Hundreds of lawyers join the ranks in N.J. despite tough job market
TRENTON — New Jersey minted nearly 670 lawyers this year — the most since the state began keeping track six years ago — despite a difficult job market for law graduates across the country, according to court officials.
At a packed ceremony in the Trenton War Memorial Tuesday, more than 500 law graduates who recently passed the bar exam took the oath to start their legal careers, with friends and relatives in tow to cheer them on and snap photos. Nearly 150 others were sworn in at a ceremony in February, and some lawyers take the oath in private.
A total of 667 lawyers passed the bar and asked to take the oath to join the state and federal bars this year, according to a court spokeswoman, Winnie Comfort.
That’s the highest number since the courts began to keep track in 2007, and a 17 percent increase over last year. (Rizzo/Star-Ledger)
TRENTON — They compare him to French President Charles de Gaulle at the end of World War II. They call him a “happy warrior.”
But above all, the staff members of GQ bestowed a new honor on Gov. Chris Christie:”Boss of the Year 2013.”
The magazine included the Republican governor in its latest Men of the Year edition, saying “he might be the only politician in America who had a good 2013.”
“In New Jersey, he was stalwart in the wake of (Hurricane) Sandy — first providing storm victims a shoulder to cry on, then browbeating D.C. politicians into delivering the aid money those victims desperately needed,” GQ writes in a featurette on Christie. “Nationally, he was a lone voice of reason in an increasingly insane GOP, picking fights with everyone from John Boehner (over that Sandy relief) to Rand Paul (national security). Along the way, he turned himself into that most unlikely of pols: a happy warrior.” (Johnson/Star-Ledger)
New Jersey’s high school graduation rate edges up
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
BY LESLIE BRODY
STAFF WRITER
The Record
To curb price increases for adults seeking high school diplomas in New Jersey, the state board of education Wednesday approved three new test options for getting the credential.
Next month, applicants will be able to take exams created by Educational Testing Services or McGraw-Hill, via computer or pen-and-pencil. Another test, Pearson VUE, will give computer-based testing, with paper tests offered only as an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Now about 32 test centers offer such exams, which cover writing, reading, math, science and social studies.
In the past, there was only one option, called the General Education Development, or GED test. In August, the state department of education solicited proposals from competitors and brought the projected price to an average of $112 per test-taker, including test center fees.
The state said these tests from private vendors will still be more expensive than the current paper tests, which were originally offered nationwide by a non-profit called the American Council for Education. In 2010, the council joined Pearson to form a for-profit, Pearson VUE, for such exams.
U.S. High-School Students Slip in Global Rankings
By Stephanie Banchero
Updated Dec. 3, 2013 7:12 a.m. ET
U.S. 15-year-olds made no progress on recent international achievement exams and fell further in the rankings, reviving a debate about America’s ability to compete in a global economy.
The results from the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which are being released on Tuesday, show that teenagers in the U.S. slipped from 25th to 31st in math since 2009; from 20th to 24th in science; and from 11th to 21st in reading, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, which gathers and analyzes the data in the U.S.
U.S. 15-year-olds made no progress on recent international achievement exams and fell further in the rankings, reviving a debate about America’s ability to compete in a global economy. Stephanie Banchero reports. Photo: Dominick Reuter for The Wall Street Journal.
The PISA is administered every three years by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. A representative sample of about 510,000 students took the exam in 65 countries and locales, representing 80% of the world economy.
U.S. scores have been basically flat since the exams were first given in the early 2000s. They hover at the average for countries in the OECD except in math, where American students are behind the curve. Meanwhile, some areas—Poland and Ireland, for example—improved and moved ahead of the U.S., while the Chinese city of Shanghai, Singapore and Japan posted significantly higher scores.
The stagnant U.S. results are certain to spark more hand-wringing by politicians, business leaders and policy makers concerned that American students are not keeping pace with counterparts in other countries.
