The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Newark NJ, A member of the Newark Municipal Council and Board of Directors of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation (NCEDC) was charged today with scheming to obtain bribes and kickbacks, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Continue reading Fed’s Charge Newark City Council Democrat in Bribery and Kickback Scheme
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Atlantic City NJ, The mayor of Atlantic City today admitted to defrauding contributors to a youth basketball team of more than $87,000, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Democrat Frank Gilliam, 49, of Atlantic City, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud.
Continue reading Atlantic City Mayor Admits Stealing $87,000 from A Youth Basketball Team
photo courtesy of RHS
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Ridgewood NJ, on September 16th ,US Senator Bob Menendez spoke at RHS to call for stricter measures to stop teenage use of vaping products and e-cigarettes .
Reelected by double digits in 2018 despite alleged issues with underage hookers in Dominican Republic. One of the country’s least popular senators Bob Menendez ,who currently stands at 36% approve and 43% disapprove among all New Jerseyans, and 37% approve and 45% disapprove among registered voters.
Continue reading Nobody Loves Bob Menendez
April 7,2018
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Ridgewood NJ, A Superior Court judge declared a mistrial in the state’s case against Ridgewood Resident Dr. Roberto Rivera, a physician who was indicted in 2012 for stockpiling large amounts of bomb-making materials in his Ridgewood home.
At the time authorities including the Ridgewood police discovered a stock of hazardous materials during a 2012 raid on Rivera’s Union Street home, including nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, glycerin, sulfuric acid, calcium hypochlorite and potassium perchlorate. Along with multiple weapons, authorities also recovered 10 thermite lighters, which can be used as detonators.
In 2012, Dr. Roberto Rivera, 60, was reported to be active in the Occupy Wall Street movement and a far left wing activist .His license to practice medicine temporarily suspended in 2013 and in 2015, he was cleared by a court to represent himself in his trial.
This past Wednesday Judge Frances McGrogan made her decision after a juror independently obtained information about the case during deliberations, said Joseph Torre, a Bergen County assistant prosecutor.
The three-day trial in March saw testimony from detectives who seized two Cobray M11 9mm assault rifles and a large-capacity ammunition magazine from Rivera’s house, Torre said.
Rivera is charged with possession of assault weapons and a high-capacity magazine. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
A new trial will take place in June,and the state will also hold a second trial in October on charges related to the explosive material, including possession of a destructive device and creating risk of widespread harm.
file photo by Boyd Loving
Thank your stars that Ridgewood at least keeps the semblance of non-partisan elections.
Arohnson would have been mayor for life had he run in Ridgewood with a D against his name. There is a large, and growing, contingent here who will vote for anyone – felon, crook, thief, retard whatever – with a D against their name.
I personally know quite a few party line Democratic voters who actually voted against Team Hackensack because they are unaware that the Three Amigos are Democrats.
file photo by Boyd Loving
November 15,2017
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Newark NJ, the Jurors in the bribery trial of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and a wealthy friend Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen could hear new instructions from the judge Wednesday as they resume deliberations.
The jury finished Tuesday without reaching a unanimous verdict on any of the 18 counts against the New Jersey Democrat .Deliberations began last week, but the jury was forced to be restarted on Monday after a juror was excused for a previously scheduled vacation and was replaced by an alternate.
The Jurors have since remained deadlocked, but were told to keep going and to “take as much time as you need.” by U.S. District Judge William Walls .
The New Jersey Senator is being charge with accepting an abundance of campaign donations, gifts and vacations from Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist. In return, he used his position to lobby on behalf of Melgen’s business interests, according to prosecutors.
Melgen allegedly directed more than $750,000 in campaign contributions to entities that supported Menendez, according to the indictment, which prosecutors said were inducements to get Menendez to use his influence on Melgen’s behalf. Prosecutors have also accused Menendez of trying to hide the gifts.
