By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on February 03, 2016 at 7:41 AM, updated February 04, 2016 at 12:25 PM
NJ Transit insiders say there is a 75 to 85 percent likelihood that a coalition of 17 rail unions, which have been working without a contract for five years, will call a “soft strike” over the weekend of March 12.
The strike could likely last through the Monday morning commute on March 14, when workers say they expect to be ordered back to work by the Obama administration. The last strike in March 1983 lasted for 34 days.
“They’ll soften the blow … Let the media know, let commuters know, let everyone get home on Friday night,” one NJ Transit insider said.
NJ Transit and the rail unions met Wednesday as a March strike deadline approaches. NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said those negotiation were substantive. She declined to answer a question about when the next negation session would be held.
Ringwood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) today called upon U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy and EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck to share groundwater test results and future testing plans for the Ringwood Superfund Site after recent groundwater tests raised additional concerns about the presence of toxic substances at the site.
These reports found 1,4-dioxane, a probable human carcinogen that may result in liver, kidney, and upper respiratory damage, at levels close to 100 times the state maximum standard. Alarmingly, the EPA first had knowledge of a positive identification of this substance in November 2015, but failed to notify the public.
“As you know, the EPA’s management of the site is a decades old and ongoing concern for New Jersey residents,” wrote Garrett in the letter. “I believe that public health issues need to be dealt with in a transparent manner so that residents are well-informed about the safety of their communities and surrounding areas.”
Congressman Garrett’s Specific Requests:
Information and Reports from the EPA about the Ringwood Superfund Site
All groundwater test reports currently in the EPA’s possession; and
A list of known toxic substances and the levels of such substances found at the site.
The EPA’s Future Plans for Groundwater Testing at the Ringwood Superfund Site
The EPA’s plans for additional groundwater tests of known toxic substances present at the site;
A list of toxic substances that may be present at the site, but that the EPA has not tested for; and
The EPA’s plans for additional groundwater tests of toxic substances that may be present at the site and have not been tested for in past groundwater tests.
Following Governor Chris Christie’s surprise endorsement of GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, Senator Kevin O’Toole (R-40) said Monday that he thinks the provocative former reality star is the party’s best chance at drawing out independents and taking the White House. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJ Read more
Manuel Alfonso of Cresskill announced at Thursday’s Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO) Lincoln Dinner that he is pursuing the nomination for sheriff.
Alfonso’s entrance into the race follows current Sheriff Michael Saudino’s party switch. The former Republican announced in January that he would be pursuing reelection as a Democrat. That departure left Bergen’s Republican Party scrambling in an effort to fill Saudino’s spot on the ballot. Enter Alfonso, a 26-year Department of Corrections and law enforcement veteran who also on an FBI joint terrorism task force for five years.
Though Alfonso has not been involved in politics or run for office before, he says he is excited to enter the fray.
“What made me decide was I was tired of sitting down and complaining and seeing a level of mismanagement that is unwarranted and unneeded and no one doing anything about it,” Alfonso said. “I decided to put myself in the mix and do something about it. I decided to do some research and I was dumbfounded. I come from a department that is significantly bigger and I can’t justify those expenses, especially the overtime budget.”
BY RICHARD COWEN AND STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
Some parts of North Jersey are a lot like Flint, Mich.: old, industrial and poor, with many people living in houses built before World War II, drinking tap water that streams through pipes and fixtures made of lead.
Flint’s belated discovery of dangerously high levels of lead in tap water prompted a health emergency that has made national headlines. Lead in water has long been a problem in North Jersey and elsewhere, but aside from precautions utilities take to guard the water, they most often urge people to live with it by flushing their lines.
That may be changing. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering requiring the removal of lead service lines — the pipes that deliver drinking water leading into peoples’ homes. The lines are considered the main culprit in depositing lead sediment in the drinking glass.
Removing these old lead lines and replacing them with copper or plastic was one of the recommendations made by the National Drinking Water Advisory Council to the EPA in December. The council has also recommended expanding lead testing to include a broader cross-section of homes.
Now it’s up to the environmental agency, which is fashioning a new lead and copper rule, with an eye toward adoption by 2018.
