Category: Bergen County

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YWCA Bergen County Hosts Kids Night Out

Ramones

The kids need a night out – and so do you!
No need to stress over finding a babysitter-send your kids to us and enjoy a child free evening! Don’t consider it babysitting, but a great night for them to enjoy their own age appropriate fun activities. Kids Night Out is staffed by our professional team of childcare providers who excel at creating a stress-free, fun and safe environment. Activities include a Wii console, arts & crafts, beading, games, activities, snacks and much more! Sibling discount applies. Children must wear sneakers. All YWCA activities are peanut free zones. Prices listed are per evening.

*Fri.
6:00 – 10:00 pm
Fees:
360/BFC Member: $30 (each additional sibling, $20)
Program/Swim: $40 (each additional sibling, $30)
Non-Member: $50 (each additional sibling, $40)

*No program Friday, November 27 and December 25.

Children must be registered and all forms submitted by 5 pm on the Wednesday prior to attendance.

See ywcabergencounty.org for registration form.

To register for the 360 Membership, please call our Membership Office at 201-444-5600 x400.

Local Business Partnerships Now Available to Parents!
YWCA Bergen County is proud to partner with businesses in Ridgewood to ensure parents enjoy a wonderful evening while your children have an awesome night of their own! Offers include:

10% off at:
29 Chestnut Italian Trattoria
A Mano Neapolitan Trattoria
Lisa’s Mediterranean Cuisine
Pearl Restaurant
Super Cellers Fine Wines and Marketplace

East Coast Burger will donate 10% of your order to the YWCA Bergen County

15% off your total order at The Office Beer Bar & Grill

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Crunch Fitness of Paramus Presents Donation in Support of The Valley Hospital’s Breast Cancer Fund

crunch fitness paramus

November 17, 2015

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paramus NJ,  Crunch Fitness of Paramus raised over a thousand dollars in support of The Valley Hospital Breast Cancer Fund during October as part of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

On Saturday, October 24, the employees and instructors at Crunch Fitness worked together to make and sell pink hair ties and healthy baked goods. They also offered special exercise classes to all members interested in “Sweating it Out” to raise money for breast cancer. Approximately 100 members participated in this event and attended master fitness classes, which included cardio and conditioning, boxing, and a loud, energetic zumba party.

The following week, Group Fitness Manager Sam Aguirre and Club Manager Terri Surdyka of Crunch Fitness presented a check for $1,010 to The Valley Hospital Foundation.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in US women in 2015, and approximately 7,310 of those new cases will be in New Jersey.  The Valley Hospital Breast Center, which has been designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology, is the hospital of choice for many newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.  Valley’s multidisciplinary team of experienced physicians, radiologists, cytopathologists, nurses, researchers and coordinators collaborate on all aspects of breast care for their patient-focused comprehensive breast care program.

The Valley Hospital Foundation is grateful for Crunch Fitness’s generous donation to the Breast Cancer Fund.

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Quality of Life Issues Abound in Bergen County

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Battle over Northern Highlands Regional district’s field lights heading to court

NOVEMBER 15, 2015    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2015, 9:59 AM
BY MARINA VILLENEUVE
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

ALLENDALE — The Northern Highlands Regional High School Board of Education is going to court to defend the new electric-powered light trailers on its athletic fields.

Three neighboring residents are suing the school district, claiming it’s unlawfully using the mobile trailers with lights up to 72 feet tall in defiance of state and local statutes and past court rulings.

On Thursday, the school board, the Northern Highlands Regional High School Sports Association and the Allendale Planning Board and Board of Adjustment filed a civil action in Superior Court in Hackensack asking a judge to dismiss the neighbors’ lawsuit and declare that the school’s use of the lights is legal.

The school has been using mobile, diesel-powered light trailers ever since the late 1990s, after the Planning Board denied the sports association’s application to build permanent 70-foot-tall light towers with a concrete foundation.

The board is arguing that mobile light trailers don’t require any kind of zoning variance or site-plan approval because they don’t fall under state and local definitions of “structure,” “fixture” or “development.”

The school says that it’s used the new electric-powered light trailers about 30 times since they were delivered in September, and that they’re less noisy and smelly than the previously rented diesel-powered trailers.

