Category: Bergen County

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Fair Lawn Teen fends off Intruder With A Baseball Bat

Fair Lawn Susupect
March 27,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Fair Lawn NJ, A 16-year-old boy scared off a strange man he encountered inside his family’s kitchen in Fair Lawn,early Thursday morning.Local Police said the teen was getting a glass of water around 4:22 a.m. when he spotted the stranger in his home. The teen walked into the next room, and the man followed. Grabbing a baseball bat the teenager hit the man once in the arm. Police said the man took off, but not before dropping $160 and two passports .

Officials are still searching for the suspect, who they describe as a white male in his 30s, approximately 6 feet tall with blue eyes and a full beard. He was last seen wearing a black wool hat, gloves and multiple layers of black clothing.

Fair Lawn Police are still looking for the pictured individual for a burglary that occurred on 3/24. Contact Det. Yuskaitis at 201-794-5410.

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Corruption trial could roil NJ Senate race

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file photo by Boyd Loving

BY LISA HAGEN – 03/25/17 01:18 PM EDT

Sen. Robert Menendez ongoing corruption case could upend the New Jersey Democrat’s reelection bid in 2018, with the longtime politician scheduled to go to court this fall.

The Supreme Court delivered another blow this week to the embattled senator when it refused to dismiss the case. The trial is scheduled to begin about a year before the midterm elections.

Federal prosecutors charged Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty, in April 2015 on 14 criminal counts, including conspiracy to commit bribery.

Menendez is expected to head to trial on Sept. 6,facing a potential criminal conviction even as he would normally be preparing a re-election bid.

“It makes it very difficult to campaign if you’re on trial,” said Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/325733-corruption-case-could-roil-nj-senate-race

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Retail collapse: The 23 biggest chains closing stores this year

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Updated March 25, 2017
Posted March 25, 2017

The start of 2017 has been merciless when it comes to retail store closings. This year, analysts say online shopping has continued to take its toll on even the most popular brands.

Is your favorite retailer closing shop?

Check out our list of the biggest chains closings stores this year.
Walmart,
SEARS,
KMart,
JC Penny
BeBe,
Radio Shack,
CVS,
RiteAid,
The Children’s Place,
American Apparel,
Wet Seal,
Office Depot,
Aeropostale,
Men’s Wearhouse/Jos A. Bank,
The Limited,
Finish Line,
Chicos,
American Eagle,
BCBG Max Azria,
Abercrombie & Fitch,

GameStop

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/03/retail_closings_list_nj_2017.html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured

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Ridgewood and Glen Rock Make America’s 100 Richest Places list

CBD Ridgewood by ArtChick
file photo by ArtChick
March 25,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood bog

Ridgewood NJ, in a Bloomberg report on America’s 100 Richest Places ,cities and towns with ties to Wall Street and the Silicon Valley, and a smattering of communities in between, boasted the highest U.S. household incomes in 2015, according to a Bloomberg analysis of census data. Ridgewood came in 67th on the list with and avage household income of $219,566 .

Atherton, California, in the technology corridor between San Francisco and San Jose, topped the list as America’s wealthiest town, while more than one-third of the nation’s 100 richest households were located within 50 miles of New York City.

Here are some of the top 100 from New Jersey

19. Upper Saddle River, $276,982
34. North Caldwell, $251,248;
41. Franklin Lakes, $243,441;
43. Rumson, $242,158;
49. Upper Montclair, $236,382;
56. Glen Ridge, $227,198;
61. Tenafly, $222,633;
67. Ridgewood, $219,566;
70. Summit (Union), $215,515;
72. Chatham (Morris), $213,408;
73. Woodcliff Lake, $211,473;
79. Bernardsville (Somerset), $206,277;
92. Glen Rock, $197,914.
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Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi NJ Supreme Court is forcing our communities to build up to ONE MILLION new units of unneeded housing

U

March 25,2017
Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi

Under recent affordable housing rulings by the NJ Supreme Court, our communities are being forced to permit construction of up to ONE MILLION new units of unneeded housing in order to satisfy a fictitious population increase of 30 percent in the next 9 years. Today’s Bergen Record reports that NOBODY COMES HERE. IT’S TOO CROWDED (the story is below). So why is all this housing being forced on New Jersey? Help me stop this while we still can. Please write Assembly Speaker Prieto [email protected] and ask him to post A-4666 which imposes a moratorium on affordable housing settlements and litigation and A-4667 which creates a commission to study the actual need and obligations.

