Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Mayor Susan Knudsen provided an update on the “Town Garage ” site cleanup. The Ridgewood Village Council approved submission of a Brownfields Grant Application for the cleanup of contamination on and around the North Walnut Street municipal parking lot in the CBD. Brownfields are properties that may have hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants present. EPA’s Brownfields Program provides grants and technical assistance to communities, states, tribes and others to assess, safely clean up and sustainably reuse these contaminated properties. Cleaning up and reinvesting in brownfields protects human health and the environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures off greenspaces and working lands.
Countless hours went into preparing the grant application followed by meetings for review. We hope for a positive response! Thanks to all who helped with this effort…especially resident volunteers!
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Fire Chief James Van Goor said that a frayed outdoor electric cord was the likely cause of a 2-alarm house fire at 293 South Pleasant Avenue, Ridgewood late Thursday night, 01/19. No one was injured in the blaze and fast action by the homeowner (using a garden hose) and Ridgewood firefighters kept the fire from spreading beyond the structure’s front porch. A female resident of the home was treated by EMS crews on the scene for exposure to the cold. Ridgewood PD, EMS, and Emergency Services units responded to the incident in support of firefighting efforts.
Mark Krulish , Staff Writer, @Mark_Krulish4:02 p.m. ET Jan. 19, 2017
Blais Brancheau, the longtime Director of Planning for the Village of Ridgewood, is resigning from his position.
The village manager’s office confirmed Thursday morning that Brancheau had submitted his letter of resignation, but could not immediately say when his last day would be.
You’re supposed to feel weepy, forsaken and bereft.
And maybe you do. Sometimes. Some days.
Ridgewood NJ, But many parents are realizing that they also feel exhilarated, freer and, yes, sexier, when their kids grow up, leave home and go out on their own.
“It might be an empty nest, but there’s no ‘syndrome,’” says Lynda Cheldelin Fell (www.LyndaFell.com), an emotional healing expert and creator of the “Grief Diaries” series of books. “At least, not in the negative sense.
“There’s no malady about it. It’s more like a club whose members are secretly celebrating having more quality time alone, with their friends and with their spouse.”
Magazine articles and TV doctors still tend to focus on “coping” with this midlife transition, and the identity crisis they say could lead to depression, alcoholism, and divorce. But research reveals an empty nest can actually reduce stress and family conflicts. A 2008 study by University of Missouri associate professor Christine M. Proulx found that parents mostly felt pride and relief that they’d done their job and prepared their kids to live independently.
Fell says she and her husband dreaded the day when their youngest child went off to college.
“We had 29 years to prepare for empty nest syndrome, but the symptoms we experienced were far different from what we expected,” she says.
Here are some of the things Fell says you can look forward to:
• No more arguments over who holds the TV remote, and every light in the house is turned off when no one is in the room. Your phone charger is where you left it – charging your phone.
• The receipt from your weekly trip to the grocery store is less than 2 feet long. (And, yes, you read that right: You only have to go to the market once a week.)
• The bathroom vanity is devoid of the many tools required for young-adult beauty: no more blow dryers, flat irons, makeup and acne medications to move aside so you can wash your hands or brush your teeth. Your things are in the linen closet where they belong – lids on and cords coiled. And the drain is no longer clogged with hair.
• You get in the car – and there’s gas in the tank. The driver’s seat and mirrors are always where you like them. And there are no mysterious new scratches or dents.
• Meals are what you want, when you want and where you want. No more planning around your child’s band practice – just the symphony concert you’re attending with friends.
• Pretty much every bill you have will go down – and all that extra money can be spent in any way you wish. New furniture. Paris. Or paying off all the bills you’ve run up over the past 20 or so years.
When researchers at the University of California-Berkley tracked 123 women for 18 years – from their early 40s to their 60s – they found that empty nesters reported greater satisfaction with their partners than did mothers with children at home.
“My husband and I felt like we were two teenagers left home alone,” Fell says. “All that apprehension and dread about the empty nest was for nothing.”
