it: Wyden’s focusing on new ways to collect money – without even mentioning spending reforms.
Conservatives on the committee rightly grumbled at its total lack of spending cuts, and now the committee is going back to the drawing board to try and find more palatable reforms all around.
Wyden isn’t alone: Others in Congress have called for gas tax hikes or bailing out the fund with postal reform revenue. But few have proposed reforming spending out of the HTF. In other words, lawmakers by and large aren’t interested in, changing which programs are eligible for the federal gas and diesel taxes deposited into the HTF.
The HTF was set up to pay for the interstate highway system. That was largely completed decades ago, but past Congresses added a laundry list of newly eligible activities, such as subways, buses, metropolitan planning, bike and walking trails, sidewalks, landscaping, ferry boats and interpretive signage.. These are diversions, pure and simple. Their users, such as transit commuters, bicyclists, and pedestrians, pay nothing into the HTF but benefit from it. And money spent on landscaping and subways is spent at the expense of road and bridge improvement projects that would benefit the motorists and truckers who pay the fuel taxes.
Here’s an idea, Sen.Wyden: End these HTF diversions toparochial activities, which don’t reduce traffic congestion or enhance mobility for motorists. Doing this would free up billions of dollars annually for road and bridge projects which, according to theclaims of some special interests in Washington, are “crumbling.” These claims are exaggerated, but the point remains that the money would be available to make necessary improvements to aging parts of the system and expansions where demand exists.
While you’re at it, Mr. Chairman, how about proposing crucial regulatory reforms that would help the states stretch their transportation dollars further and reduce unnecessary project delays and cost overruns? Start by repealing the Davis-Bacon Act and eliminating duplication in onerous environmental review processes. The states, which are tired of the endless delays and unnecessarily high costs of building a road or a bridge, will thank you.
Wyden’s current proposal is reckless: It relies on 10 years of revenue to pay for six months of transportation spending. Additionally, this plan continues bailing out the HTF, violating the important ‘user pays, user benefits’ principle. That is, motorists pay the fuel taxes and should benefit, not be shortchanged.
Even aside from any merits of this particular proposal, Congress should avoid renewing highway legislation in the lame duck session of Congress. Lawmakers have a tendency to pass shoddy deals for taxpayers during such sessions.
If Congress had to live within the trust fund’s means, it would be forced to set priorities for what is truly a federal responsibility, instead of continuing to take the easy road of making everything a spending priority..
“In the future, their business approach must take into consideration what is best for Ridgewood as well as their bottom line”
JUNE 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014, 12:31 AM Print
The future for village, Valley Linda McNamara
To the Editor:
A big thank you for your Valley coverage these many months. Also kudos to the Planning Board for the countless hours dedicated to making an informed decision and to our mayor for his thoughtful questions and time devoted to the process.
To those who feel the decision was “not in my back yard” (NIMBY) based and the opposition was largely made up of citizens with a narrow perspective, I would like to state a different point of view. Valley Hospital chose a residential area to build their facility. Had they been looking forward, they might have imagined a desire for large scale growth. The site chosen was never conducive to a massive expansion and it took the time, energy and money of many residents spearheaded by the CRR to inform the rest of us on the devastating effects the proposed plan would have on the village.
The Master Plan was developed to protect us from unreasonable development. This decision does not stop Valley from modernizing and growth, it just can’t do it all on 15 acres in the middle of a residential community.
In my opinion, Valley does not have an expansion problem. It has a management problem.”
JUNE 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014, 12:31 AM Print
Valley needs a new mission statement Richie Herink
To the Editor:
Hopefully the rejection by the Planning Board of Valley’s current expansion plan zoning change request brings to an end the war for patients between Valley and Hackensack not-for-profit hospitals.
As a non-profit hospital, Valley uses the language of business to rationalize the need for a zoning law revision. For example: Valley needs to stay competitive, or Valley needs to keep up or it will go under, and if you don’t progress in this business you will die.
Does anyone doubt that Hackensack would buy Valley in a minute, even with Valley’s zoning restrictions and if Valley were about to “go under”?
