>
Tag: Ridgewood NJ
>The Ridgewood Post Office has a new postmaster.
>The Ridgewood Post Office has a new postmaster. Post Office employees were notified this past Monday that former postmaster Frank Busciano was sent back to his previous post and the new postmaster, Mary Ellen Murray, was appointed. An investigation was undertaken in Newark and Washington, D.C. regarding the many complaints filed by employees and patrons against Frank Busciano. Postal employees mentioned that there will be a town meeting to discuss the possibility of opening the windows earlier than the now 10:00 a.m. window opening. Residents please watch for the date and time of this meeting and let your voices be heard. Should Ridgewood residents have any questions, they can contact Postmaster Mary Ellen Murray at 201-447-2135.
>Give $125 Towing Fee the Hook and Fix Village Hall Parking,” Says Resident
>A Claremont Road resident last night blasted Village Council members for even considering a vendor requested $125 fee for emergency towing service. If approved, $125 would be the minimum charge applicable for passenger cars needing to be towed from accident scenes or breakdowns within Ridgewood. There are currently two vendors under contract with Ridgewood PD to provide such services; they are called in on a “rotating schedule” basis.
Claiming the proposed $125 fee would be much higher than those charged in other small communities, the resident implored Council members to consider charges comparable to those in municipalities adjacent to Ridgewood, not in cities such as Paterson or Passaic. A towing company representative countered the resident’s remarks by citing expensive rises in insurance rates, salaries, and equipment costs as bonafide reasons for requesting the steep fee increase.
The same resident also criticized Council members for not taking any action with respect to increasing daytime & evening parking capacity at Village Hall. “Too many Village owned cars and Village employees’ private vehicles parked” was his claim. Mayor David T. Pfund directed Village Manager James M. Ten Hoeve to review the current parking space allocation plan and offer Council members with options for a reconfiguration that would increase the availability of spaces for public use.
>Resident Requests Village Council to Ban Chimeneas
>
Citing her desire to live in an environment free of intrusive and noxious smoke, a South Irving Street resident last night asked Village Council members to either ban chimeneas outright, or begin actively enforcing the Village’s current ordinance against all outdoor burning unrelated to cooking.
Asserting that the inhalation of smoke from chimeneas could be particularly hazardous to asthmatics and allergy suffers, that shoddily constructed devices used in close proximity of wooden decks could cause structural fires, and that the Village’s fire department is frequently responding to “reported smoke condition” calls as a result of unchecked chimenea use, the resident requested immediate relief from the Mayor and Village Council members.
Mayor David T. Pfund thanked the resident for her comments, but made no promises with respect to any action on the part of either he, or Village Council members.
>Math Education: Bellevue, WA and more TERC
>
>Woodchip Debacle Costs Taxpayers $12K+
>Although the much talked about six-foot deep mass of woodchips has long since been removed from the Crest Road Overlook, just last night did Village Council members officially award the $12K clean up project contract to Ross and Associates, Inc., 54 Main Street, Hackensack.
Ross, a commercial landscaper who plowed snow under contract for the Village this past winter, completed the hazardous assignment in late June, after it was determined that the Village’s own crews did not have the necessary safety training, or hydraulic power equipment at hand.
Still unanswered it the question of who ordered such a massive load of woodchips dumped at the overlook in November. All fingers seem to be pointing at a member of the Village Council, but no one on the Council has yet stepped forward and confessed to any first hand involvement in the process.
>VOR Public Safety Personnel Expenses Rise Faster Than Other Salaries
>In a report recently delivered to Ridgewood’s Mayor and Council, Village CFO Dorothy J. Stikna publicly recently revealed that salaries for the Village’s police and fire employees are expected to rise at the rate of 4% over the next 5 years, while salaries for other Village workers are expected to increase at the rate of only 3% during the same period.
