Sick pay is for when you’re sick. If you’re not sick, and you don’t use it, you lose it.
This is the simple policy fix to one of New Jersey’s most maddening problems. Yet, again and again, we have failed to write it into law.
There is no justifiable reason. Sick pay is supposed to protect you from losing income when you’re ill – not amount to a kingly entitlement bonus. You don’t deserve a six-figure payout just for being healthy.
A New Jersey lawmaker wants to offer tax credits to organ donors, but his no-strings approach is meeting opposition from groups who believe the practice runs afoul of federal law.
While the National Organ Transplant Act makes it illegal for hospitals to pay for organs, 19 states provide either a tax credit or deduction for verifiable, unreimbursed expenses related to living organ donations, said Troy Zimmerman, of the National Kidney Foundation. In some states, the benefit also includes the donor’s lost wages.
Donor groups who support a cost-neutral approach have raised issues with New Jersey’s proposal to provide residents with $1,000 in income tax credits for donating organs, or a $100 tax credit for donating blood, platelets or plasma because it does not specifically apply to a donor’s expenses.
“It falls into the category of well-intentioned legislatures looking to do something to increase the number of donors,” said David Fleming, president of Donate Life America.
Operator of nation’s largest power grid reports increased reliance on natural gas and renewables is not adversely affecting sustainability
In a rapidly changing energy sector, are there still enough power plants available to provide the electricity everyone needs?
The operator of the nation’s largest power grid is answering that question in the affirmative. Its new study finds that with the addition of more natural-gas and renewable resources the system can remain reliable.
With the retirement of scores of coal plants and the early closing of some nuclear units, PJM Interconnection sought to determine whether the system is losing too many traditional resources in a new assessment, “PJM’s Evolving Resource Mix and System Reliability.’’
The study highlights some of the issues affecting the energy sector in New Jersey, which will see its two biggest coal units shut down later this year; its oldest-running nuclear plant, Oyster Creek, scheduled to shut down at the end of 2019; and questions raised about the economic viability of nuclear units elsewhere.
As elsewhere, at least five new natural-gas plants have either come on line or will soon be active, amid a rapid and controversial expansion of the gas pipeline infrastructure in the state. Amid all this activity, clean-energy advocates are pushing state policymakers to ramp up reliance on renewable sources of energy, such as solar and offshore wind.
…HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING POSSIBLE LATE MONDAY NIGHT INTO
TUESDAY…
…FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY
EVENING…
The National Weather Service in Upton has issued a
* Flood Watch for portions of northeast New Jersey and southeast
New York, including the following areas, in northeast New
Jersey, Eastern Bergen, Eastern Essex, Eastern Passaic,
Eastern Union, Hudson, Western Bergen, Western Essex, Western
Passaic, and Western Union. In southeast New York, Northern
Westchester, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Southern
Westchester.
* From late Monday night through Tuesday evening
* Rainfall with an approaching warn front may be heavy at times
late Monday night into Tuesday morning. The warm front is
expected to lift through parts of the area Tuesday afternoon,
and thunderstorms with heavy rain could also occur later in the
day on Tuesday, mainly across northeast New Jersey.
* Total rainfall of 1 1/2 to 2 inches, with locally higher
amounts, will likely lead to areal and small stream flooding
late Monday night into Tuesday. Some larger rivers may
experience minor flooding as well.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A Flood Watch means there is a potential for flooding based on
current forecasts. You should monitor later forecasts and be
alert for possible flood warnings. Those living in areas prone to
flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding
develop.
More people are leaving the New York region than any other major metropolitan area in the country.
More than 1 million people moved out of the New York area to another part of the country since 2010, a rate of 4.4 percent — the highest negative net migration rate among the nation’s large population centers, US Census records show.
The number of people leaving the region — which includes parts of New Jersey, Connecticut, the lower Hudson Valley and Long Island — in one year swelled from 187,034 in 2015 to 223,423 in 2016, while the number of international immigrants settling in the tri-state area dwindled from 181,551 to 160,324 over the same period, records show.
The nation’s economy is improving, there are more jobs in cheaper places to live, and retirees are choosing to move to warmer climates, experts say.
The Trump administration’s emphasis this week on quashing sanctuary cities’ efforts to shelter immigrants without legal permission has ricocheted through the New Jersey governor’s race.
By MICHAEL CATALINI, Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The Trump administration’s emphasis this week on quashing sanctuary cities’ efforts to shelter immigrants ( shelter illegal immigrants) without legal permission ricocheted through the New Jersey governor’s race.
