By Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 17, 2017 at 7:05 AM, updated January 17, 2017 at 5:49 PM
ORANGE — When about two-dozen federal agents rolled up in their black-tinted SUVs to Orange City Hall this past week, forcing the government to shut down for the day as they combed through its files, few people gave much notice – and none seemed all that surprised.
There were no flashing lights or police lines. Passersby shrugged and continued to their cars with their shopping bags. A make-shift sign on the front door said city hall would reopen the next day, and a janitor politely turned people away.
“It’s going to be a long day,” he said.
But records show it’s a day that’s been a long time coming.
An NJ Advance Media review shows that, for at least five years, a tightly knit web of political operators has left behind a trail of financial problems in Orange, a city of about 30,000 where playing fast and loose with taxpayer funds appears to be the norm.
The three-month review – including hundreds of pages of city and court records, as well as interviews with current and former city officials – found nearly every city department has been cited since 2011 for violating some of the most basic spending rules.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – New Jersey was among seven states selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for participation in an online purchasing pilot program for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Under the two-year pilot, residents of the Garden State who use food stamps will be able to purchase eligible grocery items online from Amazon and ShopRite beginning this summer.
SNAP online ordering will follow the same rules as in-store purchasing. Participants in the program will be able to use their food stamps to purchase bread, fruit, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, dairy products and other produce.
Ridgewood NJ, Intensifying his Administration’s commitment in the fight against substance abuse, Governor Chris Christie today signed Executive Order 219 declaring the opioid epidemic a public health crisis in New Jersey. The action requires the marshalling of all appropriate resources to combat its harmful effects on state citizens.
“We must take aggressive action to get this insidious crisis under control so I am calling together all resources of state government in order to save lives,” said Governor Christie. “The human cost of this epidemic is incalculable, impacting every part of life in New Jersey, affecting our education system, our health care system, public safety and the financial security of every person it touches.”
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, an American dies every 19 minutes from an opioid or heroin overdose. New Jersey’s drug overdose death rate increased by almost 22 percent between 2014 and 2015. There was a 30 percent increase in heroin deaths over the previous year and triple the number of deaths caused by the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Additionally, the CDC reports that in 2012, health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid pain medication, enough for every adult in the United States to have a bottle of pills.
The new Executive Order creates the Governor’s Task Force on Drug Abuse Control, to be headed by Charlie McKenna, Executive Director of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, which will be charged with developing and executing a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to combat the drug-abuse epidemic by working with all areas of state government, in addition to local, federal, and private entities, as well as the Facing Addiction Task Force.
The Drug Abuse Task Force will consist of eight members, including the Attorney General and the Commissioners of Health, Human Services, Corrections, Education, Children and Families, and Banking and Insurance.
The Task Force will review current statutes and regulations that present barriers to individuals suffering from addiction to receiving treatment from rapid opiate detox centers and make recommendations to rescind or amend any such statutes or regulations to remove those barriers. The panel is authorized to call upon any department, office, division, or agency of this state to supply it with information, personnel, or other assistance available as the Task Force deems necessary to discharge its duties. The Task Force may consult with experts or other knowledgeable individuals in the public or private sector on any aspect of its mission.
The Executive Order also directs Attorney General Chris Porrino to take all necessary steps to limit the initial prescription of opioids for acute pain and establish standards such that additional quantities may only be prescribed after further consultation with the patient.
The Order further directs Department of Children and Families Commissioner Allison Blake to ensure residential substance abuse disease treatment facilities and similar facilities utilize their existing spaces effectively, including ensuring that 18 and 19-year-olds with substance abuse problems are able to take advantage of any vacancies in existing facilities wherever appropriate.
In addition, the Governor is directing Acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington to develop a new, comprehensive grade-specific curriculum to educate children about the dangers of substance abuse.
