Megan Burrow , Staff Writer, @MegBurrowPublished 9:26 p.m. ET March 1, 2017 | Updated 9:27 p.m. ET March 1, 2017
HACKENSACK — There was no decision Wednesday in a case before a Superior Court judge involving a petition by Teaneck Township to bar a resident from filing public records requests.
But Judge Robert P. Contillo expressed some skepticism with Teaneck’s argument that Elie Jones, a 44-year-old lifelong unemployed township resident, harassed and bullied the township staff as he filed more than 300 records requests since November under the state’s Open Public Records Act, or OPRA.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that“ – Martin Luther King, Jr
March 3,3017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Glen Rock NJ, Last week’s hate crime killing of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, and shooting of Alok Madasani, and Ian Grillot, has shaken everyone. This in addition to the over hundred bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers, desecration of hundreds of headstones at Jewish cemeteries, and hate crimes against Black, LGBTQI, Muslim, Immigrants, and various groups of all backgrounds has left a lot of communities in anger, pain and seeking answers.
To stand up against hate, and unite in a demonstration of solidarity, strength, and community, residents of Glen Rock and neighboring towns invite everyone to a candlelight vigil for peace and unity at Boro Hall in Glen Rock, NJ.
This is a non-partisan event to showcase the strength of our community and that we are all bound to each other by our humanity.
Mr. Gurbir S. Grewal, Bergen County Prosecutor will discuss hate crimes in Bergen County, and their investigation by the BC Prosecutor’s office. Faith leaders will lead a conversation on peace, unity and creating safe spaces for everyone. Community leaders from various faiths, and organizations will be available for dialogue after the Program.
Program:
• Welcome Message by Sanjiv Ohri, Member of Religious Communities of Glen Rock and Glen Rock Indian Community
• The Star-Spangled Banner – National Anthem
• Brief Message from Bruce Packer, Mayor of Glen Rock
• Speech by Gurbir S. Grewal, Bergen County Prosecutor
• Remarks by Father Mark Collins
• Remarks and Prayer by Rabbi Jennifer Schlosberg
• Song of Peace – Let There Be Peace on Earth
When:
Saturday, March 4th, 7:00pm
Where:
Please meet us near the steps of the Borough Hall (1 Harding Plaza) in Glen Rock, NJ
Who Can Attend:
Anyone and everyone. This rally is open to everyone in all towns and bring your family.
Please invite everyone you know, and register on the EventBrite or Facebook Event, so that we can get an accurate head count.
This is a peaceful, non-partisan and non-denominational gathering.
Please dress warmly in layers
Lyrics to the National Anthem
Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Lyrics to Let There Be Peace on Earth
Let There Be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me.
Let There Be Peace on Earth, the peace that was meant to be!
With Earth as our Mother, we are family.
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now.
With every breath I take, let this be my solemn vow;
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally!
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Please register through Eventbrite under “Tickets” so that there is an accurate head count
Trenton, N.J. – New Jersey municipalities could get relief from building more than 200,000 low income housing units and 1,000,000 total new housing units under a bill introduced by Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi on Tuesday. The bill (A4666) imposes a moratorium on all affordable housing litigation until the end of the year.
“If we wait any longer the transformative impact on our communities will not be reversible,” said Schepisi (R-Bergen). “Now is the time for the Legislature to act.”
Municipalities have spent millions of taxpayer dollars over the years fighting affordable housing mandates in court. After a January NJ Supreme Court ruling forced towns to consider past housing needs for the first time, municipalities statewide are struggling to compensate. The far-reaching mandate increases low-income housing need by 142 percent while forcing municipalities to permit building that would accommodate a phantom 30 percent population increase.
“The court’s social engineering will devastate all 23 municipalities I represent and suburban municipalities throughout the entire state,” said Schepisi. “The legislature needs to stop ignoring affordable housing and instead should immediately act to fix this problem in a responsible manner. While we focus our energies to vote on the State bird and State butterfly our communities are being turned into mini Brooklyns. We cannot let the court legislate what is best for individual communities. This isn’t temporary; this is forever. I am circulating a resolution to every Mayor and Council in the State seeking their support for an immediate legislative solution.”
