Category: Uncategorized

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Christie friendship with Jerry Jones began after Cowboys won Port Authority bid, spokesman says

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humm …are people really saying Christie cant be a Cowboys fan

Steve Adubato “Life-long Dallas Cowboys fan, Governor Chris Christie says Jerry Jones is a personal friend and there’s no problem being in his luxury box for the last few Cowboys “wins” or flying on his private jet. Some of Christie’s critics see it differently. In a 12/22 exclusive live interview with the Governor which aired on NJTV, Thirteen WNET New York, WHYY, Verizon FiOS1 – New Jersey, 77 WABC and WBGO Jazz 88.3, I ask the Governor about the whole “Cowboys/Jerry Jones” subject. “

Christie friendship with Jerry Jones began after Cowboys won Port Authority bid, spokesman says

TRENTON — A spokesman for Gov. Chris Christie said today that the governor and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones were not friends during the bid procurement process for the observatory of the Port Authority’s One World Trade Center site, a bid that ultimately went to Legends Hospitality, a company partly owned by Jones’ Dallas Cowboys.

“The friendship began in the summer of 2013,” said spokesman Kevin Roberts, adding that “whether they had met in 2010 or 2011 in a passing way, I can’t account for that.”

The Dallas Cowboys, in partnership with the New York Yankees and investment fund Checketts Partners, all have a stake in Legends Hospitality, which won out in bidding to operate the observatory of the Port Authority controlled One World Trade Center when it opens later this year.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/01/governors_spokesman_says_christies_friendship_with_jerry_jones_began_in_the_summer_of_2013_not_durin.html#incart_river

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Lamenting Liberty Lost

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Lamenting Liberty Lost

Unless we have a radical change, we will continue our march toward the federal destruction of the presumption of liberty.

Andrew Napolitano | January 8, 2015

A British author, residing in the United States for the past 30 years, created a small firestorm earlier this week with his candid observations that modern-day Americans have been duped by the government into accepting a European-style march toward socialism because we fail to appreciate the rich legacy of personal liberty that is everyone’s birthright and is expressly articulated in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Os Guinness, the author of more than a dozen books defending traditional Judeo-Christian values and Jeffersonian personal liberty, argued that we should embrace individual liberty and personal dignity and reject the “no givens, no rules, no limits” government we now have. He went on to opine that the government today is not the constitutionally restrained protector of personal freedoms the Framers left us, but rather has become the wealth-distributing protector of collective interests the Founding Fathers never could have imagined.

Yet the problem is a deep one. The Framers believed in the presumption of liberty, which declares that we are free to make personal choices, and the government cannot interfere with our liberties unless we violate the rights of others. Stated differently, the federal government cannot interfere with our personal choices by writing any law it wants; it can only regulate behavior or spend money when the Constitution authorizes it to do so.

But for the past 100 years, the federal government has rejected the Madisonian concept that it is limited to the 16 discrete powers the Constitution delegates to it, and has claimed its powers are unlimited, subject only to the express prohibitions in the Constitution. Even those prohibitions can be gotten around since government lawyers have persuaded federal courts to rule that Congress can spend tax dollars or borrowed money on any projects it wishes, whether authorized by the Constitution or not. The courts even have authorized Congress to use federal tax dollars to bribe the states into enacting laws that Congress is powerless to enact, and Congress has done so.

https://reason.com/archives/2015/01/08/lamenting-liberty-lost

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Charlie Hebdo Massacre Reactions: ‘I’m All for Free Speech and Murder is Wrong, But…’

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Charlie Hebdo Massacre Reactions: ‘I’m All for Free Speech and Murder is Wrong, But…’

Anthony L. Fisher|Jan. 8, 2015 11:40 am

The massacre at the Paris offices of the venerable satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been met with near-universal condemnation, but a growing chorus of self-appointed arbiters of good taste are going public, following up cursory denunciations of the murders with caveats that Charlie Hebdo is a “provocative,” “racist,” “Islamophobic,” “homophobic” publication who brought much of its trouble on itself.Twitter/Carlos Latuff

Richard Seymour at Jacobin makes this point most succinctly in the final paragraph of his article:

No, the offices of Charlie Hebdo should not be raided by gun-wielding murderers. No, journalists are not legitimate targets for killing. But no, we also shouldn’t line up with the inevitable statist backlash against Muslims, or the ideological charge to defend a fetishized, racialized “secularism,” or concede to the blackmail which forces us into solidarity with a racist institution.

