>NEW PLAYERS ALUMNI PRESENT “A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
The Holiday Classic with Musical Interludes
2nd Annual Benefit Performance
by New Players Company Alumni
Directed by Laurie Sales, RHS ’91
Monday, December 20
7:30 p.m.
Little Theatre at RHS
All Proceeds To Benefit the New Players Capital Campaign
For ticket information and order form:
https://www.rhsnewplayers.com/forms/AlumniChristmasCarol.pdf
>New Jersey Fiscal Crisis : N.J. Gov. Christie slows increase in debt burden
N.J. Gov. Christie slows increase in debt burden
Sunday, December 19, 2010
LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY DECEMBER 19, 2010, 9:37 AM
BY JOHN REITMEYER
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
New Jersey’s debt burden, which increased by nearly 700 percent during the last two decades, grew only 3 percent during the last budget year — something Governor Christie said did not happen by accident.
Under the administration of Governor Christie, New Jersey’s debt burden grew by 3 percent in the last budget year, but his frugality has also garnered scrutiny.
Christie, a Republican who preaches lower taxes and smaller government, froze state spending and approved new borrowing only for transportation infrastructure and school construction since taking office in January, according to a report released by the state Department of Treasury last week.
And the $1.25 billion added to the state’s bonded debt total between June 30, 2009, and June 30, 2010, had already been set in motion through capital programs approved before Christie came to Trenton last year.
But Christie’s frugal use of the state’s credit card barely made a dent in the state’s overall bonded debt burden of $37.7 billion thanks to the borrowing habits of prior governors, who left New Jersey residents with a per-capita debt load of $3,669 — good for 4th-highest among all states in the U.S.
MORE: https://www.northjersey.com/news/politics/112144479_Christie_slows_increase_in_debt_burden.html
>Stuck on Stupid : The Real Question Remains Why was Anyone dumb enough to invest in Xanadu?
Public pensions at risk: Xanadu losses show danger of volatile funds
Sunday, December 19, 2010
LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY DECEMBER 19, 2010, 9:56 AM
BY ANDREW TANGEL
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
Some $2 billion has been spent on Xanadu and much of it has gone to contractors, tradesmen and teams of politically connected professionals.
Public pensions in nine states lost a total of $600 million in high-risk private-equity funds that included the troubled Xanadu project, above.
But where did all that money come from?
The answer, to a large degree, is pension funds for police, firefighters and other public employees around the country.
Nine public pension systems from Alaska to Texas to New York poured nearly $1 billion into two private-equity funds that include Xanadu among their investments, according to pension records reviewed by The Record. Those pensions have seen their collective investments in these funds shrink to about $360 million, a decline of about 60 percent, according to the pensions’ records spanning the last year.
>House Star Robert Sean Leonard Remembers Ridgewood childhood as pretty idyllic
House Call: The Doctor is in the ‘House’
Robert Sean Leonard is not a doctor. He just plays one – superbly – on TV. The actor, who grew up in Ridgewood, co-stars on Fox’s long-running hit drama House as Dr. James Wilson…
MORE: https://www.northjersey.com/bergen/House_Call_The_Doctor_is_in-House.html
“It’s always tricky when people talk about their childhoods because you’re so tainted by nostalgia by the time you’re 40 that it’s difficult to remember anything with any kind of clarity or truth. But I remember my childhood in Ridgewood being bucolic, Oscar Hammerstein-like; riding my bike on the streets, utterly safe from every negative force on Earth. I remember Graydon Pool, and kickball games in the street until sunset. My memories of Ridgewood are pretty idyllic.”
MORE: https://www.northjersey.com/bergen/House_Call_The_Doctor_is_in-House.html
>Senator Loretta Weinberg : NJ Obamacare Vote on MONDAY
The full NJ Senate is scheduled to vote MONDAY to create the “New Jersey Health Care Reform Implementation Council” — the state agency which would implement Obamacare in New Jersey (S-2239). Read the Bill Read the Amendment which adds members including SEIU The bill is not yet posted on Mondays’ schedule, but we understand that leadership will post it for a vote, nonetheless.
