Consumer confidence plunges in May
Associated PressAssociated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans’ confidence in the economy in May had its biggest drop in eight months as consumers fretted about slow hiring, a big stock market drop and the global economy, says a private research group.
The Conference Board says its Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 64.9, down from a revised 68.7 in April. It was the biggest drop since October 2011.
The New Jersey Choral Society presents “symphony of voices”, the stunning finale to its 2011-2012 season, on Friday, June 1 at 8:00 pm at the West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 South Monroe Street, Ridgewood, NJ. The choir will be performing with world-class soloists Jessica Rivera and Mark Womack, the Connecticut Choral Society, and a symphonic orchestra of fifty-one musicians.
A second performance will be held on Sunday, June 3 at 3:00 pm at the Naugatuck Valley Community College Fine Arts Center in Waterbury, CT. Under the direction of dynamic conductor Eric Dale Knapp, the choir will present Ralph Vaughan Williams’ monumental work, “A Sea Symphony”. When it was first presented to British audiences in the early years of the twentieth century, “A Sea Symphony” marked the beginning of a new age of both philosophical thought and musical excellence.
Drawing from the poetry of Walt Whitman, Vaughan Williams embraced the idea of a sea voyage as a metaphor for the voyage through life of the human soul. Organist Linda Sweetman-Waters will perform the finale of Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony”. Guest soloist, soprano Jessica Rivera, has been established as one of the most creatively inspired vocal artists of today. Her voice has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for its “effortless precision and tonal luster”, and the New York Times calls her “vocally luminous”. Mark Womack, baritone soloist, continues to garner praise for his commanding vocal and dramatic interpretations, both in the operatic and theatrical worlds as well as that of the classical musician. He has been hailed for his “rich clear voice and good looks” by the Salt Lake Tribune, and as “strikingly warm, gracefully honey-toned,” by Opera News.
Come one hour prior to concert time for The Inside Line, a complimentary lecture about the music for all ticket holders. In support of the Center for Food Action, the New Jersey Choral Society will be collecting nonperishable food items at the Ridgewood concert. The Center for Food Action is a non-profit organization that provides emergency food, rental and utility assistance, counseling and advocacy for people in need.
Advance tickets for June 1 are $30.00 for general admission, $27.00 for students, seniors, and patrons with disabilities, and $12 for children 12 and under (Add $5.00 at the door). Group discounts are available. West Side Presbyterian Church is wheelchair accessible. For reservations or more information, visit https://www.NJCS.org or call the New Jersey Choral Society at (201) 379-7719. Funding has been made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts
BOE gives preferential treatment to ex-board member Charles Reilly’s comments
May 24.2012
the staff of the ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, we have just been told by the BOE that trustee Jim Morgan can participate in contract negotiations with Ridgewood schools superintendent Daniel Fishbein . Are we the only ones who find this offensive ? The Board of Education (BOE) actually took time out of its busy schedule to entertain the ramblings of a former BOE member Charlie Reilly who currently to our knowledge represents no one to pass judgement on the qualifications of a freely elected BOE trustee Jim Morgan .
The BOE decided that Jim Morgan is “permitted” to participate in upcoming contract negotiations with Superintendent of Schools Daniel Fishbein despite the objection of at least one member of the public? One member of the public?
When the entire town objected to the “dumb dumb math program” its was still rammed down every one’s throats . So maybe the real question is when did the BOE become so concerned with what one or any member of the public has to say ? Lets face it this is the gang that wants to eliminate public comments from the BOE meetings.
Jim Morgan, was elected by the voters of Ridgewood to a one-year term in April, because he is long-time school district watchdog who in the past has been critical of Fishbein and the administration along with many other residents .
So now the BOE has the power to pass judgement on free speech or disqualify people because the disagree with a board policy ? I don’t think so
Perhaps a renewed focus on the “Tradition of Excellence ” in education would be in order instead of wasting the BOE’s precious time with the misplaced ramblings and preferential treatment for ex-board members.
Sanford judge rules in favor of motorist who flashed his headlights
By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
6:33 p.m. EST, May 22, 2012
A judge in Sanford ruled Tuesday that a Lake Mary man was lawfully exercising his First Amendment rights when he flashed his headlights to warn neighbors that a deputy had set up a speed trap nearby.
That decision is another victory for Ryan Kintner, 25, who sued the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office last year, accusing it of misconstruing a state law and violating his civil rights, principally his right to free speech.
Obama’s war on coal hits your electric bill
By Phil Kerpen
Published May 22, 2012
| FoxNews.com
Obama’s War on Coal has already taken a remarkable toll on coal-fired power plants in America.
Last week the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a shocking drop in power sector coal consumption in the first quarter of 2012. Coal-fired power plants are now generating just 36 percent of U.S. electricity, versus 44.6 percent just one year ago.
