>The Ridgewood YMCA and the Diabetes Foundation will be hosting “Everything Diabetes Day”
The Ridgewood YMCA and the Diabetes Foundation will be hosting “Everything Diabetes Day” at the Y (112 Oak Street, Ridgewood) on Saturday, November 20th from 1:30 – 5:30 PM. This FREE event is for children and adults with diabetes, pre-diabetes, or at risk for diabetes. Free screenings will include blood pressure, blood sugar, eye screenings and foot screenings. Certified Diabetes Educators will be on hand to discuss nutrition, exercise, weight loss, complications, risk factors and prevention, among other things. Lots of information and giveaways will also be available. Call Chris at 201 444 5600 ext. 339 for more information or to pre-register today. Open to all!
>Department of Community Affairs audit reveals problems and irregularities
It was big pot of federal stimulus money aimed at jump-starting the state’s economy, but an audit of a weatherization program found only a fraction of the $119 million allocated to New Jersey has been spent, and some of that went to unreasonable expenditures. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
>NJEA: good job teachers union. due to your lack of support for the Race to the Top improvements, NJ is not getting any federal funds to improve the system.
Good job teachers union. good job teachers union. due to your lack of support for the Race to the Top improvements, NJ is not getting any federal funds to improve the system. NJ finished ranked #11 (out of the money). they would have made the cut if the union supported it.
NY is getting up to $750m to help fix the education problems in the state.
way to go teachers!!!
-Thed NJ finished ranked #11 (out of the money). they would have made the cut if the union supported it.
NY is getting up to $750m to help fix the education problems in the state.
>The Ridgewood Y is introducing a Youth Fencing class
The Ridgewood Y is introducing a Youth Fencing class for 8-14 year olds. Fencing is the ultimate cross-training program! Participants will learn to dodge, parry, and thrust from Coach Vitalii Druzhynin. Coach Vitalii has over 30 years of fencing and coaching experience.
Contact Chris at 201-444-5600 ext. 339 or [email protected] for more information or to sign up!
>There is a problem when only like 2 teachers got canned for poor performance in the whole state in the last two years(out of 116,000 teachers)
I agree. you know there is a problem when only like 2 teachers got canned for poor performance in the whole state in the last two years(out of 116,000 teachers). that’s 0.0017%.
something is definitely wrong. there’s no way that that there aren’t bad teachers out there. the system needs to be fixed.
i’m tired of teachers hiding behind the tenure by scaring the public that the positions will be affected by political pressure if tenure is eliminated. i’ll tell you what — there are political pressures in every job, public or private. but everyday, job decisions are made based not only on job performance but relationships, who you know, etc. don’t you think that people happen to lose their jobs because of changes in administration at companies? it happens all the time. especially when companies merge, etc.
so, let’s expose teachers to the same forces the rest of the country face.
there is no free lunch. we are paying for it with our taxes and our childrens’ education.
>Kyleigh’s Law : parents, especially of women, think the decals can alert perverts to young drivers.
Cop out: 6 months study of red decals
Young drivers must continue to put red decals on their license plates under legislation approved by the Senate. Many parents don’t like the decals which are meant to show police there is a young driver in the car subject to curfews and special rules regarding number of passengers. But parents, especially of women, think the decals can alert perverts to young drivers. Instead of repealing that section of the so-called Kyleigh’s Law, lawmakers voted to have the Attorney General’s Office and others conduct a six-month study. That’s a cop out from lawmakers who can’t admit they screwed up the first time. Want to bet how that study turns out? “We don’t need a six-month study to do what is plain common sense and the will of the people,” said Assemblyman Scott Rumana who sponsored the repeal.. (Ingle, Asbury Park Press)
>Anna Little campaign poll shows GOP challenger within striking distance
The Anna Little Campaign this evening released the results of a poll that show the Republican mayor of Highlands trailing U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) by six points in the 6th Congressional District. (Editor, PolitickerNJ)
>Senate approves bill eliminating 40 inactive, outdated N.J. agencies
TRENTON — The Senate unanimously approved legislation today that makes good on Gov. Chris Christie’s promise to shrink the state government bureaucracy by eliminating more than 40 inactive and outdated boards and commissions. (Livio, Newark Star-Ledger)
The first bills Gov. Chris Christie signed after taking office in January enacted state pension reforms, but the system remains underfunded by tens of billions of dollars.
The settlement with the Security and Exchange Commission makes it official: For years, New Jersey had been cooking its books and neglecting to tell investors it was grossly underfunding pension plans.
The SEC calls that securities fraud, because $26 billion worth of bonds, issued between 2001 and 2007, probably were worth less than investors were led to believe.
With a cease-and-desist order, the state is admitting no guilt, of course, and the SEC (thankfully) won’t make matters worse by assessing hefty penalties that would be paid by unsuspecting taxpayers and not the irresponsible public officials who allegedly bamboozled investors.
