>The individual wanted in connection with Saturday night’s aggravated assault
on Police Officer Sean Amoruso was arrested at 10:12 PM this evening on
Steilen Avenue in Ridgewood. The arresting officer was Detective Sergeant
William Amoruso.
The suspect, a male juvenile who resides on Steilen Avenue, was transported
to Ridgewood Police Headquarters for processing. He was accompanied by his
father.
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>If the Fly’s memory is correct, an assistant manager at the East Ridgewood Avenue Starbucks was arrested earlier this year for allegedly selling drugs in the franchise’s rear parking lot. This is the same location that Ridgewood Police Officer Sean Amoroso was assaulted on Saturday night. Officer Amoroso was trying to detain an individual suspected of being engaged in some sort of narcotics related activity.
These two incidents make the Fly wonder what the story is with this particular Starbucks location? Are these two incidents coincidental/totally unrelated, or is the Ridgewood Avenue Starbucks an established gathering point for drug sellers and buyers? If so, should Ridgewood’s police department enlist help from the Bergen County Narcotics Squad to clean up the mess there?
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>Ridgewood Police Officer Sean Amaruso was assaulted on Saturday evening as
he attempted to detain a individual involved in suspected narcotics activity
at the rear of Starbucks on East Ridgewood Avenue.
The suspect eluded Amaruso and other uniformed patrol officers by fleeing on
foot. However, his identity was determined and communicated to plain
clothes officers; an imminent arrest is expected.
Although Amaruso did not require medical attention, this incident
nonetheless underscores the relatively dangerous nature of a police
officer’s daily routine, even in a seemingly safe community such as
Ridgewood.
The Fly wonders when Ridgewood PD’s brass is going to finally crack down on
loiterers in the front and rear of Starbucks. Obviously, more than coffee
is being sold in the area.
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School District misrepresents mathematician’s views
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>Friends and neighbors please join us for a Math Chat on Thursday, August 9th at 7:30 P.M. at The Unitarian Society of Ridgewood. Over the past several months, parents have been expressing their concerns over the math programs in our village schools to educational administrators and the Board of Education. This issue is an old one for Travell School. Parents have been voicing their concerns since the inception of TERC Investigations more than 5 years ago. What is new is an organization of parents called VORMATH who are providing an opportunity for parents of school age children and concerned tax- payers to be involved in an open forum discussion. Did you know…
· The 6 elementary schools in Ridgewood use 3 different math programs.
· Four of the six schools use reform math- also known as fuzzy math, constructivist based math, or standards based math.
· These reform math programs have been abandoned by hundreds of school districts across the nation because they fail to prepare our children for math at the high school and college level
· Over 200 math professors, 4 Nobel Laureates and 2 Fields Medal winners signed a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Education back in 1999 asking the government to remove these reform math programs from their list of exemplary programs
· A Stanford mathematician stated that TERC Investigations is the “2nd most mathematically illiterate program” he has ever seen. TERC Investigations is the program currently used at Travell and Orchard Schools.
· The district just purchased the newest version of the Investigations program for both Travell and Orchard.
· Benjamin Franklin Middle School has averaged a rank of 21 out of over 200 middle schools in mathematics statewide for the past 7 years using traditional math.
· CMP2 (another reform math program for middle schools that is controversial) has been implemented for 6th graders last year and will follow them into 7th grade this September; why change a math program that has proven itself a success for the students?
There is substantial information available for concerned parents to read. How the math issue affects all taxpayers is simple. Sixty-six percent of every tax dollar feeds into Ridgewood’s $82,000,000 school budget. Are we getting a good return of our investment? Ridgewood’s reputation for excellent schools has kept the value of our homes high. There must be fiscal responsibility and sound choices made for educating all the children in our village. We love Ridgewood and want to keep it the wonderful community that it has been for many generations.
There will be a presentation followed by a Q & A period. Hope you can make it and take advantage of the opportunity to share your concerns and thoughts. TOGETHER WE ADD UP!
>Citing his concern that the Village’s fleet of 17 police cars may be excessive, Councilman Jacques Harlow cast the lone “no” vote for a resolution authorizing the purchase of 2 new Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors for Ridgewood’s police department.
Despite Harlow’s “no” vote, the resolution passed. Chief William Corcoran and his officers should be receiving the cars by November. They will be used as replacements for 2 aging vehicles in the fleet (Corcoran previously advised Council members that there are no marked vehicles in inventory with less than 40K miles).
>Catherine Taub met with heavy resistance from Village Council members recently during her formal presentation regarding plans to erect a commemorative near the Ridgewood Public Library in honor of Varian Fry.
Fry, a Harvard-educated classicist and editor who was raised in Ridgewood, helped save thousands of endangered refugees who were caught in the Vichy French zone escape from Nazi terror during World War II.
Ms. Taub, of Wastena Terrace, was visibly stunned by the Village Council’s refusal to permit installation of a plaque near the Ridgewood Public Library, and their hesitation to officially sanction any further ceremonies honoring Mr. Fry (South Monroe Street was officially dedicated in Fry’s name on June 26, 2005).
Deputy Mayor Betty G. Wiest suggested that a more appropriate location for the erection of a commemorative plaque would be at Van Neste Memorial Park, and asked Ms. Taub to reconsider her original request and return to meet Council members at a later date.