“As a result, hundreds of children have been able to safely use the turf field at Northern Highlands after dark,” reads the counterclaim filed Thursday.

The school “shall continue to utilize mobile light trailers in connection with its lawful lighting of the athletic fields on the property,” reads the counterclaim, which seeks compensatory, consequential and punitive damages.

In two counts of the neighbors’ eight-count lawsuit filed in October, they claim the new lights will be a public nuisance harming neighbors and that the Board of Education will be liable for damages.

“The development will give rise to a continual invasion of adjoining property by reason of light trespass and light and noise pollution,” reads the lawsuit, which also claims the taller lights will lead to lowered property values and a worse quality of life.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/crime-and-courts/battle-over-northern-highlands-regional-district-s-field-lights-heading-to-court-1.1455826

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High Winds Bring Down Tree in Paramus home

Paramus Police
Courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook
High Winds Bring Down Tree in Paramus home
November 14,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood bog
Paramus NJ, High winds caused a tree to topple into a home located at 180 Farview Avenue, Paramus shortly before 11 AM on Friday, 11/13. The home was unoccupied at the time and structural damage appeared to be moderate. Paramus FD and Rescue Squad units were dispatched to the scene, but were called back after it was determined there was no life hazard present. A Paramus PD Patrol Officer prepared a property damage report.

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Glen Rock middle and high schools locked down after shell casing was found in classroom

glen_rock_theridgewoodblog

NOVEMBER 13, 2015, 12:44 PM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015, 3:01 PM
BY STEFANIE DAZIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

GLEN ROCK — The borough’s middle and high schools were locked down for two and a half hours Friday after a shell casing was found in a classroom.

Lt. Daniel Dour said the .38 caliber shell casing was discovered in a second floor classroom in the middle school around 10:30 a.m. There was no bullet in the casing. The middle and high schools are in the same building.

Authorities searched the lockers of the students who were in the classroom at the time but did not find anything.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/glen-rock-middle-and-high-schools-locked-down-after-shell-casing-was-found-in-classroom-1.1455029

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Ridgewood’s Amy Sellars directs play

Amy Sellars play Fair Lawn

NOVEMBER 13, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY AIMEE LA FOUNTAIN
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Fair Lawn’s Radburn Players will present Sharr White’s drama “Annapurna,” opening on Nov. 13. The production is directed by Ridgewood resident and Radburn Players President Amy Sellars.

“Annapurna” tells what happens when Ulysses is confronted by his estranged wife Emma after 20 years apart. The play stars Stuart Aion of Caldwell and Erica Kresch of Hawthorne.

“It’s got the oldest device of two actors in one room forced to work out their problems simply by proximity,” Sellars said. “It’s very character-driven. The plot unravels throughout the course of the show and it’s quite a dramatic finale.”

The characters were the primary reason Sellars chose the play. “I like to work with actors based on character development, so that’s part and parcel why I chose it,” she said. “As a published poet, there was something about the way Ulysses used language and poetry that was so stunning and poignant that I personally connected with it.”

The show isn’t recommended for children due to its strong content, but Sellars hopes it attracts young adults. “Live theater has a lot to offer and you can learn a lot from a production that challenges the way you think,” she said. “It’s an important step away from reality TV culture.”

https://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/theater/ridgewood-s-amy-sellars-directs-play-1.1454535

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Route 17 traffic tie-ups Never End

Route17_Accident_theridgewoodblog

file photo by Boyd Loving

Road Warrior: Rte. 17’s sad, never-ending song

NOVEMBER 12, 2015    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY JOHN CICHOWSKI
THE RECORD

Ping!

As anyone with one foot on the gas pedal and an eye on the GPS knows, that sound is technology’s quaint way of telling us there’s traffic congestion ahead – a turn of events that can make grown-ups talk back to their global positioning systems.

“Tell me something I didn’t know,” I told the noisy little screen on my dashboard.

When you drive on Route 17, you expect such things. It was Monday and my Honda and I were approaching the Garden State Parkway in Paramus where crews were toiling at revising a connection that might someday make moving between these two asphalt marvels the kind of safer, seamless driving experience it should be.