In my opinion, Valley does not have an expansion problem. It has a management problem.
JUNE 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014, 12:31 AM BY DANIEL FISHBEIN Print
Each June I reflect on the many great opportunities the Ridgewood Public Schools and the Village of Ridgewood provide our youngest citizens, culminating in the Ridgewood High School graduation at the close of the school year.
While the many school-related activities are too numerous to list, here are some representative highlights from the district this past school year:
The Remedial Early Development (R.E.D.) graduation at the Glen School. This event is more than an important milestone for the students, parents and staff; it is a personal career highlight for me. Friday Friends is a fabulous program where students with special needs meet, learn and play along with their peers.
The Orchard Museum of Art (OMA). Held at Orchard Elementary School each year, the museum is a celebration of the creative process in the fine and performing arts, culminating with a performance — this year Romeo and Juliet — in the school’s unique outdoor amphitheater.
The Ridge Restaurant and 18th century encampment. Ridge Elementary School’s fifth graders open a restaurant every fall to raise money for their June promotion activities. During the school year they also participate in an 18th century encampment, spending 36 hours as recruits in the Continental Army where they sew, cook, drill, set up camp and are spectators at a musket shooting demonstration by Ridgewood Board of Education Facility Manager Steve Tichenor, who is also a military re-enactor.
Hawes ducks. Perhaps you saw the 100-plus Hawes Elementary School ducks running in the Ridgewood Memorial Day Run this year. Their inspiration comes from real-life mother duck Henrietta, who nests each spring in the school’s inner courtyard and, once the ducklings are hatched and ready to swim, marches her brood through the halls of the school, out the door and into the brook beyond.
Up mountains and under the sea at Willard. Willard Elementary School students were treated to an author visit this year by everyone’s sweetheart, “The Sound of Music’s” Julie Andrews. Students also had a Skype session with Jacque Cousteau’s grandson from his underwater lab.
Acting at Somerville. Somerville Elementary School students in kindergarten through fifth grade took action for a cause, participating in a walk for autism and raising nearly $1,000. In addition, fourth and fifth graders put on a lively production of “Shrek the Musical.”
Travel at Travell. Travell Elementary School students traveled the world at their International Expo heritage celebration featuring their community’s cultural foods, artifacts and performances. Fifth graders went to circus school for a week and put on a show highlighting the importance of teamwork and cooperation. The school readied for summer recess with a children’s book swap to encourage reading while away.
Celebrating history at GWMS. George Washington Middle School eighth graders just returned from their annual overnight trip to our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. The school’s sixth graders worked with Civil War re-enactors to gain a better understanding of what life was like in the nineteenth century.
Music and more at BFMS. Benjamin Franklin Middle School had a fantastic concert season, as orchestras, concert bands and choirs all performed to full-house crowds of parents and grandparents. The school community also donated more than 120 turkeys to needy families as a result of their annual Thanksgiving “turkey trot.”
RHS graduated the Class of 2014. Finally, I hope you had an opportunity to see the Ridgewood High School graduation. It is a beautiful community celebration! The real accomplishments of the Class of 2014 happen in the classroom, on stage, on the field of competition or in a studio. Ninety-one percent of the Class of 2014 will attend a four-year college or university this fall. Five percent are headed to two-year colleges. The balance is headed to work, the armed forces or taking a “gap” year.
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving Summons issued in connection with Ridgewood crash June 26,2014 Boyd A. Loving 1:09 PM to Boyd The driver of a white Toyota Camry was issued a summons for disregarding a stop sign in connection with crash that occurred at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Bellair Road in Ridgewood just before 12 noon on Thursday, 06/26. The Camry collided with a Toyota RAV 4 occupied by an adult and two (2) children. All occupants of the RAV 4 were transported to The Valley Hospital by ambulance for evaluation; the adult was experiencing chest pains and the children were a bit shaken up. The Camry’s driver was uninjured. Both vehicles were removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Ridgewood PD, EMS, and Ridgewood Fire all responded.
