Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood PD Patrol Officers Patrick Elwood and Douglas Christopher responded to multiple reports of bear sightings in residential areas surrounding the Valleau Cemetery and the Route 17 Park & Ride Facility on Monday morning, 06/05. Here, officers Elwood and Christopher arrive at a home on Albin Court, Ridgewood, where a bear was reportedly spotted in a back yard. Elwood is photographed loading a weapon with rubber bullets. Ho-Ho-Kus PD also received numerous calls from residents near the intersection of Race Track and Arbor Roads, Ho-Ho-Kus who spotted what is believed to be the same roving bear.
By Matt Arco | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Updated June 01, 2017
Posted June 01, 2017
Gov. Chris Christie once took a hard line when it comes to the way the state funds its public schools: Spend the same amount — $6,599 — per pupil in every district. He promised it would lower property taxes, but opponents say it would decimate urban schools that lean on the state for support.
His proposal, dubbed the “fairness formula,” was considered dead on arrival by the state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature, which is now squabbling over a new plan.
New Jersey funds its public schools through a formula passed in 2008 that determines how much each district needs to spend and considers each community’s ability to raise revenue through property taxes. More state aid goes to poorer districts.
New Jersey spends big on education, but Christie has regularly underfunded this formula for school aid by about $1 billion annually, forcing budget cuts and higher property taxes in some districts.
The school funding problem will pass on to the next governor in January. Here’s what the Republicans and Democrats seeking to succeed Christie would do.
Ridgewood NJ, NJ TRANSIT is joining with the National Safety Council and numerous other organizations across the country in recognizing National Safety Month during the month of June. Safety is the utmost priority for the corporation and NJ TRANSIT recognizes that collaboration between the agency and the public is necessary to effectively promote safe choices around the public transportation system.
“The safety of our customers and employees remains our top priority,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Steven H. Santoro. “That’s why we have been so focused on having Amtrak perform critical infrastructure repairs at Penn Station New York to ensure the reliability of the tracks, which serve as the foundation of safety for tens of thousands of customers each and every day.”
“We can use this month to be reminded of some simple ‘do’s and don’ts’ which will further promote a safe environment for our customers and our employees,” Santoro said.
“NJ TRANSIT is spreading the message of safety everywhere,’’ said Office of System Safety Chief Gardner Tabon. “National Safety Month is a time when we reinforce our face-to-face engagements, inform and educate employees, customers, motorists and others of safety protocols and risky behaviors by visiting them at selected work sites, by printing messages on pay stubs and by hanging posters in visible locations. These reminders promote the idea that we all share in the responsibility of staying safe.’’
Following are some important safety tips for everyone:
Rail and Light Rail Safety:
Never take a short cut along, around or across rail tracks.
Only cross railroad tracks in clearly-identified, designated areas where there are lights, signs and grade crossings.
Always stand behind the yellow safety line when waiting on the station platform.
Do not lean on train doors and stand clear as the doors open and close.
No running or playing on platforms or around tracks.
Listen to train personnel and watch your steps when boarding and exiting a train.
Bus Safety:
When waiting for and riding a bus:
Use designated crosswalks and sidewalks to reach the bus stop.
Never run after a bus; you may slip and fall, or may be struck by another vehicle.
Wait for the bus at designated stops and stand two to three feet from the curb.
Hold handrails while boarding the bus.
Stand behind the white line when the bus is in motion.
NJ TRANSIT will be increasing safety advertising and handouts onboard bus, rail and light rail vehicles. During the month, NJ TRANSIT will be hosting employee safety day events at various work sites to remind employees of the importance of safety protocols.
Point is they developers and friends would sell out any sane limitations on scale,building heights,
location ,appropriateness of type of business or residential multi family units as they jet out of here with the cash in hand.no less impact on school Registration cost of supporting rental and new owned condo families.