Melgen paid for Menendez and his girlfriend to stay for three nights at a Parisian hotel where rooms typically cost about $1,500 per night and allowed the senator the use of his private jet, according to prosecutors.
Federal prosecutors said that Menendez “sold his office for a lifestyle that he couldn’t afford.”
The indictment also alleged that Menendez pressured State Department officials to give visas to three young women described as Melgen’s girlfriends.
Menendez has vehemently denied the accusations against him and claimed that he and Melgen have been friends since before the former became a senator, and the trips were nothing more than friends traveling together
file photo by Boyd Loving
September 19,2017
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Ridgewood NJ, according to a resort executive Andres Pichardo Rosenberg , Democrat Senator Menendez’s stays at the luxurious Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic gave him access to white-sand beaches, a marina filled with expensive yachts and five golf courses. The seven-acre gated community on the Caribbean also boasts the top-rated golf course in the Dominican Republic, six international restaurants, a security staff of 800, and access to elite sports like pheasant shooting. Pheasant shooting in Dominican Republic you ask, yes according to testimony eggs are imported and the birds are bred for sport .
Opthalmologist , Dr. Salomon Melgen, who owns a home that the Senator stayed in Casa de Campo. has denied that the home was a bribe, describing it as a modest getaway for the doctor and his close friends and family. Rosenberg stated that there are 1,850 private houses on the resort some costing over $10 million. Rosenberg estimated that homes in Melgen’s neighborhood are worth up to $2.5 million.
NJ Senator Menendez, 63, is accused of accepting lavish gifts from Melgen, including stays at the villa and flights on private jets, in exchange for helping the married eye doctor obtaining visas for his three foreign girlfriends and straightening out an $8.9 million tab for overbilling Medicare.
Recent testimony suggests that Menendez lived the life in Dominican Republic , also staying at the exclusive $765 per night Tortuga Bay Hotel and Punta Cana Resort & Club where Melgen shelled out another $766 for other amenities, including golf, bars and restaurants. Mind you this Dominican Republic where the GDP per Capita $6,733 per year
Melgen also footed the bill of $875 per hour for an 8 hour pick up in a chauffeured car for Menendez in Hoboken ,credit car receipts confirm that Menendez was brought to an upscale Chinese restaurant where Melgen was waiting for both him and the vehicle.
Testimony also revealed that Immediately after the FBI raided Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen’s West Palm Beach offices, Melgen’s son-in-law contacted the Federal Aviation Administration to block the public from tracking his private jet. Melgen’s private jet had been used several times to fly Menendez between New Jersey and Melgen’s vacation home in the Dominican Republic ,these flights prosecutors charge were bribes Melgen paid Menendez in exchange for official favors.
Why do my fellow journalists praise that anti-media prosecutor Donald Trump fired? | Mulshine
Posted on March 14, 2017 at 6:26 AM
BY PAUL MULSHINE
There is one phenomenon that I have never understood in the many years I have been in the news racket: the adulation many of my colleagues have for crusading prosecutors.
Am I the only one who’s noticed that these guys rarely return the favor?
A case in point is outgoing U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara. When his name appeared on the list of U.S. Attorneys who were asked to resign by President Trump last week, a great wave of keening and wailing went up from the press.
Typical was the New York Times, which ran this headline on a supposedly objective news article: “With Bharara’s Dismissal, Storied New York Office Loses Its Top Fighter.”
Storied?
By Alyana Alfaro • 12/05/16 4:45pm
Last week, former firefighter Bill Brennan made headlines for his appearance in court as he attempted to get a Bergen County judge to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate an official misconduct complaint filed against New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for his role in the Bridgegate lane closures. While the judge denied the request, Brennan appeared in Wayne on Monday to claim he will continue to pursue to effort and to make the unexpected announcement that he will run for governor in 2017.