About Lynda Cheldelin Fell
Lynda Cheldelin Fell (www.LyndaFell.com) is an emotional healing expert, award-winning author, and a pioneering visionary dedicated to shedding compelling insight on stigmatized issues. She is the creator of “Grief Diaries,” a 5-star book series now over 500 writers strong. Fell is passionate about empowering people from all walks of life to raise awareness by sharing their own extraordinary journeys through sensitive societal topics including loss, eating disorders, mental illness, rape, domestic violence and more. She has authored over 22 books and has interviewed top societal newsmakers including Dr. Martin Luther King’s daughter, Trayvon Martin’s mother, sisters of the late Nicole Brown Simpson, and others on finding healing and hope in the aftermath of loss.
Jean Mikle and Russ Zimmer , Asbury Park PressPublished 11:10 a.m. ET Jan. 18, 2017 | Updated 13 hours ago
A housing advocacy group says “tens of thousands” of new units of affordable housing could be built in New Jersey as a result of a state Supreme Court decision Wednesday.
In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that municipalities must meet affordable housing needs that accumulated during the so-called “gap period” between 1999 and 2015, when the state’s Council on Affordable Housing failed to produce housing quotas for towns.
The ruling could have a dramatic impact on Monmouth County, where several affluent towns have fought increased affordable housing obligations. By contrast, most of Ocean County’s most populous towns won’t be affected because they have already agreed to court settlements providing thousands of affordable homes.
Mark Krulish , Staff Writer, @Mark_Krulish4:29 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2017
Testimony continued Tuesday evening in front of Ridgewood’s Planning Board regarding an application to build a mixed-use project at the former site of Ken Smith Motors.
Experts appearing on behalf of the developer, KS Broad Street LLC, spoke about changes being made to the site in the proposal and answered questions raised by village professionals.
Ridgewood NJ, reader commented “Its actually a one faceted approach–bury your head in the sand and pretend we dont need a garage.” No we don’t think the lack of a garage is the problem.
Central Business District Thursday, January 18th, 11 am employee parking cottage place wide open.
Ridgewood NJ, A two (2) vehicle collision on Route 17 southbound near the Old Paramus Reformed Church in Ridgewood backed up southbound traffic for miles on Wednesday morning, 01/18. Only one (1) southbound travel lane was open to traffic as crews worked to contain a crash related fluid spill and clear the roadway of wreckage & debris. The adult female driver of a black colored 4-door compact was transported by Ridgewood EMS ambulance to The Valley Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. An unmarked Paramus PD unit was the first on the scene; plain clothes officers provided shelter for the victim until Ridgewood units arrived. Ridgewood PD, FD, and EMS personnel responded to the incident.
Ridgewood NJ, from the desk of the Mayor Susan Knudsen, During the PSE&G construction, parking spaces are needed for PSE&G’s work area, their equipment, and to shift traffic in order to maintain 2-way traffic as much as possible. The parking spaces which will be taken on various streets in the CBD from Jan. 19 through Jan. 31 are as follows:
• Thursday 1/19 Installation of Precast Manhole on North Broad St near E. Ridgewood)
• Total of 9 Spaces West Side of North Broad St (NJ Transit Side)
• Total of 13 Spaces on East Side of North Broad St (Merchant Side)
• Friday 1/20 Installation of Precast Manhole Near Taxi Stand ( North Broad St Near Franklin Ave )
• Total of 13 Spaces on East Side of North Broad St – From Franklin Ave to Driveway After Bicycle Shop
• Monday 1/23 to Tuesday 1/31 Enlarge Existing Manhole #24 Working on South Broadway between Hudson and E. Ridgewood Ave
• 8 Spaces on South Broad St on West Side between Hudson and E. Ridgewood Ave – Road will be closed to traffic and detour will be in place.
• 1 Space on Prospect St and E. Ridgewood on West Curb
• 1 Space on Prospect St and E. Ridgewood on East Curb (Next to Town & Country)
• 2 Spaces on Prospect St since traffic is detoured on to Prospect St to help with the extra volume of cars turning in both directions on to E. Ridgewood Ave.
Democrats Sweeney and Prieto will pursue individual approaches to funding reform
Get ready to hear a lot more about school funding in New Jersey.
This week will start what could amount to nine separate public hearings in the next month about the state of school funding for New Jersey’s public schools, all driven by the somewhat fractured Democratic leadership of the Legislature.
