Hatch urges extending all Bush-era tax rates to avert ‘Taxmageddon’
By Russell Berman – 07/28/12 06:00 AM ET

A senior Senate Republican used the party’s weekly address to call for a full extension of the George W. Bush-era tax rates to avoid “Taxmageddon” at year’s end.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, pushed for congressional action to prevent tax hikes through an expiration of the current tax rates or an unadjusted Alternative Minimum Tax.

“In just over five months, middle-class families, job creators and seniors will get hit with a massive tax hike unless the president and Congress act,” Hatch said. “This would mean that taxes would go up on virtually every single taxpaying American.”

The tax battle has taken center stage in Washington in the two weeks before lawmakers go on their annual prolonged summer recess. The Senate on Wednesday approved a Democratic plan to extend the lower Bush-era tax rates on family income up to $250,000 and rejected a GOP plan to extend the rates across the board. The House is expected to vote on both plans this week, with the Republican proposal likely to win passage.

Republicans have labeled the Democratic plan a “small business tax hike” that will hit job creators.

“The uncertainty caused by this tax crisis -or Taxmageddon – is contributing to America’s lackluster economic recovery,” said Hatch, the author of the GOP plan. “That’s not a Republican talking point; that’s based on what job creators across the country are saying.”

He noted that Obama had agreed to extend the full slate of tax rates in 2010 when the economy was in a similarly precarious condition.

https://thehill.com/video/senate/240847-hatch-urges-extending-all-bush-era-tax-rates-to-avert-taxmageddon

Obamacare : coverage will not necessarily translate into care:

Doctor Shortage Likely to Worsen With Health Law
By ANNIE LOWREY and ROBERT PEAR
Published: July 28, 2012

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — In the Inland Empire, an economically depressed region in Southern California, President Obama’s health care law is expected to extend insurance coverage to more than 300,000 people by 2014. But coverage will not necessarily translate into care: Local health experts doubt there will be enough doctors to meet the area’s needs. There are not enough now.

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/health/policy/too-few-doctors-in-many-us-communities.html?_r=2&partner=MYWAY&ei=5065

Creepy Computer-Generated Avatar Greets Travelers At Newark Liberty
Port Authority Of N.Y./N.J. Spends $180,000 On New ‘Help’ For Area Airports

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — The future was among the arrivals at Newark Airport on Friday, in the form of a computer-generated greeter at the gate.

Travelers met “Libby.” She’s Newark Airport’s newest — and perhaps most chipper — customer service rep. You may have noticed that she’s a bit shallow, and she’s completely two-faced, but she’s always smiling, and she never complains.

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/07/27/creepy-computer-generated-avatar-greets-travelers-at-newark-liberty/

Brain Cancer Patient Enjoys Productive Life Thanks to Effective Focal Therapy at The Valley Hospital

July 25, 2012 — Over the past two years cancer survivor Rachael Harris has played in soccer tournaments, gotten married, and continued to work as a vice president and operations manager for an investment bank in New York City. State-of-the-art focal therapy she received at The Valley Hospital to treat three cancerous brain tumors saved not only Harris’ life but also her ability to work and enjoy leisure activities.

Harris’ focal therapy at Valley’s Daniel & Gloria Blumenthal Cancer Center combined complex neurosurgery to remove three golf-ball-sized tumors that had metastasized to her brain from breast cancer with an advanced type of radiation therapy called TomoTherapy. This focal therapy targeted only cancerous tissue in her brain and did not harm surrounding healthy areas of her brain, thus saving her intellect and the very essence of who Rachael is.

A Diagnosis of Cancer
In December 2007, at the age of 27, Harris was shocked to learn that a hard breast lump she suspected was a bruise sustained during a soccer game was instead an aggressive type of breast cancer. Chemotherapy and surgery followed.

Says Harris, a resident of Glen Rock: “My boyfriend, Jonathan, proposed to me two weeks after my surgery, and life went on over the summer of 2009. I felt well, played soccer again, and planned our wedding.”

But in October 2009 Harris began suffering severe headaches and fainted in her kitchen. Tests revealed that the breast cancer had spread to her brain.

Advanced Treatment for Brain Tumors
The brain is a common site for breast cancer metastasis, says Valley’s Director of Neuro-Oncology Disease Management, Anthony D’Ambrosio, M.D., because chemotherapy often cannot cross the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain.

“Because Rachael is young and the rest of her body was healthy, focal therapy was an ideal treatment for her,” explains Dr. D’Ambrosio, Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. “Focal therapy, which can include surgery, radiation, or a combination of both, is a targeted method of treatment for brain tumors that meet certain criteria. Our Neuro-Oncology team is one of the few in the area using this type of treatment.”

