file photo by Boyd Loving
September 29,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood resident Jacqueline Hone spoke during both public comment segments. She explained why Roberta’s departure is just the tip of the iceberg and suggested her staff also needs to be investigated.
September 29,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, A New Jersey Transit train crashed into the terminal in Hoboken. The incident happened at around 9am on Thursday. It’s been confirmed Pascack Valley Train #1614, departs Spring Valley 7:23 am(?) due to arrive at 8:30 am. Train came in on Track 4 .
Initial report is over 100 injuries .
Massive Emergency services response.
Hoboken is shut down to non emergency services.
Correction 1 confirmed dead by Governors Christie and Como , not passenger someone standing on the platform .
PATH service to HOB will be operating full rush hour service .
Shuttle buses from HOB to SEC running.
Cause of accident is still unclear .
It is being reported that major damage has been done to the train station including a partial roof collapse. Reports from riders say no indication that anything was wrong.
NATIONAL COFFEE DAY
September 29th 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Whether getting one to go or lingering over a second cup, on September 29 be sure to observe National Coffee Day! Ah, the perfect cup of java. According to an expert cupper (a professional coffee taster), there are four components of a perfect cup: aroma, body, acidity, and flavor.
From the moment the average coffee lover opens a fresh bag of coffee beans, the aroma beckons, percolating the senses. Even those who don’t drink coffee tend to enjoy the fragrance a roasted bean casts.
When determining the body of a coffee, the bean, the roast, and the brew are all factors. The bean affects the texture of the coffee, whether its silky, creamy, thick or thin on the tongue and throat. However, the darker the roast and how it is brewed will alter the feel of a coffee’s body, too. Grandpa’s motor oil blend versus the coffee shop around the corner’s silky smooth, well-practiced grind have entirely different bodies.
The region a coffee is grown determines its acidity. The higher the elevation the coffee grows, the higher the quality and the acidity. These coffees are considered brighter, dryer, even sparkling by cuppers.
When it comes down to it, coffee lovers cherish the flavor as well as the caffeinated boost this roasted bean gives morning or night, black or with cream and sugar. Hot or cold it provides enjoyment even when decaffeinated!
There are many legendary accounts of how coffee first came to be, but the earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or the knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi monasteries around Mokha in Yemen. It was here coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed, much like they are prepared today. Yemeni traders brought coffee back to their homeland from Ethiopia and began to cultivate the seed.
In 1670, coffee seeds were smuggled out of the Middle East by Baba Budan, as he strapped seven coffee seeds onto his chest. The first plants grown from these smuggled seeds were planted in Mysore. It was then that coffee spread to Italy, to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia and the Americas.
Brazil produces more coffee in the world than any other country followed by Colombia. More than 50 countries around the world grow coffee, providing a delicious variety for the indulgence of steamy cups of the black drink for connoisseurs to consume.
According to yelp :
1. American Bulldog Coffee Roasters
31 N Broad St
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 857-4176
2. Ridgewood Coffee Company
90 E Ridgewood Ave
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 493-1002
3. Grandma’s Secret
9 S Broad St
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 857-8788
4. Village Tea Shop
10 S Maple Ave
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 857-0230
5. Sook Pastry
24 S Broad St
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 493-2500
6. Bagelicious
19 N Broad St
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 652-9421
7. Starbucks
193 E Ridgewood Ave
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 670-0690
8. Raymond’s
101 E Ridgewood Ave
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 445-5125
9. Whole Foods Market
44 Godwin Ave
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 670-0383
10. Cupcakes By Carousel
192 E Ridgewood Ave
Ridgewood, NJ 07450Phone number(201) 389-3090
HOW TO OBSERVE.
Enjoy a cup or two of your favorite coffee. Use #NationalCoffeeDay to post on social media. Here is a list of National Coffee Day Specials.
Ridgewooood NJ, Once again, much was accomplished with this new and improved council! Of course somethings never change ,Rurik Halaby came to the mic twice to insinuate that Ms. Knudsen( pronounced once correctly, second time with a hard k!) should be transparent about her raffle win and her sons becoming Ridgewood police officers. Thankfully Susan called for a point of order and Bernie Walsh made reference to Roberts Rules and that personal comments made to a council member from the floor are not allowed. It probably won’t stop future rants.
