>Christie says he’s confident about convincing N.J. Supreme Court the state can’t afford full aid for schools
Gov. Chris Christie said today he is confident his administration will be able to convince the state Supreme Court it doesn’t have the money to fully fund the state’s school-funding law. (Reitmeyer, The Star-Ledger)
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/gov_christie_says_hes_confiden.html
>Christie: ‘Seize the moment,’ share patrols
Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney Wednesday said it was time to “seize the moment” and move toward regional public safety services. (Mast and Roh, The Courier-Post)\
>New Home Sales Dive to Record Low
By Clifford Marks
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 | 10:36 a.m
The pace of new home sales plummeted to a record low last month, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday in a further sign that the battered housing market is only slumping further.
Sales fell 16.9 percent from January, delivering a shock to analysts who had expected a gain for last month. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 250,000 homes sold marks the slowest pace recorded since the data series began in the 1960s.
Median sale prices fell 13.9 percent, which represents the sharpest one-month drop on record.
Wednesday’s numbers for February were coupled with an upward revision in January’s pace from 284,000 to 301,000 homes sold.
https://www.nationaljournal.com/economy/new-home-sales-dive-to-record-low-20110323
>Ridgewood School District’s architect of record charged with taking kickbacks
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
According to sources the head of Disko Associates charged with taking kickbacks in three other school districts
Disko Associates is the Ridgewood School District’s architect of record, and the lead architect for the recent $48 Milliondollar bond referendum . Disko Associates, has been charged with taking more than $80,000 in kickbacks from three other school districts for construction projects.
In case you for got Ridgewood’s $48 million bond referendum controversial from the start was approved by a very small margin ,according to the Ridgewood News “Residents have approved the issuance of $38,420,602 in bonds to fund school construction and improvement projects.Unofficial results were 2,129 votes in favor of the referendum, and 2,047 votes against it.”
The Ridgewood news went on to say , “The total cost of the project, which includes improvements at nine district schools and several athletic fields, is $48,265,314, and will be funded in part by state grants totaling $9,844,712, and debt service of $2,135,471.
The tax impact on the average Ridgewood home will be $300.55 per year over the course of the next 25 years, based on the formula of $37.47 per $100,000 of assessed value.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/Ridgewoods_48_million_bond_referendum_approved.html
The Willard School district did overwhelmingly approve the referendum while being primarily unaffected by the turf fields and field lighting.
>Disko Associates kickback story pulled form the Ridgewood News
Ridgewood News
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2011, 1:20 PM
BY KELLY EBBELS
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Staff Writer
Sorry, this content is no longer available.
Originally this story was on northjersey.com but it has since been pulled. Not sure why they would do that but seems a little odd.
Original link that no longer works:
There was another story that you can still find that talks about the bid rigging but doesn’t link it to Ridgewood schools and doesn’t have the comments from the Ridgewood BOE superintendant (I think that’s who it was) that recommended they remain on the project (apparently he made those comments Monday evening at a meeting).
We also noticed this story :
>RHS phone-a-thon gets a challenge grant
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Education Foundation (REF) has offered a $6,000 challenge grant to Ridgewood High School (RHS) parents and alumni who will hold a phone-a-thon next week, seeking donations to help RHS administrators purchase much-needed items.
The REF will match the first $6,000 raised in the phone-a-thon. Foundation board members “felt it was important to support this effort to address important and immediate academic needs at RHS,” said foundation President Elizabeth Gordon.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/118527699_RHS_phone-a-thon_gets_a_challenge_grant.html
>Clinic to be named for Ridgewood Philanthropist David F. Bolger
Clinic to be named for donor
Staff Report
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 4:04 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 4:04 p.m.
SARASOTA COUNTY – When Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s new walk-in clinic opens in Gulf Gate this summer, replacing an existing facility just down the Tamiami Trail, it will be named after Longboat Key philanthropist David F. Bolger, who is paying the full $2.6 million cost.
The Gulf Gate clinic is one of three operated by the hospital system, and will be the first one named after a donor. Alexandra Quarles, CEO of Sarasota Memorial’s fundraising Healthcare Foundation, said Bolger, a retired New Jersey real estate executive, was motivated by a desire to support medical care for children.
>Opinions Aren’t Fact
Dear Peter (Coti),
While I’ll defend your right to free speech, I take umbrage at your dismissal of parents’ concerns, portraying them as unenlightened as to the mores of the day. This of course, is exactly what concerns them. You see for some of us, we believe that certain topics are best left to the family. Just because some families choose not to discuss sexuality and its consequences with their children, does not give moral license for the state to do so.
Reproductive education based on biology is one thing. Discussing and illustrating ways to have “safe sex” to young teens offends many in our community no matter how well intentioned. One can not simply dismiss out of hand this concern.
More helpful might be an emphasis on abstinence and the social stigma attached to early sexual behavior along with the economic consequences of out of wed-lock births for both the mother and her child. As for the promiscuity heaped upon our culture by the media in the name of free speech, well let me say this, nothing is free and the havoc this coarsening of our culture has caused is very costly to our society both spiritually and monetarily.
No one is advocating that older teens shouldn’t be aware of birth control. However, there is no denying that since the “sexual revolution” of the 1960’s, when the “pill” came on the market, thus “liberating” women to have sex with men, confident that they would not get pregnant, out of wed-lock births have sky-rocketed in our society. Until that time, if a girl got pregnant, it was expected by our society that the boy marry her and care for she and the child. With the advent of women’s liberation, the only persons liberated where men from having to take responsibility for impregnating a woman. Like I said before, nothing is for free. This is the price women, children and society have paid and will continue to pay for the sexual liberation we so cherish.
