Urbanization: I went into the discussion unbiased, and came out furious with the idea of rezoning the town.
I spent the morning in a Ridgewood resident’s home at a “coffee” with the Mayor to discuss the multi-family development projects with a group of residents. I went into the discussion unbiased, and came out furious with the idea of rezoning the town. I now believe the high density projects will ruin the town on so many levels, but most importantly our school system, parking and safety.
His claim is that changing the zoning laws for the developers (btw anyone can build a high rise once it is changed) will benefit businesses and a few mysterious “empty nesters” and retirees. I find it hard to believe that people downsizing are willing to pay $3000 a month for a luxury one bedroom (that’s what they are asking for). I also find it hard to believe that an Applebees (proposed at the Brogan site) will help businesses like Daily Treat, Raymonds and East Coast Burger. I don’t know why the planning board would permanently change the master plan to appease a few developers and disregard the burden on our schools and infrastructure. Let them build, but they should work within existing zoning restrictions.
People should attend Tuesday nights 3/19/13 Planning Board Meeting for more information. This is the last public hearing until closed discussions begin in September, and the agenda is solely on the development projects. (Valley is going to take over planning meetings through June). Supposedly, at the last planning meeting on the subject, they almost put it to a vote right then and there. There is a feeling that they are trying to slip this through.
Parents, Experts Blast New State Database of Private Student Info
Thursday, Mar 14, 2013 | Updated 12:02 PM EDT
Parents and privacy experts are blasting a new national database that compiles personal student information for educational companies that contract with public schools.
New York State officials, working with the city, have already uploaded students’ names, addresses, test scores, learning disabilities, attendance and disciplinary records into the inBloom database, according to the Daily News.
Educational companies can use the data to create teaching tools for students.
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.”
Super Science Saturday – Fun and Learning for the Whole Family on March 9
Whether your interests range from robotics, to auto-guided planes or hatching baby chicks, Super Science Saturday features interesting exhibits for everyone. This celebration of science and technology, now in its 25th year, will be from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 9 at Ridgewood High School, 627 East Ridgewood Avenue.Admission is free.
New exhibits this year include how solar energy works, demonstrations on polymer chemistry, rockets powered by Alka Seltzer, displays of gliders from the Bergen County Academy of Model Aeronautics and the Ridgewood High School orchestra showcasing the science behind musical instruments. Other highlights include a Franklin Institute show on “Life in Space,” hundreds of exhibits and demonstrations, the “Great Paper Airplane Contest,” the Bergen Community College solar telescope and model rocket launches on the high school football field.
A special guest this year will be Amy Freeze, meteorologist with WABC-TV in New York. She will demonstrate how scientists measure atmospheric pressure, wind currents and other factors to make weather predictions.
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Super Science Saturday has a special activity this year: attendees are invited to participate in a 25-foot egg drop contest. Attendees of all ages will be supplied with kits, which they can use to protect their eggs from breaking on
impact.
Each year, Super Science Saturday attracts hundreds of student exhibitors, and interactive demonstrations from dozens of amateur and professional scientists. Students from any school system, as well as adult hobbyists and professional scientists, are invited to share their love of science with the community.
Started by a Ridgewood science teacher and a handful of students and parents in 1987,Super Science Saturday is a non-competitive event designed for fun, understanding and appreciation of science and technology in our daily lives.
Super Science Saturday is funded by The Valley Hospital, Ridgewood’s not-for-profit hospital, and Ridgewood Education Foundation, which provides grants to enhance and support the quality of education in Ridgewood public schools.
Reader says The Valley expansion and the Downtown Projects are going to strangle Village life
I am a Westsider seemingly immune to the new Projects and the Valley expansion. I could live out the rest of my life never having to drive by either one.
But, I care for the Village and so won’t stick my head in the sand. The Valley expansion and the Downtown Projects are going to strangle Village life. I do have a self-interest i suppose — my million dollar home won’t be worth as much as it is now when the values of the town start dropping across the board as traffic increases, schools go further down in quality, etc.
By the way, there’s another planning board meeting tonight on the Downtown Projects. Tuesday the 5th I would urge people concerned with the prospect of another 400 to 500 families being packed into the middle of town to come out and speak their minds.
