Reader says Village should offer an alligator amnesty program for residents who wish to get rid of these illegal, exotic pets?
Ridgewood NJ, Village and Wildlife officials in Bergen County believe an alligator found swimming in the Passaic River Wednesday may have been someone’s pet that was released into the wild.
The alligator discovery is now raising concerns about how the owners obtained it in the first place and where it will go.
In New Jersey alligators are classified as a “potentially dangerous species,” which means only highly trained expert should be handling them . A source at the Village Hall said , “keeping Graydon gator free is a top Village priority “.
Ridgewood NJ, Come enjoy beautiful music and art in downtown Ridgewood, NJ tomorrow, July 10, 2015. The Ridgewood Guild is coupling its weekly summer program, Music In the Night, with the first ever Art in the Park.This will be located in Van Neste Square Memorial Park. Visual artists will be present with their work on display and for sale.
The musical feature at the park will be Take 4, a trio fronted by James Mabli.
Around town, you can catch the following musical artists at these fine restaurants:
Mike Flanagan – It’s Greek to Me Emily Ertle – Ridgewood Coffee Company Brielle Liebman – Due / LaTour / Malee Dom Boresta – Mediterraneo / Sant. Egidio Deirdre Morgan – Kilwin’s Jake Thistle – Ben and Jerry’s Johnny Horizon – Daily Treat
JULY 9, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015, 1:20 AM
BY DARREN COOPER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The Charlotte Samuels story isn’t close to being over, but the book is being written.
The Ridgewood senior is the youngest person to complete the triple crown of open water swimming, traversing the English Channel, Manhattan Island and the Catalina Channel off the Southern California coast.
The 17-year old now is working on a memoir of her experiences, titled “Guts,” and consulting with a literary agent.
“You have to have guts,” Samuels said. “You really have to put yourself out there to accomplish things.”
While Samuels is serious about her swimming and has a new challenge lined up, she also is serious about writing. “Guts” will not be ghostwritten.
This month, Samuels is attending a young women’s writing workshop at Smith College in Massachusetts. She is refining her book – and may use her swim across the English Channel as the frame for her other life experiences — and learning about poetry.
Back home, Samuels is a star whose exploits have made headlines all over New Jersey. She was honored at the New Jersey State House, spoke at halftime of a Ridgewood football game, and was grand marshal at the Ridgewood Fourth of July parade.
Totalitarians want their rule, and their belief system, to be accepted and self-sustaining – even if it takes bludgeoning every last citizen who disagrees.
By Tom Nichols
JULY 6, 2015
There’s a basic difference in the traditions of political science between “authoritarians” and “totalitaritarians.” People throw both of these words around, but as is so often the case, they’re using words they may not always understand. They have real meaning, however, and the difference between them is important.
Simply put, authoritarians merely want obedience, while totalitarians, whose rule is rooted in an ideology, want obedience and conversion. Authoritarians are a dime a dozen; totalitarians are rare. The authoritarians are the guys in charge who want to stay in charge, and don’t much care about you, or what you’re doing, so long as you stay out of their way. They are the jefe and his thugs in a brutal regime that want you to shut up, go to work, and look the other way when your loudmouthed neighbor gets his lights punched out by goons in black jackets. Live or die. It’s all the same to the regime.
Totalitarians are a different breed. These are the people who have a plan, who think they see the future more clearly than you or who are convinced they grasp reality in a way that you do not. They don’t serve themselves—or, they don’t serve themselves exclusively—they serve History, or The People, or The Idea, or some other ideological totem that justifies their actions.
They want obedience, of course. But even more, they want their rule, and their belief system, to be accepted and self-sustaining. And the only way to achieve that is to create a new society of people who share those beliefs, even if it means bludgeoning every last citizen into enlightenment. That’s what makes totalitarians different and more dangerous: they are “totalistic” in the sense that they demand a complete reorientation of the individual to the State and its ideological ends. Every person who harbors a secret objection, or even so much as a doubt, is a danger to the future of the whole project, and so the regime compels its subjects not only to obey but to believe.
