Become the Driver of Your Destiny at YWCA September Women’s Empowerment Network
YWCA Bergen County is holding its September Women’s Empowerment Network (WEN) event, “Become the Driver of Your Destiny” presented by Lois Kramer-Perez on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 from 8:30 to 10:00 am at 112 Oak Street, Ridgewood.
Are you tired of struggling with relationships? Tired of feeling guilty about being happy? Wondering why you dim your light to let others shine? Learn the simple tools to clear your path, release the guilt, and create a freedom roadmap to your life and the relationships you love. You will learn which relationship in your life has the most influence, the surprising truth about letting go, the #1 way to stop guilt in its tracks forever, 3 crucial key words that will stop sending you into sabotage over and over, and how to discover what YOU truly want for yourself.
Lois Kramer-Perez, CHt puts her 10+ years of energy clearing to work for realtors, divorcees, business owners, and moms, breaking through their lives and putting them in the driver’s seat of their relationships and spaces. Lois is the creator of popular programs such as “Clearing Meditation Circle” and the “Feng Shui Jumpstart.” She is a board member of International Feng Shui Guild, and has been invited to speak for numberous organizations and companies. Lois is a faculty member at Emerson and Ridgewood Community Schools, and is a contributor to Natural Awakenings, Inner Realm and BC the Magazine. She is also Pazoo.com’s Feng Shui Expert.
Get the personal and professional growth you seek with exclusive opportunities for WEN Membership. Annual WEN Memberships are available at $100 for Professionals and $75 for Military or Students (with valid ID). Memberships include one-year basic YWCA membership, members-only discount for all WEN Intensive workshops, and a tax deductible donation ($50/$25) toward vital YWCA programming. WENPlus Memberships are also available at $250 annually and include a one-year basic YWCA membership, exclusive early bird registration and members-only discount for all WEN Intensive workshops, one non-member guest pass for the monthly program series, and discounts for other YWCA programs for women. A $200 tax-deductible donation toward YWCA is also included. Per event rates for monthly WEN programs include $25 for non-members, $10 for WEN members, and no charge for WENPlus members.
Sun, September 13, 2015
Time: 8:45 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: streets of Westwood, Emerson, Oradell, Haworth, Ha, Westwood, Emerson, Oradell, Haworth, Harrington Park
Cost: $50 per person
United Water’s 5th Annual Run the Reservoir Half Marathon will be held on Sunday, September 13, 2015 to benefit YWCA Bergen County. The Run the Reservoir race, which covers 13.1 miles and allows athletes to run through the streets of Westwood, Emerson, Oradell, Haworth, Harrington Park and River Vale, is Bergen County’s first half marathon and is unique because it enables runners to enjoy a 2.3-mile trail around the reservoir.
Registration will begin at 7:00 am with check-in and shirt/bib pick up. The half marathon will commence at 8:45 am with awards ceremony held at 12:00 pm for top three Men’s and Women’s Finisher’s in 14 Age Groups; 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th place over-all Male and Female. For full awards list, please visit www.RunTheReservoir.com. Race results will be provided by www.RaceForum.com.
Attracting novice and seasoned runners alike, the Run the Reservoir half marathon has quickly become a favorite among the running community due to its well-designed course through Bergen County’s residential roadways and trail along the Oradell Reservoir. Since its commencement, the turnout for the Run the Reservoir half marathon has increased each year.
Proceeds of the 2015 Run the Reservoir Half Marathon will go directly to support YWCA Bergen County who has been served the community since 1920 with programs that improve lives, inspire change and create opportunities. YWCA provides safe, welcoming places for women, girls and families to learn, share and grow; support women and girls on their paths to educational, career and financial success; and advocate for women’s rights and civil rights.
Race entry fee is $50 before August 1, 2015 or $60 after August 1, 2015 with a $3 discount for USA Track & Field members. For more information or to register online, please visit www.RunTheReservoir.com or email [email protected].
Three-fourths of NJ sheriffs double-dip, led by 25-year ‘retiree’
By Mark Lagerkvist / August 30, 2015 / 6 Comments
For the past quarter century, Armando Fontoura has been looting a New Jersey state pension fund. But it won’t do any good to call the cops.
Fontoura is sheriff of Essex County. A dean among double-dippers, he draws $207,289 a year from public coffers – $144,896 in salary plus $62,393 from pension as a retiree of his own office.
