The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
Early estimates show film created 575 jobs and resulted in $7.6 million in spending
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Trenton NJ, Warner Brothers’ Joker, which was filmed partly on location in Newark and Jersey City, took home two Oscars during Sunday night’s Academy Awards presentation.
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Newark NJ, With the unemployment rate at a near 50-year low and employers expecting to hire 5.8 percent more college graduates from the Class of 2020 than from the previous graduating cohort, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best Places to Find a Job as well as accompanying videos.
To determine the strongest local job markets in the U.S., WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 31 key metrics. The data set ranges from job opportunities to employment growth to monthly average starting salary.
Continue reading New Study Rates Newark One of the Worst Cities for Job Creation
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Newark NJ, On Friday, Stuart Meissner, candidate for U.S. Senate, former prosecutor and leading whistleblower attorney, has filed an open records request pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) seeking information about communications between Cory Booker and his staff, both campaign and official, and the City of Newark concerning the Newark Water Crisis:
“As I have traveled around the state speaking to voters, I have heard an overwhelming demand for more information about Senator Cory Booker’s abdication of leadership that led to the Newark Water Crisis. People want answers. In filing this public records request, I am ensuring that New Jersey voters will know how much Booker cared about preserving his image on the presidential campaign trail than he did about the poisoned residents of Newark.”
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NEWARK NJ, A Newark man today admitted possessing heroin that was seized from him at Newark Penn Station, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Jeremy Lorenzo, 30, of Newark, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 200 grams of heroin.
Continue reading Newark Man Convicted of Drug Trafficking by train between Newark Penn Station and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
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Irvington NJ, Democratic Assemblyman Jamel Holley said Gov. Phil Murphy’s been asleep at the switch on the Newarks lead crisis.
Holley is a member of the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 20th Legislative District. He was appointed to the seat on January 21, 2015, by the elected members of the Union County Democratic Committee from the 20th district municipalities of Elizabeth, Hillside, Roselle, and Union Township making him the first African American to represent the district. He is serving out the unexpired term of former Assemblyman and now State Senator Joseph Cryan.
Continue reading Democrats Blast Murphy on Slow Action on Newarks Water Crisis
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Newark NJ, In response to a report that Newark Beth Israel Medical Center staff allegedly kept a patient in a vegetative state to maintain the cardiac program’s survival rate, Chair of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee Herb Conaway (D-Burlington) released the following statement:
Continue reading Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Doctors Accused of Misconduct
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Trenton NJ, Today the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee will continue to take testimony from invited guests concerning the administration of the “Water Quality Accountability Act.” The 2017 law imposes certain testing, reporting, management, and infrastructure investment requirements on water purveyors. The law sets a limit of three violations before mitigation must be done. It also states that every water purveyor must implement an asset management plan designed to inspect, maintain, repair, and renew its infrastructure, as well as a cyber security plan. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club released the following statement:
Continue reading Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club,”We have a crisis in New Jersey when it comes to drinking water and crumbling infrastructure”
Stuart Meissner, a prominent whistle blower attorney, who is considering a campaign for U.S. Senate, sent the following letter to Newark, NJ Mayor Ras Baraka regarding on the water crisis in Newark:
Continue reading Former Prosecutor : Newark Water “Crisis was caused – in part – by the misdeeds of political cronies” During Booker Administration
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NEWARK NJ, A U.S. district judge today ruled she will not order the City of Newark to provide bottled water to residents who are pregnant or have children age six or under in the eastern part of the city, in response to a motion filed by the Newark Education Workers (NEW) Caucus—a group of public school educators—and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
For more than two and a half years, Newark’s drinking water has contained levels of lead that are among the highest of any city in the nation. The groups had asked the court to take action, presenting evidence that Newark’s response to the citywide public health crisis has been inadequate and leaves many residents unprotected.
Continue reading U.S. district judge rules not to order the City of Newark to provide bottled water to residents
photos courtesy of Jared Caldara
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Newark NJ, last night clean water protesters hit the VMA’a and were quickly dispersed by the police .
Newark Police units with the assistance of The Emergency Services Unit, SWAT, NJ State Police, and NPD1 helicopter dispersed a gathering of about 75 protesters who reportedly became unruly during the red carpet segment of the VMA’s this evening.
According to police, officer physically restrained then arrested about a half dozen of the protesters who attempted to force their way into restricted areas around the red carpet.
Officials say, one of the men almost jumped over the barricade and came in close contact with red carpet participants at the intersection of Edison Place and Mulberry Street.
Police were able to immediately take the man into custody.
Statement by Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka:
“This morning, I was honored to join Governor Phil Murphy and Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo to announce that we are expediting the replacement of every lead service line in the City of Newark. Thanks to the $120 million low-interest loan, made possible by the Essex County Improvement Authority, we will be able to achieve our goal of replacing every lead service line in Newark by expediting the process tremendously and at no cost to homeowners. This is big news for the City of Newark but also sets a precedent across the country about how New Jersey is stepping up to the plate to address water infrastructure challenges for its residents.
Continue reading Newark Turns a Corner , Water Protesters Hit VMA’s
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Newark NJ, On Monday, August 26, the MTV Video Music Awards is being hosted at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ—its first time ever in New Jersey. Due to the traffic congestion resulting from this event, we encourage those traveling in the area to allow for extra time and, if you are not attending the event, plan alternate routes. (Road closure info below)
If your commute involves bus: NJ TRANSIT bus service throughout Newark will be subject to delays and detours due to the event. There is the potential for gridlock traffic conditions Monday.
Continue reading Monday, August 26, the MTV Video Music Awards is being hosted at the Prudential Center in Newark
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Newark NJ, after spending the better part of the last 2 years attacking everything that is “Trump”, New Jersey officials failed to take any action to fix Newark’s water problems . Several other New Jersey cities are currently facing a similar fate.
But in a joint statement issued Sunday afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy and Mayor Ras Baraka said safe drinking water was critically important and called on the federal government to help.
The EPA tested and found high levels of lead with filters in two residences in Newark. The agency strongly encouraged the city of Newark to take immediate action. DEP Commissioner McCabe responded to EPA that, “EPA has not offered any support in providing bottled water to the city or in distributing that bottled water. Given the concerns EPA has here, we hope that EPA will offer assistance promptly.”
Continue reading New Jersey Officials Continue to Drop the Ball on Newark’s Water Problems
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Newark NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose, III announced the arrest of VICTOR TAYLOR (DOB: 12/12/1971, single, unemployed) of 12 Herpers Street, Irvington, NJ, for the murder of Mark Holley. The arrest is the result of a Cold Case Homicide Investigation conducted by the North Jersey Cold Case Task Force under the direction of Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Chief Robert Anzilotti.
Continue reading COLD CASE TASK FORCE CHARGES IRVINGTON MAN WITH 2015 NEWARK HOMICIDE
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Newark NJ, An NJ Transit Police officer took this photo after patrolling Branch Brook Park Station during the week. One of the great things about being New Jersey Transit Police Officers is that our area of patrol spans the entire state. No matter where we go, there’s always something interesting to see.
Here’s a little known fact: New Jersey has more cherry trees than Washington D.C. Every spring, residents and visitors alike can see the largest cherry blossom collection in the United States.
Continue reading Branch Brook park in Newark has a larger collection of cherry blossoms than Washington DC
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Newark NJ, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka says the city is going to study a pilot program to provide a universal basic income, or basically guaranteeing income for all residents whether they have a job.The Newark mayor made his comments during his annual State of the City address Tuesday night at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.Newark has launched a taskforce to see if the program is feasible with help from the Economic SecurityProject and the Jain Institute.
In an effort to appeal to millennial voters Baraka said , “We believe in Universal Basic Income, especially in a time where studies have shown that families that have a crisis of just $400 in a month may experience a setback that may be difficult even impossible to recover from,”
While He noted that a third of the city still lives in poverty no details on the plan, like how it would be funded or when a final decision would be made.
Continue reading Newark to Study Universal Basic Income
