Christie signs bill to nix unemployment tax surcharge
By Jared Kaltwasser
The start of the new fiscal year won’t bring a new unemployment tax surcharge for employers.
Gov. Chris Christie made sure of that Friday, when he signed a bill postponing the 10 percent surcharge. The move will save employers about $300 million in the 2014 fiscal year.
The measure had bipartisan support, and was a top priority for many business groups, who said companies would have difficulty withstanding the surcharge at a time of recovery, both from the economic recession and Hurricane Sandy.
Assemblyman Craig J. Coughlin (D-Woodbridge) said New Jersey is still in a “fragile position,” with high unemployment and slower economic growth than its neighbors and much of the nation.
“The last thing our businesses need is an additional tax hit,” he said. “This is the responsible thing to do to ensure our businesses can continue focusing on job creation and economic development.”
NJ Labor law limits volunteer help for Sandy relief
Jul. 2, 2013 6:05 AM
POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Age wasn’t a factor in the random acts of kindness across the Jersey Shore after superstorm Sandy.
Thousands of volunteers, from young kids tagging along with their parents to retired adults helping their neighbors, have poured across the Jersey Shore to help the storm’s victims recover.
Countless more might have come this summer, except for one thing: They’d be breaking the law.
A state statute now under review by state officials prohibits anyone under age 18 from coming within 30 feet of construction work. While there is an exception for helping nonprofit organizations with affordable housing, no such exception currently exists for disaster relief.
“It’s a shame,” said Jessica Kerr, an 18-year-old who hoped to spend her seventh summer of construction-based mission trips at the Shore. “There’s a lot of work that can be done in New Jersey, and people who are able and willing aren’t allowed to help.”
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving Ridgewood Firefighters Quickly Snuff Out Garden Apartment Complex Fire
July 5 2013
Boyd A. Loving
5:21 PM
Ridgewood NJ, A 3-alarm fire that began near an oven in a garden apartment located in the 500 block of East Ridgewood Avenue in Ridgewood was quickly extinguished by Ridgewood firefighters late Friday afternoon. Residents of one building in the complex were safely evacuated as firefighters doused flames in sweltering 90 degree plus heat and high humidity.
No injuries were reported; information regarding damage to apartments and apartment contents was not made available. Traffic was diverted off of East Ridgewood Avenue between Southern Parkway and Maple Avenue while emergency crews worked at the scene. Responding were Ridgewood FD, Ridgewood EMS, Ridgewood Emergency Services, and Ridgewood PD.
WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – A new study finds that longtime marijuana use lowers motivation and reward-seeking behavior as the brain produces less dopamine.
In a small sample test, researchers in the United Kingdom scanned the brains of 19 long-term marijuana smokers along with 19 nonusers of the same age and sex, measuring the distribution of chemicals throughout the brain via positron emission tomography.
Marijuana smokers were found to produce less of the “feel good” chemical dopamine than their counterparts over time.
Our nation’s 237th birthday is being celebrated in many ways that have become familiar over the years. Fifteen percent of Americans will watch a parade; 29 percent will sing patriotic songs; 63 percent will enjoy a cookout with family and friends; 78 percent are likely to see fireworks.
Sixty-one percent consider Independence Day one of our nation’s most important holidays.
We celebrate July 4 with the enthusiasm of a loved one’s birthday because we love our country. Seventy-seven percent would live here even if they had the chance to live anywhere else on the planet.
But despite our love for America, we recognize that it’s not perfect. Only 47 percent believe ours is truly a land with liberty and justice for all. Fewer than half believe our economic system is fair to the middle class or fair to those willing to work hard. Only 34 percent believe our system of justice is fair to those who are poor.
That’s where the Declaration of Independence comes in. That document, one of the most cherished and important documents in the history of mankind, did more than found our nation. It defined our national ideals. Despite all the changes of the past two centuries, Americans still embrace those founding ideals.
Seventy-two percent continue to believe governments derive their only just authority from the consent of the governed.
Eighty-one percent believe all of us were created equal.
Ninety-two percent believe we have all been endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Put it all together, and what the Declaration of Independence proposed was then a radical concept — self-governance. Kings did not possess a divine right to rule. Individuals had divine rights, including the right to select their rulers. In fact, as our nation’s founding document described it, the whole purpose of a government was to protect individual rights.
What was radical then is deeply embedded in the cultural DNA of our nation today. We believe that we have the right to make our own decisions about our own lives so long as they don’t infringe on the rights of others. We use our freedom to solve problems by working together in communities.
This attitude was described by Thomas Jefferson and others as “the Spirit of ’76.” It continues to create problems for political elites today because 63 percent think there is more danger with a government that is too powerful than with one that is not powerful enough.
This concern is amplified by the fact that most voters view the government today as a threat to individual rights rather than a protector of those rights. Most Americans also now believe the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests.
