Ridgewood plans to outsource some leaf collection work
SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014, 2:40 PM BY LAURA HERZOG STAFF WRITER
“No leaf left behind.”
This is the tongue-in-cheek name Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld gave a recent employee “leaf summit” that took place last Wednesday, Sept. 3.
The summit, which Sonenfeld orchestrated, brought together about 25 leaf collection employees to discuss ways to improve customer experience and get more leaves off the streets.
“It seems to be 80 percent of the complaints are related to the fact that we leave leaves, hence ‘no leaf left behind,'” Sonenfeld said.
With a new outsourcing plan, “no leaf left behind” is what the village hopes will happen, come leaf collection season in October.
The village has already put out a bid to outsource work in Ridgewood’s leafiest area, to free staff to focus on the other areas, Sonenfeld said.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014, 2:39 PM BY LAURA HERZOG STAFF WRITER Print
Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the crumbling pipes, are calling for repair in Ridgewood.
According to Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld, who detailed the issue in her manager’s report at last week’s Village Council meeting, Ridgewood recently discovered that many of its sewer drainage pipes are “crumbling.”
The problem, she said, was discovered when a contractor employed by PSE&G was doing gas main work around Downs Street and Pearsall Avenue in August. The contractor noticed that the “pipe material was crumbling” in some nearby sewer drainage pipes.
The pipe cost about $1,300 to replace, she said.
According to Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser, the now-deteriorated, aluminum-corrugated metal pipes in Ridgewood’s sewer drainage system were installed 35 to 40 years ago, and are located “all over” the village. But “it’s hard to say” what percentage of the pipes – all in the storm drainage, not sanitary system – are made of this material and need replacement, he said.
Mayor Paul Aronsohn expressed concern when the pipe issue was raised at the meeting on Sept. 3.
“You’re saying this type of pipe, that crumbles at the touch, is all throughout the village,” he said. The mayor also asked Rutishauser if he was concerned.
Enterovirus D68 sickens more than a dozen in New York
By Jacque Wilson, CNN updated 5:27 PM EDT, Fri September 12, 2014
CNN) — More than a dozen cases of Enterovirus D68 have been confirmed in New York state, according to officials.
“EV-D68 is causing cases of severe respiratory illness … sometimes resulting in hospitalization, especially among children with asthma,” the NYS Department of Health said in a statement Friday.
Enteroviruses are quite common in September; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 10 to 15 million people are infected by these viruses each year. But doctors believe this particular type of enterovirus, Enterovirus D68, is causing more serious problems than others have in years past.
As of September 11, more than 80 cases in six other states — Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky and Missouri — have been confirmed to be EV-D68, according to the CDC.
New York is the first state in the Northeast with confirmed cases.
U.S. threatened massive fine to force Yahoo to release data
By Craig Timberg September 11 at 9:16 PM
The U.S. government threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day in 2008 if it failed to comply with a broad demand to hand over user communications — a request the company believed was unconstitutional — according to court documents unsealed Thursday that illuminate how federal officials forced American tech companies to participate in the National Security Agency’s controversial PRISM program.
The documents, roughly 1,500 pages worth, outline a secret and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle by Yahoo to resist the government’s demands. The company’s loss required Yahoo to become one of the first to begin providing information to PRISM, a program that gave the NSA extensive access to records of online communications by users of Yahoo and other U.S.-based technology firms.
The ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review became a key moment in the development of PRISM, helping government officials to convince other Silicon Valley companies that unprecedented data demands had been tested in the courts and found constitutionally sound. Eventually, most major U.S. tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Apple and AOL, complied. Microsoft had joined earlier, before the ruling, NSA documents have shown.
Boy, 4, makes miraculous recovery at New York hospital after complications from E. Coli
The LaRose family might never know what infected their son, Jake, with the condition that nearly killed him. In an exclusive to the Daily News, Jake’s mom Kimberly discusses her family’s terrifying ordeal.
BY Meredith Engel
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 4:56 PM
Jacob LaRose almost didn’t make it to pre-K.
The little boy, 4, was sidelined for much of the summer after contracting a rare complication from E. Coli.
E. Coli, a bacterium, is naturally present in our large intestines, according to Dr. Bruce Greenwald, one of Jake’s doctors and the chief of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Komansky Center for Children’s Health at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
But Jake must have eaten something that introduced a harmful strain of the bug, E. Coli O157:H7, into his body. A common source is undercooked hamburger meat, Greenwald said. Symptoms caused by this alternative strain of E. Coli include fever and bloody diarrhea.