The Federated Home and School Association is enrolled in TD Bank’s Affinity Program providing the opportunity to earn cash donations from TD Bank. TD Bank donates a percentage of the annual balance in every account that is identified with the Federated HSA Affinity Program. No withdrawal is made from any account. TD Bank donates its own funds based on the balance of enrolled accounts (checking, savings, money market, CDs and retirement accounts are all included). There is no limit on the amount of TD Bank’s potential donation. All balances are confidential and only TD Bank will know that information.
Here’s how you can help-
If you already have a TD Bank account, just call any office and tell a Customer Service Representative you would like your account(s) linked to the Federated Home and School Association’s Affinity Membership Program.
If you do not currently have an account, you can open any type of account at TD Bank and link it to Federated HSA’s Affinity Program.
At the end of the year, TD Bank presents Federated with a check which is used to enhance the education of Ridgewood Public School student’s education.
Michael was an amazing young man who touched all of us. It was our honor to have Michael in our lives. At 10 years old he embodied all of positive traits that one would want in a leader and/or a police officer.
Words cannot express how proud I am of each and every police officer and first responder who helped give this amazing young man the fitting service he deserved. Their actions honored Michael, his family, our community, our department and the entire law enforcement community.
Additionally I can’t express how moved we are by the out pouring of love and support from around the country and world.
We want to give other agencies who could not attend the services a way to be part of this tribute. Michael was laid to rest with his badge so we are putting together 3 shadow boxes and memorial books, one set to be displayed at our headquarters and two to be given to Michael’s family.
We would be honored to include pins and/or challenge coins in these memorial sets from any interested police and or public safety department.
We believe it only fitting as Michael was part a family much larger than just Ridgewood.
On Behalf of the men and women of the Ridgewood Police Department and the citizens of the Village of Ridgewood- Thank You
Ridgewood Resident Denise Spell Creates Mobil Emergency App The Disaster & Emergency Response App for finding gas, food & places to charge devices. Report downed lines, downed trees & flooding.
The Problem:
During Super Storm Sandy, approximately 8.5 million people lost power. The enormity of the crisis left people stranded without power, without gas, without the ability to charge phones. That’s where the idea of Currant was born. There’s got to be an app to help people find things and information after a disaster. With literally millions of people on the street, why not leverage everyone’s power to help people help each other.
The CurrantNOW™ app translates your social media posts into actual usable information for your neighbors, the utilities companies and local officials. These reports can then be used to obtain necessities (like milk and cookies) and help dispatch repair crews in a timely and efficient way. With the app, you can even report incidents during non-emergencies such as graffiti or street lights out, directly to your utility companies and local officials. Storms like Sandy are happening all the time, so we all need to be prepared.
Our Kickstarter campaign will help us finalize the CurrantNOW app development and make it available for everyone as a free download. Let’s be ready for the next disaster or mass emergency, fund our Kickstarter! In Greg “the Boyfriend’s” words, “It’s People helping People, people!”
Find What You Need, Share What You Know!
Find Gas
Report if the Supermarket is Open
Find a place to Charge Your Phone, ipad, and other devices
Where to get medical attention
Day shelters to get meals and rest
Is anyone out there listening?
They will now. Report Incidents! Let us know and we can let the Mayor and Utility Companies know. Report all these things and more, and not just during emergencies:
The fallen tree that is blocking your street
Downed power lines knocking out your power
The river is flooding and you now can paddle down your street
Any other non-emergency problems: the street light is out, you have to swerve your car from debris in the street, someone has messed up your favorite building with graffiti
Reader says Didn’t we just buy new cars ? …the ones with the ugly paint jobs?
Those police cars with the ‘swish’ on the side look like shit. Paint them to look like real police cars again.
As far as leasing, the cost of capital*interest rate* is what determines if the lease makes sense, along with the allowable mileage and return provisions. If they have too much mileage or dents, the town will have to pay when they turn them in.
If they bought 3 new cars, and sold them in 3 years, they would have operated ‘under warranty’ and there would be no repair costs. It would, however, be up to the town to then sell them after 3 years in order to recover their equity.
Im glad the Police dept has begun the discussion and its up to the finance folks to see what the best deal for the town is. In a lease, there is another ‘party’ to the transaction, who makes a profit, so its not necessarily a good deal. Just asking ‘how much per month’ is not the only question here.
