Assemblyman Joe Lagana (D-38) is making reform to New Jersey’s inheritance and estate taxes a priority for his second term in office. The Democrat has introduced a bill, A611, that would boost the current threshold for the estate tax from where it currently sits at $675,000 to $1.5 million. His plan also includes limiting the inheritance tax from impacting next-of-kin family members of a deceased person and shifting class c and class d beneficiary classifications. Alyana Alfaro, PolitickerNjRead more
JANUARY 21, 2016 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2016, 12:32 AM
BY LYNN BRUGGEMANN
CORRESPONDENT |
MIDLAND PARK SUBURBAN NEWS
MIDLAND PARK — The Board of Health is encouraging residents to attend a presentation on “Understanding Lead Poisoning” being sponsored by the Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Committee in Ridgewood on Jan. 25.
A representative of Ridgewood Water will reportedly be present.
Ridgewood Water issued a notice to customers on Jan. 5 saying its water does not have lead in it, but that some homes in its service territory have pipes from which lead leaches into water in excess of the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL).
Ridgewood Water serves residents in the borough, Wyckoff and Glen Rock as well as the village.
“At each of our last three meetings, the topic of Ridgewood Water has been discussed,” said Laurie DiCorcia, president of the Board of Health. “This forum offers residents an opportunity to become informed and ask questions.”
Council President Nancy Cronk Peet said she was “concerned” about the safety of the water supply and plans to attend the Jan. 25 program.
“The water coming to the borough homes and businesses must be properly monitored by the water company to assure the residents that the leaching of the lead in the older residents’ plumbing is not contaminating the drinking water,” said Peet, a member of the health board “I hope that the community will come out and ask questions about the water quality and services.”
Ridgewood Water business manager Dave Scheibner assured the Ridgewood Village Council on Wednesday, Jan. 13, that its water is safe.
Ridgewood NJ, Public Service Electric & Gas Company (PSE&G), New Jersey’s largest utility, cautions that while carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a year-round threat, it is more common in cold weather when more fuel heating appliances are in use. PSE&G urges customers to take extra preventative measures this winter to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, and maintain a heightened awareness of the symptoms.
CO is odorless, tasteless and can be deadly. Small amounts of CO are in the air whenever fuel such as oil, natural gas, coal or wood is burned. These amounts are usually not harmful. However, if a heating system or chimney is not working properly, too much CO can build up in the air and cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
Symptoms of poisoning include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and confusion. Symptoms can occur immediately or gradually after long-term exposure. People who are sleeping can die from CO poisoning before ever experiencing any of these warning signs. It affects people of all ages, but infants and children are even more susceptible than adults.
For safety’s sake:
The first line of defense against CO poisoning is to make sure all fuel-burning appliances operate and are maintained properly. These appliances include furnaces, water heaters, ranges, space heaters, and clothes dryers. Improperly vented fireplaces and charcoal grills can also give off CO. Never use ovens or clothes dryers to heat the house.
Install carbon monoxide detectors as back-up protection, not as a substitute for proper use and maintenance of the fuel-burning appliances. CO alarms can provide an early warning to consumers before CO builds up to a dangerous level. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends placing a carbon monoxide alarm in every area of your house or business. If just one alarm is installed, it should be placed near the sleeping rooms of the house. Check the batteries regularly.
Do not allow vehicles, lawnmowers, snow blowers or any gasoline powered engine to idle in a garage, basement or any enclosed space.CO can drift into the living space and create a hazardous situation.
Be prepared: In your mobile phone, program the emergency service line of your natural gas provider. PSE&G’s emergency service line is 1-800-880-PSEG (7734).
If you think high levels of CO are in your home or business: Go outside! If there’s a medical emergency, such as someone falling unconscious, get the person outside to fresh air and call 911. Then call PSE&G’s emergency service line. Wait outside, or go to a neighbor’s home, until help arrives.
JANUARY 19, 2016, 6:02 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2016, 7:35 PM
BY PATRICIA ALEX
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The pipeline from community college to a bachelor’s degree needs some work, according to a national report released Tuesday.
New Jersey is three percentage points above the national average, but only 17 percent of students who start at a community college in the state wind up getting a bachelor’s degree within six years, according to a report from the Community College Research Center at Columbia University.
Among students who started at community college and successfully transferred to a four-year college, only 42 percent completed a bachelor’s degree, compared with the 60 percent degree attainment rate of students who started at public four-year colleges, according to the report.
All but one of the state’s 19 community colleges were surveyed in the report that included data from 43 states, according to the center. The statistics were not broken down by college and only a statewide figure was provided.