And to make matters much worse, Jake developed a scary complication, hemolytic uremic syndrome, that nearly killed him.
HUS happens when E. Coli O157:H7 enters the digestive tract and releases toxins, which then get into the bloodstream and destroy red blood cells. Affected patients can go on to develop anemia, low platelets and kidney complications. It affects about 1 to 3 out of every 100,000 patients.
Jake’s mother, Kimberly LaRose, is still unsure just how her son, as well as 2-year-old daughter Hayden, came into contact with the bug. Both Hayden and Jake fell ill with diarrhea in March, but when their pediatrician noted how sick Jake looked, the family took him straight to the ER.
They didn’t leave until Memorial Day weekend.
Jake initially was treated at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey, near his home in Clifton. Three days after entering the hospital, he was transferred to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center because doctors realized he not only had E. Coli, but HUS, which caused his kidneys to fail. Jake was put on continuous dialysis.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014, 12:31 AM BY LAURA HERZOG STAFF WRITER
The “Salem Ridge” neighborhood association, uniting neighbors from across Route 17 since 1956, doesn’t mess around when it comes to its annual neighborhood block party, which has taken place on and off for at least 40 years.
This year, on Sunday, Aug. 7, the usually quiet, tree-lined street of Roslyn Road featured an inflatable slide, a dunk tank, a popcorn machine and a “Frozen”-themed bouncy house, all supported by a $35 family admission fee. Children were treated to a magic show, tattoos and face painting. A delicious-looking spread included barbeque standards, a giant sub and a seemingly endless dessert buffet.
“This year, we were supposed to have a photo booth,” noted Salem Ridge Association Co-Chair Randy Swickle with a chuckle.
As elaborate as the block party has become, it is just part of what the Salem Ridge Association does for its member families, who, since the association’s founding, have also never messed around when it comes to being a neighbor.
Organizers noted that the core of the block party, and the association, is still the same.
“It’s a family organization, to keep together and know our neighbors,” said Swickle, whose co-chair is Bob Brierly.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014, 12:31 AM BY JODI WEINBERGER STAFF WRITER Print
It’s seeing a bicyclist around town, or a lone man sitting at the counter of The Fireplace restaurant, and for a split second thinking maybe it’s him.
The memory of Roger Wiegand is everywhere. His death on April 18 left a void in the lives of many and a question of who would take on the civic duties he voluntarily tasked himself with, like painting the fire boxes in the village or getting officials to fix broken street lights.
Last Friday, at an event attended by dozens of friends, family and public leaders in Village Hall, his contributions were honored with an appropriate marker of his influence, a gold-plated plaque installed on the podium in the council chambers engraved with his strong-held belief: “The public should always have the final word.”
Mayor Paul Aronsohn explained that it was Wiegand’s suggestion to have a public comment session at the end of each council meeting in addition to one at the beginning.
“This room doesn’t feel the same without Roger,” Aronsohn said. “He was such a genuine person who contributed so much to the community.”
The street on which he lived, South Irving, was also affixed with a tribute to his life and renamed Wiegand Way.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Kerry Daley, Wiegand’s niece. “He would have been so mad at all of this … wasting money and time on him.”
Ridgewood native Kimberly Daub was selected to serve as commander of the 101st Sustainment Brigade “Lifeliners” 101st Airborne Division
SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014, 12:31 AM BY JODI WEINBERGER STAFF WRITER
This June, Ridgewood native Kimberly Daub was selected to serve as commander of the 101st Sustainment Brigade “Lifeliners” 101st Airborne Division, becoming the first female brigade commander in the history of the division.
In accepting the position, Daub also became the first female brigade commander at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
“It’s a true honor and a pleasure to be a commander,” said Daub on a phone call from Fort Campbell. “It’s an extremely tough cut to be selected for a brigade command and not many people get this honor. It’s a privilege to lead soldiers.”
Daub graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1985 and began her career in the Army with a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship to Bucknell University.
Daub’s mother, Jaye Parsons, said her decision to do ROTC fit with her daughter like “a piece in a puzzle.”
Parking solutions sought as former bank building in Ridgewood gets new tenant
SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014, 4:18 PM BY LAURA HERZOG STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
As the Village Council continues fishing for a parking garage, a big catch – FISH – has entered the discussion on Ridgewood’s parking needs.