S-2239 was sponsored by Senator Loretta Weinberg, Bergen County Democrat. It is co-sponsored by Ronald Rice, a Newark Democrat. It buys votes for the Democrats and moves us toward socialism. This bill would name 29 representatives of organizations (nominated by the organizations, mostly unions, including SEIU), for appointment by the governor. These people would form the “Health Care Reform Implementation Council” and would have broad authority to “plan for and coordinate the implementation of health care reform in NJ pursuant to Obamacare.” The council would “determine the decisions that are required to be made to effectuate the purposes of … federal health care reform,” and would take office and be empowered immediately after passage. WE DO NOT WANT THIS TO BECOME LAW!!
>Holiday Fuentes Have Arrived @ Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood
“Special Holiday Fuentes Have Arrived! Opus X and Anejo as well as other specialty Fuentes will be available starting on Saturday, December 18.
Specialty cigars are limited to 1 or 2 per customer. We hope to share these special Fuentes with all our customers!
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! -Gary, Barbara and Collin“
The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood | 10 Chestnut Street | Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
Phone: 201-447-2204 | Email: [email protected]
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00AM – 5:30PM and Thursday Night 6:30PM – 8:30PM
>UN mulls internet regulation options
By John Hilvert
WikiLeaks sparks push for tighter controls.
The United Nations is considering whether to set up an inter-governmental working group to harmonise global efforts by policy makers to regulate the internet.
Establishment of such a group has the backing of several countries, spearheaded by Brazil.
At a meeting in New York on Wednesday, representatives from Brazil called for an international body made up of Government representatives that would attempt to create global standards for policing the internet – specifically in reaction to challenges such as WikiLeaks.
The Brazilian delegate stressed, however, that this should not be seen as a call for a “takeover” of the internet.
India, South Africa, China and Saudi Arabia appeared to favour a new possible over-arching inter-government body.
more: https://www.itnews.com.au/News/242051,un-mulls-internet-regulation-options.aspx
>Aronsohn: A parking solution
Friday, December 17, 2010
LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY DECEMBER 17, 2010, 7:43 AM
BY PAUL ARONSOHN
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce has come forward with a parking proposal that is both simple and sensible.
Specifically, the proposal suggests maintaining the current rate and time limits for all street meters (50 cents per hour for up to two hours), while changing all the village parking lots to a reduced rate with expanded time limits (25 cents per hour for up to 12 hours).
MORE: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/112049269_A_parking_solution.html
>HUMC asks state to consider new hospital in Westwood
Thursday, December 16, 2010
LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY DECEMBER 17, 2010, 10:34 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN AND MARY JO LAYTON
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITERS
Hackensack University Medical Center opened a new front Thursday in its battle to reopen the old Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, asking the state health commissioner to start fresh with a new application to operate a hospital there.
Its previous efforts to extend and transfer Pascack’s original license have been mired in the courts for nearly a year, so Hackensack is hoping that a sympathetic Christie administration will greenlight the project.
The papers filed by the medical center in Trenton late Thursday afternoon will be reviewed by the state Department of Health and Human Services, said its spokeswoman, Donna Leusner. “We could ask for additional information, we could reject the petition or we could accept the petition and publish a notice of call,” she said.
A call would allow organizations to file applications to “open a new acute care hospital” in Westwood. They would have to prove that the region needs more hospital beds and that an additional hospital would not harm nearby hospitals.
The two other Bergen County hospitals that oppose the reopening — The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center — immediately vowed to fight this new effort.
MORE:https://www.northjersey.com/news/health/121610_HUMC_asks_state_to_consider_new_hospital_in_Westwood.html
>Obama tells lawmakers not passing tax deal could end presidency, Dem says
By Jordan Fabian
In urging lawmakers to vote for his tax deal, President Obama is using one of his go-to lines from the healthcare debate, according to a Democratic lawmaker.