By the way, Ms. Taub was planning to personally fund all costs associated with this project. Translation; no tax dollars would have been spent.
The Fly wonders why Ms. Taub got the proverbial bums rush, but when folks stepped forward to fund improvements at Maple Park, Council members welcomed them with open arms.
>Village Manager James M. Ten Hoeve recently announced that David F. Bolger, a local real estate investor and philanthropist with offices on Chestnut Street, will completely fund the planned “finding” signage project at Village Hall.
As a result of the funding level offered by Mr. Bolger, Ten Hoeve reported that better quality signs would be erected than initially approved by Village Council members. The new signs, intended to help residents and visitors find their way about the municipal complex, should be installed within the next 30-60 days.
During his status report to Council members about the sign project, Mr. Ten Hoeve revealed that the latest recent winner of the most frequently asked question at Village Hall was: “Where’s the municipal court?” Does this mean that there’s a ticket blitz of sorts taking place?
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But surely, by now, the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum has found that purchase order and given a copy to the Ridgewood News. The News would then report all the relevant information such as date of purchase, itemized list of materials purchased, unit cost, total cost, and any associated discounts, date of delivery, and so forth for TERC 2nd edition for Travell and Orchard. The News could even show this information in comparison to the material cost for Scott Foresman Addison Wesley at Willard. I wonder which one cost more?
One would thing curriculum purchase information would be at the finger tips of the head of curriculum. While they are getting that cost information, they may was well look for the same information for the Connected Math Program 2 for both middle schools. And also show the Village residents the cost being spent to train the teachers and if that training is actually aiding the teachers in reaching Highly Qualified Status. So many questions, so much more the Ridgewood News could be reporting.
>Village Council members are expected to unanimously approve a resolution
authorizing the auction of a new “consumption” liquor license during their
scheduled August 8 Public Meeting.
Minimum bid for the license will be $600K. Among the conditions expected to
be mandated by the Council are:
1) A minimum 65%/35% restaurant to bar ratio
2) License must be used in an area currently zoned for restaurants
3) A 10% cash deposit required along with any bid
4) Proposed licensee must past standard police background checks
The most recent Village Council sanctioned auction of a new liquor license
(within the past few years) attracted no bidders; that’s correct, not a
single bidder.
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A friend suggested that I get the inside dope on what was happening in Ridgewood by perusing the blogs. I was honestly shocked by the narrowmindedness of some of the posts – particularly with regard to the editorial standards of our local newspaper.
Hindsight shows that the reporter was doing his job – reporting – not passing judgment on what was being exchanged, just reporting what was taking place. Isn’t that what he was supposed to do? Remain objective? And didn’t the editor simply back up the editorial integrity of the newspaper by not yielding to public criticism and printing the news as news? Spare me the conspiracy theories, would ya!
Now as for the math controversy. Sure, I knew people were up in arms, and yes, I’ll admit that some of the protocols for teaching left me baffled, but I saw my kids NJASK and Terra Nova test scores and, well…can kids get higher than 99th percentile? Something must be going right in the school system.
No question that all the bloggers love Ridgewood and that discourse is healthy. But, informed and objective discourse is healthier still.
>I didn’t realize my name would be published but it serves me right because I just said to a friend that I believed the Blog would be better served if one had to use their name. I guess I was being put to the test. Thank you for not commenting on my spelling errors! I have given packets of info regarding grass fields/turf to the council members, Bd. of Ed. members and other significant people in the community.
My goal was to inform the community about the benefits of grass fields to the athlete and the community. Many of my friends are in the sports fields because I went to Cortland many years ago. All of them prefer grass to artificial turf because of incresed temps on artificial turf, wear and tear on the athlete and now the threat of a new strain of staph infection that has crept into the sports world associated with artificial turf. However many places in the US still have the luxury of space and so are not as limited in accomodating the needs of a community.
Ridgewood was over developed and now open space is at a premium. The benefits of grass include the exchange of carbon dioixde for oxygen, natural cooling and cleaning properties to name just a few. I sat on a committee in the 80,s that looked at our fields and decided that Maple Field could benefit the entire community by placing a grass playing field in the center surrounded by natural vegetation. I feel that this was an excellent compromise and served us well for many years. I was told that Maple Field was being maintained at a cost of 11,000 dollars per year. Even if that cost had been increased 3 times to improve the field, it would be 30 years before we had spent 1,000,000 dollars { the cost of an artificial turf field]. I love the landscaping and the upgrades at Maple but if the green in the center was natural, I would be donating money instead of worrying about the consequences. I understand the increased need for fields as enrollment in sports continues to rise and we want all kids who want to participate to be able to do so. I have talked to many landscapers who tell me that the quality of new grass blends on the market are so superior to the old ones, that grass fields would be far more durable and able to handle more useage.
With the master plan being reviewed in September, it is my hope that figures will be obtained on the use of natural grass and that it will be considered. Ridgewood has always been known for its leadership in quality of life issues. Why can’t we be also known for having the finest grass playing fields in the area? I can guarentee that in the coming years, laws will mandate a better use of our natural resources. How better to show our kids how we can treat our environment with care and still not loose essential aspects of sports and recreation.
Linda McNamara
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The Fly wonders why Village Council members didn’t have the foresight to ask that the roof replacement be covered (no pun intended) under NJ Transit’s multi-million dollar plan to upgrade the entire station.
