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Laird Hamilton
Wednesday, January 7th – 7:00pm
World renown Surfer, Laird Hamilton will sign his new book: Force Of Nature, Mind, Body, Soul and of course, Surfing! Come meet the man whom Lesley Stahl claimed… “is to his Sport what Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong are to theirs”!
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Schools Re-open
December Recess is December 24 – January 2. Schools will re-open on Monday, January 5, 2009.
Friends of Music Scholarship Benefit Happens January 9
Friends in the Business is the popular musical review put on each year by John Lange and Ridgewood Friends of Music. This year, nationally-acclaimed musicians from Broadway, jazz and opera will come together on Friday, January 9, at George Washington Middle School at 8 p.m. The artists will donate their talents to raise money for scholarships for Ridgewood music students. Tickets are on sale at Town & Country Apothecary, or by mail at “Friends in the Business” Concert, 197 Lincoln Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450. Prices are $20 for adults, $15 for students and seniors. Make checks payable to “Ridgewood Friends of Music.”
Fourth Annual RHS Alumni Art Show Opens
The Ridgewood High School Department of Art and Design is holding its annual Alumni Art Show in the RHS Carroll Art Gallery, Room 135, through January 9, 2009. A public reception will be held for the artists on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, from 3-5 p.m. The gallery will be open during school hours for the duration of the show.
January Board of Education Meetings
The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold regular public meetings on January 12 and 26, 2009. The Board meets on Floor 3 of the Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, at 7:30 p.m.
Coming Soon: RAHP Info Sessions Information sessions for Ridgewood Academy Health Professions (RAHP) will be held in the RHS Campus Center on Saturday, January 10, from 9:30-11 a.m. and Wednesday, January 14, from 7-9 p.m. Current RHS freshmen and their parents/guardians are invited to attend. For more information contact Lucy Fern, RAHP coordinator, at [email protected]. Martin Luther King Day January Board of Education Meetings
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>Obama should look here to see what high taxes do.
https://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB123059756486341161-lMyQjAxMDI5MzAwMjUwOTI3Wj.html
Madison, N.J.
When Barack Obama makes his New Year’s resolutions, at the top of his list ought to be the following: “I will not allow America to become New Jersey.”
Think of it as our gift to the nation. Other states offer promising experiments in areas such as Medicaid, taxes, education and regulatory reform. In contrast, the People’s Republic of New Jersey offers America something truly unique: the perfect bad example.
As harmful as this has been for our own prosperity, our example could be invaluable for President-elect Obama. That’s especially true given that his team appears to be considering some of the same things that have long been popular in Trenton. For years, the solons in our state capital have operated on the assumption that you can have high taxes everywhere — on income, on property, on business — without suffering any consequences.
Well, Gov. Jon Corzine is now dealing with those consequences, and his budgets show it. Earlier this year, he pushed through a budget that was one of the few in New Jersey history to be less than the one that preceded it. With revenues now running $1.2 billion short of what was expected, the next budget will undoubtedly be tougher still.
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Not all of Mr. Corzine’s choices have been good ones. In fairness, however, he is dealing with huge problems that have been years in the making. In some ways, we are a mini-California. That is to say, where New Jersey was once a national leader in terms of economic growth and job creation, more recently we have become a national laggard.
It seems not to have dented the consciousness of our political class that New Jersey’s dismal economic performance might be linked to the state’s tax policy. According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, New Jersey is home to the most hostile tax environment for business in the nation. We also bear the nation’s highest burden of state and local taxes. And on the list of the 10 counties with the highest median property tax, we claim seven of them.
During the last recession, we began to feel the full weight of these burdens. Other states responded by cutting back on spending and getting their houses in order. Not New Jersey. Then-Gov. Jim McGreevey added to the burden by borrowing and spending and raising the corporate tax — including the imposition of an alternative minimum tax on business. And we’ve been paying for these bad choices ever since.
Mr. Obama might pay special attention to what these measures have meant for jobs, especially given his expressed concern for the struggling middle class. Though the state did ultimately emerge from recession in 2003, private-sector job creation since then has been a pale shadow of what we enjoyed after the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s.
Of course, there was one area where jobs did grow. From 2000 to 2007, says the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, the government added 54,800 jobs. To put that in proper perspective, that works out to 93% of all jobs created in New Jersey over those seven years.
In Today’s Opinion Journal
So how do we respond to these new hard times? Beginning New Year’s Day, New Jersey workers will see even more money taken from their paychecks. The money will support a new mandate offering six weeks of paid family leave to almost all New Jersey employees — right on down to those working in very small operations. In itself, the family-leave tax will not be the ruin of the state economy. But the imposition of yet another new tax at this moment bespeaks a lack of seriousness about what both New Jersey workers and businesses can afford.