Schepisi also introduced a companion bill (A-4667) creating a short term commission that will study prior court decisions, the effectiveness of past affordable housing practices, and analyze projected population increases and corresponding housing need. The commission will hold public hearings and is required to publish a report of its findings at the end of the year.
The January court mandate would unnecessarily increase housing supply by as much as 30 percent in the next 9 years anticipating a population growth of 2.73 million. These projections would cost New Jersey taxpayers over $11.75 billion more in education alone. On the flip side, Rutger’s economists project a population increase of only .3 percent, or 219,000 people, per year until 2026
By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 02, 2017 at 7:02 PM, updated March 02, 2017 at 7:57 PM
TRENTON — One of the state’s leading proponents in last year’s fight to raise the gas tax for the Transportation Trust Fund spent nearly $4.4 million lobbying last year, according to an Election Law Enforcement Commission analysis.
The Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative more than quadrupled its spending over 2015, making it the highest-spending special interest organization in 2016.
Total lobbying in the state last year reached $68.3 million, a slight drop from the year prior, but still one of the most expensive years on record, the commission said.
The engineers cooperative, embarked on an ad campaign pushing both the 23 cent gasoline tax hike and a constitutional amendment dedicating all tax revenues to the Transportation Trust Fund, beat out even the deep pockets of the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s prominent teachers union.
Ridgewood NJ, in a recent ‘U.S. News & World Report’ Best States Ranking, New Jersey ranks 14th.New Jersey beat out New York, Florida, California, Hawaii and Pennsylvania in the overall rankings.
According to the study, the Best States ranking of U.S. states draws on thousands of data points to measure how well states are performing for their citizens. In addition to health care and education, the metrics take into account a state’s economy, the opportunity it offers people, its roads, bridges, internet and other infrastructure, its public safety and the integrity and health of state government.
What’s amazing is the rankings not only consider such categories as health care(pricey in NJ ), education (forgetaboutit ) but the “state’s economy(ugh), the opportunity it offers people (live with mom), its roads, bridges (total disaster), internet and other infrastructure (public rest rooms), its public safety (cops everywhere) and the integrity and health of state government( your kidding right).”
The Top 10 states in the overall rankings include (in order):
1. Massachusetts
2. New Hampshire
3. Minnesota
4. North Dakota
5. Washington
6. Iowa
7. Utah
8. Maryland
9. Colorado
10. Vermont
The Rankings noted the state’s “world-class universities, leading technology and biological science firms and one fast turnpike,” out of 50 states, the report lists New Jersey 2nd in education, 8th in health care, and 27th in opportunity.
In other categories, you guessed it New Jersey comes in dead last in the category of government, which takes into consideration such things as “Fiscal Stability” (ranked 49th in the country), “Budget Transparency” (29th), and “State Integrity” (18th) Scary New Jersey placed 18th.
The good news in the rankings, New Jersey leads the rest of U.S. states with a zero-percent over-capacity of its State Prison System. New Jersey comes in 2nd place for “Public Transit Usage,” and its low property crime rate ranked 3rd out of all 50 states.
Meanwhile, New Jersey ranked well in overall household income (4th), low suicide rate (2nd), fewest nursing home citations (4th), and pre-school enrollment (1st).
By Jeff Goldman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 01, 2017 at 1:29 PM, updated March 01, 2017 at 4:57 PM
HACKENSACK — A teenage girl who sued her father after he caused a car crash that allegedly left her with permanent spinal injuries has been awarded $4.1 million by a jury, according to a report.
The then 14-year-old was riding in the back seat on Feb. 23, 2013, when her father blew through a stop sign at the corner of Atwood Avenue and North Summit Street in Tenafly, NJLawJournal.com said.
The girl suffered two herniated discs in her neck and one in her back. The teen will have spinal surgery since she is still in pain despite undergoing therapy and acupuncture, the report said.
A new federal study shows less pollution in most New Jersey streams, but salt levels rising in some places.
The study by the U.S. Geological Survey found that levels of two key pollutants, nitrogen and phosphorus, either declined or stayed about the same over the last four decades in most of the 28 streams surveyed. But it also found salt levels rose, probably due to the increasing use of road salt during the winter that washes into waterways.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection commissioned the federal agency to study long-term trends. The findings were consistent with other studies done in the Northeastern U.S.
