North Jersey bookstores write new chapters into their business models
MONDAY JANUARY 13, 2014, 6:40 AM
BY ANDREW WYRICH
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
* Owners diversify to stay competitive
To combat intensifying competition from technology-based rivals, North Jersey independent bookstore owners are writing new chapters into their business models by hosting author events, offering tech-driven reading options and providing consulting services for school districts.
The introduction of e-readers, tablets, websites such as Amazon.com and large wholesale stores selling steeply discounted books has increased competition for independent bookstores over the last decade, forcing remaining book vendors to look for new ways to add to their bottom line.
“Bookstores need to study their past and analyze it thoroughly,” said Mary L. Brown, the owner of Books Bytes & Beyond in Glen Rock. “We asked ourselves how we could service the people we are close with better.”
Bookends, an independent bookseller that has been in downtown Ridgewood for 30 years, moved from its original location in 2010 to lower its rent and focus on hosting author events to boost revenue.
“Our author events are typically attended by 50 to 2,000 people, depending on who the author is,” said Bookends co-owner Walter Boyer, whose wife, Pat, books the authors.
Boyer said Bookends hosts up to 100 author events a year and the money earned from customers buying signed copies of the books makes up one-third of the store’s yearly revenue.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/239868291_North_Jersey_bookstores_write_new_chapters_into_their_business_models.html#sthash.4PZPDcCs.dpuf
Ridgewood Education Foundation plans new direction
MONDAY JANUARY 13, 2014, 1:06 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Education Foundation (REF) is thinking bigger.
With a new campaign officially announced at a REF fundraiser last week, the private organization formerly known for its micro-grants for individual classrooms will now focus its energies on “truly innovative” grants and projects that affect more Ridgewood students district-wide.
A first $100,000 grant has already been given to the Board of Education (BOE) to aid the district with implementing Ridgewood High School’s (RHS) 1:1 technology initiative.
The REF will also make a $100,000 commitment to “21st century learning.”
“[Twenty-first century learning] is not limited to technology or STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics),” the organization noted in a press release. “It is about collaboration, creativity, project-based learning, critical thinking skills, civic literacy.”
The Record: Gadfly,Annoying and needed
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014
THE RECORD
THE DEFINITION of a gadfly is not very appealing. It literally describes a variety of fly that bites or annoys livestock. In the political realm, the dictionary definition of gadfly is “a persistent, irritating critic; a nuisance.”.
There are doubtless many local elected officials who would agree with the unflattering descriptions of gadflies. But that is too dismissive.
The term may not sound endearing, but political gadflies are vital to democracy. As described in a recent story by Record Staff Writer Chris Harris, gadflies are typically the man or woman who comes to virtually every town council or school board meeting. At times, they’re the only ones in the audience.
When the public portion of the meeting begins, they just about always command the floor. They may ask about a resolution on the agenda, question the mayor about an ongoing issue or bring up a problem around town that needs the governing body’s attention.
What makes gadflies valuable, and at times annoying to public officials, is that their regular presence at meetings makes them well equipped to comment on any number of issues. They are most likely to understand the ins and outs of governing, knowing, for instance, the difference between a resolution and an ordinance and which council member heads the public works committee. That puts them in a good position to point out the council’s shortcomings.
For years, Chris Christie was one of the country’s most gifted political thespians: More than any other contemporary Republican, he mastered the art of crafting dramatic moments for TV and online consumption and watching the nation thrill to the raw force of his personality.
Now, the New Jersey governor, whose aides once took pride in creating viral videos of his town hall smack-downs, is battling a set of adversaries wielding many of the same media tools against him.
The Garden State’s unfurling retribution scandal — in which at least three Christie associates have been tied to a scheme to deliberately disrupt traffic near the George Washington Bridge — has quickly become a case study in the evolution of the powerful messaging apparatus that national Democrats have built in the Obama era.
The Christie uproar would be a sensational story under any circumstances, thanks to the governor’s status as a leading presidential contender and a set of raw facts that are alternately troubling and profoundly entertaining. Christie’s aides and appointees didn’t need much help getting themselves into deep trouble. But with only a minor show of force from an array of entities on the left, “Bridgegate” has become a full-blown national political maelstrom.
And this time, Christie may not be stronger than the storm.
Most voters following the Bergen County intrigue likely found out about it last week, when the Record newspaper obtained emails showing that Christie’s deputy chief of staff had sent a message apparently green-lighting the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge.