“Opioid drug abuse is one of the most challenging issues facing us not only as Americans but as New Jerseyans,” said Governor Christie. “The crisis is pervasive – impacting our families, friends, neighbors and coworkers. The steps I am taking today through this Executive Order recognize the severity of the crisis and pull together the efforts of all state government agencies.”
By Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 16, 2017 at 7:30 AM, updated January 16, 2017 at 7:53 AM
Charlene O’Brian doesn’t want help.
The 38-year-old single mother of two has built her life on being a strong, independent woman. The Hardyston divorcee has a full-time job training educators, which she balances with raising her 7 and 10 year-old boys, the latter of which has special needs. In her spare time she runs and designs grueling obstacle courses, the kind that make even the biggest fitness buff think twice.
But O’Brian knows today she needs help. She just doesn’t know where to turn to get it.
“It doesn’t make me feel good. It’s been a struggle,” O’Brian said. “But it makes me want to make a difference.”
Author, Israel Vincente – Special Guest Speaker
January 17, Tuesday – 7PM
650 American Legion Drive, Teaneck N J
NJTPC is proud to have as our guest speaker, Israel Vicente.
Israel is a technology entrepreneur and founder of GCS, a successful global IT consulting firm based in New Jersey, where he lives. In his role as CEO of GCS, Israel has had the opportunity to speak to many people throughout the U.S. and overseas, giving a firsthand perspective of their experiences, successes, and hardships.
In 2014, he published two nonfiction books, The Courage to Be Different and Divergent Lives. The lead-up to the 2016 presidential contest served as inspiration for his third book………..
“For the People – Time to Take Our Country Back!”
America is still the greatest country in the world, although plagued with many challenges that have been ignored or exacerbated by our leaders. The American people are fed up, tired, and angry. The most recent Presidential election is proof that people are driving towards taking our country back from the cliff from which it is now perched.
With the national debt hovering above $19 trillion and rising; the middle class still decimated by the Great Recession that followed the financial crisis of 2008; millions of Americans either unemployed or severely underemployed as more U.S. companies replace American workers with lower wage staff by either relocating their businesses overseas or employing illegal immigrants and foreigners with worker visas here at home; and the constant fear of terrorism at home and abroad – all while seeing President Obama and Former Secretary Hillary Clinton work tirelessly to diminish American exceptionalism. America looks towards new leadership that will reset the direction of the country before the U.S. economy fully collapses, Iran secures a nuclear weapon, North Korea succeeds in launching one, and a resurgent Russia further expands its dominance in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
For the People gives an American citizen’s voice to the people’s dissatisfaction with how our leaders in Washington have managed, or, more accurately, mismanaged the people’s affairs. Americans are exhausted with the constant bickering between Congress and the Executive branch of our government that has resulted in years of stagnation. The turmoil has caused far too many citizens to lament the demise of the American dream of prosperity and upward mobility.
This book is a wakeup call to all Americans to protect and secure the future of the United States of America.
Come and hear Israel’s perspective and treat a friend to a great night out!
Let’s dispense with the obvious — while it’s far too early for political prognostication surrounding the 2020 presidential campaign, it doesn’t take too much effort to see that the Democrats have very little in the way of worthy candidates for nomination.
For this, they can thank Barack Obama and his eight years of hollowing out that party by relying on vicious identity politics and Hard Left cultural aggression to pile up near-unanimous votes in urban areas dominated by racial and ethnic minorities and “lifestyle liberals” at the expense of “normal” Americans in suburbs and small towns. Consequently, state legislatures are becoming more and more uniformly Republican and governor’s mansions are already there. The only path to national relevance for Democrat politicians is becoming the mayor’s office in larger cities Dems dominate.
Which is where Cory Booker, who appears to be the preener-in-chief among the rag-tag roster of 2020 Democrat presidential hopefuls, came from.