Bergen, Passaic writers join book drive for Paterson children
Sunday, February 24, 2013
BY KARA YORIO
STAFF WRITER
The Record
No one understands the power of books better than a writer.
“Books enlighten, they entertain, they change lives,” said best-selling author and Ridgewood resident Harlan Coben. “They open up whole new worlds.”
Coben was looking around his house Friday for children’s books that he planned to take — with copies of his young adult novels “Shelter” and “Seconds Away” — to the Ridgewood Public Library to contribute to The Big Book Drive.
“This is a no-brainer,” Coben said about participating in the book-donation campaign by the Paterson library system and The Record and Herald News, with the Ridgewood and Fair Lawn public libraries, to collect books for Paterson children to take home.
Books will be distributed to children and families at the grand opening of a new Paterson library branch in April. The Northside library branch was destroyed during Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011. Thousands of books have already been donated.
On Friday, other writers with North Jersey connections joined Coben in describing the life-changing — even lifesaving — force within a good book.
Bergen freeholder questions last-minute resolutions
Monday February 11, 2013, 6:03 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
Bergen County Freeholder Maura DeNicola complained Monday that too many resolutions – some for large dollar contracts – are coming before the board at the last minute.
DeNicola noted that at the board’s last work session on Feb. 6, there were 14 late items on the agenda that called for total spending of $1.4 million. The spending resolutions – most of which were approved by the board – paid for bills ranging from the printing of sample ballots to the purchase of emergency generators.
But getting those items right before the start of a 4:30 p.m. work session does not allow the board enough time to give them the fiscal scrutiny they deserve, DeNicola said. Too often non-emergency items are being rushed through as though they were an emergency, she said.
* ACCUMULATIONS…SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 6 TO 12 INCHES…ALONG
WITH UP TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF ICE.
* WINDS…NORTH 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH.
* TEMPERATURES…IN THE LOWER 30S.
* VISIBILITIES…ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.
* TIMING…FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.
* IMPACTS…HEAVY SNOW AND FREEZING RAIN WILL MAKE FOR DANGEROUS
DRIVING CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION…THE HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG
WINDS COULD RESULT IN NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS…BRING DOWN SOME
TREE LIMBS…AND CA– USE SCATTERED POWER OUTAGES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW…SLEET…OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.
The PD manpower is very low, there are several employees eligable to retire at anytime. Minimum manpower on patrol is down to 4 patrol man and 1 supervisor to cover the entire town, that’s from Goffle and rock north to goffle and lake st all the way to the Paramus and Washington twp border near immaculate heart.and down into the lawns by Hawes school including the easternmost area east of Van Emburg. Pretty thin don’t you think? 1 domestic dispute and your down to one person on the road and do not be bamboozeled by the response “you got lots of inside people” they aren’t there any more,they have been eliminated through attrition, retirements, and a firing. 4 men assigned to the bureau, who don’t work 24/7 . The town needs to hire police officers now.
That depends on who does the staffing plan. People with no law enforcement experience, bean counters who work in the corporate world have no business dictating or recommending police staffing levels, there are actual facts, the state police ucr staffing report, which recommends 56 officers for Ridgewood the matrix report which say 44 officers as a minimum staffing level, and that came from a company that was hired by a previous coucil, also the department roster level of the rest of the PD’s in Bergen county, last check had Ridgewood at the lowest officer per resident rate in Bergen. The collective bargaining agreement has already been modified thru PBA cooperation to reduce starting salaries, and lower longevity payment, and lower capped sick time accumulation for new hires, yet the town has failed to take action and rehire. Who is the tiger tean and what are their qualifications to make recommendations as to how many police are necessary to protect the village.
If that is correct, it will be confirmed when a long-term staffing evaluation/plan is done. Right now, we have no actual facts to support whether we are under-staffed or over-staffed in a particular department. By creating efficiencies through other ideas proposed in the report, we may find that historical staffing needs no longer apply. We should get this comprehensive evaluation completed quickly to understand our actual staffing needs in the future. When employees retire, we definitely need to proceed with caution before deciding to hire a replacement.
Last i looked the village had 44 police officers, what do they all do?