Readers Debate best Use for Zabriskie Schedler House and property
#1 written by Anonymous 18 hours ago
the re ader makes a good point. what is the cost of maintaining the property as a passive Park as compared to a multipurpose field with a 90-foot diamond And parking lot. There has to be a huge difference in cost Tothe taxpayers of Ridgewood long term. Something everyone should consider.
#2 written by Anonymous 18 hours ago
“Give the kids in the neighborhood a small playground and some walking trails.” Really? Do you think for one minute the Village paid $4 Million or whatever it was for that piece of property so “the kids in the neighborhood” could have a small playground and some walking trails? The Village of Ridgewood is in desperate need of more open space, open space that can be used by a wide variety of organizations. The Habernickel property is a great example of a project that addresses the needs/wants of many different groups. Schedler should be a similar project. Ridgewood is very deficient in the number of fields for the number of kids playing sports. The need for a large baseball diamond has been acknowledged for a long time. If Schedler is the place that such a field fits than that should be incorporated into the design
#3 written by Anonymous 18 hours ago
The same thing was proposed for Grove Park – only on a larger scale. The Sports Council wanted something like 4 ball fields and a parking lot. And the fill was going to come from the Valley Hospital underground parking excavation.
The neighborhood got together and got facts and fought it. Even the kids for whom this sports complex was being built for didn’t want it if it meant destroying one of the last forests in Ridgewood.
#4 written by anonymous 18 hours ago
Disingenuous #2. Village did not pay 4 million for the property. The cost was about 2 million with very little coming from Ridgewood. Get your facts straight before you go shooting your big mouth off. The lions share was paid for by Greenacre grants not ridgewood taxpayers. But the ridgewood taxpayers will bear the long term brunt of maintaining your field compounded by devalued neighborhood properties. All this while your son enjoys a full baseball scholarship to an ivy league college to cement his future as a New York Yankee.
#5 written by JJJ 17 hours ago
No to the ball field and parking lot! A passive park would be much better. Sports council is just plain greedy and continue to try to bully the village to give them what they want.
#6 written by Anonymous 11 hours ago
So if there is no parking lot how are the rest of the residents that don’t live near by get to use the park. Wow. you people what your own little park only to be used by the neighborhood. Typical for that group always crying that they are the forgotten part of town.
#7 written by Anonymous 9 hours ago
The VIllage purchased the property for $2.7 million. $1.6 million of the bill was covered by grant money. The Village paid an additional $90,000 for a property abutting the Schedler property known as the Shotmeyer property. There is about $60,000 a year in lost tax revenue and ongoing maintenance costs as well.
#8 written by Anonymous 5 hours ago
Never should have been purchased in the first place. I agree, just a lot of Ridgewood sport bullies trying to get their way again. PS #4 and your son will end up a Yankee??
Who would want to do that?
President Obama Falsely Attacks Generation Opportunity at WH Youth Summit
Apparently it’s “bizarre” to tell young people they have options
Washington, DC – (12/4/13) – Evan Feinberg, President of Generation Opportunity, issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s misleading attacks today:
“Today, the President called our efforts to educate young people on alternatives to Obamacare ‘bizarre.’ What’s bizarre is that the President of the United States would use his ‘youth summit’ (our invitation must have been lost in the mail) to mislead young people about their healthcare options while refusing a dialogue with anybody that has concerns about Obamacare.
“Obamacare is a bad deal for our generation, but health insurance is not. Unfortunately, Obamacare is not health insurance but generational theft, placing huge cost burdens on us to subsidize older, wealthier, and sicker generations.
“To steal a phrase, let me be clear. We have always advocated that young people make a responsible decision. And that’s to opt out of Obamacare and purchase private insurance outside of the government-run health care exchanges.”
The White House Youth Summit comes on the heels of new polling indicating that young Americans have soured on Obamacare and the President.
Only 3 out of 10 young Americans (18-29) plan to enroll in the government exchanges
57% of Millennials disapprove of Obamacare
Only 18% say Obamacare will improve their care
If a recall election were held today 52% of young Americans 18-24 would vote to recall President Obama.
