file photo by Boyd Loving
Booker Named in Newark Watershed Corruption Lawsuit
Trustees of the bankrupt Newark Watershed Conservation & Development Corp. have filed suit against Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), formerly the mayor of Newark, in a case targeting the senator and a range of other and public and private officials for mismanagement and corruption at the NWCDC. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJ Read more
HUNDREDS OF INTERNATIONAL GIRL SCOUT ALUMNAE HONOR NEW JERSEY GIRL SCOUT, IDAMAE TRENNER WITH PAVILION DEDICATION
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2015
Time: 10:00a.m.
Where: Camp Lou Henry Hoover
961 Rt. 521 West Shore Drive
Middleville, NJ 07855
Who: Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey and International Girl Scout Alumnae
What: Hundreds of original New Jersey Girl Scout Alumnae convene from around the world at Camp Lou Henry Hoover, a Girl Scout Camp owned and Operated by the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, to honor influential Girl Scout, IdaMae Trenner at the celebration and dedication of a new pavilion built in her honor.
About Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey:
Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ) builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place by providing girls access to premier leadership programs and mentors throughout New Jersey. GSHNJ provides leadership experiences to over 20,000 New Jersey girls each year. For more information about the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, visitwww.gshnj.org.
photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook
October 17,2015
Waldwick NJ, New Jersey Transit train #1212, which departed from Waldwick at 8:56 AM en route to Hoboken, apparently struck and killed a male trespasser in Paterson at approximately 9:10 AM on Friday, 10/16. The incident occurred near the intersection of Governor and Straight Streets.
After being struck, the victim fell from the elevated track area and landed on Governor Street. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 9:40 AM. Paterson PD, NJ Transit PD, and the Passaic County Medical Examiner’s office are conducting a joint investigation.
Ramapo State Forest closed for second week after reports of aggressive bear
OCTOBER 13, 2015, 8:04 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015, 8:06 PM
BY JAMES M. O’NEILL
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The state has decided to keep Ramapo Mountain State Forest closed for a second consecutive week in what officials are calling an abundance of caution after a series of encounters between hikers and an aggressive bear in recent weeks.
Traps remain in place throughout the park that the state Department of Environmental Protection set to immobilize bears. One of those traps captured a black bear on Oct. 5, which the DEP then killed.
“We don’t know if it’s the right bear,” said DEP spokesman Bob Considine. “We do know that we had three accounts of a potentially aggressive bear following three different sets of hikers in two weeks and the bear that was caught was acting aggressively after the capture.”
PSEG Foundation Grants Special Olympics New Jersey $200,000 Towards Inclusive Sports Program
Multi-year grant awarded to support the Special Olympics Unified Schools Partnership initiative
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Newark, N.J. , Further strengthening its commitment to diversity and inclusion, the PSEG Foundation has granted $200,000 to Special Olympics New Jersey (SONJ) to support their Play Unified. Live Unified. initiative.
The two-year grant supports SONJ’s Play Unified School Partnership, which provides elementary, middle and high schools with training, equipment and technical assistance to implement inclusive sports, education and social experiences. The goal is to help build self-confidence and provide all students with an equal opportunity to participate in athletic, co-curricular and recreational activities.
“This extension of the relationship between PSEG and Special Olympics New Jersey is built on the shared vision of celebrating diversity within communities and connecting students with opportunities to spur change,” said Ellen Lambert, President, PSEG Foundation.
“Special Olympics New Jersey is excited about expanding our partnership with PSEG following the success of the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games,” said Heather Anderson, President and CEO of Special Olympics New Jersey. “PSEG’s support allows us to create more awareness in schools than ever before as we strive to make acceptance, inclusion and unity an integral part of every child’s education, both on and off the playing field.”
By teaming up with PSEG over the next two years, approximately 30 schools throughout the state will receive support to create sustainable inclusive youth leadership, social and sports opportunities. The Play Unified. Live Unified. program offers a combination of effective interventions that equip young people with tools and training to create athletic, classroom and community experiences that promote inclusion, combat stereo-types, eliminate hurtful language and foster healthy lifestyles and friendships.
“Students with disabilities gain an enormous amount of confidence from unified play. They are no longer a person with a disability, but rather an athlete who is involved in an activity. Gaining this confidence and experience, they become part of the school community,” said Brett Scully, Washington Park School, Play Unified. Live Unified. club adviser and coach. “Without programs like Play Unified. Live Unified., students may never be exposed to different situations that will eventually lead to their becoming leaders.”
