>Ridgewood Sports: LAX Parents claim Coach Pounds punished the team by losing on purpose
Many RHS lax parents angry at coach Pounds. #6 Ridgewood played the #11 team in the states and lost. The coach refused to start his senior goalie (would not give a reason). He passed over all the other goalies in the program and started his inexperienced freshman son – IN THE STATE PLAYOFF!!! We were missing 3 sophomores but in this game it would not have mattered. It was easily winnable.
The opponent scored 6 times on 8 attempts. A freshman on the West Windsor team scored his first goal of the year. In an interview on the Ridgewood Patch the player from West Windsor said “Luckily, the ball went through the keeper’s legs, but I’ll take it anyway…. It’s a great feeling.”
Pounds was unhappy with the team all year and was looking to end the season. He shamed himself in an attempt to punish the team. Many seniors did not even get to play in the last game.
When you go to a game you should play to win. We have a loser for a coach and RHS deserves better. Tell the wellness director to place the “help wanted” ad. We need a leader for a coach.
More bad news for the state and the Christie administration. Income tax collections in April were more than $550 million below even Gov. Christie’s expectations. And apparently they haven’t recovered in May. Residents in 12 counties got an automatic income deadline extension until May 11 because of storms and floods. (Ingle, Gannett)
Free Demonstration and Tasting, Monday, June 7th at 6:30 p.m. Wine Tasting Dinner, Tuesday, June 15th at 7:00 p.m.
Continuing its series of educational food demonstrations and events, A Mano Neapolitan trattoria in Ridgewood, NJ will be hosting two events in June and will be incorporating New Jersey’s Alba Vineyards wines into both events.
The first event will be a free demo and tasting, “Neapolitan Pizza, Pasta and Techniques with a Twist” and will be held on Monday, June 7th at 6:30 p.m. Reservations for the demo are required and can be made by calling A Mano at (201)493-2000. A Mano’s co-owner Fred Mortati will lead this free demonstration and tasting with help from the trattoria’s specially trained pizzaioli (pizza chefs) and an Alba Vineyards wine specialist, who will conduct a tasting. A step-by-step event, Mr. Mortati and staff will cover all aspects of the Neapolitan pizza and pasta making processes, including the creation of dough, sauce and mozzarella. In addition to these basics they will debut the techniques used to make one of their newest offerings, a pizza with sautéed spinach-infused dough.
The second event, “A Mano’s Alba Vineyards Wine Tasting Dinner” will be held on Tuesday, June 15th at 7:00 p.m. Attendees will be served a five-course meal including a fresh mozzarella pinwheel appetizer, seafood salad, homemade lasagna with bolognese, tartufo pizza with truffles and porcini, and espresso or strawberry tiramisu, each course paired with a different Alba wine. The wine selections were specially chosen by the A Mano chefs and the Alba Vineyards sommelier to compliment and reflect the character of the menu. Reservations are required and the cost per attendee is $35 (not including tax and gratuity). A Mano co-owner Fred Mortati and restaurant manager Greg Stott will be on hand to walk attendees through the menu and the pairings choices. Reservations can be made by calling (201)493-2000.
Patrons who do not wish to attend the demonstration on June 7th or the wine tasting dinner can visit the restaurant between 11:30am and 11:00pm for regular service.
On May 1, a new law goes into effect in New Jersey that requires provisional drivers under 21 to put a red sticker on their license plate. The law, nicknamed Kyleigh’s Law, after Kyleigh D’Alessio who died in a car accident in 2006, is purported to make it easier for the police to enforce graduated driver’s license provisions on new drivers. The law is designed to give the police probable cause to pull over vehicles displaying the red sticker. The law also includes changes to New Jersey’s already fairly strict requirements for young people with provisional driver’s licenses, stopping individuals under 21 from driving past 11 pm instead of midnight and stopping drivers from using all cell phones (whether hands free or not). This law also increases restrictions on the passengers a young driver can have in the car. This is the first state in the country to attempt to require new, young drivers to display a special tag or notice on their car identifying them as such.
This law raises a number of important questions, some of which are rather unsettling. First of all, why are only new drivers under 21 required to display this sticker? No evidence exists that shows new drivers over 21 are safer than other new drivers. If this law were about safety then surely all new drivers should have the same restrictions and have the same red sticker on the back of their car. Proponents of this law cite Canada which has a similar identification for new drivers, but their law applies to all new drivers, not just new drivers under 21. The law is similar in Europe where new drivers, of any age, have to display some special marking. There is zero justification for singling out new, young drivers. None.
