>Christie: We will challenge special master findings
Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday he will challenge the Special Master appellate court finding that his school funding formula was unconstitutional. (Staff, State Street Wire)
https://www.politickernj.com/46142/christie-we-will-challenge-special-master-findings
>Trim public worker benefits over 7 years, Sweeney urges
Senate President Stephen Sweeney outlined his take on what he calls the “public employee health benefits crisis” in New Jersey before the Courier-Post editorial board Wednesday. (Murray, Courier-Post)
>Christie says he’s confident about convincing N.J. Supreme Court the state can’t afford full aid for schools
Gov. Chris Christie said today he is confident his administration will be able to convince the state Supreme Court it doesn’t have the money to fully fund the state’s school-funding law. (Reitmeyer, The Star-Ledger)
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/gov_christie_says_hes_confiden.html
>Christie: ‘Seize the moment,’ share patrols
Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney Wednesday said it was time to “seize the moment” and move toward regional public safety services. (Mast and Roh, The Courier-Post)\
>New Home Sales Dive to Record Low
By Clifford Marks
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 | 10:36 a.m
The pace of new home sales plummeted to a record low last month, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday in a further sign that the battered housing market is only slumping further.
Sales fell 16.9 percent from January, delivering a shock to analysts who had expected a gain for last month. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 250,000 homes sold marks the slowest pace recorded since the data series began in the 1960s.
Median sale prices fell 13.9 percent, which represents the sharpest one-month drop on record.
Wednesday’s numbers for February were coupled with an upward revision in January’s pace from 284,000 to 301,000 homes sold.
https://www.nationaljournal.com/economy/new-home-sales-dive-to-record-low-20110323
>Ridgewood School District’s architect of record charged with taking kickbacks
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
According to sources the head of Disko Associates charged with taking kickbacks in three other school districts
Disko Associates is the Ridgewood School District’s architect of record, and the lead architect for the recent $48 Milliondollar bond referendum . Disko Associates, has been charged with taking more than $80,000 in kickbacks from three other school districts for construction projects.
In case you for got Ridgewood’s $48 million bond referendum controversial from the start was approved by a very small margin ,according to the Ridgewood News “Residents have approved the issuance of $38,420,602 in bonds to fund school construction and improvement projects.Unofficial results were 2,129 votes in favor of the referendum, and 2,047 votes against it.”
The Ridgewood news went on to say , “The total cost of the project, which includes improvements at nine district schools and several athletic fields, is $48,265,314, and will be funded in part by state grants totaling $9,844,712, and debt service of $2,135,471.
The tax impact on the average Ridgewood home will be $300.55 per year over the course of the next 25 years, based on the formula of $37.47 per $100,000 of assessed value.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/Ridgewoods_48_million_bond_referendum_approved.html
The Willard School district did overwhelmingly approve the referendum while being primarily unaffected by the turf fields and field lighting.
>Disko Associates kickback story pulled form the Ridgewood News
Ridgewood News
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2011, 1:20 PM
BY KELLY EBBELS
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Staff Writer
Sorry, this content is no longer available.
Originally this story was on northjersey.com but it has since been pulled. Not sure why they would do that but seems a little odd.
Original link that no longer works:
There was another story that you can still find that talks about the bid rigging but doesn’t link it to Ridgewood schools and doesn’t have the comments from the Ridgewood BOE superintendant (I think that’s who it was) that recommended they remain on the project (apparently he made those comments Monday evening at a meeting).
We also noticed this story :
>RHS phone-a-thon gets a challenge grant
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Education Foundation (REF) has offered a $6,000 challenge grant to Ridgewood High School (RHS) parents and alumni who will hold a phone-a-thon next week, seeking donations to help RHS administrators purchase much-needed items.
The REF will match the first $6,000 raised in the phone-a-thon. Foundation board members “felt it was important to support this effort to address important and immediate academic needs at RHS,” said foundation President Elizabeth Gordon.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/118527699_RHS_phone-a-thon_gets_a_challenge_grant.html
>Clinic to be named for Ridgewood Philanthropist David F. Bolger
Clinic to be named for donor
Staff Report
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 4:04 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 4:04 p.m.
SARASOTA COUNTY – When Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s new walk-in clinic opens in Gulf Gate this summer, replacing an existing facility just down the Tamiami Trail, it will be named after Longboat Key philanthropist David F. Bolger, who is paying the full $2.6 million cost.