Garazilla 2 is the opening door to other developments after ken smith gets its free pass during summer at the shore VC sweetheart deal on developer possibly contributing to Traffic Light Costs w town exposed on the total cost overruns and traffic nightmare,Transit Village would do nothing positive for long paying average homeowners and excessive tax levies for schools and lack of consolidation of area towns services
The public is invited to attend the meeting, or watch it live on Fios channel 33, Optimum channel 77, or on the “Link in Live” tab of the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
Open. Public. Records. Act. Designed to shine a light on the individual agendas of elected officials such as yourself Mr. Voigt. Remember you are a public SERVANT meaning you work for us. Not the other way around. I have never regretted a vote in any election as much as I regret the one I cast for you.
A significant decline in the number of NJ high school graduates who will be seeking college degrees should be a major concern for the next governor and other leaders
Daryl G. Greer
New Jersey will experience about a 20 percent decline in the number of high school graduates through 2030, according to a recent report, “Knocking at the College Door,” by the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE.) That will mean a drop to 90,000 from a current high of about 111,000 graduates annually, and more of these students will be from lower- income families and less-prepared academically for college.
That has important economic consequences for colleges, students, businesses, and the state — which need to be considered, now.
Historically, 70 percent to 80 percent of New Jersey high school graduates enroll in college. Obviously, fewer students paying tuition places stress on colleges’ financial operations. This is especially true, because about 70 percent of public colleges’ revenue comes from student tuition and fees. Add to this increasing competition for New Jersey students from surrounding states, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Massachusetts, which also face declining enrollments. Pile on another dilemma in a no-growth environment: New Jersey already leads the nation as the number one net exporter of college-bound students. We lose about 30,000 students annually to other states. Regional competition for well-prepared New Jersey students who are able to pay for college will be at an all-time high. Not every university in the state can compete effectively for students in this environment.
Ridgewood NJ, With the primary this week and all the articles about the massive amounts of money being spent on New Jersey Political races the one thing we have noticed is no one seems to really be paying any attention. Perhaps it graduation month or the reality of New Jersey coming demise , the constant calls for cutting taxes and fixing school funding all of which ring hollow or just the fact that no matter who you vote for ;criminality is rampant, corruption is king ,the state is run by Unions and special interests ,taxes will go up and all the problems will get much worse .
The well funded state Democrats have all tried to out bid each other for who can get the biggest and best tax increase, protect illegals with free stuff, harbor and promote terrorism , chase out the last bit of “free enterprise” ,further deplete the tax base and pay off all their special interest supporters
While the Ridgewood blog is still unsure if the New Jersey GOP is actually trying win or not a couple of upstarts have caught our eye.
First a 31-year-old Indian-American entrepreneur Harsh Vardhan Singh entered the governor’s race with little political background and a promise to cut property taxes and make New Jersey a national technology leader. Singh seems to be getting his feet wet for further political ambition ,but he comes off a bit naive to New Jersey’s down and dirty political landscape . He is some to keep an eye on for the future.
So that leaves us Joseph Rudy Rullo. If you say who ,you obviously don’t use social media much. Rullo an actor and small business owner who has run an off beat campaign patterned after the Trump campaign.
He has waged a one man crusade against the New Jersey establishment . Even going as far as to channel Trump’s drain the swamp line and apply it to Trenton . Rullo has managed to get into screaming matches with political opponents, tap into New Jersey Trump voters anger, use social media very effectively and offer some common sense ideas to fix some on New Jersey’s most pressing issues.
In his own words ,”As Governor I will reduce property taxes, repeal the $.23 gas tax, dissolve the transportation SLUSH fund, Veto all tax increases, cut billions in political earmarked jobs and contracts, eliminate state income taxes on pensions for retirees and add 1 billion in new revenue sources to further lower taxes. I Will dissolve the Transportation Trust Fund and consolidate all highway authorities eliminating redundant high level management positions, eliminate high cost earmark & specialty contracts tied to contributors.. It will produce millions in savings with shared services and purchases.