The police department may be properly staffed. The staffing plan that the tiger team recommended does not appear to be about reducing staffing arbitrarily. From what I read, they recommended getting an understanding of pending retirements and what the necessary staffing levels in all departments should be. I don’t think they are suggesting that they should perform that evaluation. It stands to reason that any evaluation would need to involve input from appropriate personnel from the each department, who understand the needs. Of course, in the case of the police, the state UCR report is probably not the definitive reference for staffing needs in Ridgewood. I think it offers more of a guideline based on historical practices, which may or may not reflect the specific needs in Ridgewood. Nor does it take into account the long term cost of its staffing guidelines in a particular municipality, which is the most important consideration. It is quite possible that existing contracts can create a cost structure that limits potential staffing options.
The bottom line is that there are about 275 employees in town and the police are only 16% of them. Rather than laying off newer employees (as Gabbert’s budget proposes) to cut expenses, the Village should try to take advantage of normal attrition (retirement) to reduce costs according to a thoughtful plan. If a department is properly staffed or understaffed, then such a plan should have no impact or may even point to increased staffing in that department. Accordingly, this is something that employees should encourage, not resist.
The 2013 Congressional Art Competition has begun, and I am currently accepting submissions in my New Jersey district offices.
The Congressional Art Competition is sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives, and it is open to all 9th-12th graders. The first-place winner from each congressional district is invited to attend a reception in Washington, D.C., and the winning artwork is displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year.
On this page, you will find the 2013 guidelines and the Student Release form. Artwork may be dropped off at the Eastern District Office, 266 Harristown Road, Suite 104, Glen Rock (201-444-5454) or at the Western District Office, 83 Spring Street, Suite 302A, Newton (973-300-2000) between now and Monday, April 22, 2013. Please call in advance to let my staff know you will be dropping off the artwork.
I sincerely hope you will consider participating in this wonderful opportunity. Please do not hesitate to contact Christina Garfinkle at my Eastern District Office at (201) 444-5454 if you have additional questions.
Reader says Have Paul and Al learned nothing from the Valley fiasco?
46 emails and mulitple meetings between only two councilmen, meetings that other council people were not aware of despite asking if anyone was meeting with developers does not sound above board, nor ethical given the scope of zoning changes being asked of the village. Have Paul and Al learned nothing from the Valley fiasco.
And the irony of Gwenn “can’t we all just get along” Hauck, blaming Bernie Walsh for the dysfunction on the Council, while Al didn’t even have the courtesy to stay seated while Bernie spoke, (or tried to speak – as Paul gave the floor to everyone but her), was laughable.
Paul and Al are bullies and appear to be in bed with the developers. And I would strongly recommend that the League of Women Voter’s review the tape – because in my view they are misogynists as well.
Quiet Time at Valley Gives New Moms Privacy for Rest and Bonding with Baby
January 31, 2013
Ridgewood NJ, Excited visitors, squabbling siblings, and photo ops can take their toll on a new mother who is exhausted from giving birth and needs private time to bond with her new baby.
At The Valley Hospital’s Center for Childbirth, the afternoon hours of 1 to 3:30 p.m. have been designed as “Quiet Time,” a period when the lights are dimmed, soft music plays, and new moms and their support persons are encouraged to sleep and bond with their baby with skin-to-skin contact. During Quiet Time visitors and siblings are asked to wait in the waiting rooms, and hospital personnel only enter a mother’s room if she asks for assistance. There is a sleeper chair in each room to allow the father or other support person to rest.
“My husband, Robert, and I loved Quiet Time because it gave us private time to talk, sleep, and get to know our new daughter, Emily,” says Limor Regular, of Wyckoff, who delivered her third daughter at Valley in early January. “I had a lot of visitors and with my two other little girls in the room with us, I wouldn’t have been able to rest without Quiet Time.”
In addition to giving new moms needed rest and privacy with their newborns, Quiet Time also encourages them to room-in as a family, learn their babies’ feeding cues, and prepare for caring for their baby at home. When a family rests during the day in the hospital, they are better equipped to room-in with their baby at night.
