Five Guys: Obamacare will boost burger prices
March 11, 2013 | 4:22 pm
The fight over Obamacare, so far held at the 30,000-foot level, is about to hit home. The latest impact hot off the grill: prices of burgers and hot dogs at Five Guys, the national chain that started in Washington, are going to rise to cover the president’s mandated insurance coverage.
“Any added costs are going to have to be passed on,” said Mike Ruffer, a Five Guys franchise holder with eight of the popular restaurants in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. area. He will need all the profits from at least one of his eight outlets just to cover his estimated added $60,000-a year in new Obamacare costs.
What’s more, he’s iced plans to build another three restaurants until after the administration explains the exact rules and penalties employers will face. The law’s plan to have those available March 1 has been pushed back to October.
Preserving your Precious Heirlooms and Antiques with Bari Falese
Sunday, March 24 from 1:30–4:00 p.m. at the Ridgewood Public Library Auditorium
Ridgewood NJ, Have you ever wondered how best to care for and preserve that precious heirloom given to you by a relative? Do you have an antique piece that you want to preserve for future generations? Join Bari Falese at the Ridgewood Public Library on Sunday, March 24 at 1:30 p.m. Bari, an expert conservator with 30 years of experience, will speak about the care, cleaning, and storage of your heirlooms and antiques. She will help the audience understand the importance of preservation, how to use archival materials for care and storage, and how to triage items that have been damaged over time.
There will be a $5 admission charge to hear Bari speak. For an additional $5, Bari will look at your heirloom or antique item and give you actionable feedback on preserving it. If you would like Bari to look at your precious item, please register by emailing us.
This program is sponsored by The Ridgewood Historical Society and the Ridgewood Public Library. Proceeds raised will help support the Schoolhouse Museum and their preservation efforts.
Our expert Bari Falese has over 30 years experience in museums, galleries and conservation laboratories. She is a conservator and a curator. \ She has designed, prepared, and installed exhibits and been responsible for the care, assessment, and preservation of textiles, artifacts, and ephemera.
Bari has completed studies in ceramics, silver, pewter, painting, sculpture, printing, and textile arts. She holds a BA in Studio Art and in Chinese Studies and an MA in Studio Art. She completed a second masters degree at Seton Hall University in Museum Studies. In addition she has studied textile conservation at F.I.T.
Bari worked at the Newark Museum as assistant registrar. She currently works as an assistant textile conservator at The Textile Conservation Laboratory at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. She is the sole proprietor of MTS as a consultant to museums, historic societies and private clients. For the last four years Bari has been a consultant at the Schoolhouse Museum helping to design and install exhibits.
Since 1997 Bari has taught preservation workshops to audiences ranging from Science Scouts to Elderhostel groups. She offers programs on the care of objects in museum settings and in the home. Bari continues to be a guest instructor for the Seton Hall University Museum Professions MA Program.
The Valley Hospital introduces revised expansion plan at public hearing
Monday March 11, 2013, 11:13 PM
BY MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — The Valley Hospital plans to move some outpatient services to new locations and eliminate one underground floor of a proposed new building to ease the impact of construction under a new “smaller” expansion plan, a lawyer for the hospital testified at a public hearing on Monday night.
The attorney, Jonathan Drill, told the Ridgewood Planning Board that the proposed 910,000 square feet of floor space at the new hospital represents a 21 percent decrease from the previous proposal of 1.17 million square feet. The revised plan also reduces the amount of bedrock that must be removed, minimizing noise and vibration and decreasing construction time, a major concern for many residents.
The proposal represents a scaled-down version of Valley’s controversial “Renewal” — the hospital’s $750 million plan to double in size that the Village Council rejected as “an aggressive overexpansion” in 2011.
The hearing, which drew nearly 100 residents and hospital officials, was the first of several scheduled on proposed changes to the master plan to allow the hospital to expand on its 15-acre campus, which is bordered by well-kept two-story homes and a middle school.
Ridgewood NJ, Northbound traffic on North Maple Ave is being detoured at the Ridgewood Glen Rock border due to a utility emergency. The detour will be in place throughout tonight and most of the day Tuesday 3/12. Plan an alternate route and expect delays in the area
Facebook reveals secrets you haven’t shared
By Bede McCarthy and Robert Cookson
The increasing amount of personal information that can been gleaned by computer programs that track how people use Facebook has been revealed by an extensive academic study.
Such programmes can discern undisclosed private information such as Facebook users’ sexuality, drug-use habits and even whether their parents separated when they were young, according to the study by Cambridge university academics.
In one of the biggest studies of its kind, scientists from the university’s psychometrics team and a Microsoft-funded research centre analysed data from 58,000 Facebook users to predict traits and other information that were not provided in their profiles.
The algorithms were 88 per cent accurate in predicting male sexual orientation, 95 per cent for race and 80 per cent for religion and political leanings. Personality types and emotional stability were also predicted with accuracy ranging from 62-75 per cent.
