Category: Village of Ridgewood

Downtown for the Holidays and Tree Lighting!

Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce, Downtown for the Holidays and Tree Lighting Celebration Friday, December 6, 2013 New this year – “for the kids” 5:30-6:30pm – Santa in the Park for the “wee tots” and a “Kids Corner” offering holiday Arts & Crafts in front of the Park along with live entertainment by the “clock” and in the stores and restaurant along E. Ridgewood Ave. Featuring the RHS Marching Band, RHS Singers, RHS Orchestra 7-8pm “on stage-live” Live Entertainment and Tree Lighting Celebration Featuring performances by Porch Light Productions, From the Top Studio, Art of Motion and Arthur Murray Dance Studio. 8:00-9:00pm “merriment” on E. Ridgewood Ave. Shh – Santa will be back in the Park Lots of music on the Avenue – two live bands, carolers, musicians Stores will be having special sales, restaurant reservation suggested.

Saturday, December 7 8:00am-10:00am Breakfast with Santa at The Office Beer Bar & Grill Reservations required 201-652-1070 10:00am-2pm – Santa arrives at Columbia Bank in a fire truck with gifts for all children attending 60 S. Broad St. 10:30AM FREE KIDS Movie at the Bowtie Warner Theatre 2:00-4:00pm Meet Santa at his house – Memorial Park at Van Nest Square Saturday, December 14 and 21 8:00-12Noon, Breakfast with Santa at The Office Beer Bar & Grill (reservations required 201-652-1070) 12Noon-4:00pm Meet Santa at his house – Memorial Park at Van Neste Square Along with other surprises – weather permitting For latest updates check www.experienceridgewood.com call 201-445-2600. See you there!

Congress eyes cover-up in handing out security clearances for Navy Yard Shooter

The federal agency charged with screening employees for security clearance offered hints about how to cut corners, and its lax policies could have led to the clearance the Navy Yard shooter needed to access the base, the House’s top investigator said.

Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican and chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said his staffers have come across verbal and written policies from the Office of Personnel Management that indicate the security clearance process was short-circuited in the case of Aaron Alexis, the Navy Yard shooter.

But Mr. Issa says OPM is refusing to turn over those documents and allowing them to be viewed only behind closed doors. If he doesn’t have the documents by noon Thursday, he said, he will issue a subpoena.

Mr. Issa said he thinks the agency is trying to protect itself from embarrassment from questions about the clearance process for Alexis and for Edward Snowden, the former contractor whose leaks have exposed some of the government’s most secret spy programs.

Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/20/congress-finds-shortcuts-suspects-opm-cover-up-in-/#ixzz2lMlS3yPq

Davidoff Year of the Horse now available at Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood

Introducing
Davidoff Year of the Horse
Limited Edition

Now Available at The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood
(201) 447-2204

~Gary, Barbara and Collin
The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood

The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood | 10 Chestnut Street | Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
Phone: 201-447-2204 | Email: info@tobaccoshop.com
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00AM – 5:30PM and Thursday Night 6:30PM – 8:30PM

D.C. awash in contracts, lobbying wealth
By GREG JAFFE and JIM TANKERSLEY Washington Post

WASHINGTON • So much money to be had if you know where to look.

The avalanche of cash that made Washington rich in the last decade has transformed the culture of a once staid capital and created a new wave of well-heeled insiders.

The winners in the new Washington are not just the former senators, party consiglieri and four-star generals who have always profited from their connections. Now they are also the former bureaucrats, accountants and staff officers for whom unimagined riches are suddenly possible. They are the entrepreneurs attracted to the capital by its aura of prosperity and its super-educated workforce. They are the lawyers, lobbyists and executives who work for companies that barely had a presence in Washington before the boom.

During the past decade, the region added 21,000 households in the nation’s top 1 percent. No other metro area came close.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/d-c-awash-in-contracts-lobbying-wealth/article_53336d9b-a75f-5a1a-bb19-d46d3186a960.html

Congressman: Benghazi attackers knew location of ambassador’s safe room
By Catherine Herridge
Published November 15, 2013
FoxNews.com

The terrorists who attacked the Benghazi consulate last year knew the location of the safe room where Ambassador Chris Stevens and his security team sought shelter, according to a congressman who spoke for 90 minutes with the diplomatic security agent severely injured in the assault.