Bob Martin, department commissioner, said the study was the largest ever done on nutrient trends in the state’s streams. Contributing to the decline in pollutants, he said, were better management of stormwater at the local level and upgrades to wastewater treatment plants beginning in the 1980s and early 1990s, with regional plants replacing smaller local plants.
New Jersey has the strictest standards in the nation for phosphorus in fertilizer. Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for plant and animal life, but high levels in water can cause algae blooms, drinking water concerns and low levels of dissolved oxygen, which harms marine life.
The underground infrastructure carrying water, sewerage, gas and electricity is essential to the lives of every business and person in the state, yet it is in a horrendous state of disrepair. As the owner of a real estate firm that secures underground easements for some of the state’s largest utility companies, I can say with confidence that our underground infrastructure is at a breaking point. If we do not invest in upgrading our underground infrastructure, it will only be a short matter of time before a critical infrastructure failure leads to a public health and safety crisis.
As an example, water suppliers estimate that New Jersey loses 33 percent of drinking water each year just through old, leaking underground pipes. This is enough clean water to fill several reservoirs. However, the few times that our underground infrastructure receives any media attention is during “large-scale” catastrophes, such as when a water main bursts, a blackout occurs, a gas pipeline explodes — or worse, we find dangerous levels of lead in our water supply.
If we do not act on improving our water infrastructure, we risk a lead-water crisis similar to that experienced by the businesses and residents of Flint, Michigan. Only after public outcry and national media attention, the U.S. Congress approved emergency infrastructure funds totaling $170 million in September 2016 to begin critical work on Flint’s lead-contaminated water delivery system. Similarly, New Jersey has water infrastructure the same age or older than Flint. We must find the means to fix New Jersey’s aging water systems before they degenerate from bad to worse.
The cost of repairs is enormous, but the cost of inaction is far greater. According to the Water Research Foundation, funding water and wastewater upgrades around the country could cost $650 billion over the next 20 years. However, as these small- and large-scale problems become more commonplace it is incumbent on our state’s elected officials and decision makers to work with our utility providers and begin crafting comprehensive plans to fix New Jersey’s hidden infrastructure. Smart infrastructure improvements now will benefit ratepayers, create jobs and generate greater investment in our state from the business community.
The New Jersey Utilities Association noted that over the past five years, six companies have spent nearly $2 billion on water delivery system upgrades. This is a good start as these infrastructure investments already have created thousands of new jobs and pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into New Jersey’s economy, all while improving utility delivery to end users.
Now the Joint Legislative Task Force on Drinking Water is diving head first into ways we can address our drinking water issues. With the Legislature and governor coming together with the business and labor community to support an increase in the gas tax that ultimately put the state’s Transportation Trust Fund on solid financial footing, I believe that the timing is right for our residents, business leaders, labor unions, and elected officials from the governor down to local mayors and council members to join together and work on a comprehensive plan to revitalize our water utility infrastructure.
The time to invest is now. Our public health and welfare depends on it.
JENNIFER COFFEY AND TIM DILLINGHAM | FEBRUARY 27, 2017
With 14 counties under drought warning, the governor must release the Water Supply Plan — whether it’s ready or not
Jennifer Coffey and Tim Dillingham
With the beginning of the new calendar year, New Jersey has entered its third consecutive year of drought, with 14 counties remaining under an official drought-warning status. While winter rains and snow are helping drinking-water reservoirs refill, the drought warning remains. In six weeks, spring will bring blooming flowers, growing lawns, warmer temperatures, and increasing demands for water. Increasing demands for clean water during a time of drought in the most densely populated state in the nation is why, despite what one prominent scientist has recently written, we desperately need an updated Water Supply Plan for the Garden State.
Gov. Chris Christie’s failure to release an update to the State Water Supply Plan is threatening New Jersey’s supply of clean, fresh drinking water. On Earth Day 2015, in April, the New Jersey Senate Legislative Oversight Committee held a hearing at which experts testified on the need for an updated Water Supply Plan. Our current plan is 21 years old and 16 years overdue for an update. Committees in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature have passed resolutions directing the governor to release the draft plan immediately, yet amidst a drought warning, there is still no sign of the plan.
