April 22,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
video by Dana Glazer
Ridgewood NJ, Councilman Ramon Hache and his family +1 speak about the Ridgewood Arts Council’s Emerging Artists Gallery Scavenger Hunt to be held on April 23rd at Van Neste Park from 11am-2pm.
file photo William Thomas
What happens when you leave your dog at home alone: Scientists reveal the stress pets go through when isolated
Two leading canine behaviour experts have revealed how dogs react to isolation
Dogs will spend up to half an hour howling, barking and whining when left alone
But some dogs will feel anxious for hours and will urinate out of stress
Owners can help their pets cope with separation by following four simple steps
By Daisy Dunne For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 11:25 EDT, 21 April 2017 | UPDATED: 11:47 EDT, 21 April 2017
Few dog owners enjoy leaving their pet alone while they head off to work.
But most dog lovers have no idea how their animals cope once they have been left alone.
Now scientists have revealed how dogs spend up to half an hour howling, barking and whining after their owner leaves them alone.
And for some pets, the torment lasts for hours.
Years of overbuilding and the rise of online shopping have come to a head; malls as ‘energy suckers’
By Suzanne Kapner
April 21, 2017 7:53 p.m. ET
American retailers are closing stores at a record pace this year as they feel the fallout from decades of overbuilding and the rise of online shopping.
Just this past week, women’s apparel chain Bebe Stores Inc. said it would close its remaining 170 shops and sell only online, while teen retailer Rue21 Inc. announced plans to close about 400 of its 1,100 locations.
“There is no reason to believe that this will abate at any point in the foreseeable future,” said Mark Cohen, the director of retail studies for Columbia Business School and a former executive at Sears Canada Inc. and other department stores.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/brick-and-mortar-stores-are-shuttering-at-a-record-pace-1492818818
Ridgewood NJ, While most of us associated this phrase with Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, it was actually written and used by the most celebrated comedic actor of the late 19th century – Joseph Jefferson., who passed away 112 years ago, on April 23, 1905.
Joe Jefferson was the ‘Rock Star’ of his era. In 1859, he wrote and acted in a theatrical version of Rip Van Winkle. It was such a hit that audiences clamored for him to perform this role, which he willingly did for the next 40 years.
For 14 years, Jefferson lived in the house on Saddle River Rd., at the end of Hollywood Ave. While there, he entertained or met the key figures of his day. Grover Cleveland visited, and they fished in the Saddle River. A founding member of “The Players Club” in New York, he was friends with Edwin Booth, Samuel Clemens and Maurice Barrymore; and he communicated with Helen Keller and Nicole Tesla.
Jefferson’s passion for the theater has served as an inspiration for theatrical groups for more than a century. Locally, Ridgewood’s own troupe of Joe Jefferson Players, performed between 1936 and 1973. Today, Ridgewood High School’s ‘New Players’ (which launched the careers of Ali Stroker and David Turner) honors his memory by presenting two Joe Jefferson Awards each year for Technical Merit and Acting. David Turner (currently on Broadway in “Sunday in the Park with George”) won the award for acting in 1993.
The Schoolhouse Museum’s new exhibit “From the Revolutionary War to the 1960’s Revolution”displays photos and illustrations of Jefferson in the various roles he played; playbills from that era, those of the ‘Joe Jefferson Players’, and those from ‘The New Players’; the actual costume worn by Ali Stroker in the Glee Project; and more.
To see this display as well as other displays highlighting other significant events and people during this time, from wars, to the roaring twenties to the rocking 60’s; as well as histories of prominent Ridgewood area residents, visit the Ridgewood Historical Society’s Schoolhouse Museum, at 650 East Glen Avenue. The museum is open Thursdays and Saturday 1-3pm and Sundays 2-4pm. Please visit www.ridgewoodhistoricalsociety.org for more information.
