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Governor Claims New Jersey Needs a $20 billion Federal Bail Out

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, Governor Phil  Murphy attempted to blame New Jersey decades of irresponsible spending and corruption on Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell ,going as far to claim New Jersey needs a whopping $20 billion even after the New Jersey legislator agree to allow the Murphy Administration a $10 Billion  no questions asked.

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NY Governor Cuomo says “Let them eat sandwiches”

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog’

Albany NY, Governor Andrew Cuomo made at the end of his daily COVID-19 press briefing on Thursday ruffled so many feathers. Saying chicken wings do not count as “food”. The lowest level of substantive food is “sandwiches”. Soup is mentioned as real food, and chicken wings are not.

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Retail Apocalypse, No reopening plans for NJ’s Xanadu American Dream Mall

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

East Rutherford NJ, After nearly two decades of construction delays and billions pumped in from New Jersey tax payers , New Jersey’s mega-mall American Dream partially opened last October. Six months later, the three-million-square-foot venue was forced to close its doors because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, even as the state continues its gradual reopening, there is still no reopening date for the $5 billion mall. As NJ.com reported, owner Triple Five Group has missed three consecutive mortgage payments and retail tenants are getting out of their leases at the space. On top of that, contractors and subcontractors have filed over $13 million in construction liens for unpaid work.

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Ridgewood’s Proposed Return to School Plan

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewo0d NJ, Dr. Fishbein began by explaining that the primary concern when developing the reopening plan was the health and safety of our students and staff. Since districts are getting information from the Governor’s office and the Department of Education daily, everything is subject to change, and we need to be prepared to pivot at any time. The presentation, along with a link to a survey, will be embedded in a letter to parents which is being emailed on Tuesday, July 28. Transition to September was presented by Ms. Poelstra, who began by thanking the many stakeholders for their input and contributions to the development of the plan.

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Coalition of New Jersey healthcare and physician advocates say Healthcare Surcharge would increase costs on those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

TRENTON NJ, State healthcare and physician advocates, led by the Home Care & Hospice Association of NJ, and the New Jersey Dental Association, called on the Senate and Assembly today to oppose a new tax on health insurance, as proposed in two bills, S-2676 and A-4389. The coalition joins a growing choir of employers, seniors, and health professionals concerned that the bill will increase health insurance costs on New Jersey communities that have already been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.

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New New Jersey 2.75% Excise Tax to Cost Consumers Millions

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, The New Jersey Business & Industry Association is urging two legislative committees today to vote against a proposed $300 million health insurance tax that would increase costs for businesses, nonprofits and ultimately all employees who pay a portion of their healthcare premiums.

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Reader says ,”they took advantage of the Coronavirus situation to deliberately create a killing field in our long-term care facilities”

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“Is it the case that some New Jerseyans wished to see our population decrease, starting with the old, and that they took advantage of the Coronavirus situation to deliberately create a killing field in our long-term care facilities?

Decimated: A Roman legion that had a tenth of its men killed in a particular battle was said to have been “decimated,” an indication that the cost in a given conflict in terms of combatant casualties was especially high.

The elderly in our long-term care facilities were literally decimated during the height of this pandemic. And it is still ongoing.

Senator Penacchio is right. We should investigate thoroughly. If we find any intentional wrongdoing, we should not refrain from dragging it out into the light. The same goes for grossly negligent decisions or actions that lead to deaths, of course. But the most important result would be to identify and prosecute high-level decision makers in government or in the hospital administrator or larger healthcare management community who intentionally targeted our elderly (or who cynically targeted those who suffer from comorbidity such as obesity or diabetes, and due to poverty or for cultural reasons tend to rely on hospital emergency rooms for primary health care treatment) for premature death due to a deranged ideological bent verging on modern-day eugenicism.

Don’t think we don’t have people among us who would act this way if they had the chance and believed they could get away with it. We absolutely do.”