Obama is telling members of Congress that failure to pass the tax-cut legislation could result in the end of his presidency, Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.) said.
“The White House is putting on tremendous pressure, making phone calls, the president is making phone calls saying this is the end of his presidency if he doesn’t get this bad deal,” he told CNN’s Eliot Spitzer.
MORE: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/133909-obama-tells-lawmakers-not-passing-tax-deal-could-end-presidency-dem-says
>FCC sets vote on ‘net neutrality’ rules
UPDATE 1-Approval of Internet traffic rules likely-analysts
By Jasmin Melvin
WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Contentious Internet traffic rules facing a vote next week are likely to be adopted without radically veering from a proposal unveiled earlier in the month, telecommunications policy analysts said on Wednesday.
The Federal Communications Commission will vote on Dec. 21 on whether to adopt regulations that ban the blocking of lawful traffic but allow Internet service providers to ration Web traffic on their networks.
The proposal laid out two weeks ago by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski was met with concern from the other members of the FCC, putting in question the likelihood of winning over a majority of the five-member FCC.
MORE: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1516757220101215
>Gov. Chris Christie has selected former New York City schools official Christopher Cerf to be his next commissioner of education
N.J. education chief is named
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has selected former New York City schools official Christopher Cerf to be his next commissioner of education, two sources close to the administration said. (Fleisher and Martinez, The Wall Street Journal)
https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703395204576024291388306496.html
>‘Back to Work NJ’ legislation includes bills to streamline state permitting process
Several bills designed to make New Jersey more business friendly were released from committees on Thursday, but some were criticized by a traditional ally of the Democratic-controlled Legislature. (Statehouse Bureau, Daily Record)
https://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20101217/COMMUNITIES/312170008/1005/NEWS01/–Back-to-Work-NJ–legislation-includes-bills-to-streamline-state-permitting-process
>Assembly OKs bill making it easier to fire civil-service workers
The New Jersey Assembly has approved changes in civil service procedures.
The bill was approved Monday be a 43-32 vote. (Delli Santi for The Associated Press)
https://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20101216/NEWS01/101216070/Assembly-OKs-bill-making-it-easier-to-fire-civil-service-workers
>
Ridgewood Knights of Columbus Raise Funds for Wounded Warriors
Ridgewood-NJ-December 16, 2010: The Ridgewood Knights of Columbus Council #1736 held a Thanksgiving Eve fundraiser that raised over $1,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), which is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors of the United States Armed Forces. The Wounded Warrior Project works to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women, to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs.
Roger Campbell, who sits on the WWP board of directors and is also a member of the Ridgewood Knights Council, gave a touching speech about the reason behind his involvement with the WWP. “On September 11th, I left Ridgewood bound for the World Trade Center where I worked. Many who boarded the same trains that passed through Ridgewood that morning never returned, including my friend and brother Knight Dan McGinley. Today, in distant lands, our finest young men and women fight, are often wounded and sometimes die to prevent another 9/11 from happening. That’s why I’m on the board at the Wounded Warrior Project and that’s why I’m here tonight to say thanks to every one of you for your tremendous support of those our charity serves”, said Campbell.
Also present at the fundraiser was Frank Giordano, a 1983 graduate of West Point and the brother of WWP co-founder Al Giordano. “My brother Al helped start the Wounded Warrior Project as a way to give backpacks to injured vets returning to Walter Reed Hospital from overseas. In that backpack were little things like socks and books that made those who served and were terribly injured know that they were truly cared for and loved. Our mission has widened, and our charity has grown, but it’s events like this one and 85 others held around the U.S. in November alone, that will continue to enable us to serve those who have given so greatly in defensive of our nation and our freedom”, said Giordano.
As a special treat, renowned New York City musicians Bob and Norm played the best of music from the ‘60s through the ‘80s. “This was a great opportunity to show support for our Veterans while having a great time,” said event organizer Alexandra Antonacci, a Ridgewood High School Senior who developed the idea for the fundraiser and then worked with the Knights to help put the event together
