Sabotage at Nogales station puts focus on threats to grid
The FBI is investigating whether a makeshift bomb placed next to a 50,000-gallon diesel tank at an Arizona power station Wednesday has any connection to a suspicious incident this year at another substation owned by the same company.
New details are emerging from the Nogales, Ariz., attack, which caused minor damage and no injuries.
Contrary to initial accounts, the bomb did not explode. Nogales police Lt. Carlos Jimenez described it as a crude incendiary device that could fit in a person’s hand. It was placed under the valve of the diesel tank and ignited, charring the steel tank.
“They were able to gain access to the facility illegally,” Jimenez said. “They had some working knowledge of what that tank is or how it works.”
The attackers failed to understand that diesel has a high flash point and is difficult to ignite.
JUNE 14, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2014, 1:21 AM BY CHRIS HARRIS STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
HO-HO-KUS — Residents opposed to a proposal to subdivide nearly four acres of mostly wooded land into 11 single-home plots questioned whether the project will cause flooding in their neighborhood.
The residents spoke at Thursday night’s Planning Board hearing on the planned project, known as the Hollows at Ho-Ho-Kus. Nine couples living around the proposed subdivision have hired Ho-Ho-Kus attorney Robert Inglima to represent them before the board.
The parcel — site of a large single-family house and a number of accessory structures — is located at West Saddle River Road and Hollywood Avenue, extending to Van Dyke Drive.
Those opposed to the project argue approving the subdivision would fundamentally change the character of the neighborhood.
They further predict the project will have a negative impact on natural drainage throughout the surrounding neighborhood.
Many of the residents, who directed questions at the developer’s engineer and planner, Mark Palus, were concerned about water runoff and groundwater recharge, and whether the 22 seepage pits called for in the plans will suffice.
Both Palus and Bruce Whitaker, an attorney representing the applicants, contend the project will improve drainage in the area, and not overburden the borough’s sewage and water systems.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/housing-proposal-draws-protest-1.1035318#sthash.0dJREsno.dpuf
Reader asks Do you ever get the feeling that Village officials think the public is stupid?
The road improvement project begins. Subsequently, a clay conduit under the roadway collapses. Massive traffic delays occur as a result of the conduit repair work. But the Village Manager says that those traffic delays should not blamed on the road improvement project.
If the road improvment project had not been undertaken, the conduit would not have collapsed. Therefore, the traffic delays should be blamed on the road improvment project, right?
Wilsey Square Project a ridiculous waste of other peoples money
This whole project seems to be designed around a $146,000 Federal grant that must include a bike lane. It is a ridiculous waste of other peoples money. Now we are spending $350K of the Village Taxpayers money and $146k of Federal Taxpayers money to create an unusable bike lane and choking a 4 lane road to 2 lanes which will result in all day traffic jams and create a safety issue regarding emergency vehicles.
The Village could have repaved the existing road for $150K.Just plain wasteful and stupid.
JUNE 13, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014, 4:09 PM BY LAURA HERZOG STAFF WRITER
When it comes to improving student culture surrounding social media, who better to turn to than students themselves?
Students who participated in the first Ridgewood High School Student Leadership Summit worked on solutions to challenges, including ways to increase school spirit.
That was the thinking of Ridgewood High School (RHS) administrators, who recently consulted with students after a social media crisis this past May was caused by Yik Yak, a localized app that allows people to make anonymous comments. Using the app, a 17-year-old boy made an anonymous gun threat on May 13 that targeted RHS. After an around-the-clock police investigation, the boy was found and taken into custody.
But there were problems with the app even before that event, administrators said.
“Students that I talked to shared that there were just horrendous, horrible things written about other students, about us staff members,” said RHS Assistant Principal Basil Pizzuto. “There were some students really hurt by it, really, really hurt by it, and kind of still struggling with what they went through.”
In order to improve this situation, administrators – including Pizzuto – decided to talk directly to students. “Student leaders” identified by faculty were emailed an invitation to discuss the issue with adults on May 28.
Ultimately, 10 students gave up their monthly sleep-in day to discuss social media and school culture in the RHS Campus Center.
