>I don’t deny that most of our teachers are hard-working and dedicated but I don’t believe that they are hurting
In regards to the phys ed specifics, here is some info. According to the latest NJ Dept. of education figures on Ridgewood phys ed teachers:
Number: 22 Highest salary – $126,216 Lowest salary 30,144 Average salary 87,700 Median salary 96,030 Salaries > 100k 10
I don’t deny that most of our teachers are hard-working and dedicated but I don’t believe that they are hurting. Many family members and friends have lost jobs or have not seen an increase in wages in 4 years. When our president says “pay your fair share” or uses the term “shared sacrifice”, he means EVERYONE, doesn’t he?
Realtors: We Overcounted Home Sales for Five Years Published: Tuesday, 13 Dec 2011 | 5:21 PM ET Text Size
Data on sales of previously owned U.S. homes from 2007 through October this year will be revised down next week because of double counting, indicating a much weaker housing market than previously thought.
The National Association of Realtors said a benchmarking exercise had revealed that some properties were listed more than once, and in some instances, new home sales were also captured.
“All the sales and inventory data that have been reported since January 2007 are being downwardly revised. Sales were weaker than people thought,” NAR spokesman Walter Malony told Reuters.
“We’re capturing some new home data that should have been filtered out and we also discovered that some properties were being listed in more than one list.”
U.S. Postal Service puts 5-month pause on closings By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 13, 2011 4:07pm EST
(Reuters) – The U.S. Postal Service has agreed to a five-month moratorium on closures of post offices and processing facilities while lawmakers hammer out legislation to overhaul the cash-strapped mail carrier, a group of U.S. senators said on Tuesday.
The Postal Service was studying about 3,700 money-losing post offices for possible closure starting in February 2012, and considering closing hundreds of processing centers in April.
The senators said USPS officials agreed to push back the closures to give lawmakers time to pass legislation that would help get the Postal Service back on track before the end of fiscal year 2012, when the mail carrier has said it could shut down.
>Unannounced Verizon Emergency Alert Causes Panic In New Jersey Scared citizens flood 911 boards with anxious calls Paul Joseph Watson Infowars.com Monday, December 12, 2011
An unannounced test of a soon to be mandatory emergency alert system caused panic in New Jersey today after Verizon customers received text messages warning them that a “civil emergency” was in progress and to “take shelter,” prompting alarmed citizens to flood 911 lines with anxious calls.
However, media reports concerning the alarm completely ignore the fact that Verizon was almost certainly running a test for the federal government’s soon to be mandatory PLAN alert program, which the company has signed up for.
Obviously the leaf issue is a volume issue – a volume of leaves from every property owner throughout town. The Octo storm compounded it, as well as property owners by piling branches on top of leaf piles in streets and mixed in with them. Have been a homeowner here 45 years, seen past 10/20 years more volumes of leaves in streets. Leaf production is up as trees grow. A homeowner, not an apartment dweller, no kids, not a troll – just tired of seeing everyone bitchin instead of using common sense and make suggestions.
Both the town and homeowners need to comply together. A better management plan for leaf removal needs be drawn up – as some others say, by either changing to prioritizing clearing all the main roads first, and regular weekly pick ups like the recycle is done, even if temporarily changing rear yard p/u from 2 times week to once week just during the leaf season. After all, what is the leaf season? – c’mon, maybe 8 or 9 weeks, abt. 2 months? Also, hire part time seasonal workers, some other towns do that. I believe the plan for snow removal is prioritize the main roads, then the others.
Compliance on homeowners side should come with either limiting the volume of tarp piles they can place in streets at a time, so not to block the flow of road traffic, c’mon people need to use common sense, you can’t put a football field size of leaves into streets (that’s a bigee safety problem) and or using barrels and bags. Landscapers should remove their clean ups as they do with grass clippings. Some of the town curb trees, are so big, that they need trimming, either by town, or in most cases PSE&G as many are in the wires. PSE&G used to come regularly every 1 or 2 years to trim, but I have not seen them do that in the past 10 years. Only saw them trim certain trees because they had to put up those solar panels on those certain trees.
Men’s chorus performing holiday music – classics, Broadway, pop, and more! December 17 & 18 at Ridgewood United Methodist Church, Dayton Street, Ridgewood.Guest artist trumpeter Rick Henley. $15 at the Door; $10 in advance www.ridgewoodorpheusclub.org Information:201/652-2873
At some point, knowing the difficult situation and unprecedented weather, why not get outside and help clean up the leaves. Rake & bag and transport them. It could not have been a surprise that your thanksgiving guests were coming so why not clean up your area of the street. I mean, if the caterer didn’t come through for a party you would cook your own food, right?
I am not saying I agree with this mess and I certainly don’t agree with the Gabbert raise. Actually, for his level of insubordination towards Paul Aronsohn, I think Gabbert should be fired. And add to that the hefty taxes we pay here Ridgewood there really is no excuse.
All that being said, right now our Village needs our help. Never mind whose job it is or placing the blame for now. If the situation is so dire and dangerous let’s all pitch in. Have a neighborhood clean-up party. Better time spent than writing all these letters and sitting around complaining. Just help clean up.
>I am all for lower taxes, and smarter spending BUT I am not going to support kicking out or making older people feel unwelcome.
“transform Ridgewood into a thriving semi-urban environment that will offer an array of desirable high wage jobs along with upscale living accommodations that will befit a younger,more upwardly mobile population. “
That is a very scary statement. I am all for lower taxes, and smarter spending BUT I am not going to support kicking out or making older people feel unwelcome.
Additionally, I don’t care if my neighbors are upwardly mobile or stuck in dead end jobs, that is their business. I think Ed needs to review the role of local government. It is not the VC’s role to socially engineer a perfect population.