Earlier in the piece, Seymour explains why he presents no evidence, or even argument, that Charlie Hebdo is a “racist institution”:

I will not waste time arguing over this point here: I simply take it as read that — irrespective of whatever else it does, and whatever valid comment it makes — the way in which that publication represents Islam is racist.

https://reason.com/blog/2015/01/08/charlie-hebdo-agnostics-im-against-murde

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Two Montclair State students working to produce short film

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Two Montclair State students working to produce short film

JANUARY 8, 2015    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2015, 12:32 AM
BY TINA PAPPAS
STAFF WRITER |
PASSAIC VALLEY TODAY

woodland park – Local resident Nicholas Juzdan is producing a short film, along with writer/director Joseph Robert Redl of Ridgewood. Both are students of Montclair State University (MSU). Juzdan, who is also a graduate of Passaic Valley High School Class of 2011, recently received a degree in entertainment marketing business from MSU. Redl is currently a junior, majoring in filmmaking.

“This is my second film,” said Juzdan. “It’s a short film and we’ve been putting our cash and crew together. We’ve been trying to raise money for various things in the budget for stuff like casting, props, sets, which we needed to build all those things ourselves.”

According to Juzdan, the film, named “Xs On Trees,” centers on a character named Duncan, who has just been dumped by his girlfriend. He begins to realize what life is really about and learns these lessons with the help of some new and not so new friends.

“It’s about the whole process of growing up and going through break-ups,” he explained. “Duncan has trouble moving forward after his last relations but with the help of an older guy named ‘Pop,’ he eventually does. Pop teaches Duncan about growing up and eventually moving forward.”

Juzdan added that the project is listed on Indiegogo.com for the production to raise funds to complete the short film.

https://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/movies/two-montclair-state-students-working-to-produce-short-film-1.1188123

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Lure of the South takes a toll on corporate NJ; new demographics, globalization play roles

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Lure of the South takes a toll on corporate NJ; new demographics, globalization play roles

JANUARY 7, 2015, 11:36 PM    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2015, 6:28 AM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Forty-five years after New Jersey’s manufacturing industry began its decline, as companies started moving their factories to the South, there are signs that the state’s corporate sector may be going the same route.

Tuesday’s announcement by Mercedes-Benz USA that it plans to move its corporate headquarters from Montvale to metro Atlanta followed similar announcements in the last 18 months by Hertz of Park Ridge, which moved to Florida’s Gulf Coast, and Sealed Air of Elmwood Park, which is moving to Charlotte, N.C.

So now three Fortune 500 companies, along with nearly 2,000 jobs, are moving or have moved to Southern locations that years ago would likely not even have been considered by corporate executives.

Though they cited reasons for their moves specific to their business or industry, it’s clear that the South now holds an attraction that it once did not. A variety of factors are in play, including lower taxes and operating costs, an improved quality of life and a stronger workforce.

“I don’t think it’s a tidal wave yet,” said James Hughes, dean of the Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy at Rutgers University. But change is clearly afoot, he said.

“What’s changed is the perception of the South,” he said. “After the first frontier companies moved there, they proved that there is no problem securing a high-quality workforce, and that people would migrate there if there were good jobs available.”

To be sure, many companies have left New Jersey for other destinations. New York’s Rockland and Orange counties, for example, still attract a good number of companies, including Hunter Douglas and Croton Watch Co. recently. Yet the lure of the South appears to be growing.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/lure-of-the-south-takes-a-toll-on-corporate-nj-new-demographics-globalization-play-roles-1.1187618

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Mail carrier from Ridgewood sentenced to home confinement in fraud scheme

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Mail carrier from Ridgewood sentenced to home confinement in fraud scheme

JANUARY 7, 2015, 6:13 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015, 6:13 PM
BY STEPHANIE AKIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

A mail carrier from Ridgewood who accepted bribes to help members of a fraud ring steal more than $2 million in federal tax refunds was sentenced Wednesday to eight months of home confinement and three years of supervised release.