It’s the result of an unprecedented regulatory assault on coal that will leave us all much poorer.
Last week PJM Interconnection, the company that operates the electric grid for 13 states (Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia) held its 2015 capacity auction. These are the first real, market prices that take Obama’s most recent anti-coal regulations into account, and they prove that he is keeping his 2008 campaign promise to make electricity prices “necessarily skyrocket.”
Published On: May 22 2012 03:47:45 AM EDT Updated On: May 22 2012 08:55:06 AM EDT
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -SpaceX sent its Falcon 9 rocket and unmanned Dragon capsule soaring off a Cape Canaveral launch pad early Tuesday, heading for an historic rendezvous with the International Space Station.
The rocket lifted off into dark skies above the Space Coast at 3:44 a.m.
Some 11 minutes after launch, the solar arrays deployed on the Dragon spacecraft, prompting cheers and high-fives among SpaceX employees in the Hawthorne, Calif. mission control center. The solar array deployment had been considered the first big post-launch test.
Gregg Allman at BOOKENDS Wednesday, May 23rd @ 7:00pm
Founder of The Allman Bros Band, will sign his book, My Cross to Bear
Books will be on sale on a first-come, first-served basis starting Tues, May 1st and we will only be selling 300 books. 1 book per person which entitles 2 people into the event. Receipt from Bookends is REQUIRED for entry into the event
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.
While we try to insure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
The Freedom Of The U.S. Capital Markets Is Under Attack
By REP. SCOTT GARRETT Posted 05/14/2012 06:14 PM ET
Are you fed up with our lackluster recovery and stubbornly high unemployment? Do you wonder why, three years after we officially pulled out of the Great Recession, we still haven’t hit our economic stride? Look no further than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The reason economic growth is stuck in neutral is because the Obama administration is determined to regulate risk out of our capital markets. Put another way, President Obama believes that state-controlled capitalism is the best path to economic prosperity.
As a free-market capitalist, I couldn’t disagree more with President Obama’s vision for America’s economy. I believe that market-driven capitalism fueled by free ideas, free people and the freedom to take risk is what creates economic prosperity.
Robust economic growth requires healthy and dynamic capital markets, the ability to access credit and some good old-fashioned competition. In the past, policies mindful of basic economics allowed our capital markets to become the deepest and most liquid in the world.
In fact, our capital markets became the envy of the world specifically because government got out of the way so that they could flourish and grow.
Unfortunately, the story has changed dramatically over the last few years. Because of laws like Dodd-Frank and the tidal wave of regulations that are drowning our capital markets, pools of private capital have dried up, jobs creation has been placed on life support, and the global supremacy of our capital markets is now in jeopardy.
PUBLIC FORUMS ON SCHEDLER PROPERTY – May 16 Ridge School & May 29 VH Court Room
The Village of Ridgewood Open Space Committee will conduct a series of three public forums to discuss future development of the Schedler Property located at Route 17 North and West Saddle River Road in Ridgewood. The date and location of the meetings are Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at Ridge School and Tuesday, May 29 in the Court Room, 4th Floor at Ridgewood Village Hall. All of the meetings will begin at 7:30PM and end at 9:00PM.
The purpose of the meetings are to gather community input regarding a development plan for the Schedler property and to gauge the level of interest in funding the development through private contributions. At each meeting, following a brief presentation by the Open Space Committee, the floor will be open to interested residents to express their comments, ideas and concerns.
For further information, visit the Open Space Committee’s page on the Village of Ridgewood website under “Boards and Committees” www.ridgewoodnj.net/department.detail.cfm?dept id=84
For further information, contact the Village’s Director of Parks and Recreation, Tim Cronin at tcronin@ridgewoodnj.net or by calling 201/670-5560.
long-term jobless Americans forced off federal extended benefits program
May 11 2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood ,NJ Over 200,000 long-term jobless Americans in California, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Texas will lose their unemployment checks this week, when eight states roll off the federal extended benefits program.
Nearly half of them live in California. The federal extended benefits program has provided the jobless with up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment checks after they’ve run through their state and their federal emergency benefits, which together last up to 79 weeks.
But the extended benefits program is expiring throughout the country as the the Obama administration claims the economy improving. States must show that its unemployment rate is at least 10% or more to be eligible for the program .
State unemployment rates have been falling as more and more workers exit the workforce and the job market shrinks .
Already, 25 states have rolled off the extended benefits program, with 15 of them exiting last month alone. But more unemployed folks will be affected by this week’s cessation than April’s, when about 135,000 people saw their payments end.
Project Pride Committee will plant the large containers with a wide variety of colorful flowers for the summer season on Saturday, May 12th starting at 9am at the Clock tower at Van Neste Square. If you are able to volunteer and help, please call 201/670-5560 for more details.