Today is the 25th anniversary of Fontoura’s faux retirement. So far, he has collected $1.35 million in retirement cash without ever giving up his full-time county paycheck
On Friday, Aug. 31, 1990, Fontoura retired as county undersheriff at age 47. The following Monday, he returned to work at Essex County with the same salary and duties, but a different title – sheriff’s officer chief. One year later, he took charge as sheriff, a post he’s held ever since.
“Does it look bad? Yes,” admitted Fontoura. “No question about it, it looks bad. Was it legal? Yes.”
Worse for taxpayers, three-fourths of New Jersey’s county sheriffs – plus hundreds of other public officials – are taking advantage of pension loopholes to collect dual incomes.
A continuing New Jersey Watchdog investigation found the sheriffs in 16 of the state’s 21 counties are double-dippers. In addition, the sheriffs also employ 37 undersheriffs who returned to work after retiring as local, county or state law enforcement officials at relatively young ages.
In total, the 53 officers collect nearly $10 million a year from public coffers – $5.7 million in salaries plus $4.1 million in retirement pay – according to payroll and pension records.
By order of annual incomes, the double-dipping posse includes:
Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino (R), $267,987 – $138,000 salary + $129,987 pension as an Emerson Borough police retiree
Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik (D), $253,957 – $151,887 salary + $102,070 pension as a Clifton police retiree
Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy (R), $231,315 – $107,250 salary + $124,065 pension as a Toms River Township police retiree
Mercer County Sheriff John Kemler (D), $227,330 – $142,499 salary + $84,831 pension as a Mercer County sheriff’s office retiree
Camden County Sheriff Charles J. Billingham (D), $219,232 – $144,753 salary + $74,479 pension as a Washington Township police retiree
Somerset County Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano (R), $208,576 – $132,555 salary + $76,021 pension as Bridgewater Township police retiree
Warren County Sheriff David P. Gallant (R), $208,432 – $125,945 salary + $82,487 pension as a State Police retiree
Morris County Sheriff Edward V. Rochford (R), $200,838 – $139,203 salary + $61,545 pension as a Morris Township police retiree
Middlesex County Sheriff Mildred S. Scott (D), $200,796 – $139,455 salary + $61,341 pension as a retiree of the Middlesex County sheriff’s office
Hunterdon County Sheriff Frederick W. Brown (R), $197,796 – $115,868 salary + $81,928 pension as a retiree of Raritan Township police
Salem County Sheriff Charles M. Miller, $195,452 (R) – $119,386 salary + $76,066 pension as a retiree of the Salem County prosecutor’s office
Gloucester County Sheriff Carmel M. Morina (D), $191,996 – $128,547 salary + $63,449 pension as a Greenwich Township police retiree
Sussex County Sheriff Michael Strada (R), $170,124 – $121,212 salary + $46,973 pension as Mount Olive Township police retiree
Cumberland County Sheriff Robert Austino (D), $166,938 – $107,250 salary + $59,688 pension as a Vineland police retiree
Cape May County Sheriff Gary Schaffer (R), $161,654 – $107,500 salary + $54,154 pension as an Ocean City police retiree.
Click here for the complete list of sheriffs and undersheriffs who collect pensions plus salaries.
New Jersey Watchdog began tracking double-dipping by sheriffs in 2011. The initial report found 16 sheriffs and 28 undersheriffs collecting a total of $8 million a year – $3.25 million from pensions plus $4.75 million in salaries.
Four years later, the tally has increased by nine undersheriffs and $1.8 million a year in total pay.
The investigative news site has also reported extensively on double-dipping by state legislators, administration officials, school superintendents, state police and the staffs of the attorney general and county prosecutors.
RELATED: ‘Seven deadly sins’ of New Jersey pensions
The millions being drained from retirement funds through double-dipping epitomize the woes of a pension system that faces $170 billion in underfunding – a point noted earlier this year by Gov. Christie’s blue-ribbon, bi-partisan Pension and Health Benefit Study Commission.
“It has great symbolic importance…as the double-dippers have become the ‘face’ of a dysfunctional public pension system,” the study concluded, citing New Jersey Watchdog’s reporting. “For this reason, the task force should consider ways to further limit this practice.”
Yet Gov. Chris Christie and the State Legislature have done little to halt the abuses that have profited well-connected Democrats and Republicans over the years.