For the moment, Mr. Corzine, like Mr. Obama, is putting his faith in public-works spending. Indeed, he has even called on the president-elect to expand his own plans for an infrastructure stimulus to $1 trillion. And it would be hard to deny that our tired infrastructure could use some attention.
But amid all the debate over jump-starting the economy through public works, we risk losing sight of a larger truth: What governors and citizens alike need most is a growing economy that is creating jobs for the people and sending revenue to the capital. Over the long run, the only way to have a healthy and growing economy is to do exactly what New Jersey has not: Trust the people with their own money, and create an environment where initiative and enterprise are rewarded rather than penalized.
Absent a thorough-going revolution in Trenton, New Jersey may be lost for some time to come. But if Mr. Obama can learn from our bad example and do the opposite, New Jersey’s loss might yet be America’s gain.
Write to [email protected]
>Toxic-items disposal offered by counties
Friday, January 2, 2009
Last updated: Friday January 2, 2009, 7:46 AM
BY SCOTT FALLON
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
Some things don’t belong in an ordinary trash can, like computer chips, motor oil or paint thinner.
To help you get rid of some of the more toxic household items, recycling coordinators in Bergen and Passaic counties have set up a 2009 schedule for free disposal.
Computers and electronics: Computers contain heavy metals like lead and arsenic that can be harmful if released into the air through incineration or leaked from a landfill.
Motherboards, monitors, laptops, printers, keyboards, fax machines, hard drives, modems, speakers, wiring and other electronics will be accepted during several dates this year in Bergen and Passaic.
Passaic County officials expect to receive more than the 35 tons collected last year. The bulk of the increase, they say, will come from televisions that can’t receive a digital signal.
The federal government is requiring a switch to all digital transmissions in February, meaning some older televisions will require converter boxes.
In Bergen
* April 26, and Aug. 22 at the Bergen County Community Services Building at 327 E. Ridgewood Ave. in Paramus.
* June 13 and Nov. 7 at Campgaw Mountain Reservation at 200 Campgaw Road in Mahwah. Proof of residency is required at both locations. Residential disposal only.
In Passaic
* May 8 and 9 and Sept. 25 and 26 at the Passaic County Para-Transit facility, 1310 Route 23 north in Wayne. Businesses can schedule an appointment for either May 8 or Sept. 25.
Household chemicals: Head down to your basement or out to the garage and chances are you’ll find a dusty bin of batteries, paint remover or insecticide. While they may no longer serve their purpose, the toxicity in these items still remains.
“We’ll take just about anything: solvents, herbicides, oil-based paints, propane tanks, antifreeze, used motor oil, fire extinguishers, you name it,” said Nina Seiden, Passaic County’s solid water and recycling administrator.
About the only items Bergen and Passaic officials won’t accept are explosives, medical waste and radioactive material.
In Bergen
* April 5, June 28 and Oct. 4 at Bergen Community College, 400 Paramus Road in Paramus.
* March 14 and July 18 at the Bergen County Utilities Authority, Empire Boulevard in Moonachie.
* May 16, Sept. 12 and Nov. 21 at Campgaw Mountain Reservation in Mahwah.
In Passaic
* April 25 and Oct. 10 at the Passaic County-Para Transit Facility in Wayne and June 6 at the West Milford Recycling Center at 30 Lycosky Drive.
Tires: If not properly disposed of, tires can become a fire hazard, a source of air pollution or a perfect incubator for mosquito larvae.
In Bergen
* April 26, and Aug. 22 at the Bergen County Community Services Building in Paramus.
* June 13 and Nov. 7 at Campgaw Mountain Reservation in Mahwah.
Proof of residency is required at both locations. Tires can be with or without rims. There is a four-tire limit per person.
Passaic County does not have a tire disposal program for 2009.
>Given the current economic environment, fiscal discipline certainly is in order. Look at approval of emergency appropriations from 12/10 meeting-
Approve Emergency Appropriations – Current Fund – Makes an emergency appropriation for various departments in a total amount of $332,548 which is necessary due to the fact that the Uniform Construction Code Trust Fund will not generate sufficient revenues to support its indirect expenses for the Current Fund Operating budget for these various departments
In addition, you would have to imagine next year’s budget will be facing a big hole in terms of higher pension costs given most pension funds are down 20%+ this year and this is one of the largest expenses in the budget.
Since I moved to Ridgewood 5 years ago, I have been appalled by the village’s lack of fiscal discipline (spending on putting greens,etc.) and inability to manage large capital projects (village hall reconstruction, Habernickel farm development). Why will the Schedler property be any different? Also, the Village would be giving up $40k in annual taxes as an undeveloped property plus how much in additional costs (insurance, etc.) where the Village really needs all the revenue it can get at this point.
I’d rather see Schedler developed as single family homes or as a commercial space where we can get more property taxes.
