Ridgewood NJ , Ridgewood Police and the Ridgewood Board of Ed took proactive measures Tuesday after Police in nine North Jersey towns received bomb threats on Monday evening and on Tuesday morning, disrupting the school day for thousands of local students . Schools in Bergenfield, Clifton, Englewood, Fair Lawn, Garfield, Hackensack, Leonia, Teaneck, and Tenafly received the threats. Some school systems instituted lockdowns while others evacuated. While threats turned out to be a false alarm Ridgewood Police and BOE rightfully took no chances .
We have received several inquiries today concerning threats to area schools today. Approximately 9 schools throughout Bergen and Passaic Counties received threats and have taken appropriate measures to address their specific needs. Although our schools have not received any threats, the Ridgewood Board of Education and the Ridgewood Police upon hearing of the regional issues, took proactive measures, conducting school security checks of all schools. This proactive approach is part of our ongoing efforts with Dr. Fishbein and the Board of Education towards enhancing the safety of our schools and community.
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.
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.
Quick thinking on the part of an observant bank teller and an immediate response by Ridgewood PD Patrol Officer Paul Dinice saved a local resident from becoming a victim of the increasingly pervasive “IRS Scam.” photo by Boyd Loving
N.J. pair accused of bilking more than $150K from at least 70 people in 32 state-IRS scheme
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015, 7:59 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015, 12:12 PM
BY JIM NORMAN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
LEONIA – A man and a woman living in Middlesex County were arrested and charged with bilking at least 70 people in 32 states out of more than $150,000 by persuading them that they owed back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service and would be arrested if they did not pay up immediately, authorities said Tuesday.
Leonia Police Chief Thomas P. Rowe said a man identified as Akash Satish Patel, 32, and a woman identified as Nikita Natvarlal Patel, 25, were arrested in Union as they arrived at a CVS store to claim the proceeds of a MoneyGram sent to them by one of their victims.
Rowe said the pair were not related, although they have the same last name and they both reside at the same address in Iselin, in Middlesex County.
MAY 31, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2015, 2:43 PM
BY ELISA UNG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
tonight, CNN
Globe-trotting chef and Leonia native Anthony Bourdain has brought viewers to his home state before, but this time he wanted to do it differently.
“It’s easy enough to sell New Jersey if you’re going to beautiful farmland and attractive bedroom communities and fine dining,” he said in a recent phone interview. “And I thought, you know what? I’m going to make Jersey look awesome by going to all the places that have been most traditionally screwed.”
So for tonight’s episode of “Parts Unknown,” he features the history and people of Camden, Atlantic City and Asbury Park. And he tries to “make even the refineries look somehow magical,” he said. “That was the challenge — to look at what most people make fun of about New Jersey or look down their noses at, and still sell it as an amazing place brimming with potential and beauty, if you bother to look.”
His first stop? A childhood favorite – the hot dog stand Hiram’s in Fort Lee, where he says he still goes a few times a year with his daughter, Ariane, 8.
MAY 26, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY ED MILLS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — A year ago Mike Fisher was too sick to compete. This time it was a healthy Fisher who made the rest of the field look pale in comparison next to him.
Employing a sound strategy all the way through, Fisher, of Brookline, Mass., earned first place in the Men’s 10K at the 40th annual Fred d’Elia Ridgewood Run on Monday with a time of 32 minutes, 17 seconds, as he broke away from Fair Lawn’s Anthony Fatuzzo (32:57) down the stretch to build a solid margin at the end.
“I was supposed to run here last year for the first time but on the eve of the race I came down with food poisoning,” said the 31-year- old Fisher. “This time, I was at full strength and the weather [mid-60s and a small breeze at race time in the morning] was a major boost; the cloud cover overhead helped. And I used my experience in marathons [five, including Boston twice] to pave my way through some of the rolling hills and winding paths in the middle of the course.”
Also taking a clear route to a championship was Roberta Groner of Randolph, who was clocked in 35:53 in the Women’s 10K, with Leonia’s Elizabeth Eickelberg coming on strong in the final couple of miles to place second in 36:22.
