>West Bergen Supportive Housing, 234 S. Broad Street
The Site and Elevation Plans of the West Bergen Mental Healthcare Supportive Housing are available for informational purposes.
To view the original documents, please call the Building Department to make an appointment; Monday – Friday; 8:30AM – 4:30PM at 201/670-5500 x214 or email the Construction Official at [email protected]
>Will your tax bill skyrocket on Jan. 1?
Federal taxes will explode on Jan. 1. Unless Congress acts, people in the lowest bracket face a 50 percent increase. Top earners would owe tens of thousands more than they did this year. (Jackson, The Record)
https://www.northjersey.com/news/100209794_Will_your_tax_bill_skyrocket_on_Jan__1_.html
>Pizza Poll Continues to Raise Eyebrows
Right off the bat I will say that I have an interest in the outcome of the poll.
I have watched it carefully over the past weeks and noticed that there has been very little activity in the past ten days. It seems to me that there is an inordinate amount of votes given to Pizza fusion and upon investigation I saw that it was posted on its web page(a national thing) urging customers to vote. See pizza fusion face book.
Since your pole appears on the Ridgewood Blog I assumed it would be limited to local residents who would be given the opportunity to voice their opinions. I also noticed that one morning between the hours of 6:30 AM and 10:00 AM they received over 60 votes which seems quite extraordinary to me.
Obviously there is tampering going on and to post these results as authentic would be an insult to any of the participants who don’t indulge in such practices or don’t have the where with all to do so.
There is no doubt in my mind as to who make the best pizza in Ridgewood.
Our customer base speaks volumes.
Maybe they should trade in the funny looking car for some lessons on how to make real pizza…
Carlo
>Readers Continue to Question Pizza Poll
How is it that i am able to vote 5 times in a row just by logging off on back on again.This poll is nothing short of a sham.
Also pizza fusion is a national chain and its on their national website urging customers ( from everywhere in the nation to vote) How can somone from outside the state be allowed to vote.
The days left are constantly being reset to eight. oh, and there was already a declared winner, then it was taken away due to voting problems.
looks like it has not been fixed. you should do the right thing and remove it completely. please reply with an answer to these issues
>Ridgewood Country Club gearing up for The Barclays
Monday, August 9, 2010
BY ANDY VASQUEZ
The Record
STAFF WRITER
https://www.northjersey.com/sports/pro_sports/other_sports/100242174_More_than_just_golf.html
PARAMUS – It has been nearly two years since the roars shook the ground near the 18th green at Ridgewood Country Club, and sent echoes reverberating through the trees and across the hills.
The 2008 edition of The Barclays at Ridgewood Country Club was a dazzling success by all accounts, capped off by the dramatic and noise-inducing playoff duel between Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh.
Now, with the tournament fewer than three weeks away (Aug. 26-29), The Barclays at Ridgewood is hoping for an even better performance for an encore.
more:
https://www.northjersey.com/sports/pro_sports/other_sports/100242174_More_than_just_golf.html
>Anonymity is a privilege
So why anonymity? First anonymity is the great equalizer whether you are a distinguished citizen or or just your basic Joe six pack anonymity gives everyone the chance to be heard and judged on the content and value of what they say and not who they are . Anonymity like voting in a voting both gives everyone the ability to voice their opinion without the fear of retribution.
Our view is that people ,politicians or institutions that malign anonymity are simply trying to get over , and squelch free speech end of story. It is very obvious when someone clueless or has an axe to grind like the village supported floggers posts a comment. Remember that sticks and stones may break our bones but names will never hurt us. If you don’t want people to complain either move to Cuba or find a more suitable vocation other than politics. Historically decent is a sign of open healthy society.
However anonymity is a privilege ,and we intend to preserve that privilege .Like so many things now a days it is very important to guard it, protect it , use it wisely and responsibly . Remember as a policy this blog allows every poster to decide for themselves weather they wish to remain anonymous or not .Those of you who attempt to skirt these guidelines may find your comments are blocked as SPAM.
As a reminder It is also important to note that all IP addresses are recorded . The policy is to not out the posters ,but it does happen from time to time. In a case where we would be asked by law enforcement to turn over an IP we would, there is no attorney client privilege or protecting of sources like in traditional journalism. Again legitimate law enforcement issues such as dealing with “threats” are not to be confused with anyone attempting to silence people,which is never going to happen.