Community colleges have been promoted as providers of an affordable first step toward a bachelor’s degree, but graduation rates remain low, particularly among low-income and minority students.
Ridgewood NJ , Scott Garrett (R-5th Dist.) now faces scrutiny over his “reported comments” that he was not contributing to the House Republicans’ fundraising arm because it backed gay candidates and “Democrats think he is more vulnerable and he might be more vulnerable, but we don’t have empirical evidence that he is more vulnerable.” https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/will_voters_remember_nj_rep_scott_garretts_comments_next_fall.html
Since this is revelation of “reported comments” , some say leaked by DC establishment republicans during the Speaker John Boehner feud who were uncomfortable with a real Republican chairing a powerful financial services subcommittee watched closely by the industry and filled with lucrative donors .
The New Jersey media who works hand in hand with the states Democratic party has been filled with Garrett donor defection stories .
So now the hated “Wall Street” has suddenly been elevated to the moral arbitrator of all things , despite heavy donations to the Clinton Campaign with its dubious ties to serial women abuser and accused rapist ex- President Bill Clinton as well as its ties to Twitter would be porn star ex Congressmen Anthony Weiner .
At a September possible Democratic candidate Gottheimer fundraiser that came less than a week after James Cicconi, the RINO Republican head of external affairs at AT&T Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Peter Scher hosted another one for the Democrat.Attendees included executives from Blackstone, Comcast, Verizon, McGraw Hill, U.S. Telecom Association, Tribune Media, United Health, Ogilvy & Mather, Raben Group and Akin Group. The invitation for the event had said it was “an excellent opportunity to oust one of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives.”
Bloomberg News, which was the first to report plans for the Cicconi fundraiser, said some business executives had already been growing tired of Garrett. They were apparently bothered by his vote against big spending former Speaker John Boehner,and were troubled that he has opposed the crony driven , taxpayer funded corporate welfare, Export-Import Bank.
Garrett has said about the Ex-Im bank, “It’s hard to imagine anything more unfair and un-American than having the government financially support mega-corporations at the expense of small businesses and American workers. But that is exactly what has been happening, and it will continue to happen if we don’t let the Export-Import Bank expire next month. It rewards those with close relationships with Washington bureaucrats and makes victims of startups that dare to compete against them—literally picking winners and losers in our economy.
“Ex-Im has transformed the role of government from a disinterested referee that guarantees a free and open marketplace into a biased actor that tilts the scales in favor of its friends in businesses. We have the opportunity to save capitalism from cronyism and to fulfill a promise to the American people to work for them instead of a select few with special connections in Washington. For the sake of the American taxpayer and the preservation of the free enterprise system, Congress should put the Export-Import Bank out of business.”
Garrett has also made enemies by his unrelenting disapproval of Dodd-Frank which has codified the disastrous “too big to fail” policy and mega Wall Street bail outs . “Garrett says , “the Dodd-Frank Act has stifled economic growth, made it more difficult for Main Street businesses to obtain credit, and increased the likelihood that taxpayers will be on the hook for additional Wall Street bailouts. Most importantly, this law has and has made it harder for Americans to find a job, buy a home, and save money for their family’s future. ” Garrett went on , “Despite creating new bureaucracies that have imposed thousands of pages of rigid, invasive, and unworkable regulations, Dodd-Frank did nothing to reform the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose actions caused the 2008 financial crisis.”
The Democrats great hope is Joshua S. Gottheimer ,so who really is Joshua S. Gottheimer . Gottheimer was (born c. 1975) is an American lawyer, speechwriter, and public policy adviser. He has been active within the Democratic Party as a speechwriter for Bill Clinton and an advisor for the presidential campaigns of Wesley Clark, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton. He has also worked for Burson-Marsteller, the Federal Communications Commission, Ford Motor Company, and Microsoft. He is currently running for the United States House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 5th congressional district. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Gottheimer )
So Mr Gottheimer is another PR person like Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn not sure many residents will share any enthusiasm given the bad taste the Jim Mac Greevey mouth piece has left in Ridgewood .Gottheimer it seems is funded by Big Government ,pro Wall Street bailouts, pro-corporate welfare , pro-crony types looking to remove the last impediment to getting their hands on more tax payer money.
JANUARY 19, 2016 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY JEAN RIMBACH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
n the wake of his switch to the Democratic Party, Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino has been accused of fraud by county Republican Chairman Bob Yudin, who labeled him a traitor and said he should return thousands of dollars raised recently under the guise that he was a member of the GOP.
“Mr. Saudino perpetrated what basically amounts to fraud among Republican donors here in Bergen County,” said Yudin. “Recently, Mr. Saudino raised tens of thousands of dollars from Republican residents under the ruse he was one of them. I call on Mr. Saudino to return this ill-gotten money immediately.”