I will eliminate tolls and repeal the gas tax with the savings from the new efficient transparent highway entity. I will also eliminate 1.3 billion in pension fees to NYC politically connected brokerage houses and replace with licensed brokers in the state investors division to pay towards pension payment.
Superintendents and business administrators need to be reduced drastically. Instead of having one superintendent and business administrator per school district, we need to cut the number to one per county. By consolidating superintendents & business administrators, we can save $50 million per year by eliminating superintendents alone. And will work to also eliminate municipal tax assessors to one per county. I will fire hundreds of high-salary patronage jobs like indicted Port Authority’s David Wildstein, as an example, saving hundreds of millions of dollars to cut taxes. ”
Rullo is : Pro life , Pro Second Amendment and supports marijuana legalization. He wants to make NJ Veterans a priority . On school funding and education he has a lot to say ,”The Abott school districts need to be held accountable for wasteful spending and all districts need to work together to reduce cost. This will reduce the impact of inevitable changes in funding formulas with state aid. After all school districts cut wasteful spending, we need to implement fair funding formulas for property tax relief. One example is all school districts can drastically reduce costs by combined purchasing power. Another example is drastically reducing the number of Superintendents and redundant assistant Superintendents. High cost business administrators should also be reduced.
Since the start of No Child Left Behind and continued under Race to the Top, NJ parents and students have been saddled with the Common Core Standards. Parents feel like they can’t help their children with their homework because it is something they have never learned before and the children are left floundering in schools with too many children and not enough teachers to explain things to them. The State then decided to force the PARCC (Partnership for Readiness for College and Careers) test on our children. This has resulted in schools and teachers focusing their teaching efforts, not on learning, but on test results. This is wrong and only hurts our children who deserve a comprehensive learning program not a regimen of tests.
As Governor I will end PARCC testing completely and direct the Department of Education to draw up new, independent education standards that will return NJ to the top of the best educated Students in the Country.
I support school choice and home schooling.
Students come out of High School and don’t know how to balance a checkbook, write a resume or know anything about personal credit. Common Core needs to become Common Sense. Teachers need to be allowed to teach and not recite facts mandated from Washington, or some Corporation making money from our tax dollars. We need to provide better opportunities for students who decide to enter the workforce directly from high school with expanded vocational schools. The future of New Jersey depends on it! ”
On illegal immigration Rullo says the “police are overburdened with hands virtually tied because NJ is a sanctuary state. Out of state license plates and DMV fraud are the law of the land. As Governor I will implement E- Verify for all employees working in New Jersey and work with President Donald Trump to eliminate sanctuary cities across NJ. Everyone must follow the same rules in business and follow the law. Our veterans will of NJ will be first priority in NJ hospitals not illegal immigrants.”
On the Heroin epidemic Rullo wants stricter sentencing for drug dealers , “to make it a living hell for heroin dealers in NJ. With that being said they should be charged for attempt of murder for distribution and automatic manslaughter if someone dies from their distribution. ”
Rullo suports Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi efforts on Forced Overdevelopment in Bergen County, and is the one candidate for that has promised to dissolve COAH altogether while other candidates have only spoken in vague generalities or ignored the subject all together.
And finally the pervasive pension mess, Rullo says Eliminate 700 million in pension fees to NYC politically connected brokerage houses and replace with licensed brokers in the state investors division to pay savings towards pension payment. The pension fees went from 125M to 700M per year in the last 7 years.
*Open up state employee health insurance bids across America to create competition to lower premiums and get better coverage for employees.
* Dedicate a portion of recreational marijuana revenues to pay towards pension payment.
* Open up a formal investigation and audit the pension fund for the last several decades to hold politicians in both parties accountable for their actions.
Ridgewood NJ, Councilmen Voigt continues his attack of Village residents over the weekend with more posts on who is making legal OPRA requests .Voigt and his cronies on the Financial Advisory Committee clearly prefer to operate in a vale of secrecy .