“I was happy with my overall performance,” said Groner, who moved from Pittsburgh to Morris County less than a year ago. “It doesn’t get much better than this. I didn’t need to do much sprinting and I kept a pretty even keel throughout. There were some ridges with some slight slopes and then a few dips, but overall the course ran very smoothly.”
7 bomb threats made against 4 Bergen County high schools, other public buildings
NOVEMBER 12, 2014, 12:47 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014, 11:15 PM BY ABBOTT KOLOFF AND STEFANIE DAZIO STAFF WRITERS | THE RECORD
Authorities are investigating whether a string of six bomb threats that forced the evacuation on Wednesday of seven school buildings in Bergen County and the Garfield police headquarters were part of a coordinated effort and related to a rash of similar incidents in Massachusetts earlier in the day.
FBI agents are participating in the investigation, according to an agency spokeswoman, and Leonia’s police chief, Thomas Rowe, said he planned to ask the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to get involved because the incidents involve five jurisdictions — Hackensack, Garfield, Fort Lee, Englewood and Leonia.
“We believe there are commonalities between all these bomb threats,” Rowe said. “It looks like it’s the same person or persons involved. … This is a very serious incident.”
By late-afternoon, state and county bomb-detection K-9 units completed sweeps of the Garfield police station, the high schools in Hackensack, Garfield, Englewood and Fort Lee, and all three schools in Leonia, including its high school, determining that no bombs had been planted, county police Capt. James Mullin said. Authorities said there was no safety reason for any of the schools to remain closed today, and officials in Hackensack, Leonia and Fort Lee confirmed they are reopening.
The bomb threat against the Garfield police station was made at 11:22 a.m., and all of the others were made after 1 p.m. over a span of 20 minutes, said Bergen County Police Chief Brian Higgins. Investigators expect to look at whether there are any similarities to bomb threats made against five Massachusetts schools shortly after noon on Wednesday, he said.
“Obviously, this is bigger than Bergen County,” Higgins said.
As I’ve been telling you all along, I ran for U.S. Senate in New Jersey because I felt that we were headed for trouble unless we made a major change in the economy. Let me tell you exactly why.
Right now this country is in the slowest economy recovery of our modern history. Growth is tepid, good job openings are scarce, and most working people struggle to get a loan. The most frequent question I’ve gotten in nine months of campaigning around the state of New Jersey is, Why? Why is the economy stuck in place? Why can’t my child who is a recent college graduate find a decent job? Why are my own wages failing to keep up with rising prices?
My answer is that the Federal Reserve for six years has been stepping on the throat of the economy. Its zero interest rate policy, begun in December 2008, is the culprit. Banks are lending to the government rather than small business — the main source of new job creation — because of the incentive created by it. Individuals can’t earn a return on their savings. We have an economy that wants to recover but is treading water instead.
If we stay in this present course, three outcomes are possible. We could tip into a recession, we could have a market collapse like we had in 2008, or prices could rise dramatically and we would have high inflation. I don’t know which is most likely to happen, but unfortunately I believe the Federal Reserve has done things that will cause at least one of the three to happen.
Simply ending the Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy is not enough by itself, because that has big consequences of its own. If interest rates are allowed to return to normal, that will add about $400 billion to the annual federal deficit. It also could set the stage for a dramatic sell-off of stocks, bonds, and other sources of household wealth that have been artificially juiced by the zero interest rate policy. So ending the Fed’s disastrous zero interest rate policy risks the same bad results as keeping it in place.
How do we get out of this straightjacket? I believe we must go back to the gold standard for the first time in 40 years because it contains all of the self-correcting mechanisms for our current situation. A gold-backed dollar would let the marketplace, rather than the Federal Reserve Board, set interest rates and determine the size of the money supply. Instead of watching and worrying what the Fed is going to do, our markets could function knowing that the value of t dollar won’t change and interest rates would adjust according to supply and demand for credit.