Only one in four voters today thinks our government has the consent of the governed. That’s a clear call for our government to change its ways and re-earn the trust of those it is supposed to serve. Those are the kind of attitudes that make the Political Class nervous. The fact that we expect more comes from the fact that we as a nation still embrace the Spirit of ’76.
MAYOR’S OFFICE HOURS FOR RIDGEWOOD RESIDENTS – Saturday, July 6, 2013
Mayor Paul Aronsohn will be holding office hours for Ridgewood residents on the first Saturday of every month from 9:00 a.m. to Noon in the Council Chambers (Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room) on the fourth floor of Ridgewood Village Hall. The next session will be Saturday, July 6, 2013.
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.
Readers says Mayor Aronsohn’s first year has been a disaster
Read the Ridgewood News today, the Mayor’s Corner in which he discusses his many accomplishments of his first year.
Hmmm…let’s see….we can add misappropriation of funds by using police and fire to help a private citizen at bargain basement rates, going on a tirade against Councilwoman Walsh for a parking ticket in order to divert attention from Pucciarelli’s alleged illegal meeting, leading a witch hunt against Councilman Riche for a contract that the Mayor wholeheartedly approved, rude dismissal of the Preserve Graydon members who asked that the ramp plan be reevaluated, asking a citizen to retract or revise a letter to The Ridgewood News and thereby manipulating the press…..wait a minute, that is not the past year, that is just the past few months.
Ridgewood Mayor’s Corner: A look back at the last year
Friday, July 5, 2013
The Ridgewood News
The VOR Flagpole Repair Special Deal!
July4,2013
Boyd A. Loving
4:49 PM (11 hours ago)
Ridgewood NJ, — USE 12 ABLE BODIED MEN AND 7 EXPENSIVE VEHICLES TO REPAIR YOUR FLAGPOLE ALL FOR THE BARGAIN BASEMENT PRICE OF $150. LIMITED TIME OFFER ONLY; FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!
Remember this gem when you’re in the voting booth in 2014 ladies & gentlemen – the Aronsohn administration authorized the use of 9 firefighters, 3 police officers, and 7 taxpayer owned vehicles to repair a flagpole on the roof a privately owned building and plans to charge the building’s owner only $150.
And governments continue to wonder why they’re going broke at an alarming rate . .
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving Uniformed Police Officer’s Favorite Patrol Partner
July4,2013
Boyd A. Loving
5:15 PM
Ridgewood NJ , A uniformed police officer’s number one choice for a patrol partner – sleeping or not – the first born son.
Ridgewood Police Department Patrol Officer Paul Knapp leads Ridgewood’s 2013 4th of July parade in a marked police car, emergency lights flashing, siren wailing, with his son, festively attired, sound asleep in the shotgun position. It doesn’t get any better than this!
U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement
By RON NIXON
Published: July 3, 2013 61 Comments
WASHINGTON — Leslie James Pickering noticed something odd in his mail last September: A handwritten card, apparently delivered by mistake, with instructions for postal workers to pay special attention to the letters and packages sent to his home.
“Show all mail to supv” — supervisor — “for copying prior to going out on the street,” read the card. It included Mr. Pickering’s name, address and the type of mail that needed to be monitored. The word “confidential” was highlighted in green.
“It was a bit of a shock to see it,” said Mr. Pickering, who owns a small bookstore in Buffalo. More than a decade ago, he was a spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group labeled eco-terrorists by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Postal officials subsequently confirmed they were indeed tracking Mr. Pickering’s mail but told him nothing else.
Study shows veterans must navigate hundreds of forms, more than a dozen agencies for services
Published July 02, 2013
FoxNews.com
A new study released ahead of the Fourth of July holiday sheds more light on the tangle of paperwork facing America’s veterans — showing they’re up against as many as 613 forms across 18 agencies as they seek services.
The study by the American Action Forum also found the paperwork — in part the result of roughly 31 million Veterans Affairs claims alone each year — takes federal employees roughly 43.3 million hours to process.
“Navigating 18 agencies and more than 600 forms has produced absurd results and unnecessary delays,” the self-described “center-right” leaning nonprofit said.
To be sure, the massive backlog at the Veterans Affairs has been well-documented and has resulted in demands for change from the White House, Capitol Hill and the public.
In March, the agency had 600,000, roughly 70 percent, of its claims pending longer than 125 days.
Ridgewood’s planner recommends a new zone
Wednesday July 3, 2013, 2:24 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
The proposed master plan amendment to allow high-density, multi-family housing in and around the Central Business District should call for the creation of one or more new zones, according to Ridgewood’s municipal planner.
Planner Blais Brancheau’s revelation this week answered the months-long question of how the Ridgewood Planning Board should proceed as it moves toward the public hearing for four developers’ request to change the village master plan.
Over the past two years, separate developers have applied for master plan amendments to allow multi-family housing at various locations in downtown Ridgewood. The Planning Board has since grouped the four concepts together and embarked on a large-scale study of the entire CBD to determine which properties, if any, are appropriate and suitable for high-density housing complexes
