Ridgewood NJ, A former gymnastics coach has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting one of his athletes when she was under the age of 13 multiple times in the late 1980s and early 1990s, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park and Cranford Police Chief James Wozniak jointly announced Tuesday.
Thomas Waddell, 54, of Ridgewood, was arrested at his home without incident on Friday.
The arrest was the result of a nine-month investigation initiated by the Cranford Police Department and jointly involving the Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Sheets, who is prosecuting the case.
The investigation was launched when the victim wrote a letter to the New Jersey State Police describing the crimes committed against her, Sheets said.
According to the investigation, Waddell was working at the defunct Eastern Gymnastics Academy in Cranford in 1989 when he first started coaching the victim, then a Cranford resident.
Bail for Waddell was set at $75,000 with no cash allowance, and he was ordered not to contact the victim and to surrender his passport as conditions of his bail.
Anyone with information about Waddell’s activities is being urged to contact Special Victims Unit Detective Brian O’Malley at 908-220- 4323 or Cranford Police Detective Spencer Durkin at 908-709- 7346.
Ridgewood NJ, The National Weather Service advises to follow suggestions and safety tips below to prepare for cold weather. If you are in need of a place to stay warm, we suggest going to the Ridgewood Library.
Prepare for Cold Weather
The way to avoid frostbite and hypothermia is to plan for extreme cold before it arrives. Don’t get caught unprepared.
Check the Forecast at weather.gov or your favorite weather app, station, etc.: Make checking the forecast part of your regular routine so you’ll know when to expect cold weather.
Adjust Your Schedule: If possible, adjust your schedule to avoid being outside during the coldest part of the day, typically the early morning. Try to find a warm spot for your children while waiting for the school bus outside.
Protect Your Pets, Livestock and other Property: If you have pets for farm animals, make sure they have plenty of food and water, and are not overly exposed to extreme cold. Take precautions to ensure your water pipes do not freeze. Know the temperature thresholds of your plants and crops.
Fill up the tank: Make sure your car or vehicle has at least a half a tank of gas during extreme cold situations so that you can stay warm if you become stranded.
Dress for the outdoors even if you don’t think you’ll be out much.
Update Your Winter Car Survival Kit: Make sure your car survival kit has the following:
Jumper cables: might want to include flares or reflective triangle
Flashlights: with extra batteries
First Aid Kit: remember any necessary medications, baby formula and diapers if you have a small child
Food: non-perishable food such as canned food and a can opener, and protein rich foods like nuts and energy bars
Water: at least 1 gallon of water per person a day for at least 3 days
Basic toolkit: pliers, wrench, screwdriver
Pet supplies: food and water
Radio: battery or hand cranked
Cat litter or sand: for better tire traction
Shovel to dig out snow
Ice scraper for your windshild
Clothes: warm clothes, gloves, hat, sturdy boots, jacket and an extra change of clothes for the cold
Blankets or sleeping bags
Charged Cell Phone: and car charger
Have you heard of The 12 Nights of Christmas? Also known as Secret Santa, I came across this concept years ago while reading “In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas” by Dan Schaeffer. In the back was a chapter describing his family tradition modeled after the 12 days of Christmas. Beginning on December 13 and ending on Christmas Eve, the family left a treat along with a cute poem on a neighbor’s porch every evening. The whole idea was to teach kids that giving was just as fun as receiving.
Twelve nights sneaking around the neighborhood playing ding dong ditch? How fun! I especially loved the idea of helping my kids learn the joys of giving at such an impressionable age. And so that December gave birth to a new family tradition for the Fells.
Now our oldest daughter was away at college and our teenage son was busy with high school activities, so that left our two youngest as santas. As I explained what we were embarking on and why, they were thrilled with the idea of sneaking around the neighborhood for any reason. At age 10, our daughter much preferred to be an elf as she was female and Santa was, well, male. But with her 8-year-old brother as Santa, an elf’s superior, that wouldn’t do either. To keep the village peace, we became elves instead of Santas.
Now as a family of six, we were on a budget. Armed with a shopping list, my first stop was our local dollar store. Thankfully, this was our only stop—everything we needed was there. Taking home our supplies, we got to work printing the poems and preparing the bags while the kids giggled at the notion of 12 nights of mischief over Christmas vacation.