What Booker proves is it’s not important whether a Democrat is actually successful as a mayor on his or her ascent up the political totem pole — Booker, as mayor of Newark, couldn’t be considered a success by any rational measure. He rode some of the economic effects of an economic boom in New York City to an uneven construction boom in the city’s downtown and he managed to buy a couple of corporate headquarters away from other New Jersey cities with taxpayer dollars redistributed from what was left of Newark’s middle class. But in Booker’s time as mayor Newark went from 67 murders in 2008, a decline from 105 in 2006, to 112 killings in 2013, the year after he left office. Booker never presided over an unemployment rate in the single digits. And he laid off 163 policemen amid budget deficits his mismanagement produced.
By Paul Milo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author
on January 12, 2017 at 5:18 PM, updated January 12, 2017 at 5:48 PM
Online retailing giant Amazon is planning to add 100,000 full-time jobs in the U.S. over the next year and a half, including 2,500 in New Jersey, the company said in a statement Thursday.
The jobs include entry-level work and skilled positions like engineers and software developers. The full-time positions will also come with benefits.
The company already employs 11,000 people at seven sites in the state. The new hires will work at additional “fulfillment centers,” the company said.
The remainder of the new hires will staff facilities in Washington, Texas, California, Kentucky, Illinois and Florida.
The news comes as Amazon also announced it would be opening a bookstore at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, one of five stores the company plans to open in New York, Massachusetts and Illinois.
In July, the company announced plans to lease a 617,000-square-foot warehouse in Teterboro as part of its plan to grow its footprint in the state. In 2015, the company cut the ribbon on a massive shipping facility in Robbinsville.
By Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com and Associated Press
PUBLISHED: 14:47 EST, 12 January 2017 | UPDATED: 19:09 EST, 12 January 2017
Marijuana does raise the risk of getting schizophrenia and triggers heart attacks, according to the most significant study on the drug’s effects to date.
A federal advisory panel admitted cannabis can almost certainly ease chronic pain, and might help some people sleep.
But it dismisses most of the drug’s other supposedly ‘medical benefits’ as unproven.
Crucially, the researchers concluded there is not enough research to say whether marijuana effectively treats epilepsy – one of the most widely-recognized reasons for cannabis prescriptions.
The report also casts doubt on using cannabis to treat cancers, irritable bowel syndrome, or certain symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, or helping people beat addictions.
By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 12, 2017 at 7:15 AM, updated January 12, 2017 at 8:56 AM
TRENTON — In what legal experts are calling an important decision, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday to overhaul the way New Jersey judges sentence juveniles convicted in violent crimes that could keep them in prison until they are elderly or dead.
The state’s highest court ruled 7-0 that judges must consider a number of factors — including age, family environment, and peer pressure — before issuing lengthy sentences to youths in serious cases.
Peter Verniero, a former state Supreme Court justice and state attorney general, said this is “one of the most significant sentencing decisions” the court has made in “many years.”
By Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
on January 10, 2017 at 11:48 AM, updated January 10, 2017 at 4:47 PM
CHERRY HILL TWP. — A Connecticut woman is suing Cherry Hill-headquartered TD Bank over its allegedly “unlawful” overdraft fee that charges users who don’t replenish their bank accounts within 10 days.
Per the class action lawsuit filed Jan. 4 on behalf of Shaina Dorsey by Marlton-based lawyer Stephen DeNittis, the sustained overdraft charge of $20 is imposed after an initial charge of $35 for the overdraft itself and exceeds the limit permitted by the National Bank Act.
“Unlike an initial overdraft fee, the Sustained Fee for Overdrawn Accounts is an additional charge to a customer for which the bank has provided nothing new in the way of services,” the lawsuit reads. “The charge is based solely on the alleged indebtedness to the bank remaining unpaid by the customer for a period of time.”
According to the suit, Dorsey’s checking account went into “overdraft” status in Aug. 15, 2016 and remained that way until Sept. 8, 2016. The $20 fee on Aug. 26, 2016 was in addition to six other fees totaling $210 “for transactions that created her ‘overdraft’ status in the first place.”