The action was historic: New Jersey is the first state targeted by the SEC for securities fraud. But with pension funds crumbling everywhere, other states probably will join us in shame. But from this day forward, cross our hearts and hope to die, New Jersey has agreed to tell the truth about its grossly and dangerously undernourished pension funds
>The 2010 Barclays Daily Tournament Schedule Tuesday, August 24
Gates open at 9 a.m. Practice Round for Professionals The Barclays “Shirts for Savings” Clothing Drive Wednesday, August 25
Gates open at 7 a.m. 7:30 a.m., The Barclays Pro-Am competition (shotgun start) 1:30 p.m., The Barclays Pro-Am presented by BJ’s Wholesale Club (shotgun start) Military Appreciation Day The Barclays “Shirts for Savings Clothing Drive Thursday, August 26
Gates open at 7 a.m. First Round of Competition- 7:15 a.m. approximate starting time 3:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., ESPN Radio/The Michael Kay Show broadcast at Ridgewood Country Club The Barclays “Shirts for Savings” Clothing Drive Friday, August 27
Gates open at 7 a.m. Second round of competition- 7:15 a.m. approximate starting time 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m., ESPN Radio/Jody MacDonald and Ian O’Connor broadcast at Ridgewood Country Club The Barclays “Shirts for Savings” Clothing Drive Saturday, August 28
Gates open at 7 a.m. Third round of competition- 8:00 a.m. approximate starting time The Barclays “Shirts for Savings” Clothing Drive Sunday, August 29
Gates open at 7 a.m. Final round of competition- 8:00 a.m. approximate starting time 10 a.m.-12 a.m., ESPN Radio/Ian O’Connor broadcast at Ridgewood Country Club The Barclays “Shirts for Savings” Clothing Drive
The New Jersey education commissioner dismissed only two teachers for poor performance in the last two years.
That’s out of roughly 116,000 public school teachers.
Revoking tenure is such an arduous undertaking that school officials are usually reluctant to pursue it unless a teacher is clearly insubordinate or dangerous. The process can drag on for years and cost a district hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Leaders in New Jersey and across the nation, all the way up to President Obama, say they want to make it easier to weed out teachers who don’t help students learn, while rewarding superb educators and helping teachers with potential to improve.
The National Council on Teacher Quality says the skill levels of the teacher workforce follow a bell curve: About 15 percent are ineffective, 15 percent are highly effective, and most are somewhere in the middle. Still, few teachers are pushed out. Nationally, districts dismiss only about 2.1 percent of teachers each year for poor performance, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
“Our children have a right to have a great teacher in the classroom,” said New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler. “No one has a right to a job where their performance doesn’t matter.”
Yet even when a teacher is accused of beating students, it can be expensive and time-consuming to dismiss him.
>Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean: the “ground zero mosque,” “a real affront to people who lost their lives.”
Former Democratic Presidential Candidate and Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean is defending his comments on the so-called “ground zero mosque,” which he has called “a real affront to people who lost their lives.”
Writing on Salon.com, Dean states he is “not going to back off” his earlier comments – but then stops short of explicitly calling for the project to be moved, as he had earlier suggested.
He calls for compromise in the column, writing that “I personally believe that there are other possible solutions that could result from [a dialogue] and that a genuine exploration of those possibilities is something we ought to try.”
>How is it that the village government listened to some residents and not others?
The tank size was scaled back because of neighbor complaints. So we have the same problems. The tank would hanh helped with water distribution in Ridgewood. We are left with something that is inadequate.
Valley, on the other hand, has not been scaled back in spite of significant opposition from neighbors and the greater Ridgewood community.
Valley is a business that serves the tri state area. They use village resources without paying taxes.
How is it that the village government listened to some residents and not others? Is it because valley has $$$$ and contracts to offer?
>MUSIC FOR FARMS TO PLAY FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 10 BENEFIT CONCERT FOR ROCKLAND FARM ALLIANCE IN CHESTNUT RIDGE, NY
Rockland County, NY-based composer, pianist and percussionist John McDowell (www.johnmcdowell.net) teams up with Canadian violinist Emmanuel Vukovich, cellist Julia MacLaine (www.juliamaclaine.com), and string bass player Evan Premo (www.evanpremo.com) to create the musical ensemble Music For Farms which will perform a concert entitled “A Musical Harvest” at the lovely, wood-paneled Threefold Auditorium at 260 Hungry Hollow Road, Chestnut Ridge, NY on Friday, September 10, 2010 at 8pm. Tickets may be purchased at the door and are $20 ($15 for students, $10 for children). For more information, call 845-362-0207 or email [email protected].
John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich, who practice music and farming side by side (McDowell at Camp Hill Farm in Pomona, NY; and Vukovich in Quebec, Canada), have formed an international initiative, Music for Farms (www.johnmcdowell.net/musicforfarms), which works to revive and sustain local organic agriculture and farming communities through the arts. Julia MacLaine and Evan Premo join them for this special concert. The program, described below, includes the music of Bach, several original works in contemporary and classical idioms, and the quartet’s own creative arrangements that incorporate African drum rhythms and reflect a weaving of Eastern and Western traditions. This concert will be a benefit for the Rockland Farm Alliance (RFA). The mission of the RFA (www.rocklandfarm.org) is to facilitate local sustainable agriculture in Rockland County, New York.
Juilliard and McGill trained Emmanuel Vukovich is the recipient of Canada’s first Golden Violin Award, as well as the Canada Council for the Arts Orford String Quartet scholarship. His twin passions of farming and music are brought to expression in this artistic Musical Harvest. John McDowell is best known as composer of the score to Oscar winning Born into Brothels. He has toured with rock/world band Rusted Root as a pianist and percussionist and founded/led the internationally acclaimed band Mamma Tongue. Cellist Julia MacLaine has been consistently singled out by The New York Times for her rich tone, sweet vibrato and superb musicianship, and performs throughout North and South America and in Europe as a recitalist and chamber musician. Like Julia, an alumnus of Carnegie Hall’s resident Ensemble ACJW, Evan Premo performs chamber music regularly at Carnegie Hall and does outreach in public schools in NYC. An active chamber musician and soloist, Evan also practices farming, woodworking, and ‘homesteading’.
The program will be drawn from the following selections:
Bach, works for solo violin and solo cello
F Major, by John McDowell
Swara Kakali (transcription of a work by Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar)