Richard Calbi from the Water Department gave a good report on the chromium 6 that has been in the news. According to Ridgewood Water Ridgewood is below the level considered dangerous even though the EPA has made no formal recommendations or issued guidelines.Currently Ridgewood Water is below the California guidelines and those issued by The World Health Organization.
Matt Rogers reported on the status of Affordable Housing, the water suit filed by Glen Rock, Midland Park and Wyckoff and the Valley Hospital appeal.
Ridgewood Water: a possible trial in November if a scheduled mediation in October is not successful.
The Stanley Healthcare solution includes Wi-Fi RFID badges that nurses, physicians and other personnel can use to identify their locations and call for assistance.
By Claire Swedberg
Sep 27, 2016—
The Valley Hospital, in Ridgewood, N.J., has been using a real-time location system (RTLS) to monitor the locations and identities of staff members who press their emergency badge. Before the hospital deployed the system, only 50 percent of personnel reported a sense of workplace safety. Once those workers began utilizing the RTLS, provided byStanley Healthcare, that figure rose to 85 percent.
The Valley Hospital rarely experiences violence in its ER, but there have been incidents in which employees have indicated feeling uncomfortable, the hospital reports. After members of a patient’s family prevented a nurse from leaving that patient’s room, that nurse asked the hospital to institute a better means of protecting personnel. The facility, which treats 74,000 patients in its emergency department each year, already offered wired emergency alarms in each room, but it decided that a wireless system would provide greater support to employees wherever they were in that department. The solution consists of Stanley Healthcare Wi-Fi-enabled call badges and software that helps security personnel identify who has placed a distress call, as well as where that person is located and what he or she looks like.
September 28,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, Governor Chris Christie School Funding Fairness Formula Catches the Eye of the Ridgewood Board of Education. In the latest RPS news letter Board President Sheila Brogan devoted a significant amount of space to the Christie Fairness formula and the failure of the Abbott School districts .
Sheila Brogan’s Legislative Report September 2016
Lately, there has been much discussion in Trenton about state funding for school districts. Governor Christie has asked the courts to give the state relief from the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 (SFRA) and to allow the NJDOE Commissioner relief from statutory and contractual impediments that negatively impact on the thorough and efficient
The first link below will bring you to the Abbott Memorandum, filed for Governor Christie, asking the NJ Supreme Court for relief from the current funding formula. It is 95 pages, but worth the read.
Some of the issues discussed in the memorandum are —
#1 More funding does not equal higher student achievement in the School Development Authority (SDA) districts (formally the Abbott districts). The SDA districts have 22.8% of all NJ students and they receive 59% of the pre-K through grade 12 school aid.
#2 The most important factor for quality education is effective teachers. Districts must be allowed to have systems in place to attract and retain effective teachers. Statutory and contractual impediments to this must be eliminated. Essentially, the memorandum calls for eliminating LIFO (last in, first out) when there is a reduction in force (RIF) of the teaching staff. The memorandum also calls for streamlining the process of removing tenure teachers who are ineffective. It requests that the court allows the Commissioner to override contractual impediments in teacher contracts that negatively impact on student achievement.
In another document released last week, the State Auditor listed flaws in the way the state distributes school aid. There were four recommendations:
#1. School funding should be distributed based on current district data — for example — current enrollment and district demographics. The state is not using current data. Eighty percent of districts are receiving less aid than what they should receive under the current state aid formula, School Funding Reform Act of 2008 (SFRA).
#2. Special Education funding is not being distributed on the actual number of special education students in a district. Under the 2008 state aid formula, the state started using the census model to distribute money using the assumption that every district had a14.78% special education classification rate. Some districts have higher classification rates. According to the report in 2015, 234 districts, and in 2016, 258 districts, had actual classification rates that were more than10% higher than the state’s rate used for funding. This funding is not tied to actual need.
#3. Pre-school aid should be adjusted for actual enrollment. According to the report, in 2016, 30 districts over estimated enrollment and overpayments to these districts from the state amounted to $32.9 million
#4. The per pupil cost for preschool ranges from $2,036 to $27,663 and this disparity leads to imbalances in funding. It should be noted that districts receiving pre-school funding can offer half day or full day programs creating disparity in the educational experiences and opportunities offered these students.