Ridgewood NJ, With the turn of the new year, the competitive Taekwondo season has started anew. What has not changed is the impressive showing by the young athletes at Taekwondo All In, a school that teaches the Korean martial art. In three state championships -Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey – the Taekwondo All In students earned 36 gold, 11 silver, 8 bronze, 55 in total. Head Coach Youngmin Kim also earned Best Instructor awards at the New Jersey event. Moreover, all competing students earned spots to compete at the National Championship to occur in July.
The following nine athletes won medals at the Maryland State Championship on February 25.
Jenna Slota – 2 Gold and 1 Silver medals. Liam Woods – 2 Gold and 1 Bronze medals. Audrey Kim and Emily Kam – 2 Gold medals. Lucas Woods – 1 Gold and 1 Silver medals. Blake Edmilao – 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medals. Kaylin Lee – 1 Gold medal. Elias Chi – 2 Silver medals. Ricardo Merino – 1 Silver and 1 Bronze.
At the New Jersey State Championship on March 26, the following eleven athletes gained medals:
Jenna Slota – 2 Gold and 1 Silver medals. Taelim Eum, Elliott Yi, Isaac Yi, Tyler Minn, Christina Ahn, Emily Kam – 2 Gold medals. Elias Chi – 1 Gold and 1 Silver medals. Kate Minn – 1 Gold medal. David Ahn and Ricardo Merino – 1 Silver and 1 Bronze Medals.
At the Connecticut State Championships on April 1, following eight athletes earned medals:
Jenna Slota – 3 Gold medals. Tyler Minn – 2 Gold medals. Audrey Kim – 1 Gold and 1 Silver medals. Blake Edmilao – 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medals. Liam Woods and Kaylin Lee – 1 Gold medal. Lucas Woods 2 Bronze medals.
The owner and head instructor of Taekwondo All In Youngmin Kim commented, “This a great start to a new year. Our athletes have trained diligently all winter and it shows in how they performed at the competitions. I am very proud of all my students.”
Taekwondo All In, located at 33 Chestnut Street in Ridgewood, is a school that dedicates to teaching the Korean Martial Art, an Olympic sport. The benefit of learning the sport ranges from better physical conditioning to mental strength and discipline. For additional information, the school can be reached at (201) 857-0445.
FREE WORKSHOP FOR ALL THE PARENTS & KIDS WHO WANT TO BE IN SHOW BUSINESS:
Emmy Winner Martha Byrne To Present: “How To Avoid The Sharks and Get Into Show Business” at the Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival
April 22,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , Actress Martha Byrne, a three-time Daytime Emmy Winner, will be conducting a special workshop at the RIdgewood Guild International FIlm Festival on Wednesday, April 26th, 2017 from 5:00 – 5:45pm at the Ridgewood BowTie Cinema, 190 East Ridgewood Avenue in Ridgewood, NJ. The title of the interactive workshop will be “How To Avoid The Sharks and Get Into Show Business.” In the presentation Martha will speak to parents and children about what she has learned and what can be the path to success. The presentation is a must for anyone wanting to be an actor or actress. The presentation is free to the public.
Ridgewood NJ , the over looked issue for the central business district is not parking , but congestion . There are just to many choke points in the CBD. Be they caused by ill planned “traffic easing” with suicide bike lanes or PSE&G upgrades it has become increasingly difficult to get in or out of the Central Business District.
Currently West Ridgewood Ave and Godwin are almost impassable .The proposed Hudson street garage ,because of its very location will make matters even worse by limiting access via Broad Street.
Over development will only make things worse ,contrary to assurances high density housing on Franklin will further restrict traffic at the Franklin and Broad intersection , virtually cutting off the Westside from the East side of town .
Maple is difficult at best , leaving only Prospect and Oak street as possible alternatives . Currently large events in the Village take a minimum of 45 minutes to and hour to arrive and park .
It is well know that retail is a fast changing environment with most shopping now done on line . In order for stores to survive they must become “destination shops” holding events to attract customers , so traffic is only going to get worse .