One of the bigger beneficiaries is Sen. Fred Madden, D-Washington, a triple-dipper who receives nearly a quarter-million dollars a year – $85,272 from his state police pension, $113,810 as dean of law and justice of Rowan College at Gloucester County and $49,000 as a part-time state legislator.
“Obviously I don’t have a problem with people doing it,” Madden said in an interview with New Jersey Watchdog three years ago. “I’ve accepted that in my own personal life. I don’t have a problem with it at all.”
A bill co-sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Red Bank, would stop most double-dipping. It would suspend pension payments to retirees who return to public jobs paying more than $15,000 a year. The retirement benefits would resume when they permanently leave public employment.
“The pension system is intended to support you at a time you are no longer working,” said Beck. “So when you are an active employee, you should not be able to tap into both.”
The reform proposal has gone nowhere since it was first introduced in 2011 by Beck and Sen. Steven Oroho, R-Sparta. Its current incarnations – S-883 and A-114 – are trapped in legislative committees, unable to get enough support to reach the Senate or Assembly floors for votes.
Meanwhile, Fontoura is a heavy favorite to win re-election as sheriff in a Democratic stronghold that includes Newark. A victory would enable him to continue his double-dipping ways in Essex County for at least three more years.
“I retired, I collect my pension, and I am your sheriff,” Fontoura told NBC 4 New York, which partnered with New Jersey Watchdog for a report in 2012.
County personnel records show the retiring and rehiring of Fontoura had been plotted in advance. Then-sheriff Thomas D’Alessio approved the move on Aug. 7, 1990, more than three weeks before the switch.
“I said, as long as I can do this legally without breaking any law – and I can collect my pension and augment it with a salary — that’s fine, I will do this,” Fontoura recalled.
The sheriff’s office did not respond to a new request from New Jersey Watchdog for additional comment
PHOTO COURTESY OF WHITNEY KLEIN
The Graydon Swim Team relay squad of, from left, Sarah Afromsky, Jackie Grayson, Emerson Klein and Jordan Afromsky won both the 200-meter freestyle and the 200-meter medley relays in the 13/14-year-old division at last week’s county championships.
Youth swimming: Ridgewood relay collects two gold medals for Graydon Swim Team
AUGUST 14, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW BIRCHENOUGH
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
In the season’s final showcase, a quartet of Graydon swimmers doubled down on gold medal performances.
The foursome of Sarah Afromsky, Jackie Grayson, Emerson Klein and Jordan Afromsky claimed two relay titles in the 13/14-year-old division to lead the Ridgewood squad at last week’s New Jersey Pool Managers Association (NJPMA) county championships, held at various locations from Aug. 3-8.
In total, 10 Graydon swimmers competed in 20 different events at the meet.
JUNE 16, 2015, 7:58 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015, 8:00 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
GLEN ROCK — Bergen County’s United Way is considering land on Bradford Street as a possible site for an affordable-housing project for the physically and developmentally disabled.
Glen Rock officials disclosed in a meeting last week that the United Way was “under contract” to purchase 15 Bradford Street, the 0.34-acre site of a condemned, four-bedroom home built 80 years ago.
Tom Toronto, president of Bergen County’s United Way, confirmed on Tuesday that his organization had been working with borough officials to find a suitable site for a single-story “supportive housing project.”
It would be the United Way’s first project in Glen Rock and could serve as the new address for “less than 10” adults with needs, Toronto said. Similar projects have been constructed in Allendale, Mahwah, Demarest, Emerson, and Ramsey.
The United Way has been working with Mayor John van Keuren for three years “to identify a site that would make sense for such a project,” Toronto said Tuesday. “The mayor understands the need for this kind of housing. It’s a great locale in a beautiful neighborhood near a park.”
Christine Nunn of Picnic on the Square on the one technique home cooks should master
March 4, 2015 Last updated: Wednesday, March 4, 2015, 1:21 AM
The Record
Christine Nunn of Picnic on the Square, Ridgewood
Christine Nunn wasn’t always on course to work in the kitchen — the 50-year-old chef and co-owner of Picnic on the Square in Ridgewood was once a journalist, and worked for the Ridgewood News after graduating with an English degree from Montclair State University in 1986.
By 2001, the Fair Lawn resident was working in Manhattan doing technical writing, but after 9/11, she decided that life was “too short to not do” exactly what she wanted to do.
She enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in January 2002 and even lived in the dorms for a semester at age 37 (which was “horrifying”). She graduated in December 2003 and created the catering company Picnic. In 2005, she opened a storefront in Emerson, where she stayed for five years before opening Picnic, The Restaurant in Fair Lawn, which garnered rave reviews. After 2 1/2 years, Picnic served its last meal on New Year’s Eve 2012.
In 2013, Nunn published “The Preppy Cookbook” and worked as executive chef at Grange restaurant in Westwood. Three months ago, she opened Picnic on the Square in Ridgewood. The lovely, brick-walled 34-seat New American restaurant received 2 1/2 stars from The Record last month.
Here, she talks about the technique home cooks should master and the best way to cook fish.
Bergen County Sheriffs Office leads New Jersey in double-dipping by county cops
February 28,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Under Sheriff Michael Saudino Bergen County leads New Jersey in double-dipping by county cops. The sheriff and four of his undersheriffs collectively reap a million dollars a year in pension pay on top of their six-figure salaries.
First-year Sheriff Michael Saudino ranks first among all double-dippers, raking in a whopping $268,000 a year. Saudino, 59, gets a $130,000 pension for retiring as Emerson Borough police chief on Dec. 31, plus a$138,000 salary since taking office as sheriff the following day.
Undersheriff Steven Librie gleans $219,000 a year – $115,000 in salary and $104,000 in pension. Librie, 50,retired as deputy police chief of Teaneck Twp. in August 2010, then was hired as undersheriff in January.
Undersheriff Brian P. Smith hauls in $218,000 a year – his $110,000 salary plus a $108,000 pension. He retired at age 50 from the Paramus Police Dept. in 2005, then he was hired as undersheriff this year.
Undersheriff Robert A. Colaneri receives in $204,000 a year – a $110,000 salary plus $94,000 in pension. Colaneri, 56, was hired as undersheriff in January 2011 after retiring from Carlstadt Borough in 2006.
Undersheriff Harry Shortway Jr. gets $186,000 a year – his $110,000 salary plus $76,000 in pension. Shortway, 72, retired from Ridgewood Village in 2001, then was hired by Bergen County as undersheriff in January 2011.
It gets worse and its a statewide problem ,according to Mark Lagerkvist of New Jersey Watchdog . Gov. Chris Christie while preaching pension reform hasn’t done much to curb double dipping by public employees.
New Jersey’s costly tradition of double-dipping — allowing government employees to “retire,” start collecting a pension and then return to work for the state, often the next day or week.
By the end of 2012 New Jersey Watchdog found 60 double-dippers who collect a total of nearly $10 million a year — $4.4 million in pensions in addition to $5.5 million in state salaries.
One-third of them were hired under the Christie administration with duties as government officials to protect taxpayers from fiscal foul play and abuses of the public trust. They include:
By the end of 2012 three investigators for the Office of State Comptroller — John Silver, Joseph Celli and Richard Nuel — collectively receive $262,415 a year in pensions plus in $276,000 in salaries. OSC is charged with uncovering waste, abuse and fraud in government.
Assistant Insurance Commissioner Joseph Brennan claims $204,857 a year — $123,000 in salaryand $81,857 from pension. Brennan heads a unit that investigates insurance fraud.
Medical Marijuana Director John O’Brien harvests $167,889 a year — $83,889 in pension plus his$84,000 salary from the Department of Health.
Thomas Flarity, director of security, investigations and audits for the Motor Vehicle Commission, counts on $188,544 a year — $105,000 in salary and $83,544 from pension.
Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff Louis Goetting (pronounced “getting”) gets $228,860 a year —$140,000 in salary plus $88,860 from pension. Goetting is Christie’s budget guru on cutting the cost of government.
That year Christie gave his deputy chief a $10,000 annual raise this year, following New Jersey Watchdog’s report that Goetting had received$1.1 million in early retirement pay and severance packages from public coffers.
The 60 double-dippers receive an average of $165,000 a year — $73,517 from pension plus $92,461 in salary. Fifty-seven are state law enforcement officials who retired under a special law that allows them to receive full pensions after 25 years regardless of age. Twenty-eight retired while still in their 40s.
