By Mark Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on February 08, 2017 at 8:38 AM, updated February 08, 2017 at 10:18 AM
Peter West, an avowed supporter of President Donald Trump, doesn’t shrink from calling it as he sees it.
Posting on Facebook and Twitter up to a dozen times a day, he has repeatedly railed against Muslims, calling moderate Islam “a myth” and voicing strong support for the president’s travel ban, which temporarily barred immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries before a judge issued a stay last week.
West has assailed millennials as “snowflakes” who attend “cry-ins” and described liberals as “smug and arrogant” people who find solace in puppies and Play-Doh.
He has called Hillary Clinton an “evil witch” and former President Barack Obama a “bum,” at one point sharing a post that challenged Obama’s authenticity as an African-American because he wasn’t raised by a poor single mother in the inner city.
By Jessica Mazzola and Marisa Iati | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on February 02, 2017 at 11:33 AM, updated February 02, 2017 at 5:08 PM
KENILWORTH — A Catholic school that expelled a seventh-grade student whose family sued in an attempt to get her a spot on the boys basketball team was acting in accordance with school policy, officials with the Archdiocese of Newark said Thursday.
“I am just in total shock right now,” said Scott Phillips, who received a letter Wednesday saying that his two daughters, Sydney and Kaitlyn, were no longer welcome at St. Theresa’s School in Kenilworth.
The possibility of the girls getting thrown out,” never even crossed my mind. It’s over joining a basketball team,” he said. “I am so disappointed.”
Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark, said Sydney’s parents signed an acknowledgement in August of the school’s policy, which clearly states that legal action against the school will result in students’ expulsion.
Since the bulletin is prepared on Wednesday, before the Village Council meeting, I cannot share with you what happened. Below, please find the statement of the Parish that was emailed to Council members and read into the record.
On behalf of the Archdiocese of Newark and Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, I would like to thank Mayor Aronsohn, Councilwoman Knudsen and the architectural/engineering teams working with the Village of Ridgewood for their willingness to engage in these open discussions and for their participation in the two meetings held at the parish last week. I have attached a memorandum from Daniel Disario, P.E., PTOE, of Langan Engineering, the firm that the parish has retained to review the traffic study submitted by Maser Consulting. The memorandum has identified several areas of concern that we would like to see addressed prior to the project moving forward.
While we are encouraged by the fact that the Village is willing to consider reducing the size of the proposed structure, we still believe that the construction of a parking deck for 200 additional cars will significantly impact day to day operations for the Church community and accordingly we would like to see the project proceed with due caution. Though we are thankful that the Village commissioned a traffic study, we feel that the report was limited in scope and a more thorough analysis is necessary.
The study was performed on Wednesday, October 7th for two hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. As a result, the report does not take in to account added volume due to; daily drop off and pickup for Windsor Academy School, drop off and pick up for religious education classes, weddings, baptisms, confirmations, funerals and other parish events – including the significant attendance for weekend masses. With Mount Carmel being the closest neighbor to the parking structure, we would have preferred more interaction with Maser’s engineers so they could take these factors into account.
We are also uncomfortable with potential ripple effects and future implications of issues yet to be determined, including the possibility of the reversal of traffic flow and the elimination of street parking on Hudson and Passaic Streets, both of which border Church property. Certain aspects of the design, including the introduction of crisscrossing left hand turns at the entrance/exit of the lot, a problem which will be exacerbated by the inherent increase of both foot and vehicle traffic at mass times, should be more closely reviewed and fleshed out.
Furthermore, the proposed “cantilevered” overhang is a major aesthetic concern and also could present a series of logistical issues. We agree that solutions need to be found for the parking problem in Ridgewood and it is the intention of the parish to cooperate with the Village to address this longstanding issue. We also recognize the viability of the Hudson Street lot as a potential site, however, we believe the matter needs the type of comprehensive study and analysis that was recommended in the “Summary and Conclusions” portion of the original study completed by Maser Consulting on October 15, 2015 (page 22).
To this end, the parish is willing to retain an engineer at its own expense to examine the ramifications of the proposal in more detail. In conclusion, we formally request that bond approval be placed on hold until both engineering firms are given the appropriate time to study the matter in the required detail and subsequently confer for the purpose of providing a mutually beneficial solution for both the Village and parish communities.