There’s nothing wrong with open space but the problem with Ridgewood is they haven’t shown any ability to manage or maintain properly their existing open space.
>Mall owner’s default risk high
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
THE RECORD
NEW YORK — Fitch Ratings downgraded Tuesday the credit ratings of General Growth Properties Inc., which owns shopping centers in Paramus and Wayne, saying default may be imminent for the mall owner.
Fitch noted that General Growth’s recent move to extend the amount of time it has to repay debt and said it thinks the company may need to restructure its debt to avoid bankruptcy. Fitch considers a distressed debt swap, in which a company exchanges its debt for new bonds at a heavily discounted rate, to essentially be a default.
Fitch also said conditions in real estate debt capital markets are hurting General Growth’s ability to raise money to repay about $600 million in 2009 maturing unsecured debt. General Growth, which has 200 malls nationwide, owns the Paramus Park and Willowbrook malls. It is not expected that bankruptcy would affect the malls’ operations or relationships with tenants.
As one of the nation’s largest shopping mall owners, General Growth has been hit hard by the deteriorating U.S. economy and problems at struggling retailers. It also has taken on massive amounts of debt — last month in a regulatory filing, General Growth said nearly $3.1 billion worth of debt will come due next year.
Earlier this month, General Growth reached an interim agreement to extend the time it has to pay back $58 million in notes to Thursday, just days after the Chicago-based real estate investment trust got a two-week reprieve to pay off $900 million in mortgages.
Fitch downgraded the issuer default rating to “C,” its lowest junk rating, from “B” for General Growth Properties Inc., GGP Limited Partnership and unit The Rouse Co. Fitch also downgraded the revolving credit facility, term loan and exchangeable senior notes ratings for GGP Limited Partnership to “CC/RR5” from “B-/RR5.”
General Growth remains on “negative watch,” meaning further downgrades are possible.
Last month, the company reported disappointing third-quarter results and cut its year-end forecast, weeks after the mall owner’s board removed its chief executive, president and chief financial officer. Their ouster came after the company disclosed that former CEO John Bucksbaum’s family trust provided $90 million in personal loans to cover margin debt for the former CFO and president.
New management has warned that crushing debt combined with the declining economy bring the company’s viability into question.
>THE RECORD
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
BY KAREN RO– USE
Bergen and Passaic counties ranked among the five worst in New Jersey for older walkers, according to a transportation report released Wednesday.
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign study, based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, found that while adults 65 and older make up roughly 14 percent of Bergen County’s population, they comprised 30 percent of pedestrians killed between 2005 and 2007.
In Passaic County, the non-profit organization , which promotes transit-friendly communities, found that seniors 65 or older make up 11 percent of the population, but 23.5 percent of those killed in pedestrian accidents.
“Older pedestrians are less likely to survive getting hit by a car or truck,” said Zoe Baldwin, New Jersey advocate for the New York-based group. As a result, she said, transportation officials should incorporate safety measures that protect older walkers.
Those include engineering crosswalks so that the distance from once side of a street to another isn’t too long, banning right turns at red lights, and extending the time pedestrians have to cross the street.
“I’m in my mid-20s and if I’m in the middle of the intersection when it starts flashing, ‘Don’t Walk,’ there’s a problem,” Baldwin said. Communities “don’t always think of children, seniors or disabled people as they cross the road.”
Read tehe full report on Bergen County conditions here:
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When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get.
When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001
If you approve, please pass it on.
>A six day week – canceling 1 day could save us 1/7th of our costs. Nothing should happen on that day, nothing, just breathing. Just pick any day. I would go for Wednesday. It’s hard to spell anyway.
Rent space in our enormous Village Hall to other towns. C’mon, do we really need a palace THAT BIG just for us?
As mentioned above, NO 4th of JULY parade or holiday period. I mean, the nation’s birthday was sooo long ago.
Get rid of the VC and the BOE. We’ll save a lot of hot air that way and who knows what else.
Do we really need a town swimming pool? Get rid of Graydon and its subsidy; it’s a chemical laden toxic site anyway. Just think of how much we’ll save on insurance.
Cops should use horses. Hay is cheaper than gas.
School should only be 4 days a week. Less bad math to screw up our kids. Let the tutors parents hire fill in the gaps. They do that now anyway.
Let the Internet be our town library. Close the building down. Have all the library donations go into the now flush town fund.
Let’s get a blow up doll to be our superintendent. You think anyone will notice? Nah.
Ignore all state and federal mandates. That should save us a bundle. What are they going to do, invade?
Make divorce a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 affair. Split everything equally between the husband, wife and town.
Kids are expensive, pay us a hefty fee if you want to have them.
>The problem is a simple. There is much more money to be made in giving parking tickets than there is in enforcing moving violations. And, there is no confrontation as there would be if a policeman actually pulled a car over for failing to yield in a crosswalk or talking on a cell phone.