“In observing Quiet Time, we are responding to patient satisfaction surveys that told us new mothers felt they did not have adequate rest time after childbirth and were disturbed by hospital interruptions and too many visitors,” says Beth McGovern, MSN, RN-OB, a clinical practice specialist for Valley’s Women’s and Children’s Services. “Now, just before 1 p.m. our nurses and patient care associates go to each room to see if the mothers need anything, and then we tuck them in for a nap. Our whole floor instantly feels calmer. Everyone, even our staff, is noticing the benefits of Quiet Time.”
Quiet Time is also observed in Valley’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, when parents are encouraged to practice “kangaroo care” by placing their babies skin to skin.
Quiet Time is an important component of the hospital’s Patient- and Family-Centered Care model and a step on Valley’s journey to become a designated Baby-Friendly Hospital. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the goal of which is to achieve optimal infant feeding outcomes, mother-baby bonding, improved health outcomes for mothers and babies, and elevated patient satisfaction.
Valley’s quest to become designated a Baby-Friendly Hospital is a four-phase rigorous endeavor that includes the development of new policies, research, data collection and dissemination, and a site visit. The journey creates an environment that is supportive of best practices in maternity care.
This process fits in with Valley’s holistic approach to childbirth and mission to keep mothers and their babies together as much as possible. In 2011, mother-baby nurses began newborn admitting procedures directly after birth. Such duties as assessing the baby’s health and taking footprints are now accomplished in the room with the mother, instead of whisking the baby away to the nursery for a bath and assessment.
“Research has shown that as newborns transition to life outside the womb they self-regulate their body temperatures better when placed skin to skin to their mothers right away rather than being separated,” says McGovern. “Keeping them with their mothers after birth also enables them to breastfeed successfully for the first time.”
Mrs. Regular says she was pleased with Valley’s approach to promoting a natural birth experience. “I enjoyed keeping Emily with me as much as possible, and giving her special time alone with me and her father before her sisters came to visit,” she says.
The Valley Hospital Center for Childbirth is a component of the hospital’s comprehensive Women’s and Children’s Services, which includes private labor/delivery/recovery suites and private post-partum rooms; the Center for Holistic Birth and hydrotherapy tub; maternal-fetal medicine services; genetic counseling and screening; the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and its Peek-a-Boo ICU™; Birth Doula Program; the Women’s and Children’s Resource Center; the Fertility Center; a host of family education and childbirth preparation classes; and the eLearning Childbirth Education Program. For more information, call 201-447-8403 or visit www.valleyhealth.com/Obstetrics.
Caption: Robert and Limor Regular at home in Wyckoff with baby Emily and daughters Tamara (left) and Maya.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK : SNOW
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
358 PM EST FRI JAN 25 2013
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHERN
CONNECTICUT…NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEAST NEW YORK.
.DAY ONE…THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL OF ONE TO TWO INCHES IS POSSIBLE THIS
EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS ON
EASTERN LONG ISLAND. IT IS COLD ENOUGH THAT THE SNOW WILL
ACCUMULATE AND MAY CA– USE SLIPPERY TRAVEL ON UNTREATED ROADWAYS.
The Valley Hospital Welcomes Howard “Hal” Jones, M.D. to its Staff as a Specialist in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery
January 8, 2013
Ridgewood NJ, Howard “Hal” Jones, M.D., has joined The Valley Hospital’s staff of surgeons specializing in minimally invasive procedures. A specialist in Laparoscopic Gynecologic Surgery, Dr. Jones is certified in the da Vinci Surgical System and recently completed a prestigious Fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
Since completing his medical training at St. George’s University School of Medicine and his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Jones has participated in numerous research projects focusing on minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques and is currently a reviewer for The Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery. He is certified by the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL) and has attained a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (FMIG).
In addition to general gynecology, Dr. Jones focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal bleeding, fibroids, hormone dysregulation, endometriosis, and pelvic pain. Specializing in the latest, most effective techniques, Dr. Jones performs traditional and novel minimally invasive procedures such as single incision laparoscopy, conscious pain mapping, hysteroscopy (for diagnosis and treatment of fibroids, polyps, or bleeding), incisionless hysteroscopic sterilization, robotic myomectomy, robotic and laparoscopic hysterectomy, and the removal of deep infiltrating endometriosis. “The da Vinci System gives us the ability to diagnose and treat complex pelvic conditions in a far less invasive way,” notes Dr. Jones. “Consequently patients tend to experience less trauma, shorter recovery time, and better outcomes.”