Non-Teaching School Staff Costing Taxpayers Money
Lindsey Burke
March 4, 2013 at 5:01 pm
https://tinyurl.com/al5supg
The U.S. public education system has seen an enormous increase in staff over the past few decades. But unlike private companies, which base staffing decisions on product demand, the number of school staff positions has increased rapidly without a commensurate increase in the number of students served by the system.
A new report by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice highlights just how bad the school staffing surge has become:
Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students [from 1950 to 2009]. Of those personnel, teachers’ numbers increased 252 percent, while administrators and other non-teaching staff experienced growth of 702 percent, more than seven times the increase in students.
The Friedman report points out that there are 21 “top-heavy states” that employ more non-teaching personnel in the school system than teaching personnel. Benjamin Scafidi, the report’s author, writes that “Virginia ‘leads the way’ with 60,737 more administrators and other non-teaching staff than teachers in its public schools.” In another example, the report points out that the state of Maine experienced an 11 percent decline in students from 1992 to 2009, yet it increased the number of administrators and other non-teaching personnel in its public schools by 76 percent.
That’s the type of staffing surge that, if reversed, could save some $24 billion annually, Friedman estimates.
The Friedman Foundation’s research mirrors Heritage findings on the dramatic increases in education staff over the decades. Since 2000, the percentage of teachers as a portion of school staff has decreased by nearly 3 percent; since 1970, that percentage has declined by 16.5 percent. Notably, the percentage of teachers as a portion of school staff has decreased more than 28 percent since 1950. Today, teachers comprise just half of all education jobs.
Not surprisingly, academic achievement and graduation rates have shown little to no improvement over the same time period.
States should consider cutting costs in areas that are long overdue for reform and should refrain from continuing to increase the number of non-teaching staff in public schools. As the Friedman report concludes: “The policy of increasing public school staffing does not appear to improve student achievement—despite its massive and on-going cost to taxpayers.”
Cat Food recalled for lack of nutrients
Monday, 11 Mar 2013, 3:37 PM
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, BluePearl Veterinary Partners is asking people to stop using certain bags of Diamond Pet Foods.The company recently recalled Premium Edge Finicky Adult Cat Formula dry cat food, Premium Edge Senior Cat Hairball Management Formula dry cat food, Premium Edge Kitten Formula dry cat food, Diamond Naturals Kitten Formula dry cat food and 4health All Life Stages Cat Formula dry cat food on Sunday in 25 states, including New Jersey.
BluePearl Veterinary Partners says tests conducted by the company indicated the products might have a low level of thiamine (Vitamin B1), which is an essential nutrient for cats in maintaining normal nervous system function.
The recall effects Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.
People who have the recalled products should return or discard them immediately.
New Valley Hospital plan to be presented Monday night
Monday March 11, 2013, 1:00 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Representatives from The Valley Hospital will discuss the preliminary plans for a new 910,000-square-foot expansion project at a Ridgewood Planning Board meeting on Monday, March 11.
The special meeting will begin at 8 p.m. at Benjamin Franklin Middle School (BF).
According to Gail Price, Planning Board attorney, she and board members will have the opportunity to officially review the proposal and scope of work laid out by Valley representatives at the first meeting. Speaking at recent board meetings, Price stressed that the public hearing, with sworn testimony by a list of planners, witnesses and experts, will not begin on Monday night.
“The purpose of Monday’s meeting is the information session. There will not be any testimony on Monday evening,” Price said this week, adding that Planning Board Chairman Charles Nalbantian will also review his rules for the application process.
Price said she anticipates Valley officials, likely the hospital’s attorney, to provide an overview of “what they intend to do once we start the public hearing.”
Oversight group to advise Ridgewood on finances
Monday March 11, 2013, 12:57 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Ridgewood council members have unanimously expressed the need for a financial oversight board, provided that a new committee acts merely in an advisory capacity.
The council’s decision to pursue the creation of the new board is the first action based off the Tiger Team report, a broad analysis of Ridgewood’s finances conducted through the course of 2012 by a volunteer group made up of accountants, lawyers, finance executives and business owners. The report, which was released earlier this year, provided a list of fiscal recommendations to assist the council during its budget process.
Among the recommendations was the formation of a financial oversight board to specifically examine and scrutinize municipal spending, including the budgets of individual village departments.
Last week, Mayor Paul Aronsohn presented the proposed committee’s suggested mission statement, which rebranded it as the Ridgewood Financial Advisory Board.
The need for an advisory board became apparent, according to Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli, during recent budget meetings with department supervisors. Specifically, Pucciarelli pointed to the various increases already built in to the budget, such as contractual salaries.
Ridgewood officials consider junking Central Garage
Monday March 11, 2013, 12:45 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
The Village Council’s recent review of Ridgewood’s fleet maintenance budget for 2013 has reopened the ongoing discussion on the Central Garage, particularly its future operation and potential relocation.
