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Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

Is Western Media Ignoring a Violent Political Crackdown in the Socialist Utopia of Venezuela?

Is Western Media Ignoring a Violent Political Crackdown in the Socialist Utopia of Venezuela?

Ed Krayewski|Feb. 20, 2014 4:52 pm

Venezuela has seen protests against Nicolas Maduro’s failing government for weeks, and they escalated after opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez surrendered himself to government authorities on charges of inciting violence.

Francisco Toro at the Caracas Chronicles writes that a state-sponsored campaign of violence in Venezuela last night has changed the nature of what’s happening in the country:

There are now dozens of serious human right abuses: National Guardsmen shooting tear gas canisters directly into residential buildings. We have videos of soldiers shooting civilians on the street. And that’s just what came out in real time, over Twitter and YouTube, before any real investigation is carried out. Online media is next, a city of 645,000 inhabitants has been taken off the internet amid mounting repression, and this blog itself has been the object of a Facebook “block” campaign.

What we saw were not “street clashes”, what we saw is a state-hatched offensive to suppress and terrorize its opponents.

After the major crackdown on the streets of major (and minor) Venezuelan cities last night, I expected some kind of response in the major international news outlets this morning. I understand that with an even bigger and more photogenic freakout ongoing in an even more strategically important country, we weren’t going to be front-page-above-the-fold, but I’m staggered this morning to wake up, scan the press and find…

https://reason.com/blog/2014/02/20/is-western-media-ignoring-a-violent-poli

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

Transportation Experts Urge Bistate Blue-Ribbon Panel to Fix Port Authority

Transportation Experts Urge Bistate Blue-Ribbon Panel to Fix Port Authority

Robins, Doig say Assembly GOP plan ignores lesson of Bridgegate by giving governors too much power.

Calling for the creation of a bistate commission to reform the embattled Port Authority, two of New Jersey’s leading transportation policy experts yesterday said legislation proposed by Assembly Republicans ignores the lessons of Bridgegate by giving too much power to the state’s governors.

Martin E. Robins, director emeritus of Rutgers University’s Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute, and Jameson W. Doig, author of the definitive history of the Port Authority, endorsed Assembly Republican proposals to enhance ethics, transparency, and financial disclosure at the Port Authority.

But Robins and Doig both sharply criticized the logic of the main reform the GOP legislators proposed to protect the agency from political interference. (Magyar/NJSpotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/02/21/transportation-experts-urge-bistate-blue-ribbon-panel-to-fix-port-authority/

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

GOVERNOR: COLORADO POT MARKET EXCEEDS TAX HOPES

GOVERNOR: COLORADO POT MARKET EXCEEDS TAX HOPES

By KRISTEN WYATT
— Feb. 19, 2014 5:50 PM EST

DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s legal marijuana market is far exceeding tax expectations, according to a budget proposal released Wednesday by Gov. John Hickenlooper that gives the first official estimate of how much the state expects to make from pot taxes.

The proposal outlines plans to spend some $99 million next fiscal year on substance abuse prevention, youth marijuana use prevention and other priorities. The money would come from a statewide 12.9 percent sales tax on recreational pot. Colorado’s total pot sales next fiscal year were estimated to be about $610 million.

Retail sales began Jan. 1 in Colorado. Sales have been strong, though exact figures for January sales won’t be made public until early next month.

The governor predicted sales and excise taxes next fiscal year would produce some $98 million, well above a $70 million annual estimate given to voters when they approved the pot taxes last year. The governor also includes taxes from medical pot, which are subject only to the statewide 2.9 percent sales tax.

https://bigstory.ap.org/article/colorado-governor-reveals-pot-tax-spending-plan

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

Dueling strategists assess Bergen County Exec’s race as Dems turn to Tedesco

Dueling strategists assess Bergen County Exec’s race as Dems turn to Tedesco

HACKENSACK – The battle lines in the Bergen County Executive’s race became more sharply drawn this week when the Bergen Democrats lined up behind Freeholder James Tedesco’s candidacy in advance of their March convention. But Kathleen Donovan, the Republican incumbent, is expected to be tough to beat in a county where she has been a public servant for decades and has high name recognition.

Two partisan strategists spoke to PolitickerNJ.com on the condition of anonymity to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of their respective candidates.

“Kathe Donovan has great name recognition. Do people know Lou, I mean Jim, Tedesco? It’s an honest mistake,” said a Bergen Republican strategist. “This is his first year as a freeholder, and now he’s running for county executive. There are 70 towns in Bergen County, and Kathe Donovan has been a hard campaigner in every one of them.” (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)

Dueling strategists assess Bergen County Exec’s race as Dems turn to Tedesco | Politicker NJ

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

New Jersey gets $9 million in federal funds for improving schools

New Jersey gets $9 million in federal funds for improving schools

Poorly performing public schools in New Jersey can apply for part of $9 million in federal “turn around” money awarded to the state on Thursday.