This report is linked below.
Finally, Senate President Sweeney and Senator Ruiz introduced a concurrent resolution, SCR119, to establish the State School Aid Funding Fairness Commission consisting of six members who would be appointed by the Senate President (2 members ,one of whom would represent the NJEA), Speaker of the General Assembly (2 members, one of whom would represent a NJ education professional association), Senate Minority leader (1 member), and General Assembly Minority Leader (1 member). The Senate approved SC119 on Thursday. The Commission would be charged to study the following issues:
#1. the impact of School Funding Reform Act of 2008 (SFRA) adjustment aid and state aid growth limitation provisions;
#2. the tax levy growth limitation and the ability for school districts to adequately fund operating expenses;
#3. the per pupil administrative cost limits and its impact on district staffing and operations;
#4. determining local fair share amounts and how property tax abatements impact fair share; and
#5. the ability for districts that are at or above adequacy budget to lower their tax levy if given additional state aid
The report must be issued no later than June 30, 2017 with its findings, recommendations, and proposed legislation. The legislation would be introduced in the Senate and the Assembly. It would not be referred to committees. The proposed legislation would be given three readings and must be approved or rejected by the Senate and the Assembly without changes or amendments.
Over the next 5 years, $500 million would be added to the state budget for school districts to give districts 100% of the aid as determined by SFRA.
The process for the commission will include three public hearings to gather input and then three hearings after the report is issued to elicit public input on the findings, recommendations, and proposed legislation.
It now goes to the Assembly for consideration.
https://www.nj.gov/governor/
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/
In addition to the four semifinalists, 25 students have been identified as Commended Students in the most recent competition.
Advanced Placement Scholars Named
One hundred thirty six students at Ridgewood High School have been named AP Scholars by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college level Advanced Placement Examinations.
The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on the students’ performance on AP exams. At RHS:
About 18 percent of the more than 1.9 million high school students worldwide who took AP Examinations in May 2016 performed at a sufficiently high level to merit such recognition.
Twenty-one award recipients are juniors. These students have at least one more year in which to do college-level work, and possibly earn another Advanced Placement Award.
Reader ...”I worked part time and my kids got picked up at their elementary school and transported to enrichment 2-3x/week. My greatest joy was picking them up from kindergarten, watching them play with friend in the playground and then going out for lunch or.making.lunch together. As a parent, I would not want ffull day K…they grow up too quickly not to treasure those early years together.”
Forget the Common Core, Finland’s youngsters are in charge of determining what happens in the classroom.
“The changes to kindergarten make me sick,” a veteran teacher in Arkansas recently admitted to me. “Think about what you did in first grade—that’s what my 5-year-old babies are expected to do.”
The difference between first grade and kindergarten may not seem like much, but what I remember about my first-grade experience in the mid-90s doesn’t match the kindergarten she described in her email: three and a half hours of daily literacy instruction, an hour and a half of daily math instruction, 20 minutes of daily “physical activity time” (officially banned from being called “recess”) and two 56-question standardized tests in literacy and math—on the fourth week of school.
That American friend—who teaches 20 students without an aide—has fought to integrate 30 minutes of “station time” into the literacy block, which includes “blocks, science, magnetic letters, play dough with letter stamps to practice words, books, and storytelling.” But the most controversial area of her classroom isn’t the blocks nor the stamps: Rather, it’s the “house station with dolls and toy food”—items her district tried to remove last year. The implication was clear: There’s no time for play in kindergarten anymore.
The public vote on full-day K is November 8. Public presentations will be on October 5 at Benjamin Franklin Middle School and on October 27 at George Washington Middle School. The question on the ballot will be as follows:
RESOLVED, That there shall be raised an additional $929,800 for General Funds in the 2016-2017 School Year. These taxes will be used to employ additional personnel and to acquire additional equipment and supplies in order to implement the District’s full-day kindergarten program. Approval of these taxes will result in a permanent increase in the District’s tax levy.