The plan was for the sticker to put a bullseye on the back of young people’s cars making them easier to pull over. The unsettling question we need to ask, is who else out there would like to easily identify young people driving alone? Our mind can conjure up many stalkers, criminals and sexual predators who could use this marking system to their advantage. Do we really want to put such a target on the cars of our youth?
New Jersey attorney, Gregg Trautmann, filed suit against the law hoping to stop it going into effect due to its safety concerns. His case lost the first round but he is working on an appeal.
Such concerns aren’t unjustified fears, in the 90’s a law in Florida requiring rental cars to display stickers identifying them as rentals led to the murders of nine people in the state. Criminals used those stickers to identify tourists who were often unsure of their surroundings and ran them off the road with the intent to rob them, or worse.
Because of concerns over the dangerous and discriminatory implications of this law it has attracted a storm of criticism before it has even gone on the books. Nearly 30,000 have joined a group called “NJ Teens Against “Kyleigh’s Law” Teen Driving Restrictions” and over 9,000 members have joined a Facebook group named “Kyleigh’s Law lets creepers know I’m young and alone.” Thousands more have joined one of the other 14 Facebook pages created to oppose this law. The members of many threaten non-compliance with this law. The comment sections of news websites are overwhelmed with passionate comments of young people and parents upset over this law.
Lawmakers are starting to take notice. Assemblymen Robert Schroeder and Michael Patrick Carroll are already planning to introduce legislation to repeal the law. Carroll, who initially voted for the law, hadn’t considered the law’s negative implications for the safety of youth. He now is working to oppose it and has been impressed with the public outcry against it.
My organization, the National Youth Rights Association, is calling upon all drivers over 21 in New Jersey to voluntarily put a red sticker on their license plate as a sign of solidarity with all the individuals under 21. Some have described our efforts as “sabotage” but we see it as showing support and solidarity with young people who have been singled out in such an egregious manner. Letting them know they aren’t alone and that people of all ages oppose this law. That’s the point of it. If, however, it causes some sexual predator to think twice before following a car with a red sticker on it, then all the better.
This scarlet letter sticker is the most striking and unique part of this law, but there are questions about its other provisions as well. The law bans provisional license holders under 21 from using a cell phone entirely, no matter if they are talking, texting, or using a hands-free device. Obviously the last thing New Jersey wants a young girl to do after a creepy van spots the sticker and starts following her is to call for help.
>Goodwin combats Republican footsoldier designation by going after decal law
Every issue goes into the arena here in a special election in the 14th District, and the one that state Sen. Tom Goodwin (R-Hamilton) grabbed hold of enabled him today to surround himself with worried parents and children. Intent on repealing a law requiring red decals on the cars of underage drivers, Goodwin stood in the rain of his hometown with supporters and focused populist outrage at the same Statehouse that gave birth to the law. (Pizarro, PolitickerNJ)
>Ingle: How do you spell hypocrisy with four letters?
Did someone declare it Hypocrisy Week in Trenton? Observers got a double dose of watching what the insiders do as opposed to what they say, a real-time display of the two-faced deceit inherent in Jersey politics. The NJEA, the teachers union, falls back on “it’s for the children” whenever it can’t otherwise justify its push to bankrupt the taxpayers (Ingle, Gannett)
Ron Emrich, Preservation NJ director, said in Trenton, “The endangered historic sites program spotlights irreplaceable historic, architectural, cultural and archeological resources in New Jersey that are in imminent danger of being lost. The act of listing these resources acknowledges their importance to the heritage of New Jersey and draws attention to the predicaments that endanger their survival and the survival of all historic resources throughout our state.
“The list aims to attract new perspectives and ideas to sites in desperate need of creative solutions,” Emrich said. “Several challenges face properties included on this year’s endangered sites list, including neglect and deferred maintenance, weak or non-existent local preservation ordinances, and simple misinformation.
“But on this year’s list, the effects of an extraordinarily challenging economy are particularly evident: a dearth of funds, a lack of historically-sensitive and financially-capable buyers, and taxed municipal budgets are just a few of the difficult issues with which not only those sites on this year’s list, but historic properties throughout New Jersey, are currently grappling.”
Graydon Pool at Graydon Park at Linwood and Maple Avenues, Ridgewood, Bergen County — A natural municipal swimming pool threatened with demolition and replacement.
