December 13,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Glen Rock NJ, Bear was sighted in the area of Diamond Brook/lower Doremus Avenue around 11am. It did not appear aggressive to the person that reported it to the police. Police checked the entire area, and was unable to locate the animal. All schools were notified. If anymore sighting, please call the police immediately to report its location.
Glen Rock Police Department
1 Harding Plaza
Glen Rock, NJ 07452
WEYAM RUSHDI OF JERSEY CITY CHARGED WITH MULTIPLE CRIMES RELATED TO AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT IN MIDLAND PARK, NJ
December 13,2016
the staff of the Ridgewoood blog
Midland Park NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal has announced the arrest of WEYAM RUSHDI (DOB: 09/22/1980; single; and a student) of 33 Hudson Street, Apt. 2202 West, Jersey City, NJ on multiple charges in connection with an aggravated sexual assault that took place in Midland Park, NJ during the early morning hours of December 11, 2016. 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 Midland Park Police Department under the direction of Chief Michael POWDERLEY.
On Sunday, December 11, 2016, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office received information that an adult female victim walked into Midland Park Police Department and reported that she was physically and sexually assaulted in her residence by an intruder. An investigation by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victim’s Unit and Midland Park Police Department ensued.
As a result of the investigation, Weyam RUSHDI was arrested on Sunday, December 11, 2016 in Waldwick, New Jersey, and charged with the following offenses: one count of Aggravated Sexual Assault with a weapon, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14- 2a(4), a 1st degree crime; one count of Aggravated Sexual Assault during the commission of a Burglary, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2a(3), a 1st degree crime; onecount of Kidnapping, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-1b(2), a 1st degree crime; one count of Armed Burglary, N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2b, a 2nd degree crime; one count of Aggravated Assault, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(1), a 2nd degree crime; one count of Terroristic Threats, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3a, a 3rd degree crime; one count of Terroristic Threats, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3b, a 3rd degree crime; one count of Possession of a Weapon with an Unlawful Purpose, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4d, a 3rd degree crime; and one count of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5c, a 4th degree crime. The Honorable Walter F. SKROD, J.S.C. of Bergen County set bail at $2,000,000.00 with no ten percent option. As conditions of bail, RUSHDI is to have no contact with the victim and surrender his passport. RUSHDI is scheduled to appear in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court for a firstappearance on Friday, December 23, 2016 at 8:30 a.m.
Bergen County Prosecutor Grewal states that the above charges are merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutor Grewal would also like to thank the Midland Park Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.
file photo by Boyd Loving
Bart Jansen , USA TODAY8:20 a.m. EST December 6, 2016
WASHINGTON — Drivers who skimp on just a couple of hours of sleep nearly double the risk of a crash, making drowsy driving about as dangerous as drunken driving, according to a report released Tuesday.
A review of thousands of crashes resulting in injuries found drivers were 1.3 times more likely to be involved in accidents if they missed an hour of sleep and 1.9 times more likely if they missed two of the seven hours recommended daily, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found.
About one-third of U.S. drivers get less than seven hours of sleep each night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/12/06/driving-5-hours-sleep-like-driving-drunk/94992718/
By Anthony G. Attrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on December 08, 2016 at 8:45 AM, updated December 08, 2016 at 11:51 AM
WYCKOFF – A township man has filed a lawsuit against a police officer who shot and killed his dog during a botched burglary investigation last year.
Goran Vukobratovic claims in court papers he suffered “great pain, shock and mental anguish” after Wyckoff Police Officer Kyle Ferreira fatally wounded a German shepherd named Otto belonging to him and his family.
The officer, who was cleared of wrongdoing, showed up at the Vukobratovic home to investigate a burglary about 3:40 p.m. on April 29, 2015. However, the officer showed up at the wrong home, an investigation later revealed.
Police audio recordings showed a dispatcher told Ferreira to go to 621 Lawlins Road, the correct location of a recent burglary. But Ferreira went to the wrong house, 622 Lawlins instead of 621, after the dispatcher failed to correct him when he incorrectly repeated the address.
Ferreira’s supervisors at the time said the officer took his gun out of its holster as a precaution, and that the dog jumped out of a window and bit him on the foot as he tried to run. That’s when the officer fired at the dog, officials said.
A middling farmer in Cumberland County. A poor resident of crime-torn Newark. A member of the state’s highest tax bracket in Somerset County.
All are likely worse off today than they were a decade ago.
New data from the Census, released today, shows wide swaths of the Garden State remain slow to get back on their feet following the Great Recession.