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Reader says , “Teachers and administrators should get over themselves “

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“the costs to bring our school buildings to an adequate level of safety for students and staff are astronomical.”

There’s no need to do any of that.

New Jersey’s top high school graduates, as a group, outstrip the academic achievements, performance, and potential of those of every other state. This is borne out by the fact that the cutoff for National Merit Semifinalist status, which in every state consists of the top half of the top one percent of PSAT test scores among Junior Year PSAT test takers in that particular state (the Junior year being the only year that counts for purposes if National Merit competition), is higher in New Jersey than it is for every other state, year in, year out. In fact, in recent years, the PSAT cutoff in New Jersey for achieving National Merit Semifinalist status has typically been only one point away from a perfect score. Mind you, every Junior in every U.S. state who elects to take the PSAT to get involved in the National Merit competition takes the exact same version of the PSAT test on the exact same day. So there is no funny business involved, and it becomes possible to do a perfect apples-to-apples comparison data between states to see which states are producing the greatest number of top-shelf college-ready students as a proportionate to the total number of high school graduates they certify in a given year.

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Restaurants Will Close Permanently Without Some Reopening of Indoor Dining

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Senator Anthony M. Bucco warned that restaurants across New Jersey that have suffered steep economic losses since March will soon go out of business permanently if they are not allowed to reopen their dining rooms or provided direct financial support from the State’s share of billions in unspent CARES Act funding.

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CITY OF PATERSON CHOSEN FOR RAPID TESTING FOR THE HOMELESS PILOT PROGRAM

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photo by Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paterson NJ, The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) in collaboration with the Paterson Division of Health and the Passaic County Department of Health have conducted a rapid testing pilot program, Point of Care for the Homeless. The Point of Care test provides test results within 15 minutes and was conducted at Eva’s Village on Wednesday, July 22.

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Democrats Introduce New “Health Tax” bill for New Jersey Residents

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Middletown NJ, Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R-Monmouth) is speaking out against a recent bill seeking to impose a new “health tax” throughout New Jersey. This legislation comes at a time when businesses, residents, low-income families, and countless others are severely struggling to make ends meet in the wake of crushing financial waves due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

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Updated Quarantine Advisory Issued for Individuals Traveling to New Jersey

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ,  Governor Murphy today advised individuals traveling to New Jersey from additional states with significant community spread of COVID-19 to quarantine for a 14-day period from the time of last contact within the identified state. The updated advisory includes 10 additional states  – Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia, and Washington – with Minnesota removed from the list. The travel advisory applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a state with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

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Parents Take 2nd Look at “Home Schooling” in Era of COVID-19

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, with the discussion on back to school heating up many concerned parents  are looking for alternatives. On of those options are home schooling, which some parents are investigating after positive experiences with remote classes this spring after most schools closed. While these options may appear similar on the surface, remote classes and home schooling are very different. Home school options vary widely, including utilizing existing curricula or developing personalized course work, and the standards and requirements vary from state to state.

While online classes and home school may be effective, they may not be viable options for everyone. These options may require computers, tablets, or smartphones and reliable high-speed internet service to fully participate, particularly for live-streamed classes or video sessions. Availability for both computers and internet services may not be feasible for lower-income families or those living in remote areas, and many parents may not be able to continue to work remotely or remain at home in order to supervise their children during the day.

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Starbucks employee in Park Ridge was charged Monday with spitting in cops’ drinks

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Park Ridge NJ, a Starbucks employee in Park Ridge was charged Monday with spitting in cops’ drinks, according to the Park Ridge Police Department. Kevin Trejo, 21, of Westwood was arrested for subjecting a law enforcement officer to bodily fluid, purposely tampering with a law enforcement officer’s drink and creating a hazardous environment.

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Murphy Administration Closes Wayne MVC after Employee tests Positive for Coronavirus

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Wayne NJ, The logjam of frustrated drivers continues at Motor Vehicle Commission facilities across the state, and now things will only get worse in Passaic Country, where the licensing center in Wayne is being closed for more than a week after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

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