Crash – Lexus SUV vs. Lexus sedan – both towed from scene
February 1,2014
Boyd A. Loving
3:21 PM
Ridgewood NJ, A white Lexus SUV collided with a pale blue Lexus sedan in Ridgewood on Saturday afternoon. The force of the collision sent the sedan careening across a sidewalk and up onto the front lawn of a home located in the 100 block of North Maple Avenue.
Both drivers escaped injury, but their respective vehicles did not fare as well; both were removed from the scene by separate flatbed tow trucks. There was no damage to the lawn on which the sedan landed.
Bergen County Exec: Suspicious Packages Sent To Several NJ Hotels Contained Corn Starch
Initial Tests Show White Powder In Letter Sent To Giuliani’s NYC Office Non-Toxic January 31, 2014 5:33 PM
CARLSTADT, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) – Two days before the Super Bowl will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the FBI and Hazmat crews responded to suspicious packages sent to several hotels in the area.
The packages contained white powder which turned out to be corn starch, Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan told 1010 WINS.
Someone at an Econo Lodge in Carlstadt found the substance in an envelope, and similar mailings arrived at the Homestead Inn in East Rutherford and a Renaissance Inn in Rutherford, Carlstadt Police Det. John Cleary said.
Friday January 31, 2014, 7:54 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — A celebratory spirit was in the air Friday evening, as residents both young and old saluted the Super Bowl’s coming to East Rutherford with a range of games while raising money for charities.
More than 40 village families gathered inside the old Bank of America building on E. Ridgewood Avenue, where the village-sponsored entertainment included a magician who dazzled the kids with slight-of-hand trickery. There were video games, pinball machines, and foosball on site, as well as bean bag games, ping pong tables and a putting green.
The Christie Administration just released the following statement:
“Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer confirms what the Governor has said all along – he had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein’s motivations were for closing them to begin with. As the Governor said in a December 13th press conference, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press and as he said in his January 9th press conference, had no indication that this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of January 8th. The Governor denies Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer’s other assertions.”
Ridgewoood Police Recruit Scandal Reader says nothing but political pay back
Aronsohn never forgave those three Councilpersons for not making him Deputy Mayor and now has systematically gone after everyone one of them as witnessed at the council meeting and now this.
Pucciarellli never forgave two Councilpersons for not appointing him head of the planning board and has said as much to people. (that is way he ran for office)
Hauck is the worst of them all, she does not think for herself and just does what she is told.
The retired police captain who spoke up blames the former mayor for not making him chief. I might and but not sure was Pucciarellli best man.He also hates Chief Ward and said so on public. So there you have folks It has nothing to do with nepotism, ordinance or money. Its payback time folks.
Reidgewood Police Recruit Scandal : Reader says Aronsohn and Pucciarelli threw the police chief under the bus
Aronsohn and Pucciarelli threw the police chief under the bus. They made him the problem. News flash: police chiefs do not authorize hiring lines, they execute promises of employment.
The Council authorized through a budget line, the VM told the Chief to execute a promise of employment then Aronsohn and Pucciarelli saw the name Killion. Landers, a former cop who works for the village as does his son, claims nepotism from the audience.
In the end, Cheif Wards authority is undermined, the rank and file police offices lose trust in the chain of command, and a young recruit loses a job. Since when do we go after people’s kids? A new low even for Aronsohn and pucciaelli.
Reader says a decorated family history of public service, did everything right in the hiring process but they just had the wrong last names
How to become a ridgewood police officer:
1. Resident of ridgewood
2. Score well on the civil service exam
3. Village council has to ok recruits in the budget, which are put into almost every pd budget.
4. Pass psych, medical, background
Top scores who want the job always get hired. Now with that being said, from what I’m aware, the only people to ever get passed over or skipped, (excluding deferrals) from the lists in the last 20+ years, were done so by upper management not in law enforcement, (gabbert). So where in that process can the chief pick his guy. (Insert nepotism conspiracy theory here) Test scores tell the story. The Chief has no control over that.
The fact is, when kids grow up in a family with members in police or fire, they have a passion to follow that career path. Civil service was put in place to make sure it is earned and not political, (test score). Want it bad enough, take a test prep course. It’s not a perfect system, but look at towns that give their own test. I can see it being more of problem there.
“Nepotism is rampant in police and fire” is only said to stir up the mob of uninformed police & fire haters. It sounds like these two young men, with a decorated family history of public service, did everything right to get to where they were in the hiring process, but in this case, they just had the wrong last names, weird.
FYI, nepotism in the private sector “is rampant.” No wait a minute, that’s just called networking for your son or daughter
Friday, January 31, 2014 Last updated: Friday January 31, 2014, 12:03 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — The chief of police has acknowledged that he violated Ridgewood’s code by extending conditional offers of employment to two residents who are related to current and former village officers.
The move may have also violated the village’s nepotism policy, which requires council approval when hiring any individual related to a current village employee.
The hires would boost the department’s patrol officer ranks to 32 — exceeding the number currently allowed.
Chief John Ward told the Village Council he did not realize Ridgewood’s code capped that number at 30 when he made the job offers on Jan. 17.
By Christopher Matthews @crobmatthewsJan. 30, 2014
The economic picture is looking brighter these days. The federal government announced Thursday that economic growth had picked up to its fastest pace in two years, while employment growth over the past five months has averaged a healthy 185,000 new jobs. But as evidenced by a report out Thursday from the Corporation for Enterprise Development, nearly half of Americans are living in a state of “persistent economic security,” that makes it “difficult to look beyond immediate needs and plan for a more secure future.”