The first is scheduled for today before the Joint Committee for the Public Schools, a hearing that has long been on the docket.
The next day will be the initial hearing before the Assembly’s education committee at 10 a.m. on Wednesday in the State House. Another is planned before a new Senate select committee next week, on January 27, at Kingsway Regional High School in Woolwich at 11 a.m. The next three have yet to be scheduled.
And this is all before Gov. Chris Christie unveils his state budget for fiscal 2017, in which a third of state spending will be aid to schools. It’s anyone’s guess as to what he will put forward.
Christie has been pushing to scuttle the state’s current formula-driven funding plan, instead providing the same amount of state aid per pupil for every district, no matter the need.
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.”
outright price gouging foisted on commuters too late in the year to explore options in any meaningful way.the eight hour max really shafted those who used coins to do daily commuter payment as option.
Parkmobile means you have to do the 9.55 Parkmobile input from work and test those 8 hours while the Parking police as just laying for those who try to do a just in time on the front or back end of those eight hour max.then you can get a ticket on repeat parking if you try to add an hour buffer later on in the day.
Parkmobile Admin function shows repeat parking to the police.then they write you up on the 8 hour max.meantime you are at work or committing home to move the car to your home.Its all by design folks..the 750/1000 VIP pass extortion for workers who need to take the train where bus is not practical.
Ridgewood NJ, The 2017 Best School Districts ranking is based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Ranking factors include state test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, SAT/ACT scores, teacher quality, public school district ratings, and more.
Niche bills itself as a website that helps you discover the schools and neighborhoods that are right for you. We rigorously analyze dozens of public data sets and millions of reviews to produce comprehensive rankings, report cards, and profiles for every K-12 school, college, and neighborhood in the U.S.
Their ranking system assesses 10,364 U.S. public school districts. The same methodology is used to produce the Overall Niche Grade for each ranked school district as well as additional school districts. Statistics obtained from the U.S. Department of Education represent the most recent data available, usually from 2014–2016, as self-reported by the school districts.
They rated Tenafly Public Schools number 6,Fair Lawn School District 15th, Glen Rock Public School District 19th,
Pascack Valley Regional High School District 27, Mahwah Township Public Schools 28,Park Ridge Public Schools 33,Cresskill Public School District 35, and Paramus Public Schools 39.
Their platform was a multifaceted approach. They did discuss tiered parking prices for commuters, one way streets with diagonal parking, a garage, subsidizing Uber, parking apps, possibly using the Zabriskie lot, employee parking, etc. The council discussed the parking rates in October and November, before voting on it. I don’t believe any member of the public complained about the price being tiered higher as you got closer to the train. The Financial Advisory Committee suggested raising the commuter passes as well as the meters, especially the meters on the streets closer to the train station (75 cents and hour was suggested). The council chose to keep the meters the same, except to lower 60 meters at Cottage to 25 cents an hour for CBD employee parking. These were both done to try to entice more people to use the Cottage Street lot, which remains mostly empty all day.
When the previous council was planning a garage, they said the garage would be mostly for patrons of the CBD. They said commuter parking would be on the upper levels.
Say the garage was built at Hudson. If 2 cars started from the same location, one drove directly to the Cottage lot, parked, & walked to the train platform. The other car drove directly to a garage at Hudson Street, drove round and round to the 3rd level, parked, came down to street level, and walked to the train platform- my guess is that the timing would be pretty much the same.
Ridgewood NJ, Thursday, January 19th @ 6:00pm Sex Pistol’s Guitarist, STEVE JONES, will sign his new book: Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol ($26.99).
Stephen Philip “Steve” Jones (born 3 September 1955) is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as a guitarist with the Sex Pistols and Iggy Pop. He was ranked in Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
Rolling Stone , “As a whole, the book provides a fresh look at the punk movement 40 years removed from the release of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, and it presents an unflinching, sometimes even uncomfortable self-portrait of Steve Jones. “I did wonder, ‘Do I want to let everyone know this?’ about some of the stuff in there,” he says. “But I decided, ‘Fuck it. Whatever.'”
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.
Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.
First In Line Certificate use is the the discretion of Bookends. Blackout dates may apply.
Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.
While we try to ensure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