The days of rampant unbridled criminality in State of New Jersey are rapidly nearing a close . The Ridgewood blog suggest that it is perhaps time to start listening to constituents and begin to abandon the “we know better than you mantra” before a desperate state treasury begins to search for monies that have been misappropriated ,ill spent ,wasted ,ill advised and other wise foolishly squandered.
PJ Blogger
>
>Cigarette Sales Drop Points to $12 Billion Tobacco Bond Defaults
By Michael Quint – Aug 6, 2010
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-06/cigarette-sales-decline-points-to-tobacco-bond-defaults-sims-report-says.html
Declining cigarette sales and disputes over how much tobacco companies owe to U.S. states may cause more than $12 billion of defaults on related bonds issued by California, New York City, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia.
Defaults on securities that are backed only by the tobacco- company payments and were issued in 2006 and 2007 “could start occurring as early as 2030,” according a report by Richard Larkin, a senior vice-president at Herbert J. Sims & Co.
Payments in April by tobacco companies, owed under a 1997 settlement of state lawsuits claiming damages for health-care costs, fell 16 percent, according to the National Association of Attorneys General. Much of that decline stems from a 9 percent slide in cigarette sales last year, more than twice the 4 percent drop assumed in some bond sales, said Larkin, who is based in Iselin, New Jersey.
Tobacco bond defaults of $12 billion would be almost four times the $3 billion of bonds that Jefferson County, Alabama’s sewer authority defaulted on. Municipal issuers failed to pay on about $6.9 billion of bonds last year, according to the Distressed Debt Securities newsletter.
State and federal tax increases have helped push cigarette sales lower than were projected when the securities were issued. New York State raised its cigarette tax by $1.60 a pack last month, lifting the average price to about $10.80 in New York City and $8.92 in other parts of the state, according to Erik Kriss, a state Budget Division spokesman.
more:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-06/cigarette-sales-decline-points-to-tobacco-bond-defaults-sims-report-says.html
>Seeking Residents to Volunteer to Serve on the Planning Board
The Village Council is looking for residents who are interested in volunteering to serve as an Alternate Member for the Planning Board.
The Planning Board reviews site plans and subdivision applications; prepares, adopts, and amends the Master Plan; and makes recommendations to the Village Council regarding amendments to developmental regulations and the official map.
All interested residents should fill out a Citizen Volunteer Leadership form (found on the Village website, www.ridgewoodnj.net, under “Forms”), and send it along with a cover letter, and a biography or resume to:
Heather Mailander
Village Clerk
Village of Ridgewood
131 North Maple Ave.
Ridgewood, NJ 07451
Deadline for submission is August 27, 2010
>The opposition to Valley started as an argument about the impact on the property values of Valley’ neighbors. That group (the neighboring homeowners) then masterfully played on the emotions, fears, and paranoia of the Travell and BF parents to create broader opposition and paint Valley as the “evil Empire”.
The reality is that no kids were injured the last time Valley expanded in the 1980s. Dozens of current Ridgewood homeowners attended BF at the time, including some of my neighbors, and I have never heard anyone mention any way that that construction adversely impacted their education or that of their brothers and sisters. None have ever mentioned any long-term health problems related to dust from the last expansion. You must keep in mind that Valley will have a hospital full of patients while the expansion is occurring. They will have to mitigate dust and asbestos out of their own self-interest in order to not harm those patients and provoke litigation.
The traffic argument is lame. 90% of the traffic on Linwood has nothing to do with Valley. The expansion adds no additional rooms. The only additional traffic will be from additional outpatient business, which may increase traffic by 3-5%. Not a big deal. The Van Dien intersection will get expanded, but Valley already owns a couple of the homes involved.
I also am tired of the argument that an expansion of Valley will result in Ridgewood declining and turning into Hackensack or Engelwood. Hackensack hasn’t neen an upscale town for over 50 years, and has always been far more industrial than Ridgewood. The homes around Valley are zoned residential. You couldn’t turn one into a medical building if you wanted to.