Authoritarians merely want obedience, while totalitarians, whose rule is rooted in an ideology, want obedience and conversion.
This is what George Orwell understood so well in his landmark novel “1984.” His dystopian state doesn’t really care about quotidian obedience; it already knows how to get that. What it demands, and will get by any means, is a belief in the Party’s rectitude and in its leader, Big Brother. If torturing the daylights out of people until they denounce even their loved ones is what it takes, so be it. That’s why the ending of the novel is so terrifying: after the two rebellious lovers of the story are broken and made to turn on each other, the wrecks left by the State are left to sit before the Leader’s face on a screen with only one emotion still alive in the husks of their bodies: they finally, truly love Big Brother.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off A high school wise guy is determined to have a day off from school, despite what the principal thinks of that
“classic teen coming of age movie ”
Join us in Memorial Park at Van Neste Square for family fun and entertainment. We show films great for the whole family on a 25 foot screen and professional sound system. Bring snacks, a picnic blanket, and get ready for a great evening with your community.
0n several Wednesday nights from June to August – The Ridgewood Guild will feature a complimentary movie for your enjoyment! Pack a picnic basket, bring your family and pull up some turf in Van Neste Park. Movies start when the sun goes down…about 9pm (8pm in August). July 8 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off July 22 – Momma Mia!!! (Special Event) August 5 – Murder on the Orient Express August 19th – Harry Potter (Special Event)
Great Duck Derby at Graydon – Join the Famiily Fun – July 11th
Third annual, Great Ridgewood Duck Derby
Ridgewood NJ, On Saturday, July 11th, Ridgewood Parks & Recreation, in cooperation with Jacobsen Landscape Contractors of Midland Park, will be hosting the Great Ridgewood Duck Derby at Graydon Pool. Come out and embrace the national “Come Alive Outside” campaign and join us for an afternoon of fun family activity. This event will feature an array of different types of entertainment. There will also be a number of different kinds of activities throughout the day such as beach games, a sand sculpture contest, duck decorating, face painting, and ultimately concluding with an exciting rubber duck race down the Ho Ho Kus Brook.
This is a catered event pre-registration is a must and the deadline for advance sales is July 10th. The cost to take part in this fun family event is $10 per person ($20 per person non-residents) which includes one rubber duck, a SACK Picnic lunch of sandwich, beverage, chips and cookie.
The “Come Alive Outside” campaign started in 2010 by Jim Paluch in hopes of combating the sedentary, indoor lifestyle that is contributing to a multitude of adverse effects in our society. Playing outside has more benefits than just the physical, outdoor play can help children develop social skills, reduce stress, and increase their self-confidence. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 60 minutes of free play outside daily is essential for a child’s development which is why it is the “Come Alive Outside” campaign’s mission to create opportunities for children to get outside for some good healthy fun. Other events that have been hosted by the “Come Alive Outside” committee have been the award winning “Fire and Ice – A Winter Festival”, Bike, Hike and Discover and the Harvest Moon Family Hoedown, and the annual Duck Derby.
To register for the Great Ridgewood Duck Derby you can either stop by the Stable, 259 N. Maple Ave and complete registration or go online at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass (Graydon Pool). The rain date for this event will be on Sunday July 12th. Please call the Parks & Recreation Department at 201-670-5560 for further information.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog and the Ridgewpood Police Department
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Polis report that on 07/04/2015 patrol units responded to the area of 57 East Ridgewood Avenue for a report of a suspicious male. A further investigation revealed that a 37 year old Hackensack man was on the roof tops above 43 East Ridgewood Avenue.
The male party was found to be wearing a Captain America costume and determined to be heavily intoxicated. The male party was removed from the roof by officers in fire department ladder truck. He was transported to the Valley Hospital for treatment.
Recent studies suggests that kids with overinvolved parents and rigidly structured childhoods suffer psychological blowback in college.
By Julie Lythcott-Haims
xcerpted from How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims, out now from Henry Holt and Co.
Academically overbearing parents are doing great harm. So says Bill Deresiewicz in his groundbreaking 2014 manifesto Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. “[For students] haunted their whole lives by a fear of failure—often, in the first instance, by their parents’ fear of failure,” writes Deresiewicz, “the cost of falling short, even temporarily, becomes not merely practical, but existential.”