There are exceptions, of course. Urban-adjacent communities like Maplewood, Summit or Westfield have seen growth in most key economic areas, but overall the news is not good.
Census data show median income in the state fell nearly 5 percent from the years leading up to the recession when compared to the five years that followed, outpacing the national decline during that time period.
Housing values too have dropped 20 percent in New Jersey between those time periods, while they fell only 13 percent nationally. However, housing costs have the opposite trend — New Jersey housing costs fell less than the national average, and remain higher than the rest of the nation.
The state has been lagging behind the country in unemployment as well, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While unemployment has dropped from its high in 2009, the state has not quite reached pre-recession levels.
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/12/census_paints_an_ugly_picture_of_njs_recovery_see_how_your_town_did.html?ath=9c46bfc08d76232bb5a5e00eeaf0bfa2#cmpid=nsltr_stryheadline
By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on December 05, 2016 at 5:35 PM
TRENTON — The seven-year effort to crack down on surprise out-of-network medical bills was delayed again Monday, the same day a group of doctors urged lawmakers to consider an alternative proposal they say won’t force them out of business.
Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), who sponsored the leading legislation that would cap the amount out-of-network doctors and hospitals are paid for emergency treatment, announced Monday he had pulled his bill from a the committee’s agenda for the day. Vitale said is working with the New Jersey Hospital Association to make changes to the bill (A1952) and wants that work to continue.
“I remain confident that efforts of working to build consensus will result in the strongest consumer protection out-of-network bill in the country,” Vitale said in a statement.
By RYAN HUTCHINS and KATHERINE LANDERGAN
12/05/16 05:45 AM EST
It was one of the biggest selling points for the state’s new infrastructure plan, often cited as a reason to support the state’s first gas-tax increase in decades: The new legislation more than doubles the amount of transportation aid provided to counties and municipalities, helping to finance badly-needed road projects across the state.
A day before Gov. Chris Christie signed the legislation in October, local and county officials stood with lawmakers in Trenton to give the Republican governor a final nudge across the finish line — and to celebrate.
December 6,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, we have said this from the beginning , the whole “Bridge-gate “, scandal is nothing more than an insult to all commuters who get stuck with massive delays most of the time that could be easily avoided .
Reader says , “Unbelievable that the corrupt Record and its Dem cronies are still pushing this issue with their false righteous indignation, while they totally ignore the systemic blocking of traffic in NYC via a series of road closures, addition of bike lanes and pedestrian plazas and other efforts all designed with the EXPLICIT goal of making commuting in NYC more difficult in order to cause pain and harm to drivers so they will eventually become so disgusted that they will abandon their cars for public transportation.
This has been going on for YEARS since the Bloomberg administration and is continued by DeBlasio.
This directly impacts NJ residents.
This is roundly ignored by The Record – nice to see their is no bias in that publication…
But then again the Dems ignore the fact that NY has a VERY aggressive and friendly PRO-BUSINESS policy of generous tax incentives which are effectively bringing prosperity and jobs to NY, but would be roundly vilified if Governor Christie proposed them in NJ.”
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By Alyana Alfaro • 12/02/16 11:03am
Bergen County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Mizdol announced on Friday that no special prosecutor would be appointed to investigate the official misconduct complaint lodged by a private citizen against New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in relation to Bridgegate.
Bill Brennan, the citizen who requested the special prosecutor, said that one was needed due to the recusal of both Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal and US Attorney Chris Porrino on the case. Both men were appointed by Christie. Now, the first assistant prosecutor in Bergen County and the first assistant attorney general will investigate the complaint.
CAREN CHESLER | NOVEMBER 30, 2016
The state’s massive overhaul of the criminal justice system calls for new technologies and more personnel. The counties want to know where the money will come from.
As New Jersey prepares to implement a major overhaul of its criminal justice system in January, county governments will attempt to block the effort, claiming they will be forced to pay millions of dollars for new prosecutors, sheriff’s officers, and capital improvements with no help from the state.
The New Jersey Association of Counties estimates the reforms will cost each county $1 million to $2 million, an unfunded mandate they view as particularly challenging, given the caps passed in 2011 prohibiting governing bodies from raising their tax levies by more than 2 percent. The association, a nonprofit organization that represents all 21 counties in the state, plans to file a complaint on Friday with the New Jersey Council on Local Mandates, which was established in 1996 to consider laws, rules, and regulations that impose unfunded mandates on counties, municipalities, and school districts.
