The month of May is recognized as National Stroke Awareness Month. On average, one American dies every 4 minutes from a stroke. According to the American Stroke Association, high blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke and the most important controllable risk factor for stroke.
On select days and times during the months of May and June, various Valley Medical Group primary care locations in Bergen, Passaic and Morris counties will be offering free blood pressure screenings.
Managing blood pressure, along with cholesterol and glucose levels, is the key to preventing not only stroke but heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions. Because high blood pressure has no symptoms and cannot be detected without being measured, it is important to be screened regularly.
There is no appointment needed for the free screening. To find a participating Valley Medical Group practice near you and specific dates and times of the screening events, please call 1-800-637-1136, or visit www.ValleyMedicalGroup.com/Screening.
Three Lessons From Primary Night Jun. 04 Election 2014, Uncategorized no comments By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
A few thoughts as the dust settles from Tuesday night:
(1) #NJSen: All other things being equal, targeting matters most…
Jeff Bell
We’re going to spend some time in the days ahead analyzing Jeff Bell‘s surprising U.S. Senate primary victory, Save Jerseyans, having defied conventional wisdom and won a plurality of the vote despite shunning the county convention circuit and carrying not a single line. Residual name recognition? Maybe a little. Benefiting from opponents’ mistakes? Sure, to a degree.
The most obvious explanation: solid targeting.
It’s all anecdotal, but I’ve heard from numerous reliable GOP primary voters living in different counties who reported hearing from only one candidate in their mailboxes over the past couple of weeks: Mr. Bell, a former Senate candidate and speech writer for Ronald Reagan who hasn’t resided in New Jersey for three decades prior to this instant contest but who is determined to make an issue out of monetary policy and, specifically, reviving the gold standard.
Notwithstanding institutional disadvantages (and a less-than-orthodox messaging strategy), Bell’s relatively modestly-priced targeted mail campaign apparently allowed him to win populous counties like Bergen and Morris where there wasn’t an awarded line and place a respectable second place in places like Atlantic where someone else had the line. The end result: a sub-30% win in a crowded field.
The Bell strategy likely would’ve come up short in a higher-turnout model or if any of Bell’s opponents had had real resources at their disposal but they didn’t, did they? So there you have it…
(2) #CD12: Bridgegate – or at least Chris Christie – is a winning issue among Democrats…
Bonnie Watson Coleman
This one’s pretty simple. New FDU poll results released Primary Day found Governor Chris Christie rocking a weak but “stabilized” 44% job approval rating in New Jersey. Reading deeper, however, leads to the discovery that Democrats continue to slip away from the Governor. Only about one quarters of Democrats approve of his performance; over 60% have adopted the opposite opinion, representing a major reversal from one year ago in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Newly-minted CD12 nominee Bonnie Watson Coleman didn’t exactly anticipate this trend when she was forced to quit the SCI after baselessly and inappropriately calling for Chris Christie to resign. It worked for her all the same.
Oh, and that time that her major adversary told Mercer Democrats that they were her enemy? And then Mercer took her at her word and turned out 17,000 voters to defeat her? That also played a role (h/t Olivia Nuzzi).
Bridgegate Committee Zeroes In On Port Authority Mismanagement
Republican legislators who have been urging the Select Committee on Investigation to broaden its focus beyond the George Washington Bridge lane closures got their wish yesterday, as Democrats and Republicans alike grilled Port Authority Commissioner William “Pat” Schuber on how such an array of scandals could have beset the bistate agency.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), the committee’s cochair, led Democrats in questioning the behind-the-scenes machinations of Port Authority staffers in orchestrating the massive 2011 toll hike, as well as the failure of Schuber and other Port Authority higher-ups to dig into the reasons for the lane closures as the Bridgegate scandal unfolded between September and January.
Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Monmouth) led Republicans in zeroing in on the Port Authority’s questionable payments to an architect for unsolicited work, excessive real estate holdings in Jersey City, conflict of interest policies, failure to adequately pursue reports of ethics violations, and the wisdom of doling out special grants to municipalities instead of using whatever money is available for needed airport and infrastructure repairs.
It marked the first time since the formation of the committee more than four months ago that the panel’s four Republican legislators devoted their energies not to defending the Christie administration’s response to Bridgegate and questioning the purpose of the committee, but to aggressively going after Port Authority mismanagement — which they have been arguing should be the panel’s primary focus. (Magyar/NJSpotlight)
Where is the vision for the current leadership of our community?
JUNE 2, 2014 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2014, 5:38 PM
Letter: Our future as an inclusive community Martin Walker
To the editor:
Congratulations to the winning candidates of our recent council election. We are extremely fortunate to have had three such talented and committed villagers running, but I am dismayed that not one of them articulated a vision of Ridgewood’s future as an inclusive family community, one that includes and fosters all generations.