”Kids with disabilities never really get the chance to play on a school’s sport team, but Unified Sports gives kids a chance to play and have fun. It also betters both the kids with disabilities and kids without disabilities because it gives the kids social interaction skills and teaches us respect. Unified sports is an amazing opportunity and I love to do it!” Ashley, Unified Partner, Hamilton West High School, Hamilton, N.J.
PSEG was a Founding Partner of the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games and presenting sponsor of the Project UNIFY Youth Summit, which brought together students with and without disabilities from across the country. They participated in a weeklong series of workshops and networking activities that focused on inclusive youth leadership, education and service learning.
Special Olympics New Jersey provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in 24 Olympic-type sports for more than 25,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities, completely free of charge, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. Visit www.sonj.org for more information.
Glen Rock 14
These Are The 10 Snobbiest Places In New Jersey
We analyzed over 200 places in Jersey to identify the ones that probably think they’re better than you.
When it comes to being a snob, you’ve got all types. You’ve got your wine snobs, beer snobs, and food snobs. There are book snobs, movie snobs, and theatre (yes, with an re) snobs. These days, you’ve probably even got snob snobs—people who think their type of snob is better than yours.
And of all the places in the U.S., you may not find a higher concentration of all of the above than in the Northeast—New Jersey in particular.
Yes, that’s right; Jersey isn’t all fist pumps, fugazis, and poufs. In fact, in these 10 places, it’s downright snooty:
Princeton
Chatham
Mendham
Edgewater
Glen Ridge
Bernardsville
Westfield
Hoboken
Summit
Oradell
Don’t get up on your high horse (unless you live in one of these 10 places, in which case, you pretty much live up there)—we didn’t just pull these 10 places out of our… hats. We relied strictly on the numbers to come up with this list. More on said numbers, in the next section.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2015, 2:51 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015, 5:48 PM
BY SCOTT FALLON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
State officials on Wednesday began urging North Jersey residents to conserve water with a very dry summer having come to a close and forecasts showing little rain in the near future.
The state’s designated “drought watch” for 12 counties including all of Bergen and Passaic comes about three weeks after some utilities began asking their customers to limit consumption.
The state Department of Environmental Protection singled out United Water for a “significant” decline in reservoir levels because the company has been relying on other water providers to help meet the demand of its 800,000 customers in the counties of Bergen and Hudson. The company’s three New Jersey reservoirs were at 48.6-percent capacity on Wednesday and have been pumping in water from other sources including the Wanaque Reservoir and the Passaic Valley Water Commission for much of the summer.
But United Water executives and their counterparts at other utilities said Wednesday that demand has dropped significantly with cooler autumnal temperatures arriving. The Wanaque Reservoir, which is at 51-percent capacity, is releasing 20 million gallons per day less this week than it was at the beginning of the month, a 16-percent drop.
“We’re getting out of peak season, so things are looking better despite the lack of rain,” said Rich Henning, a spokesman for United Water. “If we were at this point at the beginning of summer or the middle of summer, then there would be much more of a concern.”
Still, water companies have a lot of volume to make up. The counties of Bergen and Passaic have received only 5.7 inches of rain during the past 60 days, about 12 inches below normal, according to the National Weather Service.
By Don Burke
September 23, 2015 | 2:26am
Yogi Berra, a three-time MVP who was the backbone of a record 10 world-champion Yankees teams in the 1940, 50s and 60s and who became one of the most beloved figures in franchise history despite a lengthy estrangement from the team, died Tuesday night, according to the Yogi Berra Museum. He was 90.
Berra, whose wife of 65 years, Carmen, died in March 2014, had been in failing health for some time. His death was announced by the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, N.J., to which Berra had devoted himself in the final years of his life.
Berra died of natural causes Tuesday at his home in New Jersey, according to Dave Kaplan, the director of the Yogi Berra Museum.
“While we mourn the loss of our father, grandfather and great-grandfather, we know he is at peace with Mom,” Berra’s family said in a statement released by the museum. “We celebrate his remarkable life, and are thankful he meant so much to so many. He will truly be missed.”
Berra, a catcher who was named the A.L.’s most valuable player in 1951, 54 and 55, led the Yankees to five consecutive world championships (1949-53) and also led a team that included Mickey Mantle and, for three of those seasons, Joe DiMaggio, in RBIs for seven consecutive seasons (1949-55). Berra was an 18-time All-Star, a member of a record 14 A.L. pennant winners and a 1972 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. That was the same year his uniform No. 8 was retired by the Yankees.