During a multidisciplinary conference of the Neuro-Oncology team, it was decided that surgery for all three tumors, followed by TomoTherapy would be best for Rachel. The Blumenthal Cancer Center was one of the first in the tri-state area to offer TomoTherapy, which delivers three-dimensional beams of radiation that conform to the exact contours of a tumor. For Rachel, the TomoTherapy destroyed any microscopic cancer cells remaining after surgery. In January 2010, she began the 20-treatment regimen, with her mother, a Valley employee, always at her side.

“By using TomoTherapy we avoided radiating her whole brain and preserved her ability to think, reason, remember, and function in her job,” says Chad DeYoung, M.D., Co-Medical Director of the Blumenthal Cancer Center’s Radiation Oncology Department.

Rachel, who on May 7, 2010, married Jonathan, says she put her complete trust in her Valley cancer care team: “I received wonderful care from everyone, directed by doctors at the top of their game.”

“If Rachael had instead undergone whole brain radiation, which is the standard in many hospitals, she would not have been herself and would have lost her neurocognitive function during the past two years,” states Dr. D’Ambrosio. “Her positive attitude and family support have greatly enhanced her treatment.”

The Gamma Knife Center
Focal therapy is just one component of the Blumenthal Cancer Center’s cutting-edge capabilities for diagnosing and treating brain tumors. Another is gamma knife radiosurgery. The Cancer Center’s newly opened Gamma Knife Center is the first in the region to feature the Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, recognized worldwide as the best of the best in stereotactic radiosurgery technology.

For more information, call the Institute for Brain and Spine Radiosurgery at 201-634-5585.

Dom Nizza stepping out

Retiring in Ridgewood is not an option for some families

FRIDAY JULY 27, 2012, 1:16 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

After each high school graduation, there are celebrations and summer barbecues. There are also goodbye parties.

Some residents move out of the village after their children graduate. Longtime resident Dom Nizza, however, vowed to ‘never move again’ after coming to Ridgewood.
After 20 years in Ridgewood, Mike Marchlik, who with his wife, JoAnn, raised four children in the Ridgewood school system, is moving to the Atlanta area this weekend.

This past June, Tim Marchlik was the family’s third child to graduate from Ridgewood High School (RHS). Even though his youngest son Sam was still attending Somerville, a career opportunity prompted the early move for Marchlik.

https://www.northjersey.com/community/163974836.html

Ridgewood residents Nancy Reilly and Paul Brennan receive Homescape Awards
FRIDAY JULY 27, 2012, 1:06 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

There’s an answer to the mystery of those nearly 5-foot-tall wooden sunflowers that suddenly appear in village gardens each summer. They are the work of the Project Pride Committee, which for the past 12 years has been giving Ridgewood homeowners with especially attractive front yard gardens surprise Homescape Awards. Recipients can display the sunflowers in their gardens for two weeks.

Five-foot-tall wooden sunflowers have been placed in the gardens of village residents who are recipients of this year’s Homescape Awards.

According to Ridgewood resident Nancy Reilly, the award has prompted a playful competition with her neighbor Paul Brennan, who both won this year. They each have now won the award at least twice, Reilly said.

So now, “it’s (jokingly) on.”

“When he plants his garden and I plant my garden, we say, ‘May the best man win,'” said Reilly, a science teacher at Ridgewood High School. “It’s all in good fun.”

Reilly, who loves to garden and has won the award three times, said that getting the award on June 24 – her wedding anniversary – was especially exciting.

https://www.northjersey.com/community/163974216_Ridgewood_residents_receive_Homescape_Awards.html

State says it will use trust funds for affordable housing

The Christie administration said Thursday that the money it confiscates from municipal affordable housing trust funds will be used to support a range of housing programs for low- and moderate-income New Jerseyans.

The statement from the Department of Community Affairs came two days after it sent letters to 372 municipalities, demanding that they turn over to the state all unspent portions of those funds.

