The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Noting that Governor Phil Murphy has repeatedly cited and exercised vast executive authority to respond to the current public health emergency, Senator Steven Oroho (R-24) called for the governor to abandon consideration of a 9.3 cent/gallon gas tax increase that was announced by the Treasury Department on Friday.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Assemblyman Jay Webber send letter to Col. Callahan: Will Governor be held accountable & cited for his violations of his own Executive Order?
Webber twitted : “Shops closed, ballfields empty, graduations and weddings cancelled, but Phil Murphy doesn’t have to social distance when He has something important to do? Hypocrisy at its worst.”
IMPORTANT CORRECTION AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT EXECUTIVE ORDERS
· Important update to yesterday’s E-Notice:
Continue reading Village of Ridgewood Correction and Additional Information on COVID 19
January 17, 2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Intensifying his Administration’s commitment in the fight against substance abuse, Governor Chris Christie today signed Executive Order 219 declaring the opioid epidemic a public health crisis in New Jersey. The action requires the marshalling of all appropriate resources to combat its harmful effects on state citizens.
“We must take aggressive action to get this insidious crisis under control so I am calling together all resources of state government in order to save lives,” said Governor Christie. “The human cost of this epidemic is incalculable, impacting every part of life in New Jersey, affecting our education system, our health care system, public safety and the financial security of every person it touches.”
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, an American dies every 19 minutes from an opioid or heroin overdose. New Jersey’s drug overdose death rate increased by almost 22 percent between 2014 and 2015. There was a 30 percent increase in heroin deaths over the previous year and triple the number of deaths caused by the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Additionally, the CDC reports that in 2012, health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid pain medication, enough for every adult in the United States to have a bottle of pills.
The new Executive Order creates the Governor’s Task Force on Drug Abuse Control, to be headed by Charlie McKenna, Executive Director of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, which will be charged with developing and executing a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to combat the drug-abuse epidemic by working with all areas of state government, in addition to local, federal, and private entities, as well as the Facing Addiction Task Force.
The Drug Abuse Task Force will consist of eight members, including the Attorney General and the Commissioners of Health, Human Services, Corrections, Education, Children and Families, and Banking and Insurance.
The Task Force will review current statutes and regulations that present barriers to individuals suffering from addiction to receiving treatment from rapid opiate detox centers and make recommendations to rescind or amend any such statutes or regulations to remove those barriers. The panel is authorized to call upon any department, office, division, or agency of this state to supply it with information, personnel, or other assistance available as the Task Force deems necessary to discharge its duties. The Task Force may consult with experts or other knowledgeable individuals in the public or private sector on any aspect of its mission.
The Executive Order also directs Attorney General Chris Porrino to take all necessary steps to limit the initial prescription of opioids for acute pain and establish standards such that additional quantities may only be prescribed after further consultation with the patient.
The Order further directs Department of Children and Families Commissioner Allison Blake to ensure residential substance abuse disease treatment facilities and similar facilities utilize their existing spaces effectively, including ensuring that 18 and 19-year-olds with substance abuse problems are able to take advantage of any vacancies in existing facilities wherever appropriate.
In addition, the Governor is directing Acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington to develop a new, comprehensive grade-specific curriculum to educate children about the dangers of substance abuse.
“Opioid drug abuse is one of the most challenging issues facing us not only as Americans but as New Jerseyans,” said Governor Christie. “The crisis is pervasive – impacting our families, friends, neighbors and coworkers. The steps I am taking today through this Executive Order recognize the severity of the crisis and pull together the efforts of all state government agencies.”
August 18,2016
Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie announced his enactment of Executive Order 213, with the State Transportation Trust Fund Authority days away from exhausting all of its available funds.
“No evident progress has been made by the Legislature to pass a single, viable bill to reauthorize the TTFA,” Governor Christie stated. “A well-maintained transportation infrastructure is essential to the operation of New Jersey’s economy and the people who rely upon it in all aspects of their daily lives. The current situation will persist until the Senate and the General Assembly pass an acceptable TTFA funding bill. Until they do so, the State must use money from the General Fund for emergency road, bridge, and mass transportation work.”
Under Executive Order 213, attached, the state Treasurer is directed to make available general funds for expenses determined to be absolutely essential for the protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the State of New Jersey, or that are required to ensure the receipt of federal funding, in accordance with Executive Order 210, until the Governor determines an emergency no longer exists.
by Ron DuBois
Since the President saw fit to issue “guidelines” in an Executive Order, to force schools, businesses, etc, to allow men to use girls’ locker rooms and toilets, I’ve been following the fallout. Shortly after the decree, some schools and stores began welcoming trans-sexuals, and other gender-confused people, to use whatever bathroom or changing facility they identified most with. One reason given was that such persons should not be made to feel uncomfortable if, for example, they are males who believe they are really females trapped in mens’ bodies, and would prefer to use the ladies room rather than the men’s room.I don’t want to go into the usual arguments, like male predators wanting to see females in various stages of undress, but I wonder – if a male wants to use the female bathroom or locker room because he feels uncomfortable using the male facilities, did the President think how uncomfortable the girls might be with men coming in gawking at them? Transgendered people make up well under one percent of the population; why are we trying to accommodate their feelings at the expense of the, say 50 percent of females in the population, who will now be made to feel uncomfortable? It seems to defy logic, when maybe 80 or 90 females have to be made uncomfortable, so one male/female doesn’t.
Well, about a week after this started, I thought of an answer, but didn’t say anything because I was sure lots of others would also think of it. To date, I haven’t heard or read about anyone proposing my solution. I believe it’s because certain people (in power) on both sides don’t want a simple solution. It really isn’t about inclusiveness for all, it’s about breaking down the traditions that have served us well, like honesty and morality, like traditional marriage and the family, like teaching schoolkids about American History and the Constitution, and making them proud to be Americans. The actions of Progressives and others show just how astute Benjamin Franklin was, when he said the Constitution was only for a moral and religious people, and was totally inadequate for any other.
So here is the solution I propose. Every school, and every large store, has facilities to change, try on things, and go to the toilet; they have multiple places for these accommodations. Schools, for instance have faculty bathrooms, as well as student bathrooms. Since the number of transgenders, cross-dressers, etc at each school, store or business is miniscule, only one toilet will be needed to accommodate them (maybe more on a college campus with thousands of students). One of the faculty bathrooms can be set aside for this purpose. Large facilities, institutions, and stores also have enough bathrooms to set one aside so transgenders, etc can use a toilet or change, without embarrassment.
For showering, I can only suggest that if someone is uncomfortable showering with others who have the same genitalia, they wait until they get home to shower. I do not advocate males being allowed to barge into a female shower room, and shower with them. I also believe that if a man wants to use the female showers, it should only be allowed if he has undergone the full medical change, so he is now a woman, like Bruce Jenner did. Just because a man feels feminine one morning does not give him the right to shower with the girls at school.
