Tag: Ridgewood Schools

All New Jersey Transit Services Suspended Tuesday October 30th

All NJ TRANSIT Rail, Bus, Light Rail and Access Link service is suspended until further notice due to Hurricane Sandy. NJ TRANSIT implemented a gradual system-wide shutdown of all service starting at 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 28 and continuing through 2 a.m. on Monday morning, at which time the shutdown of all NJ TRANSIT service was completed.

Customers are advised of the following:

Rail Service

All NJ TRANSIT rail service is currently suspended until further notice.
Bus Service:

All NJ TRANSIT bus service is currently suspended until further notice.
Light Rail Service:

All Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, River Line and Newark Light Rail service is currently suspended until further notice.
Access Link Service:
Access Link service in all regions is currently suspended until further notice.
System-wide Cross-Honoring

System-wide cross-honoring of all rail, bus and light rail tickets will be in effect through Wednesday, October 31, until 6 a.m. This will allow customers holding NJ TRANSIT tickets to use alternate means of transportation to get to their final destination, such as PATH, PATCO and private bus carriers. Due to the duration of the storm and the potential impact to the NJ TRANSIT system, this timeframe could be extended if necessary.
Following the conclusion of the storm, NJ TRANSIT will assess the status of the system and test critical infrastructure before making any decisions regarding the potential resumption of service.

Service Updates

For the latest travel information, customers should listen to broadcast traffic reports, visit njtransit.com or access NJ TRANSIT’s Twitter feed at @NJ_TRANSIT. Additionally, NJ TRANSIT will provide the most current service information via the My Transit alert system (www.njtransit.com/mytransit), which delivers travel advisories for your specific trip to your cell phone, PDA or pager. Service information is also available by calling (973) 275-5555.

American Dream Mall project more than just a White Elephant and complements sports neighbors
By Kathleen A. Donovan Bergen County Executive and John D. Mitchell Chairman of the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders
October 25,2012
The Record

WOODY JOHNSON, Steve Tisch and John Mara have an obligation to fans of the New York Jets and New York Giants to put a winning football team on the field. We have an obligation to the people of New Jersey to promote economic development in Bergen County. We don’t tell the Jets whether to start Mark Sanchez or Tim Tebow and we do not need them to tell us how to jumpstart the economy in Bergen County and the region.

American Dream Meadowlands is prepared to put 9,000 construction workers on the job, turning this opportunity into a viable economic engine for the region. They are prepared to create 15,000 new permanent jobs. The only thing standing in their way are the two New York Teams with a misguided view of protecting their economic interests from perceived competition for entertainment dollars.

At a recent New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority hearing, Mara, representing both teams, worried that amusement attractions and a water park will impact his debt payments on Metlife Stadium. But investors are not worried. The teams just sold the naming rights to the fourth and final cornerstone entrance to their stadium. Would an astute business enterprise have made that deal with the teams if they felt somehow a water park would scare fans away from professional football games? Of course not.

Many fans bemoan the loss of the old Giant stadium and the imposition of personal seat licenses by the teams. The Jets and Giants rejected plans to upgrade the old facility at an estimated cost of $250 million. They choose to keep up with the Joneses – as in Jerry Jones in Dallas. They opted to build a new stadium that, with cost overruns, came in at $1.6 billion. That is their right. It is the American way.

They chose debt

Mara worries about debt on the stadium. But it is debt he and his partners chose to incur.

Let’s look behind the numbers. The NFL contributed a reported $300 million to the construction of the stadium. They gave the teams the opportunity to reap the financial reward of hosting the Super Bowl.

The New York Jets and New York Giants fans were hit with personal seat license fees that were geared to raise another $800 million. So how much debt do Johnson, Tisch and Mara really have? The public does not know. But we doubt we will need to throw a benefit for them anytime soon.

The New York teams tell us their fight against American Dream Meadowlands is all about traffic. We all would like to leave our homes, work sites and, yes, entertainment venues without encountering any traffic on our drive to our next destination. But this is New Jersey and traffic is a fact of life every day, not just when the teams are playing.

We are resourceful, we plan trips around traffic. You try to avoid major highway arteries during the holiday season. You don’t drive by the neighborhood school when the kids are being dropped off in the morning. You probably won’t choose to leave the water park and amusement area as a football game is concluding. And if you are at the game, you likely will come over to American Dream for a post-game meal or to visit the attractions while the traffic is dissipating.

A win-win for everyone

American Dream Meadowlands will complement, not complicate, life for the teams and their fans. If the teams, developers and Sports Authority work together to enhance the total game day experience for both patrons and fans, this will be a win-win for everyone.

And, most importantly, people – 9,000 construction workers and 15,000 people with permanent jobs, and all the ancillary jobs created – will go back to work in Bergen County.

A Step Forward – Even A Small Step Forward – Is Far Better Than Continuing Our Backwards Slide
October 25,2012
By Ian Linker

It is time for a modicum of pragmatism. Defeating Barack Obama will not be the end of a journey and it is not an end in itself. But it is a critical step. It is a critical step because an Obama reelection portends severe trouble for the United States and its economy and could – without much, if any, hyperbole – jeopardize our ability to function as a sovereign nation. Therefore, we must – quite simply – do what we can to defeat President Obama in this election.