Lynn Thorp, the national campaigns director for Clean Water Action, said removing service lines is expensive and complicated. But it’s the surest way to keep drinking water safe from lead, she said.
“If there’s no safe level of lead, and our efforts to control and monitor lead in the water will never be perfect, then there’s only one solution,” she said. “And that’s to get the lead out of contact with the drinking water.”
Flint plans to remove all 15,000 of its lead service lines, estimated to cost $55 million. But as a poor city, it needs to find a funding source and is looking for help from both Congress and the Michigan state legislature.
Service lines connect the home to the water main at the curb and generally are the homeowners’ responsibility. In structures that were built before 1940, these pipes were made of lead. Since then, these service lines have been made of copper or plastic, but in many older neighborhoods, the lead lines are still being used.
United Water, which serves much of Bergen County, estimates there are 9,500 lead service lines still in use, about 5 percent of the utility’s 202,000 customers.
Signs with a new name for Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen went up on the waterfront campus Saturday after a judge late Friday approved Hackensack University Health Network’s acquisition of the Hudson County hospital.
HackensackUMC Palisades, as it will now be known, will become a fully owned part of the system that includes the flagship Hackensack University Medical Center, two jointly owned hospitals in Westwood and Montclair, and the affiliated Englewood Hospital Medical Center, when the deal is officially signed on Tuesday.
With its million-dollar views of the Manhattan skyline and access to the growing population of young professionals and affluent retirees along the Hudson River “Gold Coast,” Palisades gives Hackensack a prime opportunity to grow in Hudson County and southern Bergen County. Hackensack also acquires its first nursing home, the 245-bed Harborage, located next door on River Road and owned by Palisades.
The sale also marks a reduction in the number of independent community hospitals, as the consolidation of health-care facilities into larger systems continues in New Jersey and the rest of the country. When the Hackensack health network completes its planned merger with the Jersey Shore’s Meridian Health system, expected later this year, it will encompass 11 hospitals and become the largest health system in the state.
photo Adele with her mother ( also a Stephen Minister) and her son, Kyle
February 28,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Wyckoff NJ, Adele Mimnaugh tells us in her own words how she found he own way to get involved in her local community and help others . Adele is an Occupational Therapist by trade and loves her work . Not content to stand on the sidelines Adele found a way to contribute in her own unique way. In her own words Adele tells her story:
“I have been a member of Grace United Methodist Church in Wyckoff since the age of four when we moved to town. I have enjoyed the fellowship over the years as well as my involvement on the mission committee which oversees programs and activities such as local soup kitchens, to planning and hosting Christmas parties for the underprivileged in the area.
I became involved in our Steven ministry program about two years ago. My mother was excited about the program and to start training; I inquired about it and felt it was definitely a calling for me. I was right !! I have always enjoyed helping others and I’m a big believer in paying it forward. Steven Ministry is a wonderful venue for laypeople trained in the congregation by their Steven leaders, to provide one to one Christ centered care to people who are hurting. The care receivers can be a member of the church or anyone in need in the community.
As a Stephen Minister I am able to work with anyone ( female ) who is going through a hard time such as death of a loved one, divorce, illness, loss of employment or anyone experiencing turmoil for any reason.I begin my caring relationship as a Stephen Minister when I am matched with someone experiencing a life crisis. I meet with the person usually on a weekly basis to listen, Care, encourage and provide emotional and spiritual support as needed. The ministry is highly confidential and no details are ever discussed among the ministry or with anyone for that matter.Trust is a huge component as it is in any relationship.
I have grown as a result of being a Stephen Minister in many ways. Not only do I enjoy my quality and prayerful time with my care receiver but I also enjoy the bimonthly supervision and continuing education meetings with my fellow Stephen ministers.
I am a big believer in being kind. Kindness is a natural thing and to see a smile on someone’s face can make my day. I feel so very blessed to be a part of my Grace United Methodist Church and Steven ministry family.”
What is Stephen Ministry all about?