Dr. Jones comes from a long line of notable pioneers in the field of gynecology. “My grandparents were co-founders of the Howard and Georgeanna Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School,” he explains. “They established the nation’s first IVF clinic and continued to push the frontiers in assisted reproductive medicine for many years.”
For more information about minimally invasive gynecological procedures performed at The Valley Hospital, please call Dr. Jones’ office at 201-327-8765.
For years, the Elites of the West have cranked up the myth of Man Made Global Warming as a means first and foremost to control the lives and behaviors of their populations. Knowing full well that their produce in China and sell in the West model and its consiquent spiral downward in wages and thus standards of living, was unsustainable, the elites moved to use this new “science” to guilt trip and scare monger their populations into smaller and more conservatives forms of living. In other words, they coasted them into the poverty that the greed and treason of those said same elites was already creating in their native lands
What better way to staunch protests at worsening economic and life conditions than to make it feel like an honourable job/duty of the people to save “Gia”. At the same time, they used this “science” as a new pagan religion to further push out the Christianity they hate and despise and most of all, fear? Gia worship, the earth “mother”, has been pushed in popular culture oozing out of the West for a better part of the past 1.5 decades. This is a religion replete with an army of priests, called Government Grant Scientists.
Various groups have fought back. This is including Russian hackers, who published a huge database of UK government, scientific and university emails depicting the fixing of data to sell Global Warming, er Climate Change (as if it never changed on its own). And while taking hit after hit, the beast, like Al Quida, will not die. As a matter of fact, the beast is on a steady come back, as it is quite useful during the down times recession. The US alone spends $7 billion each year on warming “studies”, which is, in truth, nothing but a huge money laundering operation, as no real science is conducted and vapid alarmist reports the only product generated.
Amongst the newest claims of pending disasters, is a cry that icepacks are now melting at three times the rate of the 1990s, even though there has not been any significant warming in the past 20 years. Greenland’s icepack melt off, has been linked to volcanic activity under the ice, heating it. Must be the magmamen and their SUVs. These facts, however, do not faze the Gia crowd and their Elite/Governmental backers. The fact that a super storm hit the NE US is also being played as evidence of GW. Thank God that before GW no such things ever happened. How are they to explain that Russia and Eastern Europe are projected to have the coldest winter in 20 years? Oh, but I doubt my Western readers are even aware of that.
Now, with their economies in a spiral of debt laden, non-manufacturing recession (if not out and out depression), the Elites, who sense they are loosing their grip or toe hold on key economic regions outside their home regions, are once again calling out their inquisitors of Global Warming and sending them towards the developing world.
The first salvo has been fired by a British Warming dandy named Lord Nicholas Stern of Brentford, who as an academic at Whitehall, has made a career and quite a bit of money off of this scam. Lord Stern, a former World Bank chief economist and author of the landmark Stern review of the economics of climate change, was a close associate of Gordon Brown and the Leftists, who with the Tory counterparts and in parallel to the American Democrats/Republicans set up the grand and self destructive economic schemes that have plunged their own nations and many many others into the abyss of poverty.
The good Lord Stern, in commentary on why countries such as Russia, China, India and Brazil, in other words, the BRICs, have to pony up cash and depress their own growth, made this statement for the Guardian paper: “It’s a brutal arithmetic – the changing structure of the world’s economy has been dramatic. That is something developing countries will have to face up to,”
His premiss is that even if you take out the deindustrialized West, run away Global Warming will not stop due to the industrialized world. Its now all the fault of those raising themselves up for the destruction of the world, from the phantom joke of GW. Lord Stern tried to assure that the opening salvo was not a salvo, by stating: “I am not pointing the finger at the developing world, just looking at what is necessary. I am not accusing or proposing, just calculating what is needed [to meet scientific estimates of the emissions cuts needed to avoid dangerous levels of climate change]”. More like a calculated accusation. After all, this is not some light weight of the GIA cult, but the movement’s chief economist who enjoyed the ear of the UK government: a perfect tool of the Western Elites.
Expect the cries to get louder and more shrill in the months to follow.
