>Laurie Goodman: we should not be Racing to the Top because it is a Race to Nowhere.
According to Laurie’s site, we should not be Racing to the Top because it is a Race to Nowhere.
So, after all the push for world-class athletic center, turf fields, lighting, Olympic track at BF, a course guide that dwarfs some colleges, $2500 SAT prep programs, 200 clubs, 3-season sports, AP classes for everything, etc, etc – now she says the schools SHOULDN’T be doing it.
Figures that the HSA mommies are previewing this blame-it-all-everyone-except-the teachers documentary drivel.
>Concrete Slab at Travell Sports Field Absolutely Unacceptable
The discus concrete slab at Travell is absolutely unacceptable and directly impacts the daily lives of the students at Travell. When and where was this discussed?
To cut into the track, install the concrete slab that sticks up on one side and make any use of the track for running (PE) or bike riding a complete liability is just another unbelievable act that shows how the BOE disregards our community.
Furthermore, this area is not taped off and presently is VERY dangerous for all of the children playing soccer, running, etc. in this area. Our children’s safety does not seem to be of primary importance.
>New Jersey Auditor Questions $27 Light Bulbs Billed Under Stimulus Program By Dunstan McNichol – Nov 12, 2010 4:16 PM
Contractors billed New Jersey $27 for light bulbs, and ran up tens of thousands of dollars in other “unreasonable costs” on a $119 million weatherization program funded with U.S. stimulus money, the state auditor said.
Out of $613,600 in charges reviewed, $54,000, or 8.8 percent, was deemed unreasonable by Auditor Stephen Eells, according to a Nov. 8 report to lawmakers. The audit examined program oversight by the state Community Affairs Department.
One contractor sought $27 for light bulbs, while another billed $1.50 for similar items, according to the report and Assistant Auditor Thomas Meseroll. Another vendor charged $75 for carbon-monoxide detectors that it had provided to a different program for $22, the report said. Eells also cited $32,700 in auditing fees when “no services had been performed” and $69,000 in construction costs that couldn’t be verified.
“Weatherization agencies have been reimbursed for unreasonable costs because of inadequate review of financial reports and lack of guidance from the state and federal governments,” said the audit. It said the state agency’s review of contractor expenditures was “cursory.”
The state didn’t pay for the $27 light bulbs and the $75 carbon-monoxide detectors after the audit, according to Lori Grifa, the Community Affairs Department’s commissioner. Since Eells began the review, the two most-senior state employees overseeing the program have been replaced and a third has been reassigned, Grifa said in a written response to the audit.
The $27 included “labor and materials” for compact fluorescent light bulbs, Lisa Ryan, a spokeswoman for the department, said today in an e-mailed response to questions.
>New Jersey State League of Municipalities Convention November 15th-19th, 2010
The 95th Annual Conference of the New Jersey League of Municipalities will be held in Atlantic City on Monday through Friday, November 15th-19th, 2010.
Expect limited services to be available in Ridgewood Village Hall during this time period because any Village Hall employee who is authorized to attend the convention on taxpayer money will likely go.
Check The Ridgewood Blog at a later date for hidden camera videos of Ridgewood Village Hall employees misbehaving while at the convention.
>The Ridgewood YMCA and the Diabetes Foundation will be hosting “Everything Diabetes Day”
The Ridgewood YMCA and the Diabetes Foundation will be hosting “Everything Diabetes Day” at the Y (112 Oak Street, Ridgewood) on Saturday, November 20th from 1:30 – 5:30 PM. This FREE event is for children and adults with diabetes, pre-diabetes, or at risk for diabetes. Free screenings will include blood pressure, blood sugar, eye screenings and foot screenings. Certified Diabetes Educators will be on hand to discuss nutrition, exercise, weight loss, complications, risk factors and prevention, among other things. Lots of information and giveaways will also be available. Call Chris at 201 444 5600 ext. 339 for more information or to pre-register today. Open to all!
>Department of Community Affairs audit reveals problems and irregularities
It was big pot of federal stimulus money aimed at jump-starting the state’s economy, but an audit of a weatherization program found only a fraction of the $119 million allocated to New Jersey has been spent, and some of that went to unreasonable expenditures. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
>People’s Tool Kit’ offers ways to rein in spending
If you’re impatiently waiting for state government to deliver the much-ballyhooed toolkit, a good-government group is pitching some do-it-yourself projects it says can ease your property taxes. (Symons, Gannet)
>GOP freeholders-elect tap Caliguire for transition chair
The Bergen County Republican Freeholders-elect today announced their selection of former freeholder Todd Caliguire of Ridgewood to chair their transition team. (Staff, PolitickerNJ)
Two months ago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the federal stimulus legislation would pay for the purchase of hundreds of controversial full-body scanners.
