Tag: Ridgewood Public Library

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2017 Ridgewood Taekwondo Athletes Garden State Championships

111517 Garden State Party sponsor

November 22,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Twenty Three Ridgewood Taekwondo athletes faced a major challenge at the Garden State Championships, which drew over 300 competitors from the tri-state area on November 5.  The results were stellar: 30 Gold, 11 Silver, and 5 Bronze.

Taekwondo All In, an instructional school for the Korean martial art, continues to establish itself as a premier school for the sport.  The school received the “Best School” designation at the New Jersey Tournament several years running. 

Youngmin Kim, a Taekwondo master and head instructor noted, “We have an amazing group of kids at Taekwondo All In.  Their dedication and hard work is truly inspirational.  Our goal at the school is to teach our students not only the martial art, but life lessons on grit, focus and hard work, which will benefit them in all aspects of their lives.”

The students and their medals earned are as follows:

  • Jenna Slota, Kate Minn, Ryan Kam, Kaylin Lee, Tony An, Audrey Kim, Sunghyun Kim, Timothy Lee, Lianne Shin, Emily Kam earned Two Gold Medals
  • Lucas Woods, Liam Woods, Elliott Yi, Tyler Minn, Maximilian Jimenez, Jack Raines, Ricardo Merino earned one Gold and one Silver medal.
  • Grace Chi, Elias Chi, Donhyun Kim earned one Gold and one Bronze medal.
  • Julia An, Isaac Yi earned Two Silver Medals.
  • Abraham Lee earned Two Bronze medals.

PHOTO : First Row Left : Audrey Kim, Ryan Kam, Tyler Minn, Maximilian Jimenez Elliott Yi, Jack Raines, Lucas Woods, Second Row Left – Emily Kam, Kaylin Lee, Jenna Slota, Julia An, Kate Minn, Lianne Shin, Timothy Lee Coach Seongki Kim. Third Row Left- Isaac Yi, Donghyun Kim, Head Coach Youngmin Kim, Tony An, Sunghyun Kim, Liam Woods.

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Reader calls Ridgewood High School “Toxic”

tradition of excellence

I am really really concerned about all of the things I hear happen at the high school . It seems that the BOE is only involved or concerned about situations that fall under the state mandate of HIB. If an incident doesn’t fall unde the guidelines of HIB then nothing is done . I want to send my kids to catholic school for high school . The environment at RHS seems toxic. This was a chance for our “leaders” and I use that term lightly , to actually take a stand , implement new programs and actually lead! Shame on them

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Reader asks When are we going to start holding parents accountable for their kids

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A very good point was made by Fishbein, he and his administration are responsible for monitoring a powerful device that is put in the students hands (smartphone) by the parents. When are we going to start holding parents accountable for their kids and what they do? Also, I have heard so many complaints of the BOE not doing their jobs in taking a stand (which I highly disagree with – my kids who are at 3 different schools in the district have been coming home talking about their bully – HIB presentations since I can remember), but I have yet to hear anyone come forward with what they think should or can be done in addition to what is already being done. Anyone? I bet if more parents were policing their kids and their phones, this would help the administration A LOT. They can’t’ do it alone, and they shouldn’t be held entirely accountable for 6,000 kids and their actions. This is a group effort people. Teaching our kids accountability for their OWN actions is an amazing life lesson. Placing blame has not benefit to anyone – not helpful.

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Near Fatal Accident in Ridgewood Sends Driver to Valley Hospital

Near Fatal Accident in Ridgewood Sends Driver to Valley Hospital

photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page

November 22,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The adult male driver of a Jeep Cherokee involved in a two (2) vehicle, head on crash in front of 424 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood on Tuesday evening, 11/21, was in full cardiac arrest when patrol officers arrived at the crash scene. The victim’s seat belt was cut, he was placed on the ground after being removed from the vehicle, and officers immediately began performing CPR. The victim was transported by a Ridgewood EMS ambulance to The Valley Hospital where he was reported to be in grave condition. A tow truck removed the Cherokee from the crash scene. Ridgewood Fire Department personnel also responded to the incident. A Heroin overdose is the suspected cause of the crash.