So, if parents are pushing back here in Ridgewood, maybe they have a point. Is it really necessary to have teen boys go the drug store to become familiar with condoms? The only purpose is to make them feel comfortable in doing so, thus promoting the use of condoms ie: sex. And if the state (school) is promoting condoms use, then what pray tell could be wrong with teens having sex? You do understand the logic of this? Regardless of the mantra from the, “they will have sex anyways” chorus, this is not a proven fact but rather an opinion. And opinions have consequences when they become accepted reality.
Joseph Alvaro
>SNORE: Judge is critical of cuts in aid for New Jersey schools
New Jersey’s cuts in school financing violate the State Constitution’s mandate to provide “a thorough and efficient” education system and hit poor districts especially hard, a judge reported to the State Supreme Court on Tuesday. (Pérez-Peña, The New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/nyregion/23jersey.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
>CWA to Christie: Let’s negotiate on health benefits
Representatives of the Communications Workers of America accused Gov. Chris Christie of “talking out of both sides of his mouth” when it comes to his support for public workers’ right to collectively bargain. (Racz, Gannett)
>Parsippany school budget rejected by state over superintendent contract
Executive County Superintendent Kathleen Serafino has rejected the school board’s proposed budget, citing its ongoing refusal to rescind Superintendent Lee Seitz’s disputed contract extension. (Jennings, Daily Record)
>Artisan Chocolate & Wine Tasting Group
Presents
The “Brave New Worlds” of Artisan Chocolate & Wine
Thursday April 14 Join us!
ONLY 30 SEATS AVAILABLE “Brave New Worlds”
A unique opportunity to experience some rebellious and avant-garde wines and artisan chocolate
Date: Thursday, April 14, 2011
Time: 6:15pm*
*will start promptly at 6:30, no late arrivals please, members only, pre-paid reservations required
Place: Latour French American Bistro, 6 East Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ
Easy to get there from NYC! Next to Ridgewood train station, easy 1 minute walk from NJ Transit train.
Event Fee: New Members $65, Current Members $55
There is only room for 30 at this tasting so please go to our group website for our payment link! https://www.meetup.com/Artisan-Chocolate-Wine-Tasting-Group/events/16922761/
>Family of Tyler Clementi, Rutgers student who committed suicide, plans to establish foundation
The parents of Tyler Clementi plan to establish a foundation in their son’s nameto raise public awareness of bullying, the family said in a statement.
The Tyler Clementi Foundation will be launched in the next month or two, said
Jane and Joseph Clementi.Tyler Clementi in September jumped off
the George Washington Bridge after an alleged webcam broadcast of his intimate
encounter with another man.
>Students for a Democratic Society at Montclair State are hosting former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers
Bill Ayers on Education &; The New Activism , Thursday, March 24th 2011, 8:15 pm – 10:30 pm at the University Hall, Room: 1030. The event Sponsored By: Students for a Democratic Society.
“Ayers named one of his three children after Zayd Shakur (Tupac’s uncle), the Black Panther who was killed during the infamous JoAnne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur) shootout on the NJ Turnpike that killed State Trooper Werner Foerster and wounded State Trooper James Harper.”
https://libertychick.com/2011/03/21/unrepentant-terrorist-bill-ayers-to-speak-at-nj-university-on-education-the-new-activism
In June 1969, the Weatherman took control of the SDS at its national convention, where Ayers was elected Education Secretary. Later in 1969, Ayers participated in planting a bomb at a statue dedicated to police casualties in the 1886 Haymarket affair confrontation between labor supporters and the Chicago police.
Ayers participated in the Days of Rage riot in Chicago in October 1969, and in December was at the “War Council” meeting in Flint,Michigan. Two major decisions came out of the “War Council.” The first was to immediately begin a violent, armed struggle (e.g., bombings and armed robberies) against the state without attempting to organize or mobilize a broad swath of the public. The second was to create underground collectives in major cities throughout the country. Larry Grathwohl, a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant in the Weatherman group from the fall of 1969 to the spring of 1970, stated that “Ayers, along with Bernardine Dohrn, probably had the most authority within the Weatherman”.
In an interview published in 1995, Ayers characterized his political beliefs at that time and in the 1960s and 1970s: “I am a radical, Leftist, small ‘c’ communist … [Laughs] Maybe I’m the last communist who is willing to admit it. [Laughs] We have always been small ‘c’ communists in the sense that we were never in the Communist party and never Stalinists. The ethics of communism still appeal to me. I don’t like Lenin as much as the early Marx.
Ayers was asked in a January 2004 interview, “How do you feel about what you did? Would you do it again under similar circumstances?” He replied: “I’ve thought about this a lot. Being almost 60, it’s impossible to not have lots and lots of regrets about lots and lots of things, but the question of did we do something that was horrendous, awful? … I don’t think so. I think what we did was to respond to a situation that was unconscionable.”
In an op-ed piece in 2008, Ayers gave this assessment of his actions:The Weather Underground crossed lines of legality, of propriety and perhaps even of common sense. Our effectiveness can be — and still is being — debated. He also reiterated his rebuttal to the charge of terrorism: The Weather Underground went on to take responsibility for placing several small bombs in empty offices…. We did carry out symbolic acts of extreme vandalism directed at monuments to war and racism, and the attacks on property, never on people, were meant to respect human life and convey outrage and determination to end the Vietnam war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers
>Readers concerned over appearance of a Teacher Union slowdown at Ridgewood Schools
OFF TOPIC WARNING – Today was a nice day and a Friday. My RHS student spent 4 of her classes in the Campus Center. Is it too convenient for teachers to now call in with little/no consequences or I am just paranoid? One teacher was scheduled to be out and had work for them. The other three . . . zilch.