“He confirmed this – that it was a very well orchestrated, and well organized, almost a military operation, using military weapons and using military signals,” the late Florida Rep. Bill Young said after meeting diplomatic security agent David Ubben at Walter Reed Medical Center last summer, when both were patients there.

After Young’s death in mid-October, his widow, Beverly Young, gave Fox permission to use her husband’s comments about the Sep. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the record.  The congressman had originally spoken to Fox on background last summer.

“He (Ubben) emphasized the fact that it was a very, very military type of operation they had knowledge of almost everything in the compound,” Young explained. “They knew where the gasoline was, they knew where the generators were, they knew where the safe room was, they knew more than they should have about that compound.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/15/benghazi-attackers-reportedly-knew-location-ambassador-safe-room/

Cronies Cash in on CommieCare

We refuse to reinforce the meme that President Obama cares about the American people. We particularly take offense that he cares about our health. So from now on, we are calling this monstrous, unconstitutional legislation what it is – CommieCare. The Editors

Nearly 5 million American families lost their health insurance this week. But a small cadre of Obama cronies cashed in and landed big pay days when CommieCare rolled out.

Who are these fortunate souls?

Peter Schweizer author of New York Times bestseller, “Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets” chronicles the list of Obama donors who just so happened to be in the right place, at the right time to cash in their chips and benefit from CommieCare –

Check out CommieCare winners here:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/11/12/at-least-one-group-americans-loves-obamacare/

Desperate Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan calls for ObamaCare probe

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) will ask two oversight agencies for a full-blown investigation into the problems surrounding the ObamaCare launch.

Hagan, who is up for reelection in 2014, is asking her Senate colleagues to co-sign a letter asking two agencies to conduct “a complete, thorough investigation to determine the causes of the design and implementation failures of HealthCare.Gov.”

“These problems are simply unacceptable, and Americans deserve answers and swift solutions,” Hagan writes in a letter obtained by The Hill. “Taxpayers are owed a full and transparent accounting of how the vendors contracted to build the site failed to launch it successfully.”

The letter, which is in draft form and could be changed, is addressed to the Government Accountability Office and the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

https://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/189890-democrat-calls-for-obamacare-probe

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Electrical fire destroys facade of Ridgewood office building
November 13,2013
Boyd A. Loving
9:52 AM

Ridgewood NJ, A smoky “all hands” blaze sparked by a electrical short circuit destroyed a wooden facade of an office building (Gilsenan and Company, (201) 445-1600) located at 219 East Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood shortly after 9 AM on Wednesday morning.  No one was injured in the blaze and Ridgewood firefighters had it completely extinguished within 30 minutes.

Traffic in both directions of East Ridgewood Avenue between Maple Avenue and Cottage Place remains blocked to all traffic while crews work to clean up debris left behind from the blaze and apply rock salt to portions of the street where water from fire hoses froze.  Fire officials at the scene reported light smoke damage to interior portions of the building. Ridgewood EMS and Emergency Services Units provided assistance at the scene.

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving

 

Early numbers show 3% enrollment in Obamacare among 12 exchanges
November 11, 2013, 2:15 PM
By Russ Britt

If you’re expecting a low number of enrollees when the Department of Health and Human Services announces its first round of Obamacare registrant figures this week, here’s a sneak peek into what to expect.

Health-care consultant Avalere Health reported Monday that 3% of the expected 2014 enrollment figure was met as of last week, or 49,100 registrants out of 1.4 million, for 12 of the 15 exchanges available in 14 states and the District of Columbia. No figures were available for California, Massachusetts and Oregon and aren’t included in the totals. Also not included are figures from HealthCare.gov, the troubled online registration system for President Obama’s health-care overhaul in 36 states.

The exchanges for which data are available — Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — showed weaker-than-expected enrollment since their debut Oct. 1, says Dan Mendelson, chief executive of Avalere.

https://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2013/11/11/early-numbers-show-3-enrollment-in-obamacare-among-12-exchanges/

Con Men Prey on Confusion Over Health Care Act
By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG and SUSANNE CRAIG

Published: November 9, 2013

To the list of problems plaguing President Obama’s health care law, add one more — fraud.

With millions of Americans frustrated and bewildered by the trouble-prone federal website for health insurance, con men and unscrupulous marketers are seizing their chance. State and federal authorities report a rising number of consumer complaints, ranging from deceptive sales practices to identity theft, linked to the Affordable Care Act.

