Bergen County Police chief takes last walk through door as force faces merger plans
DECEMBER 12, 2014, 6:23 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014, 6:50 PM
BY STEFANIE DAZIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The Bergen County Police Department chief known for his vocal criticism of a police-services merger was speechless Friday during a ceremony to mark his retirement.
Brian Higgins left his department’s Paramus headquarters at 3 p.m. for the last time with a traditional “walkout” ceremony on his 50th birthday, holding hands with his wife, Nanette, and 6-year-old son, Viktor, as the Police Pipes and Drums of Bergen County played outside. His last official day will be Dec. 31, but he’s taking personal time off in the interim.
“I don’t know what to say, other than thank you,” he told the more than 100 people assembled.
Higgins, a leading opponent of the plan to merge the County Police into the county Sheriff’s Department, announced his retirement last week after nearly 25 years with the county force. He had started his career in Carlstadt and transferred to the county force two years later in the hopes of becoming a mounted officer. He served in that unit and led several other divisions, including the SWAT team and the police academy.
“I’m tearing up,” said Capt. James Mullin, who Higgins advised as his field training officer after he graduated from the academy. “It’s a happy day for him, but it’s a sad day for us.”
DECEMBER 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A developer proposing multifamily housing held an on-site public meeting to separate “fact” from “conjecture” on Tuesday night.
The audience of about 30 attendees included developers, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and several village seniors, who expressed interest in the apartments.
While most attendees appeared favorable of the development in their comments, a couple argued against points made by the developer, longtime resident John Saraceno.
Saraceno, who is proposing the 52-unit Enclave development at 253-257 E. Ridgewood Ave., touched on several “hot-button issues” over two hours, including: property taxes, schoolchildren, traffic, parking, architecture and how many units an amendment to the master plan that allows higher density housing might result in.
Saraceno was the first of four developers to make a multifamily housing proposal to the village. He began his quest for multifamily housing in 2008, he said, when he met with then-Mayor David Pfund.
Ex-top official of East Orange water agency gets 3 years in prison
Formerly the chief engineer for Ridgewood Water.
TRENTON — A former top official of the East Orange Water Commission was sentenced to three years in prison today for hiding elevated levels of an industrial solvent in drinking water pumped to more than 80,000 residents in the city and neighboring South Orange.
William Mowell, 52, of Wyckoff, pleaded guilty in July to conspiring with the agency’s former executive director, Harry Mansmann, to falsify levels of tetrachloroethene to show the water was safe to drink, the state Attorney General’s Office said.
As part of his sentence, handed down by state Superior Court Judge Carolyn Wright, Mowell will be permanently banned form public office and public employment in the state.
DECEMBER 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Name: Albert J. Pucciarelli
Occupation and/or volunteer position: Partner, McElroy, Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP; chair of the firm’s hotels and resorts and aviation law practice groups; member of the Board of Directors, Skytop Lodge Corporation; member of the Board of Directors, Hospitality Industry Bar Association; President, Mid-Atlantic Pilots Association; Deputy Mayor and Councilman, Village of Ridgewood.
How long I have lived in Ridgewood: 35 years (since October 1979)
Interests and hobbies: Flying my airplane – I am a commercial, instrument-rated pilot; visiting museums and restaurants in NYC; admiring the architecture there, new and old; watching the great series available on TV and tablets, such as Mad Men, Downton Abbey and Breaking Bad.
My favorite place to relax in Ridgewood: In a cell-phone/iPad-free meditation room that I added to my home for just that purpose.
A “perfect day” in Ridgewood would include: Gym, then Mens’ Fellowship discussion at Christ Episcopal Church, work in my yard, lunch with my grandchildren in town, afternoon swimming with my children and their children in our pool; dinner at La Lanterna with special friends and good wine.
PSE&G – Energy Strong Gas Upgrade Project – Phase II
Elements of the Village Gas Service Upgrade Project :
• Ferreira Construction will again use Village Police Officers for traffic control, like they did for the work in the East Glen Avenue area earlier this year.