Susan Knudsen and Michael Sedon rightfully insisted that village planning must shift from ad hoc responses to individual developer’s proposals, but our village politics as a whole seems stuck in the “tail(s) wagging the dog” syndrome. Some folks don’t like taller poles, our council must respond. Other folks don’t like construction, our council must respond. Others don’t want trees cut down, our council must respond. Still others don’t want public land fully public, but instead devoted to their kid’s favorite sport … ditto.
Now we read that one Planning Board member objects to a Walnut Street downtown location for assisted living because of “traffic.” Earlier objections reported have been “height.”
When will Ridgewood ever progress beyond the “not this, not that” level of leadership in community development? At what point can we break away from Washington, DC’s politic gridlock mentality by fully acknowledging that “NO” is not a plan?
Leadership requires elaborating on and then acting on choices. The greatest level of authority in community leadership accrues to those whose vision encompasses the widest sectors of a community projected the farthest into the future. Leadership for property value enhancement via educational excellence only looks as far into the future as the high school graduation dates of our current school population.
Leadership for family-oriented community includes allowances for the possibility that babies being born into our community could live out their lives and also die here. I see no plan addressing whether or not our children should have the ability to live here at all. I see no plan addressing whether or not our Ridgewood community should even include grandparents. No plan addressing whether Ridgewood should be a place to retire to versus retiring from.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-our-future-as-an-inclusive-community-1.1027823#sthash.8zWkLHY0.dpuf
Half of Americans can’t afford their house June 3, 2014, 1:58 p.m. EDT
Over half of Americans (52%) have had to make at least one major sacrifice in order to cover their rent or mortgage over the last three years, according to the “How Housing Matters Survey,” which was commissioned by the nonprofit John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and carried out by Hart Research Associates. These sacrifices include getting a second job, deferring saving for retirement, cutting back on health care, running up credit card debt, or even moving to a less safe neighborhood or one with worse schools.“Affordability issues are real and a major hurdle,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, an industry group. Home prices have increased 20% over the past two years while wages have barely gone up, he says. “Only by adding more new supply, via housing starts, can home prices be tamed,” Yun adds. In fact, construction of housing units has averaged around 1.5 million a year for the past five decades, he says, but it’s likely to be less than 1 million in 2014.
What’s more, at least 15% of American homeowners (or residents of 78 counties across the country) were living in housing markets where the monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home requires more than 30% of the monthly median household income — long considered the maximum for rent/mortgage repayments. Housing costs above that threshold are “unaffordable by historic standards,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at real estate data firm RealtyTrac. In New York county/Manhattan, mortgage payments represent 77% of the median income and in San Francisco County represents 70%.
1 in 5 Children Live in Poverty in U.S. June 3, 2014 – 1:09 PM By Ali Meyer Subscribe to Ali Meyer RSS
CNSNews.com) – One in five children under age 18, or 21.3%, are living in poverty in the United States, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
In 2012, there were 15,437,000 children under 18 years old, or 21.3%, who were classified in the “below poverty” threshold, according to the Census.
“The incidence of poverty rates varies widely across the population according to age, education, labor force attachment, family living arrangements, and area of residence, among other factors. Under the official poverty definition, an average family of four was considered poor in 2012 if its pre-tax cash income for the year was below $23,492,” according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report entitled, Poverty in the United States: 2012.
“The Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds form the basis for statistical estimates of poverty in the United States,” reads the report. “The thresholds reflect crude estimates of the amount of money individuals or families, of various size and composition, need per year to purchase a basket of goods and services deemed as ‘minimally adequate,’ according to the living standards of the early 1960s.”
“Persons are considered poor, for statistical purposes, if their family’s countable money income is below its corresponding poverty threshold,” the CRS states.
The Census has been tracking these data since 1959, when the percentage of children under 18 living in poverty was 26.9%. In 1964, when then-President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the War on Poverty, the percentage of children living in poverty was 22.7%. Since then until now, the percentage has decreased by only 6.2%.
“In 2012, over one in five children (21.3%) in the United States, some 15.4 million, were poor – both their poverty rate and estimated number poor were statistically unchanged from 2011,” said the CRS report. “The lowest recorded rate of child poverty was in 1969, when 13.8% of children were counted as poor.”
Anger explodes over treatment of Bergdahl’s release as veterans, troops call him a deserter
BY HANNAH ALLAM AND JONATHAN S. LANDAY
McClatchy Washington BureauJune 2, 2014
WASHINGTON — For all the yellow ribbons strewn across his hometown in Idaho and the gratitude expressed by his parents in an emotional visit to the White House on Saturday, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will receive a hero’s welcome when he returns to the United States after nearly five years in Taliban captivity.
