Ridgewood school system to freshen up lunches
Tuesday July 2, 2013, 10:39 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Many brown bag lunches from the local delis arrive at Ridgewood’s schools around lunchtime, awaiting pick-up.
A deli lunch can be costly relative to a school lunch, about $7 or $8, but many parents do not care. They are convenient, they are grab-and-go and many students and parents prefer them to offerings currently available from Pomptonian Food Services, the district’s food provider for the past 25 years.
The Ridgewood school system is hoping that by revamping Pomptonian’s image and menu next year, more students will order Pomptonian meals. Last fall, only about a third of the district’s students were ordering lunch
N.J. business groups pleased with health care law delay
Tuesday July 2, 2013, 8:33 PM
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
New Jersey business trade groups and employers were surprised, and pleased by the Obama administration’s decision to delay implementation of the requirement for businesses to provide health insurance.
“This is a win for businesses,” said Kathleen Alexander, a principal at the Clifton accounting firm Sax Macy Fromm & Co., which has been helping companies navigate the health care changes. “They are so inundated with the sluggish economy, with trying to recover from Sandy, there’s just so much on the plate, and then trying to prepare and comply with the complex regulations of the Affordable Care Act. It’s just impossible to keep everything going.”
Alexander said she expected to hear from very relieved clients on Wednesday morning.
Tracy Straka, chairman of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ) and executive vice president of Creamer Environmental Inc. in Hackensack, welcomed the news for her trade group and her company, which has 70 employees.
“I am absolutely thrilled,” Straka said. “First of all, nobody understands what they have to do, when they have to do, why they have to do … There’s a lot of unanswered questions where there’s no mechanism to get answers.”
For example, Straka said that her company, which does environmental cleanups, employs union workers for varying amounts of time ranging from three days to three months. Yet she has been unable to get an answer as to who is responsible for health coverage for such workers, or if they needed to turn to health exchanges.
Ridgewood Art Institute Names Rafael P. Martinez and Olympia Martin!! Artist of the month for July 2013
July 3,2013
Ridgewood NJ , The Ridgewood Art Institute is a non-profit arts organization made up of professional and amateur artists who represent and perpetuate America’s heritage of traditional realism in painting and drawing. We have been in existence since 1935.
Our purpose is to promote an interest in the fine arts in Ridgewood and its surrounding communities.
The Ridgewood Art Institute is a non-profit arts organization made up of professional and amateur artists who represent and perpetuate America’s heritage of traditional realism in painting and drawing. We have been in existence since 1935. The pursuit of beauty in fine art, together with the highest standards of excellence, is promoted through our classes exhibitions, lectures, and demonstrations, which are made available to the public.
Members of all communities, near and far, are always welcome to join our organization. We offer drawing, oil painting, watercolor, and pastel instruction. Members of the nearby community are always welcome to join our classes, exhibits, lectures, demonstrations and other scheduled events
The Ridgewood Art Institute is located at 12 E Glen Ave Ridgewood, NJ 07450
phone (201) 652-9615
Ridgewood train commuters may get coffee boost
Tuesday July 2, 2013, 10:30 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Tired-eyed rail commuters take notice: Coffee’s coming back to the Ridgewood train station.
The village is currently seeking an outside contractor to renovate and update the existing station building, particularly focusing on the indoor concession stand. Once that is done and all the interior work is completed, officials anticipate they will retain a coffee vendor to start serving up the java.
“When the construction begins, we will have a better idea of the target date [for hiring a vendor],” said Janet Fricke, assistant to the Ridgewood village manager. “The sooner the better.”
Many train riders agree, with some overcome with excitement when told the news earlier this week.
Does it really belong in a guide devoted to mental disorders?
By Matt Peckham @mattpeckhamMay 31, 2013
We’ve all probably had that one coffee drink (or carbonated beverage) too many, at that point in a slog of a day where we’ve gone and imbibed a Red Bull or Grande coffee against our better judgment.
According to a new edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders out last week (DSM, or in this case, DSM-5), that sort of excessive caffeine intake can lead to a condition known as “caffeine intoxication,” except it’s nothing like the sort of blissful stupor we tend to associate with that other sort of intoxication.
If you’ve had more than 250 mg of caffeine (two to three cups of brewed coffee) and experienced five or more of the following symptoms, says the guide, you’ve probably been caffeine-buzzed: restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushed face, diuresis (having to pee a lot), gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, rambling flow of thought and speech, tachycardia or cardiac arrhythmia, periods of inexhaustibility or psychomotor agitation (unintentional motion, say, rapidly bouncing one leg).
The Obama administration postpones employer mandate requirement for Obamacare until 2015
July 2, 2013
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Obama administration will not penalize businesses that do not provide health insurance in 2014, the Treasury Department announced Tuesday.