While this is clearly an attempt to pressure residents , from exercising their legal rights and limit and restrict public access to information in the Village .
Councilmen Voigt continues to attempt to squash OPRA requests by pushing the idea of a vast Mayoral conspiracy against him. However years of running this blog would suggest that sunlight is still the best political sanitizer.
So what is OPRA:
SECTION 1 – OPRA DEFINED What is the Open Public Records Act (OPRA)? OPRA is the State statute that replaces the old “Right to Know Law” which governs thepublic’s access to government records in New Jersey. The law is compiled in the statutes as N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
In accordance with the Open Public Records Act, Village offices, officials and departments have to make available public records through formal requests. Requests may be submitted in writing by submitting a “records request form” by completing the online form below.
According to the Citizen’s Guide to the Open Public Records Act – State of New Jersey ; OPRA provides overriding public policies in the legislative findings (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1) which must be considered during the handling of all OPRA requests for access to government records. Those public policies are:
Government records must be readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination by its citizens, with certain exceptions, for the protection of the public interest.
Any limitations on the right of access to government records must be interpreted in favor of the public’s right of access.
A public agency has a responsibility and an obligation to protect a citizen’s personal information that is in the possession of a public agency when disclosure of that information would violate the citizen’s reasonable expectation of privacy.”
In fact, in Burnett v. County of Bergen, 198 N.J. 408 (2009), the Court held without ambiguity, that the privacy provision “is neither a preface nor a preamble.” Rather, “the very language expressed in the privacy clause reveals its substantive nature; it does not offer reasons why OPRA was adopted, as preambles typically do; instead, it focuses on the law’s implementation.” “Specifically, it imposes an obligation on public agencies to protect against disclosure of personal information which would run contrary to reasonable privacy interests.”
If you want to exercise your legal right to access records under the Open Public Records Act this is how you do it in Ridgewood :
How to Request Government Records?
1. All government records are subject to public access under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), unless specifically exempt.
2. A request for access to a government record under OPRA must be in writing, hand-delivered, mailed, transmitted electronically, or otherwise conveyed to the appropriate custodian. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.g. The seven (7) business day response time does not commence until the records custodian receives the request form. If you submit the request form to any other officer or employee of the Village of Ridgewood, that officer or employee must either forward the request to the appropriate custodian, or direct you to the appropriate custodian. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.h.
3. Requestors may submit requests anonymously. If you elect not to provide a name, address, or telephone number, or other means of contact, the custodian is not required to respond until you reappear before the custodian seeking a response to the original request.
4. The fees for duplication of a government record in printed form are listed on the front of this form. We will notify you of any special service charges or other additional charges authorized by State law or regulation before processing your request. Payment shall be made by cash, check or money order payable to the Village of Ridgewood.
5. You may be charged a 50% or other deposit when a request for copies exceeds $25. The Village of Ridgewood custodian will contact you and advise you of any deposit requirements. You agree to pay the balance due upon delivery of the records. Anonymous requests in excess of $5.00 require a deposit of 100% of estimated fees.
6. Under OPRA, a custodian must deny access to a person who has been convicted of an indictable offense in New Jersey, any other state, or the United States, and who is seeking government records containing personal information pertaining to the person’s victim or the victim’s family. This includes anonymous requests for said information.
7. By law, the Village of Ridgewood must notify you that it grants or denies a request for access to government records within seven (7) business days after the agency custodian of records receives the request. If the record requested is not currently available or is in storage, the custodian will advise you within seven (7) business days after receipt of the request when the record can be made available and the estimated cost for reproduction.
8. You may be denied access to a government record if your request would substantially disrupt agency operations and the custodian is unable to reach a reasonable solution with you.
9. If the Village of Ridgewood is unable to comply with your request for access to a government record, the custodian will indicate the reasons for denial on the request form or other written correspondence and send you a signed and dated copy.