• There will be no steel road plates used. All parties agreed to this.
• Trenches will be topped with hot mix I-5 asphalt mix, followed by final restoration later.
• The contractor’s crews would like to work 6 days per week, weather and Village permitting. No work on Sunday.
• Trenches will be generally 18-inches wide.
• House services will be done after the main work is complete, but coordinated to minimize natural gas service interruptions during the winter heating days.
• Ferreira will continue to use their current staging area. Some equipment will be left on streets overnight in the Lawns area.
• Work will not occurred during inclement weather periods.
Senate urged to approve $1.1 trillion spending bill to keep government running
DECEMBER 12, 2014, 4:03 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014, 11:48 PM
BY DAVID ESPO AND ANDREW TAYLOR
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday urged the Senate to ratify a $1.1 trillion, House-passed spending bill that has roiled his Democratic Party, judging it an imperfect measure that stems from “the divided government that the American people voted for.”
What’s in the bill
The $1.1 trillion, 1,603-page bill awaiting a Senate vote is mostly spending choices, such as adding $5.4 billion to fight the Ebola virus or trimming the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by $60 million. But it’s also packed with a mishmash of “riders,” many of which couldn’t get through Congress on their own.
Here are some things the bill would affect:
SCHOOL LUNCHES: Eases rules requiring more whole grains in school lunches and suspends the lower sodium standards due to take effect in 2017, while keeping other healthy-eating rules. Some school nutrition directors — and some students complaining of yucky lunches — lobbied for a break from the standards championed by first lady Michelle Obama.
TRUCK SAFETY: Rolls back safety rules that were supposed to keep sleepy truckers from causing wrecks. The government’s rules had effectively shortened truckers’ maximum workweek from 82 hours to 70. The trucking industry fought back.
BANKING: Loosens rules imposed after the 2008 financial crisis. The change relaxes regulation of high-risk investments known as “derivatives” — rules that were imposed to reduce risk to depositors’ federally insured money and prevent more taxpayer bailouts. Banks said the crackdown stifled the competitiveness of the U.S. financial industry.
MARIJUANA: Offers a mixed bag for pot smokers. The bill blocks the Justice Department from raiding medical marijuana dispensaries in states that permit them. But it also blocks federal and local spending to legalize marijuana in Washington, D.C., where voters approved recreational use in a November referendum. It’s unclear what the practical effect of the spending ban will be.
PENSIONS: Allows some pension plans to cut benefits promised to current and future retirees. The change is designed to save some financially strapped plans from going broke. It applies to multiemployer plans, which cover more than 10 million people mostly at small, unionized employers, often in the construction business.
CAMPAIGN MONEY: Allows more money to flow into political parties. Under the new rules, each superrich donor could give almost $1.6 million per election cycle to political parties and their campaign committees. The comparable limit for 2014’s elections was $194,400.
THE SAGE GRO– USE: Says “no” to putting the greater sage grouse and three related birds on the endangered species list. Environmentalists say time to save them is running out as their sagebrush habitat disappears. But oil and gas companies and other businesses argued that protecting the chicken-sized birds on Western lands would hurt business and local economies.
LIGHT BULBS: Attempts to switch off federal rules that are making it harder to find old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. The bill extends a ban on the government spending money to enforce the ongoing phase-out of incandescent bulbs. It may not have much effect, since manufacturers and stores are already well-along in the switch to spiral bulbs and other energy-saving alternatives.
HUNTING AND FISHING: Prohibits the EPA from regulating lead in ammunition or fishing tackle. Lead in fishing sinkers and bullet fragments are being blamed for poisoning birds, such as loons and the endangered California condor. Republicans said EPA regulation would be overreach and just the threat of it was making it hard to find bullets in stores.