Power Play: John Boehner Announces Abuse of Power Lawsuit Against Obama’s Executive Orders
IIn a closed-door meeting with House Republicans today, Speaker John Boehner announced plans to file an abuse of power lawsuit against President Obama. The plaintiff in the lawsuit would be the House of Representatives, not Boehner personally.
Republican House members have been seeking ways to restrain Obama’s use of executive orders, according to Boehner spokesman Michael Steel:
“The president has a clear record of ignoring the American people’s elected representatives and exceeding his constitutional authority, which has dangerous implications for both our system of government and our economy,” Steel said.
“The House has passed legislation to address this, but it has gone nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate, so we are examining other options.”
The President announced in January that “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone” and he wasn’t afraid to use them.
Since then, his executive actions have been a favored way to pursue policy changes without having to go through that pesky legislative branch. He has made unilateral changes to the ObamaCare law, halted deportations, and issued other orders regarding pay rates for federal contractors and environmental issues.
The lawsuit would need to be approved by a group of House leaders and isexpected to be filed in the next few weeks.
Not surprisingly, Nancy Pelosi decries the suit as “subterfuge” designed to “give some aura of activity.” Of course she does…
Supreme Court rebukes Obama on recess appointments BY ROBERT BARNES June 26 at 2:14 PM
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that President Obama exceeded his constitutional authority in making high-level government appointments in 2012 when he declared the Senate to be in recess and unable to act on the nominations.
Obama made appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) at a time when the Senate was holding pro forma sessions every three days precisely to thwart the president’s ability to exercise the power.
“The Senate is in session when it says it is,” Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote for the court, stressing that if the Senate is able to conduct business, that is enough to keep the president from making recess appointments.
But the court stepped back from handing Obama — and those who will follow him in the Oval Office — a more substantial loss. A bare majority of the justices upheld, in theory at least, the president’s ability to make recess appointments when the Senate is indeed on extended break, saying history weighs in favor of a broad power.
The decision comes at a time when Republican opposition to the president’s policies and Obama’s vow to bypass a gridlocked Congress by using his executive powers have consumed Washington.
Rutherford teen in ‘catfish’ scam sentenced to 6 months in prison
JUNE 25, 2014, 2:38 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014, 6:59 PM BY KAREN SUDOL STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
A federal judge sentenced a Rutherford teen to six months in prison for luring a classmate into an online relationship with a fictitious girl he created on Facebook and making a false kidnapping report about the girl to an overseas U.S. Embassy.But Andriy Mykhaylivskyy, 19, received credit for three months time served so he will serve three months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi also ordered Mykhaylivskyy to pay a $500 fine and serve three years of supervised release, federal prosecutors said.
The type of scam Mykhaylivskyy admitted to in court in March is called “catfishing,” which involves creating an elaborate fake persona to attract a handful of victims, often causing far greater financial and emotional damage. He pleaded guilty to making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the U.S. government.
Specifically, Mykhaylivskyy created a fake online identity in the name of Kate Fulton and started an online relationship using her fake name with a then-18-year-old classmate. In July, while visiting Ukraine, he telephoned the U.S. Embassy in Moldova and reported that his girlfriend, Kate Fulton, had been kidnapped while vacationing in Bulgaria and that her mother had received a $50,000 ransom demand.
Two men sue N.J. for $1M after tossing winning lottery ticket
JUNE 25, 2014, 10:56 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014, 11:18 PM BY MICHAEL LINHORST STATE HO– USE BUREAU THE RECORD Print PAGES: 1 2 > DISPLAY ON ONE PAGE
A million-dollar lottery ticket sold in Mahwah is buried somewhere in a Canadian landfill, and now the men who bought it are suing the Lottery Commission to try to get their money.
They say they threw the Powerball ticket away because they thought it was a loser after checking the winning numbers on the lottery’s website — which, they claim, hadn’t been updated.
This wasn’t just any Powerball drawing: It was the $338 million jackpot from March 23, 2013, won by Passaic resident Pedro Quezada.