Lourdes Ortiz, 41, was among seven people charged in 2013 in connection with the scheme, which involved using fake identities to get tax refunds and then diverting the checks from postal routes. She was recruited by another mail carrier, Gloria Rivera, to intercept checks in Flushing, Queens, according to court documents. Rivera, of the Bronx, was also sentenced Wednesday.

Ortiz told U.S. Judge Faith S. Hochberg that she regretted her role in the scheme.

“I was just caught up in the moment, I guess,” she said in U.S. District Court in Newark.

Ortiz was granted a lighter sentence than the others charged because she was the lowest person in the conspiracy, Hochberg said from the bench. The sentence was also crafted to allow Ortiz to keep her job babysitting two children, Hochberg said.

The scheme, described in court documents as a classic type of fraud, started with co-conspirators who used fake security numbers and other personal information to file 1040 forms declaring fraudulent earnings and taxes withheld.

The co-conspirators, all of whom were not identified in court documents, bribed mail carriers, including Ortiz and Rivera, to get the resulting refund checks. The checks were eventually deposited in bank accounts controlled by people higher up in the conspiracy, and some of the money was used to buy cars and gamble at Atlantic City casinos.

The checks were cashed through bank accounts set up for newly-formed businesses incorporated by four of the other defendants in New Jersey and New York.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/mail-carrier-from-ridgewood-sentenced-to-home-confinement-in-fraud-scheme-1.1187526
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Reader says The Village Council and the Planning Board need to step up and make decisions that are in the best interest of a vibrant and healthy village.

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file photo Boyd Loving

Reader says The Village Council and the Planning Board need to step up and make decisions that are in the best interest of a vibrant and healthy village.
The Citizens For a Better Ridgewood (CBR) website states that the group:

-Favors economic growth for our downtown
-Favors new housing that is appropriate in scale
-Favors new housing designated for empty nesters and special needs residents, where there is an established need
-Favors new parking solutions that support commerce
-Favors more open space and athletic fields for our youth sports

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That all sounds good. But, their public actions suggest different agendas, at least for some of the founders. Specifically, they have opposed ALL new multi-family housing projects in Ridgewood, regardless of “scale”. Clearly, we don’t need all three of the proposed developments in town. But, it is also clear that one or two of the proposed housing projects would benefit economic growth in the CBD and would help advance the parking solution in town. It is also clear that the most desirable projects would be those that are moderate in overall size, with high-end units that cater to young professional couples or empty nesters, who wish to downsize. Such projects would have less impact on our infrastructure and schools than when families with children move into existing homes in Ridgewood as empty nesters leave town each year, when their children graduate from RHS.

So, why doesn’t the CBR come out and publicly endorse one of the proposed projects? Or, if they support a specific project, but would like to see minor modifications, why don’t they tell us which project and what modifications they recommend?

The reason is that they don’t really want ANY new multi-family housing! Why? Two reasons… which the Ridgewood News has been remiss in reporting and the CBR has failed to disclose.

1) Amy Bourque is one of the founders of the CBR and is its most vocal advocate. Her family is the long-standing owner an existing multi-family housing development that would be most adversely impacted by ANY new multi-family housing in Ridgewood. This is a major conflict of interest that she should have disclosed long ago. Her failure to do so openly raises serious questions about her motivations.

2) Several CBR supporters have repeatedly and publicly expressed concern that new multi-family housing will attract more foreign families to Ridgewood, who wish to take advantage of our school system for a few years, potentially with an inappropriate number of family members or more than one family in a single unit. This concern was clearly expressed at a recent public meeting. However, the press inexplicably glossed over the comment.

The debate over multi-family housing projects has gone on for far too long in Ridgewood. We need SOMETHING. The Village Council and the Planning Board need to step up and make decisions that are in the best interest of a vibrant and healthy village. Perhaps a little honesty from those who have been stalling the debate out would help residents understand the CBR’s real motivations and allow the Village to move forward.