Photo credit:Boyd A. Loving Storm damage, Willard School area, Ridgewood Boyd A. Loving 7:37 PM
Ridgewood NJ, A late Friday afternoon thunderstorm felled dozens of trees that blocked streets and cut electric power to many homes in the Willard School area of Ridgewood. Similar conditions/damage were also reported in sections of Midland Park and Wyckoff.
IRS Claims to Have Lost Over 2 Years of Lerner Emails…ah yea that’s believable Jun 13 2014
Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement regarding the Internal Revenue Service informing the Committee that they have lost Lois Lerner emails from a period of January 2009 – April 2011. Due to a supposed computer crash, the agency only has Lerner emails to and from other IRS employees during this time frame. The IRS claims it cannot produce emails written only to or from Lerner and outside agencies or groups, such as the White House, Treasury, Department of Justice, FEC, or Democrat offices.
“The fact that I am just learning about this, over a year into the investigation, is completely unacceptable and now calls into question the credibility of the IRS’s response to Congressional inquiries. There needs to be an immediate investigation and forensic audit by Department of Justice as well as the Inspector General.
“Just a short time ago, Commissioner Koskinen promised to produce all Lerner documents. It appears now that was an empty promise. Frankly, these are the critical years of the targeting of conservative groups that could explain who knew what when, and what, if any, coordination there was between agencies. Instead, because of this loss of documents, we are conveniently left to believe that Lois Lerner acted alone. This failure of the IRS requires the White House, which promised to get to the bottom of this, to do an Administration-wide search and production of any emails to or from Lois Lerner. The Administration has repeatedly referred us back to the IRS for production of materials. It is clear that is wholly insufficient when it comes to determining the full scope of the violation of taxpayer rights.”
Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany Jr., M.D. (R-LA) added, “In the course of the Committee’s investigation, the Administration repeatedly claimed we were getting access to all relevant IRS documents. Only now – thirteen months into the investigation – the IRS reveals that key emails from the time of the targeting have been lost. And they bury that fact deep in an unrelated letter on a Friday afternoon. In that same letter, they urge Congress to end the investigations into IRS wrongdoing. This is not the transparency promised to the American people. If there is no smidgeon of corruption what is the Administration hiding?”
Music in the Night sponsored by the Ridgewood Guild.
Music in the Night sponsored by the Ridgewood Guild. Here’s tonight’s performing line up [weather permitting]:
Dominic – Raymond’s Banished to the Basement – MacMurphy’s Young Monroe – The Daily Treat George Shabet – Ridgewood Coffee Bryan Laiks – Starbuck’s Phil P. and the Viva Vallenato Badass Accordion Band – Ben & Jerry’s Chris Ferrante – East Coast Burger
Sun, June 22, 2014 – Sun, November 02, 2014 Time: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM West Side of NJ Transit Train Station, Ridgewood NJ14 years of great NJ Farm fresh food.
Everyone is back for another great year.
Two NJ Farmers
delicious baker, pickles, jams, mozzarella
Fresh every week.
Join us every Sunday, 9-3pm on the westside of the NJ Transit Ridgewood train station.
call for more information 201-445-2600.
see you there…bring the family.
JUNE 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2014, 5:41 PM Dave Slomin
To the Editor:
I am writing as father of two young boys and as leader of Ridgewood’s Pack 44 Cub Scouts, with responsibility and concern for the safety of 100 boys. As such, I am very troubled by the dangers I see inherent in the design of the new underpass bike lane.
I applaud the Village Council for making changes to correct issues in the plans and process of the Garber and Wilsey Square Underpass Roadwork Project. While I continue to question the overall design and ultimate necessity of this project, I believe that narrowing the median to create a “contingency plan,” whereby the two lost traffic lanes can be restored if traffic problems occur, is important and appreciated. But, unfortunately, we can’t stop there.