From military forums across the country, a groundswell of anger is rising over the Obama administration’s silence on perhaps the most controversial question surrounding the deal that freed Bergdahl in exchange for five senior Taliban members: Was he a deserter?
So far, the U.S. government has shied away from the long-nagging question, which raged anew Monday with growing clamor on the Internet about the circumstances of Bergdahl’s disappearance from his unit’s small forward position in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009.
Military-related blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages were filled with screeds from commenters accusing Bergdahl of being a “traitor” or a Taliban “collaborator.” The online publication The Daily Beast published a nearly 2,000-word first-person account by a former Army infantry officer who said he was privy to details of Bergdahl’s disappearance and who stated flatly that “he was a deserter, and soldiers from his own unit died trying to track him down.”
*A limited number of wristbands will be available upon purchase of books atBookends Bookstore Join Kendall & Kylie Jenner Today at 7:00pm Bookends Bookstore in Ridgewood, New Jersey
Bookends is a legendary New Jersey Landmark! We are known for our incredible author events and have hosted well over 1,000 authors in the past 15 years!
All books MUST be purchased from BOOKENDS for any of our events and a valid Bookends receipt must be presented for entry.
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt. Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change. Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.
While we try to ensure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
Missed one of our events? We have Signed Books from some of our recent signings. Call the store to order 201-445-0726.
Summertime Blues: Teen Unemployment in Major U.S. Cities Tops 50 Percent June 2, 2014 – 4:16 PM By Penny Starr
(CNSNews.com) – A new analysisby the Employment Policy Institute (EPI) shows that unemployment among teens without a high school diploma is more than 50 percent in two of the largest U.S. cities.
Using U.S. Census Bureau data from May 2013 to April 2014, the analysis reveals that in Riverside-San Bernardino area of Southern California, the unemployment rate for teens ages 16 to 19 years old who don’t have a high school diploma is 54.2 percent.
In the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore., metropolitan area, the unemployment rate from that population is 53.8 percent.
“These numbers are staggering,” Michael Saltsman, director of research at EPI told CNSNews.com. “Teens across the country this summer are missing out on valuable work experience as they continue to suffer through an extended period of high unemployment and difficult job prospects.”
The 2014 Great American Backyard Campout will take place on Saturday, June 28!
This year, we’ve set a goal of getting more than 200,000 people across the country to camp out. AND, just in time for the 10th anniversary of the Great American Backyard Campout, National Wildlife Federation’s Board of Directors and other friends have offered to donate $2 in support of NWF’s wildlife conservation work for every person that participates in this year’s Campout— up to $400,000!
On June 28, 2014, thousands of people across the nation will gather in their backyards, neighborhoods, communities and parks to take part in an annual event that provides a fun-filled evening for all generations to get outside and connect with nature.
National Wildlife Federation’s Goal: Get Kids Outside!
Great American Backyard Campout® is a part of National Wildlife Federation’s efforts to help inspire Americans to protect wildlife, including a three-year campaign to get 10 million kids to spend regular outdoor time in nature.
The National Wildlife Federation is America’s largest conservation organization and we work with more than 4 million members, partners and supporters in communities across the country to protect wildlife and reconnect people with nature. Today, NWF continues to be the nation’s leading advocate for wildlife and wild places.
Since 2005, thousands of people from across the nation have come together the fourth Saturday of June to participate in the Great American Backyard Campout in support of Great Outdoors Month. This annual nationwide event is designed to promote the benefits of camping as a way to connect people with nature and support NWF’s efforts to get kids outdoors.
FOOD POLICE : USDA Creating $1.9 Million Research Center Devoted to Changing American’s Food Choices
Research to examine dismantling fast food combos
BY: Elizabeth Harrington June 2, 2014 5:00 pm
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is creating a $2 million research center to study how the government can “nudge” Americans toward making healthier eating habits.
The agency is currently accepting grant applications to establish a “Center for Behavioral Economics and Healthy Food Choice Research,” which will facilitate studies such as how breaking up combo meals at fast food restaurants would influence customers.
“The USDA Center will facilitate new and innovative research on the application of behavioral economics theory to healthy food choice behaviors that would contribute to enhancing the nutrition, food security, and health of American consumers,” the USDA’s grant announcement said.
The center will be given at least $1.9 million over three years, with the possibility of future funding. Its research will focus on “facilitating food choice behaviors” and improving the diets of Americans enrolled on food stamps and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.
Bids for U.S. Senate, Congressional Seats Top Today’s Primary Ballot
The U.S. Senate seat former Newark Mayor Cory Booker won last October tops today’s primary election, which will also determine which major party candidates will vie for all of New Jersey’s 12 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in November.
This year’s primary is more notable than most because a quarter of the state’s members of Congress are retiring — in the case of the 1st District, Rob Andrews has already left — and in most districts, the winner of the Democratic or Republican primary winds up winning the general election. New Jersey’s districts are currently split, with half “red” and half “blue.”