Berra, who dropped out of school after the 8th grade to help support his family, is nearly as well known for his unique use of the English language as he is for his baseball career. His wit and wisdom — “It’s never over til it’s over.” “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.”— have not only found their way into the American lexicon, but also into Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.
https://nypost.com/2015/09/23/yankees-legend-yogi-berra-dead-at-90/
file photo by Boyd Loving
SEPTEMBER 21, 2015, 1:11 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015, 7:10 AM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Workers at 11 A&P-owned stores in North Jersey, and thousands more at 84 other stores, breathed a collective sigh of relief Monday after learning that those stores had been sold to the Acme and Stop & Shop chains for $370 million.
The deals, approved Monday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, N.Y., preserve the jobs of 10,750 union employees, including 4,000 workers represented by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 464a in Little Falls.
Acme and Stop & Shop have been negotiating with the unions representing the workers and are close to reaching an agreement, a union official said. A cornerstone of the deals with Acme and Stop & Shop is that current union jobs will be preserved, the official said.
A&P is selling its stores to pay off creditors in its bankruptcy case. But the company, Drain and the unions have argued that job preservation should be considered, along with sale price.
North Jersey water officers not able to chill out bans – Surroundings – NorthJersey
By Observer Staff on September 19, 2015
The rain that fell on North Jersey final Thursday and a spritz over the weekend helped the area’s reservoirs – however solely barely.
The three-reservoir system operated by United Water alongside the Hackensack River has recovered to about 49 % of capability – up from 45 % final week, the utility firm stated.
The opposite main reservoir within the area, the Wanaque, hovered at 55 % capability Tuesday.
However with not a drop of rain within the forecast properly into subsequent week, the voluntary and obligatory restrictions that water utilities have carried out in current weeks stay in impact.
“Whereas we’ve got been graced with some aid, it is crucial for patrons to proceed to make use of water correctly, as our reservoirs nonetheless want further water,” stated Steve Goudsmith, a United Water spokesman.
Over the previous 60 days, Bergen County has had 2.5 inches of rain, a few quarter of the historic common for the interval. Passaic County has had three.2 inches, a deficit of 5.6 inches.
Even that rain has been hit-or-miss. From Thursday by means of the weekend, Haworth had 2.41 inches of rain whereas Lyndhurst, just some miles away, had about half that a lot.
“It was undoubtedly spotty,” stated Bob Ziff with the North Jersey Climate Observers. “My garden nonetheless seems three-quarters lifeless. It is like straw.”
New Jersey’s northern counties – together with the southern Hudson Valley, coastal Connecticut and Lengthy Island – are in a average drought, in line with federal climate officers. The remainder of New Jersey is taken into account abnormally dry.
file photo by Boyd Loving
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, the former Union City mayor, was indicted on charges that include conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud. Here’s a list of some Hudson County politicians and power brokers who were charged and convicted on corruption counts
More details: https://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/04/hudson_county_politics_convicted_of_corruption_cha.html
Thomas Whelan, former Jersey City mayor, John V. Kenny, former Jersey City mayor and county power broker; and Thomas Flaherty, former Jersey City City Council president:
William V. Musto, former Union City mayor: Musto was sentenced to prison in 1982 for helping mobsters and contractors pocket public money
Robert Janiszewski, former Hudson County executive: “Bobby J” pleaded guilty in 2002 to taking more than $100,000 in bribes.
David Friedland, former assemblyman and state senator: Friedland was convicted on racketeering charges in 1980,
Paul Byrne, admitted bagman for Janiszewski: took bribes for his best friend, Janiszewski.
Joe Barry, real estate mogul: Barry paid illegal kickbacks to Janiszewski.
Anthony Russo, former Hoboken mayor. Russo admitted to taking thousands of dollars in bribes from city contractors .
Peter Cammarano, former mayor of Hoboken. He pleaded guilty in federal court to taking $25,000 in bribes
Dennis Elwell, former mayor of Secaucus. Elwell collected $10,000 in bribes as part of Bid Rig III sting.
Edward Cheatam, former Jersey City Housing Authority director: Cheatam pleaded guilty to extortion conspiracy
Leona Beldini, former Jersey City Deputy Mayor: She was convicted of collecting $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions
Mariano Vega, former Jersey City Council President: Vega took $30,000 in illegal contributions
Joseph Cardwell, Hudson County political operative and former Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority commissioner: Cardwell collected $30,000 bribe
Philip Kenny, former Jersey City councilman. Kenny pleaded guilty of taking $5,000 bribe.
Nidia Davila-Colon, former Hudson County freeholder. Davila-Colon was convicted of passing bribes in 1999 to Janiszewski,
Bill Braker, former Hudson County freeholder. Pleaded guilty to attempted extortion.