The same good leadership that went into correcting the median now needs to be applied to an unfettered look at the safety issues of the bike lane. Your June 6 article (“Vote on changes prompted by protests,” The Ridgewood News, A1) quoted me as saying: “there are some good parts to the project, but the bike lane is not one of them.” A clear explanation of this bike lane’s dangers is important. As an avid cyclist myself, I am all for “bike lanes.” Just not this one. Here’s why:
Common sense should dictate board’s vote June 12, 2014 Last updated: Thursday, June 12, 2014, 5:40 PM John Hersperger
To the editor:
Residents might argue the merits of Valley Hospital’s master plan amendment request, but can’t we all agree that when our Planning Board deliberates on the expansion next Tuesday, it should consider its potential effect on the Ridgewood we know and love? Some members may envision changes that are mostly detrimental, others may see more benefits. This might all sound so obvious you are probably asking why I’m even writing this, but at the close of Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting, what seemed obvious came into question.
In what may have been a legal threat, Valley attorney Jon Drill argued that the Board would be “in error” if it uses existing conditions as the baseline for evaluating the marginal benefits and detriments of the 2013 proposal. Instead, he claims the board can debate only whether the 2013 amendment is superior to the 2010 version, which our Village Council unanimously declined to codify in 2011. And because the current plan is somewhat smaller in scope than its predecessor, Mr. Drill says the board can’t legally say “no” to it. So according to Mr. Drill, the board can’t consider how the new plan might affect existing conditions such light, space, traffic or quality of life, and moreover, must consent to Valley’s new plan. Does any Ridgewood resident believe we have ceded our zoning power to Valley?
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-board-should-use-common-sense-when-making-decisions-1.1034642#sthash.mBPEzMcD.dpuf
JUNE 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2014, 5:42 PM Lisa Baney
To the Editor:
Let me start by saying I could never be a Planning Board member, but if I were, I would be so tired. Over the past 14 months, they have had to attend 26 sometimes very long hearings, and listen to and dissect thousands of pages of testimony focusing on details and information that any normal human could scarcely nail down. All in response to a prestigious applicant, Valley Hospital, and its application for a master plan amendment that would allow its near-doubling of size at its location at South Van Dien Avenue next to the Benjamin Franklin Middle School.
It has become evident through this process that there are many different ways to slice and dice the data. By that, I mean a litany of measurements such as square footage, lot coverage, floor area ratios, shadow lines, changes of buffers, heights and setbacks at various sections of the buildings and property. Moreover, the board members have needed to distinguish each of these measures according to the current 2014 expansion proposal, the former 2010 proposal and what exists today. Add differing testimony on hospital beds needed, numbers and types of trucks during specific years and stages of construction, possible impact on child safety and schools, and a magnitude of other information – most importantly village character.
If I were a Planning Board member, I would see three things through all these nights.
1. Land use is primary as the basis of a master plan change.
2. As a key burden of proof, the applicant for the master plan change has not substantiated why it is absolutely necessary to conduct this degree of expansion on its main hospital campus. Valley affirms that this scale of expansion, at its current location, is the only way to well serve both our village and region, and that it is cost-prohibitive to relocate additional services, re-think its bed counts here, or follow other paths to modernize – based on elements of a business plan that it chooses not to make clear.
3. There is more than enough reason to believe that the detriments of this permanent change to our village outweigh the positives, and that the hospital has not made a convincing case to the contrary.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-planning-board-members-have-much-to-consider-1.1034646#sthash.6Qg61KBE.dpuf
JUNE 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2014, 5:43 PM Melinda Wagner
To the editor:
When my husband and I began attending Planning Board meetings years ago, we were deeply annoyed with Valley Hospital, whose officials had already drawn up elaborate plans to double in size while neglecting to consult the taxpayers who would have to endure years of construction, and its permanent aftermath (to date, residents have yet to be consulted).
More than eight years later – after countless meetings, thousands of dollars, and numerous, stressful hours, my family is no longer annoyed. We are furious!
Valley wants to place a structure the size of Paramus Park Mall in the middle of a neighborhood of single-family homes, three schools, and playing fields – an area traversed by many hundreds of children daily. In order to get their way, Valley officials have spun, sliced and diced the “facts,” treated residents with disrespect, and have consistently failed to address the matter at hand. It is this last point that I find most infuriating. Indeed, every single argument in support of this gargantuan project has been specious, beside the point, and misleading – no matter how compelling, heartwarming or dire.