It was already December, and the first night was fast approaching. Fairly new to the neighborhood, we discussed who should be the lucky neighbor. A couple months earlier, I heard that Neighbor Tom had lost his wife to cancer. She was well loved by all who knew her, and I couldn’t imagine what the holidays must be like for Tom and their two children. To my mind, it was clear that Tom’s home could use small doses of nightly cheer. The kids quickly agreed, and the matter was settled.
On the evening of December 13, my two elves giggled nervously as we bundled up and headed out into the night. Sneaking through the quiet snow-filled streets of our neighborhood with a flashlight was as magical for the kids as it was for me; I treasured our memories in the making. Also, I had never realized just how quiet—and beautiful—the cold, deserted streets were at night. It was like another world waited for us each evening, a peaceful, enchanting winter wonderland that could only be experienced on foot. The magic was heightened when the kids giggled over my clumsiness in the dark. Note to self: Get more flashlights.
T’was the first night of Christmas
And all through your house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Except suddenly one little soul did appear
It’s your Little Elf, and he brings holiday cheer!
Tonight it’s a partridge for your pear tree
And tomorrow, who knows, You must wait and see
So turn on your porch light each evening with care
And know that your gift soon will be there
But don’t try to catch him or he’ll disappear!
Upon returning home from our adventure each evening, we warmed our hands around a mug of hot cocoa, and warmed our hearts around the whim that our nightly surprises might bring cheer to Tom’s family.
The next eleven nights flew by and soon it was Christmas Eve, the 12th day when we had to reveal our identity. I suddenly became nervous. I had never actually met Tom, and worried that maybe our nightly gifts had been a bit too much for the family’s fragile emotions. But there was no backing down now; we had to finish. That afternoon we arranged a dozen homemade treats on a small holiday plate, covered it with red plastic wrap, taped the final poem to the top and—not trusting my children to walk two blocks with a plate of goodies—we drove to Tom’s house. We climbed out of the car, gathered on his front porch, and I rang the doorbell.
Twelve drummers drumming,
they play a happy beat
For this should fill your tummy,
it’s your Christmas treat!
We had such a good time,
being your friend
We’re really sorry our visit must end.
So we wish you a wonderful Christmas day
And a year free of troubles, for this we’ll pray.
When Tom opened the door, we nervously started singing:
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas,
and a happy new year!
Well, I ended up singing that cheery first verse by myself because my elves stood glued to the porch with mouths frozen shut. Realizing I was on my own and because my children say I’m tone deaf, I quickly decided that one verse was more than enough for this poor family.
As soon as I stopped singing I realized that Tom and his two children had tears in their eyes! Oh, dear. Was my voice that bad, or was our entire mission just one big flop?
Quickly, I decided the best way to handle this was to explain that we were the Little Elves responsible for the nightly treats, and then leave the poor family alone. After all, it was Christmas Eve and here we were intruding on their fragile emotions.
But I soon discovered that I had nothing to fear at all: they were crying because of how much they loved the little gifts, and now it was coming to an end! It turns out that Tom and his children not only enjoyed the element of surprise, but the nightly anticipation was a wonderful respite from the constant sadness, and lifted their spirits. Mission accomplished!
That first year proved a wonderful experience and we continued the tradition, choosing a different neighbor each year, until tragedy struck our own family. In 2009, my 15-year-old elf, Aly, died in a car accident while coming home from a swim meet. Caught in my own fog of grief, I had no reserve left in my tank to carry on our family fun with our youngest. With a broken heart, our once beloved tradition came to an unexpected end.
In the years since losing Aly, in fits and starts our family has learned to laugh and feel joy again but I’ve never forgotten how bleak those first holidays felt.
I’ve also learned that helping others helps my own heart to heal.
Now that our grandson is 9—the perfect age to become an elf—reinstating the old family tradition will offer both giver and receiver a nightly dose of good cheer, and enrich our holidays in magical ways just as it did in years past. I already know who this year’s lucky neighbor will be, and our gift bags are assembled and ready for delivery starting December 13.
Project Little Elf was inspired by that first year with Tom and his children. Having faced loss since then, I now fully understand how the holidays can feel less than cheery, and how a little kindness can go a long way. And nobody needs it more than the bereaved facing their first holidays.
