Paramus Police, Fire Department, and EMS personnel responded to a Wednesday evening, 03/14, crash on Route 17 northbound near Kalisa Way, Paramus, in which an SUV hit a utility pole head on. The vehicle’s driver was transported by ambulance to Hackensack University Center’s main campus. A paramedic unit from The Valley Hospital assisted Paramus EMTs with patient care. The force of the collision caused a pole mounted electric transformer to fall into a nearby parking lot. Traffic on Route 17 in both directions was slowed considerably until the wrecked vehicle was removed from the roadway by a flatbed tow truck. A PSE&G Electric Division employee was observed on the scene assessing damage to the electric distribution system equipment.
Paramus NJ, A hit and run driver struck a Paramus Police marked patrol vehicle in front of 201 Oradell Avenue, Paramus late Sunday afternoon, 03/11. No injuries were reported by the police officer driving the cruiser, who was responding to a medical emergency nearby. The patrol car’s door appeared to have been hit while open, signaling that the officer may have been either exiting or entering the vehicle when it was struck. A plain clothes officer took photographs of the scene and collected crash related debris in bags as evidence. A flatbed tow truck removed the car after all evidence was collected.
Closter, NJ, also known as the “Hub of the Northern Valley,” has just welcomed Gary’s of Closter, to their town. Gary’s Wine & Marketplace began as a small wine shop in Madison, New Jersey in 1987 and has since grown to be one of the largest fine wine businesses in the New York metropolitan area.
Closter, New Jersey is the fifth location and offers the full Gary’s experience — fine wine, craft beer, small-batch spirits, hand-cut cheeses, gourmet delicatessen, barware, gifts and more! We hope you’ll visit Gary’s of Closter soon. Cheers and thank you!
When Gary (CEO & Owner Gary Fisch ) was working toward his B.S. from Rider College in Political Science, he didn’t yet know where life was going to take him. Gary fell in love with wine in his senior year of college while working with his father, a liquor salesman, and decided to become an expert. He educated himself at the Sommelier Institute in New Jersey and at several of Windows on the World’s wine courses. The secret to his success is a passionate love and broad knowledge of his product — and the skill to communicate that delight. That enthusiasm and intelligence served him well when he teamed up with his brother Mark in 1987 and opened his first store in Madison, New Jersey. Two moves later, Gary’s now has stores in Bernardsville, N.J.and on Route 23 North in Wayne N.J. Gary’s expertise has earned him national media attention as “The Wine Guy” on the TV Food Network show Bobby Flay Hot off the Grill. He has made guest appearances on CNN, New Jersey 12 and Bloomberg radio and television. In January 2009, he was profiled in New Jersey Monthly’s “Power Issue” as one of the 101 Most Influential People in the Garden State. Not bad for a guy who simply loves to share his enthusiasm for wine!
The Grand Opening, which is open to the public, is taking place on March 15-17th, and will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Closter’s Mayor John Glidden.
Gary’s of Closter
67 VerValen Street, Closter, NJ 07624
(In the Closter Plaza Shopping Center – Between Whole Foods Market & Starbucks)
Phone: (201) 297-5000
Wyckoff NJ, Assemblymen Kevin J. Rooney and Christopher DePhillips called out Orange and Rockland Energy Company for its lack of preparation, communication and leadership as thousands of people remain without power following Wednesday’s nor’easter. The assemblymen are demanding answers.
“This is a matter of public safety and public health in our communities and the lackluster response from Orange and Rockland is unacceptable,” said Rooney (R-Bergen). “There are roads that are still impassable for police, firefighters and ambulances because of fallen trees and powerlines. The situation is dangerous. Orange and Rockland needs to explain why and how they have failed their customers with such great incompetence.”
“It is completely evident that Orange and Rockland hasn’t learned its lesson from past storms like Sandy,” said DePhillips (R-Bergen). “I am calling for an investigation by the Board of Public Utilities and the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee into Orange and Rockland’s complete mismanagement and lack of preparation. Not only has the response been insufficient, but it has taken days to even start fixing our communities.”
Wyckoff Mayor Brian D. Scanlan told The Record that the utility company has failed to provide adequate crews to restore power to the town, leaving town hall, the police station, two schools, a sewage pump station and traffic lights dark. He said Orange and Rockland crews were “sitting in trucks watching down lines” while PSE&G crews, who serves the eastern part of the town, were working.
Rooney and DePhillips said “this is nothing new” as each experienced the same poor response to outages from Orange and Rockland as mayor of Wyckoff, calling for the utility company to “get its act together.”