But for nearly a month prior to the publication of those emails, the Democratic National Committee was plugging away at an anti-Christie message that has now become the talk of the political world and that a web of liberal groups, politicians and talk-show hosts have joined together to amplify. (Burns/Politico)
CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION SET TO WELCOME FANS TO THE FIRST ‘MASS TRANSIT SUPER BOWL’
Extra NJ TRANSIT trains, buses and light rail service planned for Super Bowl events during the week, including Game Day
January 6, 2014
NEWARK, NJ — With just 27 days to go until Super Bowl XLVIII kicks off in East Rutherford, the Christie Administration today outlined NJ TRANSIT’s service plans for transporting hundreds of thousands of fans and spectators to major events throughout Super Bowl week, including the first ever “Mass Transit Super Bowl” on February 2, 2014.
“Our goal at NJ TRANSIT for Super Bowl week is to ensure a world-class, seamless travel experience for visitors to the region who will be riding public transportation to the big game and other Super Bowl events,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein. “We have put together a plan that offers expanded service and additional capacity to ensure that both Super Bowl guests and regular NJ TRANSIT customers can travel with ease during the entire week.”
NJ TRANSIT will add service to train, bus and light rail lines to accommodate customers traveling to events such as Media Day in downtown Newark and Super Bowl Boulevard in New York City. On Super Bowl Sunday, NJ TRANSIT will operate full service on the Meadowlands Rail Line, which brings customers within steps of MetLife Stadium.
Service during Super Bowl week will operate as follows:
Rail Service During Super Bowl Week
From Wednesday, January 29 through Friday, January 31, to accommodate visitors traveling to Super Bowl Boulevard in New York City, NJ TRANSIT will operate additional late morning service on the Northeast Corridor and Morris & Essex Lines inbound to New York, as well as additional late evening service outbound from New York.
On Saturday, February 1, NJ TRANSIT will add trains throughout the day between Summit and New York on the Morris & Essex Lines, between New Brunswick and New York on the Northeast Corridor, and between South Amboy and New York on the North Jersey Coast Line.
Throughout Super Bowl week, NJ TRANSIT trains will operate with extra cars as needed to accommodate increased ridership demand.
Rail Service on Super Bowl Sunday
On Super Bowl Sunday, February 2, NJ TRANSIT will operate Meadowlands Rail Line service from Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station at Secaucus Junction to MetLife Stadium starting at 1:40 p.m. and continuing up to game time, using 10-car multilevel trains to provide additional capacity. NJ TRANSIT will also operate special shuttle trains between New York Penn Station, Newark Penn Station and Newark Liberty International Airport to Secaucus Junction.
Following the game, NJ TRANSIT will offer frequent service from MetLife Stadium to Secaucus Junction as well as extra rail service between New York Penn Station and Secaucus Junction.
Direct Meadowlands Rail Line service between Hoboken Terminal and MetLife Stadium will not operate on Super Bowl Sunday. Hoboken customers traveling to and from MetLife Stadium must transfer at Secaucus Junction.
Customers seeking to board trains to MetLife Stadium from Secaucus Junction are subject to enhanced security screening. In addition to purchase of round-trip rail fare to the Meadowlands, customers must present their game ticket in order to travel between Secaucus and MetLife Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday. Customers boarding trains will also be required to adhere to the NFL’s Stadium Bag Policy. For further details on the NFL’s policy, visit www.nfl.com/allclear.
Bus Service
From Wednesday, January 29 through Saturday, February 1, NJ TRANSIT bus routes will offer expanded service options at various hotels throughout northern New Jersey—guests should check at their hotel desks or visit njtransit.com for more detailed service information during that time.
From Wednesday, January 29 through Saturday, February 1, NJ TRANSIT buses will offer expanded service at North Bergen Park & Ride in North Bergen, Vince Lombardi Park & Ride in Ridgefield, and Mother’s Park & Ride in Wayne.
From Wednesday, January 29 through Saturday, February 1, NJ TRANSIT will offer expanded midday, afternoon peak and evening service on selected bus routes to and from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York. Some bus routes will have their PABT departure gates changed from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. Visit njtransit.com for more detailed service information during that time.
From Wednesday, January 29 through Saturday, February 1, NJ TRANSIT will offer expanded midday, afternoon peak and evening service on selected bus routes to and from the Newark Liberty International Airport and downtown Newark/Newark Penn Station.