The Gulf Gate clinic is one of three operated by the hospital system, and will be the first one named after a donor. Alexandra Quarles, CEO of Sarasota Memorial’s fundraising Healthcare Foundation, said Bolger, a retired New Jersey real estate executive, was motivated by a desire to support medical care for children.
>Opinions Aren’t Fact
Dear Peter (Coti),
While I’ll defend your right to free speech, I take umbrage at your dismissal of parents’ concerns, portraying them as unenlightened as to the mores of the day. This of course, is exactly what concerns them. You see for some of us, we believe that certain topics are best left to the family. Just because some families choose not to discuss sexuality and its consequences with their children, does not give moral license for the state to do so.
Reproductive education based on biology is one thing. Discussing and illustrating ways to have “safe sex” to young teens offends many in our community no matter how well intentioned. One can not simply dismiss out of hand this concern.
More helpful might be an emphasis on abstinence and the social stigma attached to early sexual behavior along with the economic consequences of out of wed-lock births for both the mother and her child. As for the promiscuity heaped upon our culture by the media in the name of free speech, well let me say this, nothing is free and the havoc this coarsening of our culture has caused is very costly to our society both spiritually and monetarily.
No one is advocating that older teens shouldn’t be aware of birth control. However, there is no denying that since the “sexual revolution” of the 1960’s, when the “pill” came on the market, thus “liberating” women to have sex with men, confident that they would not get pregnant, out of wed-lock births have sky-rocketed in our society. Until that time, if a girl got pregnant, it was expected by our society that the boy marry her and care for she and the child. With the advent of women’s liberation, the only persons liberated where men from having to take responsibility for impregnating a woman. Like I said before, nothing is for free. This is the price women, children and society have paid and will continue to pay for the sexual liberation we so cherish.
So, if parents are pushing back here in Ridgewood, maybe they have a point. Is it really necessary to have teen boys go the drug store to become familiar with condoms? The only purpose is to make them feel comfortable in doing so, thus promoting the use of condoms ie: sex. And if the state (school) is promoting condoms use, then what pray tell could be wrong with teens having sex? You do understand the logic of this? Regardless of the mantra from the, “they will have sex anyways” chorus, this is not a proven fact but rather an opinion. And opinions have consequences when they become accepted reality.
Joseph Alvaro
>SNORE: Judge is critical of cuts in aid for New Jersey schools
New Jersey’s cuts in school financing violate the State Constitution’s mandate to provide “a thorough and efficient” education system and hit poor districts especially hard, a judge reported to the State Supreme Court on Tuesday. (Pérez-Peña, The New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/nyregion/23jersey.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
>CWA to Christie: Let’s negotiate on health benefits
Representatives of the Communications Workers of America accused Gov. Chris Christie of “talking out of both sides of his mouth” when it comes to his support for public workers’ right to collectively bargain. (Racz, Gannett)
>Parsippany school budget rejected by state over superintendent contract
Executive County Superintendent Kathleen Serafino has rejected the school board’s proposed budget, citing its ongoing refusal to rescind Superintendent Lee Seitz’s disputed contract extension. (Jennings, Daily Record)
>Artisan Chocolate & Wine Tasting Group
Presents
The “Brave New Worlds” of Artisan Chocolate & Wine
Thursday April 14 Join us!
ONLY 30 SEATS AVAILABLE “Brave New Worlds”
A unique opportunity to experience some rebellious and avant-garde wines and artisan chocolate
Date: Thursday, April 14, 2011
Time: 6:15pm*
*will start promptly at 6:30, no late arrivals please, members only, pre-paid reservations required
Place: Latour French American Bistro, 6 East Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ
Easy to get there from NYC! Next to Ridgewood train station, easy 1 minute walk from NJ Transit train.
Event Fee: New Members $65, Current Members $55
There is only room for 30 at this tasting so please go to our group website for our payment link! https://www.meetup.com/Artisan-Chocolate-Wine-Tasting-Group/events/16922761/
>The Digital Divide and the Knowledge Deficit
By Peter Meyer 03/22/2011
“Anthony Orsini, a middle school principal from Ridgewood, NJ, talked about the media frenzy surrounding his memo to parents advising them to keep their kids away from social-networking sites.”
To walk from a conversation about the need for a common core curriculum to one about turning schools into digital gaming parlors modeled after Grand Theft Auto – well, it’s what we in the business call a head jerk. But the good thing about the recently concluded marathon conference at the Hechinger Institute (sponsored by theMacAruthur Foundation, which has a major digital learning initiative) was that you didn’t have to walk anywhere.
https://educationnext.org/the-digital-divide-and-the-knowledge-deficit/