OFFICIAL PORTRAITS: Continues a ban on spending money on portraits of Cabinet secretaries, Congress members and other big shots, a Washington tradition that some lawmakers felt had gotten out of hand.
THE CAPITOL DOME: Spends $21 million to continue restoration of the leaky, cracked U.S. Capitol dome.
One day after House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi publicly chastised him for supporting the bill, the president said there were provisions “I really do not like.” At the same time, he said there were other portions that “fund health insurance, early childhood education, the fight against climate change, and expand manufacturing hubs to grow jobs.”
He offered his assessment as Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid also announced support for the legislation, further underscoring the split inside the party. The Democrats will lose control of the Senate in January because of heavy losses in midterm elections last month and will go deeper into a House minority than at any time since 1928.
300 Former Obama Staffers Urge Elizabeth Warren to Run for President
10:05 AM, DEC 12, 2014 • BY DANIEL HALPER
A group of more than 300 hundred former Obama staffers have written an open letter urging Elizabeth Warren to run for president of the United States. “We helped elect Barack Obama — now we’re calling on Elizabeth Warren to run in 2016,” the letter is titled.
We believed in an unlikely candidate who no one thought had a chance.
We worked for him — and against all odds, we won in Iowa.
We organized like no campaign had organized before — and won the Democratic primary.
We built a movement — and the country elected the first-ever African American president.
We know that the improbable is far from impossible.
Now, former staffers from President Obama’s campaigns, along with former staffers from OFA, are joining with the thousands of Americans who are calling on Elizabeth Warren to run for president in 2016.
Rising income inequality is the challenge of our times, and we want someone who will stand up for working families and take on the Wall Street banks and special interests that took down our economy.
We urge Elizabeth Warren to run for president in 2016.
The Navy is hoping that’ll be enough to get the little swimmer into enemy territory undetected to patrol and protect U.S. ships and ports from harm.
Project Silent Nemo is under way this week at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, where a team of civilian engineers and military officers are testing the capabilities of a 5-foot, 100-pound experimental robot that’s designed to look and swim like a bluefin tuna.
The robotic fish glided through the harbor Thursday as sailors took turns controlling it with a joystick. It can also be programmed to swim on its own. The robot’s black dorsal fin poked above water as its tail wiggled back and forth, propelling it almost silently just below the surface.
Nemo was developed by the Office of Naval Research and is being tested by the chief of naval operation’s Rapid Innovation Cell – a group of junior Navy and Marine Corps officers tasked with putting emerging technologies to use for the military. The same group has been playing around with 3D printers, augmented-reality glasses and about 10 other breakthrough gadgets.
The idea of deploying robots that mimic the biological traits of living creatures isn’t new, but until recently, it existed mostly in the realm of science fiction. The Navy says Silent Nemo – also known as GhostSwimmer – could be operational within the next year.
DHS: 100 Million Americans Could Lose Power in Major Sun Storm
Document says FEMA unsure of damage to grid from magnetic storm
Sun emits a mid-level flare Dec. 4, 2014 / AP
BY: Bill Gertz
December 12, 2014 5:00 am
Millions of Americans face catastrophic loss of electrical power during a future magnetic space storm that will disrupt the electric grid and cause cascading infrastructure failures, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document.
DHS’ Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) stated in an internal 2012 fact sheet outlining its response plan for severe “space weather” that the actual impact and damage from a future solar storm is not known.
“An analysis of the space weather impacts indicates that the greatest challenge will be to provide life-saving and life-sustaining resources for large numbers of people that experience long-term power outage from damage to the U.S. electrical grid,” the FEMA document, dated March 1, 2012, states.
The FEMA fact sheet noted the findings of a 2010 study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency that monitors sun storms, warning that an extreme solar storm could leave “130 million people without power for years,” and destroy or damage more than 300 hard-to-replace electrical grid transformers.
Major solar storms are rare. Two major solar disruption events took place in 1859 and 1921, times when electricity was less prevalent than today.
