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Ridgewood High School Athletic Stadium Floods – Graduation Ceremony Moved To RHS Front Lawn
Boyd Loving
The HoHoKus Brook overflowed its banks on Thursday afternoon flooding the RHS athletic stadium.
The graduation ceremony for the RHS class of 2011 was moved to the front lawn of RHS as a result.
Workers moved chairs from the athletic field to the front lawn following a heavy downpour in mid afternoon.
photos by Boyd Loving
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FLOOD WATCH: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
349 AM EDT THU JUN 23 2011
…PERIODS OF TORRENTIAL RAIN POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS THE LOWER
HUDSON VALLEY…NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY…NEW YORK CITY AND NASSAU COUNTY…
.A WARM FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE LOCAL AREA FROM A LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER WISCONSIN WILL SERVE AS THE FOCUS FOR THE
CONVERGENCE OF MOISTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT. ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP IN THIS
ENVIRONMENT WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAIN…RESULTING
IN AREAS OF FLASH FLOODING.
WESTERN PASSAIC-EASTERN PASSAIC-HUDSON-WESTERN BERGEN-
EASTERN BERGEN-WESTERN ESSEX-EASTERN ESSEX-WESTERN UNION-
EASTERN UNION-ORANGE-PUTNAM-ROCKLAND-NORTHERN WESTCHESTER-
SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER-NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-BRONX-
RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)-KINGS (BROOKLYN)-NORTHERN QUEENS-
NORTHERN NASSAU-SOUTHERN QUEENS-SOUTHERN NASSAU-
349 AM EDT THU JUN 23 2011.
>Americans Worse Now Than When Obama Inaugurated by 44%-34% Margin in Poll
By Mike Dorning – Jun 22, 2011 12:00 AM ET
More than half of respondents say their children are destined to have a lower standard of living than they do, upending a traditional touchstone of the American Dream. Photographer: Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images
June 22 (Bloomberg) — Americans are growing more dissatisfied with President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy, and only 30 percent said they are certain to re-elect him, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted June 17-20. Fewer than a quarter of respondents see signs of improvement in the economy, and two-thirds say they believe the country is on the wrong track overall. Hans Nichols reports on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack.” (Source: Bloomberg)
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Maple Goes to Pot
Maple Field’s landscaping has been overrun by weeds and saplings. Just a few years ago, many in this village made donations for the installation of the turf field and the landscaping surrounding it. Now when one drives by, weeds as big as bushes grow wild. The main entrance walk is obscured, shallowed up by untrimmed plants. It is disgraceful that our Village Parks and Rec have allowed this happen. It is like spitting in the eye of all who live here and pay for the upkeep. If it is too much work for our village workers, then privatize the maintenance of the grounds. Jacobson’s does a wonderful job at our schools. It is time for the VC to either straighten out the Parks & Rec Dept or get someone else who will do the work.
>“Tradition of Excellence” : Readers make to key observations about quality of schools debate
Based on the previous eight comments, it sounds like the high school parents don’t care if we have the best high school in the state and have no interest in figuring out how we can get there. Pretty good seems to be OK with them.
and
To a growing number in town, having the best high school is not as important as having everyone who doesn’t actually live in town think that RW has the best schools.
It’s all part of placing more importance on feeeling good rather than actually being good.
What do you think?
>11 companies express interest in building wind turbines off New Jersey
>73% Say Being a Father is Most Important Role for Men in Today’s World
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Today is Father’s Day, and most adults will be doing something for their dad today.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 18% of American Adults consider Father’s Day one of the nation’s most important holidays, while 17% consider it one of the least important. Most (62%) say it is somewhere in between. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Interestingly, men downplay the importance of Father’s Day as a holiday more than women—women are more likely to say it is one of the most important holidays or somewhere in between, while men are more likely to say it is one of the least important holidays.
Seventy-three percent (73%) continue to believe that being a father is the most important role a man can fill in today’s world. This, too, has changed little over the past several years.
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Let them Eat Geese
In an effort to feed the hungry New York City plans to send geese captured around its airports to a Pennsylvania slaughterhouse and then distribute them to food banks there.
The Department of Environmental Protection mad the decision following criticism that the gassed geese were dumped into landfills while the less fortunate go hungry.
A department spokesman told the The New York Times that it wanted its efforts to enhance public safety but also help the needy.
The Goose eradication was authorized after U.S. Airways Flight 1549 made a miraculous landing in the Hudson River in 2009 after a flock of geese got caught up in it’s engines causing an emergency landing.
If thinks work out the agency said that next year the geese will feed needy New Yorkers, but rumors swirl that many of New York’s finest gourmets are lining up to offer the fresh roadkill as a delicacy .
https://www.manhattanstyle.com/news/let-them-eat-geese/
>A3242 bill would allow students to be surveyed “without” parental permission
In essence this bill would allow students to be surveyed “without” parental permission. The parents would only have to be “informed.”
As Art Gallagher wrote in his column:
Back in 2001 there was a bill passed and signed into law that prohibited school districts from gathering such information unless they had the informed written consent of the student’s parent or guardian. Now the legislature is on the verge of amending that law (P.L.2001, c.364) so that the school districts can gather the information from students so long as the parents have been notified in writing, NOT consented in writing.