Lodi NJ, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo announced the arrest of RASHIT PEREZ (DOB: 04/06/1987; single; unemployed) of 358 Westervelt Place, Lodi, NJ. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Squad under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office under the direction of Sheriff Michael Saudino, and the Lodi Police Department under the direction of Acting Chief Donald Scorzetti.
On Sunday, March 4, 2018 at approximately 10:30 P.M., Rashit PEREZ poured a flammable liquid and ignited it inside the vestibule of the Bank of America located 4 Hunter Street, Lodi, NJ. On March 5, 2018, members of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office located Rashit PEREZ in Paramus, NJ and took him into custody.
Rashit PEREZ was charged with one count of Arson, N.J.S.A. 2C:17-1, a crime of the 3rd degree; and one count of Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4B, a crime of the 2nd degree. He appeared in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court on March 6, 2018 and was released with conditions.
Acting Prosecutor Calo states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and would also like to thank the Lodi Police Department and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in this investigation.
Paramus NJ, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo announced the arrests of HENRY MARTINEZ-DIAZ (DOB: 11/9/1976; married; and Uber driver) and YANERY MARTINEZ (DOB: 9/12/1983; married; and unemployed) both of 486 East 29th Street, Paterson, NJ on charges of possession with intent to distribute heroin and endangering the welfare of a child. These arrests are the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti.
On Monday, March 5, 2018, members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force conducted a motor vehicle stop in the area of Route 4 West in Paramus, NJ. A search of the vehicle revealed 5,750 bags of suspected heroin in an electronically operated aftermarket hidden compartment. Additionally, $1,021.00 believed to be the proceeds of criminal activity was also seized during the investigation. The vehicle was occupied by Henry MARTINEZ-DIAZ, Yanery MARTINEZ, and their one-year-old daughter.
This traffic stop occurred only four days after the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office announced that detectives had conducted a motor vehicle stop of a 2007 Jeep Cherokee in Hackensack and seized 3,250 bags heroin from its sole occupant, Ordanny GERMAN.
As a result of the investigation, Henry MARTINEZ-DIAZ and Yanery MARTINEZ were arrested and charged with one count of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, namely heroin, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5B(2), a crime of the 2nd degree; and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4A(2), a crime of the 2nd degree. Henry MARTINEZ-DIAZ and Yanery MARTINEZ appeared in Central Judicial Processing Court on March 6, 2018 and were released with conditions. The juvenile was turned over to the custody of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
Acting Prosecutor Calo states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ho Ho Kus NJ, A downed electric power line that caught fire resulted in a manhole explosion and power outages near the busy intersection of Hollywood and Sheridan Avenues in Ho-Ho-Kus late Thursday morning, 03/08. Several homes in the area were evacuated as a precaution. Evacuees were offered shelter in the Ho-Ho-Kus School. Ho-Ho-Kus Police and Fire Department personnel responded to the incident. No injuries were reported. PSE&G Gas Division technicians were observed checking for natural gas leaks in the neighborhood closest to the manhole explosion (which blew at least 1 manhole cover completely off).
Franklin Lakes NJ, a downed live wire ignites car leaving a man dead after authorities say he drove his car around a barricade and onto live wires .The vehicle erupted in flames on Summit Avenue and Route 208 in Franklin Lakes just before 9 a.m.
Responding officers arrived finding a vehicle fully engulfed, with a live power line lying in the roadway near the vehicle.The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. He has not been positively identified.
The fire totally gutted the vehicle.The investigation is ongoing. Downed power lines remain a major problem in the wake of the region’s second nor’easter in a week.
Glen Rock NJ, we have had many reports of downed wires today including a death in Franklin Lakes . Just received this message from Glen Rock Police . Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything that it might be in contact with. Cones & police line tape has been deployed, it is impossible for officers to remain at these locations.
Heavy, wet snow brought down large trees, branches and wires at numerous locations in town. Electric service crews worked through the night and will continue to work as safely and as quickly as possible. The restoration process will likely take several days given the damage from falling trees that will need to be cleared.
Ridgewood Nj, New Jersey State Police recommend that if for some reason you’ve not already heard, New Jersey is set to get hit by another nor’easter. Much of the state is expected to get several inches of snow, particularly in the north. We strongly recommend you check you local forecast.
It’s been a rough March. We understand that many of you are still without power, using generators to get by. Meteorologists expect this March snow to be heavy and wet, which could cause branches to fall, taking out power lines and causing additional power outages.