The men with the missing ticket — Salvatore Cambria and Erick Onyango of Suffern, N.Y. — filed a lawsuit in federal court earlier this week, arguing the lottery is at fault for failing to post the accurate numbers online more quickly.
Quezada won the grand prize by getting every number right, including the Powerball.
Cambria said his ticket had every correct number except the Powerball, a combination that would have won him the consolation prize of $1 million.
But he didn’t know that on the night of the drawing.
Who is Eric Arthur Blair and why are we celebrating his birthday today?
Eric Arthur Blair – famously known as George Orwell – was born on June 25, 1903 and died on January 21, 1950. Known for his dystopian novels 1984 and Animal Farm, George Orwell was passionate in railing against totalitarianism. He joined in the Spanish Civil War, walking up to John McNair upon his arrival and proclaiming: “I’ve come to fight against fascism.” He was sent back to England after he was shot in the throat, where he continued writing and became a BBC East Correspondent during WWII. Though quiet, he had an interesting wit; he had a pet rooster named Henry Ford and a poodle named Marx. Orwell was a staunch anti-Stalinist and published Animal Farm in 1945. 1984 was published in 1949. In one of his lesser known works, Road to Wigan Pier, Orwell wrote: “The people can be trusted to behave decently if you will only let them alone.” His novels continue to inspire people to question authority to this day
Reader says Congratulations Vaed Eagle service projects are everywhere in our community
Congratulations Vaed. Scouting is a great program and Mr. Prasad and his parents, leaders, sponsors and mentors should all be very proud. There’s a reason only 4% of boys who start scouting make it to Eagle . . . . the Trail to Eagle is not easy.
If anyone wants to truly understand the contributions of Eagles to society, they should read “Four Percent: The Story of Uncommon Youth in a Century of American Life.” It’s a fascinating read.
The sheer number of service hours contributed by these boys is amazing. The Eagle service projects are everywhere in our community – painting classrooms and churches, seating areas at RHS, improving Dunham Trail, Grove Park, Habernickel Park, streambank restoration along the Saddle River, Ampitheater at Orchard School, building blue screens for BFMS, planting at Somerville, outdoor seating at West Side Presbyterian, vegetable boxes to allow a food bank to grow fresh food. Too many to remember!
Sincere thanks to Darius Amos for doing such a great job covering BSA in Ridgewood.
Major ruling updates privacy laws for 21st century
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that police must obtain warrants before snooping through people’s cellphones, delivering a unanimous decision that begins to update legal understanding of privacy rules to accommodate 21st-century technology.
Police agencies argued that searching through data on cellphones was no different from asking someone to turn out his pockets, but the justices rejected that, saying a cellphone holds the most personal and intimate details of someone’s life and falls squarely within the Fourth Amendment’s privacy protections.
“The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in the unanimous opinion. “Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple — get a warrant.”
Judge: Christie can cut pension contribution payment
JUNE 25, 2014, 12:32 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014, 11:06 PM BY MELISSA HAYES AND JOHN REITMEYER STATE HO– USE BUREAU THE RECORD
Governor Christie won in court Wednesday, but the victory will likely be short-lived as he heads for a showdown with the Legislature over pensions and taxes today, a fight likely to go right back before the same judge.
POOL Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson asks a question arguments Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Trenton.
At stake is the security of the state pension system, tax rates for New Jersey’s wealthiest residents and the viability of the next state budget. This fight between Christie, a Republican, and Democrats who control the Legislature comes as both have struggled to move the state out of a sluggish economy and have seen New Jersey’s credit rating downgraded six straight times.
The Legislature is readying today to advance a new state budget — supported by revenue from tax hikes that Christie opposes — that would make a bigger state payment into the pension fund and one that Christie has threatened to reject with his veto pen.
That could send the issue right back to state Superior Court Assignment Judge Mary C. Jacobson of Mercer County, who said Wednesday that Christie is allowed to reduce the pension contribution in the current fiscal year, which ends midnight Monday, by nearly $900 million to help close a $1 billion revenue shortfall.