But no, this wasn’t the sour song that my GPS was singing or pinging about. This backup was centered on the Ridgewood Avenue exits where a new restaurant is being built. It’s the same location that a persistent caller, Richard Compagnone, had been telling me about.

“In 55 years of driving, I can’t remember a construction job so small taking so long,” said Compagnone. “What’s going on?”

On the surface, what’s going on is a relatively small job to build a Panera Bread sandwich shop and connect it to necessary pipes and wires. But what was really going on was a tiny example of the daily delays and heart-pounding danger that, according to reader feedback, easily make Route 17 Bergen County’s least-favorite highway. Spurred by low gas prices and population growth, this north-south artery is experiencing some retail growth and even heavier-than-usual traffic.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/rte-17-backups-seem-worse-than-ever-1.1453819

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Rep. Garrett Continues his Push for Rail Car Safety

Rep Scott Garrett rail car safety
Rep. Garrett tours key railroad tracks and infrastructure carrying crude oil through NJ-05 in Haworth (left) and Harrington Park (right) with local officials.

Nov 10, 2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Harrington Park NJ,  Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) toured key railroad tracks and infrastructure carrying crude oil through NJ-05 in Haworth and Harrington Park with local officials. The tour allowed Congressman Garrett to see first-hand the measures being taken to prevent an environmental disaster and listen to the concerns of local elected officials about rail safety.

“The safety and security of northern New Jersey is my top priority, and it’s important that everyone knows that my office is a resource for the towns in my district,” said Garrett. “We need to ensure an open line of communication exists between local officials, the rail industry, federal officials, and New Jersey residents, and that’s why I’ve demanded answers from federal agencies such as the FRA, the DOT, and the OMB. I will continue to work with the mayors to guarantee the safety of our communities.”

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Background:

With an increased number of trains carrying crude oil throughout the country, the safety and reliability of the train tracks and infrastructure carrying this oil through New Jersey is a top priority for Congressman Garrett. This year, he has called on the Department of Transportation (DOT) and OMB to finalize a rule about the safety of DOT-111 tank cars that carry crude oil, introduced an amendment to increase funding to rail safety and operations, and requested information from the Federal Railroad Administration about safety reports.

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Congressmen Scott Garrett: Today we thank our veterans for preserving the rights and freedoms we hold dear

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“While many of us hear about the threats facing our country, a few extraordinary men and women have come face to face with them. They looked our enemies in the eyes and took a stand against tyranny, violence, oppression, and terror. Today we thank our veterans for preserving the rights and freedoms we hold dear. May God bless our veterans, and may God bless the United States of America.” Congressmen Scott Garrett

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The values and  principles  of the United States are preserved by the willingness of  brave men and women to stand and defend our nation. These men and women—our veterans—sacrifice time with their families, the comforts of home, and their very safety in the name of freedom. Today our country stops to recognize their service. It is Congress’ responsibility to ensure our veterans receive the benefits and recognition that they deserve when they return home from the front lines.

Last year, we were all disturbed to learn that thousands of veterans waited more than 90 days to see a doctor at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) health care facilities. In the aftermath of these revelations, I led the New Jersey delegation in demanding answers about the VA health care facilities that service New Jersey veterans to ensure our heroes are receiving the best possible care.

In addition to this request, the House of Representatives took legislative action. We built on last year’s Veterans’ Access to Choice and Accountability Act by passing the VA Accountability Act of 2015. These pieces of  legislation would help get veterans off wait lists and expand the VA secretary’s ability to fire employees who have been negligent in serving veterans.

I am also a cosponsor of the Keeping our Promises to Veterans Act and the Military SAVE Act. These bills would expand the eligibility for participation in the Veteran Choice Program by allowing veterans to find health care outside the VA health care system that is closer to home and by shortening wait time goals from 30 to 15 days.

Finally, if you or someone you know is a veteran that is having a difficult time with the VA or other  federal agencies, please let me help. My offices in Newton and Glen Rock have helped countless veterans receive the benefits they’ve earned and they’re available to you any time.

While many of us hear about the threats facing our country, these brave men and women have come face to face with them. They looked our enemies in the eyes and took a stand against tyranny, violence, oppression, and terror. Today we thank our veterans for preserving the rights and freedoms we hold dear. May God bless our veterans, and may God bless the United States of America.