While this is only the tip of the iceberg for the state pension mess some estimates for fully funding pension promises accrued to date would require an immediate payment of either $37 billion, $83 billion, or $150 billion depending on whether you get your numbers from public plan actuaries, GASB, or me.https://burypensions.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/how-n-j-got-into-this-pension-mess/
Moody’s says the New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) and the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) “could fully expend their assets as soon as 2024 and 2027… even assuming the funds meet assumed investment returns.”https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/12/03/moodys-nj-pensions-to-run-dry-in-ten-years/
Ridgewood and Glen Rock to Host 33rd Annual Martin Luther King Day Observance Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Noted Speaker, Preacher and Teacher, will Address the Program’s Theme, “Standing on the Side of Justice” The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee of Ridgewood and Glen Rock will host its 33rd annual celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. King on Monday, January 19, 2015, at the Ridgewood United Methodist Church, 100 Dayton St., in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr., noted speaker, educator, community activist and Senior Minister Emeritus of Manhattan’s Riverside Church, will address the theme of this year’s event, “Standing on the Side of Justice,” during an interfaith worship service beginning at 10 a.m. An 11:30 a.m. outdoor rally, 12 p.m. community lunch, and 1 p.m. performance by Mack Brandon and The Connection will follow the service. The performance will highlight the music that gave voice to the call for action that culminated in the Civil Rights movement.
The program also includes Ridgewood and Glen Rock student speakers and musical performances by the Indian Hills Chamber Choir and Men of Umoja chorus. Guests may attend any or all of the day’s events, which are free and open to the public. “The struggle for racial justice has taken on a heightened sense of urgency, as can be seen in the aftermath of the Ferguson and Eric Garner decisions and the administration’s battle over immigration,” said committee co-chair Alice Newton. “As we celebrate Dr. King’s life and work, we will focus on the vital importance he placed on non-violence, and on standing up and speaking out for justice as a catalyst for creating positive change.” Dr. Forbes served as Senior Minister of the Riverside Church for 18 years, and was named one of the 12 “most effective preachers” in the English-speaking world by Newsweek magazine. He is The Harry Emerson Fosdick Distinguished Professor at Union Theological Seminary and President of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, a non-partisan, interfaith, not-for-profit organization that promotes a holistic understanding of health and wellness. He was the recent host of “The Time is Now” on Air America Radio, and is frequently featured on radio and television. Mack Brandon and The Connection have been inspiring audiences worldwide for 15 years with their entertaining and uplifting renditions of popular gospel music. A composer, pianist, educator, and pastor, Rev. Brandon has been a professor of music at Ramapo College of New Jersey for 20 years and serves as pastor of the Metropolitan AME Zion Church in Ridgewood, N.J. The annual Ridgewood/Glen Rock Martin Luther King Jr. celebration began in 1983 in an effort to unite area residents, regardless of faith or ethnic background, in worship and action as they work towards peace and justice for all. More than 20 religious groups, the Ridgewood and Glen Rock Boards of Education, local government, and civic organizations participate in and support the event each year. For more information contact Alice Newton at 201-951-9903, email [email protected], or visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee of Glen Rock/Ridgewood, N.J. on Facebook.
Six Bergen County towns named among state’s 10 safest small municipalities
January 15, 2015, 11:23 AM Last updated: Thursday, January 15, 2015, 1:27 PM
By STEFANIE DAZIO
Staff Writer |
The Record
Six Bergen County towns were named among the state’s 10 safest small municipalities by a consumer finance website.
Old Tappan was ranked No. 2, Park Ridge at No. 5 and Emerson, Wyckoff, Waldwick and Norwood taking the seventh through 10th spots in ValuePenguin’s list of towns with fewer than 20,000 residents. In the midsize municipality category — which ranked towns with populations between 20,000 and 45,000 — Bergenfield came in seventh.
No North Jersey towns were named in the big city category, which looked at municipalities with populations above 45,000.
On ValuePenguin’s top five safest cities — which did not take population into account — Old Tappan ranked No. 2 and Park Ridge came in at No. 5.
Ridgewood and Glen Rock to Host 33rd Annual Martin Luther King Day Observance
All Are Welecome!
Ridgewood and Glen Rock to Host 33rd Annual Martin Luther King Day Observance Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Noted Speaker, Preacher and Teacher, will Address the Program’s Theme, “Standing on the Side of Justice” The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee of Ridgewood and Glen Rock will host its 33rd annual celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. King on Monday, January 19, 2015, at the Ridgewood United Methodist Church, 100 Dayton St., in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr., noted speaker, educator, community activist and Senior Minister Emeritus of Manhattan’s Riverside Church, will address the theme of this year’s event, “Standing on the Side of Justice,” during an interfaith worship service beginning at 10 a.m. An 11:30 a.m. outdoor rally, 12 p.m. community lunch, and 1 p.m. performance by Mack Brandon and The Connection will follow the service. The performance will highlight the music that gave voice to the call for action that culminated in the Civil Rights movement.