– “New Jersey population continues growing by slim margins,” by The Record’s Dave Sheingold: “New Jersey’s population inched up by the barest of margins last year, continuing a nearly three-decade trend that has seen the state grow at one of the slowest rates in the country, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Lodged firmly in a pattern seen across most of the northeast and parts of the Midwest since before the turn of the century, the number of New Jerseyans increased by a mere 9,000, or 0.1 percent, in 2016. That left the nation’s most densely populated state with 8.94 million residents, a figure that is up 1.7 percent since 2010 and 6.3 percent since 2000. New Jersey’s growth rate this decade is the 14th smallest in the country, far behind increases of 6 to 12 percent seen in the southeast, southwest, west and northern Great Plains.”

https://www.northjersey.com/…/new-jersey-populatio…/99531254/

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The Death of Home Rule in New Jersey

ridgewood map

Eustace & Houghtaling Bill to Encourage Municipal Consolidation, Rein in Property Taxes Heads to Governor’s Desk

March 25,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood

Ridgewood NJ, Legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Tim Eustace and Eric Houghtaling to give towns better tools to pursue municipal consolidation and ultimately rein in property taxes gained final legislative approval from the full Assembly by a vote of 51-21-2 on Thursday.

The bill (S-690/A-2921) would promote municipal consolidation by increasing the flexibility, clarity and available tools under the “Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act” enacted in 2007. Although one of the primary purposes of this law is to promote consolidation by providing more procedural flexibility, to date, only one municipal consolidation has been effectuated since its enactment.

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Joe Piscopo laughs off reports of Russian hacking

BORIS

BY JUDY KURTZ – 03/23/17 05:32 PM EDT

Joe Piscopo, currently mulling a New Jersey gubernatorial bid, is laughing off reports of Russian-backed hacking during the 2016 elections, calling them “comical.”

“It’s a ruse. It’s a joke. They got nothing. The Russia thing is comical because it won’t go away,” the “Saturday Night Live” alum told Mediaite on Thursday when asked what he makes “of all this Russia business.”

“I ask this with respect, with respect to the Russian theorists — you talk about conspiracy theories, I mean, this is what this is — did the Russians come to my county in Jersey in the middle of nowhere and did they hack into my mechanical voting both so when I switched — I voted for somebody, they switched my vote?” Piscopo told the site.

Piscopo has repeatedly floated running for governor of New Jersey as a Republican. With a filing deadline looming, he now says he’s “more serious” about running as an independent.

The 65-year-old comedian and radio show host said, “I mean, get to the — there’s no way they could hack it! If they hacked into the Democratic Party, if indeed they did, who cares? They think, like, the voters are dumb.”

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New Jersey Family Magazine Ranks the Best Places in New Jersey For Families

The+Partridge+Family+PartridgeFamily

March 24,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey Family Magazine ranked the top towns in New Jersey for families.

To come up with the ranking, they looked at the entire state—more than 500 towns in all—and measured each municipality against a host of important factors, including school district quality, crime rates, affordability, commute times, percentage of families who live there, access to hospitals and general lifestyle factors.

How did Ridgewood rank:  # 55 Ridgewood , population 24,999

Ridgewood neighbors fared a bit better in overall ranking , #3 Glen Rock Bergen 11,631, #10 Midland Park population 7,131, #22 Ho-Ho-Kus Borough population 4,085.

https://www.njfamily.com/Best-Towns-for-Families-The-List/

 

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Work on Meadowlands mall has stalled and developer won’t answer questions

Xanadu_main_theridgewoodblog

the curse of Xanadu strikes again

By Fausto Giovanny Pinto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 23, 2017 at 8:52 AM, updated March 23, 2017 at 4:28 PM

EAST RUTHERFORD — Work on the American Dream mall has been just about non-existent, months after it was reported in December that construction had stalled.

Cranes were at a standstill and a hardhat could not be found at the American Dream mall site in East Rutherford. Work was been stalled since December. (Fausto Giovanny Pinto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Fausto Giovanny Pinto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Borough Mayor James L. Cassella says he has been in the dark about the billion-dollar mega-project, but is hopeful construction will start again soon.

“I haven’t seen much, maybe a few people, a couple of cars parked,” said Cassella last week. “There aren’t a lot of people down there.”

https://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2017/03/work_on_meadowlands_mall_has_stalled_and_developer_wont_answer_questions.html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured

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Wife sues driver who killed her jogging husband

BergenCountyCourthouse

By Anthony G. Attrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 21, 2017 at 6:35 AM, updated March 21, 2017 at 8:48 AM

TENAFLY – The wife of a man struck and killed by a car during an early morning jog last fall has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver, according to court documents.

Robert E. Hyer Jr., 63, was killed as he tried to cross East Clinton Avenue at Woodland Street in Tenafly. (Google Maps)

Robert E. Hyer Jr., 63, of Tenafly, was killed Oct. 25, 2016, as he crossed East Clinton Avenue at Woodland Street in Tenafly, according to a lawsuit filed March 13 in Bergen County Superior Court.

The driver was Raffaella Garritano, 58, of Englewood Cliffs, according to attorneys for Hyer’s wife Andrea McDermott Hyer, 54.