Peter Perez, former North Bergen commission: Perez pleaded guilty in 2002 to accepting $26,000 in home improvements
Angelo J. Sarubbi, former North Bergen mayor: Sarubbi pleaded guilty in 1976 to extorting a kickback
Michael DiGiovanni, former North Bergen commissioner: pleaded guilty to bribery.
https://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/04/hudson_county_politics_convicted_of_corruption_cha.html
SEPTEMBER 13, 2015, 11:13 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015, 12:35 AM
BY KIBRET MARKOS AND SALVADOR RIZZO
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
A state appeals court ruling that directs judges in criminal trials to immediately remove jurors who display any racial bias is likely to reverberate through the jury selection process, Bergen and Passaic county judges and lawyers said.
The ruling exhorts New Jersey judges to probe deeper when questioning potential jurors about their views on race, and to treat with more scrutiny attitudes and opinions they previously might have viewed more benignly.
But experts say the task is complicated by the fact that the adversarial legal system encourages prosecutors and defense attorneys to try to fill the panel with jurors sympathetic to their causes — an attempt often based on the prospective jurors’ backgrounds, beliefs or racial identities. The ruling offers no advice for how judges can better detect subconscious prejudice, one Bergen County criminal defense lawyer said.
The strongly worded ruling, issued Aug. 31 by Appellate Division Judge Jose L. Fuentes, reversed the carjacking conviction of two black men in Union County, finding that the trial judge erred by failing to remove a juror who had expressed racial bias.
Fuentes wrote that just as the “hateful practice” of police racial profiling on New Jersey highways has been roundly condemned and outlawed, judges should be uncompromising in preventing people from serving on juries if those people associate criminal behavior with race.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/juror-bias-ruling-in-n-j-strikes-chord-1.1409236
SEPTEMBER 8, 2015, 3:51 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015, 8:25 AM
BY SALVADOR RIZZO
STATE HOUSE BUREAU |
THE RECORD
New Jersey has been running a medical marijuana program since 2010, but that does not mean the drug has been legalized, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
Police may still search people without a warrant when they detect the smell of marijuana, the appeals panel said in a ruling that is binding on all New Jersey trial courts.
A three-judge panel rejected an appeal filed by a South Jersey man who argued that “possession of marijuana is no longer illegal in all instances” because the state opened the door to non-criminal uses of the drug by enacting the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act in 2010.
George A. Myers was arrested in Cumberland County in 2012 after a state police trooper found him in a parked car in an area where gunfire had been reported. Myers was not enrolled in the medical marijuana program at the time of his arrest, according to the court record.
photo NEW 4 NYC
Updated at 2:33 PM EDT on Thursday, Sep 3, 2015 NBC 4 NYC
A founding member of the long-running “James Bond gang” that had been targeting high-end homes in affluent neighborhoods across the tri-state for years has been arrested, prosecutors said Thursday.
Bruce “Cap” Anderson, 48, of Queens, was arrested Tuesday in connection with an ongoing investigation that netted the arrests of several other alleged members of the gang in 2014. Anderson and five other defendants are named in a 24-count indictment tied to the burglary and trafficking of stolen property.
Mother Sues Ivy School, Amazon Over Daughter’s Suicide
The group of burglars had been operating in New Jersey for years and expanded to Rockland County in 2013, according to police. At one burglary in Orangetown in early January, thieves lifted $30,000 worth of jewelry.
Authorities in New Jersey launched an investigation in 2014 after more than two dozen high-end homes in Bergen, Morris and Somerset counties were burglarized over a period of several months. The burglaries had many similarities and were identical in the manner in which they were carried out.
North Jersey Duo looks to Crowdfunding for their third short film together
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Writer/Director Joseph Robert Redl and Executive Producer Nicholas Juzdan have started crowdfunding for their third short film together. They have produced short films like Daniel In The Lion’s Den (2014) and X’s On Trees (2015).
Both are local North Jersey residents Nicholas Juzdan of Woodland Park and Joseph Robert Redl of Ridgewood have teamed up again, producing their third short film, entitled “Kingwood.” The duo’s first short film, “Xs on Trees,” was screened earlier this year to rave revues.
Synopsis:
When Nick and Jeff’s father pass away, the vices they inherited fuel a story of greed, betrayal, and what it truly means to be on your own.
The film takes place on location at Joseph Robert Redl’s childhood farm house. Joseph likes to incorporate something personal from his life in all his work; and so the farm house was something he wanted to share.
This script is a draw in from the first line to the last and we can’t wait to bring it to the screen.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kingwood-a-short-comedy#/story