If you too would like to teach your children how to be givers of kindness and learn the joys of giving, all the instructions and printables to begin your own family tradition can be found at www.GriefDiaries.com.
Above all, the nightly trips to a neighbor’s porch is more than just a little fun. It holds the promise of magical memories for children of all ages, and gives the bereaved the priceless gift of a heart full of cheer they’ll treasure all year.
Ridgewood NJ, The New Jersey Choral Society is holding auditions for two youth choruses, treble and SATB, for students in grades 6-12. Auditions will be held Monday, January 9 from 4-6 pm at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, 169 Fairmount Road, Ridgewood, NJ. Treble voices are accepted from grades 6-12 and SATB voices from grades 9-12. Audition requirements, including a memorized solo, and registration details are available on the New Jersey Choral Society website at www.njcs.org under “About”. Interested students, parents and educators can contact Festival Youth Chorus Director, Noelle Dachis, at [email protected] for more information.
This is a unique and exciting opportunity for young choral singers to perform with the New Jersey Choral Society and Maestro Eric Dale Knapp, and a rare experience to include on college applications, especially for students heading into a music study. Students selected for the chorus are expected to attend weekly rehearsals, held at St. Elizabeth’s Church on Monday evenings, and all performances. The Festival Youth Chorus will be singing in the NJCS Masterworks performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 in June 2017. As well, participating students may have the opportunity to sing in a Festival in Lake Como, Italy, with other youth choral ensembles in July 2017.
Established in 1980, the New Jersey Choral Society is one of the state’s most prestigious choral groups, well-known for presenting outstanding and unique programs. Under the direction of Eric Dale Knapp, NJCS performs three major concerts annually in Bergen and Essex counties. They have performed at Carnegie Hall and the White House and have toured internationally in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, China, Australia, England, and France.
Why does it seem that Ridgewood only hires friends and family? The same names always come up in the police, fire ,and BOE lists.
Why is it that you care If they are tested by the state and meet the other qualification of employment they should been give the same chance as anyone else.
First of all this is not true. They don’t ALWAYS hire family members. Second, it is a proud tradition that firefighters and police officers are often the sons and daughters of them. Just like doctors often have kids who go into medicine and people who own their own businesses often have their children join them. I was a teacher and my daughter is a teacher. She grew up observing my career and she aspired to do the same. There is nothing wrong with this and your comments are inflammatory.
Ridgewood NJ, it was reported on News 12 that Fish Urban Dining abruptly shut down its Asbury Park location closed in early October.
Fish opened in Asbury Park in 2010 and followed with great fanfare a second location in the summer of 2015 in the Village of Ridgewood in the Citizens bank or Bank of America building depending on how old you are. Both locations are owned by the DeGilio’s City by the Sea Hospitality Group. DeGilio’s City also closed Cibo e Vino in Asbury Park in October as well.
Both restaurants were considered “popular ” and seemed to close abruptly leaving the shut down as a mystery.
There is some truth to this observation. Many years ago I was Chair of a Village committee. We did some good work in the first couple of years, but eventually we ran out of meaningful things to do. As a result, the committee started “branching out” and dreaming up projects to tackle. As Chair, I felt I needed to support and encourage the Committee in its enthusiasm, but eventually I scheduled fewer meetings and quietly told the Mayor I felt we had outlived our mandate. This is the nature of project teams or committees–they need to justify their existence. Village committees should have a limited mandate to discourage the sort of mission creep that makes a Library Committee believe that it needs to build a community center or performing arts center.
As an old-timer, I love our Library the way it is. It’s not broken–don’t “fix it”.
Ridgewood Nj, Two (2) adults, a teenager, and a toddler all escaped injury following a two (2) vehicle collision at the intersection of North Monroe Street and West Glen Avenue, Ridgewood on Monday afternoon, 12/12. Both vehicles, a Toyota Camry and a Mercedes SUV were removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Ridgewood FD personnel addressed a crash related fluid spill while Midland Park and Ridgewood PD officers provided traffic control. Although witnesses reported that a driver involved in the crash ignored a red traffic signal, Ridgewood PD did not issue any summonses at the crash scene (but may at a later date).