The additional taxes authorized herein will be used exclusively for purposes described herein and to finance expenditures that are in addition to those necessary to achieve the Core Curriculum Content Standards.
file photo by Boyd Loving
By Erin O’Neill | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on September 27, 2016 at 5:35 PM, updated September 27, 2016 at 6:03 PM
Home prices in the New York area ticked up slightly over the last year but increased at a slower rate than 19 other major metropolitan markets in the country, according to a new report released on Tuesday.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite index notched a 5 percent year-over-year increase in July led by big gains in real estate values in the Pacific Northwest, specifically Portland and Seattle. The New York region, including northern New Jersey, saw home prices rise just 1.7 percent over that same time frame, the weakest growth among all of the cities included in that index.
The Washington, D.C., area’s rise in home prices was the second-worst at 2 percent year-over-year.
https://realestate.nj.com/realestate-news/2016/09/homes_prices_case_shiller_new.html
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ,Christina & Willie Geist will be appearing Tuesday, September 27th @ 6:00pm
Debut Author and wife of Willie Geist, of NBC’s Today Show fame, will sign her new books:
Buddy’s Bedtime Battery
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.
Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.
First In Line Certificate use is the the discretion of Bookends. Blackout dates may apply.
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 ensure 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 staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, on Sunday, October 2, 2016 11am – 3pm (Rain or Shine) at the Wild Duck Pond 1133 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood Companion Animal Advocates will be hosting a fundraiser.
Companion Animal Advocates (CAA), is a non-profit, all volunteer organization primarily serving New Jersey residents. CAA is committed to keeping family pets from being surrendered to already crowded shelters because their owners can no longer care for them.
Bring your family and join us for a day filled with music, giveaways, food, doggie beauty salon, pet caricaturist, photographer, veterinarian, various dog related exhibitors and vendors, dog trainer demonstrations, “Furever Friends” for adoption by the animal rescue/shelter groups in attendance, a “Blessing of the Animals” at 12 Noon, the 9th Annual Delaney Dog Show and our 50/50. FREE ADMISSION! Plenty of vendors with food items, pet items and lots more available for purchase. Please bring a donation of a bag/can of cat/dog food to aid underserved pet owners.
As per park regulations, dogs must be on a lead no longer than 6’ in length. No flexi leads. HAVE YOUR DOG CROWNED KING OR QUEEN OF THE CARNIVALE!! Raise money to support Companion Animal Advocates. You can set up your own fundraising page by visiting :https://www.firstgiving.com/companionanimaladvocates/Carnivale-of-the-Dogs-2016.
The dog who raises the most money as of midnight October 1 st will be crowned “KING” or “QUEEN” of the Carnivale. Aside from bragging rights, your dog will kick off the opening ceremonies at 11AM. The winner will receive a $150 TD Bank gift card* and our 2nd and 3rd place winners will be named as Prince/Princess and Duke/Duchess and will each receive a $50 TD Bank gift card.* PARTICIPATE IN THE 9th ANNUAL DELANEY DOG SHOW!! Compete for prizes and ribbons in fun categories. For more information, visit: CompanionAnimalAdvocates.org or contact [email protected] / 201 -706-7666 * Winners need not be present.
It’s a done deal. I watched the Board of ED meeting last night and they said that currently 71 percent of parents pick up their kids from kindergarten and drive them to another day half day program. If those parents vote, the full day program will be implemented.
I think, not positive, that they said the cost to taxpayers would be about a little over $100 a year for each household.
I am not for it. They said kids get to more time for unstructured make believe play, imaginative play and socialization in the full day program.
I believe that unstructured make believe time should occur in a quiet setting where the imagination and creativity can best be free to roam without interruption and noise from a roomful of other kids.
As far as socialization is concerned , it happens folks just by living in a family, even if you are an only child. I mean hey, kids don’t live in that Emma Donaghue(spelling) Room (novel)setting. But if that’s what life is like with working mothers, that is the way it is going to be.
I sure wouldn’t want some teacher over my head while playing with my dolls and puppets. I remember being happy to come home after kindergarten and make up my own world. Try telling that to the types who teach young kids nowadays….ha ha ha. Real rigid unimaginative types with stereotypical ideas. By the way, I would love to read my first grade report card to the teachers who want full day kindergarten , after having only a half day of kindergarten before first grade. It is from 1949 and says how independent I was, that I didn’t need any prodding to do an assignment and that I loved to share my experiences with the class. We had sharing time. I had one sibling four years younger. So really no playing with a one year old. No pets at that time. A mother at home, a father working outside the home.
VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
AGENDA
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Village Hall Court Room – 7:30 P.M.
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Statement required by the Open Public Meeting Act “Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a posting on the bulletin board in the Village Hall, by mail to the Ridgewood News, The Record and by submission to all persons entitled to same as provided by law of a schedule including date and time of this meeting”.
Please note: A curfew of 11:00 PM is strictly adhered to by the Zoning Board of Adjustment of the Village of Ridgewood. No new matter involving an Applicant will be started after 10:30 PM. At 10:00 PM the Chairman will make a determination and advise Applicants as to whether they will be heard. If an Applicant cannot be heard because of the lateness of the hour, the matter will be carried over to a future meeting to be determined by the Board at 10:00 PM.
Roll call
Approval of minutes:
Non-agenda items:
Board member comments
Members of the public comments
Discussion: Capital One Bank, 10 Godwin Avenue – material for base
Public hearings
Old Business:
121 FRANKLIN AVENUE ASSOCIATES – An application to permit use of the property located at 121 Franklin Avenue, Block 2010, Lot 16, as a drive-through Starbucks Coffee Shop, and to permit construction of an addition to the existing one story building. The applicant requests use variance approval to sell products outside the confines of the building. Additional variances being requested include a side yard setback for parking spaces of 3.5 feet where 5 feet is the minimum required, and sign variances. The property is located in an R-2 zone. (Continued from September 13, 2016)
PANICO – A request that the approval of variances for the property located at 152 Valley View Avenue be extended for a period of one year, through September 22, 2017.
AGENDA – CONTINUATION September 27, 2016
McHUGH – An application to permit the construction of a second floor addition which will result in Gross Building Area within 140 feet of the front lot line of 36.4%/3,823 square feet where 32%/4,060 square feet is the maximum permitted at 624 Shelton Road, Block 3308, Lot 4, in an R-2 zone. (Continued from August 9, 2016)
VERIZON WIRELESS, 6 S. MONROE – Whispering Woods settlement hearing – Proposed wireless communications facility amended to provide that antennas be placed inside of the existing steeple behind RF friendly material. The proposed settlement would also provide that the condition that “no part of the premises shall be rented to outside entities” shall be interpreted to mean that the uses currently being conducted at the Church shall be permitted to continue. (Continued from August 23, 2016)(Carry to October 25, 2016)
New Business:
TZOULAFIS – An application to permit the construction of a covered porch, two-story and second story addition which will result in coverage by above-grade structures of 22.5%/2,500 square feet, where 20%/2,250 square feet is the maximum permitted and coverage by above-grade structures within 140 feet of the front lot line of 23.4%/2,428 square feet, where 20%/2,100 square feet is the maximum permitted at the Property located at 426 Colonial Road, Block 3609, Lot 5, in an R-2 Zone.
ANGIOLINO – An application to permit the construction of a second floor addition and front portico which will result in front yard setbacks of 32 feet to the front steps, and 39 feet to the portico, where 40 feet is the minimum required and a distance of 9.83 feet to an accessory structure from the principal structure, where 12 feet is the minimum required for the Property located at 706 Ellington Road, Block 4606, Lot 24, in an R-2 Zone.
HALLOWELL – An application to permit the construction of a one-story addition and to relocate the rear steps which will result in a side yard setback of 17.5 feet, where 20 feet is the minimum required; coverage by above-grade structures within 140 feet of the front lot line of 20.8%, where 20% is the maximum permitted, and coverage by improvements of 50%/4,898 square feet, where 45%/ 4,410 square feet is the maximum permitted for the Property located at 126 Avondale Road, Block 1402, Lot 5 in an R-1 Zone.
Resolution memorialization:
Discussion
Adjournment
September 27,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police Chief was quoted by the New York Times in a recent article on ,”Rarity of Tulsa Shooting: Female Officers Are Almost Never Involved” https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/us/rarity-of-tulsa-shooting-female-officers-are-almost-never-involved.html?_r=1
….But most current female officers interviewed said those stereotypes did not play out in the field. “We have some men that are the first ones we would put in with difficult people because they are such good communicators,” said Jacqueline Luthcke, who is chief of the Ridgewood, N.J., Police Department….
