Reader says all we have been saying for 7 years is Valley’s proposal is too big for Ridgewood
If, FOR SEVEN YEARS, you had been attending meetings, spent hours on your computer trying to educate and inform people on the issue and get them to meetings, fundraised to pay lawyers and planners to get a reasonable proposal and donated thousands of dollars of your families hard earned money towards getting a reasonable proposal, you’d be a bit venomous too.
I think it would be a great idea for you to attend an upcoming Planning Board meeting and tell the Planning Board (and Valley Hospital) exactly what you just said…”You’re a friend/supporter of the hospital, but their proposal is too big for Ridgewood.” That’s all we have been saying for 7 years!!!
Ridgewood YMCA Bookkeeper Accused of diverting funds for personal use
April 17,2014
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that on April 10, 2014 Detective Jeffrey Casson concluded a two month investigation into theft from the YMCA.
On February 4, 2014 representatives from the Ridgewood YMCA filed a report with the Ridgewood Police Department regarding account discrepancies and possible theft.
After investigation by the Ridgewood Police Department with the full cooperation of the YMCA, it was determined that the YMCA bookkeeper, Catherine Easer 54 of Mahwah, had allegedly diverted YMCA funds and used YMCA accounts in the approximate amount of $40,000 for her personal use. On April 10, 2014 she was arrested and charged with 3rd Degree Theft and released.
All defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
Reader says Ms. Hauck has a long and close involvement with Valley Hospital and should recuse herself on any Valley vote
A perceived conflict of interest by legal definition need not entail any financial or business relationship to make it appropriate for an elected or appointed official to recuse on a vote.
Ms. Hauck accepted over $800 on the day of her election from an officer of Valley Hospital. So there’s a little financial hit–not much, but it’s telling. She says she paid it back–so what? It’s on her official campaign contribution list that must be submitted and is posted online.
Before Aronsohn tapped her, no doubt to her amazement, to run for council and become his lapdog in exchange for a vote on Valley, she spoke publicly at a village council hearing, saying that she would trust Valley implicitly to do whatever they wanted.
There are many more indications of her long and close involvement with Valley, notably when she was vice chair of its women’s auxiliary, fundraising to the tune of millions of dollars–a financial relationship that did not put money in her pocket (she didn’t need it) but did put a ton of money in Valley’s. Suddenly she was running for council and abruptly ceased all Valley fundraising and social events. Very convincing.
In short, this was hardly supporting AIDS funding or any real charity, although Valley continues to call itself nonprofit with a treasure chest of many millions.
Officials have recused themselves from votes for much, much less. She may yet see the wisdom of doing so and should be so advised by the Village attorney–he’s paid to advise the council for the good of the Village, right?–since a vote on Valley from her would have serious ramifications, including opening the Village to lawsuits.
Readers says RBSA email seems like a clear violation of the rules concerning a non-profit business participating in politics
Now this seems like a clear violation of the rules concerning a non-profit business participating in politics. Given the corporate sponsors for the teams, I presume that RBSA is a registered 401c3 organization.
Even if this email is just being sent to email addresses collected as part of the non-profit’s activities this is a huge violation of election law. The email is also completely unclear about who is organizing the committee. Is it the RBSA or is it Gary as an individual???
Subject: Albano For Council!
Ladies & Gents of the RBSA and Friends,
As you know, Jim is running for Village Council. While he is not just the “sports candidate”, the issue of the badly needed 90′ field, along with an all purpose field (read: soccer & lax) at Schedler is certainly a timely issue here.
(In case anyone is wondering, like the other two candidates, Jim is opposed to the three high density housing projects before the Planning Board. He realizes however, that the vacant lots of long gone businesses neither benefit nor beautify the Village and is seeking sensible development, that enhances, rather than detracts from our quality of life.
Similarly, he feels the current Valley Hospital expansion proposal, like the one before it, is far too intrusive to the neighborhood and our community as a whole. He recognizes the need for a hospital to stay current and calls on Valley to withdraw the current plan and make more of a good faith effort to work with the community to find a plan that works for all.
If you have any specific questions you’d like Jim to address, he is always available.)
The key to winning is always getting your supporters to the polls. With a paltry 20-22% turnout (maybe less) expected on May 13, that will be even more true in this election. We need to get the youth sports community energized and involved, spearheaded by the largest youth organization in town, the friends and families of the RBSA!