During her prepared remarks, Stikna offered no solutions for keeping the salaries of Ridgewood‘s public safety employees in line with those of other VOR workers. However, it is rumored that some members of the Village Council have privately questioned the need to retain a fire department staffed almost entirely by career personnel; especially since no other community in Northwest Bergen County has such an organization. The Village fire department’s annual budget is reportedly in excess of $3 million.
Rumors are also circulating that the Northwest Center Bergen Dispatch Center, operated jointly by Glen Rock and Ridgewood, may soon be offered for sale to the County of Bergen. With an arm of the County government then entrenched in Ridgewood, a closer look might be taken at merging Ridgewood’s police force into the Bergen County Police Department. Significant savings in administrative expenses would be realized from such a merger.
Ms. Stikna’s estimated 2006 salary was $127, 778 (as reported by www.datauniverse.com).
K – 8 Math Focus Groups In Process
>Dr. Beth Fisher-Yoshida facilitated the first meeting of the K – 8 Math Focus Groups on June 20. Special thanks to the parents who participated. To ensure broad representation, additional focus groups will be scheduled in the fall. Eight parent participants will be randomly selected at each elementary and middle school, and sessions will be scheduled for two schools at a time. There will also be sessions for teachers and for community members who are not district parents.
Information about how to volunteer for a focus group will be available in the fall. Those parents, teachers, or community members who do not have an opportunity to participate in a focus group, or those who wish to give input to Dr. Beth Fisher-Yoshida prior to the start of the fall focus groups, may email her at [email protected]. The purpose of the focus groups is to identify areas of strength and areas of concern about K-8 mathematics in the Ridgewood Public Schools.
>Where’s the police department?
>Perhaps the most frequently asked question in the Library/Village Hall parking lot, and even in the Village Hall lobby, is “where’s the police department?”
In attempt to help residents and visitors find their way around our municipal complex, Village Council members this year approved the creation and installation of new parking lot and building signage.
However, it’s been several months now since plans were approved and the Fly hasn’t noticed any new signs yet. So, “where’s the police department?” still holds the top spot as the most frequently asked question on Maple Avenue.
P.S.: In case you didn’t know, the police department is located on the second level of Village Hall (use rear entrance – facing southeast, near the yellow mail box).
ORDER FINE ART/ STOCK PRINTS ON-LINE
>Super Demonstrates Math Rigor
>
>Fatal Motor Vehicle Accident In Front of The Valley Hospital?
>The Fly has received numerous reports of a fatal motor vehicle accident that took place in front of The Valley Hospital on Friday morning. Reportedly, two Valley employees were involved; one was killed.
Members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Team and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Criminal Identification were observed at the scene taking measurements and photographs.
There has been no newspaper account of the incident thus far. Does anyone have further details? Is The Valley attempting to keep this incident under wraps so residents don’t bring it up at future hearings related to the hospital’s building expansion plans?
Concerned math parents attacked by outsider Michael Paul Goldenberg
>”Yesterday, I was falsely accused of paranoia here by amateur psychologist and professional know-nothing Greg Goodknight. Of course, in the wake of the travesty of democracy we have witnessed in Ridgewood, NJ this week thanks to the clandestine efforts of a tiny group of activists, some of whom don’t even live in New Jersey, let alone in Ridgewood. By making anonymous calls and sending anonymous e- mails, this little group of brown shirts undid the legitimate hiring of a top-notch superintendent because he’d written favorably and intelligently about constructivism and was perceived to support the legitimately selected K-5 math program in Ridgewood, INVESTIGATIONS IN NUMBER, DATA, and SPACE. From what I’ve read, the personal attacks on his integrity and that of his wife were the usual vicious “parents with pitchforks” lies that have been the stock in trade of followers of the leadership of Mathematically Correct and NYC-HOLD. I’m sure those who hold with the beliefs of those groups are congratulating themselves for their “math warrior” victory. The rest of Ridgewood is wondering how fewer than 100 people could cost the town the $20,000 already spent on a job search to land Martin Brooks and the additional money that must now be spent to find a new superintendent.I had a cordial e-mail from Dr. Brooks this morning and I’m confident that had these unprincipled assassins not been allowed to operate with impunity in Ridgewood, the town would have gotten an outstanding leader for its public schools. The effect of what this band of jackals has done is likely to be very chilling as the town tries to find a person of equal ability in the wake of the unjustified personal attacks on Dr. Brooks and his wife.This is the Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, and George W. Bush legacy. The good news is that I believe this incident will gain enough local and national attention that perhaps “paranoids” like me will be less easily ignored by people in a position to do something before it’s completely impossible for anyone calling her or himself a progressive educator or liberal to seek work in public schools. More importantly, those who have yet to take these hate groups seriously will perhaps now be galvanized into principled and serious opposition to this sort of hijacking of our schools and our democracy.”