Like the marketeers who assume you will be too busy or disinterested to cancel your book club or credit monitoring service, the Legislature and the school districts are assuming that parents are not giving consent to the schools asking about their political affiliation, sexual behavior or embarrassing mental illnesses because they are too busy, don’t care, or haven’t opened their mail.
Please call these members on the Education Committee:
Joan Voss – 201 346 6400 (Joan Voss is running for Freeholder in Bergen County – tell her you are watching her vote))
Scott Rumana – 973 237 1362
Governor Christie: 609-292-6000
Text of Bill: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2010/Bills/A3500/3242_I1.HTM
>New Recruit in Homework Revolt: The Principal
GALLOWAY, N.J. — After Donna Cushlanis’s son kept bursting into tears midway through his second-grade math problems, which one night took over an hour, she told him not to do all of his homework.
“How many times do you have to add seven plus two?” Ms. Cushlanis, 46, said. “I have no problem with doing homework, but that put us both over the edge. I got to the point that this is enough.” …
Ridgewood High School in New Jersey introduced a homework-free winter break in December. Schools in Bleckley County, Ga., have instituted “no homework nights” throughout the year. The Brooklyn School of Inquiry, a gifted and talented program, has made homework optional…
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/education/16homework.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion
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The History of Flag Day
https://usflag.org/history/flagday.html
The History Of Flag DayThe Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America’s birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as ‘Flag Birthday’. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as ‘Flag Birthday’, or ‘Flag Day’.
On June 14, 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned appropriate ceremonies for the children of his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York. On June 14, 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration, and on June 14 of the following year, the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution, celebrated Flag Day.
Following the suggestion of Colonel J Granville Leach (at the time historian of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution), the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames of America on April 25, 1893 adopted a resolution requesting the mayor of Philadelphia and all others in authority and all private citizens to display the Flag on June 14th. Leach went on to recommend that thereafter the day be known as ‘Flag Day’, and on that day, school children be assembled for appropriate exercises, with each child being given a small Flag.
Two weeks later on May 8th, the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution unanimously endorsed the action of the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames. As a result of the resolution, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of Public Schools of Philadelphia, directed that Flag Day exercises be held on June 14, 1893 in Independence Square. School children were assembled, each carrying a small Flag, and patriotic songs were sung and addresses delivered.
In 1894, the governor of New York directed that on June 14 the Flag be displayed on all public buildings. With BJ Cigrand and Leroy Van Horn as the moving spirits, the Illinois organization, known as the American Flag Day Association, was organized for the purpose of promoting the holding of Flag Day exercises. On June 14th, 1894, under the auspices of this association, the first general public school children’s celebration of Flag Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000 children participating.
Adults, too, participated in patriotic programs. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, delivered a 1914 Flag Day address in which he repeated words he said the flag had spoken to him that morning: “I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself.”
Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day – the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 – was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson’s proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year asNational Flag Day.
https://usflag.org/history/flagday.html
>66% Say Private Sector Employees Work Harder Than Government Workers
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Most Americans still believe government workers work less and make more money than those employed by private companies. Yet while the majority also thinks government workers enjoy more job security, they’re less convinced of that than they were a year ago.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that only 11% of Adults think those employed by the government work harder than workers in the private sector. Sixty-six percent (66%) say those employed by private companies work harder. Twenty-three percent (23%) are not sure.
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Report: Pedestrian bridge at Ridgewood High School needs work
FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011
BY KELLY EBBELS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A pedestrian bridge that connects the two athletic fields at Ridgewood High School (RHS) – crossed by hundreds of students each day – has structural deficiencies that have yet to be addressed by the school district, and vehicles have been seen using the bridge despite a weight limit, according to a village resident who lives near RHS.
The pedestrian bridge connecting Stadium and Stevens fields at Ridgewood High School was closed following flooding in April.
More than two years ago, the Ridgewood school district received an engineering report on the pedestrian bridge over the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook between athletics fields at Ridgewood High School (RHS), citing concerns with the bridge’s structural integrity.
The report, prepared by Mark Micucci of Micucci Engineering and delivered to the district in January 2009, notes that the exposed top side of the bridge is in “relatively good condition” and its underside in “fair condition,” but reveals problems with the structure of its abutments, particularly its southern abutment.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/123598184_Report__Pedestrian_bridge_needs_work.html
>VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE COUNCIL REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING
3300 – Amend Salary Ordinance for Management Personnel – Amends this salary ordinance to reflect that management personnel are receiving a 0% salary increase in 2010 and 2011. In addition, management personnel are eligible for an incentive increase of 0% – 4% over the two- year period, based on a performance evaluation, with one-half of the incentive increase being paid from January 1, 2010 and the other one-half of the incentive increase being paid from January 1, 2011.
3301 – Amend Salary Ordinance for Non-Union Personnel – Amends this salary ordinance to reflect that non-union personnel are receiving a 0% salary increase in 2010 and 2011. In addition, non- union personnel are eligible for an incentive increase of 0% – 4% over the two-year period, based on a performance evaluation, with one-half of the incentive increase being paid from January 1, 2010 and the other one-half of the incentive increase being paid from January 1, 2011.