I’m asking two things: will you please take an Albano lawn sign? And, would you be willing to be part of a committee that will coordinate our get out the vote effort? This will involve networking, making lists, sending emails and maybe making a few election day phone calls. The anti-sports forces are mobilizing, so this is crucial!
Please let me know – lawn sign and/or committee? Election is 4 weeks from today, so it’s a short sprint. Time to rock & roll. Thanks for anything you can do.
Buried deep on the website of the U.S. Census Bureau is a number every American citizen, and especially those entrusted with public office, should know. It is 86,429,000.
That is the number of Americans who in 2012 got up every morning and went to work — in the private sector — and did it week after week after week.
These are the people who built America, and these are the people who can sustain it as a free country. The liberal media have not made them famous like the polar bear, but they are truly a threatened species.
It is not a rancher with a few hundred head of cattle that is attacking their habitat, nor an energy company developing a fossil fuel. It is big government and its primary weapon — an ever-expanding welfare state.
First, let’s look at the basic taxonomy of the full-time, year-round American worker.
New Emails Show Lois Lerner Was in Contact With DOJ About Prosecuting Tax Exempt Groups
Katie Pavlich | Apr 16, 2014
According to new IRS emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from Judicial Watch, former head of tax exempt groups at the IRS Lois Lerner was in contact with the Department of Justice in May 2013 about whether tax exempt groups could be criminally prosecuted for “lying” about political activity.
“I got a call today from Richard Pilger Director Elections Crimes Branch at DOJ … He wanted to know who at IRS the DOJ folk s [sic] could talk to about Sen. Whitehouse idea at the hearing that DOJ could piece together false statement cases about applicants who “lied” on their 1024s –saying they weren’t planning on doing political activity, and then turning around and making large visible political expenditures. DOJ is feeling like it needs to respond, but want to talk to the right folks at IRS to see whether there are impediments from our side and what, if any damage this might do to IRS programs. I told him that sounded like we might need several folks from IRS,” Lerner wrote in a May 8, 2013 email to former Nikole C. Flax, who was former-Acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller’s chief of staff.
Ridgewood Girl Scouts propose old-school fitness idea
APRIL 14, 2014 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2014, 4:39 PM
BY BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
A global fitness initiative that boomed in the 1970s has been making its way back into the worldwide psyche, including locally, where four Ridgewood Girl Scouts are shaping their Silver Award project around the idea. Their project, in fact, would produce a greater benefit to the community and coincide with several ongoing healthy living and awareness campaigns.
Three seemingly random apparatuses are currently located alongside trails at Veterans Field and near Maple Park. The equipment is actually part of Ridgewood’s old parcourse, an internationally-embraced concept that rose to popularity in the ’70s. A typical parcourse consists of walkways or trails marked with outdoor fitness equipment that is installed at varying intervals along the path.
Ridgewood’s parcourse was installed in the 1970s, said Troop 1326 leader Bernadette Walsh, who also serves as village councilwoman. In the past, it was a “series of 18 exercise stations … [that] provides warm-up, stretching, muscle strengthening, cardiovascular conditioning and cool down exercises combined with walking, jogging and running.
Glow-in-the-dark roads make debut in Netherlands
11 APRIL 14 by LIAT CLARK
Studio Roosegaarde
Light-absorbing glow-in-the-dark road markings have replaced streetlights on a 500m stretch of highway in the Netherlands.
Studio Roosegaarde promised us the design back in 2012, and after cutting through rather a lot of government red tape we can finally see the finished product.
One Netherlands news report said, “It looks like you are driving through a fairytale,” which pretty much sums up this extraordinary project. The design studio like to bring technology and design to the real world, with practical and beautiful results.
The Summer Music Academy provides lessons and performing opportunities for beginning, intermediate and advanced level musicians. Students from all districts are welcome! Program highlights include string orchestras, jazz bands, woodwind, brass and percussion ensembles, drum set classes and the 2014 Guitar Camp. All students are encouraged to join this dynamic program.
Click here for the brochure and registration form.
Sign Up for Space Camp at Hawes School
Two sessions: June 27 – July 11 or July 14 – July 25
Is your son or daughter interested in Space? Have they completed grades 2-4? Sign them up for summer space camp where they learn astronomy by going into a planetarium, build and launch model rockets, learn about the history of flight, solve problems in groups, play space games, enjoy physical fitness (rope climbing, zip lining, and more), perform experiments and make art projects. It’s going to be a blast!