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PSE&G Responds to Cold Weather Challenges

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file photo Boyd Loving

PSE&G Responds to Cold Weather Challenges
January 7th 2015

NEWARK, NJ – With frigid weather gripping the region, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) is monitoring its gas system and taking steps to ensure it can meet the demands of customers. These steps include maintaining and adjusting pressure at various points in our system.The utility also has extra personnel on hand to respond as quickly as possible and handle emergency requests. Both PSE&G’s appliance service business and call centers are prepared to respond to an influx of customer “no heat” calls as temperatures remain extremely low during the next few days.“Since Tuesday, we have received about 2,500 ‘no heat’ calls from customers,” said Mike Schmid, director-appliance service. “We have all available technicians on hand to respond to these service requests as quickly as possible. Customers also should be aware that although their heating systems may be working properly, the frigid temperatures are making it difficult to maintain the same thermostat setting.”

PSE&G offers the following tips to stay warm and safe during this current cold snap:

Seal up openings around and under doors and windows
Close and latch your windows
Lower thermostats serving unused rooms
Close dampers in unused fireplaces
Move furniture and drapes away from heating registers, radiators, and baseboard element covers
Remove or cover window air conditioners to reduce drafts. Install insulated or lined drapes on your windows
Open your curtains and blinds that face the sun on sunny days to warm your home, and close them at night to keep the warm air inside
Keep your garage door closed, if the garage is attached to the house
Check for sufficient water levels in the sight glass for steam heating systems to ensure maximum efficiency
Clean or replace the furnace filter on hot air heating systems

FOR SAFETY’S SAKE

Be cautious when using space heaters.  Read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions and heed warning labels. Be sure all members of the household understand how to operate space heaters safely.
Don’t try to use a gas oven or range to heat a room – the appliance will deplete oxygen from the air, causing asphyxiation or deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide (CO) — an invisible, odorless, tasteless and non-irritating gas — is the leading cause of accidental poisoning in the United States.  Natural gas, oil, propane, coal or wood all produce CO.
The first line of defense against CO poisoning is to make sure all your fuel-burning appliances operate and are maintained properly.  These appliances include gas and oil furnaces, water heaters, gas ranges, space heaters, and gas clothes dryers.  Improperly vented fireplaces and charcoal grills can also give off CO.
Invest in carbon monoxide detectors as back-up protection, not as a substitute for proper use and maintenance of the fuel-burning appliances.  CO alarms can provide an early warning to consumers before CO builds up to a dangerous level.  The US Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends placing a carbon monoxide alarm in every area of the house. If just one alarm is installed, it should be placed near the sleeping rooms of the house.  If you already have one, remember to check the batteries regularly.
Be safe around natural gas. If you smell a weak gas odor, check the pilot lights and burner valves on your gas appliances. Open doors and windows to let in fresh air. Call PSE&G immediately.  If the odor is strong, get out of the building immediately and call PSE&G from a nearby phone. Do not use the phone in the building or any electrical equipment, including electric switches and thermostats, because they can make sparks and cause a fire. Do not use matches, or light a gas appliance. If you are outdoors and smell gas, call PSE&G immediately at 1-800-880-PSEG (7734).

KEEP YOUR GAS METER AND APPLIANCE VENTS CLEAR OF SNOW AND ICE
You can help keep your natural gas supply flowing by keeping your meter free of snow and ice. If you are a natural gas customer whose gas meter is on the outside of your home or business, please take the following precautions:

Clear snowdrifts away from the meter and piping.
Do not pile snow on top of the gas meter or around its connecting piping when you are shoveling your premises.
Brush snow from the meter and piping before a thick layer of ice builds up.
Clear snow from dryer vents to prevent fumes from backing up into your house.

IF YOUR METER IS SCHEDULED TO BE READ
While we always try to obtain an actual reading, occasionally it’s necessary to estimate a reading to ensure the safety of our employees. Ways that you can help us keep our employees safe and avoid estimated bills:

Ensure walkways and entrance ways are cleared of snow and ice.
Ensure a clear pathway to the meter.
Secure pets while meters are being read.
Utilize our Record-a-Reading option or enter your reading on-line via the PSE&G website on www.pseg.com.

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WIND CHILL ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM EST THIS MORNING.

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WIND CHILL ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM EST THIS
MORNING…

URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
350 AM EST THU JAN 8 2015

…DANGEROUSLY COLD AIR ACROSS THE REGION…

…WIND CHILL ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM EST THIS
MORNING…

* LOCATIONS…INTERIOR SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT…THE LOWER HUDSON
VALLEY…AND INTERIOR NORTHEASTERN NEW JERSEY.