Some bus routes will be subject to service adjustments and detours during Super Bowl week, including on game day. Details will be posted on njtransit.com during that time.
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Service
From Monday, January 27 through Friday, January 31, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail service will operate double-car trains until midnight, as well as two extra trips per hour between 2 p.m. and midnight.
On Saturday, February 1 and Sunday, February 2, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail service will operate on all three branches (West Side Avenue-Tonnelle Avenue, 8th Street-Hoboken Terminal, and Hoboken Terminal-Tonnelle Avenue), with double-car trains operating until midnight. Additional trains will operate between 2 p.m. and 2 a.m. on these days.
Additional service may be operated to serve major events that are scheduled along the system.
Newark Light Rail Service
On Media Day, which will take place on Tuesday, January 28, at the Prudential Center in downtown Newark, Newark Light Rail will operate additional trains between Newark Penn Station and Newark Broad Street Station to provide service every 15 minutes in each direction through most of the day.
Access Link Paratransit Service
Access Link paratransit service will be accessible on Super Bowl Sunday, as well as throughout Super Bowl week. Advance reservation of one to seven days in advance are required for certified Access Link customers or certified, out-of-state ADA paratransit service customers.
Super Savings
SUPER PASS: NJ TRANSIT is offering a commemorative, unlimited ride SUPER PASS to speed travel for customers and offer the flexibility to utilize the entire NJ TRANSIT system throughout Super Bowl Week. SUPER PASS is now available to the general public via online orders only at njtransit.com/superbowl through January 20.
Family Super Saver Fare: NJ TRANSIT is offering a special extension of the Family Super Saver Fare, which allows up to two children 11 and younger to travel free with each fare-paying adult. The Family Super Saver Fare will be in effect all through Super Bowl week.
Championship Dining
From now through February 9, NJ TRANSIT’s Championship Dining program will offer exclusive, discounted dining and shopping experiences at more than 50 locations across the state. For a complete list of participating restaurants and their exclusive offers to NJ TRANSIT customers, please visit: www.njtransit.com/superbowl.
NJ TRANSIT customers are advised to check njtransit.com/superbowl for complete Super Bowl-related service information, updates and travel tips
Half of U.S. Counties Haven’t Recovered From Recession Including Bergen County
About half of the nation’s 3,069 county economies are still short of their prerecession economic output, reflecting the uneven economic recovery, according to a new report from the National Association of Counties.
The overall U.S. economy had reached its prerecession level of gross domestic product three years ago, Commerce Department figures show.
National statistics “mask the reality on the ground,” where some county economies were in recession long before December 2007 and others never experienced one at all, said Emilia Istrate, the association’s director of research and one of the authors of the report. “That’s where Americans feel the economy. They feel it locally.”
The report, released Monday, examined four economic indicators: GDP, total number of jobs, unemployment rates and home prices. It found wide variations.
CNN exclusive: Feds investigating Christie’s use of Sandy relief funds
By Chris Frates, CNN Investigative Correspondent
updated 6:29 AM EST, Mon January 13, 2014
Washington (CNN) — Just days after dismissing two top advisers for their roles in the George Washington Bridge scandal, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is facing questions over the use of Superstorm Sandy relief funds.
CNN has learned that federal officials are investigating whether Christie improperly used those relief funds to produce tourism ads that starred him and his family.
The news couldn’t come at a worse time for the scandal-plagued Republican, who is facing two probes into whether his staff tied up traffic near the country’s busiest bridge to punish a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse his successful re-election bid.
Robert Laszewski—a prominent consultant to health insurance companies—recently wrote in a remarkably candid blog post that, while Obamacare is almost certain to cause insurance costs to skyrocket even higher than it already has, “insurers won’t be losing a lot of sleep over it.” How can this be? Because insurance companies won’t bear the cost of their own losses—at least not more than about a quarter of them. The other three-quarters will be borne by American taxpayers.
For some reason, President Obama hasn’t talked about this particular feature of his signature legislation. Indeed, it’s bad enough that Obamacare is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to funnel $1,071,000,000,000.00 (that’s $1.071 trillion) over the next decade (2014 to 2023) from American taxpayers,through Washington, to health insurance companies. It’s even worse that Obamacare is trying to coerce Americans into buying those same insurers’ product (although there are escape routes). It’s almost unbelievable that it will also subsidize those same insurers’ losses.