Tax Revenues Hit Record for First Half of FY 2014
April 15, 2014 – 2:49 PM
By Ali Meyer
(CNSNews.com) — Inflation-adjusted federal tax revenues hit a record $1,320,793,000,000 in the first half of fiscal 2014, but the federal government still ran a $413,264,000,000 deficit during that time, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement for March.
Each month, the Treasury publishes the government’s “total receipts,” including all revenue from individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, social insurance and retirement taxes (including Social Security and Medicare taxes), unemployment insurance taxes, excise taxes, estate and gift taxes, customs duties, and “miscellaneous receipts.”
Security holes in power grid have federal officials scrambling
In Congress, the vulnerability of the power grid has emerged as among the most pressing domestic security concerns.
By Evan Halper
April 7, 2014, 3:00 a.m.
WASHINGTON — Adam Crain assumed that tapping into the computer networks used by power companies to keep electricity zipping through transmission lines would be nearly impossible in these days of heightened vigilance over cybersecurity.
When he discovered how wrong he was, his work sent Homeland Security Department officials into a scramble.
Crain, the owner of a small tech firm in Raleigh, N.C., along with a research partner, found penetrating transmission systems used by dozens of utilities to be startlingly easy. After they shared their discovery with beleaguered utility security officials, the Homeland Security Department began sending alerts to power grid operators, advising them to upgrade their software.
The alerts haven’t stopped because Crain keeps finding new security holes he can exploit.
“There are a lot of people going through various stages of denial” about how easily terrorists could disrupt the power grid, he said. “If I could write a tool that does this, you can be sure a nation state or someone with more resources could.”
Those sorts of warnings, along with vivid demonstrations of the grid’s vulnerability, such as an incident a year ago in which unknown assailants fired on a power station near San Jose, nearly knocking out electricity to Silicon Valley, have grabbed official attention. In Congress, the vulnerability of the power grid has emerged as among the most pressing domestic security concerns.
Obamanomics: if you have money, the democrats want it.
In Case You Didn’t Notice
Happy New Year America
Here is what happened on January 1st 2014:
Top Income tax bracket went from 35% to 39.6%
Top Income payroll tax went from 37.4% to 52.2%
Capital Gains tax went from 15% to 28%
Dividends tax went from 15% to 39.6%
Estate tax went from 0% to 55%
Remember this fact: if you have money, the democrats want it.
These taxes were all passed with Democrat votes only no Republicans voted for these taxes!
These taxes were all passed under the affordable care act, aka Obamacare.
If you think that it is important that everyone in the U.S. should know this, please pass this on to everyone you know.
Wake up America !
RBSA Opening Day Parade & Family Fun Day will be held on Saturday, April 26 from 9am to Noon. The Parade begins at the Ridgewood Train Station followed by Family Fun Day at Veteran’s Memorial Field. Bring your family and enjoy food, activities and the RHS Varsity Baseball Game. We are looking for parent volunteers. If you would like to participate as a volunteer please contact Brendan Buckley; [email protected]
Road Warrior: Distracted driving crashes, deaths called an ‘epidemic’
APRIL 14, 2014, 12:47 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2014, 7:33 PM
BY JOHN CICHOWSKI
RECORD COLUMNIST
THE RECORD
If you’re wondering why police at driver-inattention checkpoints are pulling over a record number of motorists as if they were stray cattle at a roundup, New Jersey’s chief law-enforcement officer offered a compelling reason Monday during a traffic-safety event in Paramus.
Driver inattention contributed to 1.4-million crashes during the 10-year period ending in 2013, said Acting Attorney-General John Hoffman outside Paramus Borough Hall as traffic whizzed by on nearby Route 17. The figure represents roughly half the road crashes reported by police during that period as captured in state Department of Transportation records.
It also includes 1,600 deaths, factors Hoffman described as an epidemic.
“We need to put an end to the epidemic… and close the book on the distracted driving decade,” Hoffman said. What troubled him most, he added, was the general perception that the epidemic “seems to be getting progressively worse.”
In 2004, distractions represented 42 percent of all road crashes, a figure that gradually rose to 53 percent last year, he added.