The answer given by the powers that be is always ,”we need garage” and residents at the new developments will not , have kids,drive, park ,have visitors or shower.The lack of credibility makes Comedy Central look like a serious news network.
Our point is instead of pushing hidden agenda’s with ulterior motives primary pursued by developers and their friends we need a comprehensive plan that factors in moderate development, infrastructure , retail, restaurants , mass transit , pedestrians,cycles and parking .
The corner is dangerous for one simple reason. When the guard halts traffic flow to let kids cross the east side of Glen, cars headed east on Glen as well as cars trying to turn east from Van Dien onto Glen (many after dropping their kids off) stop.
When the kids are done, cars already on Glen gets priority as they have no stop sign. Meanwhile traffic keeps piling up on Van Dien. This leads to visibly frustrated people who try to desperately look for an opening (between traffic on Glen) to dart in.
The solution to this problem is either to 1) Have stop signs for traffic on Glen as well, at least during school hours, or 2) Have a more mobile and active crossing guard who can direct traffic as well as kids, stopping cars on Glen to allow traffic from Van Dien to blend in periodically.
Once again, it seems like people are confused between ‘nice and caring’ and ‘effective.’ EVERYONE likes someone who is nice and caring. However, a crossing guard needs to be effective before being the former.
The point of having a crossing guard is to help school children cross the road safely, in the midst of traffic flow. But it involves more than just holding up a stop sign and lowering it once kids are through. If traffic keeps building up on Van Dien and people keep getting frustrated, it will not lead to safer outcomes for anyone.
Once again, I do not know who this person is and from all comments, it appears that she is a lovely person. I am sure that is true.
But my comments are simply based on what I have seen driving past that spot a few times. The last time I was there, I was at the head of the line of cars waiting on Glen as kids crossed. There was a lady trying to creep in from Van Dien trying to turn onto Glen east. Once the kids were through, the crossing guard lowered the sign. She could have easily asked me to stop, pointed at a few cars from Van Dien to make their turn, and then asked me to continue on. But she just stood there looking semi-bewildered by the situation.
Ridgewood NJ, The State of New Jersey requires all drinking water in our school facilities to be tested for lead during the 2016-2017 school year. The Ridgewood Public Schools are currently conducting those tests; the results of the schools we have received are listed below. The District promises to post results within 24 hours of notification for the remaining schools.
Please note that this summer of 2017 we are replacing old water fountains with filtered water fountains throughout the district.
Links to the results for the schools:
file photo by Boyd Loving
April 22,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ ,The Department of Education today released the 2017 Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending.
“The annual spending guide is a tool designed to provide transparency to New Jerseyans about how schools spend their taxpayer dollars to educate students,” said Acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington.
The Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending includes two types of total expenditures for school districts’ annual budgets:
Total Spending Per Pupil – Comprises all district expenditures, including costs paid by the state on behalf of districts, as well as fees and tuition paid for out-of-district programs; and
Budgetary Cost Per Pupil – Comprises costs borne by the school district, excluding costs that aren’t comparable among school districts, such as transportation and facilities costs.
For the 2015-16 school year, the average Total Spending Per Pupil in the state, which includes pension payments made by the state and other ancillary costs that vary by district, is $20,385. This is 3.8 percentage points higher than the prior year’s average of $19,641.
The Budgetary Cost Per Pupil, which does not include pension payments made by the state and other district-specific costs, increased by 1.4 percentage points, from $14,736 in the 2014-15 school year to $14,939 in 2015-16.
file photo by ArtChick
By Michael Symons April 21, 2017 12:03 AM
Rates of sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in New Jersey, and the state Health Department is spending $4.4 million on a campaign to reverse what is a national trend.
At a budget hearing Thursday, Health Commissioner Cathleen Bennett said New Jersey’s campaign includes testing, treatment, outreach to providers – and primary prevention through social media campaigns, where younger people absorb information.