User Profile for: mikegol_@_MICH.EDU
UserID:
2957
Name:
Michael Paul Goldenberg
Email:
[email protected]
Registered:
12/3/04
Occupation:
Lecturer in Mathematics Education, University of Michigan-Flint
Location:
Ann Arbor, MI
Total Posts:
4,841
>the fly investigates Reform math (vs) Non reform math
>Which math do you want your child to do? Which math do you want to pay for with your soon to be increasing local taxes?
Reform math
This is a fifth-grade math question from “Investigations,” which deals with number sense and getting students to look at different strategies to solve a problem. The teacher would guide students to think of “sensible” ways to approach this multiplication problem:
Choose any two of these as a first step to complete 14 x 9 =
A. Start by solving 10 x 9 =
B. Start by solving 7 x 9 =
C. Start by solving 14 x 10 =
Students are asked to break the question into numbers that are easier to multiply. For instance, they could solve 10 x 9 = 90, and 4 x 9 = 36. Then they would add both sums together: 90 + 36 = 126. (Alternatively, they could start with 7 x 9 and then multiply the answer by 2, or start with 14 x 10 and then subtract 14.)
Not Reform math
This is a fifth-grade math problem from a Singapore Math textbook:
Solve: 492 x 98 =
The Singapore curriculum introduces multiplication problems in the second grade. The materials teach different strategies for doing these problems, such as memorizing multiplication tables and breaking problems down into smaller numbers. By fifth grade, the materials would assume students have mastered these skills, and would be able to multiply complex numbers.
Examples courtesy of the July 12th, 2007 Seattle Times article: New Math Stirs Passions Among Bellevue Parents, Teachers at https://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003785645_mathwars12e.html
>Village now building IT infrastructure to support WIFI and downtown CCTV cameras
>
Dylan Hansen, the Village’s IT Network Administrator, publicly revealed during last evening’s Village Council Work Session that he is currently building out a technology platform that will support Village-wide WIFI and the use of CCTV cameras in the Central Business District. Hansen also reviewed several of his completed projects, including implementation of increased network security, improved spam filtering, and installation of on-site data servers.
Councilwoman Kim Ringler-Shagin praised Hansen for his efforts, but harshly chastised him for mentioning the possible use of CCTV cameras since she and other Council members have not yet discussed the merits of such an undertaking. Deputy Mayor Betty G. Wiest also thanked Hansen for his efforts in bringing the Village into the 21st Century from a technological standpoint.
Hansen has been employed by the Village since November of 2005. This was his first formal presentation in front of Council members.
>New street lights coming to Ridgewood Avenue
>Village Council members last night approved conceptual plans for the installation of approximately 50 new street lights on Ridgewood Avenue, between Maple Avenue and Broad Street. It is anticipated that installation will begin by summer’s end; the project could take until winter to complete.
New, uniform lamp posts (green colored) and globes (with opaque glass) will replace the variety of posts & globes already in place. Total project costs have been estimated at $100K, with work to be performed by an as yet to be named private contractor in conjunction with PSE&G crews. Councilwoman Kim Ringler-Shagin has requested that all removed lamp posts be saved for sentimental purposes (even though they contain lead paint).