The program also includes Ridgewood and Glen Rock student speakers and musical performances by the Indian Hills Chamber Choir and Men of Umoja chorus. Guests may attend any or all of the day’s events, which are free and open to the public. “The struggle for racial justice has taken on a heightened sense of urgency, as can be seen in the aftermath of the Ferguson and Eric Garner decisions and the administration’s battle over immigration,” said committee co-chair Alice Newton. “As we celebrate Dr. King’s life and work, we will focus on the vital importance he placed on non-violence, and on standing up and speaking out for justice as a catalyst for creating positive change.” Dr. Forbes served as Senior Minister of the Riverside Church for 18 years, and was named one of the 12 “most effective preachers” in the English-speaking world by Newsweek magazine. He is The Harry Emerson Fosdick Distinguished Professor at Union Theological Seminary and President of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, a non-partisan, interfaith, not-for-profit organization that promotes a holistic understanding of health and wellness. He was the recent host of “The Time is Now” on Air America Radio, and is frequently featured on radio and television. Mack Brandon and The Connection have been inspiring audiences worldwide for 15 years with their entertaining and uplifting renditions of popular gospel music. A composer, pianist, educator, and pastor, Rev. Brandon has been a professor of music at Ramapo College of New Jersey for 20 years and serves as pastor of the Metropolitan AME Zion Church in Ridgewood, N.J. The annual Ridgewood/Glen Rock Martin Luther King Jr. celebration began in 1983 in an effort to unite area residents, regardless of faith or ethnic background, in worship and action as they work towards peace and justice for all. More than 20 religious groups, the Ridgewood and Glen Rock Boards of Education, local government, and civic organizations participate in and support the event each year. For more information contact Alice Newton at 201-951-9903, email [email protected], or visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee of Glen Rock/Ridgewood, N.J. on Facebook.
Emerson String Quartet at West Side Presbyterian January 4th
Parlance Chamber Concert
The Emerson String Quartet stands apart with an unparalleled list of achievements over more than three decades: more than 30 acclaimed recordings, nine Grammys, Musical America’s “Ensemble of the Year,” and collaborations with many of the greatest artists of our times. January 4, 2015 at 3PM – West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 South Monroe St., Ridgewood. Tickets at the door – Adults $40; Seniors $30; Young Adults $20 Students $10 .
DECEMBER 13, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2014, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD
Picnic on the Square
26 Wilsey Square, Ridgewood; 201-444-4001
* A no-brainer: This is hardly chef/owner Christine Nunn’s first Picnic restaurant. Her first, which opened in Emerson in 2004, primarily as a catering firm, was “successful — people loved the food — but not financially successful,” Nunn said. It closed in 2010. On New Year’s Eve 2012 Nunn launched Picnic, the Restaurant, in Fair Lawn, which diners and critics loved as well – the restaurant received rave reviews, including three out of four stars from The Record — but it too closed, in January 2013. Then Alex Parlamis of Axia Taverna made an offer Nunn could not refuse. “I was lucky enough to have someone ask me if I want to start another Picnic,” she said. Picnic on the Square opened last month.
* The difference: There isn’t much difference between the last Picnic and this Picnic, Nunn said: “It’s the same Riedel wineglasses, same fish forks and knives.” She concedes the 32-seat Picnic on the Square is a bit less formal, “a little less stuffy-looking,” sporting brick walls and huge windows.
Ridgewood ceremony honors families of those killed in military service
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014, 9:38 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014, 9:45 PM BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
Sometimes people – well-meaning people trying to skirt a painful topic – will avoid talking to Robin Griffin about her son Kyle, who died in May 2003 while serving as a 20-year-old soldier in Iraq.
Griffin, an Emerson resident, wishes people would not do that.
“Not mentioning him is more upsetting,” Griffin said recently.
That’s why she and her husband, Ron, said yes when asked to take part in a ceremony in Ridgewood on Sunday night honoring Gold Star mothers and the other relatives of soldiers killed in action.
“It’s amazing that people would turn out to do something like this,” she said prior to the ceremony in Van Neste Park.
About 140 people attended the service held just after sunset in the park, where luminarias — twinkling candles in small bags decorated with stars — lined the walkways. A soldier’s helmet and pair of boots rested near a rifle stuck into the ground.
