Tag: Ridgewood NJ

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The End of Free Speech: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

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photo by Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, a new Cato national survey finds that self‐censorship is on the rise in the United States. Nearly two-thirds—62%—of Americans say the political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive. The share of Americans who self‐censor has risen several points since 2017 when 58% of Americans agreed with this statement.

Clearly we have seen this in action even on a local level in Ridgewood. Name calling, bullying , “filtering” , silencing , group think , conformity, blind obedience ,right think , Facebook excommunication, boycotts and  trying to get people fired  has become part of life in Ridgewood .  https://theridgewoodblog.net/in-ridgewood-its-free-speech-for-some-but-not-for-others/

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Ridgewood Detective Bureau Investigating Harassment Via Craigslist

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police report that on July 20, 2020, a North Pleasant Avenue resident responded to Ridgewood Police headquarters to report harassment. The victim reported an unknown actor posted a listing on Craigslist without authorization causing alarm and annoyance. The victim also reported an unknown actor was attempting to gain access to her Instagram account without authorization. The Ridgewood Detective Bureau is investigating the incident.
All actors are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

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Governor Murphy Picks Winners Ignoring Plight of Small Employers in Most of the State

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Senator Michael Testa today challenged the Governor to do better after a press event Thursday announcing Murphy’s program for small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As usual, this over-hyped announcement was polished up with a fancy title and livestreamed on the Governor’s YouTube channel. Despite the Wall Street-style branding, the new program fails more small businesses than it helps,” said Testa (R-1). “Murphy can do better. Before the first application arrives, he should expand the program so it can help desperate mom-and-pop businesses in every corner of the state.

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Updated Back to School CDC Guidance Explicitly Emphasizes the Importance of In-person School for Children

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ,  As the US moves toward the scheduled start of the 2020-21 school year, the US CDC published several updated guidance documents to support schools in preparing for classes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of prominent US government officials, including President Trump, have publicly called for schools to resume in-person classes, but many state governments, school officials and teachers, and health experts warn that might not be feasible or safe in some circumstances. The updated guidance includes information for schools regarding the current understanding of COVID-19 risk to children and their role in driving transmission in the community and at home as well as recommendations for implementing appropriate social and physical distancing (including mask use), enhanced hygiene and sanitation, and disease surveillance and monitoring systems. The guidance also includes considerations based on the current level of community transmission, including the possible need to close schools due to uncontrolled community spread. In addition to schools, the CDC offers tools and information aimed at parents to help evaluate risk.

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NJ Department of Education Issues Guidance Allowing Parents to Choose All-Remote Learning for Their Children

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  The New Jersey Department of Education today issued clarifying guidance to allow parents to select fulltime remote learning for their children in the 2020-2021 school year. 

Released last month, the Department’s guidance document, “The Road Back: Restart and Recovery Plan for Education,” emphasized that schools should prepared plans to open in some capacity for in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year. Since its release, the Department received feedback from many parents who wanted a greater voice in the decision-making process of whether their child should return to in-person learning. In addition, officials in some school districts called on the Department to release guidance to specifically allow for all-remote learning for those students.   

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Ridgewood’s Proposed Return to School Plan

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewo0d NJ, Dr. Fishbein began by explaining that the primary concern when developing the reopening plan was the health and safety of our students and staff. Since districts are getting information from the Governor’s office and the Department of Education daily, everything is subject to change, and we need to be prepared to pivot at any time. The presentation, along with a link to a survey, will be embedded in a letter to parents which is being emailed on Tuesday, July 28. Transition to September was presented by Ms. Poelstra, who began by thanking the many stakeholders for their input and contributions to the development of the plan.

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Trump Administration Ends Obama Forced Development Rule

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson today announced the Department will ultimately terminate the Obama Administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation issued in 2015, which proved to be complicated, costly, and ineffective— so much so that Secretary Carson essentially removed its burden on communities by suspending the regulation’s 92 question grading tool in January 2018.

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Stevens Resident Reports Car Damaged in Driveway

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police Reports a Stevens Avenue resident responded to Ridgewood Police headquarters on July 19, 2020 to report property damage to his motor vehicle. The victim reported an unknown person caused malicious damage to his motor vehicle while it was parked in his driveway. The victim reported it appeared his vehicle was scratched by a key causing damage. The amount of damage is unknown at this time.