Yudin noted that Saudino held a comedy night in November that drew nearly 1,000 people; a flier for that event said tickets were $125. But the county chairman said he’s referring to any money raised recently by the onetime Republican.
“He should return those monies, because they were secured under false pretenses,” Yudin said. “If these people had known he was going to be a Democrat, that he was going to be running on the ticket of Clinton or Bernie Sanders, that he was going to be in the same party as Barack Obama, most of them wouldn’t have given him a penny.”
By Myles Ma | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 19, 2016 at 10:10 AM, updated January 19, 2016 at 10:47 AM
Multiple Bergen and Passaic county schools received bomb threats, Jan. 19, 2016. (File Photo)
High schools in at least nine school districts in Bergen County and Passaic County received threats Tuesday morning.
Schools in Leonia, Tenafly, Teaneck, Garfield, Fair Lawn, Hackensack, Englewood and Bergenfield received threats, Anthony Cureton, a spokesman for Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino, said.
Police are investigating whether the threats are related, Cureton said. It’s also possible all the calls were automated, he said.
Fair Lawn Police Sgt. Brian Metzler said Fair Lawn High School received a threat over the phone at about 9 a.m. All the students have been moved to Memorial Middle School.
Affordable housing divide: Judges to reconcile differing estimates of need in NJ
JANUARY 18, 2016, 11:25 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2016, 7:41 AM
BY MARINA VILLENEUVE
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Last spring, a study commissioned by a housing-rights group found that New Jersey municipalities must collectively provide more than 200,000 units of low- and moderate-income housing by 2025. Now, a new report paid for by 230 towns has put the need at just under 37,000.
Which calculation is correct — or, as the case may be, more correct — will be up to state Superior Court judges in 15 regions. The state Supreme Court last spring tasked them with reviewing the plans of hundreds of New Jersey municipalities to provide housing for people of modest means.
Units of measurement
There’s a wide disparity in estimates of how many more affordable-housing units are needed in New Jersey over the next 10 years. Here’s what a housing advocacy group and a consultant working for 230 municipalities suggest:
Fair Share Housing Center: 200,000+
Econsult Solutions: fewer than 37,000
Which calculation is correct — or, as the case may be, more correct — will be up to state Superior Court judges in 15 regions. The state Supreme Court last spring tasked them with reviewing the plans of hundreds of New Jersey municipalities to provide housing for people of modest means.
The Supreme Court’s ruling effectively disbanded the state Council on Affordable Housing, which for 15 years failed to implement affordable-housing guidelines that furthered decades-old state Supreme Court mandates.
The difference between the two reports stems from disagreements over how to interpret the Supreme Court’s action, the future of the state economy and whether to count any housing need that went unfulfilled during those 15 years. Those issues are likely to be hashed out over the next several months in court.
Meanwhile, civil rights groups in New Jersey are lambasting the municipalities’ report, saying it severely undercounts tens of thousands of working families, seniors and people with disabilities.
“If mayors across New Jersey refuse to do the right thing, we are going to have to force them to through the courts,” Frank Argote-Freyre, the president of the Latino Action Network, said in a statement last week. “New Jersey can be better than this and is better than this — but it is going to take continued work to overcome their discrimination.”
It is not clear how the matter will be resolved, said Joe Burgis, whom the courts have selected as a “special master” to review the housing plans of five Passaic County municipalities.
Will the 15 judges “be getting together to come up with a definitive set of numbers, or will the individual judges go out on their own and make their own individual determinations for their region as to what their numbers should be?” said Burgis, whose Westwood-based firm, Burgis Associates, represents municipalities in North Jersey, including Bergen County. “We still don’t know the answer to that question yet.”
Depending on what happens, some municipalities might also file new affordable-housing plans or amendments based on the report that Econsult Solutions, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm, prepared at the behest of the 230 municipalities, Burgis said.
It’s the latest head-scratcher in decades of debate over how much affordable housing New Jersey municipalities must provide under the terms of a series of state Supreme Court decisions. Those rulings, which are collectively called the Mount Laurel doctrine, established that a municipality’s land-use regulations must “affirmatively afford a reasonable opportunity” to fill its “fair share” of its region’s affordable-housing obligation.
Municipalities that met a court deadline last year were granted five months of immunity from “builder’s remedy” lawsuits, which allow developers to successfully argue that their multifamily housing projects could help satisfy a municipality’s affordable-housing obligation.