Instead, it will delay enforcement of a major Affordable Care Act requirement that all employers with more than 50 employees provide coverage to their workers until 2015.Giving Democrats some breathing room till after the 2014 midterm elections.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., a critic of the law, seized on the delay as a “clear admission” that the law is “unaffordable, unworkable and unpopular.”
NJ Senate Candidate Steve Lonegan blasted the Obama administration, “Even President Obama and his administration know that Obamacare is a train wreck waiting to happen, and they are afraid of voters rebelling at the ballot box when they see the higher premiums and loss of coverage that result,” Lonegan went on , “Instead of politically motivated delays, we need to repeal Obamacare completely and immediately.”
The administration claims it decided to postpone the provision after hearing significant concerns from employers about the challenges of implementing it. The the individual mandate was left unchanged.
The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare requires all employers with more than 50 full-time workers provide health insurance or pay steep fines. That policy had raised concerns about companies downsizing their workforce or cutting workers’ hours in order to dodge the new mandate.
In delaying the enforcement of that rule, the White House sidesteps those challenges for one year. It is also the second significant interruption for the Affordable Care Act, following a one-year delay on key functions of the small business insurance marketplaces.
These two changes beg the question over whether the administration will be able to put into effect its signature legislative accomplishment on schedule.
Poll: 50 percent of Americans think Obama team knew of IRS targeting
By JOEL GEHRKE | JUNE 7, 2013 AT 4:00 PM
Half of the American people believe that senior members of President Obama’s team knew that the IRS was inappropriately targeting conservatives between 2010 and 2012, according to a new Gallup poll that finds most Americans disapprove of the president’s response to the issue.
“More than seven in 10 Republicans believe that top leaders in the Obama administration (72 percent), as well as at the IRS (84 percent), were aware that conservative groups’ applications for tax-exempt status were targeted for greater scrutiny. Just over half of independents also hold these views,” Gallup reports today. “By contrast, the slight majority of Democrats, 53 percent, believe Obama administration officials were not aware of the practice, while they are evenly split on whether high-ranking IRS officials were aware.”
Ridgewood stands to save by changing phone service firms
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — The village would end up saving money by replacing its longtime telecommunications support firm, which is owned by a Ridgewood councilman, with a company that has bid for the work, it was revealed at last week’s meeting.
The council will consider a resolution next month to hire Pequannock-based Entel Systems to provide maintenance and service to the village’s Toshiba phone system.
The bid from Entel for all services came in under the rates that had been charged by Councilman Thomas Riche’s firm, Extel Communications, Manager Ken Gabbert said.
Entel’s $85 hourly rate during normal business hours is $3 an hour less than what the village was paying Extel. On Sundays and holidays, Entel’s service calls would run Ridgewood $48.50 less an hour than the rate charged by Extel.
Riche did not comment as the council discussed the bid last week.
Lightning warning system ignored in Ridgewood
Monday, July 1, 2013
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — Members of the Village Council acknowledge that a lightning detection system installed last year at parks and schools is being ignored by athletes and coaches.
Resident Boyd Loving told the council that during a recent storm, the lightning detection system sounded. Yet three baseball games continued, Loving said, on the fields behind Village Hall.
Loving suggested an ordinance be put in place to penalize those who ignore the lightning detection warnings, which sound when lightning strikes are imminent within a 10-mile radius.
It is unlawful to sell, offer for sale, possess, or use fireworks anywhere in the State without a valid permit
Under New Jersey’s Fireworks Regulation Law, it is unlawful to sell, offer for sale, possess, or use fireworks anywhere in the Statewithout a valid permit
As Independence Day approaches, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs offer this reminder to New Jersey’s consumers:
Under New Jersey’s Fireworks Regulation Law, N.J.S.A. 21:2-1 et seq., it is unlawful to sell, offer for sale, possess, or use fireworks anywhere in the State , without a valid permit issued by a municipality for a public fireworks display.
A valid permit must “name one person who shall be authorized to purchase, or otherwise order, and receive delivery of any fireworks. After such permit shall have been granted, sales, possession, and use of fireworks for such display shall be lawful for that purpose only.”
Any person who sells, offers or exposes for sale, or possesses with intent to sell any fireworks is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. Any person who purchases, uses, discharges, causes to be discharged, ignites, fires, or otherwise sets in action, or possesses any fireworks without the required permit is guilty of a disorderly persons offense.
“Fireworks displays are a fun and potentially awe-inspiring part of the way Americans celebrate Independence Day and enjoy the summer. But they must be enjoyed responsibly and legally,” Eric T. Kanefsky, Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, said.
In its most recent Fireworks Annual Report, the Consumer Product Safety Commission noted that 60 percent of all fireworks injuries occurred within the 30 days surrounding the Fourth of July holiday. More than half involved burns to the hands, head, and face. More than 5,000 consumers were treated in hospital emergency rooms due to fireworks-related injuries between June 22 and July 22, 2012.