Those whom Deresiewicz calls “excellent sheep” I call the “existentially impotent.” From 2006 to 2008, I served on Stanford University’s mental health task force, which examined the problem of student depression and proposed ways to teach faculty, staff, and students to better understand, notice, and respond to mental health issues. As dean, I saw a lack of intellectual and emotional freedom—this existential impotence—behind closed doors. The “excellent sheep” were in my office. Often brilliant, always accomplished, these students would sit on my couch holding their fragile, brittle parts together, resigned to the fact that these outwardly successful situations were their miserable lives.
In my years as dean, I heard plenty of stories from college students who believed theyhad to study science (or medicine, or engineering), just as they’d had to play piano,and do community service for Africa, and, and, and. I talked with kids completely uninterested in the items on their own résumés. Some shrugged off any right to be bothered by their own lack of interest in what they were working on, saying, “My parents know what’s best for me.”
JULY 6, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JULY 6, 2015, 10:27 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A longtime public employee has said goodbye to the Village of Ridgewood. Director of Operations Frank Moritz left his post last week for retirement.
A native of Hoboken and a graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Moritz worked for the village for 23-and-a-half years at the Ridgewood Water utility and began in his current role in 2005. He previously spent 19 years working for United Water.
In addition to his work in the village, Moritz has been a member of New Jersey’s chapter of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) for 25 years, where he has served on the Board of Directors as well as chairman for the State of New Jersey. In 2004, he received the highest award given out by the AWWA, the George Warren Fuller Award.
During his time in Ridgewood, Moritz was responsible for the water utility and oversaw the Division of Solid Waste, Division of Recycling and Division of Public Works.
One of the biggest challenges he faced during his tenure was to simply keep the water utility evolving along with technological advances. Over the past few years, the utility’s 20,000 water meters were automated. Moritz also had to make sure the utility consistently met regulatory standards and that the village’s facilities continued to improve.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire in the village late Sunday morning, and quickly extinguished the blaze.
No injuries were reported but there was some damage to the home owners kitchen .
According to the Ridgewood News ,”Ridgewood Fire department was on the scene at the Beveridge Road residence at 11:22 a.m., said Ridgewood Fire Department Capt. Scott Schmidt.The kitchen “cooking” fire damaged several appliances and cabinetry, he said. But it was contained to that room and didn’t spread to the rest of the home, Schmidt said, so the house is habitable”.https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-firefighters-put-out-two-alarm-blaze-1.1368988
Again from the Ridgewood News ,”Firefighters had the fire under control very quickly, and were done at the scene shortly after noon, Schmidt said.
An ambulance squad looked at the homeowner for smoke inhalation but she declined medical attention, he said. There were no firefighter injuries.https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-firefighters-put-out-two-alarm-blaze-1.1368988
MAYOR’S OFFICE HOURS FOR RESIDENTS -Saturday, July 11
Mayor Paul Aronsohn holds office hours for Ridgewood residents on Saturday’s every month. Mayor Aronsohn will meet with residents on Saturday, June 11 from 9AM to Noon in the Council Chambers (Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room) on the fourth floor of Ridgewood Village Hall.
For an appointment to meet with the Mayor, please call the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 206. You may come to the Mayor’s office hours without an appointment, but those with appointments will be given priority.
Ridgewood Police Responded to a Whooping 427 calls between June 24th and July 1st
July2,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blogRidgewood NJ, Between Wednesday June 24, 2015 and Wednesday July 1, 2015 the Ridgewood Police Department responded to (427) Calls for Service (30) trauma/medical emergency calls and (17) motor vehicle accidents.