All actors are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Spring Avenue Resident Confronts Intruder Reports Burglary

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file photo by Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police Report that on July 18, 2020, a Spring Avenue resident reported suspicious acts in progress. The victim reported an unknown male party entered her home at 0415hrs then immediately left the residence when he was confronted. A description was provided of the actor and patrol located a person in the area. Upon further investigation, the victim could not confirm if the located party was the male who had entered the residence and the victim did not wish to pursue criminal complaints at this time.

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Restaurants Will Close Permanently Without Some Reopening of Indoor Dining

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Senator Anthony M. Bucco warned that restaurants across New Jersey that have suffered steep economic losses since March will soon go out of business permanently if they are not allowed to reopen their dining rooms or provided direct financial support from the State’s share of billions in unspent CARES Act funding.

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Just Hang up on Business Imposter Scams

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by  Jabari Cook

Intern, Division of Consumer & Business Education, FTC

Scammers love to use the same old tricks in new ways. One of their favorites is to pose as a business or government official to pressure you into sending them money or personal information. Now, some scammers are pretending to be popular online shopping websites, phishing for your personal information.

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CITY OF PATERSON CHOSEN FOR RAPID TESTING FOR THE HOMELESS PILOT PROGRAM

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photo by Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paterson NJ, The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) in collaboration with the Paterson Division of Health and the Passaic County Department of Health have conducted a rapid testing pilot program, Point of Care for the Homeless. The Point of Care test provides test results within 15 minutes and was conducted at Eva’s Village on Wednesday, July 22.

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NJEA: “there is no way the state can push to re-open schools in a way that would account for the health, safety, and educational integrity of our schools and all that enter them”

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Steve Beatty Secretary-Treasurer of the NJEA  said in a Facebook post  ,”At our meeting with the acting commissioner of the Department of Education and his staff last week (and our on-going meetings), we engaged in a discussion, albeit mostly one-sided, on the issues and concerns surrounding the re-opening of schools in September.
Our clear message was that there is no way the state can push to re-open schools in a way that would account for the health, safety, and educational integrity of our schools and all that enter them.
We have been consistent in our guidance and growing insistence along with our education stakeholder partners and an ever growing chorus of our members.
Keep the pressure up. On the local level by joining and/or communicating with your re-opening committee. On the state level by calling and emailing your elected representatives and the governors office as well as the commissioner and state board. We know the power of sustained and organized collective action. Our voice is being heard and must be heeded! New Jersey Education Association New Jersey Department of Education Governor Phil Murphy”

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Homeless Has Taken up Shelter in Front of the old Bobby Knapps Store in Ridgewood

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, it is being reported that the homeless guy has taken up shelter in front of  the old Bobby Knapps store for the last week or so and is defecating and eating out of the garbage alongside the building. This same homeless person has been caught defecating in the bus station ,on the street and frequently eating out of garbage cans in town  .

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Village of Ridgewood Curbside Pick Up Ordinance Proposal

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Village of Ridgewood Curbside Ordinance Proposal

Good afternoon,

At last night’s Council meeting, we introduced the basic ordinance for curbside pick-up, Ord. 3805, along with the ordinance that sets the fee at $100 per week, Ord. 3807. I attach them both here together
with the maps that Chief Luthcke and Sgt. Chuck drew up to show where the reserved spots could potentially be. In rough outline, businesses can join together with residents to underwrite a full day spot(s), pay
for 6 days, but the spot(s) would be reserved for 7 days as Grab & Go 15-minute parking that would be free to customers in cars. An occupant would have to remain in the vehicle, and idling would be limited to no
more than 3 minutes. Kathryn Schmidt and Paul Vagianos called in to stress the need for flexibility, to say that the program must be affordable, and that a half-day program would be more workable. Chief
Luthcke commented that requiring people to stay in the car excludes certain people unnecessarily. Mayor Knudsen said the CBD functions all day; therefore, to accommodate residents at risk for COVID-19, the reserved spots should be all day. Councilman Sedon said he would favor 4:00 to 9:00 p.m., but for now we should get this done. I also stated my support for passing these ordinances and amending them later if necessary, noting that 15-minute meters shouldn’t be moved.

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