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Ridgewood man charged in sexual assault in Westwood

ridgewood_police_theridgewoodblog

file photo by Boyd Loving

NOVEMBER 9, 2015, 5:52 PM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015, 5:52 PM
BY JIM NORMAN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

A 48-year-old Ridgewood man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a woman in front of her apartment complex in Westwood, then riding off on  a bicycle, authorities said Monday.

Alan Broadbent was arrested Sunday after the victim provided a detailed description to police, said Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.

The investigation started on Friday, when police in Westwood received a 911 call from a neighbor who had seen the victim struggling with a man. When police arrived, Molinelli said, the woman told them she had just been attacked and sexually assaulted by an unknown man who fled on a bicycle.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-man-charged-in-sexual-assault-in-westwood-1.1452039

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Paramus police hold emergency response drill at Westfield Garden State Plaza

Westfield Garden State Plaza

NOVEMBER 8, 2015, 3:26 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2015, 3:26 PM
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

PARAMUS — Borough police, using a plan that was modified in the aftermath of a shooter entering the Westfield Garden State Plaza here two years ago, held an emergency-response drill at the mall Sunday morning.

The exercise kicked off at 10 a.m., and lasted less than an hour, involving about 100 police officers, said Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg. The participating police departments included not only Paramus but the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department regional SWAT team as well as ,Maywood,  Hackensack, Rochelle Park, Fair Lawn and Ridgewood.

“It went well,” Ehrenberg said.

The drill was to test how quickly officers were able to respond to the mall in keeping with the plan that’s in place for any police emergency that occurs, including an active-shooter situation, Ehrenberg said. He described it as a “staging drill,” in which police reported to one of the shopping center’s parking lots.

“All we were doing was practicing and exercising our ability to call in mutual-aid towns to the Plaza,” Ehrenberg said. “It was more of a staging drill: how we could get people there and just practice our emergency-response time. … Even though it was at Westfield, the drill is to cover all our shopping-center infrastructure. … It’s a test of our reaction in case of a police emergency at one of our shopping centers.”

Local police have “enhanced” their emergency-response plan from the lessons learned from two incidents at the mall, according to the chief. In November 2013, 20-year-old gunman Richard Shoop entered Garden State Plaza and fired six rounds with a rifle, sending shoppers fleeing. He then killed himself. And in May last year, shoppers panicked and fled in cars and on foot when there were reports of gunfire inside the mall. It turned out that there was a car fire in a parking lot, and reportedly the sounds of the vehicle’s tires popping was mistaken for gunshots.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/paramus-police-hold-emergency-response-drill-at-westfield-garden-state-plaza-1.1451371

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CSX railroad to discuss pedestrian tunnels with Haworth after Congressman Scott Garrett’s Inspection

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whats in those tanker cars ?

NOVEMBER 6, 2015, 10:44 PM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015, 10:45 PM
BY SCOTT FALLON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

HAWORTH — CSX engineers will meet this month with town officials to discuss the condition of two pedestrian tunnels under the company’s rail line that have become a concern now that millions of gallons of crude oil pass through the town on trains, Mayor John Smart said Friday.

Smart had been trying for months to get inspection reports on the condition of the Crocker Place and Park Street Playground tunnels, but a federal loophole in railroad regulations prevented him from getting any meaningful information. Smart said he recently secured a meeting with CSX executives and hopes to meet with them regularly.

Officials from Teaneck to Harrington Park have often complained that CSX, which operates the largest rail system in the eastern U.S., has been slow to address local concerns since railroads are regulated almost exclusively by the federal government.

Bogota officials famously issued a summons in 1999 to a CSX train for disturbing the peace by idling noisily even though railroads are exempt from municipal ordinances under federal interstate commerce law.

They say Florida-based CSX should be more responsive especially now that 15 to 30 trains, each carrying as much as 3.6 million gallons of volatile Bakken crude oil, pass through 11 towns each week on the company’s River Line. The oil has been involved in several fiery derailments across North America in recent years.

In Bergen County, the trains pass thousands of homes and businesses on their way to a Philadelphia refinery. They cross dozens of small bridges, some of which appear pristine and others that are heavily rusted with cracked foundations.