The study said a future solar storm like the great magnetic storm of May 1921 would black out most states east of the Mississippi River along with most states in the Pacific Northwest.
The long-term loss of electrical power likely would produce catastrophic loss of life.
However, the FEMA document disputed that worst-case scenario, noting that in 2011 DHS experts were “not convinced” about the dire consequences outlined in the earlier study.
Still, DHS scientists in 2011 warned that the U.S. electric grid remains vulnerable to damage from an extreme geomagnetic storm. The scientists said the extent of damage to high-voltage transformers from a space storm “are not well known” and the matter needs further study, the report says.
GOP Rep: House Leaders Made False Promise to Get My Crucial Vote
By Joel Gehrke
December 12, 2014 12:53 AM
Representative Marlin Stutzman (R., Ind.) accused House Republican leadership of reneging on a deal made with him to get his support on a crucial procedural vote that almost killed the $1.1 trillion cromnibus.
“I was very surprised and even more disappointed to see the cromnibus back on the floor,” Stutzman said in a Thursday evening statement. “The American people deserve better.”
Stutzman was one of the last Republicans to cast his ballot in favor of a rule allowing the House to vote on the cromnibus. National Review Online reported that Stutzman backed the rule at the last minute after leadership told him that they would pull the cromnibus, once the rule was passed, and replace it with a short-term continuing resolution favored by rank-and-file conservatives. With the last-minute help of Stutzman and outgoing Representative Kerry Bentivolio (R., Mich.), leadership won the vote 214-212.
“I supported the Rule because I was informed by leadership that the cromnibus was dead and a short term CR would take its place,” Stutzman said.
So-called torture report is Democrats’ distraction from these six unpleasant issues
Published by: Herman Cain
No. Look this way. Not that way.
You have to ask: If it’s such a serious issue for the Bush Administration to have “tortured” detained terrorists back when we still had a president who cared about fighting terror, why did Senate Democrats wait seven years to release their report on this purported atrocity?
The answer is simple: Politics. On the one hand, they’re running out of time as the Senate majority. But more importantly, there are serious issues that demand the attention of the public, and it’s not in Democrats’ interests to have the public pay attention to these things. That’s why, having kept this assortment of their uninformed opinions diguised as a “report” in their back pockets for seven years, they’re releasing it now.
It’s time for a series of lectures about how horrible it is to “torture” terrorists so we don’t talk about a whole host of other things, particularly these things:
The election results, both federal and state. With Democrats having gotten their clocks cleaned at every level, we can’t spend time mulling the aspects of governance under the Democrats that have everyone so dissatisfied. Better to rehash things the Democrats used to upset people a decade ago when Republicans were in power. That’s much more relevant.
Grubergate. Coincidence that the “report” on “torture” came out the same day Jonathan Gruber was hauled in front of Congress to testify about the Democrats’ misleading of the American people – made necessary, he explains, by our “stupidity”? I think not. Speaking of which . . .
ObamaCare. It’s imploding, and even past and present Democrat senators like Chuck Schumer and Tom Harkin are now admitting it’s a train wreck and was a bad idea in the first place. What do you do with that? Change the subject to “torture,” of course!.
Unemployment. Now you might think Democrats would want to talk about this because the unemployment rate as traditionally announced by the Labor Department is down. But you know what? The real unemployment rate, which counts the underemployed and those who have given up looking for work, exceeds 10 percent. Pay much attention to the real employment picture and it’s trouble for Democrats.
The IRS scandal. Oh no, this hasn’t gone away. Lois Lerner’s e-mails have finally been recovered and they are sure to contain a treasure trove of information about how the IRS targeted conservative groups. We already know that certain senators, including Chuck Schumer and Carl Levin, publicly demanded that the IRS do this. Any bets on whether it was understood to be a priority of the Obama White House as well?