While it states that the trust funds will be spent on various housing initiatives, the DCA did not detail the specific state programs that will receive the money or how much additional funding will go to each. The state budget initially set aside $200 million to be collected from the trust funds, although this week DCA put the anticipated figure it would collect at $161 million.  (Lipman, The Record)
https://www.northjersey.com/news/163977886_State_says_it_will_use_trust_funds_for_affordable_housing.html

REMINDER: NJ TRANSIT ADVISES CUSTOMERS OF UPCOMING CONSTRUCTION ON THE ALEXANDER HAMILTON BRIDGE

NJ TRANSIT to cross honor bus passes on trains from July 16 to July 31
July 9, 2012

Attention Ridgewood Bus Customers Route 175 Ridgewood – New York

NEWARK, NJ — Beginning on or about Friday, July 13 and continuing through late-Fall, one of the three eastbound lanes on the Cross Bronx Expressway at the Alexander Hamilton Bridge in the Bronx will be closing for repairs. This New York project will impact NJ TRANSIT bus customers who travel across the George Washington Bridge due to a significant reduction in vehicular traffic capacity along the eastbound Cross Bronx Expressway between Manhattan and the Bronx.

Many of NJ TRANSIT’s bus routes traveling at the inbound George Washington Bridge and points in and around Fort Lee, New Jersey will operate with significant delays as buses will experience increased traffic congestion, especially near the immediate construction zone.

Additionally, some bus routes traveling from New York City to New Jersey may operate with delays due to buses arriving late at the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal.

Retail Renaissance spreading in Ridgewood ?
July 28,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Despite the recent closing of Blend there does seem to be a noticeable improvement in the retail climate in the Central; Business District .

In recent weeks a new bakery has opened on Ridgewood Avenue , signs are up for a new bridle shop on Ridgewood Ave , a new aquarium shop on Broad street and yes there are still many spaces available for rent.

Rumors continue to fly that big box retailer Urban Outfitters has leased the old Citizens or Bank of America on Ridgewood Avenue .

photo from Ridgewood Art Institute

Ridgewood Library features artwork of longtime resident Lillian Fendrock

FRIDAY JULY 27, 2012, 1:10 PM
BY EILEEN LA FORGIA
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

“Flowers and fruits of summer make for a colorful show,” said Ridgewood resident Lillian Fendrock. “The Play of Light and Shadow in Still Life and Landscape” is her exhibit being held at the Ridgewood Library’s Bolger Auditorium this month.

“Painting has always been a challenge and a great pleasure,” she said. “I love all of them – especially lilacs, pansies and geraniums.” Oil paintings include sunflowers, tulips, red roses, bouquet of daisies, yellow roses, hydrangeas and daffodils. Because her garden is mostly in shade, Fendrock buys the flowers she paints from farm stores and supermarkets. She also paints arrangements set up by the instructors at the Ridgewood Art Institute.

https://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/163975746.html

Ridgewood 9-10 Little League valiant in State Final Four
FRIDAY JULY 27, 2012, 1:11 PM
BY RON FOX
CORRESPONDENT
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

GLASSBORO — Reflecting on the Ridgewood 9-10 Little League team’s trip to the State Final Four, manager Matt Sullivan had nothing but positives to deliver.

The Ridgewood 9-10 Little League team won the Skills Competition at the New Jersey State Final Four. FRONT ROW, from left: Jack Wittmaack, Michael Lia, Peyton Mikita, Luke Notaro, Matt Crawford and Brian Skettini. MIDDLE ROW, from left: Big Ben Reinke, Cameron Blair, DJ Sullivan, Matt Favieri and Will Calandra. BACK ROW, from left: coach Doug Calandra, manager Matt Sullivan and coach Bob Mikita.
“There’s a learning curve, and this was a really positive experience,” Sullivan said after his team was eliminated. “We went so far, and now the kids realize the potential that they have.”

He knew there would be a period of adjustment playing at such an elite level, and his kids adjusted extremely well.

“It’s going into the unknown,” he said. “You expect to see Andy Pettitte on the mound, but then the kids saw that the pitchers were kids like them and that every pitcher they faced, they hit hard.”

Ridgewood won the opening game in the double-elimination tournament with a potent attack, 11-3, over Elmora. They then lost the next two and it was over. Yet the team did not go down without a fight.

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/163975456.html

Ridgewood Farmers market

Drought spells trouble for U.S. farms, but may present advantage for N.J. growers

While a drought in the nation’s breadbasket has driven down crop supply and pushed up food prices for consumers, New Jersey’s slightly improved climate has yielded more crops in the state, and allowed local farmers selling on the national market to bring in more money, according a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture
“New Jersey has been fortunate to escape some of the really bad drought conditions centered in the Midwest,” spokesman Jeff Beach said. “We had our spells, and we got to a point where we would have been having a problem, but then we had rain last week and it was enough to keep it from becoming drastic.”  (Eder, NJBIZ)

https://www.njbiz.com/article/20120726/NJBIZ01/120729890/Drought-spells-trouble-for-US-farms-but-may-present-advantage-for-NJ-growers