In other words, too many of us are living paycheck to paycheck. The CFED calls these folks “liquid asset poor,” and its report finds that 44% of Americans are living with less than $5,887 in savings for a family of four. The plight of these folks is compounded by the fact that the recession ravaged many Americans’ credit scores to the point that now 56% percent of us have subprime credit. That means that if emergencies arise, many Americans are forced to resort to high-interest debt from credit cards or payday loans.
Read more: Nearly Half of America Lives Paycheck-to-Paycheck | TIME.com https://business.time.com/2014/01/30/nearly-half-of-america-lives-paycheck-to-paycheck/#ixzz2rz9vpyCz
US Sen. Robert Menendez set up defense fund, paid law firm $250K, documents show
Friday January 31, 2014, 4:13 PM
BY HERB JACKSON
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
The Record
Sen. Bob Menendez paid a law firm $250,000 in December and has set up a legal trust to raise money for further costs related to investigations by the Justice Department and the Senate’s ethics committee into his relationship a major contributor, disclosures filed today show.
Menendez’s campaign also paid that contributor, Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, another $11,250 in December for a flight on Melgen’s private plane in 2011. Last January, Menendez reimbursed Melgen another $58,500 from his personal checking account for other flights that had not been cleared in advance with the Senate’s ethics committee.
Menendez’s spokeswoman, Tricia Enright, said Menendez had flown commercially to Miami for a series of fund-raisers and meetings and returned on Melgen’s plane.
“Due to an oversight, the campaign did not reimburse Dr. Melgen for the cost of that flight at the time,” Enright said. “When that oversight was discovered at the end of 2013, Senator Menendez directed his campaign to immediately reimburse Dr. Melgen.”
Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. : NBC, MSNBC sink to bottom of who the public trusts
By Paul Bedard | JANUARY 30, 2014 AT 4:20 PM
NBC News and sister cable network MSNBC rank at the bottom of media outlets Americans trust most for news, with Fox News leading the way, according to a new poll from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling.
In its fifth trust poll, 35 percent said they trusted Fox news more than any other outlet, followed by PBS at 14 percent, ABC at 11 percent, CNN at 10 percent, CBS at 9 percent, 6 percent for MSNBC and Comedy Central, and just 3 percent for NBC.
Obamacare’s Unpopularity Rises Among Uninsured
By Andrew Johnson
January 30, 2014 9:38 AM
As the deadline for 2014 enrollment nears, Obamacare is increasingly growing unpopular, especially among the uninsured. A new Kaiser Family Foundation survey ( https://kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-january-2014/) finds that about twice as many uninsured people have an unfavorable view of the health-care law than have a favorable one.
Among the uninsured, 47 percent view Obamacare in a negative light versus the 24 percent who view it favorably. That’s a change from 43 percent who viewed it unfavorably last month, and 36 percent who viewed it favorably. Overall, half of Americans view Obamacare unfavorably, while just over one-third have a positive take on the law.
More of the uninsured also said Obamacare made them worse off (39 percent) than improved their situation (26 percent), according to the poll.
MAYOR’S OFFICE HOURS FOR RIDGEWOOD RESIDENTS – Saturday, February 1
Mayor Paul Aronsohn holds office hours for Ridgewood residents the first Saturday of every month from 9:00 a.m. to 11AM in the Council Chambers (Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room) on the fourth floor of Ridgewood Village Hall. The next session is Saturday, February 1st .
From 11AM to 4PM, the Mayor will be at the Bank of America Building on E. Ridgewood Avenue at the SUPERBOWL Celebration and welcomes residents to speak or play ping pong with him there!
For an appointment to meet with the Mayor, please call the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 206. You may come to the Mayor’s office hours without an appointment, but those with appointments will be given priority.
Police, hazmat converge on hotels near MetLife Stadium on ‘unknown substance’ calls
Friday, January 31, 2014 Last updated: Friday January 31, 2014, 1:00 PM
BY JAMES M. O’NEILL AND MATTHEW MCGRATH
STAFF WRITERS
The Record
Bergen County has dispatched hazmat and bomb squad teams to three hotels near MetLife Stadium after a suspicious white substance was delivered to the hotels.
The substances were delivered this morning and reported to county officials at 11:42 a.m., said Jeanne Barratta, chief of staff to Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan.
She said the substance was delivered to two hotels in Carlstadt and one in East Rutherford. She said she did not know if anyone at the hotel was exposed to the substance. The FBI and New Jersey State Police are also working the case, she said.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/carlstadt/Police_converge_on_Carlstadt_hotel_on_hazardous_material_call.htm
FIRE and ICE – A Winter Festival – with Bonfires at Graydon – February 1
Fire and Ice – A Winter Festival in the Village New Date – Saturday, February 1st
Take part in the national initiative “Come Alive Outside” and join Ridgewood Parks and Recreation, Jacobsen Landscape Design and Construction, Ridgewood Fire Department and Eastern Mountain Sports as they create an outstanding winter late afternoon/evening event at Graydon Park and the surrounding parklands. Please use the Graydon parking lot and main entrance.
Village families can gather together, enjoy bonfires around Graydon Pool with winter dinner and comforting refreshments. Ice skating (bring your own skates), snow shoeing, hiking, ice sculptures, and music are a few of the festive offerings. A winter vendor’s market will host a variety of hot foods, desserts and homemade baked goods while others specialize in winter gloves, scarves, and mittens. There will even be honey from our local beekeepers.
Saturday, February 1st, 4 to 8 p.m. (rain date is 2/8) Graydon Park and the Stable environs (Please use the Graydon Pool parking lot and main entrance.)
We hope you will join us! The cost per person is $5. Pre-registration is requested and is offered online at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass or in person/by mail: The Stable, 259 N. Maple Avenue, weekdays, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Locate the registration flyer on the Recreation homepage at www.ridgewoodnj.net/recreation. Call the Recreation Office at 201-670-5560 if more information is needed.