10. Except as otherwise provided by law or by agreement with the requester, if the agency custodian of records fails to respond to you within seven (7) business days of receiving a request, the failure to respond is a deemed denial of your request.
11. If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by the Village of Ridgewood to deny access. At your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the Government Records Council (“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at PO Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [email protected], or at their web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can also answer other questions about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.
12. Information provided on this form may be subject to disclosure under the Open Public Records Act.
Ridgewood Nj, so it was opening day at Graydon 2017 and it could have been a bit warmer, but otherwise an almost picture perfect opening day.
While many fought the traffic on the Garden State Parkway , worried about e.coli on the beaches , fights at bars, Uber issues , sharks ,parking and beach fees Ridgewood residents got their first taste of summer 2017 closer to home.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood PD, FD, and Emergency Services personnel responded to a “tree into house” incident at 58 Phelps Road, Ridgewood on Saturday morning, 06/03. No injuries were reported; all occupants of the home safely evacuated prior to the arrival of PD & FD personnel. Damage to the single family home was assessed as light to moderate. Electric service to at least two (2) homes in the area was interrupted.
Ridgewood NJ, Renowned artist Kenn Backhaus will be giving a nocturne demonstration following our Annual Members Meeting on Sunday, June 11th at 2pm.
“The Evocative Light of the Night”
Kenn has always stated that, “everything under the sun and moon is fair game” when it applies to the creative arts.
Kenn will lecture on and show through a demonstrating examining the principals of the nocturne subject.
For decades artists have been enthralled by the effects of the evening light upon the landscape. Understanding that color usually becomes a minimal consideration in a nocturne, the explanation of the importance of developing a strong design pattern within the composition is critical.
Kenn will explain that your creativity is revealed through your own experiences and the use of your knowledge comes the developed skill to create something that may not be revealed in your reference. He will use a reference of a day lite subject and convert the effect to a nocturne atmosphere. Click Here for more information
Ridgewood Art Institute
12 East Glen Avenue
Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
Ridgewood NJ, Tickets are available on community pass for the 4th annual Michael Feeney’s Best Day Ever event June 10th 2017 from 10am to 3pm at BF Middle School. Proceeds to Benefit Tackle Kids for Cancer, Go 4 the Goal, JDRF and the Ridgewood Jr.Police Academy. It’s a great day of family fun for a good cause.
To Michael, everything was a “the best ever”…Come celebrate this brave young man at the 4th Annual Michael Feeney’s BEST DAY EVER! Saturday, June 10th at Ben Franklin Middle School Field – Zip Line, Color run @ 10am, Canrival Games, Face Paintiing, Food & Drink, Dunk Tank, BDE Band Fest, DJ , and more….
“Glen Rock Makes the List of 19 hottest real estate markets in N.J.”
https://theridgewoodblog.net/glen-rock-makes-the-list-of-19-hottest-real-estate-markets-in-n-j/
Quote : A common thread? Trains The most easily identifiable trend among NJ’s hottest towns is clear — access to transit. Each of the towns are within minutes of an NJ Transit station, which despite the transit service’s recent woes, remains a tremendous draw for prospective home buyers.
Developers in RIDGEWOOD are trying to crack the safe in RIDGEWOOD, With build sell cut and run tactics leaving behind Traffic,Garagezillas, Water and service impacts to Homeowners.wake up property owners
Ridgewood NJ, A three (3) vehicle Friday evening, 06/02, crash on Route 17 northbound in Ridgewood caused injuries requiring ambulance transport to one (1) of the drivers. One (1) of the cars involved had an operating dash camera, the output of which was reviewed by investigating officers. A flatbed tow truck was called to remove a 4-door Ford Fusion, which wound up off the highway facing the opposite direction. Ridgewood PD and EMS responded. Traffic on Route 17 northbound was temporarily slowed while emergency responders worked at the scene.