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Introducing the Village of Ridgewood’s 2017 Christmas Tree

Village of Ridgewood's 2017 Christmas Tree

photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page

November 22,2017

the staff of Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Several uniformed and plainclothes members of Ridgewood PD escorted a freshly cut Evergreen tree from a home on Grove Street, Ridgewood to the municipality’s Central Business District where it was lifted into place by a crane and will be decorated to serve as the Village’s 2017 Christmas Tree. The escort detail was executed under the direct supervision of Ridgewood Police Patrol Division Sergeant John Chuck.

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Parents Continue to Confront Ridgewood School Board on Bullying Issues

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November 21,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, at the Monday night school board meeting , the Ridgewood Board of Educations was once again challenged by parents on the perceived lack of action on what some parents are calling a bullying epidemic at Ridgewood schools.

The school seemed unable or unwilling to confront the issue. The Board continues to claim they are following the anti bullying policy , but recent events would fail to confirm that . The school board maintains that bullying is not an issue at Ridgewood Schools, while recent events again suggest otherwise . Parents as well as students seem to lost confidence in the BOE on this issue .

 

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Parkmobile strikes again in Ridgewood

parkmobile_meter

November 21,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, In addition to the revenue drain associated with commissions being paid out by the Village’s Parking Utility to Parkmobile USA, the introduction of the mobile parking payment app has resulted in the hiring of additional Parking Enforcement Officers.  This because none of Ridgewood’s police officers have been issued, or trained on, the software that is now required to issue parking tickets at any locations within the Village where Parkmobile is accepted for payment.

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Iconic Sycamore Tree at Graydon Park days Are Numbered

Ridgewood's Iconic Sycamore Tree on the island at Graydon Pool is dying

November 21,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood Blog

Ridgewood NJ, The iconic Sycamore tree at Graydon Park is now scheduled for removal during the first week of December. Crews from the Village’s Shade Tree Division will be removing the tree at that time unless a certified arborist, yet to be hired, determines that the tree is healthy and should remain standing. The tree had originally been scheduled to be removed during the month of November, but scheduling delays pushed the date back.

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Rica Report : Supervision of Meter Money Questionable with no accountability

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November 21,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Rica plead guilty stealing 500k. The Village insurance claim was for 850k. That left a balance of 350k, which someone kept (many suspect Rica had help ).

In the real world, guilty or not, Chris Rutishauser would have been fired. 850k was stolen under his watch. He had to have known, he should have noticed a decline in meter revenue or deposits? He ran, and continues to run a questionable department with no accountability.

The attached Rica Report was submitted by the Village to the Board of Fund Commissioners, Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund. It outlines the total amount of quarters stolen and what needs to be done for this to never happen again.

OUR VILLAGE, THE ENGINEER, NEVER IMPLEMENTED ANY OF IT! All recommended safety measures have been met with strong opposition from Mr. Rutishauser and his organization(s). Why doesn’t the Village Manager and Council take action over this matter?

Note the closing statement. It says, the Village needs to have a process for reporting the collections and reconciling those reports to funds deposited/recorded. Security and technological advancement is also needed.

What gives the Village Engineer the authority to decide against practical safeguards, policies and procedures that protect public funds and his department from theft and fraud?

Rica Report :

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15fd9cf3861a3d33?compose=15fd57af423901f9&projector=1

 

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Reader says Places Like Ridgewood Are Phil Murphy’s Prime Target

Phil Murphy

Every one of the above posts gives a clear example of what Ridgewood is really all about. “Redistribution ” “scourge ” “housing projects”.
You people are just so completely self centered its borderline appalling.
You worked so hard did you? At the big bank in NYC where they taught you how to “Wells Fargo ” all your clients? Right 11:18?
You think your biggest problem is your perceived arrival of George Jefferson and the subsequent demise of steppford wood. Your wrong. Remember you just vote Big Murph to be our next Gov and he’s going to have his foot so far up your Ridgewood Counntry Club ass your heads going to spin. Shocked ? Yea, I bet you are…..

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Reader says it was never revealed how much money was being diverted from water company revenues to the Village’s general fund

waterheader2

I doubt the Village ever revealed how much cash was actually collected from parking meters. Just as they never publicly stated how much money was being diverted from water company revenues to the Village’s general fund. That’s why cash continues to be king in business – you can easily lie to anyone about how much you took in.