“One in two sexually active 15- to 25-year-olds will get an STD unless they take action to prevent it,” Bennett said.
Senator Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, called that statistic unbelievable – but wasn’t surprised, given conversations he’s had with younger patients in his job as a dentist.
“Not from a moral judgmental point of view but just from a health point of view, you know, try to scare the bejeebees out of them a little bit,” Van Drew said.
Read More: 1 in 2 millennials in NJ have an STD. Will $4.4M campaign help? | https://nj1015.com/1-in-2-millennials-in-nj-have-an-std-will-4-4m-campaign-help/?trackback=tsmclip
by SAFIA SAMEE ALI
Millenials watch a video calling on the millennial generation to help end the problem of extreme poverty around the globe at the IMF/World Bank Group’s Spring summit on April 10, 2014. Miguel Juarez Lugo / Zuma Press file
By his twenties, Kyle Kaylor imagined he would be living on his own, nearing a college degree, and on his way to a job that fulfilled him.
Instead, at 21, he found himself out of school, living with his parents, and “stuck” working as a manager at a fast food restaurant scraping to make hand-to-mouth.
Launching into adulthood has been tricky, he said.
“It became too difficult financially to be in school and not working,” says Kaylor, who dropped out of Lincoln Christian University, in Illinois, after one semester because of a money crunch. “And without schooling, you can’t get a job that you can survive on, so I had to move back home,” he said.
By Adam Clark and Carla Astudillo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on April 20, 2017 at 4:03 PM, updated April 20, 2017 at 4:38 PM
TRENTON — The median salary among New Jersey teachers is $66,117 this school year, about a 2.4 percent increase from last year, according to new state data.
The statistic reflects a wide range of teacher salaries that vary from district to district based on regional cost of living, grade levels offered in the district, faculty experience and other factors.
Northern Valley, a regional high school district in an affluent part of Bergen County, has the highest median teacher salary, $105,650. That’s more than twice the $43,911 median salary in East Newark Borough, a tiny K-8 district in a low-income area.
Use the tool at the bottom of this story to lookup any district or charter school and compare it to other districts.
RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE
MEDIAN TEACHER SALARY
’16 – ’17’ 15 – ’16
$75,903 $78,318
CHANGE: -$2,415
GLEN ROCK BORO
MEDIAN TEACHER SALARY
’16 – ’17 ’15 – ’16
$69,658 $66,850
CHANGE: +$2,808
HO HO KUS BORO
MEDIAN TEACHER SALARY
’16 – ’17 ’15 – ’16
$78,901 $75,265
CHANGE: +$3,636
April 21,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Train Station Station: Stairs Serving Pedestrian Tunnel Closed Temporarily for Roof Replacement Work – Beginning Monday, April, 24, 2017
Beginning on or about Monday, April 24 and continuing for approximately six weeks, the stair kiosks to/from the pedestrian underpass at Ridgewood Station between East Ridgewood Avenue and Wilsey Square will be closed temporarily for repair work.
The underpass and ramps to the south that serve the pedestrian underpass will remain open during this time.This closure is necessary to accommodate roof replacement work on the two endpoint roof structures over the staircases that serve the pedestrian underpass.For your safety, please follow directional signs and do not travel through barricaded areas.
The Ridgewood Police and New Jersey Transit apologize in advance for any inconvenience.
For further information, please call NJ TRANSIT Customer Service at (973) 275-5555 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving
April 21,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, An early Thursday morning, 04/20, two (2) vehicle crash at the intersection of Linwood and North Maple Avenues in Ridgewood resulted in one (1) person sustaining a life threatening head injury and closed a portion of North Maple Avenue for approximately three (3) hours while RIdgewood PD conducted an accident investigation. The seriously injured victim was reportedly taken by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center’s main campus. No further details about the crash are currently available.