The Water Supply Plan works as an accounting checkbook for New Jersey’s water supplies. The goal is to ensure that we have enough clean water for residents, businesses, power production, farming, and the environment for this and future generations. The master plan includes recommendations for balancing the diverse demands on the water supply with the amount of water that replenishes the sources of that water — precipitation that feeds our shared streams, rivers, and underground water sources known as aquifers.
Ridgewood NJ, according to Rasmussen Reports most Americans favor screening out immigrants to this country who don’t share our values or a belief in our basic constitutional freedoms.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 61% of American Adults favor a proposal to keep out “those who do not support the U.S. Constitution or who would place violent ideologies over American law. In addition, the United States would not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred for reasons of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation.” Just 19% oppose such a ban, while 21% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
This is the wording President Trump used in his initial executive order temporarily freezing refugees into this country and visas for those from seven Middle Eastern and African countries until proper vetting procedures to screen out potential terrorists are in place. The question, however, did not identify Trump as the source of the proposal.
Last August when he first proposed it, 59% of voters supported candidate Trump’s temporary ban on immigration into the United States from “the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism” until the federal government improves its screening procedures. Thirty-two percent (32%) were opposed.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Americans believe that criminals should be prosecuted more severely if it can be proven that their crime was motived by the victim’s race, color, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. A new high, this finding had previously been in the mid- to upper 40s in surveys since 2009. Twenty-eight percent (28%) still disagree, while 14% are undecided.
Sizable majorities in most demographic groups favor both the immigration litmus test and so-called hate crime prosecutions.
In an interesting side note Democrats, are less supportive of restricting immigrants with hateful ideologies than they are of prosecuting Americans for hate crimes. Republicans, on the other hand, view restrictions on newcomers to this country more favorably than prosecution of existing Americans.
Not surprising given the recent political rhetoric only 49% of Democrats favor keeping out of the country those who do not support the Constitution or who in engage in acts of bigotry or hatred for reasons of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation. But 65% of Democrats support prosecuting criminals more severely if it can be proven that their crime was motivated by the victim’s race, color, religion, nation origin or sexual orientation.
Conversely, 78% of Republicans favor the constitutional/hate crime litmus test for immigrants, but only 57% support prosecutions based on the same standards.
Just over half of Americans not affiliated with either major party favor both proposals. But 33% of unaffiliateds oppose hate crime prosecutions, compared to just 16% who are against the restrictions on new immigrants.
LODI ― The borough could become home to the first hydrogen fueling station in New Jersey and one of the few retail stations open to the public across the country.
Air Liquide US has filed an application with the borough’s Zoning Board of Adjustment to install a hydrogen gas fueling dispenser, a hydrogen fueling storage facility and other improvements to an existing Shell gas station at 110 Essex St.
By Anthony G. Attrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on February 24, 2017 at 9:24 AM, updated February 24, 2017 at 4:24 PM
CLIFTON – Police have arrested a Bergen County man and charged him in the theft last week of a chalice and money from a donation box at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church on Union Avenue.
The chalice, worth about $15,000, has not been recovered and police are still looking for it. A chalice is a goblet or cup used in religious services.
Peter M. Heitmann Jr., 26, of Saddle Brook is charged with burglary, theft, criminal mischief and possession of burglar’s tools, said Detective Lt. Robert Bracken of the Clifton Police Department.
Ridgewood NJ, The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and Bergen County Sheriff’s Office are pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the Bergen County Youth Police Academy – Class #13.
The Academy is a two-week “day camp” (Monday through Friday) that is offered to qualified Bergen County high school students who are entering the 9th, 10th , 11th and 12th grades, free of charge. The camp is funded through the use of monies forfeited from criminal enterprises, and is staffed by members of the Sheriff’s Office and Prosecutor’s Office. This year’s Academy will run from June 26 through July 7, 2017.
The motto of the Bergen County Youth Police Academy is “Honor – Respect – Commitment.” The objective is to educate young people about public service including emergency services, law enforcement, and government agencies.