In all, nine states will receive more than $71 million in School Improvement Grants, the federal education department announced. It is the third round of funding for the program, which began in 2010.

School districts must apply by April 1 for the money, which can be used for such things as staff changes, teacher training, technology and curriculum improvements.

About 20 schools in urban New Jersey have participated in the program including Schools 4 and 10 in Paterson, which have each received about $6 million, according to the state education department’s website.

Paterson will apply on behalf of two other schools this go around, said Terry Corallo, spokeswoman for the district. She declined to say which schools. (Alex/The Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/New_Jersey_gets_9_million_in_federal_funds_for_improving_schools.html#sthash.Q8XxQqiR.dpuf

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — 3 Comments

40,000 tons of New Jersey’s rock salt still stuck in Searsport

40,000 tons of New Jersey’s rock salt still stuck in Searsport

NEW YORK — Rock salt was in short supply in the Northeast on Tuesday after successive winter storms led to critical shortages in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, while New Jersey scrambled to secure a huge shipment stuck at a port in Maine.

The shortages come as the East Coast was slammed by a third winter storm system in a single week, leaving many states over budget for snow removal and running low on critical supplies, such as rock salt, which is used to help melt ice- and snow-packed roads and public areas.

The 40,000 tons of rock salt remained in Searsport, Maine, days after New Jersey was denied a waiver of federal shipping rules that would have allowed an available foreign-flagged vessel to bring it into a Newark port.

Instead, efforts to get the ice-melting material to New Jersey remained stymied by the 1920 Maritime Act, also known as the Jones Act, enacted to protect the American shipping industry from foreign competition.

“It’s very frustrating. We could have had that shipment here by this past weekend,” said New Jersey Department of Transportation spokesman Joe Dee. Salt supplies were running so low in the state that crews were “scraping the bottom of the barrel,” he said. (Cavaliere/Bangor Daily News)

https://bangordailynews.com/2014/02/18/news/state/40000-tons-of-new-jerseys-rock-salt-stuck-in-searsport/

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — 1 Comment

Toshiko d’Elia, Ridgewood running champion, dies at 84

Toshiko d’Elia, Ridgewood running champion, dies at 84

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2014, 4:19 PM
BY JAY LEVIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Toshiko d’Elia took up running at 42, going on predawn jogs through Ridgewood with her daughter.

Within several years, she was setting world records for her age.

Mrs. d’Elia, founder of the North Jersey Masters Track & Field Club and the first woman over 50 to complete a marathon in under three hours, died Wednesday from complications of a brain tumor. She was 84.

The Japanese-born Mrs. d’Elia, a Ridgewood resident since 1961, saw running as a “wonderful companion” and “a supportive tool to get me places.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/Toshiko_dElia_Ridgewood_running_champion_dies_at_84.html#sthash.75jqfiuH.dpuf

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — 5 Comments

Winter is taking its toll on Ridgewood

pile of snow at Graydon Pool

Winter is taking its toll on Ridgewood

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2014, 4:42 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS AND LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITERS
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Following a snowstorm that lasted from Feb. 4 to 5, longtime resident Sal Falciglia saw a car stuck in the snow in downtown Ridgewood on Feb. 6, and couldn’t take it anymore.

“Our road department in Ridgewood is the worst road department in the world,” he said.

The plowing on Rock Road in Glen Rock was much closer to the curb than plowing he had seen in Ridgewood, he said, and “all my neighbors are sick and tired of it.”

Maureen Wolfson, who has lived in the village for 30 years, called this “the worst year ever” for snow removal. She “almost broke [her] neck” trying to put money in a parking meter at the train station, where the sidewalks were poorly shoveled, she said.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/246405921_Winter_is_taking_its_toll_on_Ridgewood.html#sthash.PWaPPjnd.dpuf

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — 8 Comments

Ridgewood settles “to cut costs and limit our exposure.”with woman injured in fall

Ridgewood settles “to cut costs and limit our exposure.”with woman injured in fall
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2014
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — The Village Council agreed Wednesday to pay a Ho-Ho-Kus woman $15,000, settling a lawsuit filed last year after a slip-and-fall incident.

According to Village Attorney Matt Rogers, the suit was filed after the woman, Mary Somerwitz, tripped while walking near Ridgewood’s border with Ho-Ho-Kus.

Rogers said Somerwitz tripped while traversing a sidewalk running on a residential road. A portion of the sidewalk, Rogers said, had risen an inch or so from the slabs in front and behind it, causing Somerwitz to stumble and fall.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/246480801_Ridgewood_settles_with_woman_injured_in_fall.html#sthash.20qrvIdh.dpuf

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — 2 Comments

Mystery cell phone tower in Ridgewood disappears

photo by Boyd Loving

Mystery cell phone tower in Ridgewood disappears

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2014, 4:27 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

A temporary cell tower that AT&T placed in Ridgewood without village notice has been removed, but possibly not for long.