“Garritano operated that vehicle in such an inattentive, careless, reckless and negligent manner so as to strike and violently knock (the victim) to the ground,” the suit states.

https://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2017/03/wrongful_death_suit_filed_against_driver_who_hit_j.html?ath=a661ed5d8cb41fa9dc524c06f451a07d#cmpid=nsltr_strybutton

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BUSINESSES WORRY THAT TOO MANY MILLENNIALS HEADED OUT OF NEW JERSEY

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file photo by Boyd Loving

JOHN REITMEYER | MARCH 22, 2017

Millennials are leaving Garden State at a faster clip than any other group; that’s a concern for business groups, who want to keep them here

Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, addresses conference on millennials and the state workforce.

Last year, the size of the nation’s millennial generation grew enough to top baby boomers and become the largest of the five living generations. But in New Jersey, business leaders are tracking a different trend as millennials have been leaving the state at a higher rate than other groups.

The loss of millennials is not only a waste of taxpayer investment in their K-12 education, but there are also concerns that it could be having a broader impact on a state economy that has taken several years to fully recover from the Great Recession.

That’s caused business leaders to begin talking about ways to keep New Jersey’s millennials from leaving the state in the first place, as well as doing things to attract millennials from other states as they launch their careers, and as more and more boomers here reach retirement age.

“It’s a challenge that is screaming out for some attention and some solutions,” said Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. The NJBIA hosted a daylong conference in East Windsor yesterday on the issue of millennials and the state workforce.

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/17/03/21/businesses-worried-that-too-many-millennials-headed-out-of-nj/

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Joe Piscopo — ‘It’s time for the people’s politician’

Joe Piscopo

By Bill Spadea March 21, 2017 9:40 AM

Entertainer, radio host and maybe our next governor? Could Joe Piscopo be the next governor? If so, he has laid out his gameplan for his road to the statehouse.

Piscopo — ‘More serious than ever’ about run for governor

Joe called into the show this morning to discuss his announcement that IF he decides to run for governor, he will run as an Independent. While he respects both sides of the aisle with friends in the NJ Republican and Democratic parties, “I think it’s time for the people’s politician, Bill,” Piscopo stated.

Piscopo also said that if he were to announce that he is going to make a run for the governor, now that he won’t be affiliated with any specific party, “I’m pro union member and you have to fight for the working men and women of the state and I support the union members.”

Would you be more inclined to vote for an Independent candidate?

Read More: Joe Piscopo — ‘It’s time for the people’s politician’ | https://nj1015.com/joe-piscopo-its-time-for-the-peoples-politician/?trackback=tsmclip

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Facing corruption trial, Menendez keeps a lid on successor talks

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file photo by Boyd Loving

By MATT FRIEDMAN

03/22/17 05:22 AM EDT

Shortly after Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez was indicted on corruption charges in 2015, former Sen. Robert Torricelli started meeting with New Jersey political insiders.

Menendez’s term expires in January 2019, but Torricelli was signaling his interest in the seat should Menendez step down sooner. All the while, though, he continued to voice his support for the embattled senator.

https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/03/facing-corruption-trial-menendez-keeps-a-lid-on-successor-talks-110549

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Collision at the intersection of Ridgewood Road and Walnut Street in Washington Township

Washington Twp car crash

photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page

March 21,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington Twp NJ, One (1) person was transported to a local hospital following a two (2) vehicle collision at the intersection of Ridgewood Road and Walnut Street in Washington Township on Monday afternoon, 03/20. Both vehicles were removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Washington Township PD, Westwood EMS, and a paramedic unit from Hackensack University Medical Center North responded to the incident. Injuries to the victim, an adult female, appeared to have been non life threatening.

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Picking apart Cory Booker’s latest health care nonsense, point by point

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file photo by Boyd Loving

By Herman Cain —— Bio and Archives March 20, 2017

As Republicans in Congress continue to craft a legislative solution to the disastrous Unaffordable Care Act, the Democrats continue to mislead its defenders with more and more dishonest and deceptive rhetoric. The latest installment comes from Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), and is deserving of a complete deception diagnosis.

By the way, Booker is considered by Democrats to be a future Democrat presidential candidate, and he won the un-coveted “Liberal Lunacy of the Week” last week on the Herman Cain Radio Show with the following litany of false statements:

“The Republicans cannot just force this down our throats.  It’s going to knock a lot of folks off, hurt long-term care, hurt good working class folks.  I don’t understand this almost, I don’t understand their political strategy because this is bad politics.  Deeper than that it is bad policy and bad process.”

Let’s break this down, shall we?

The Republicans cannot just force this down our throats.

Most of us will recall then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying that the Democrats had to pass the UCA and then tell us what was in it. They did just that in 2010 with no Republican votes in Congress, because it was that bad and they wanted no Republican input. They forced it down our throats.

In 2017, the Republicans’ American Health Care Act (AHCA) is working its way through Congress and we know what’s in it, and sensible people like most of it. Some of the favorite features are no mandates, no penalties, repeal of taxes hidden in the UCA, and allowing the states to manage Medicaid. These features are the exact opposite of what’s in the UCA, which has failed miserably.