In 2007, four Pennsylvania-based fireworks companies agreed to revise their business practices when advertising and selling to New Jersey customers, after being sued by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. The companies’ advertisements, websites, mailed circulars and in-store signage must contain the following warning: “New Jersey law prohibits the transportation, sale, possession or use of fireworks in New Jersey without a valid permit.”
Consumers who believe they have been cheated or scammed by a business, or suspect any other form of consumer abuse, can file a complaint with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting its website or by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504-6200.
Steve Lonegan’s Long Shot
A conservative battles the odds in deep-blue New Jersey.
By Robert Costa
Bogota, N.J. — Steve Lonegan’s Senate campaign is being run out of his basement. Three tables are covered with blue bumper stickers, and a lone staffer — Sean Carney, a recent graduate of Loyola University — sits by the phone. A pile of dolls and plastic toys discarded by Lonegan’s grown-up daughters is stashed in a corner.
It’s base camp for the Republican party’s last, best hope of winning a Senate seat this year.
Most Republicans, however, aren’t paying attention — at least not yet. Newark mayor Cory Booker, a Democratic celebrity, is the frontrunner for October’s special election, and Lonegan is considered the longest of long shots — a tea-party outsider in a deep-blue state.
But he’s gearing up for a battle. The former mayor of this sleepy suburban town predicts low turnout and conservative enthusiasm will make him competitive, and he dismisses Booker’s popularity as adoration by liberals who don’t live in the Garden State.
Ridgewood teen Emma Scher to be on “Chopped” teen competition
Tuesday July 2, 2013, 6:39 AM
BY KARA YORIO
STAFF WRITER
The Record
CHOPPED: TEEN INVASION
10 tonight Food Network
Cooking is relaxing for Emma Scher. At home, the music is playing and stress fades away as she prepares a large meal.
That calm was tested in The Food Network’s Chopped Kitchen as the 18-year-old Ridgewood resident competed in the popular cooking show “Chopped” on its second episode featuring teenage cooks.
Scher is no stranger to cooking competitions — she missed her high school graduation from Bergen County Academies last week to be at a national culinary competition in Kansas City, where she finished third in the nation for culinary arts in the high school age group. “Chopped,” however, was unlike anything she had done before.
“Usually in competitions, I know what I’m going to make, the people I’m going to compete against, what they’re going to give me, but this was very different,” Scher said.
In preparation for the unknown, Scher’s BCA instructors, chefs John Branda and Mary Beth Brace, not only introduced her to ingredients she might not have used before, but also helped her become well-versed in less familiar cooking techniques. The idea, Scher said, is that if she didn’t know the ingredient, she’d at least feel confident in the method of preparing it.
Appropriately she will watch the show not only with her parents, but with Branda and about 50 other students and staff members at BCA.
Only Hours Remain to Vote in the 4th of July house decorating contest
The Ridgewood Fourth of July Committee is proud to announce its inaugural house decorating contest! The idea is simple, whoever decorates their house with the most patriotic pride in the month of June and has the most likes on our Facebook page will win a gift basket with an American Flag, four Veteran’s Field tickets to the 2013 Ridgewood Fourth of July Fireworks and a flower arrangement from The Little Flower Shoppe.
…FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING…
THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR
* PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT…NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND
SOUTHEAST NEW YORK…INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS…IN
SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT…NORTHERN FAIRFIELD AND SOUTHERN
FAIRFIELD. IN NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY…EASTERN BERGEN…EASTERN
ESSEX…EASTERN PASSAIC…EASTERN UNION…HUDSON…WESTERN
BERGEN…WESTERN ESSEX…WESTERN PASSAIC AND WESTERN UNION. IN
SOUTHEAST NEW YORK…BRONX…KINGS (BROOKLYN)…NEW YORK
(MANHATTAN)…NORTHERN QUEENS…NORTHERN WESTCHESTER…
ORANGE…PUTNAM…RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)…ROCKLAND…
SOUTHERN QUEENS AND SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER.
* THROUGH THIS EVENING
* A PLUME OF MOISTURE EXTENDING UP THE EAST COAST WILL CONTINUE TO
AID THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEAVY RAIN PRODUCING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
THROUGH THIS EVENING.
* WHILE AN ADDITIONAL ONE-HALF TO ONE INCH OF RAINFALL ON AVERAGE IS
FORECAST ACROSS THE WATCH AREA…ANY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS
REPEATEDLY MOVING ACROSS THE SAME AREA WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL
TO PRODUCE SEVERAL INCHES OF RAINFALL. WHILE IT IS DIFFICULT TO
PIN POINT THE TIMING FOR ADDITIONAL FLOODING…THE HEAVIEST OF
THE RAINFALL IS CURRENTLY EXPECTED LATER THIS MORNING INTO THIS
AFTERNOON. DUE TO THE HEAVY RAINFALL THAT FELL ACROSS PARTS OF
THE AREA ON MONDAY…ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
ADDITIONAL FLOODING.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.
YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.