Mahwah NJ, An overturned dump truck that was involved in a two (2) vehicle collision blocked three (3) travel lanes of Route 17 northbound in Mahwah on Monday afternoon, 01/09. Mahwah PD, FD, and EMS units responded to the incident along with a paramedic team from The Valley Hospital and several NJDOT crews. The dump truck’s driver was seriously injured and transported by ambulance to a hospital. the driver of the other vehicle involved in the mishap, a beige colored minivan, was not injured. Mahwah FD personnel attended to a crash related fluid spill. A flatbed tow truck removed the damaged minivan; a heavy duty wrecker was required to right the dump truck and remove it from the scene.
Ridgewood NJ, guess that 23-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax take has finally taken effect. Drivers report a surge in New Jersey Gas Prices.
In the well-publicised deal, with Governor Christie, Democrat Senate President Steve Sweeney and Democrat Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto agreed to the huge gas tax increase.
Prices of regular unleaded gasoline in June were around $2.10 and now prices seem to have stabilized at $2.33. While other media sources are filled with wild stories of OPEC meddling and Russian hacking conspiracies, in the words of former President Bill Clinton its the “TAX” stupid.
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 09, 2017 at 4:07 PM
Is tying the expiration date of driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations to a driver’s birthday the solution to easing long lines at state Motor Vehicle Commission agencies?
Two proposals with variations on that theme are winding through the New Jersey legislature.
One bill, proposed by state Senator Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, that would change when vehicle registrations expire, was approved by the state Senate Transportation Committee on Monday and heads to the full senate for a vote. An identical bill cleared the Assembly Transportation Committee in November.
That bill would make registrations expire on the numerical day that corresponds to the same number as vehicle owners date of birth, under his bill. In other words, if a driver was born on May 15 and their registration is set to expire in November, the date for the expiration would be Nov. 15.
from the maybe-these-are-the-‘smart-people’-who-can-fix-Comey’s-encryption-&# dept
Law enforcement has a number of informants working for it and the companies that already pay their paychecks, like UPS, for example. It also has a number of government employees working for the TSA, keeping their eyes peeled for “suspicious” amounts of cash it can swoop in and seize.
Unsurprisingly, the FBI also has a number of paid informants. Some of these informants apparently work at Best Buy — Geek Squad by day, government informants by… well, also by day.
According to court records, Geek Squad technician John “Trey” Westphal, an FBI informant, reported he accidentally located on Rettenmaier’s computer an image of “a fully nude, white prepubescent female on her hands and knees on a bed, with a brown choker-type collar around her neck.” Westphal notified his boss, Justin Meade, also an FBI informant, who alerted colleague Randall Ratliff, another FBI informant at Best Buy, as well as the FBI. Claiming the image met the definition of child pornography and was tied to a series of illicit pictures known as the “Jenny” shots, agent Tracey Riley seized the hard drive.
Not necessarily a problem, considering companies performing computer/electronic device repair are legally required to report discovered child porn to law enforcement. The difference here is the paycheck. This Geek Squad member had been paid $500 for digging around in customers’ computers and reporting his findings to the FBI. That changes the motivation from legal obligation to a chance to earn extra cash by digging around in files not essential to the repair work at hand.
More of a problem is the FBI’s tactics. While it possibly could have simply pointed to the legal obligation Best Buy has to report discovered child porn, it proactively destroyed this argument by apparently trying to cover up the origin of its investigation, as well as a couple of warrantless searches.
by Imam Zaid Shakir at Lebanese Muslim Association in Sydney, AU. 2015.
Martin Luther King Day Observance in Ridgewood and Glen Rock will Mark 35th Year
Martin Luther King Day Observance in Ridgewood and Glen Rock will Mark 35th Year Community Program to Feature Leading Muslim Scholar Imam Zaid Shakir ?