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Reader says Bergen County and towns like Ridgewood in the cross hairs

urbanization

Remember 2-5 years and the current Valley location will be a good number of affordable housing units
The same folks who vote for leaders who support these ideas seem to be shocked when it hits home
The new governor and team are all for this with Bergen County and towns like RW in the cross hairs
Valley will be missed and those who voted for all of this will seem shocked

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Reader says Personally, I think that the Village was okay with no jail time for Tommy Boy

quarters-bag

Personally, I think that the Village was okay with no jail time for Tommy Boy because if they weren’t, he would have made embarrassing statements in court that would have exposed how easy it was for him to steal the money. Also, he would have revealed who else either stole in the past, or was currently stealing. It would have been very bad press for the Village. And the Village knew they were being covered by insurance, so it wasn’t their problem to collect from Tommy anyway. It’s now the insurance company’s problem. I wonder how long it will be before the insurance company puts a lien to Tommy’s house, or just takes the house?

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Reader says Overdevelopment is the most pressing issue facing those of us who own homes in Ridgewood

Sealfons-rendering

Overdevelopment is the most pressing issue facing those of us who own homes in Ridgewood. The “affordable housing” scheme is socialism, pure and simple, as it is designed to redistribute wealth from those who worked hard and saved.
Ridgewood has done nothing to fight this scourge. Sadly, our last Mayor and his cronies fostered overdevelopment. But we can no longer blame the former regime, as the cronies have lost their clout. Besides, we can’t deny Ridgewood’s development shills openly touted the view of a Ridgewood re-modeled in the mold of a communist 1950’s Eastern European city. And that is what Ridgewood and the rest of New Jersey will slowly devolve into if this forced redistribution of property is not brought to a halt, now.
It is not clear what our current council is doing as our property values delcine and our taxes rise. The housing projects now underway in Ridgewood will weigh us down like anchors made of disgarded heaps of socialist concrete housing blocks. And what if we really do need thousands of more units to satisfy the courts’ hunger for buildings to re-order our society? This Council needs to take action. We need somthing more than debates over the number of construction trucks that will be allowed to speed through our Village streets each day (a move akin to re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.)
Positive action is possible. Among other things, our council should be acting in tandem with other towns to stop this overdevelopment nonsense. The overdevelopment crisis should be an agenda item at every council meeting. It is that serious.
We need a vision to move forward. Council elections are not that far off in the future, and we need to consider whether those running are ready to provide such vision, or if they too will stand still in the myopic self-delusion that seems to grip so many

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Ridgewood Parking Meter Hi-jinks – Follow the money (if you can)

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November 20,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood Blog

Ridgewood NJ, Months after Thomas Rica (while employed by the Village of Ridgewood his supervisor was Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser) plead guilty to stealing almost 1/2 million dollars in coins from the Village of Ridgewood over a two (2) year period, employees of the Village’s Signal Division (under the leadership of the same Christoper Rutishauser) were observed collecting coins from parking meters in empty, unsecured pickle buckets.

When asked during an open public meeting of the Village Council why no state of the art security measures had been added to the coin collection & storage processes, particularly in light of Mr. Rica’s actions, Village CFO Robert G. Rooney said that such security measures would be “too expensive.” Furthermore, all attempts made in recent years by Village Council members to replace coin operated parking meters with multi-payment method kiosks have been met with strong opposition from Mr. Rutishauser and his organization(s).

Now, is it just me, or doesn’t this all strike you as a bit odd?

1) Almost 1/2 million in coins goes missing because of an “inside job,” but it’s too expensive to install state of the art security measures? WTF? Are you for real Mr. Rooney? Frankly, I’m surprised the Village’s insurance company didn’t mandate stronger security measures after paying out over 3/4 million dollars to settle the claim. Absolutely unbelievable. And if that isn’t a joke in and of itself,

2) The leader of the department responsible for collecting cash from parking meters and placing it in storage strongly opposes any attempts on the part of elected officials to cut the number of meters and introduce kiosks that accept alternate forms of payment (credit and debit cards)? Hmm. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Is someone trying to prevent the end of a gravy train?

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