Ridgewood Police had a very busy week :On Thursday June 25, 2015 Officers Colin Donnelly and Joseph DiBenedetto were dispatched to the Central Business District on the report of a disturbance. Upon their arrival they observed a male actor who fit the description provided by the caller later identified as Fransisco A. Andino, 23 of Newark, New Jersey sitting on the sidewalk at Van Neste Square and East Ridgewood Avenue. As the officers were speaking with Andino they were notified that there was an active warrant for his arrest out of Hoboken, New Jersey, for assaulting a police officer. Andino who attempted to flee the area on foot was subdued and placed under arrest by Patrolman Colin Donnelly after a brief foot chase. While at police headquarters Andino assaulted several officers by biting, kicking and spitting at them. He was subsequently charged with obstructing administration of law (2C:29-1A), resisting arrest (2C:29A(3)(a)), disorderly conduct (2C:33-2(a)(1)) and three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer (2C:12-B(5)(a). Bail was set at $15,000, Andino was housed at the Bergen County Sheriff’s Unit at Bergen Regional Medical Center.During the late afternoon hours on Thursday June 25, 2015, a resident reported observing a group of juveniles acting suspiciously near a vacant home. It was later determined that the homeowners were away on vacation and it was the groups intent to congregate on the property unsupervised without the homeowner’s permission. Annually with the onset of summer and vacations commencing this has become a frequent problem, residents are asked to report suspicious activities in their neighborhoods in order to prevent similar behavior.
On Thursday Friday June 26, 2015 a pedestrian crossing East Ridgewood Avenue while in a marked crosswalk reported that she/he was nearly struck a by a vehicle that failed to yield right of way. The driver pulled to the side of the roadway exiting their vehicle entering into a verbal dispute with the pedestrian. The pedestrian reported being assaulted by the driver who left the area prior to the arrival of police. The operator of the vehicle later responded to the Ridgewood Police Headquarters where she reported being assaulted by the pedestrian. Neither party wished to pursue the matter. It is paramount that all drivers cede right of way to pedestrians in the roadway regardless of whether a crosswalk is present as per the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Laws.
On Monday June 29, 2015 Detective Jeffrey Casson arrested Francis J. Yacopino, 30, of West Milford, New Jersey on a criminal warrant out of Pennsylvania. The warrant was discovered during a background check of Yacopino who had applied for a job with the Village of Ridgewood. Yacopino was housed in the Bergen County Jail on a fugitive warrant pending extradition.
On Monday June 29, 2015 a resident reported that his/her personal information had been used to open a fraudulent Dish Network account, the resident further reported having been the victimized similarly numerous times over the last several years. This type of incident continues to be on the rise and information on prevention and reporting identity theft occurrences is available at the police department.
During the spring months numerous street signs have been removed from roadways in the village. In addition to being both a nuisance and financial burden, the removal of these signs (including traffic signage) creates a danger to the public. Citizens are asked to exercise vigilance in reporting these incidents to police as well assisting in the recovery of stolen signs.
Please remember to register your house and any emergency contacts with the Police Department Records Division when you are planning to go away.
A reminder : All criminal defendants are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
JUNE 26, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Community shows its camaraderie
To the Editor:
The Ridgewood trestle sign — it symbolizes so much of what makes our village unique. Our Wiffle for Cancer trestle sign recently proclaimed to all who journeyed through the underpass that a special town event was in the offing. A friend saw the sign and said it reminded her of how the people of our town come together to support each other in a time of need. It warmed her heart. I could not agree with her more.
June 7 marked the 11th Wiffle for Cancer Tournament. The first event took place to show support for Ridgewood High School graduate Nick Currey as he battled Ewing Sarcoma. The next 10 tournaments served to raise money to fund cancer research to find a cure for the illness that claimed Nick’s life.
What a sense of gratitude the Currey family has toward all the people who make this special day possible. There are unfortunately other families who have lost a child in Ridgewood. We have been so touched by the kindness of those families who have reached out to us in spite of their own loss.
Michael Feeney’s parents, who also lost a son to Ewing Sarcoma, took the time to come to the Wiffle event to make a donation. They have chosen to remember their son with Michael Feeney’s Best Day Ever.
Likewise, the Kelly Creegan Memorial Fund reached out to us with its support. The generosity of parents who have also experienced loss is especially heartwarming. We thank them so much for their courage and for making a difference.