I am a Travell parent, live within a few blocks of the hospital, and am in favor of Valley’s expansion. I think that the weak state of the downtown business district, our ridiculously high property taxes, and the current fiscal situation of the town and school system are much more important issues in Ridgewood.
>
Get a $100 Statement Credit Just for Traveling
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On-the-spot foreign currency exchange
*CATB is available only to accounts in good standing and only once per calendar year regardless of the number of qualifying vacations booked or the number of Additional Cards on the account. For complete Terms & Conditions, ask your Travel Center / American Express travel professional.
>State Pensions: Given how wrong past pension projections were, who should pay to fill the 13-figure financing gap?
August 6, 2010
Battle Looms Over Huge Costs of Public Pensions
By RON LIEBER
There’s a class war coming to the world of government pensions.
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/your-money/07money.html?_r=1
The haves are retirees who were once state or municipal workers. Their seemingly guaranteed and ever-escalating monthly pension benefits are breaking budgets nationwide.
The have-nots are taxpayers who don’t have generous pensions. Their 401(k)s or individual retirement accounts have taken a real beating in recent years and are not guaranteed. And soon, many of those people will be paying higher taxes or getting fewer state services as their states put more money aside to cover those pension checks.
At stake is at least $1 trillion. That’s trillion, with a “t,” as in titanic and terrifying.
The figure comes from a study by the Pew Center on the States that came out in February. Pew estimated a $1 trillion gap as of fiscal 2008 between what states had promised workers in the way of retiree pension, health care and other benefits and the money they currently had to pay for it all. And some economists say that Pew is too conservative and the problem is two or three times as large.
So a question of extraordinary financial, political, legal and moral complexity emerges, something that every one of us will be taking into town meetings and voting booths for years to come: Given how wrong past pension projections were, who should pay to fill the 13-figure financing gap?
Consider what’s going on in Colorado — and what is likely to unfold in other states and municipalities around the country.
Earlier this year, in an act of rare political courage, a bipartisan coalition of state legislators passed a pension overhaul bill. Among other things, the bill reduced the raise that people who are already retired get in their pension checks each year.
This sort of thing just isn’t done. States have asked current workers to contribute more, tweaked the formula for future hires or banned them from the pension plan altogether. But this was apparently the first time that state legislators had forced current retirees to share the pain.
Sharing the burden seems to be the obvious solution so we don’t continue to kick the problem into the future. “We have to take this on, if there is any way of bringing fiscal sanity to our children,” said former Gov. Richard Lamm of Colorado, a Democrat. “The New Deal is demographically obsolete. You can’t fund the dream of the 1960s on the economy of 2010.”
MORE:
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/your-money/07money.html?_r=1&hp
>Will the GOP Storm the Statehouses?
More than half of Americans are likely to have a new chief executive for their state come November
It must have been gloomy for Democrats when the nation’s governors met last month in Boston for their annual summer get-together. The reason: If congressional races look bad for Democrats, the 37 gubernatorial contests are even worse.
A quick survey of the political landscape shows six of the seven Democratic governors running for re-election are polling under 50% and in danger of losing, while all six GOP incumbents seeking re-election are expected to win. In the 24 open gubernatorial contests, Republicans lead in 15 and are tied in three others.
More than half of Americans are likely to have a new chief executive for their state come November. Democrats are burdened by President Barack Obama’s low approval ratings and, in some open races, by widespread public dissatisfaction with the state’s retiring Democratic incumbent.
more:
https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704017904575409334019412788.html
>New Jersey fiscial crisis : Assembly committee to discuss $10.5B budget deficit
N.J. Assembly committee to discuss $10.5B budget deficit
This time last year Chris Christie said the Democratic governor should drop out of the 2009 election in shame because he allowed the state to rack up an $8 billion deficit.
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/nj_assembly_committee_to_discu_1.html
>Colony Capital is expected to give up the $2 billion Xanadu project in New Jersey
Developers to Pass Xanadu Project On to Creditors
A group led by Colony Capital is expected to give up the $2 billion Xanadu project in New Jersey to its creditors in the collapse of one of the most high-profile retail developments of the real-estate boom, according to people familiar with the matter. (Pruitt, Wei, WSJ)
https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703748904575412002911389406.html