Among them are the two pedestrian tunnels in Haworth, one of which has cracked and crumbling concrete just under the railbed, and the other near the playground.

Smart was unable to get inspection reports because railroads are not required to submit them to their primary regulator, the Federal Railroad Administration, unless the FRA asks for them.

A spokesman for CSX said this summer that the tunnels were inspected in January and deemed safe, but would not make inspection reports public.

“Those tracks are inspected visually several times weekly, and are subjected several times annually to internal, ultrasound inspections and examination with a geometry car that measures physical characteristics to affirm compliance with engineering specifications,” Rob Doolittle, a CSX spokesman, said this week.

On Friday, Rep. Scott Garrett toured the Haworth site as well as a section of the rail line that goes over the Oradell Reservoir. Last month, Garrett called on the FRA to obtain inspection reports on all spans through the region and share them with local officials. He said Friday he is still waiting for them.

“I want to see what [CSX] thinks of the chipping concrete here,” the Wantage Republican said. “Is it something that lasts six months, six years? I’m no expert. That’s why we need those reports.”

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/csx-railroad-to-discuss-pedestrian-tunnels-with-haworth-1.1450561

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Mountains to climb: North Jersey lawmaker tells of her road back after brain aneurysm

Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi

“Today the Bergen Record covered the road from my illness through my recovery. I shared my story in part to bring awareness to the public of brain aneurysms. Towards that goal, I am announcing my newest endeavor. I have agreed to join the board of The Lisa Colagrossi Foundation. The newly formed Foundation was started by Todd Crawford who lost his wife Lisa Colagrossi, a popular newscaster, after she suffered a brain aneurysm earlier this year. The Foundation’s focus will be to raise awareness and educate individuals to warning signs and treatment options for brain aneurysms.

The Foundation recently launched the “Lucky 7” challenge. The effort is a one-of-a-kind national fundraising campaign that will directly fund brain aneurysm awareness, education, research and support initiatives across the country. “Lucky 7” encourages individuals and businesses to make donations that include the number 7, Lisa’s favorite number and the network she worked for in New York City.

For more information about The Lisa Colagrossi Foundation, Holly Schepisi’s board announcement, the “Lucky 7” challenge and information about brain aneurysms please visit www.LisasLegacy7.org. “Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi

Mountains to climb: North Jersey lawmaker tells of her road back after brain aneurysm

NOVEMBER 8, 2015    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2015, 12:59 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

On a Saturday in March, Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi  felt her left arm go numb. It was cold out, and she’d just given a speech at a rally to oppose oil trains crossing the Oradell Reservoir. Soon she felt like her tongue was swelling. She quietly excused herself.

At home, she felt “as if the synapses in my brain were misfiring,” she said. It was like “someone was pressing Bubble Wrap in my brain.” As she sat with her young son, her left side went numb.

“I felt like I was in the movie ‘The Matrix,’ popping in and out of reality,” she said. She jumped out of her chair. “Something is really wrong,” she told her husband.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/mountains-to-climb-north-jersey-lawmaker-tells-of-her-road-back-after-brain-aneurysm-1.1451094

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Exterminator succumbed to bee sting in Franklin Lakes

Franklin Lakes Bee Sting

photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page

November 7,2015

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Franklin lakes NJ,  Franklin Lakes PD, EMS, and FD, along with a paramedic unit from The Valley Hospital, responded to a 911 report of a man lying unconscious on the roof of a synagogue located at 375 Pulis Avenue sometime around 12 noon on Wednesday, 11/04. The victim, an exterminator, was pronounced dead on the scene by the paramedic team. He apparently succumbed to a bee sting.

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Glen Rock Hudson City Savings Bank branch held Up in Broad Daylight

Glen Rock Hudson City

photo courtesy of Boyd Lovings Facebook
November 6,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

GlenRock Nj, A Hudson City Savings Bank branch located at 897 Prospect Street, Glen Rock was held up shortly after 10:00 AM on Friday, 11/05. The actor escaped with just under $2,000. Glen Rock PD was assisted at the scene by officers from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department K9, Bureau of Police, and Bureau of Criminal Investigation units.