On Feb. 10, the company submitted an application to the zoning board to temporarily install “what I assume is the exact same equipment that was the subject of the court summons … in the same location,” Ridgewood Zoning Officer Tony Merlino said in an email on Tuesday. “The process has begun to find them a spot on the zoning board’s agenda for a hearing.”

The temporary cell tower, which was roughly 100 feet tall and stood on a trailer, was removed on Feb. 11 from the Exxon Mobil station on Route 17, behind a building at 609 Franklin Turnpike.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/246402961_Mystery_cell_phone_tower_in_Ridgewood_disappears.html#sthash.IDps8AKi.dpuf

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — 1 Comment

Various options for North Walnut Street redevelopment in Ridgewood

Various options for North Walnut Street redevelopment in Ridgewood

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2014, 4:33 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

After a three-month hiatus on discussion about the proposal, the North Walnut Street Redevelopment Plan was reviewed at a Planning Board meeting on Tuesday.

Village Planner Blais Brancheau noted that, with the village’s many aims for the site, “trade-offs” will be needed to attract a developer. Brancheau was asked to discuss the North Walnut Street plan again at the end of the March 18 Valley Hospital hearing.

The plan was drafted for the village around 2007 by the consulting firm The Metro Company to address concerns with two municipal parking lots and specific adjoining properties on Franklin Avenue, North Walnut Street and Oak Street.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/246404171_Various_options_for_North_Walnut_Street_redevelopment_in_Ridgewood.html#sthash.IL1vpBSF.dpuf

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — 22 Comments

Police roster limit to be removed in Ridgewood

photo by Boyd Loving

Police roster limit to be removed in Ridgewood
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2014, 5:09 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Ridgewood has started the administrative process to eliminate the maximum number of patrol officers and detectives allowed in the police department, a move that may ultimately give the village permission to unfreeze conditional offers of employment that were extended to two recruits in January.

The Village Council on Wednesday introduced the enacting ordinance, which states that the police department will consist of “so many officers/detectives as may be authorized from time to time.” The ordinance still limits the department to no more than four lieutenants and five sergeants, while the top brass remains at one chief and two captains.

The governing body will consider adoption of the new law during a special public hearing March 5.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/246403461_Police_roster_limit_to_be_removed_in_Ridgewood.html#sthash.vaUrMP8G.dpuf

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — 1 Comment

Report: Farmers’ Almanac more accurate than government climate scientists

Report: Farmers’ Almanac more accurate than government climate scientists

This exceptionally cold and snowy winter has shown that government climate scientists were dead wrong when it came to predicting just how cold this winter would be, while the 197-year old Farmers’ Almanac predicted this winter would be “bitterly cold”.

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) predicted temperatures would be “above normal from November through January across much of the lower 48 states.”

This, however, was dead wrong. As Bloomberg notes, the CPC underestimated the “mammoth December cold wave, which brought snow to Dallas and chilled partiers in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.”

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

Welcome to Fascism 101: The FCC Wades Into the Newsroom

Welcome to Fascism 101: The FCC Wades Into the Newsroom

Why is the agency studying ‘perceived station bias’ and asking about coverage choices?

Feb. 10, 2014 7:26 p.m. ET

News organizations often disagree about what Americans need to know. MSNBC, for example, apparently believes that traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., is the crisis of our time. Fox News, on the other hand, chooses to cover the September 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi more heavily than other networks. The American people, for their part, disagree about what they want to watch.

But everyone should agree on this: The government has no place pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.

Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission, where I am a commissioner, does not agree. Last May the FCC proposed an initiative to thrust the federal government into newsrooms across the country. With its “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs,” or CIN, the agency plans to send researchers to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run. A field test in Columbia, S.C., is scheduled to begin this spring.

The purpose of the CIN, according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about “the process by which stories are selected” and how often stations cover “critical information needs,” along with “perceived station bias” and “perceived responsiveness to underserved populations.”

https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304680904579366903828260732

Posted on February 20, 2014February 20, 2014 by James — Leave a comment

Home builder sentiment index logs sharpest drop ever

Home builder sentiment index logs sharpest drop ever

Published: Tuesday, 18 Feb 2014 | 10:00 AM ET
By: Diana Olick | CNBC Real Estate Reporter

Sentiment among the nation’s home builders fell dramatically in February, and while builders blame much of it on the weather, that is not the whole picture. Confidence fell 10 points, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ monthly sentiment index, from 56 to 46—the largest drop in the history of the survey, which started in 1985.

Fifty is the line between positive and negative sentiment. The index has not been below 50 since May.

“Significant weather conditions across most of the country led to a decline in buyer traffic last month,” said the association’s chairman Kevin Kelly, a home builder and developer from Wilmington, Del. “Builders also have additional concerns about meeting ongoing and future demand due to a shortage of lots and labor.”

https://www.cnbc.com/id/101423771

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