Democrats vowed to push back against President Donald Trump, setting up a potential showdown over federal funding that the GOP president says is on the line. Republicans, meanwhile, criticize sanctuary cities and question their purpose.
Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who is term-limited, has said there’s “no chance” he’ll back Democratic lawmakers’ efforts to require the state to pick up the tab if federal dollars to sanctuary cities are cut.
Steve Janoski , Staff Writer, @SteveJanoskiPublished 4:26 p.m. ET March 28, 2017 | Updated 4:53 p.m. ET March 30, 2017
Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco III unveiled on Wednesday his 2017 budget, a $522 million spending plan that will increase county taxes by $8 on the average county home assessed at $465,962.
A nearly $413 million tax levy — an increase of 1.89 percent — will support the budget, despite Tedesco’s plan being about $20 million smaller than last year’s budget.
By Steven Nelson, Staff Writer | March 31, 2017, at 5:15 p.m.
Sen. Bob Menendez may call a federal prison home if prosecutors prove he accepted bribes to do favors for a wealthy businessman.
But you wouldn’t know that if you tuned in to Bloomberg TV last week to watch the New Jersey Democrat discuss a Securities and Exchange Commission nomination.
The reporter didn’t mention the case.
And there was nothing remarkable about the omission. Menendez regularly appears on cable news programs without viewers being told he faces felony corruption charges.
CNN’s Jake Tapper didn’t mention the prosecution during a 10-minute interview on March 13 that focused on health care policy. Nor did MSNBC’s Katy Tur in a March 3 interview about investigation of Russian actions during the 2016 presidential election.
The federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics tracked roads, airports and other transportation to arrive at an average noise metric for each area of the nation. These New Jersey regions were some of the worst. These maps were created by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics with Esri and Open Street Map.
Midland NJ, Midland Park firefighters battled a blaze in a single family home located at 97 Busteed Drive, Midland Park on Friday morning, 03/31. Fire companies from Ho-Ho-Kus and Wyckoff provided mutual aid assistance at the scene. The fire appeared to have started on the home’s exterior and then traveled to the interior. No injuries were reported in the blaze.
Ridgewood NJ, It’s easy to take things we don’t see for granted – like the gas pipes in our home. I’m sure like many other homeowners, I never thought much about what was going on behind my walls. I had gas service, so everything was surely fine, right? I couldn’t have been more wrong.
It began on a cold January day when a friend dropped off her daughter for a playdate with my daughter. While she was in my house, she thought she smelled gas. We knew this wasn’t something to be taken lightly, so I called PSE&G. Service Specialist Eric (E.G.) Madsen promptly arrived. He took a gas reading and immediately shut off the gas lines to our house. He had a hunch that there might be a leak in the inside gas pipes. He told my wife, who was home alone at the time, that she needed to leave immediately and call an HVAC company to test the pipes.
When the HVAC company arrived what they found was chilling and terrifying. There was indeed a leak in our pipes. In fact a leak is an understatement — there was a substantial hole! Gas was in the ground — and in our walls. The gas pipes inside our house needed to be replaced. We lived in a hotel while the pipes were dug up and replaced. Once that was done a few days later, Mr. Madsen returned to turn on the gas. While I was sitting in my kitchen waiting, I asked him just how much gas was in my walls. His reply sent chills down my spine . “Gas explodes at between 5 percent and 15 percent,” he said. “You were at 15 percent.” We dodged a bullet that day. As a result, the plumbing inspector for the Borough of Tenafly now is checking all the gas pipes in the homes in our neighborhood.
Life lessons are learned every day. With those lessons it’s important to keep things in perspective. We often times get caught up with what’s around us. We focus on what we can see. When things are invisible to the eye, like the gas pipes in our home, we just assume everything is alright. Thankfully, Mr. Madsen didn’t do that. I believe he might have saved our lives, and those of our neighbors. He says that he was just doing his job. It is not often we have the opportunity to thank the people who keep us safe. In fact, we often take them for granted. So, thank you Mr. Madsen.
If I can leave you with one final thought, it would be not to take your pipes for granted. Get them checked. And, if you think you smell gas, call PSE&G!
Pay for unused absences was capped at $15,000 in 2010, but public employees hired before that at school districts, towns, and counties across the state can still rack up six-figure payouts
Public workers in a majority of New Jersey’s municipalities, school districts, and all but two of its counties are due almost $1.9 billion in pay for unused absences when they retire, with at least one employee slated to receive as much as $500,000.