The Stephen Series is a program overseen by Stephen Ministries St. Louis; that teaches and enables members of congregations all over the world to care for one another just as Jesus commands us to do. Stephen Ministers go through extensive training in their individual churches to learn how to care for people who are experiencing some type of loss in their lives; i.e. loss of a family member, a job, their dependence, their health, their self esteem, their faith… just to name a few. A Stephen Minister is paired in a relationship with one person and meets with him or her (men with men and women with women) one to one on a weekly basis for an hour or so to ‘walk alongside them,’ offering comfort and encouragement, extending the hand of Jesus. All of this is done without judgment and is completely confidential. Stephen Ministry has been here at Grace since early 2009. To be trained as a Stephen Minister one needs to be a member of GUMC but to receive care, one need not be a member of Grace or of any church. Stephen Ministry is a Christian Caring Ministry but will offer care to anyone, provided that the situation is appropriate. To inquire about receiving care from a Stephen Minister, or to inquire about training to become a Stephen Minister, please e-mail us at [email protected]. A new training class will be offered starting in the fall 2015 and will run for 20 weeks on Monday nights.
Grace United Methodist Church
555 Russell Ave
Wyckoff, New Jersey
(201) 891-4595
Police have charged 12 women they say work at 11 area massage parlors with prostitution offenses, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal said Friday in a release.
The arrests followed a week-long undercover investigation and were made at massage parlors in seven municipalities on three separate days, Grewal said. He said that each person arrested worked as a masseuse and is accused of engaging in sex with customers.
Nine of the women are from Queens, N.Y., one is from Maryland and two are from Little Ferry, the acting prosecutor said. The arrests were made at four massage parlors in Edgewater, two in Fairview and one apiece in Wyckoff, Tenafly, River Edge, Little Ferry and South Hackensack.
The two women who reside in Little Ferry are Shunyu Pio Piao, 48, who worked at a spa in Little Ferry, and Mihwa Jang, 41, who worked at one of the Edgewater massage parlors targeted in the investigation, Grewal said, and the Maryland woman, Yougin Cho, 36, was arrested at a spa in South Hackensack.
Ridgewood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) today formally called upon President Obama to request the extradition of cop-killer Joanne Chesimard and terrorist William Morales during his upcoming visit to Cuba. These murderous fugitives have been living freely in Cuba and were granted protection by the Castro regime who has refused to extradite them. To date, the Obama Administration has not addressed the extradition of these convicted murderers as a condition of normalizing relations with Cuba and the Castro regime. Garrett was joined on the letter by Rep. Peter King (NY-02) and Rep. Leonard Lance (NJ-07).
“Over a year ago, your administration announced the reopening of diplomatic channels with Cuba,” said the Congressmen in the letter. “Since then, your administration has continued to take steps towards normalizing relations by relaxing trade restrictions, reopening embassies, and re-establishing scheduled air services. On February 18th your administration announced your trip this March to Cuba citing the significant progress made by normalizing relations. However, we fail to see any progress in extraditing the fugitives like Joanne Chesimard and William Morales, nor any improvement in the treatment of the Cuban people by their government.”
Murderers Living Freely in Cuba:
Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, was convicted of murder of a law enforcement officer, and sentenced to life in prison in 1977. In 1973, New Jersey State Troopers Werner Foerster and James Harper made a routine traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. When the troopers asked the vehicle’s driver to exit the car, one of the passengers, Joanne Chesimard, pulled out a gun and began shooting. During the ensuing firefight, Foerster was hit twice in the chest and Harper once in the shoulder. The injured Foerster was then shot twice in the head—execution style—with his own sidearm.
William Morales was sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison for his participation in the terrorist organization Fuerzas Armadas de Liberaciόn Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN). William Morales was a chief bomb maker for FALN, and he was linked to the 1975 bombing of Fraunces Tavern in New York City, an attack that killed four people and injured sixty others
After five years of occasionally hostile negotiations, NJ Transit and its rail unions will meet on March 4 at the National Mediation Board in Washington, D.C., both sides confirmed Friday. The gathering is one last attempt to avert a strike that could cripple transportation across the region’s.
“The National Mediation Board called a meeting, and NJT will attend,” said Nancy Snyder, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit.
The sides remain far apart. From the unions’ perspective, NJ Transit’s offer of a modest wage increase would be wiped out by significantly higher health insurance costs for workers.