Please plan accordingly now before the snow begins. As far as using generators, please make sure you use caution. Here are a few tips:
-Never use a generator inside your home, basement, garage or less than 20 feet from any window, door, or vent.
-When using a generator, use a battery-powered or battery backup CO detector in your home.
-If conditions are too cold, seek shelter with friends or call NJ 2-1-1 to find a warming center.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation, under authority granted to Acting Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti by NJSA Title 27:7-21.9, is requesting the New Jersey State, County and Municipal Police to remove any abandoned or disabled vehicles on State and Interstate Roadways. This request is effective from 12:01AM 03/07/2018 until 12:00PM 03/08/18.
Motorists are advised to be prepared and avoid unnecessary travel today due to winter driving conditions on the roadways. Be alert when approaching bridges and overpasses as they will freeze before the road surface.
For road conditions and travel updates visit 511nj.org.
Ramsey NJ, Mayhem of sorts on Tuesday afternoon, 03/06, at the Interstate Shopping Center in Ramsey after a 4-door sedan struck an exterior support column in front of Five Below, striking a passing vehicle in the process, then mounted a curb and wiped out a traffic control sign. A parked tow truck called by police to remove the wrecked sedan was hit by another vehicle. Ramsey Police and Upper Saddle River EMS responded to the incident. All drivers and passengers refused medical aid. At least one (1) vehicle was removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. An additional tow truck was observed responding to the area to evaluate another vehicle involved in the crash. Damage to the shopping center structure appeared to have been cosmetic in nature only.
Ridgewood NJ, this week during the Nor’easter over 200,000 fellow New Jersey residents originally lost their power and as of yesterday still over 80,000 people are shivering in the cold , one question remains, and one question only where is the governor?
Governor Phil Murphy has been a complete no show during his first emergency . The word is the no gov has been partying with has been comedian George Lopez , instead on focusing on the state he was elected to govern .
Carlos Gutierrez said in a Facebook post , “Saw George Lopez at The Stress Factory on Friday, but that puto does not allow cell phones or pictures of him taken during his show, so I took a pic with New Jersey’s Governor, Phil Murphy instead, lol”
Funny if it was governor Christie our lame brain media with be 24/7 with why he is not out shoveling peoples driveways .
Bergenfield NJ, Bergenfield Mayor Norman Schmelz made it official on Sunday with his as promised announcement that he is running for Bergen County Executive. The announcement comes on the heels Steven Lonegan’s declaration of war with the Bergen GOP .
Over 150 people showed for event ,noticeable absent was embattle Bergen GOP Chair DiGaetano . In fact, no leaders from the current BCRO or Bergen County Republican Organization attended the event.
Only John McCann who is running for the GOP spot to face U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer put in an appearance. Steve Lonegan was at State Senator Gerald Cardinale’s birthday party , the Senator and his wife have endorsed Lonegan in his race against McCann to represent the GOP against Gotteimer.
(Photo above Jim Arakelian with Michael Homaychak, Norman Schmelz and Fernando Alonso.)
Glen Rock NJ, The driver of a dark colored SUV was transported by ambulance to Hackensack University Center’s main campus following a Harristown Road, Glen Rock crash on Sunday evening, 03/04. The vehicle slammed head on into a utility pole near 371 Harristown Road. Glen Rock Police and EMS personnel responded to aid the victim. A paramedic team from The Valley Hospital assisted Glen Rock EMTs. The vehicle was removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. PSE&G’s electric division was summoned to assess the struck pole’s condition. A significant fluid leak was attended to by the tow truck’s driver.
Fellow Republicans,
We have them on the run. The so-called “moderates” of the GOP’s Whitman-wing who run the Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO) have shown us how weak they really are.
It’s now official. The BCRO has suspended their own rules, suspended the process of endorsing a candidate, and instead of a county convention the BCRO chairman will “give” the endorsement to the “moderate” of his choice.
The BCRO chairman is a figure from the Whitman-era who presided over the loss of Republican control in the Legislature nearly two decades ago and then came back to preside over the demise of the BCRO last year. Now he wants to ensure that Nancy Pelosi is the next Speaker by putting together a ticket that will tank in November.
It is the first time in memory that a BCRO chairman has played the authoritarian and taken away from the members of the Republican county committee, the right to choose which candidates they will endorse. The BCRO chairman has done this because he knows that his candidate for Congress, John McCann, doesn’t have the support to win a county convention.
The BCRO chairman has taken away the county committee’s rights because he knows that its members don’t want McCann — the consigliore of the elected Democrat who is responsible for losing Republican control in Bergen County, Sheriff Michael Saudino. And the members know that McCann began his campaign for Congress while on the payroll of this Democrat.