Madeleine Mirzayans was fooled when a man posing as a government official knocked on her door. Barbara Miller and Maevis Ethan were pitched by telemarketers who claimed to work for Medicaid. And Buford Price was almost caught by another trap: websites that look official but are actually bait set by fly-by-night insurance operators.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/business/con-men-prey-on-confusion-over-health-care-act.html?hp&_r=0

Deadly Diseases Like Measles And Mumps Make Frightening Comeback
November 7, 2013 11:28 PM

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Deadly diseases, once nearly wiped out, are making a frightening comeback in Maryland and across the country. Now — a warning that parents who don’t vaccinate their children are putting others at risk.

Linh Bui explores an alarming and controversial trend.

Measles, mumps, whooping cough — all deadly diseases. Until recently — virtually eliminated thanks to vaccines that prevent kids from getting sick.

But now doctors see an alarming trend — more and more people are coming down with these diseases.

“Kids die from measles on a regular basis. Kids are in hospitals and can die from whooping cough very commonly. So these kids are at risk,” said Dr. Scott Krugman, Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center.

https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/11/07/alarming-trend-more-people-coming-down-with-deadly-diseases-like-measles-and-mumps/

Construction begins on ramp at Graydon Pool in Ridgewood
Thursday November 7, 2013, 5:16 PM
BY  DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

A new sloped entryway leading into Graydon Pool will be completed by the end of the month, weather permitting, giving residents with accessibility challenges the opportunity to use Ridgewood’s water park beginning next summer.

Municipal and state officials joined a handful of residents at the village’s historic swimming facility last Friday to commemorate the start of the ramp’s construction. Ground broke on the Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramp early last week, and the first drops of concrete were poured Tuesday.

“While I definitely think it took us way too long to get here, I’m glad we’re here. This is an extraordinary moment, a moment that is important to our community,” said Mayor Paul Aronsohn, addressing a small audience that gathered for the ceremony. “Ridgewood is to be one of the most inclusive, welcoming, accepting places. This is going to make us more inclusive and more welcoming.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/231056351_Construction_begins_on_ramp_at_Graydon_Pool_in_Ridgewood.html#sthash.QMOyuWwj.dpuf

Election Results Mostly Conform to Expectations
By BRYAN PRESTON PJ Media
November 5, 2013 – 7:09 pm

Chris Christie won big, espically big, in New Jersey. He emerges tonight as the GOP favorite for 2016. That’s my objective analysis, not what I want. He did do well with voters the GOP absolutely needs and has a problem attracting. Very well. He captured 21% of the black vote, for instance. That ain’t nothing.

Bill de Blasio, the Sandinista-loving Communist, won and will be mayor of New York as expected. It’s only a matter of time before he wrecks that city and it needs a second Rudy Giuliani to come along and save it again. Why New Yorkers chose to follow Detroit’s and Chicago’s lead is anyone’s guess, but they have, and the consequences will be theirs. But at least Spitzer and Weiner have been rejected and will not wield any political power.

It’s now nearly a given that Virginia will have the most corrupt governor in its history. Terry McAuliffe is a self-dealer who will use the state to build a platform for Hillary 2016 and line his own pockets. That’s what he does. Evidently a majority of Virginians either don’t know that, or they do and don’t have a problem with it. It’s only a matter of time before Gov. Rick Perry shows up in the Old Dominion to poach its non-government businesses. How many gun manufacturers will Virginia have left after four years (unless McAuliffe’s term ends early due to prison) of an extremely anti-Second Amendment governor? It’s too easy to pick up and move now, and Texas is just too inviting.

Read more here:

https://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/11/05/election-results-mostly-conform-to-expectations/

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Electrical fire forces evacuation of Ridgewood High School
November 4,2013
Boyd A. Loving
8:13 AM

Ridgewood NJ, An electrical fire in a second floor classroom forced the temporary evacuation of Ridgewood High School at approximately 7:30 on Monday morning.  Ridgewood Fire Department personnel snuffed the blaze out with a hand held dry chemical fire extinguisher.

The fire was contained to a malfunctioning electric heater, however smoke spread beyond the affected classroom requiring firefighters to use high velocity fans to eject it.  No injuries were reported and students, faculty, and administrative personnel were able to return to the building 30 minutes after firefighters arrived.   Traffic on streets surrounding the school was gridlocked until fire & police personnel cleared the scene.

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving