file photo by Boyd Loving
July 28,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Are we going to have to replace all those brand new police cars? Ford has known this for five years, apparently. Ford Explorers blamed for alleged carbon monoxide leaks that sickened cops.
People don’t know that when Jennifer moved into the building, she actually joined the Elks Club. This was an asset to our membership which increase the past 3 years.
She was a loyal member since moving in and my hats off to her and her staff.
As I know first hand, it was a land grab by the National Elks organization.
They are really a Mafia. They recently did this to my dad’s Elks in New Rochelle.
As for parking illegally at Kings you have no idea what you’re talking about
They have 15 spots in the back and their classes hold less than that.
Taking up some of their spots are employees at the library and people visiting the library.
In addition, library patrons park at kings all day.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino today announced two new initiatives to fight public corruption, including a reward program offering up to $25,000 for tips from the public, as well as a program that offers lower-level defendants in a corruption scheme the potential to avoid prosecution if they reveal the crime to the Attorney General’s Office so more culpable defendants can be prosecuted.
New Jersey has tough anti-corruption laws that provide mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment and parole ineligibility for people who commit crimes that touch upon their public office or employment. The Attorney General’s Office has utilized these laws in recent years to prosecute major cases involving elected officials, government employees and companies receiving public funds. A critical challenge, however, is securing the initial leads that allow such crimes to be uncovered and prosecuted. The new programs are designed to encourage those with information on corruption to come forward.
“It’s a troubling reality that along with the many public officials and employees who carry out their duties with integrity, there are some who abuse their authority and corruptly exploit their positions for personal gain,” said Attorney General Porrino. “We know these bad actors are out there, and we’re casting a wide net to catch them with these two new programs. For members of the public who have personal knowledge of corruption and are fed up with it, we’re offering an added motivation for them to turn their anger into action.”
“Our whistleblower program strategically allows secondary players in corruption schemes to come clean and avoid prosecution,” Porrino added. “Whether we’re talking about a skilled public worker assigned to act as a personal handyman for his boss, or a contractor asked to pay bribes to a local code inspector, or a corporate employee pressured by executives to make illegal political contributions, we’re offering a way out of such predicaments for those who come forward first and are less culpable.”
“These new programs offer strong incentives for people to come forward confidentially and help us root out public corruption, whether they’re tipsters from the public seeking a reward, or public workers or others seeking to extricate themselves from a corrupt scheme,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “By offering the programs for a limited time, we’re looking for swift results, and we will vigorously pursue every lead.”
“By implementing the Anti-Corruption Reward and Anti-Corruption Whistleblower Programs for a relatively short time frame, we are hoping for quick and decisive action by anyone with knowledge of public corruption by elected officials and government employees,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “The goal of the initiatives is to encourage those to come forward with information that will eventually lead to the prosecution of anyone who engages in these corruption schemes.”
Attorney General Porrino announced the following programs to promote reporting of corruption cases:
Anti-Corruption Reward Program
The Attorney General’s Office is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for tips from the public leading to a conviction for a crime involving public corruption. The reward program will be funded by the Attorney General’s Office using criminal forfeiture funds.
Individuals applying for this reward must provide information about a crime that has not previously been revealed to law enforcement and they must not have participated in the crime.
The reward limit for any case is $25,000. In most cases, only the person who first reports the crime will receive the reward. However, where two or more people provide different information that is material to successfully prosecuting the case, the reward may be apportioned.
The reward is not available to government employees who learn of the crime in the course of their employment if they have an official duty to report such crimes.
Anti-Corruption Whistleblower Program
This program encourages eligible individuals or corporations to self-report their involvement in criminal activity, in return, in appropriate cases, for an agreement by the Attorney General’s Office to waive prosecution of the whistleblower.
Individuals interested in participating in the program can choose initially to report information anonymously and/or through an attorney to determine whether they are a likely candidate for waiver of prosecution under the program. They can then decide whether to proceed with the formal application.
The program is restricted to lower-level participants in a crime who provide information that enables the Attorney General’s Office to charge higher-level defendants. The whistleblower must provide truthful and complete information and must cooperate as required by investigators.
An individual will not be eligible for the program if he or she is an elected official, had a controlling role in the criminal scheme, or enlisted another party to participate in the scheme.
The whistleblower may be subject to forfeiture of public employment depending on the circumstances.
Corporations may apply for the Whistleblower Program only where the criminal activity at issue was committed by employees of the corporation, without the knowledge, acquiescence or participation of the high-level employees, officers, directors or shareholders seeking waiver of prosecution for the corporation, and only where the corporation took prompt action to terminate the illegal activity or report it to law enforcement once it was discovered.
The programs are intended to encourage individuals who have information on public corruption to come forward promptly, so they will be open for a limited time. Both programs will expire on Aug. 1, 2017.
The Attorney General’s Office will keep the identities of applicants to the programs confidential to the fullest extent possible, subject to any statute, rule of court, or judicial decision to the contrary which may require disclosure to certain parties, including, in certain circumstances, a criminal defendant. Applicants to each program may be interviewed by detectives at the discretion of the Division of Criminal Justice. The applicant may also be required to give his or her verbal statement under oath and sign a written memorialization of his or her statement.
Additional information about the two programs can be found posted with this press release on the Attorney General’s Office website: www.njpublicsafety.com.
Individuals may report information and apply for the Anti-Corruption Reward Program or Anti-Corruption Whistleblower Program by one of the following methods:
Call the DCJ hotline 866-TIPS-4CJ to speak with corruption detectives 24 hours/7 days a week;
Visit www.njdcj.org to submit an online report;
Write directly to DCJ at the following address:
New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety
Division of Criminal Justice
25 Market Street
P.O. Box 085
Trenton, NJ 08625-0085
Attention: Anti-Corruption Reward Program OR Anti-Corruption Whistleblower Program.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Chef Daniel Montoya with over 18 years of experience oversees the kitchen for Radicchio. He prepares classic home style Italian dishes for your enjoyment . He is the same Chef as when Raddicio’s was in Ridgewood originally.
Chef Montoya, will be overseeing the menu at the new restaurant and he and his team take great care in preparing classic pasta and risotto options like their hearty Spaghetti Bolognese, Penne a la Vodka, and Porcini Risotto, mindful of maintaining the same comforting emotional experience these favorites tend to evoke.
Located at
34 Franklin Ave
Ridgewood, New Jersey
Call (201) 670-7311
photo by ArtChick
July 27,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Publishers Week’s editors have selected a wide variety of summer books for all tastes. In our staff picks, you’ll find Lincoln Child’s thriller featuring werewolves in the Adirondacks, Lydia Davis’s translation of Marcel Proust’s letters to his neighbor, Chiara Barzini’s coming-of-age novel set against the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and many more. For deeper dives into fiction, mystery/thriller, romance, sci-fi, nonfiction, and children’s, check out our category picks for even more great summer books. Happy reading!
The Ridgewood Public Library is dedicated to providing information, education, culture and inspiration. We encourage our community to pursue life long learning and the enjoyment of books, programs and resources in a variety of formats. We strive to offer the best possible library materials, staff, technology and facility, with ready and equal access to residents of all ages.
July 27,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Registration is currently in progress for Stage Right’s Fall and August Musical Theater Workshops. We have availability for children in Pre-k, K and 1 st grade and limited spots for older students for the Fall program. All Workshops are conveniently located in Ridgewood NJ.
Stage Right is a musical theater program for students in grades pre-k to 8th grade. During the Fall Workshop, each week students rotate through 4 classes including drama, dance, voice and prep. The goal is to develop students’ performing skills. All students are cast in a role for our semester production. They will perform for friends and family in December.
Our mission is to develop children’s love of the arts in a nurturing environment.
Go to www.stage-right.net for more info and to register.
Enter Promo code: HappyJuly for $25 off tuition.
For more information:
Call/Text: 201-207-3525
Email: [email protected]
Location: Ridgewood, NJ
file photo by Boyd Loving
July 27,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the manager Jennifer Colangelo of One Love Bike+Barre Studio speaks out about the purchase of the former Elks Lodge by Ridgewood Water .
“To my fellow Ridgewood community please take a minute to read about the recent news regarding the purchase of the former Elks Lodge by Ridgewood Water for $1.6M.
There is absolutely NO mention of the fact that there is a current tenant in the Elk’s building – One Love Bike+Barre. As studio manager, I found it interesting that “an agreement had been reached between the village and the Elks organization” without our knowledge. It is extremely disheartening as a Ridgewood resident and small business owner that we have not been informed of this plan and are just finding this out, much like all of you!
This is not just some abandoned building. We have been tenants for over 3 years now and have been running a successful small business and plan to continue, as stated in our lease. A lease that has 19 months left with a 5 year renewable option. So for all intents and purposes, we would have liked to continue growing our community for the next 6+ years!
So, while nothing is set in stone and much of this could just be in the beginning stages, it sounds like our Mayor, the Elks organization and Ridgewood Water have all started making decisions without us. We are hopeful that the town will take into consideration that their Ordinance 3606 will be putting One Love Bike+Barre out of business with absolutely no regard for the owners or it’s current members!”
https://theridgewoodblog.net/ridgewood-water-to-bid-on-ridgewood-elks-property/
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page
July 27,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Two (2) new pedestrian controlled, illuminated crosswalk warning devices have been installed at the mid-block, Linwood Avenue crosswalk connecting Graydon Pool and Vets Field.
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page
July 27,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood PD, FD, and EMS responded to a two (2) vehicle collision at the intersection of Linwood and North Pleasant Avenues on Wednesday evening, 07/26. The injured occupants of both vehicles refused transportation to a local hospital. Ridgewood FD personnel attended to a minor crash related fluid spill. Both vehicles were removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Ridgewood PD issued one (1) crash related summons.
July 26,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Time for a little summer adult fun. What’s better than a summer cocktail using the freshest ingredients? As the summer season rapidly approaches, Kings Food Markets has crafted the perfect summer-time cocktails fit for any occasion, including:
At Kings, we offer a wide variety of Kings Sparkling Lemonades, including Original, Pink, Orange and Pomberry, that are bright, refreshing beverages with a light effervescence and smooth, citrus taste, imported directly from France.
We also offer a nice selection of Kings Sparkling Natural Mineral Waters to concoct the above cocktails, or even to enjoy on the patio on that hot summer day. Our Sparkling Waters are produced in the heart of the Italian Alps, naturally filtered for an exceptional crisp and clean tasting water.
Looking for garnishes? Kings Organic Fresh Herbs add nuance and complexity to any cocktail. Whether you are looking for Fresh Sage, Rosemary, Mint or Bay Leaves, Kings offers more than 16 fresh herbs to top off your perfect cocktail
Return all the money generated as ‘fines’ in a year as equal cash payment annually to all residents in that municipality instead of keeping it in the black hole called the municipal budget. It should be a separate equal cash payment and municipalities should not be able to call it a ‘rebate’ against property taxes or tie them together in any way.
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When you take away the ability of those in power to benefit from their misbehavior, the abuses will stop!
By Michael Symons July 24, 2017 7:03 PM
There’s a growing sentiment to do something about tamping down use of municipal courts to generate fines to support a city or town’s budget.
Committees of the New Jersey State Bar Association and the state Supreme Court are each looking at the issue now, and a state Assembly committee recently did the same. Lawmakers floated ideas such as regionalization, making municipal courts a division of Superior Court and pooling all revenues from fines.
Paul Catanese, who was a judge for 20 years in South Brunswick, Lawrence and Hamilton, said judges need to be freed up to be independent, not worrying about whether they’ll be reappointed if they levy small or no fines in cases when that’s appropriate.
“There’s always this if not explicit this implicit sense that you need more revenues from the court,” said Catanese, who said a few years ago one Middlesex County town switched judges specifically because it wanted more revenue from court fines.
“Judges know what their job is,” Catanese said. “It’s to do individual justice in individual cases. That’s what our role is. It’s not our job to raise revenues for the town.”
Read More: Feel like NJ courts are just money-makers? Here are the ideas to change that | https://nj1015.com/feel-like-nj-courts-are-just-money-makers-here-are-the-ideas-to-change-that/?trackback=tsmclip
July 25,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, by the looks of some of the comments yesterday , some residents in Ridgewood have clearly been drinking water with with lead in it for far to long.
In April the Ridgewood blog reported on the test results in the Ridgewood school system . The State of New Jersey requires all drinking water in our school facilities to be tested for lead during the 2016-2017 school year.
Young children, infants, and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to lead because the physical and behavioral effects of lead occur at lower exposure levels in children than in adults. A dose of lead that would have little effect on an adult can have a significant effect on a child. In children, low levels of exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that public health actions be initiated when the level of lead in a child’s blood is 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) or more.
It is important to recognize all the ways a child can be exposed to lead. Children are exposed to lead in paint, dust, soil, air, and food, as well as drinking water. If the level of lead in a child’s blood is at or above the CDC action level of 5 micrograms per deciliter, it may be due to lead exposures from a combination of sources. EPA estimates that drinking water can make up 20 percent or more of a person’s total exposure to lead. Infants who consume mostly mixed formula can receive 40 percent to 60 percent of their exposure to lead from drinking water.
JULY 24, 2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced the arrest of BRANDON C. RYAN (DOB: 07/30/1994; single; and unemployed) of 161 Devon Street, Kearny, New Jersey on charges of Sexual Assault and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. The arrest is the result of a joint investigation conducted by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti, and the Ridgewood Police Department under the direction of Chief Jacqueline Luthcke.
On July 16, 2017, the Ridgewood Police Department and Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office received information that a 15-year old victim was sexually assaulted by Brandon RYAN on the previous day in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
As a result of the investigation, Brandon RYAN was arrested by the Kearny Police Department on Friday, July 21, 2017 and charged with one count of Sexual Assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2c(4), a 2nd degree crime; and one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4a, a 3rd degree crime. After being processed, Brandon C. RYAN was remanded to the Bergen County Jail, pending a first appearance at the Bergen County Central Judicial Court on Monday, July 24, 2017 at 1:30 p.m.
Prosecutor Grewal states that these charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and would also like to thank the Ridgewood Police Department and the Kearny Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.