To make a success of an event like Wiffle for Cancer, so many elements have to come together in just the right way. We are so fortunate that the Ridgewood High School DECA group, guided by faculty members Karen Mendez and Sean Kase, lead the Wiffle tournament from the RHS perspective. We were delighted that the superintendent of schools and mayor fielded a team! It is yet another example of how the community finds a way to support such a meaningful cause.
Not only is it a day to raise money so that one day the Nicks and Michaels of the future will not have to leave us way before their time, but it is a really fun day. The sense of camaraderie would have made Nick so glad.
Its our job to speak for all citizens. Misinformation and vitriol should not be used to intimidate council members. The way this blog attacks only Paul, Albert and myself, and never any of the others, illustrates the hypocrisy of your accusations. Why can’t we all work together to try to serve Ridgewood, instead of attacking people you disagree with?
Gwenn Hauck [email protected] 108.161.184.122 Submitted on 2015/06/27 at 9:14 am
Councilwoman Hauck: And the fact Chris Harris of The Record bases his articles entirely on what is spoon fed to him by Paul, and never checks nor obtains quotes from any other elected officials, isn’t a form of hypocrisy in and of itself? Your faction controls The Record and the opposing faction controls this blog. Suck it up and get used to it honey.
Your track record indicates that you most certainly do not speak for all citizens. Most citizens were in favor of installing sidewalks on Clinton Avenue. You sided with a small minority. Most citizens disapproved of the Garber Square project. You went ahead with it anyway. Give it a rest. We are onto your method of operation.
So it’s okay for Hauck and the 2 other nitwits to attack Knudsen publicly, but when someone returns the favor, she says we should all work together? Talk about a hypocrite.
Ms. Hauck :From the standpoint of a very long time council observer, you have done little, if anything, to foster the idea you “speak for all citizens.” You backed (and no doubt continue to do so) a non-tax paying entity that is currently suing the town that it made it’s money in. Garber Square and Clinton Ave, very bad jokes, not to mention an insult to the intelligence of most people that reside here. The primary reason you are intentionally confusing being “attacked” with criticism is simply because you are paying more attention to your personal agenda of keeping your friends happy, and NOT “speak(ing) for all citizens.
Gwen, ARE YOU FOR REAL???? You spew vitriol agains your colleagues whenever it occurs to you. We have seen you attack, belittle, malign Bernadette Walsh, Tom Riche, John Ward, Mike Sedon, Susan Knudsen. You are as nasty as nasty can be. You always attack people you disagree with. What a hypocrite you are. Do you think anyone believes your ridiculous posting? have another drink, honey, and take a nap.
Disagree. She was pulled in as a pawn and a pawn she shall stay. She has lost any vestige of self-respect by sucking up to those monsters, even attacking Mike and Susan along the way. The pre-council Gwenn, who has shown herself to be far less sweet than her blond looks, bland demeanor, and expensive clothes are meant to imply, might have thought such things, but probably wouldn’t have said them aloud in public. Weak-minded people who live for the approval of others are easily swayed to do bad things when in the wrong company, flattered by low-minded manipulators who need a stooge for their “majority vote.”
Just change the municipality’s name to Ridgewood, and the Mayor’s name to Paul Aronsohn, and this letter would work perfectly. It appeared in today’s The Record.
Mahwah mayor
forgets whom he serves
I was coming of age during the Nixon administration, and although I was not old enough to vote, I knew even then that when political wrongdoing goes unaddressed, it compounds exponentially.
Much like President Nixon, Mahwah Mayor Bill Laforet seems to have forgotten that he serves the people of Mahwah at the discretion of the people of Mahwah. His actions reflect upon the people of Mahwah. Neither I nor my Mahwah neighbors have abandoned due process.
I have no desire to change the township of Mahwah from a democratic republic to an autocratic government. The actions of the mayor suggest that such a change has taken place.
Mahwah is not a business, and it is not set up to run like a business. We have checks and balances, as do all levels of American government. For reasons that I do not understand, Laforet suggests that he runs Mahwah like a business, forgetting that there are procedures that need to be followed. Perhaps Laforet can save the township the embarrassment of a possible recall and, like Nixon, resign.