To put things in perspective: If this obligation were spread throughout the state, every New Jerseyan would have to chip in $207 to cover the public-employee version of Wall Street’s golden parachute — according to an NJ Spotlight analysis of local budgets.
Or think of it this way: In this state with the highest property taxes in the nation, the $929 million owed to municipal workers alone, if it were paid out immediately by property-tax payers, would lead to an increase of 11 percent over last year’s total local levy.
Part of the problem can be traced to the way benefits are typically negotiated by local officials, be it with a union or with individuals. According to Jon Moran, senior legislative analyst with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, it can be difficult for elected officials to take a hard line when facing the realities of what neighboring towns give and a town’s own precedent.
Follow this link for an interactive table of sick-day payout liabilities for New Jersey’s school districts, towns, and counties.
Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced the arrest of BRIAN ROONEY (DOB: 02/11/1969, married; and employed as an employment recruiter) of 16 Abbington Terrace, Glen Rock, New Jersey on charges of Stalking, Filing a False Report, and Hindering. The arrest is the result of a joint investigation conducted by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert ANZILOTTI, and the Glen Rock Police Department under the direction of Chief Dean ACKERMANN.
On Wednesday, February 22, 2017, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office received information that two residents of Glen Rock, New Jersey were receiving harassing notes and text messages over an approximate eighteen-month time span. The two residents, one of which was BRIAN ROONEY, reported the harassing communications to the Glen Rock Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. An investigation by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit and the Glen Rock Police Department revealed that ROONEY sent the harassing communications to himself and another person and then ROONEY attempted to implicate a third person as the person sending the harassing communications.
As a result of the investigation, Brian ROONEY was arrested on Wednesday, March 27, 2017, and charged with one count of Stalking, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-10b, a fourth degree crime; one count of Filing a False Police Report, N.J.S.A. 2C:28-4a, a third degree crime; and one count of Hindering, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-3b(4), a crime of the fourth degree. ROONEY was charged by way of complaint summons and was released on his own recognizance pending his first appearance in the Bergen County Judicial Processing Court on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 8:30 a.m.
Prosecutor Grewal states that these charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and would also like to thank the Glen Rock Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.
Ridgewood NJ, according to the Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital On February 14, 2017, the New York City Department of Health announced three human cases of Leptospirosis, two with pulmonary hemorrhage and one fatal as a result of infection. Recently there have also been outbreaks in Chicago and Arizona, where dozens of dogs have been infected. Now, there have been reports of 6 cases in New Jersey, including 5 dogs in Bergen County.
NBC explained , ‘Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection dogs can catch from wildlife like squirrels and rats. The disease passes through urine, which pets may lick up when drinking from puddles or other standing water.’
The Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital the symptoms in dogs may be any of these: lethargy, loss of appetite, depression, fever, dehydration, weakness, diarrhea, and vomiting. Leptospirosis can become life threatening in a very short period of time.
The best protection is prevention, and there is a canine vaccine for Leptospirosis. While cats can also be infected, there is no vaccine for cats at this time.
If you are not certain if your dog is protected, you can see your dog’s vaccination status through Pet Portals on our website: www.ridgewoodvet.com. If you are not registered, you can register there as well.
If your dog has never been vaccinated against Leptospirosis, or is overdue, please call our office to be scheduled immediately. If overdue, only one vaccination is required. If never vaccinated, a series of two is required.
If your dog is due within the next 60 days, we recommend giving the vaccine now to insure maximum antibody protection during this increased risk period as opposed to minimal protection possible at the end of the vaccine period.
Please call our office now to schedule an appointment if your dog is overdue, never had, or due within 60 days for the Leptospirosis Vaccine.
A new Fairleigh Dickinson/Public Mind Poll shows Jersey voters are dissatisfied with both the governor and Trenton lawmakers in general.
“Dissatisfied” might be an understatement.
Just 1 percent of voters — that’s 1 out of 100 — said they trust Trenton lawmakers to always do what’s right.
Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of the FDU poll, says many respondents took a dim view of where we are going.
“Barely a quarter, or 24 percent, believe that the state is on a good path, with 67 percent who think otherwise.”
She said voters were asked a number of questions about their feelings toward state government, and across all measures, voter discontent runs broad and deep.
The poll also showed a very slight improvement in Gov. Chris Christie’s rating, but it still remains at an abysmal low.
“We find that his approval numbers are up slightly from January, which is the last time that we asked the same question. But they do remain statistically unchanged at 20 percent. Almost three-quarters, or 72 percent, of registered voters say they disapprove of his leadership.”
But Jenkins says it is not just about the governor.