Rather than supporting a third-party candidate, an idealist, who has virtually no chance of winning or standing on ceremony and not voting at all; thus, making an Obama win more likely, why not support the candidate who will lead us away from the abyss and has a bona fide chance to prevail. Even if a hypothetical third-party candidate had a chance at winning, however, he would likely not be able to govern effectively. Taking big steps often is neither practical nor possible in our political system. We effect real change in this country through baby steps.

Like it or not, America has a rigid two-party system. And the parties as currently configured have polar-opposite views on most of the big issues facing our nation. In such an environment, big steps – as much as many want them – may be impossible to achieve for two reasons. First, given the leftist proclivities of the mainstream media and the significant plurality of the American public that rely on the traditional media for its information, a principled idealist who wants everything or nothing would have virtually no chance to win a nationwide general election. Second, governing with anything other than a majority of like-minded Congressmen in the House and a cloture-proof majority in the Senate would be impossible for such a candidate to enact an agenda even if he or she could win an election.

Supporting Governor Romney, on the other hand, as difficult as it may be for some to do, is the only way to avoid a second Obama term – a mortifying proposition. But you should not fret. Governor Romney will ably lead us in the right direction – albeit in smaller steps than many would like – at a time, however, when we desperately need leadership.

So what will Governor Romney likely do? Romney will attempt to reform the tax code in a positive and revenue-neutral way, maybe not getting us to a flat tax or a Fair tax as some of us advocate for, but any simplification of the code that expands the tax base, brings down marginal rates, closes loopholes, reduces giveaways, and unleashes market forces to create growth and jobs is a good thing.

Romney also will work to reduce the size of government and cut government spending to rein in our trillion-dollar-plus deficit and reduce our $16-plus trillion debt to a manageable level. He also will repeal most, if not all, of the more insidious provisions of Obamacare. Moreover, Romney will not mandate cooperation on the American people as President Obama seeks to do. Perhaps Romney won’t balance the budget, solve the debt crisis in its entirety, or reduce the size and role of the federal government to its constitutional limits, but he will advance the ball in a meaningful way. And we desperately need to advance the ball.

Further, Romney will work to reverse or repeal some of the oppressive and deleterious regulations that hamper economic growth and kill jobs. If I was a betting man, which I am not, I would bet that Romney won’t eliminate all the infectious regulations that plague our economy, but he will begin the process. And it is an important process that must start somewhere.

The Judicial branch is another area on which a Romney presidency will certainly have a positive impact. Many federal judges appointed by President Obama, for instance, are judicial activists and results oriented, which means they legislate from the bench and do not have an uncompromising respect for the rule of law as we should demand from our jurists. A President Romney will nominate proven judges who strictly and faithfully interpret the Constitution and our other laws and uphold the rule of law.

With respect to foreign affairs, Mitt Romney will not obstinately snub his nose at the world acting unilaterally and without our allies’ support, despite what some Democrats would have us believe. Instead, as he explained in his last debate with President Obama he will lead by example and build coalitions of mutual opportunity with the nations of the world through leadership and shared interests, rather than through reliance on feckless multi-national organizations. The governor also will not travel the world apologizing and appeasing our rivals and adversaries. In short, a President Romney will be a welcome change in foreign policy.

Governor Romney will undoubtedly not take us to the proverbial Promised Land as quickly as some of us would like, if at all. But with baby steps, the rest of the American people may come to realize over time that we prosper with freedom, a limited federal government, and a judiciary that respects the rule of law. The bottom line: Governor Romney will move us away from the cliff that an Obama reelection could ensure we fly right off. At this point in our nation’s history, moving away from the precipice edge – even if we take baby steps away from it – is the only way to go.

Ian Linker is an attorney and former Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from New Jersey.

Analysis: Americans to face tougher 2013 on rising prices, taxes
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK | Thu Oct 25, 2012 7:25am EDT

(Reuters) – Consumers will have to dig deeper into their pockets next year to pay for costlier healthcare, more expensive grocery bills and higher taxes, an extra drag on the country’s already slow-moving economy.

The additional outlays look set to test the resilience of consumers, whose spending accounts for around two-thirds of the U.S. economy.

“We think it’s going to be a difficult six to nine months,” said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics for Moody’s Analytics. “If anything, conditions are likely to get worse, particularly at the start of the year.”

The strength of consumer spending has surprised some economists, given unemployment near 8 percent and anemic wage growth. Consumer spending has cushioned the blow to the United States from slower foreign demand for its goods.

U.S. households have shed about $880 billion in debt since the peak in the first quarter of 2008, according to Federal Reserve data. That has put many consumers on a path back to financial health.

But an expiration of payroll tax cuts in early January and a spike in food prices could wipe 0.8 percentage points off U.S. economic growth next year, according to some economists.

The economy is now expected to expand 2 percent in 2013, down from 2.1 percent in 2012, a Reuters poll showed.

Consumer groups are noting caution on the part of households when it comes to such things as taking on more debt, retirement savings and gasoline prices.

“People are very concerned about what is going to happen next year because they are already seeing price increases that are affecting their budgets,” said Bruce McClary, a spokesman for Clear Point, a nationwide credit counseling organization that helps consumers experiencing problems with debt.

https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/25/us-usa-economy-consumer-idUSBRE89O0LH20121025