“Through the Recovery Act, we are able to continue our accelerated deployment of enhanced technology as part of our layered approach to security at airports nationwide,” Napolitano said at the time.
The number of scanners has roughly doubled since Napolitano’s announcement and they are now found in 68 U.S. airports, and the Transportation Security Administration says the controversial devices have proven to be a success.
“We have received minimal complaints,” a TSA spokeswoman told CNET yesterday. She said that the agency, part of DHS, keeps track of air traveler complaints and has not seen a significant rise.
A growing number of airline passengers, labor unions, and advocacy groups, however, say the new procedures–a choice of full-body scans or what the TSA delicately calls “enhanced pat-downs”–go too far. (They were implemented without much fanfare in late October, amid lingering questions (PDF) about whether travelers are always offered a choice of manual screening.)
Unions representing U.S. Airways pilots, American Airlines pilots, and some flight attendants are advising their members to skip the full-body scans, even if it means that their genitals are touched. Air travelers are speaking out online, with a woman saying in a YouTube video her breasts were “twisted,” and ExpressJet pilot Michael Roberts emerging as an instant hero after he rejected both the body scanning and “enhanced pat-downs” options and was unceremoniously ejected from the security line from Memphis International Airport.
One lawsuit has been filed and at least two more are being contemplated. There are snarky suggestions for what TSA actually stands for, attempts at grope-induced erotic fiction, and now even a movie.
These privacy concerns, and in a few cases even outright rebellion, come as an estimated 24 million travelers are expected to fly during the 2010 Thanksgiving holiday season. One Web site, OptOutDay.com, is recommending what might be called strict civil obedience: it suggests that all air travelers on November 24, the day before Thanksgiving, choose “to opt-out of the naked body scanner machines” that amount to “virtual strip searches.”
“Is sports participation important for kids and their future?” is a red herring. Willingness to assault the fields’ countless neighbors all over town (and no, I do not live near any fields) with lights, noise, badly parked cars, and unruly participants, and acting as if that is par for the course, is callous and unforgivable.
NIMBY? The entire town is our back yard. Sure, the owners knew there were fields there when they bought their houses, but didn’t realize they were moving next to Yankee Stadium. And this appalling situation goes beyond even that.
THE LOOK OF THE TOWN IS CHANGING FOR THE WORSE because of the unacceptable clout of those who are not working for the greater good, as they claim. Merely driving around Citizens Park one night I was nearly blinded by the lights and gasped in shock. The poles are higher than the trees, the lamps are much too bright, and the whole setup is hideous 24 hours a day. Encountering the sudden glare after driving down a dark street may well cause traffic accidents. What about the waste of electricity when we’re about to have incandescent light removed from our lives?
What about blackouts, brownouts, surges? The whole thing is simply appalling. Why couldn’t just one field have been set up with lights and everyone invited to see how it looked? The answer would have been “Dreadful–get it out of there.” But no–hurry hurry, install them all and it’s too late. The town must stop accepting big donations (in this case, not nearly big enough to cover the tab) for things that are inherently bad and not generally wanted.
And when neighbors reasonably complain, they are ignored or insulted. How can things have come to this pass? Anybody who had anything to do with installing these lights and P.A. systems should be replaced. Learn who they are and VOTE in the spring.
Park Steakhouse, which was originally suppose to move into Radiccio’s on Franklin Turnpike, is taking over Winberie’s and also bought their liquor license.
They were suppose to open the steakhouse in the Radiccio’s spot with a limited liquor license that the town sold last year. I am curious where did that money go??
Basically, the limited liquor license does not allow for a regular bar area.Park will now re-sell that license.
>Poll finds widespread support for state worker layoffs
Poll finds support for state worker cuts
TRENTON, N.J. — A new poll finds widespread support for state worker layoffs, furloughs and wage freezes to combat New Jersey’s fiscal woes. (The Associated Press)
>Gov. Christie backs off plans for 1,200 N.J. employee layoffs
TRENTON — State workers may not face layoffs in January after all — and they may be able to take Black Friday off even though Gov. Chris Christie wants them to work. (Friedman, The Star-Ledger)
Gov. Christie, speaking with kids in Trenton at a boys and girls club, said what a lot of other New Jersey residents think about most districts closing schools so the teachers’ union can convene at the Shore for an annual conference. (Ingle, Asbury Park Press)