Generation Opportunity is a national, non-partisan organization advocating for economic opportunity for young people through less government and more freedom.
Do as I say Not as I do : Some Reid staffers exempt from Obamacare exchanges
By Chris Frates, CNN Investigative Correspondent
updated 10:19 AM EST, Wed December 4, 2013
Washington (CNN) — Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, one of Obamacare’s architects and staunchest supporters, is also the only top congressional leader to exempt some of his staff from having to buy insurance through the law’s new exchanges.
Reid is the exception among the other top congressional leaders. GOP House Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have all directed their staffs to join the exchange, their aides said.
Rand Paul: Americans Trading Liberty for False Security
In the opening pages of Ray Bradbury’s famous novel Fahrenheit 451, protagonist Guy Montag asks: Wasn’t there a time when firemen used to put out fires? They laugh at him, rebuke him and say: Everybody knows firemen start fires.
Montag knew this. Montag’s father and his grandfather had been firemen. It had been his duty for many years to start fires. He knew it was his duty to burn books, but this day would be different.
Montag arrived on the scene to do his job but found a woman who wouldn’t leave. He complained that she had all of her books but still wouldn’t leave. Undeterred, Montag proceeds with the other firemen to douse her books—and her—with kerosene. The woman shouts out and goads them. She is indignant that they would touch her books at all, and she still wouldn’t leave. She says to them: “Play the man, Master Ridley; today we will light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, that it won’t be forgotten.”
They keep dousing her with kerosene and she says it again: “Play the man, Master Ridley. Today we will light such a candle.”
In the book, the reference is lost on the firemen who simply continue to do their job.
The reference is to 16th century figure Hugh Latimer, who literally became a human candle. He was burned at the stake in 1555 for heresy—opposing the state religion. He wanted to promote the idea that the Bible should be translated into English, which the state forbade.
Public says America’s world leadership has tumbled to 40-year low
By PAUL BEDARD | DECEMBER 3, 2013 AT 3:17 PM
For the first time in nearly 40 years, a majority of Americans believe the United States is less important around the world and that it should mind its own business, a stunning rejection of President Obama’s foreign policy just four years after he received the Nobel Prize.
A new Pew Research Center poll found that 53 percent of people believe that the U.S. is playing a less important role as a world leader than a decade ago, the highest figure since 1984.
Worse: 70 percent said that the U.S. is respected less than in the past, almost matching the high reached under former President George W. Bush, whose foreign policy Obama pledged to reverse.
Other key highlights from Pew’s release:
— By a 56 percent to 34 percent margin, more disapprove than approve of Obama’s handling of foreign policy. The public also disapproves of his handling of Syria, Iran, China and Afghanistan by wide margins.
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— For the first time, 52 percent believe the U.S. should “mind its own business internationally.”
— Some 51 percent said the U.S. does too much in helping solve world problems.
Issa: FBI impeding inquiry into IRS targeting of conservative groups
The House’s chief investigator says the FBI is stonewalling his inquiry into whether the agency and the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative group True the Vote for special scrutiny, and Rep. Darrell E. Issa is now threatening subpoenas to pry loose the information from FBI Director James B. Comey Jr.
Mr. Issa, California Republican, and Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, are leading the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s IRS inquiry. They also said the FBI is refusing to turn over any documents related to its own investigation into the IRS, which began in the days after an auditor’s report revealed the tax agency had improperly targeted tea party groups for special scrutiny.
BPU Tells PSE&G It Can’t Boost Prices for Natural Gas
BPU orders state’s largest utility to continue supplying fuel to Red Oak power plant at discounted rate
In a dispute that could affect electricity customers and air quality, the state is intervening on the behalf of a power plant involved in a row with Public Service Electric & Gas about how much the utility charges for natural gas to operate the unit.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has ordered the Newark-based utility to continue providing fuel to the Red Oak power plant in Sayreville at the same rate it has been charging for the past 11 years, preventing PSE&G from boosting the cost of natural gas by $10 million annually. (Johnson/NJSpotlight)