TOM JOHNSON | DECEMBER 1, 2016
The most vexing difficulty with water system may be where to find the money to fix wasteful problems
Here’s why it will cost billions of dollars to overhaul the state’s aging drinking-water infrastructure:
At least 20 percent of the system is more than 100 years old. Between 20 percent and 30 percent of treated water leaks from the system before it ever gets to the faucet. At least 137 public schools in New Jersey tested positive for lead in at least one drinking-water outlet this year.
No wonder a legislative task force yesterday began delving into what improvements are needed in the system delivering drinking water to customers. The lawmakers heard plenty about the problems, but few answers on where to get the money to solve them.
“The hardest part is where will the money come from,’’ conceded Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Mercer), co-chair of the Joint Legislative Task Force on Drinking Water Infrastructure.
Do not pin your hopes on the federal government, warned the other co-chair, Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex). The federal government has shaved funding for drinking water projects by 75 percent in recent years, he said.
By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on November 30, 2016 at 1:18 PM, updated December 01, 2016 at 2:16 AM
TRENTON — A drug possession conviction is no longer a barrier to receiving welfare benefits in New Jersey under a compromise bill Gov. Chris Christie signed into law Wednesday.
Childless adults who undergo outpatient drug treatment may qualify for public assistance, despite a conviction for drug possession in their backgrounds. Previously, inpatient treatment was the requirement.
The bill’s sponsors say the old restrictions inhibited a person’s ability to become self-sufficient. The legislation is among others aimed at reducing poverty in the state, which has remained stubbornly high in the post-recession era.
“It can be tremendously hard to turn one’s life around after a drug conviction because of all the doors that close in their face due to legal constraints, especially for those who don’t have family or friends to rely on for assistance,” said state Assemblywoman Liz Muoio (D-Mercer), one of the bill’s prime sponsors. “Financial assistance, job training, and education — all of these things provide hope and a chance at a new start.”
https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/11/convicted_drug_users_who_get_treatment_may_get_wel.html?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics#incart_river_home
By Anthony G. Attrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on December 01, 2016 at 8:00 AM, updated December 01, 2016 at 10:35 AM
OLD TAPPAN – A former board of education member who wrote on Facebook that some parents who oppose random drug testing “smoke pot with their kids” is suing a married couple for allegedly smearing her name, according to a lawsuit.
Kathy Fable claims in a lawsuit parents slandered her at board of education meetings and on Facebook. (Photo courtesy of Kathy Fable)
Kathleen Quinn Fable, who served for three years on the Northern Valley Regional Board of Education in Old Tappan claims in court papers that Dennis Doros and Amy Heller of Harrington Park made statements that injured her reputation and adversely affected her advertising business.
The issue stems from an Aug. 5, 2013 Facebook post Fable made about parents who oppose suspicion-based, random drug testing in Bergen County schools.
“Should we be acting on the demands of the parents who smoke pot with their kids?” Fable wrote in the post, which appeared in a closed Facebook group for Old Tappan moms.
Updated: NOVEMBER 30, 2016 — 11:59 PM EST
by Jan Hefler, Staff Writer
Now that New Jersey has had a medical marijuana program in place for nearly seven years, shouldn’t the state change the decades-old classification of marijuana as one of the most dangerous and reviled drugs, one without any medicinal benefit?
That question was posed to a state appeals panel Tuesday on behalf of two plaintiffs – an inmate serving a life sentence for drug trafficking and a Maple Shade teenager who uses medical marijuana to control epileptic seizures.
After listening to the arguments, the three-judge panel in Trenton said it would release an opinion later.
Newark lawyers Joseph Linares and Marc Haefner of the Walsh Firm contend it is inconsistent for the state to have a medical marijuana program and a classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, a category that includes heroin. Cocaine and other addictive drugs fall into Schedule II and III and are considered less harmful than marijuana, the lawyers argued.
State Deputy Attorney General Jodi Krugman opposed changing the classification, noting that the federal government classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug in 1970 and has repeatedly turned down petitions to assign it a new designation, most recently last summer. “Other states with medical marijuana programs have not rescheduled marijuana,” she said.
Linares, however, said state law requires the director of consumer affairs to review the classifications of controlled drugs and make changes “when appropriate” and without deference to the federal classification.
photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page
December 1,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Fair Lawn NJ, Fair Lawn PD, EMS and a paramedic unit from The Valley Hospital all rushed to aid an adult male pedestrian who was struck by a school bus while crossing Fair Lawn Avenue near Saddle River Road late Wednesday afternoon, 11/30. The school bus driver remained on the scene and was cooperating with police officers. The condition of the victim and the hospital to which he was transported were not made available at the accident scene.