Brennan has never held office before and considers himself a citizen activist. He will be running for the state house as a Democrat. Brennan will now join former Ambassador to Germany Phil Murphy and Assemblyman John Wisniewski in the June Democratic primary.
https://observer.com/2016/12/activist-who-filed-complaint-against-christie-to-run-for-nj-governor/?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics
By Salena Zito
November 26, 2016 | 6:48pm
YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO — Dressed in a grey sweater, jeans and white sneakers, Tim Ryan looks more like the college-football star he aspired to be than a man about to take on the most powerful woman in Washington, DC.
Tall, lanky and fit, the seven-term congressman still retains the slim build from his days as a stand-out quarterback from John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio. “I work out in the same gym as Paul Ryan. I definitely have the better six-pack,” he says of the speaker of the House, who also hails from a Midwestern Catholic background.
https://nypost.com/2016/11/26/can-this-man-save-the-democrats/
by AARON KLEIN
As women’s issues become part of the 2016 presidential race, it may be instructive to review recent statements made by some of Bill Clinton’s alleged female victims regarding the ambitions of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Last week, Hillary accused Republican canddiate Donald Trump of having a “penchant for sexism” in an interview with the Des Moines Register in Iowa. The billionaire fired backon Twitter: “Be careful Hillary as you play the war on women or women being degraded card.”
Trump followed up with a second tweet, saying, “Hillary, when you complain about ‘a penchant for sexism,’ who are you referring to? I have great respect for women. BE CAREFUL!”
NJ SpotlightBy NJ Spotlight
on September 20, 2016 at 6:30 AM, updated September 20, 2016 at 5:03 PM
….In Bergen County, Sheriff Michael Saudino is opposed by Republican Manuel Alfonso, a chief investigator for the state Department of Corrections. Saudino was elected as a Republican, but switched his allegiance to the Democratic Party this year.
Saudino rakes in more than any other double-dipping sheriff – $138,000 in salary plus $130,000 from pension. Alfonso is eligible for an $80,000 a year pension, but has promised not to collect retirement pay while he serves as sheriff….
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Ridgewood NJ , New Jersey Democrat Lawmakers are at it again ,and they want to take away your morning coffee. Under the guise of trying to crack down on distracted driving NJ Democrats are looking to ban anything that takes your hands off a steering wheel, including eating, drinking coffee.
Democrat lawmakers are currently pushing a bill, A-1908, that specifically prohibits a driver from engaging in any activity such as eating, drinking or using electronic devices not related to the operation of the vehicle. New Jersey already bans cellphone usage while driving.Violators could face fines from $200 to $400 for the first offense, $400 to $600 for a second offense and $600 to $800 for a third or subsequent offense. A third violation may also result in a driver’s license suspension of up to 90 days and a motor vehicle points penalty at the court’s discretion.
Senator hopes TTF debate Boosts Efforts to Tighten Business-tax Rules
As New Jersey leaders debate a gas-tax increase and tax cuts designed to offset it, a veteran Democrat wants them to take a new look at legislation that would bring new money into the budget by tightening corporate-tax regulations. While new revenue from the gas tax would be dedicated to the off-budget Transportation Trust Fund, Sen. Ray Lesniak’s proposal would fatten the general fund. John Reitmeyer, NJSpotlightRead more
June 18, 2015 7:39 AM
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WEST DEPTFORD NJ, Protests outside the home of New Jersey’s state Senate president Stephen Sweeney could be outlawed by a newly proposed ordinance.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the West Deptford Township Committee introduced an ordinance Wednesday to overhaul its loitering ordinance and regulate picketing in residential areas.
The measure would ban picketing that’s targeted at and within 100 feet of a house in the Gloucester County town. Picketing beyond that point would be limited to no more than 10 people for one hour every two weeks.
Sweeneys home has recently been the target of 2nd Amendment activist who staged two protests at Democratic Sen. Stephen Sweeney’s home.
Officials in West Deptford say the ordinance was introduced because of protests requiring police, but they haven’t mentioned Sweeney.Critics has blasted the measure as a blatant attack on free speech and typical New Jersey politicians playing favorites and protecting their own .