The problem is only going to get worse until the Ridgewood police change the priorities and take crosswalk and cell phone violations seriously.
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Economy Leaves Americans with Empty Plates
More than 35 million Americans, including 12 million children, either live with or are on the verge of hunger. In New Jersey alone, an estimated 250,000 new clients will be seeking sustenance this year from the state’s food banks. But recently, as requests for food assistance have risen, food donations are on the decline, leaving food bank shelves almost empty and hungry families waiting for something to eat.
The situation is dire, no more so than at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), the largest food bank in the state, where requests for food have gone up 30 percent, but donations are down by 25 percent. Warehouse shelves that are typically stocked with food are bare and supplies have gotten so low that, for the first time in its 25 year history, the food bank is developing a rationing mechanism.
As the state’s key distributor of food to local banks – providing assistance to nearly 1,700 non-profits in the state serving more than 500,000 people a year – the stability of replenishment of the CFBNJ is essential to ensuring that individuals in need have access to food.
If everyone could just do a little, it would help those in need a lot. To help, people can:
1. Make a monetary contribution: Visit www.njfoodbank.org.
2. Donate food: Drop off a bag of food at your local food pantry.
3. Organize a food drive: The CFBNJ can help explain the logistics of starting a food drive. Just call 908-355-FOOD.
4. Help “Check Out Hunger:” Look for the “Check Out Hunger” coupons at your local supermarket and donate. No donation is too small!
One thing that people commonly confuse is the role of the food bank. The CFBNJ is similar to a wholesale distributor, as they provide food to more than 1,600 charities throughout the state, which then give food directly to the hungry (the food bank does not give food directly to individuals). The food bank also does not accept small amounts of food, such as a cart of groceries. They encourage those donations go directly to a local food pantry or soup kitchen. Rather, the food bank accepts large quantity food donations, such as a truck full of groceries, as well as monetary donations which they stretch to purchase food at wholesale prices, such as 300 lb. bags of rice, for example.
Thank you for taking the time to review all this. Please contact me ASAP if you would like to participate. We are planning to do press releases and include the list of blogs involved.
Deborah Smith
JerseyBites.com
>Two recent and serious traffic accidents, involving what is alleged to be driver inattention at crosswalks, has caused me to wonder whether there’s much incentive for drivers in Ridgewood to drive within the limits of the law. As both a driver and a pedestrian, I see a lot of crosswalk violations, and from what I observe, the drivers are either not looking, or are simply oblivious to their obligation to yield. Yes, the arguments are made that drivers can’t be expected to stop on a dime, but that’s not what I see. The latest accident involving a crosswalk pedestrian saw a lady in her late 80’s being struck. Come on folks, can you really picture this lady “darting out” into traffic?
As for other driving problems, talking on cell phones while driving is at epidemic proportions. Argue the rights and wrongs of this law all you like, it’s the law. Next time you are in town, just observe passing traffic and you will see about half of the drivers are on the phone, as well as a few of them dialing numbers. For goodness sake Ridgewood drivers, hands-free devices are really cheap. Spend a few bucks and then you can legally yak away all you like.
Speeding is probably the fundamental driving issue in Ridgewood. 25 mph may be the norm in the center of town, merely because driving any faster isn’t possible due to the busy-ness of downtown. Beyond the center, speeds typically reach 35-45 mph. Right now as I type this, I am looking out onto Godwin Avenue and while I don’t claim to be an expert on visually calculating driving speeds, I know for sure that they are doing well over 25 mph.
I’m not looking to bash our PD. I just think that their ticket books need to be produced a little more often. Is there a problem in Ridgewood with not wanting to upset its residents? An environment of zero-tolerance strict traffic enforcement will encourage better driving habits.
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NEW LOCATION FOR TREE LIGHTING is at Memorial Park at Van Neste Square.
6:45pm – Music: Band, Flag Salute, Harmony Chorus, Art of Motion Children, Official Greeting from Mayor
7:30pm – Tree Lighting
7:40pm – Musical Entertainment continues until 9pm
*** SANTA will be in his House in the Park on SATURDAY, Dec. 6th, 13th, 20th and Christmas Eve – 12/24 10am – 2pm
SPONSORED BY THE RIDGEWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERC
>”All I Really Need To Know I learned In Kindergarten”
BY Robert Fulghum
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash you hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life-learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for Traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup–they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all-— LOOK.
>At the next Board of Education meeting on Monday, December 8, recommendations made by the Board’s Facilities Committee for building improvements and expansion will be presented by Angelo DeSimone, assistant superintendent for business. Mr. DeSimone will discuss the district’s plans for each building, including expansion and/or performance of required capital maintenance projects. He will also speak about the projected costs.
The Board of Education meets on Floor 3 of the Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, at 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