Just as importantly, going back on the gold standard would embed limited government in Washington. Congress would need to balance its budgets in the long-run when it could no longer rely on the Federal Reserve to continually print money to finance them. Our existing debt could be refinanced at better terms since the dollar we would be using to pay it back would no longer be depreciating due to inflation. And finally, members of Congress would be at the mercy of anti-deficit voters in a way they aren’t right now.
Do I think we can go back to the gold standard overnight? Of course not. I’ve proposed it as a three-and-a-half year process that gradually brings the market in and cuts the Federal Reserve out of determining the dollar’s value. I still believe the Fed should continue to exist to serve the roles it was created for: administering the money supply to avoid panics and being a lender of last resort if it fails at the first function.
I would not have run for U.S. Senate if I had found someone else to champion this. Here’s why I think I couldn’t: members of Congress — in both parties — are afraid of losing the Federal Reserve’s money printing support for their spending programs. They don’t want to take power away from an institution that lets them off the hook for being accountable for their fiscal policies. If that happened, legislators like Cory Booker would have to justify the return on investment of every new spending measure they introduce. This has the potential to sink whole chunks of the Democratic Party’s agenda. For their part, even anti-deficit Republicans have chosen to be the Party of No rather than problem solvers. That’s why no one is too optimistic things will change if they take over the Senate tomorrow.
I don’t know if Election Day will be the inflection point I’m describing above, but I am sure that the present course we are on isn’t sustainable. And it’s very likely to catch up with Republican candidates in 2016 if our party doesn’t not come up with a way out of the straightjacket. Hillary Clinton knows how to win elections by promising voters government support, and I believe her argument will be politically viable if there’s no compelling alternative offered.
I’ve staked everything on this campaign not because I desire to hold elective office, but because I saw no other way to fix what’s wrong with the economy. I’m hoping that tomorrow will be a big step in the right direction. Whatever happens, it’s been a great privilege to campaign to represent the voters of New Jersey.
Jeff Bell : Takes on the Myth that the GOP is the Party of the Rich NJ Senate Candidate Jeff Bell Leonia, NJ
The Democrats are out-fundraising the Republicans dramatically, yet the GOP is seen as the party of the rich. It’s the worst of both worlds.
Why? The answer to the first part is simple. The Democratic Party has become the party of Big Money. It dominates in fundraising on Wall Street, from the legal profession, in Hollywood, and just about every other major sector of wealth in this country. This year it’s raised more money at every level, including for Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives even though the party acknowledges it has no chance of taking back Congress in 2014.
So why have Republicans gotten the reputation as the party of the rich? I believe it’s because the GOP’s policies coming out of Washington haven’t done enough to address the economic concerns of middle and lower income voters. I admire Mitt Romney for many reasons, but I can point to his 2012 convention speech that emphasized helping business owners rather than workers as a widely-watched Republican message that turned people off. Too frequently, the proposals offered by Republican candidates target help toward businesses (and they do need help under President Obama) and neglect to directly address the concerns of working Americans such as rising prices and falling pay.
So what would I do differently? I propose that we level the playing field of money. We can do this by making our dollar as good as gold. Under this monetary system, no one will have to worry about the value of their wages declining over time the way they have under the pure paper dollar; 85 percent since we went off the gold standard in 1971! A gold-backed dollar will let the American people rather than central bankers control the supply of money in the economy, so there will be no financial crashes caused by the Federal Reserve like we had in 2008.
In 1992 I published a book called Populist vs. Elitism. You can guess which path I recommended the Republican Party follow. I’ve been pushing since then for ideas besides the gold standard that put people first: immigration reform, a culture of life rather than abortion, and a tax system with one low flat rate. These are all part of my Senate campaign in 2014.
Some of the Republicans who filed by Monday’s deadline to run in the June primary for U.S. Senate are pitching bold ideas to stand out in a crowded field, including calls for ending international alliances and returning to the gold standard.
None of the four hopefuls — Jeffrey M. Bell of Leonia, Brian D. Goldberg of West Orange, Richard Pezzullo of Freehold, and Murray Sabrin of Fort Lee — has won elected office before, though most are veterans of past campaigns.