Late last week, Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino shocked the county when he announced that, though he was planning on pursuing reelection, it would not be as a Republican. He announced that he would be switching his party affiliation and running as a Democrat in November. Now, Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO) Chairman Bob Yudin is speaking out against Saudino’s party shift and outlining what steps the Bergen GOP plans to take moving forward.
“We are starting to reach out,” Yudin said of finding a replacement on the ballot for Saudino. “We have a number of people who have expressed interest.”
According to Yudin, the BCRO selects county candidates using a convention. Usually, the deadline to submit a letter of intent to run would be February 1. Because Saudino defected just two weeks shy of that deadline, Yudin says he is considering extending it to February 15 in order to give potential candidates more time.
“He had told both myself and many of my lieutenants that he was running as a Republican,” Yudin said. “So the actual timeframe for people to make a decision, instead of being months or a year or so, is less than two weeks. In all fairness to everyone who is thinking about this, I probably will extend the deadline.”
Yudin also had some harsh words to say about Saudino’s decision. When he spoke to PolitickerNJ the chairman recalled a conversation he had with the Sheriff before the party-switch bombshell was revealed. According to Yudin, Saudino disclosed that he had met with Bergen County Democratic Chairman Lou Stellato about potentially switching parties. Yudin went on to say that the Sheriff assured him he would remain a Republican and that he told Stellato that he was reassured by Yudin’s leadership style, supposedly citing that Stellato would try to impose more control over the governance of the Sheriff’s department.
“That is what the Sheriff told me,” Yudin said. “I took it as a compliment. I was very proud for the Sheriff to say that and for him to have said that to Lou Stellato. That is what I mean when I say I was so blindsided by this treacherous, treasonous act. It is a very, very despicable and dishonorable thing this man has done.”
Yudin said he believes Saudino’s decision to switch his party stems from his perception that he has a higher likelihood of reelection as a Democrat than as a Republican.
JANUARY 17, 2016 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
HO-HO-KUS — The fate of a developer’s proposal to nestle dozens of town houses in a neighborhood of single-family homes may rely on the state’s new process of getting communities to meet affordable-housing obligations.
The plan, put forward by the Upper Saddle River-based Chamberlain Developers, is to build 45 town homes on a 3.66-acre corner lot off West Saddle River Road and Hollywood Avenue. Some of those units would be designated to help the borough meet its court-mandated obligation to promote housing for low- and moderate-income residents.
But opponents say such dense housing would be wholly out of character in an area dominated by sizable single-family homes.
“For almost 100 years, there’s been single-family development on the applicant’s property,” said Ho-Ho-Kus attorney Robert Inglima, representing four neighboring families opposed to the proposal. “So to take that property and transform it into a site for any number of multifamilyhousing units would be a significant departure from the prior zoning pattern … this is an established neighborhood we’re talking about.”
But land is gold in North Jersey, and as more residents — especially young professionals and empty-nesters — seek smaller units closer to mass transit, development firms are reacting, said Bergen Realtor Robert Abbott.
JANUARY 18, 2016 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY DEENA YELLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Swim clubs around North Jersey are treading water against a wave of declining membership by reaching out to new members and retooling their programming to appeal to a broader demographic.
Club managers say they’re trying to counter the national trend of waning interest, which they attribute to changing demographics, alternative recreational venues and working parents who lack the time to sit by a pool all summer.
“There’s no question we’re seeing a decline,” said Lauren Syre, manager of the Harrington Park Swim Club, whose membership has dropped over the past decade from 350 families and a long waiting list to 280 families and no waiting list. To attract new members, Harrington Park has added a snack bar and more activities, such as family barbecue night and movie night.
Like other swim clubs, it also has opened membership to a wider audience, including out-of-towners and those who want to come on a part-time basis.
The Stonybrook Swim Club in Hillsdale, Brookside Racquet & Swim Club in Allendale and the Teaneck, River Edge, Alpine, Palisades and Leonia swim clubs and Woodside Swim and Tennis Club in Edison also have implemented promotional ventures such as yoga, adult-only lap lanes, paddle boarding, live band shows, campout parties, ice cream socials and lower membership fees.
Hackensack NJ, At County Committee Meeting Maura McMahon DeNicola announced her intention to run for reelection as Bergen County Freeholder in November 2016. Maura is the last one standing and ready to take on new challenges .
Maura said , “It’s hard to believe it’s already time to be a part of this great political process once again! “
For those that have not had the pleasure of meeting Maura has long list of local leadership positions : Bergen County Freeholder Trustee Neighbors Helping Neighbors Mayor of Franklin Lakes Councilwoman Franklin Lakes Member Board of Trustees Neighbors Helping Neighbors Former Member Board of Trustees Don Bosco Prep Former Member Franklin Lakes Board of Education Member Franklin Lakes Planning Board Member Bergen County Mayors Association and Northwest Bergen Mayors Association
Maura’s was educated at Boston College, B.A., graduated magna cum laude and recieved and M.A. from Columbia University.