January 8,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
RIDGEWOOD NJ, Noted Muslim scholar Imam Zaid Shakir will deliver remarks addressing the theme, “Together in Hope,” as The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee of Ridgewood and Glen Rock marks the 35th year of its annual celebration of Dr. King’s life and legacy. Sounds nice but what does Islam have to do with Martin Luther King Day and the struggles of black Americans to gain equality ?
The community is invited to attend this free event, which will take place on Monday, January 16 at the Ridgewood United Methodist Church, 100 Dayton St., in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
We are told ; Imam Zaid Shakir, widely regarded as one of the most influential Muslim scholars in the West, will be the guest speaker during an interfaith worship service beginning at 10 a.m. The morning service will be followed by an outdoor rally at 11:30 a.m. and a community lunch at 12:15 p.m. The program will also feature Ridgewood and Glen Rock student speakers and musical performances by the Indian Hills Chamber Choir and Men of Umoja chorus.
“Imam Zaid Shakir is a highly respected voice on Islam and African-American issues and a leader in the emergence of a uniquely western Islamic tradition,” said committee co-chair Alice Newton. “At a time when civil rights issues dominate the headlines, we welcome his insights and inspiration as we share Dr. King’s hopeful message of finding common ground and working together to create positive change.”
A native of Berkeley, California, Imam Zaid Shakir is co-founder, trustee and a faculty member of Zaytuna College, the first Muslim liberal arts college in the United States. He accepted Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force, and co-founded and served as Imam of Masjid al-Islam in New Haven, Connecticut from 1988 to 1994. He was also an adjunct professor of Political Science and Arabic at Southern Connecticut State University until his departure for Syria to further his studies in the traditional Islamic sciences. Imam Zaid Shakir returned to the U.S. in 2001 and later moved back to California, where he co-founded Zaytuna College in Berkeley in 2009. He is a writer and a sought-after lecturer on African-American issues and Islam in the American context.
A little research turns up some interesting side notes ; Shakir, 54, was born Ricky Mitchell. He converted to Islam in 1977 while serving in the U.S. Air Force. A Berkeley native, he graduated from American University and received a master’s in political science from Rutgers University, where he says he was active in South African divestment campaigns.https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/501.pdf
An examination of Shakir’s writings and speeches, however, shows a man prone to conspiracy theories that veer toward extremism. Though his speaking style often is elliptical and rambling, and many of his points are not clearly defined, Shakir expresses doubts about who was responsible for 9/11 and other terrorist attacks. He defends terrorist groups such as Hizballah and hopes for a day in which America is a Muslim country ruled by Islamic law. Shakir also has a long record of portraying the United States as an evil force in world affairs. American society “is sinful and constitutes open rebellion against Allah,” he says.10 Shakir also suggests that Muslims could “take over” the United States if they were better organized.https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/501.pdf
Shakir has questioned whether Muslims bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, and raises questions about the official 9/11 narrative. He emphatically argues that 9/11 has been used as a pretext to target Islam in America.https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/501.pdf
In his writings and speeches, Shakir often depicts the United States as an evil force in world affairs. It is a nation born through genocide that wages wanton slaughter during wartime. “I believe that the U.S. war machine is the single greatest threat to world peace,” he wrote in November 2009. And on numerous occasions, Shakir suggests that there is no moral difference between terrorist attacks targeting civilians and civilian deaths resulting from U.S. military actions such as World War II and the current conflict in Afghanistan. https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/501.pdf
Not the way we would be honoring Doctor Martin Luther King . Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs
The annual Ridgewood/Glen Rock Martin Luther King Jr. celebration began in 1983 in an effort to unite area residents, regardless of faith or ethnic background, in worship and action as they work towards peace and justice for all. More than 20 religious groups, local government and civic organizations participate in and support the event each year. For more information contact Alice Newton at 201-951-9903; email [email protected]; or visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee of Glen Rock/Ridgewood, N.J. on Facebook.