On Friday, December 16, from 4-7:30 p.m., K-5 students will have the opportunity to work with RHS theatre students doing fun activities to that spark creativity and teach the basics of drama. The event will be supervised by New Players Company adult staff. It all takes place at the RHS Little Theatre. Cost, including pizza dinner, is $30 for the first child; $15 for sibling. Questions? Call Meg Schaefer at 201-670-2800, ext. 20411 or mschaefer@ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Click here for the flyer and registration form : https://tinyurl.com/829fxht
11:00am- 4:00pm FREE Trolley rides for shoppers, children, and families Ride the Holiday Trolley every Saturday until Christmas! Memorial Park at Van Neste Square visit Santa at his Ridgewood home! Bring your list!!
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10TH, 17TH, & 24TH Santa’s House in Memorial Park at Van Neste Square. Free Trolley Rides!
12/06/117:30PMPlanning Board Public Meeting 12/07/117:30PMVillage Council Work Session 12/13/117:30PMBoard of Adjustment Public Meeting 12/14/118:00PMVillage Council Public Meeting 12/20/117:30PMPlanning Board Public Meeting 12/27/117:30PMBoard of Adjustment Public Meeting – CANCELLED 01/04/127:30PMVillage Council Work Session
I’ve posted about leaves in the street before, having narrowly missed being hit more than once by drivers who couldn’t see around the skyscrapers people insist on building in the street.
Putting leaves or anything else in the streets should be illegal and the fines should be high to encourage compliance, perhaps after one initial warning.
Village saves money, and you don’t wind up picking up leaves your neighbors pile in the street which then blow into your yard and everyone else’s over and over again.
Simple thing to change. People can bag them, or take to Recycling or compost. (we do all 3 here, and we have no trees, we get loads of leaves though from other people’s trees). If you have a landscaper, make arrangements with them to take leaves away or bag for you.
The other day Village did leaf pickup in our area. Less than an hour later, 3 landscapers and 1 homeowner were out building new street skyscrapers. There is a current ordinance (7 days bef schedule) against that, but it is not enforced. And the schedule sometimes must be changed anyway- out of necessity like weather or storm events.
Simply ban putting leaves in the street completely. As I’ve written before, a long time ago it was tradition here to BURN your leaves. So many people were careless that many fires resulted and so it was changed and no longer permitted.
Time to stop putting leaves and other junk in the street. Is it going to take more accidents, damage to cars -or worse – to make this happen? I sure hope not. I’ve seen kids playing in those piles in the streets, sometimes near when it gets dark too. Recipe for disaster.
It’s simple to do and will save money and pose less hazards too. It is to everyone’s benefit and the cost of paper bags really is not much. You can also avoid that cost and just take to recycling or compost too.
So you have options, and (for 4.11) you can pick “your way” so long as it doesn’t endanger other people the way piling leaves and junk in the streets certainly does.
>Village Seeking Volunteers to Serve on Library Board and Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board
The Village Council is looking for residents who are interested in volunteering to serve on the Library Board of Trustees and the Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board.
The Library Board of Trustees is the governing board for the Ridgewood Public Library and its employees. The Board of Trustees works with the community to establish Library policy. They also secure funds to carry on services to the public, and set goals and objectives.
The Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board recommends rules for use and monitors recreation facilities. The Board coordinates community recreation programs and develops and updates the long-range Master Plan for recreation in the Village.
All interested residents should fill out a Citizen Volunteer Leadership form (found on the Village website under “Forms”), and send it along with a cover letter indicating on which board or committee the resident wishes to serve, and a biography or resume to:
Mayor Keith Killion Village of Ridgewood 131 North Maple Ave. Ridgewood, NJ 07451
>RHS Stadium : Good schools differentiate themselves by having many extracurricular activities and excellent facilities for the kids to use
I totally disagree with people critisizing the field and stadium. The old field and stadium were embarrassingly in disrepair. Good schools differentiate themselves by having many extracurricular activities and excellent facilities for the kids to use. This field and stadium are just one part of that. RHS offers more clubs and extracurricular activities and varsity sports than many high schools and that participation by the students should be encouraged and supported.
Ridgewood does itself a disservice by having crappy substandard facilities that are falling apart as if we are some inner-city Detriot school with falling down bleachers and a field that could ONLY be used by varsity football and varsity lax because that is all it could handle. Now we have a field that we can be proud of and can withstand high usage by as many classes and clubs and sports that need to use it. Drive by and you see kids on it all the time now and it is great to see.
This is not about just one or two sports teams, it is about the entire school’s appearance and facilities for many of the kids to use. Think about when we take our kids to see colleges, how does an Ivy League school compare to some crappy low budget college? It does not take very long walking around a campus to get an idea for the quality of the school by just looking at the all the facilities, some of which are the fields. One of the things that most differentiates great schools is the depth and breadth of programs and sports they offer and that kids participate in.
Check out a mediocre college (or private High School) and the list of varsity programs and clubs is short and the facilities are not great. Check out a high quality school and the facilities are nice and the kids participate in many things. It seems we have a culture here in Ridgewood where we support building $10 million wings for classrooms, and second stories on elementary schools and junior high schools. But heaven forbid we spend a tiny fraction of that amount to replace a grandstand that was so old and crappy it was about to collapse and fix a field that is the first thing everybody sees and should be the most used by all the students.
I for one love the new field and I know the kids do too (not just football and lax players). Now when people come see RHS they see a beautiful school with a field and stadium that are at least on par with Ramapo, Northern Highlands, Ramsey, and other good high schools(not better). This is one of the things people consider when they buy a home in Ridgewood and the appearance of the high school field is just one small part of that and it is money very well spent in that regard given how highly visible it is.
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