Obamacare may get sick if young Americans don’t sign up
By Lewis Krauskopf | Reuters – 22 hours ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Now that more than 2 million people have signed up for private insurance plans created by President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, a crucial next check-up for the new marketplace will be to see how old customers are.
Early data from a handful of state exchanges shows the administration needs more young adults to sign up in the next three months to help offset costs from older enrollees and prevent insurers from raising their rates.
Critics of Obama’s Affordable Care Act say the market won’t attract enough young people to keep it financially viable, putting more pressure on government funds to compensate for any insurer losses.
Data from seven states and the District of Columbia, which are running their own marketplaces, show that of more than 200,000 enrollees, nearly 22 percent are 18 to 34 years old, according to a Reuters analysis.
Second wave of health-insurance disruption affects small businesses
By Ariana Eunjung Cha, Published: January 11 E-mail the writer
When millions of health-insurance plans were canceled last fall, the Obama administration tried to be reassuring, saying the terminations affected only the small minority of Americans who bought individual policies.
But according to industry analysts, insurers and state regulators, the disruption will be far greater, potentially affecting millions of people who receive insurance through small employers by the end of 2014.
While some cancellation notices already have gone out, insurers say the bulk of the letters will be sent in October, shortly before the next open-enrollment period begins. The timing — right before the midterm elections — could be difficult for Democrats who are already fending off Republican attacks about the Affordable Care Act and its troubled rollout.
Some of the small-business cancellations are occurring because the policies don’t meet the law’s basic coverage requirements. But many are related only indirectly to the law; insurers are trying to move customers to new plans designed to offset the financial and administrative risks associated with the health-care overhaul. As part of that, they are consolidating their plan offerings to maximize profits and streamline how they manage them.
2014 Never tasted so good! Back by popular demand – From January 12 – 16 and January 19 -23 ; Sunday through Thursday…experience fine dining in Ridgewood for only @25.14 Each restaurant will prepare a 3 course, prix-fixe menu for you at $25.14 plus tax/tip/beverage.
Call participating restaurants for details – Brick Lane Curry House 201/670-7311 It’s Greek to Me (dinner for 2)201-612-2600 LaBottega 201-445-7222 LaPiazza Bistro Italiano 201-447-5111 LaTour, a French-American Grill 201-445-5056 (Lunch Only) Mediterraneo Restaurant 201- 447-0022 Memoire 201-857-8899 Omaha Steaks 201-251-9256 Park West Tavern 201-445-5400 Pearl Restaurant 201-857-5100 Raymond’s 201-445-5125 Ridgewood Fare Dining & Catering 201-857-8400 Sakur-Bana Restaurant 201-447-6525 The Office Bar & Grill 201-652-1070 Village Green Restaurant 201-445-2914 (Lunch only)
Reader says Common Core Curriculum is the result of an effort to denude our children’s education of actual substantive content
Kids failing to perform when exposed to objectively worthwhile testing standards is not important as long as we manage to indoctrinate them on the latest and greatest fad being foisted upon us by the teachers’ colleges…. Listen, the Common Core Curriculum is the result of an effort to denude our children’s education of actual substantive content in important academic subjects. Changing the testing standards to correspond with the Common Core Curriculum is only lowering the testing standards to match the new dumbed-down curriculum. Comparing the old NJ Ask test results with the new Common Core test results will be impossible.
Reader questions misplaced concern over cigarette smoke vs no opinion over 10years of Valley Hospital Construction next to a school
How can you have no opinion on a 10 year construction site next door to a school with 300 students and faculty and a field used by hundreds more Ridgewood students and adults, but be concerned about the occasional cigarette smoker on the sidewalk adjacent to the school, Dr. Fishbein? I’m not saying that it’s okay to smoke outside our schools, but it’s also NOT ok to subject our schoolchildren to that amount of construction dust and fumes for so many years. Just looking for consistency Dr. Fishbein.
Reader says Village Services were reduced because pension & healthcare costs for municipal workers have grown much faster than the overall budget
Village services were reduced under the previous Village Manager because pension & healthcare costs for municipal workers have grown much faster than the overall budget. With a cap on annual property tax increases, something had to be cut. Pension & healthcare increases – which are exempt from the cap – are contractual, so services were cut. So long as taxpayers subsidize health care coverage ($400 for family plans, $15 co-pays for prescriptions, and $5 per doctor’s visit) for many municipal employees, then the money has to come from something else, i.e. road maintenance and leaf pick-up.