Lugar Loss Highlights how out of touch DC insiders are to voters
Friday, May 11, 2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood ,NJ America’s Political Class.continues to act in ways contrary to the people they are supposed to represent . Many in Washington, D.C. took delusional comfort over the past year in polling data showing that fewer voters now consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement.
According to Rasmussen In recent surveys only 13% of voters identify with the tea party today, just about half its peak in 2010. This gave comfort to those in power, suggesting voters were willing to let the politicians return to politics as usual.
But recent events such as the defeat of 36-year incumbent Senator Richard Lugar in the Indiana Republican primary election who was often viewed by the Tea Party members as the poster boy for the inside the belt way kiss -asses has given DC insiders pause for panic again.
Politicians seemed to have missed that the supposed declining membership in the Tea Party did not mean a decline in anger at the Political Class. The Tea Party has highlighted over and over the twin problems of continuous government spending growth and a self-serving Political Class that is totally out of touch with voters.
The disconnect is highlighted by the fact that government spending has gone up every single year for 58 years even though voters have continually elected politicians who promise every election to cut that spending. Contrary to popular belief voters are ready to make the hard choices needed to cut spending and balance the budget, but the Political Class is more interested in pursuing its own agenda.
Again according to Rasmussen only 33% of voters are even somewhat confident that their representative in Congress is looking out for the best interests of their constituents ,with only eight percent (8%) are very confident.
Sixty-five percent (65%) are angry at the policies of the federal government, and few see anybody in Washington willing to take on the status quo. There is a strong belief that Democrats are the party of big government while Republicans the party of big business with 7-out-of-10 believe big government and big business work together against the rest of us.Therefore it’s no surprise that 53% believe that neither Republican nor Democratic leaders have an understanding of what the country really needs today.
Residents are misguided if they think Paul Aronsohn is a layup for Mayor
The election is over and two new faces have emerged on the Village Council. What makes you all think they are going to bow down and kiss the feet of Paul Aronsohn?
Al Pucciarelli has been a valued member of both the zoning and planning boards for years. He’s had more than an admirable career as an attorney. He has sound judgment and pledged to the residents to be fair and impartial. He will hardly vote lock step with anyone.
Gwenn Hauck has lived here her entire life. She’s volunteered her time graciously and has never been involved in mudslinging.
I’ve been privy to the scores of emails by Ridgewood council wannabes who have indicated that “Paul will lead them” on the right path. Their only job moving forward is to make good on all the campaign promises they made as individuals. Not on what Paul Aronsohn wants or demands.
Postal Service loses $3.2 billion in Jan-March
By Emily Stephenson
WASHINGTON | Thu May 10, 2012 4:38pm EDT
(Reuters) – The Postal Service said its loss widened to $3.2 billion in the first three months of 2012 and repeated on Thursday its warning that it will likely default on payments to the federal government unless Congress passes legislation offering some relief.
The agency, which does not receive taxpayer funds and has been losing billions each year as Americans communicate online, said it lost $2.2 billion in the same period in 2011.
Postal officials are pressing Congress to pass legislation that would allow the agency to move forward with its five-year business plan, including ending Saturday mail delivery. In the meantime, they have sought ways to cut costs.
The announcement came a day after the cash-strapped mail service said it was walking back a plan to close thousands of money-losing post offices and would instead slash operating hours at 13,000 locations with low traffic.
The Tale of Two Communities: Hackensack and Ridgewood
The Village of Ridgewood and the city of Hackensack both lie in Northern New Jersey, within easy commuting distance of New York City. While both locations started life as rural communities, their paths to their current environment were quite different. Ridgewood today is still a suburban village of predominantly single family homes, whereas Hackensack has become an urban city, hosting the largest hospital in the region as well as some significant government agencies.
The History of Urbanization and Measuring Social Progress
In the nineteenth century it was believed that social progress could only occur if sections of society relinquished something. It was the age of Industrialization; progress was measured and driven by the economic impact of the wealthy industrialists who wanted to exploit
the latest technical advances for profit. Too often it was the built-up inhabited environment that suffered. Urban slums such as Manchester, England were allowed to develop in this manner to support the needs of the cotton industry. Charles Dickens described Manchester as, “A town of red brick, or at least that would have been red, if the smoke and ashes (from coal fires) had allowed it”. It was not until almost 200 years later that significant
money was invested to renew the city.
Hackensack Sets its Course
The nineteenth century view of progress prevailed well into the twentieth, moderated somewhat by legal reforms such as the 1833 Factory Act. To a community like Hackensack in the 1800s, the development of a local hospital was seen as a necessary step towards self-sufficiency, progress and modern living. At the time of the opening of the Hackensack hospital in 1888, Hackensack was a suburban community not unlike Ridgewood. While the hospital had only 12 beds and was housed in a converted Victorian residence, it was the first hospital in Bergen County.
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