* HAZARD TYPES…DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS.

* WIND CHILL READINGS…AS LOW AS 18 BELOW.

* IMPACTS…THE FRIGID CONDITIONS WILL BE DANGEROUS TO THOSE
VENTURING OUTSIDE. PROLONGED EXPOSURE MAY CA– USE FROSTBITE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS
WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN
FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.
IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS…MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND
GLOVES.

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McConnell promises dramatic change , putting the Senate back to work

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McConnell promises dramatic change , putting the Senate back to work

By Alexander Bolton

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told colleagues on the first full day of the new Congress to expect a dramatic change from his predecessor, Democratic leader Harry Reid (Nev.).

He pledged to decentralize power in the Senate, which had become concentrated in Reid’s office during the past eight years of Democratic rule.

“It’s time to change the business model,” McConnell said in his first lengthy speech on the floor as majority leader. “We need to return to regular order. We need to get committees working again. We need to recommit to a rational, functional appropriations process.”

He promised to “open up the legislative process” to allow senators on both sides of the aisle more opportunity to offer and vote on amendments.

That approach will mean working long weeks and later hours, he warned.

“But restoring the Senate is the right thing to do. And it’s the practical thing to do,” he said.

McConnell said the nation has lost faith in government and no longer trusts Washington.

https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/228746-mcconnell-promises-dramatic-change

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Boehner and House GOP Regroup After Tumultuous Speaker Election

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Boehner and House GOP Regroup After Tumultuous Speaker Election

By Matt Fuller and Emma DumainPosted at 5:39 p.m. on Jan. 6

After the election of John A. Boehner to a third term as speaker Tuesday, House Republicans start the 114th Congress in a similar fashion to the 113th: Conservatives are unhappy with leadership and leadership’s not too pleased with some conservatives.

Tuesday’s floor vote insurrection wasn’t particularly close — Boehner won re-election with 216 of the 408 votes cast. But in a strong statement of protest, 25 Republicans voted for someone else or voted present. (On the Democratic side, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi received 164 Democratic votes, with four members of her party voting for someone other than the California Democrat.)

The 25 Boehner rebels — a mix of familiar conservative foes, some GOP freshmen and a few Republicans who typically vote with Boehner but broke rank on the speaker vote — sent a message to Boehner and Republicans in general that the conference is not unified, despite the massive gains the speaker has overseen as the House’s No. 1 Republican since 2006.

In his remarks after retaking the speaker’s gavel, Boehner expressed hope for a renewed era of cooperation and congressional productivity.

“They say nothing’s going to be accomplished here, that the division is wider than ever, and so the gridlock will be even greater,” Boehner said. “And frankly: Fair enough. Skepticism of our government is healthy, and in our time, quite understandable.

“But one problem with saying, ‘It can’t be done,’ is that it already has been done, or at least started,” he continued.

Boehner said that, as speaker, all he asked for and expected was for members to “disagree without being disagreeable.” He eventually shed some of his characteristic tears as he talked about planting seeds for congressional achievements, cultivating the ground and “tak[ing] care of the pests.”

But the proverbial pests who have long prevented Boehner’s legislative harvest had a different message: That it was time for Boehner to go. And even though they were unsuccessful in that endeavor, Republicans sent a signal to leadership — 25 dissidents was certainly more than most in the Capitol expected.

https://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-and-house-gop-regroup-after-tumultuous-speaker-election/?dcz=

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Break in Old Paramus Church Shooting :Ridgewood man charged with possession of drugs, ammunition

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At approximately 11:15 am on Sunday December 28th the Ridgewood Police Department was called to the Old Paramus Reformed Church on E. Glen Avenue on a report of damage to the property from what they believed to be gun shots. Upon arrival to the Church, officers observed damage to the Church which was caused by a firearm. The detective bureau and the Bergen County Crime Scene Investigation Unit were contacted to collect evidence and begin an investigation. The time frame of the incident has been determined to be the early morning hours of December 26. There are no known motives or threats received by the Church or the Pastor. Ridgewood Police 

Break in Old Paramus Church Shooting :Ridgewood man charged with possession of drugs, ammunition

JANUARY 7, 2015, 5:07 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015, 5:07 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — Police have arrested a 23-year-old village resident on possession of drugs and ammunition.