FISH, a high-end eatery from Asbury Park, is opening a second location in Ridgewood’s long-empty Bank of America building, and bringing with it as many as 225 new diners.
“They’d like to open somewhere between December and February,” said the building’s landlord John Saraceno, who said he was contacted by FISH six months ago. “They’re a great use for the village.”
The new restaurant, expected to attract many new diners, and cars, is also adding even more urgency to the village’s ongoing search for better parking options in the Central Business District (CBD), a search being done partly with awareness that more popular chains and anchor stores could help revitalize Ridgewood’s downtown but necessitate more parking options.
But luckily, FISH’s plan to valet park its cars will provide some relief.
From left: Lisa Stitt, Jim Batura, Joanne Rodland and Neva D. Strom.At Sunday worship on June 1, in honor of Joanne Rodland’s retirement after 45 years at West Side, 140 current and past members of the Chancel and Senior High Choirs raised their voices in song.
West Side longtime minister of music retires
SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014, 12:31 AM BY BETSY MURPHY CORRESPONDENT
It has been a rich and rewarding 45 years.” said Joanne Rodland, who retired as minister of music at West Side Presbyterian Church at the end of July.
“It was a privilege being a part of two such partnerships, Jack and then Debbi, as well as having such a pool of talent and commitment with which to work within the church and most certainly within the community. It has been a gift.”
Her partnership with Jack Rodland, whom she met at Union Theological Seminary, began in 1964.
“He was smart, dedicated, compassionate,” she says.
They worked together at First Presbyterian Church in Rutherford, hired by Melvin Campbell, who claimed “we got two for price of one.” Joanne taught the children’s choir, Jack the adults, before coming to West Side in 1968, with daughters, Cathy, 3, and Carol (Caby), 6 months. West Side let Cathy into nursery school that September, while Joanne brought Carol to church with her. “Jack and I made the decision that this was our family.”
Jack went back to seminary at Union Theological and in 1980 was ordained at West Side becoming associate pastor. During that year, Joanne took on a lot of responsibility, lost both her mother and brother, and also attended Westchester Institution for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis and became a therapist.
Ridgewood plans honor for English Channel swimmer Charlotte Samuels
SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014, 1:21 AM THE RECORD Print
RIDGEWOOD — Village officials intend to celebrate the achievements of Charlotte Samuels, the 16-year-old Ridgewood athlete who this week became the youngest person to complete open swimming’s Triple Crown.
Through tears and frigid waters, she treaded her way across the English Channel to France.
At Wednesday’s Village Council meeting, Roberta Sonenfeld, the village manager, said Ridgewood officials have already been in touch with the Samuels family about plans to honor Charlotte for her feat.
Finally – A parking solution that makes sense
September 11,2014
Boyd A. Loving
2:18 PM
Our prayers have been answered – Hallelujah!
Village Manager Roberta Sonnenfeld announced on Wednesday, 09/10/2014 the Village’s intent to lease a portion of the former Ken Smith Motors property, on Franklin Avenue near North Broad Street, for purposes of providing parking for the employees of businesses operating in Ridgewood’s Central Business District (CBD). It is believed that the proposed private/public partnership endeavor will free up many parking spaces on streets in the CBD for shoppers and restaurant goers.
No formal agreement had been reached as of Ms. Sonnenfeld’s announcement, but was revealed that Village parking enforcement agents will patrol the lot for violators, and that the Village will receive 10% of gross revenues. More details are expected to be released once a formal contract is signed. No word on the Village’s contribution, if any, to expenses such as building demolition, line striping, etc.
The announcement came with this advisory – the solution will not be long term in nature because the property owner wishes to develop it at a later date.
Bergen County Exec’s race: Dem Chair Stellato rallies troops for Tedesco
LYNDHURST – Bergen County Democratic Chairman Lou Stellato was house-proud in his hometown before he got down to political business on Wednesday morning. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
The PolitickerNJ Interview: Senator Gerald Cardinale
FORT LEE – State Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-39) remembers then-Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joe Ferriero jabbing a finger at him and telling him, “The reason network television costs so much, Gerry, is because it works!” (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Donovan formally kicks off fall portion of campaign by burnishing labor support
CARLSTADT – At the head of a local sheet metal workroom, incumbent GOP Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan today kicked off her re-election campaign with the backing of three New Jersey building trades unions and the promise to continue building on the more than $200 million in savings and efficiencies to county residents over the past four years.