You all know me. No matter what you think of me, you all know where I stand on the issues. Some of you might accuse me of being too unwavering, unwilling to compromise, but nobody has ever doubted where I’m coming from.
As we watch the Christie era in the rear-view mirror, we need to decide on what kind of party we intend to be. We need to chart a course for the road ahead.
That’s very easy for someone like me. The course is free market conservatism, defending freedom at home, and our interests abroad. It is the message of our Republican Party Platform. Simple enough. If you call yourself a Republican, you should value Republican principles.
Unfortunately, that is not who is leading the Republican Party in Bergen County these days. There are too many who look to cut deals with the Democrats — and not for idealistic policy aims — but for their personal benefit. Their vision of the Republican Party is a defeatist one, where they seek to benefit from the crumbs swept from the Democrat table. The policies they advocate consist of slavishly mimicking a watered down version of the Democrats’ own post-Western, post-Christian, anti-Freedom agenda.
You’ve probably heard it around the county, and around the state, that a conservative cannot win — anything. The fact is that the only Republican to win statewide office in over twenty years was both Pro-Life and Pro-Second Amendment. The fact is that those Republicans who get the most votes in New Jersey are consistently the most conservative. The liberal wannabe Republicans can’t turnout their base and those they want to convince have someone better to vote for — a Democrat.
This “moderate” nonsense is like a religion with some of our so-called “leaders” — those who practice the Janus-faced religion of being all things to all voters. Even though every study and every poll shows that they will not convince a Democrat to vote Republican in this starkly divisive climate, they hold true to the faith that turning-off a dozen conservatives is worth every liberal vote they pick-up.
The way forward is clear for 2018: Maximum Republican and conservative turnout. A full effort.
Of course, there are some within our party who are working against this. Some who are personally enmeshed with the Democrats. It’s happening in other parts of the state as well. Democrats are playing in our primary. In every congressional battleground in the state, there is a former Democrat running as a Republican or a liberal Republican with Democrat-ties claiming to be a conservative. Every one.
They are there for one reason: To make us spend money so we won’t have it to hit the Democrats in the General Election. Here in Bergen County, I am facing an opponent who was described by the Bergen Record as the “right hand man” to Democrat Sheriff Michael Saudino. Let’s not forget that it was Saudino’s feud with the Republican County Executive that lost us control of our county. Saudino, followed that up by joining Hillary Clinton and Josh Gottheimer on a ticket that crushed the BCRO. Through it all, my opponent remained employed by Sheriff Saudino, as his trusted consigliore, and actually started his campaign while still on the Democrat’s payroll.
Now we all know where Sheriff Saudino stands on this election. He’s backing fellow Democrat Josh Gottheimer for re-election this year. So are Mayors Harry Shortway of Vernon and Harry Shortway of Midland Park. They held an event for my opponent at their family bar in Passaic County. Did you follow that? They are endorsing Democrat Josh Gottheimer in the General Election but held an event to help my opponent in the Republican primary. Meanwhile, in a neighboring district, the insider-backed “Republican” candidate wouldn’t tell a room full of Republicans how he voted for President in 2008 (Obama vs. McCain), 2012 (Obama vs. Romney), or 2016 (Clinton vs. Trump). And like my opponent, this fellow seems to be allergic to voting in a Republican primary.
Our party faces an existential threat from those who cut deals with Democrats and then preach the religion of “moderation” while pushing fake Republican candidates on us. We must resist them, whether they are well-meaning and stupid or slick and treacherous. It is time to use the Republican Party Platform and our conservative principles as the measure by which we judge our candidates. If some of our so-called “leaders” don’t like that platform or our principles, they are free to leave the party and start their own. I, for one, am sick and tired of being dictated to by a small group of professional political “leaders” who are totally out of touch with the thoughts and views of most Republicans. It is time for them to go.
A party that knows what it is about, is a party that can convince people to get involved, contribute, and win. This holds true up and down our ticket. The message of lower taxes, less government, and individual freedom is a winning one. The Democrats’ warmed-over socialism, leavened with coarse identity politics has, in the end, always lost.
Thank you for your time and I hope I will have your support to secure our primary in June and defeat the Democrats in November. If you have any insights you would like to share with me, please feel free to send me an email at [email protected].
![Orange-and-Rockland-Featured-compressor[1]](https://theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BESTOrange-and-Rockland-Featured-compressor1.jpg "Rooney, DePhillips decry Orange and Rockland’s lackluster response to power outages, call for investigation")