>At BF Middle School tonight starting at 7:30pm will be the LAST chance for the public to comment on the proposed H-Zone Master Plan amendment. While the revised amendment contains greater setbacks and puts 60% of the parking underground, the proposal still would grant the hospital the right to double its current size to 1,170,000 sq. ft. (up from 530,000) with buildings that will appear to be 7 storeys tall, located only 60 ft from Steilen Ave homes and 40 feet from the boundary of BF. The proposal would also result in 6.5 years of continuous construction just for phase one.
There is an alternative to the current proposal that would allow Valley modernize and save the neighborhood – but this is NOT the current proposal. Please come to the meeting tonight and tell the Planning Board that they need to listen to the “will of the people” and change the proposal. Even if you feel you cannot speak, please attend and support your neighbors.
The Star-LedgerVoting at the St. Cloud Elementary School in West Orange. Half of the 1,800 New Jersey public school teachers who earned more than $100,000 per year for the 2008-09 school year worked in schools in Bergen and Passaic counties, according to a report on NorthJersey.com The report said Passaic had 115 teachers with salaries above $100,000, the largest number within one district in the state. Other towns with teachers making more than $100,000 annually included Hackensack, 98, Teaneck, 93, Wayne 81, and Ridgewood, 71.
The median pay for all teachers in the state was $57,467, while in Bergen County it was $61,096 in Passaic County is was $56,350.
>Gov. Christie takes his tax cap plan to the people New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie is taking his plan to stem the nation’s highest property tax to the people. And he started on Monday in an unusual place: Corzine country. The Republican governor held his first town hall meeting in Hoboken … home of former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine … to talk about his push for a 2.5 percent limit on property tax increases that would require voter approval to exceed. A majority of the 40,000 people living in the 1-square-mile city, where Corzine has a waterfront condo, supported the former governor during the election. (AP)
Ridgewood Education Foundation Contact 201-670-2700 ext 10562 Rebecca Taylor Silbernagel “The Ridgewood Education Foundation is pleased to announce its First Annual Community Dog Show! Taking place on Sunday, May 23 2010, in the parking lot of Ridgewood High School, (627 East Ridgewood Avenue), the event promises to be a waggin’ good time for critters of both the 2-legged and 4-legged variety! We will be having several doggy contests, demonstrations by the Sheriff’s K-9 unit, pet psychics and behaviorists, and lots more fun. Local vendors will be offering their wares, and our sponsor, Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital will be holding free grooming sessions. You may also participate in our “King or Queen” of the day, and have your pooch named “Top Dog”. (Follow the link below for further information!) Dog-themed art work by our students will be on display all day. Register your dog today by visiting our site. https://www.ridgewoodedfoundation.org/dogshow/ See you there! WOOF”
The Mission of the Ridgewood Education Foundation is to enhance the quality of education in the Ridgewood Public Schools. Since 1989 the Foundation has awarded more than $400,000 in grants for special projects created by forward thinking teachers, parents, students and alumni(ae). We were able to do this, thanks to the generous sunspot of our members and other friends. Whether it is through these Classroom Grants, Alumni Teacher Development Fund Grants, the Arts Fund, or other programs, our objective is to sunspot the quality of education in the Village’s schools in whatever way we can. The Foundation receives no government funding and is solely sponsored by its members. The Ridgewood Education Foundation is an IRC § 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. All contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. For more information visit our website https://www.ridgewoodedfoundation.org/
>I hope the Village Council will respect the voice of the voters and cut the Education budget. I just read an article in The Ridgewood News and it sounds like they are considering leaving the budget as is. What’s the point of voting? They need to cut the budget, and I don’t mean a token 1/10th of one percent like Jane Reilly either.
There are still cuts that can be made to administration staff and salaries that don’t directly affect students or teachers…..starting with the Office of Curriculum which is seriously overstaffed and undereffective. In my opinion the BOE has done a terrible job over the past 10 years. The Superintendent’s position has been a revolving door for many, many years. My child effectively went through 4 years of high school with no leadership in this critical position.
The BOE contracted and paid for consultants to advise them in this search, another waste of money. Their failure to negotiate with the teacher’s union (unlike Glen Rock and Wyckoff) is a disgrace. They are amateurs. The BOE representatives who have been serving for 15+ years are doing no service to the community and I would love to see term limits imposed. Some people get in, they never leave, and incumbents historically never lose, no matter what.
The community has spoken. They are sick of wasteful spending and weak decisions. If the Village Council does not respect this vote then I’m not even bothering to vote in Ridgewood ever again. It’s not for them to “interpret” the meaning of the vote. “No” means “no. Period.
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