Five men had been traveling the state seeking party support, but retired FBI agent Robert Turkavage of Cranford got stuck in traffic and was not able to reach the state Division of Elections by the 4 p.m. deadline to file his petitions.
“It is what it is,” a disappointed Turkavage said by phone. “We’re a nation of laws, a nation of rules. I have nobody to blame but myself.”
Running for the Democratic nomination is Sen. Cory Booker of Newark, who in October won a special election for the remainder of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s term, which runs through January.
The Senate race tops a ballot that also includes elections for all 12 House seats, including three with no incumbents running. Two of the open seats are in districts that are solidly Democratic, but one — the 3rd District covering Burlington and Ocean counties — has switched from Republican to Democratic and back in the past six years, and has attracted the interest of national parties. (Jackson/The Record)
Ridgewood Police Sixth report of an attempted luring of a child in northern New Jersey
March 19, 2014
There is now a sixth report of an attempted luring of a child in northern New Jersey. In the latest incident, a boy in Hackensack was walking to school on Monday morning when a man asked him if he’d help him find his lost dog. Police are also investigating reports of luring attempts in Leonia, Norwood and Ridgefield Park. Full story at this link:
Ridgewood Chief of Police John Ward has issued a safety message to parents and guardians about recent attempted luring incidents in Bergen County. Please click here to read the letter, which was distributed by Dr. Fishbein yesterday.
Ridgewood couple direct show in Leonia
Friday October 18, 2013, 10:35 AM
BY GLORIA GEANNETTE
MANAGING EDITOR
The Ridgewood News
Vince and Beth Parrillo continue family tradition
When Vince and Beth Parrillo of Ridgewood drive to the Civil War Drill Hall Theater to work with the Players Guild of Leonia on their current show, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” it seems like they’re going home. The couple met through the theater group, married in 1973 and have been involved with the company ever since.
For this production, which opens tonight and runs through Nov. 3, Vince is the director and Beth is a producer, choreographer and costume designer.
The musical was the second longest running off-Broadway show with more than 5,000 performances. The secret for its popularity might be the almost universal appeal of its themes.
Shown (from left to right): Alex Zapolanski, M.D., Director of Cardiac Surgery, The Valley Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute; Charlie and Selma Milton; and Janet Strain, M.D., Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, The Valley Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute.
Valve Replacement an Option for More Patients Thanks to New Minimally Invasive TAVR Procedure
April 29, 2013
Ridgewood NJ, In late March, Selma Milton became a trendsetter. The 86-year-old resident of Leonia became the first patient at The Valley Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute to receive a new aortic heart valve put into place using a new procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
TAVR is a minimally invasive procedure that is used to treat patients with the only FDA-approved transcatheter heart valve, the Edwards SAPIEN. The culmination of more than 50 years of continuous refinement in heart valve technology and treatment, TAVR provides an important new treatment option for patients with severe, symptomatic aortic valve stenosis, for whom traditional valve replacement surgery is not an option.
Janet Strain, M.D., director of Valley’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, who performed Mrs. Milton’s TAVR in collaboration with Valley’s Director of Cardiac Surgery, Alex Zapolanski, M.D., says patients with aortic stenosis often develop debilitating symptoms that may include difficulty walking or performing normal day-to-day activities. The disease occurs when calcification builds up in the valve, causing it to narrow. As a result, blood cannot flow through the valve efficiently, and the heart must work harder to compensate.
“Aortic stenosis may eventually become life-threatening,” explains Dr. Strain. “Without valve replacement, many of these patients do not survive more than an average of two years after the onset of symptoms.”
For patients who are considered high-risk or inoperable due to poor overall health, there have been few available alternatives to improve longevity and quality of life. TAVR has changed that.