More than one village official has already deemed the Central Garage, the Chestnut Street location where all village and school district vehicles are serviced, as a “big and clumsy” facility, and the Ridgewood Council has been asked to consider several options when it finally determines the fate of the aging fleet services operation.
“It seems to me that facility is inefficient as a place to service the many vehicles. I draw that conclusion not because I’m an expert on maintenance vehicles, but upon talking to the experts,” said Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli, who since his election to the council last spring has championed changes at one of the main public works department properties.
Shroud of secrecy in the name of security hangs over Montclair marijuana clinic
Sunday, March 10, 2013 Last updated: Monday March 11, 2013, 7:37 AM
BY HARVY LIPMAN
COLUMNIST
The Record
The sidewalk view of the Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair — the only medical marijuana dispensary to open in the state so far — is less intimidating than, say, the entrance to Fort Dix.
But with its storefront composed of ink-black windows that prevent anyone from seeing inside and a door that can be opened only with a state-issued computerized swipe card, it’s hardly inviting either.
Inside, patients and visitors alike must sign in and provide state-issued ID to a security guard at the front desk.
Cameras — monitored by the state Department of Health — watch the foyer and waiting room. More of them overlook the dispensary area behind yet another locked door, which is accessible only to patients and staff.
Three years after New Jersey authorized the limited use of marijuana as a treatment for the sick — and three months after Greenleaf opened its doors — the present reality of the state’s experiment in alternative treatment comes down to this nondescript one-story building on Bloomfield Avenue. A recent tour offered a glimpse inside a system in a state of evolution.
Ridgewood NJ ,Monday, March 11th @ 6:00pm Head Coach of the New York Giants, Tom Coughlin, will sign his new book: Earn the Right to Win
Books available March 5th . If you cannot attend, taking names for a wait list for signed copies. Just in…now limit 4 books per person.
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change. Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.
While we try to insure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
N.J. hasn’t doled out any money from Sandy relief fund
Sunday March 10, 2013, 2:00 PM
SHANNON MULLEN
AP/ASBURY PARK PRESS
Associated Press
NEPTUNE — The Sandy relief fund chaired by New Jersey first lady Mary Pat Christie has raised more than $32 million so far. But four months after the superstorm, none of that aid has reached storm victims yet.
In an interview, Mary Pat Christie pointed to the logistical challenge of starting a charity from scratch, the relief fund’s focus on addressing long-term recovery needs, instead of short-term relief, and her own “methodical” approach to putting the proper resources and safeguards in place, as reasons for the delay.
It was never the intent for the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund to quickly provide monetary aid directly to storm victims, she noted. Instead, the plan was to lend support to reputable nonprofit groups that will be providing victims with financial assistance and other services in the months and years to come. The relief fund plans to distribute $1 million in grants this week, with another $5 million to follow several weeks after that.
“I have taken excruciating steps to make sure that we give the money out in a really judicious way,” Mary Pat Christie told the Asbury Park Press.
“You want accountability, you get accountability when you go through a methodical structure,” she said. “So, in three years when I’m still distributing money at Hurricane Sandy Relief, ask me if we’re doing enough.”
Valley Hospital Expansion Plans Presentation to the Planning Board
Planning Board Special Public Meeting – March 11 at BF Middle School Auditorium
PLANNING BOARD
AMENDMENT TO MEETING SCHEDULE
Work Session & Public Meeting: Monday, March 11, 2013
In accordance with the provisions of the “Open Public Meetings Act,” please be advised that the Planning Board has scheduled a special public meeting and work session for MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013, in the BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MIDDLE SCHOOL AUDITORIUM, 335 NORTH VAN DIEN AVENUE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ beginning at 8:00 p.m.
The Board may take official action during this Work and Public Meeting at which time the Board will preview presentation and have Board discussion regarding the schedule and scope of future hearings concerning an application for an amendment to the Land Use Plan Element of the Master Plan concerning the H- Hospital Zone, The Valley Hospital, 223 N. Van Dien Avenue, Block 3301, Lot 51.
All meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work session meetings, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings which are always open to members of the general public.
will country SWAT and riot police be invited to the March 11th meeting ?
Reader says Valley is acting like bullies
I understand that someone will have to tell her to recuse herself? Please someone stop this possible lawsuit. It is going to cost this town enough trying to fight Valley Again!
The kids have a Bullying Rule in place now, how come there doesn’t seem to be one for Valley? They are acting like bullies. Pushing for over expansion until they get it?
I think their new plans look similar to their old plans. Wait, they went went from four tiers of parking to five…so much better.
Pathetic, unless your bleeding to death (or an Emergency) it may be time to start going to other area hospitals or urgent cares. Valley, has driven many of us to start thinking this way. Shame, it’s just a shame!