One of the speakers at the ceremony, Dave Feeney, a local funeral director, talked about the distinction between Gold Star mothers who had lost a child and Blue Star mothers who have children in active military service or have served.
Rare enterovirus confirmed in NJ child; 4 others being checked in Bergen County
SEPTEMBER 17, 2014, 12:57 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2014, 12:42 AM BY MARY JO LAYTON AND ANDREW WYRICH STAFF WRITERS THE RECORD Print
The rare respiratory illness that is sending some children to the hospital in a dozen states has reached New Jersey, with federal health experts confirming a case from the Garden State that was reported from a Philadelphia hospital, officials said Wednesday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the New Jersey child is recovering from the illness caused by enterovirus D68, according to the state Health Department.
Meanwhile, The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood has admitted four children who tested positive for enterovirus, a common class of virus that produces some 10 million to 15 million cases annually in the U.S. each year, with varying symptoms and degrees of severity. But tests haven’t confirmed whether it’s the more rare enterovirus D68, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Related: Kids with asthma or wheezing face most danger from respiratory virus
About a dozen specimens from counties statewide were sent to the CDC on Wednesday to determine if they are the same virus, known as EV-D68, which can cause fever, runny nose, sneezing, coughing and body and muscle aches, state officials said. In the most serious cases, it causes severe breathing problems. The EV-D68 virus is not new but it seems to be a more virulent form than in previous years, doctors have said.
Officials would not identify where the child treated in Philadelphia lives nor would they say from which counties samples were sent.
In Bergen County, Emerson School Superintendent Brian Gatens sent an email Tuesday night to more than 1,000 parents reporting that a Memorial Elementary School girl was being treated for symptoms that were associated with the virus. The school has students in pre-K to second grade.
The girl was being treated at a local hospital as if she has the virus and was expected to be released Wednesday, school officials said. It has not been determined if the specimen samples are positive for the virus.
As with any illness that causes widespread concern, there are far more suspected cases of EV-D68 than confirmed. From mid-August to Sept. 16, 130 people in 12 states have been confirmed to have respiratory illness caused by EV-D68, the CDC reported.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/rare-enterovirus-confirmed-in-nj-child-4-others-being-checked-in-bergen-county-1.1089838#sthash.qb6MTbRz.dpuf
We, the people are violent and filled with rage: A nation spinning apart on its Independence Day
School shootings, hatred, capitalism run amok: This 4th of July, we are in the midst of a tragic public derangement
JIM SLEEPER FRIDAY, JUL 4, 2014 09:45 AM EDT
By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard ’round the world. –Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Concord Hymn,” 1837
For centuries most Americans have believed that “the shot heard ’round the world” in 1775 from Concord, Massachusetts, heralded the Enlightenment’s entry into history. Early observers of America such as G.W.F. Hegel, Edward Gibbon and Edmund Burke believed that, too. A new kind of republican citizen was rising, amid and against adherents of theocracy, divine-right monarchy, aristocracy and mercantilism. Republican citizens were quickening humanity’s stride toward horizons radiant with promises never before held and shared as widely as they were in America.
The creation of the United States really was a Novus ordo seclorum, a New Order of the Ages, a society’s first self-aware, if fumbling and compromised, effort to live by the liberal expectation that autonomous individuals could govern themselves together without having to impose religious doctrines or mystical narratives of tribal blood or soil. With barely a decorous nod to The Creator, the founders of the American republic conferred on one another the right to have rights, a distinguished group of them constituting the others as “We, the people.”
That revolutionary effort is not just in trouble now, or endangered, or under attack, or reinventing itself. It’s in prison, with no prospect of parole, and many Americans, including me, who wring our hands or wave our arms about this are actually among the jailers, or we’ve sleepwalked ourselves and others into the cage and have locked ourselves in. We haven’t yet understood the shots fired and heard ’round the world from 74 American schools, colleges and military bases since the Sandy Hook School massacre of December 2012.
These shots haven’t been fired by embattled farmers at invading armies. They haven’t been fired by terrorists who’ve penetrated our surveillance and security systems. With few exceptions, they haven’t been fired by aggrieved non-white Americans. They’ve been fired mostly by young, white American citizens at other white citizens, and by American soldiers at other American soldiers, inside the very institutions where republican virtues and beliefs are nurtured and defended.