The national debt passed $18 trillion in the last couple of weeks, and you barely heard a word about it from the media. Now the “report” on “torture” gives them another excuse to ignore the story. By the way, in case you’ve forgotten, $10 trillion of that was accumulated under the 43 presidents from Washington to Bush. That means $8 trillion has been accumulated under Obama. Now that’s some achievement.
Better change the subject to something! Hey Senator Feinstein! Do we still have that torture report sitting around somewhere? Better release it now or the news cycle is going to kill us!
Garrett Opposes Executive Amnesty with ‘No’ Vote on Omnibus Spending Bill
Dec 11, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) issued the following statement after voting against the $1.1 trillion spending bill that included funding for President Obama’s unconstitutional executive amnesty.
“I remain committed to undoing the damage that President Obama’s unprecedented and wholly unconstitutional executive amnesty is having on our republic. In light of the fact that today’s $1.1 trillion dollar spending bill funds the president’s executive power grab, I cannot support this legislation. In addition, the American people sent a very clear message in November demanding that Congress work together to get things done. As it has done since the start of the 112th Congress, the House should be passing stand-alone funding bills, and following regular order. Passing a 1600-page omnibus is not the course of action the American people demanded.”
Study finds dramatic jump in N.J. heart attacks after Superstorm Sandy struck
DECEMBER 11, 2014, 11:12 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014, 11:16 PM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Superstorm Sandy ripped houses from their foundations, reshaped the Jersey Shore and shuttered countless businesses in October 2012, but now researchers at Rutgers University tell of another devastating consequence: It increased the rate of heart attacks and stroke among people grappling with the disaster, leading to many additional deaths.
In one of the first studies of its kind to look at the health effects of an extreme weather event, a team at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School compared heart attacks and strokes and the deaths they caused in the two weeks following the unprecedented storm with the same two-week period in five previous years.
In the most dramatic finding, researchers found a 22 percent increase in heart attacks — and a 31 percent higher death rate for those patients within a month of being stricken.
“Overall, Sandy likely added 125 cases of MI [myocardial infarctions, or heart attacks] and nearly 70 additional deaths,” the study concluded. “It also likely contributed 36 additional strokes in the most severely hit areas.”
Eight counties — Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Somerset, Sussex and Union — were included in the high-impact area for the analysis.
Ridgewood schools to give update to special needs program
DECEMBER 10, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2014, 10:50 AM
BY JODI WEINBERGER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood is revamping its innovative special needs program with a new name and different structure to better reflect how it works and benefits students.
The Ridgewood Board of Education on Dec. 1 unanimously voted to rename the Ridgewood High School SAIL (Strategic Actions and Innovations for Learning) program to PREP (Practical, Real-Life Education and Preparation), to better describe what it does.
The program will also have a delayed start going forward, and students will not be moved into it until their sophomore year of high school.
Currently students are assigned to the program in eighth grade, but next year will be assigned at the end of ninth grade so they will have a year of classes in the high school’s resource room program before being designated as PREP students in their sophomore year.
The program, which readies students for vocational jobs, has allowed many special education students to stay in district, a benefit to both students and the district’s coffers.
Ridgewood continues its efforts to improve building department
December 11, 2014 Last updated: Thursday, December 11, 2014, 5:01 PM By Laura Herzog
As part of an ongoing effort to make the Building Department more customer-friendly, new director Thomas Yotka will hold office hours for Ridgewood contractors and residents next week.
Yotka will be available between 5 and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16 in the third floor conference room of Village Hall.
Residents are being asked to schedule an appointment.
According to a village press release, “This is an opportunity to meet Tom and share your thoughts and become aware of departmental initiatives for 2015.”
The sessions will be scheduled at 15-minute intervals. Though walk-ins are welcome, the schedule may already be booked, so residents are encouraged to make an appointment by calling the Building Department at 201-670-5500, ext. 506.
The meetings are “an effort to receive feedback, thoughts and suggestions from our customers, residents and local businesses,” Yotka said.