Parents are investing more and more time, money, and emotional effort into their kids’ sports — despite what the research shows is best for kids.
by: Kirsten Jones Neff | July 9, 2016
Print article
A few years ago, when our youngest was 12, he waited for a pause in dinner conversation, then cleared his throat and told us that he did not want to play competitive sports anymore. For a moment, the family was stunned into silence.
Full disclosure: for the past decade, we’ve been that family, the one living and breathing our kids’ sports: driving cars full of cleated kids to remote, windblown corners of California to set up goals, sell cookies, shoot photos, run the clock, keep stats and even, yes, coach the teams. We’ve split up to attend different events and foregone family vacations to fly to other states for tournaments. Even as I write, I’m in the midst of organizing a trip to San Diego for my daughter’s high school lacrosse team.
Devotion to our children’s athletic endeavors has “paid off”: our oldest child competes on her university’s beach volleyball team, and our second was recruited to play college lacrosse. Because their sports required huge investments of time and money, my husband and I vowed to never get ahead of our children. They had to be eager to make sacrifices (miss school dances, family vacations, etc.) and at least appear thankful for our financial and logistical support. As it turned out, both daughters love their sports, despite the sacrifices involved. When our son began to play soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, we assumed the status quo: a yearly calendar jam-packed with sports priorities. It was jarring to hear he wasn’t happy. What did we do wrong?
Ridgewood NJ, Slippery road conditions resulted in numerous motor vehicle crashes in the Village of Ridgewood on Sunday evening, 12/11 including this crash on Glenwood Road in which the driver of an Acura MDX lost control of his vehicle and hit a retaining wall as he was driving eastbound toward the Ho-Ho-Kus train station. No injuries were reported in the incident, although a passenger’s side air bag did deploy. Ridgewood PD and EMS responded. The damaged vehicle was removed by a flatbed tow truck. Glenwood Road remained closed between Upper Boulevard and the Ho-Ho-Kus train station until road conditions improved.
Council, please tell them before they hire an architect that you will never permit this. Flood zone, serious parking issues for years already, loud stuff next to a library? The area between the buildings should never have been built on–that’s the only logical place for the entrance driveway. Aronsohn and Pucciarelli had their years to dream. It’s over and so should be this ridiculous idea. These groups meet and meet and have to come up with projects and plans. Maybe it’s time to disband every committee and board–they’re wrecking the place with their dreams.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood PD and EMS personnel were dispatched to aid an adult male pedestrian who was struck by a motor vehicle as he was trying to cross Godwin Avenue in front of Whole Foods, late afternoon, Sunday, 12/11. The victim, who was transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital, sustained a non-life threatening leg injury. Ridgewood PD issued three (3) summonses in connection with the incident.
Weather Summary for the local Tri-State Region
National Weather Service New York NY
505 AM EST Sun Dec 11 2016
Another dry and cold day today but snow coming into the picture this afternoon and tonight as a low pressure system moves into the Great Lakes. Its associated warm front will be approaching and eventually moving northward across the region late tonight into Monday morning. Likewise, we should see a transition of snow to a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain across the far interior parts of the region while closer to the coast, this will be more of mix of snow, sleet, and rain. Eventually all precipitation changes to rain late Monday morning with warmer air moving across on an increasing southerly flow. The rain tapers off behind the cold front from west to east Monday afternoon into Monday evening. Dry and seasonably cold weather is in store for Monday night with high pressure building southwest of the area.
Ridgewood NJ, Americans are living longer than ever, which means retirement could last 20 to 30 years for some people – maybe even longer.
That’s great for those who remain in reasonably good health and retire with plenty of financial stability.
But lengthy life spans also increase the odds that many seniors will deplete their savings, face debilitating health problems and need to turn to their children for financial help or caregiving.
That’s a far cry from the kind of retirement they dreamt of over the years.
“I’ve done focus groups where one of the chief concerns that comes up is people don’t want to become a burden on their kids,” says Jeannette Bajalia, a retirement-income planner, president of Woman’s Worth® (www.womans-worth.com) and author of Retirement Done Right and Wi$e Up Women.