Given that, probably the most watched race is for the right to represent the Democratic party on the general election ballot in Central Jersey’s 12th District. Three current state legislators are running, as well as a physicist, but the race is expected to boil down to two: Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex).
The only nonpartisan poll, a mid-May Monmouth University Poll, had Greenstein leading Watson Coleman among likely voters by just 1 percentage point, but a third of voters were still undecided. In a blog post yesterday, Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, gave Watson Coleman a two-point edge, but added, “I won’t be the least bit surprised if this forecast turns out to be wrong.” (O’Dea/NJSpotlight)
JUNE 3, 2014 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2014, 8:08 AM BY SCOTT FALLON STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
United Water will spend $220 million over the next three years to replace leaky water mains, valves and other aging infrastructure to help prevent the annual loss of billions of gallons of drinking water, executives said Monday.
The money, from a special fee imposed on ratepayers, will be used to replace as much as 450 miles of water mains, mostly in Bergen and Hudson counties, where the average underground pipe is 70 years old. That would account for 20 percent of the company’s 2,200 miles of water mains.
“It’s not a situation where you’re just going to go out and say we’re going to replace everything immediately,” said Robert Iacullo, executive vice president of United Water, which serves 800,000 residents in the two counties. “You’re going to prioritize where the frequency of main breaks have been, how critical it is in terms of population being served.”
Iacullo announced the plan at a news conference in Cliffside Park, where U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, were drumming up support for a bill that would make it easier for local governments to get money to make repairs to aging water systems. The Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act of 2014 would remove the federal cap on municipal bonds used to pay for sewerage and water system upgrades.
“The longer you wait to fix them, it only gets worst and more expensive,” Pascrell said as a United Water crew fixed a broken valve behind him.
Like many of New Jersey’s water utilities, United Water loses much more water than the industry standard of 15 percent. About 26 percent, or 10.6 billion gallons, was unaccounted for in 2011, the bulk of that from burst water mains, holes in corroded pipes or leaky joints, experts have said. United Water has averaged more than one water main break per day over the past five years.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/united-water-plans-big-fixes-in-north-jersey-1.1027933#sthash.CnAaotLu.dpuf
I have resided in Ridgewood for 35 years, and the first whiff I got of the drastic underpass plan was on May 23, 2014. David Shaw
Lane change an unpleasant surprise David Shaw
To the editor:
Very few people appreciate unpleasant surprises. Fewer yet appreciate being blind sided.
The May 23 issue of The Ridgewood News supplied the citizens of the village an amplitude of both. I have yet to find anyone in my neighborhood who knew that one lane-each direction automobile traffic under the bridge was soon to be irrevocably in their long-term future, nor did they understand why such a thing would be contemplated.
The article stated that the plan had been fully vetted by the council and the DOT, the Ridgewood engineering and police departments, as well as the Citizens Safety Advisory Committee. Critically and significantly, there was no mention that the taxpaying residents of this community were in the vetting loop. Is it unreasonably inquisitive to ask why the people most affected by this decision weren’t included, or, for that matter, even aware of the plans? Could this be construed as government by fiat?
Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh was quoted as saying “the project and the Complete Streets program was formulated many years ago and is coming to fruition now.” It may have been formulated eons ago, but it surely was not communicated. I have resided in Ridgewood for 35 years, and the first whiff I got of the drastic underpass plan was on May 23, 2014.
Critics and proponents of Valley Hospital expansion make final pleas to planning board
JUNE 3, 2014, 6:36 AM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2014, 6:38 AM BY BARBARA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
It was their last chance and they took it.
On Monday night, 43 residents told planning board members how to vote on The Valley Hospital’s plan to nearly double in size, their last opportunity to voice an opinion before the board votes in two weeks.
Board members remained impassive for more than three hours as residents spoke for and against the expansion plan, some telling personal stories while others tried to review expert testimony given during the past 15 months of hearings.
Proponents of Valley’s plan to expand from 562,000 square feet to 995,000 square feet noted that less than 200 people showed up for the meeting, questioning whether a majority of village residents really do oppose the plan.
At the same time, opponents of the plan noted that out of the 10 people who spoke in favor of the project, about 7 or 8 were Valley employees or physicians.
“I urge you to consider voting for this change,” said David Sayles, a Valley supporter who talked about having loved ones in both Valley and another hospital in New York City. “It’s a lot easier for family members to go next door when a family member is in the hospital and going through a hard time. It’s a wrong decision to just shoot it all down.”
But those who want board members to vote in favor of the master plan amendment that Valley is seeking were vastly outnumbered by opponents, who repeatedly reminded the board that the 6-year construction project will likely affect students attending the Benjamin Franklin Middle School next to the hospital.