Maura has been Married to Philip, 29 years with 4 children,Philip, Graduate U.S. Naval Academy, Lieutenant U.S. Navy
Paul, Graduate Leonard N. Stern School of Business at the New York University,Conor, Automotive Mechanic
Lucia, Freshman, Villanova University
Maura commented of the the defection of Sheriff Saudino ,”I am disappointed that the sheriff chose to turn his back on his party, and his commitment to the people who nurtured his political career. I am disappointed that he chose political expediency, and self-interest ahead of the people’s interest.
I am sure the allure of the power of the Democratic Party in Bergen County is difficult to resist. I am sure Chairman Stellato made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. But there are those of us who believe in fighting for what is right and what we believe in regardless of the outcome.
Sheriff Saudino may want us to believe that his decision is about law enforcement, but we know it’s not. It’s about making a deal to secure his re-election. So let’s not for a moment pretend that this defection today has anything to do with differences with the past administration or the sheriff’s ability to carry out his duties.
It’s about nothing more than political ambition and succumbing to the allure of power and prolonging a political career.
I am prepared to work this year with the citizens of this county who want fair, honest and open government and I look forward to working with the Republican Party’s nominee for sheriff.”
By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 16, 2016 at 8:05 AM, updated January 16, 2016 at 10:17 AM
WASHINGTON — Under fire for reportedly refusing to contribute to a Republican group because it backed gay candidates, U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett said his opposition to same-sex marriage comes from his faith, and he does not “have malice” toward any group of people.
“My colleagues and my constituents know that I am a devout man of faith, and therefore I support traditional marriage,” Garrett said in a statement released by his campaign late Friday. “Calling me names or implying that I have malice in my heart for any person or group of people is false and completely disingenuous.”
Garrett (R-5th Dist.) has faced sharp criticism for reportedly telling fellow Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee that he was not contributing to the House GOP’s fundraising arm because it backed gay candidates. Garrett has never denied the reports. His statement was the first lengthy response since the controversy erupted last summer.
He and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) are among 154 House Republicans — a majority of the conference — who are sponsoring legislation to allow groups and individuals to cite their religious beliefs and deny service to same-sex couples.
U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett’s reported remarks on gays has Democrats looking at winning the congressional district.
“Like all Americans who exercise their right of free speech and religion, I make contributions to people and organizations who share my beliefs on important issues, in this case traditional marriage,” Garrett said. “Since then, I’ve continued my support of the Republican Party and the ideals we represent on behalf of our country and every American.”
Garrett called the criticism an effort by the “Washington establishment” to “distract from my work to revive the economy and hold the government accountable by portraying me as something I’m not.”
He said that several prominent Democrats, President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State Hiilary Clinton, also initially opposed same-sex marriage.
Was Obama “a bigot before he changed his view on traditional marriage in 2012 when it was politically convenient?” Garrett said. “Or Hillary Clinton? Or President Bill Clinton?”
FAIR LAWN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Friday night was far from the first nervous one for residents of Fair Lawn, New Jersey, who have been plagued by loud booming sounds for about a week.
As CBS2’s Dave Carlin reported, the source of the nuisance is a mystery.
“We were, like, looking at each other like, ‘What was that?’” said Danielle McManus.
It happened twice in the past week to McManus and her family. While inside their home in a usually very quiet Fair Lawn neighborhood, things went bump in the night.
“If we didn’t know any better, it almost sounds like a cannon,” McManus said, “It was so deep and just like, echoey.”
Elsewhere in the neighborhood along the Passaic River, residents say they have heard loud booms as early as 6 p.m. and as late as 2 a.m..
Paramus NJ, The Valley Hospital Department of Community Health and Community Benefit recently donated 10 DeskCycles to Parkway Elementary School as part of its health education partnership with the Borough of Paramus. “This school year, Parkway’s theme was healthy bodies and that works right into our departmental goals so we partnered up to support them,” said Valley health educator Danielle Cinnante. “Our department has brought in nutrition and health education to the students and parents of Parkway and is so excited to help support the health of our young community!” In addition to supporting fitness, the cycles also help learning by enabling the students to focus on their classroom tasks without fidgeting or becoming restless.
Shown here with Parkway students are Parminder Savalia, Health Education Supervisor, The Valley Hospital; Elaine Palombit, school nurse, Parkway Elementary; Jean Mulholland, physical education teacher, Parkway Elementary; and Danielle Cinnante, health educator, The Valley Hospital.