The FBI is assisting Bergen County in its investigation of bomb threats that disrupted school Friday morning at five high schools and were declared to be hoaxes, said Doreen Holder, a public information officer for the federal agency
Bergen County Sheriff’s spokesman Anthony Cureton said all of the schools received threatening robo-calls. Schools in Bergenfield, Hackensack, Teaneck and Waldwick have been determined to be safe by the sheriff’s bomb squad. Mahwah High School was still being searched by authorities shortly before 11 a.m.
Teaneck High School students were evacuated this morning due to a bomb threat but have since returned, Police Deputy Chief Glenn O’Reilly said. The school was deemed safe after a search. The school’s Principal Dennis Heck said in an audio message to parents that the school was evacuated due to a threat, but he did not characterize the threat. Heck asked parents not to pick up their students. The principal at the Lowell Elementary School, which was not affected, characterized the incident as “swatting” in a message to parents.
As more patients become insured by Medicaid, hospitals are providing less charity care, one of the major factors in an $89 million decrease in state subsidies that left some hospitals losing nearly half their funding.
Executives at hospitals throughout New Jersey were digesting the numbers released Thursday afternoon from the state Department of Health, which are based on documented care provided in the previous year.
There were dramatic increases and decreases.
Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, the state’s largest hospital, is receiving $19.9 million, far less than the $36.6 million received last year, while Hackensack University Medical Center’s subsidy more than doubled to $16.5 million this year, according to state data.
“Since HackensackUMC serves as an important safety-net hospital for the state, an increase in funding will enable us to continue our mission to provide world-class healthcare to everyone in the communities we serve,’’ said Robert C. Garrett, president and chief executive officer of Hackensack University Health Network, the hospitals’ parent company.
A spokeswoman for Bergen Regional said, “We are still in the process of assessing the impact this information will have on the Medical Center.”
Midland Park NJ, A large sinkhole on Woodside Avenue in Midland Park almost swallowed a small Midland Park Department of Public Works truck whole, and caused major disruption to water, waste water, and natural gas services in sections of Midland Park and nearby Ridgewood. The were no injuries reported in the calamity
Lawmaker proposes lowering New Jersey’s drinking age to 18
Republican Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll recently introduced the measure, saying it’s wrong that an 18-year-old can serve in the military but not be allowed to buy alcohol. The bill seems unlikely to pass, since lowering the drinking age would cost the state millions of dollars in federal highway funds
A New Jersey legislator wants to lower New Jersey’s drinking age from 21 to 18. Associated Press Read more
Last night a few of us went to the Freeholders meeting in Hackensack because the introduction of their ordinance to OK the BCIA funding our garage was on the agenda. We were welcomed and greeted warmly. Several came over to us before the meeting, introduced themselves, offered great support and adulation for our grass roots effort with the petition, explained the process, etc.
When one of us was speaking the timer went off, and instead of shutting the speaker down, they asked him politely to wrap it up and let him finish. It was unbelievable. Then I realized it was not unbelievable, it was simply not something that we are accustomed to after being beaten and bashed by the Council majority.
While our mayor calls the petitioners outright liars who are fueled by misinformation, these elected officials applauded our interest and passion. Mayor Aronsohn could take a huge lesson in civility by watching these truly fine individuals in action. Well it won’t be long until the three of them are gone and we will have peace, civility and decency once again.
The freeholders had already met with Aronsohn, of course, and they told us that Aronsohn assured them yesterday afternoon that it was going to be funded by Ridgewood and that he expected to have a vote on this by next week. At that point, we were told, the entire involvement of the BCIA and freeholders would go “poof.” (their word). In the meantime, they told us that they would be voting unanimously last night to approve the funding by the BCIA because they are not involved with design, height, location, or any of that. Their only job is to say yea or nay to the BCIA request, and they had no reason to say nay.
Two takeaways –
1. Aronsohn told them that it is definitely going to be funded in town. Interesting, because last night at the VC he refused to take the BCIA ordinance off the books and he continued to sing the praises of the BCIA.
2. Aronsohn will be taking full credit if it gets funded in town, when in fact the efforts of the petition drive is the sole reason that he got backed into this corner. Power to the people.