It’s really too late to do much, though, when you’re 80 and your life starts unraveling. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead to get your finances and health in the best shape possible, she says. Among some of the points worth thinking about:
• Unanticipated health care costs. It’s estimated that the average married couple will need to pay up to $250,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare during their retirement, beyond what Medicare and most Medicare Supplements will pay. “We’re beginning to see a lot of cost shifting out of both Medicare programs and private health plans, which means more out-of-pocket healthcare costs,” Bajalia says. “It’s entirely possible that the savings you thought would allow you to travel or to at least pay all the bills could be gobbled up by medical expenses. As you plan for retirement, you should make it a priority to discuss this concern with your adviser so the two of you can look at what options you might have to try to keep that from happening.” • Long-term care planning. When it comes to aging, consider the possibility you might have to receive home healthcare or live in a nursing home or an assisted-living facility. The costs of such care can be daunting. For example, studies have shown that home healthcare can cost $50,000 or more per year, and nursing home care can run as high as 90,000 per year. “You don’t want your kids to have to pay for that,” Bajalia says. There are ways to prepare, such as buying a long-term care insurance policy or checking with a financial professional to help you develop a strategy for protecting your assets from nursing-home claims, she says. • Self-care. Not every financial professional may do this, but Bajalia says she believes it’s important to integrate health education and a lot of self-care into a retirement plan. Spending money on preventive health routines to take care of yourself now can help you avoid significant health problems that lead to even costlier expenses later on, she says. Research is now telling us that longevity is over 70 percent lifestyle.
“I know it’s important to older people that they be able to remain independent as long as possible and not have to turn to their children to help,” Bajalia says. “They just need to remember that careful planning is the route to accomplishing that.”
And one of the planning tools would be to help fund long term care insurance for your aging parents to keep assets in their estates, she says, so long term care is not simply for yourself but for your aging parents.
About Jeannette Bajalia
Jeannette Bajalia, author of Retirement Done Right and Wi$e Up Women, is president and principal advisor of Petros Estate & Retirement Planning, where she has designed and implemented innovate estate-planning solutions for clients and their families. She also is founder and president of Woman’s Worth® (www.womans-worth.com), which specializes in the unique needs facing women as they plan for their retirement.
Catholic Online reports that new priests will be expected to be familiar with and promote efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
New priests to learn about global warming as part of formation
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LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) — The Catholic Church is intimately concerned about climate change. The Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences is the world’s oldest, longest running scientific mission. That body, which advises the pope on matters of science, has concluded that global climate change is real and is caused, at least in significant part, by human activity.
This is important to the Church because creation care is part of our mission. We are called to be stewards of creation. It’s also important because climate change can exacerbate the ills of poverty. Poor people in much of the world are the most vulnerable to changes.
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Unfortunately, the issue is politicized. In the late 1970s, when the issue threatened the financial interests of the fossil fuel industry, the political lobbies, chiefly in the United States, financed a massive political disinformation campaign to manufacture the illusion of dissent within the scientific community.
We know because this manipulation of public opinion has been caught and documented. The fossil fuel industry funds nearly all of the climate change skeptics, going so far as to commission questionable studies, to financing think tanks, and even paying individual bloggers. The deception continues today.
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But what does this have to do with the Church?
The Church has a responsibility to care for people, and the environment. And care for one is also care for the other.
Now updated guidelines for the formation of clergy says new priests should understand this as well:
“Protecting the environment and caring for our common home — the Earth, belong fully to the Christian outlook on man and reality. Priests should be “promoters of an appropriate care for everything connected to the protection of creation.”
The new guidelines suggest that in the future, priests will also have a good grasp of the global climate change problem and will share this with their congregation.
… For some time now, experts and researchers, active in different fields of study, have turned their attention to the emerging planetary crisis, which is reflected strongly in the current Magisterium regarding the ‘ecological question’. Protecting the environment and caring for our common home – the Earth – belong fully to the Christian outlook on man and reality. They constitute in some way the basis for a sound ecology of human relations. Hence they demand, today above all, a “profound interior conversion. It must be said that some committed and prayerful Christians, with the excuse of realism and pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for the environment. Others are passive; they choose not to change their habits and thus become inconsistent. So what they all need is an ‘ecological conversion’, whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evidence in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience. Therefore it will be necessary for future priests to be highly sensitive to this theme and, through the requisite Magisterial and theological guidance, helped to “acknowledge the appeal, immensity and urgency of the challenge we face”. This must then be applied to their future priestly ministry, making them promoters of an appropriate care for everything connected to the protection of creation. …