TAVR is minimally invasive, requiring only a small incision in the groin, through which the Edwards SAPIEN aortic valve (loaded on a deflated balloon) is threaded from the groin artery up to the heart. The balloon is then inflated to position the new aortic valve into place in the heart, where it displaces the patient’s diseased aortic valve. The patient’s heart continues to beat during the procedure, thus eliminating the need for a heart-lung bypass machine.
“In clinical trials of more than 1,000 patients, those treated with the Edwards SAPIEN valve had improved survival and improved quality of life at one year, as compared to patients not treated with the valve,” notes Dr. Strain.
The Valley Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute’s highest recognition (three stars) by the Society for Thoracic Surgeons for aortic valve replacement – given to only 5.9 percent of cardiac programs nationwide – illustrates the quality and clinical excellence of Valley’s cardiac services.
“Our expertise and the number of complex cases we treat successfully enable us to understand and decide, better than cardiac teams at many other facilities, which high-risk patients would benefit from a minimally invasive approach, such as TAVR, and which patients should undergo classical aortic valve replacement surgery,” notes Dr. Zapolanski.
Before undergoing TAVR at Valley, Mrs. Milton was so weak that just making her bed left her breathless and exhausted. She was too ill to take a trip to Massachusetts to meet her newest great-grandson, who was born in November.
“Dr. Strain has been my husband’s cardiologist for many years and Valley is our family hospital, so even though I was nervous about being the first to have this procedure at Valley, I knew I was in good hands and trusted my doctors and nurses,” says Mrs. Milton.
After a three-day hospitalization, Mrs. Milton is now regaining strength with the assistance of her “very special man,” her husband of 67 years, Charlie Milton. She has been able to cook some meals and will meet her newest great-grandchild, her sixth, later this month when he arrives for a visit. Feeling better after her procedure, she and Charlie intend to return to visiting residents at the Van Dyke Nursing Home in Ridgewood, an activity they have enjoyed for the past 28 years.
The Valley Hospital recently received its 10th consecutive J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Hospital Program award for providing an “outstanding inpatient experience” and has been recognized by HealthGrades as #1 in New Jersey for cardiac services, cardiac surgery, and coronary interventional procedures. Additionally, as a recipient of the prestigious Beacon Award for Excellence in critical care nursing, The Valley Hospital is uniquely qualified to provide the highest level of care and the most innovative treatment for severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis through a multidisciplinary approach by members of the Heart & Vascular Institute.
For more information about TAVR, please call Denise Goldstein, APN, or Mary C. Collins, APN, program co-coordinators, at 201-447-TAVR (8287).
Democrat Dennis McNerney’s Overpeck Park legacy continues to cost taxpayers big time
Overpeck Park fiasco the gift that keeps giving
Bergen County to pay $1.4 million annually through 2020 on Overpeck Park construction bond
Monday January 7, 2013, 9:02 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
Bergen County taxpayers will be on the hook for annual payments of $1.4 million through 2020 as the county pays off its remaining obligation on a construction bond for Overpeck County Park.
Several freeholders reacted with surprise Monday when they learned at a work session that they will be asked to vote next week to transfer the first of those payments to the Bergen County Improvement Authority, the county’s funding arm.
But it’s not as if they have much of a choice. Voting not to make the payment would result in a default of the bond, which in turn could damage the county’s AAA bond rating, county officials said.
Freeholder John Mitchell, a Republican, said he views the payments as the cost of the sprawling $100 million park coming due. The park, which was built on a former landfill, sits in Leonia, Palisades Park, Ridgefield Park and Teaneck.
Tainted soil is everywhere, but where did it all come from?
The ominous findings seem to sprout like summer crabgrass. Soil is tested somewhere in North Jersey and the results are as scary as a cancer diagnosis.
From Teaneck to Edgewater, Dumont to Lyndhurst and Leonia to North Haledon, recent soil tests have found an array of formidable contaminants, some of them hidden for decades beneath parks where children kick soccer balls and parents push baby strollers.
Cleanups are already in motion in several of these spots. And across the state, more than 6,000 of some 22,000 contaminated sites have been cleaned in just the past two years, state Department of Environmental Protection officials say. (Kelly, The Record)
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