“Designed by law enforcement professionals, the Academy provides high school students with a real understanding of what police academy cadets experience,” stated Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal. “This is a unique opportunity for young people to focus on strengthening their life skills of self-respect, respect of others, teamwork, and commitment to one’s goals.”
The curriculum will consist of hands-on, interactive educational activities as well as physical training activities. Daily programs include presentations from educators, interaction with county agencies, and field trips. The cadets will be given exposure to available state and county resources.
The Youth Police Academy will be held at the Bergen County Law and Public Safety Institute in Mahwah, and is headquartered at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack. Application forms are available at local high schools, police departments or online at www.BCPO.net (at Resources tab), and must be submitted by Friday, April 14, 2017. Space is limited. If you have any questions, contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Community Outreach unit at 201-226-5509, or [email protected].
Ridgewood Nj, Jersey Born and Bred Gubernatorial candidate Joseph R. Rullo has put together a few ideas to solve the state’s massive pension crisis. Most of the ideas are relatively painless for employees and taxpayers and unlike other grand schemes easily doable .
Rullo starts with investing basics by looking to eliminate $700 million in pension fees to NYC politically connected brokerage houses and replace with licensed brokers in the state investors division to pay savings towards pension payment. The pension fees went from 125M to 700M per year in the last 7 years.
Let’s face it according to the all the town hall protesters New Jersey loves Obamacare so Rullo says :
*Open up state employee health insurance bids across America to create competition to lower premiums and get better coverage for employees.
Rullo get creative with the next one;
* Dedicate a portion of recreational marijuana revenues to pay towards pension payment.
Was first reported by The Star-Ledger’s Editorial Page Editor Tom Moran in a Sunday column arguing passionately for legalization. Joseph Rudy Rullo, a declared Republican candidate for New Jersey governor in 2017, also supports marijuana legalization.
And finally something that long over do in the state of New Jersey . We can start with the pensions and work our way through every state agency .
* Open up a formal investigation and audit the pension fund for the last several decades to hold politicians in both parties accountable for their actions.
Trenton, NJ – A month since the New Jersey Press Association promised, but failed, to provide the public and the Legislature with the revenue totals their members receive from the publication of legal notices, the Governor’s Office today released additional revenue information from its own review that further debunks the multibillion-dollar print newspaper industry’s grossly false and misleading claims.
In an effort to lobby for media titans against overdue property tax-cutting reform bill S-2855/A-4429, which permits legal notices to be published online and has been supported by bipartisan legislators for 16 years, NJPA has claimed their member newspapers take $20 million per year from taxpayers. NJPA continues to provide no evidence to support this claim. Meanwhile, the Governor’s Office has released ample data, such as the attached, publicizing the newspapers’ real taxpayer rake, which is well over $20 million and pushing upwards of $80 million per year.
“The billionaires and millionaires running print newspapers in New Jersey continue to provide false rhetoric that they collect only $20 million in annual tax dollars to publish legal notices that should instead be freely posted online, and have yet to fulfill their promise to release real financial information, conceding that their $20 million claims were a lie to their employees, legislators, readers and taxpayers,” Governor Christie said. “These newspaper operators are so conflicted on this issue that despite my office providing sets of data proving their claims are false, there have been no articles or editorials reflecting that reality.”
Data backing the $80 million and the Star Ledger’s $16.6 million in 2016 legal notices revenue has been public since January 24. It has been provided to and remains unpublished by the following newspapers:
The Record Gannett NJ Advance Media The Associated Press NJ Spotlight New Jersey Herald
In the face of this silence, the Governor’s Office has continued its painstaking review with the Gannett newspapers. To date, the Office has reviewed the published 2016 legal notices for three daily newspapers and the revenue generated from just these three newspapers exceeds $20 million:
2016 Revenue Totals
• Star-Ledger – $16,614,923.68
• Courier Post – $2,096,997.42
• Asbury Park Press – $1,989,089.53
Total for 3 Daily Newspapers – $20,701,010.63
With 13 daily papers and dozens of weekly papers left to tabulate, the 2016 legal notices in these three papers alone prove the NJPA’s $20 million per year claim is an outright falsehood.