Working with units from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, Ridgewood officers executed a search warrant on Tuesday at the Pershing Avenue residence of Alex Norrell.

Police searching the home discovered an unspecified amount of marijuana along with some drug paraphernalia, authorities said.

Officers also found ammunition inside the home. But when reached Wednesday for details, Ridgewood Police Chief John Ward refused to talk about how much or what kind of ammunition was seized.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-man-charged-with-possession-of-drugs-ammunition-1.1187494

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N.J. Rep. Scott Garrett bucks House Republican leadership in vote for speaker

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N.J. Rep. Scott Garrett bucks House Republican leadership in vote for speaker
By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, New Jersey’s most conservative member of Congress, voted against John Boehner for House speaker, separating himself from most House Republicans.

Garrett (R-5th Dist.) voted instead for Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.,) , who was one of several alternatives offered instead of Boehner. Some of the opposition was driven by those House Republicans who want to be more confrontational with President Obama.

“With a new Republican majority in the Senate, a large number of my constituents have called on me to demand new leadership in the House,” Garrett said in a statement after the vote “I hear you, and I agree.”

Boehner (R-Ohio) who has been speaker since Republicans regained control of the House in 2011, was re-elected today with 216 votes. Webster had 12. A scattering of votes went to other Republicans. Most Democrats backed their leader, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Few lawmakers vote against their leaders, who can retaliate by denying coveted committee assignments, refusing to bring their bills up for votes, and decline to raise or contribute money to their campaigns.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/01/garrett_bucks_house_republican_leadership_in_vote_for_speaker.html

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The average college freshman reads at 7th grade level

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The average college freshman reads at 7th grade level

Maggie LitReporter@MaggieLitCROon Jan 06, 2015 at 10:47 AM EDT

Renaissance Learning found that the average book assigned for summer reading at college has a seventh-grade reading level.

Most college textbooks and reading material written before 1970 require mature reading skills according to Arkansas Prof. Emerita Sandra Stotsky.

The average U.S. college freshman reads at a seventh grade level, according to an educational assessment report.

“We are spending billions of dollars trying to send students to college and maintain them there when, on average, they read at about the grade 6 or 7 level, according toRenaissance Learning’s latest report on what American students in grades 9-12 read, whether assigned or chosen,” said education expert Dr. Sandra Stotsky.

Stotsky, a Professor Emerita at the University of Arkansas, served on the Common Core Validation Committee in 2009-10, during which she called the standards “inferior.” She claimed the Common Core left out the very standards needed to prepare students for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers.

“The average reading level for five of the top seven books assigned as summer reading by 341 colleges using Renaissance Learning’s readability formula was rated 7.56 [meaning halfway through seventh grade],” Stotsky told Breitbart Texas.

The study also found that most high school graduates don’t do much with mathematics past eighth-grade compared to students in other high-achieving countries.

In addition, the lack of “difficulty and complexity” found in high school reading material is indicative of what colleges can assign to students once they enter higher education and professors aren’t requiring incoming students read at a college level.

https://campusreform.org/?ID=6174

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Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) issued the following statements on the Paris terror attack , the 114th Congress and leadership in the House

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Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) issued the following statements on the Paris terror attack , the 114th Congress and leadership in the House 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) issued the following statement , “Today’s terrorist attack in Paris is yet another tragic reminder that not everyone in the world respects human life, liberty, and dignity. The United States and its allies must always be vigilant and stand up to extremism both here and abroad. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the French community as they mourn this terrible tragedy.”

Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) Takes Oath for 114th Congress ,“It is a privilege and honor to work for the people of New Jersey’s Fifth District in our nation’s capital.  My top priorities this term will continue to be reining in government spending, fighting for lower taxes, and ensuring the federal government works for all Americans—not the other way around.  The people of New Jersey have put their trust in me to represent them in the House, and I promise to serve them faithfully.”

Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) issued the following statement after voting for Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) for Speaker of the House:

“With a new Republican majority in the Senate, a large number of my constituents have called on me to demand new leadership in the House.  I hear you, and I agree.  Accordingly, I support Representative Daniel Webster for the role of Speaker of the House.”

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