FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Behind The Stable on North Maple Avenue, beside the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook, there was once an aging headstone.
It wasn’t for a mother, father, daughter or son.
It was for a dog whose name – Friskie – was spelled out in pebbles pushed into the stone’s drying cement.
While the headstone may not be visible today, likely buried in the dirt after years of disturbance from construction and flooding, it was once a piece of Ridgewood history. According to a former Ridgewood resident who wrote a new book on The Stable’s history, Friskie used to belong to the man who owned the last working farm in Ridgewood – as well as the stable that eventually became the town’s community center.
This and other facts about The Stable’s more than 100-year-old history are explained and revealed in “Mr. Lester’s Farm,” a 32-page children’s book written by Joe Grasso.
Significant acceleration of revenue needed to hit targets , no the problem is state spending
June 17,2012
James Foytlin aka PJ Blogger
Ridgewood NJ , The Office of Legislative Services released its May Revenue Snapshot on Friday, which reiterates that revenues for the current fiscal year are likely to come in well below even revised administration projections.
Lingering economic uncertainty, has led tax collections in the state to falll short of the Christie administration’s estimates for the third straight month, according to figures released Friday by the Treasury Department.The state taxx collections brought in a whopping $2.02 billion in May yet it was still short $36.4 million from Treasury Department estimates that had recently been revised downward only three weeks ago.
According to the Office of Legislative Services “Through the end of May, most major tax revenues have grown at rates below those necessary to achieve the Executive’s revised year end targets,” the report said. “To meet those targets, a significant acceleration of growth rates for a number of taxes will be required in the remaining weeks of the fiscal year.”
The report said Gross Income Tax receipts must grow at lest 4.3 percent in the remaining two weeks of the fiscal year in order to hit revised projections. While sales tax receipts are up 2.6 percent over the same period last year, May receipts are off 2.7 percent. To reach the projected 3.6 percent growth, collections must grow 8.3 percent in the remaining weeks of the fiscal year, or more than three times the current year to date growth rate.
Corporate Business Tax collections are up 1.8% so far this fiscal year. The administration did not revise its 2012 estimate, which represents 3.9% growth for the entire fiscal year. The CBT will have to grow by about 15% in June to reach the year end target.
While tax revenues remain significant they are not enough to cover current budget expenses and Christie like his big spending predators has resorted to the strategy of robbing Paul to pay Peter pulling moneys earmarked for certain government liabilities to cover current operating expenses.
New Jersey tax payers are still one of the most overtaxed residents in the USA ,while New Jersey still boasts one of the most over manned ,expensive and inefficient government bureaucracy’s in the US.
Rated near the bottom in business climate for years perhaps it is time to seriously look at streamlining regulations and eliminating governmental overlap.
The National Association of State Budget Officers report released last Wednesday showed Christie has proposed the largest increase in spending among the 50 states in 2013. Christie has called for a 7.2 percent spending increase for the 2013 fiscal year, while the average spending increase recommendation is 2.2 percent.
There are huge redundancy’s at the state ,county and local level and simply to many layers of bureaucracy and taxes a far to high for the state to be competitive . perhaps its time to cut spending and look to shrink the scope of government intervention in the economy .
3 Day Ridgewood Summer Invitational: July 6-8, Ridgewood, NJ
by nationalhistorybeeandbowl » Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:13 am
Hi Everyone,
I’m pleased to announce that Ridgewood High School will be hosting the Ridgewood Summer Open on July 6-8 at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, NJ. These tournaments are open to everyone from middle school to those long since graduated from college. Ridgewood High School has generously given us the run of the place from Friday afternoon through (likely) Sunday afternoon to host copious amounts of quizbowl. Here’s a current tentative plan, subject to change pending interest:
Friday afternoon/evening (beginning around 5pm or so) –
Open packet submission tournament, if there is enough interest (i.e. make your own teams – no need to limit yourself to who was/is on your high school or college team). Please power mark the set, and write to an HSNCT level of difficulty. Keep tossups to 525 characters or less, please, including spaces. Distribution is:
4/4 Lit (1 US, 1 European, 1 non Western, 1 your choice)
4/4 Science (1 Bio, 1 Chem, 1 Physics, 1 something else)
4/4 History (1 US, 1 Modern or High Medieval European [1000<], 1 non Western, 1 ancient defined as until 1000 CE anywhere)
1/1 Geography
1/1 Current Events
1/1 Other Social Science (psych, anthro, soc, etc.)
2/2 Religion, Myth, Philosophy
1/1 Art (including performing arts)
1/1 Music
1/1 Trash
1/1 Your Choice of 1 Lit, Science, or History
Saturday (beginning around 10am or so; lasting until about 7-8pm) – edited for clarity @ 2:55pm on 6/14
Mirror of ATTACK (i.e. the set Adam Silverman wrote) – teams solely by high school affiliation, including for those long and not so long since graduated (with the exception of current HS coaches who can play with their team members!). There will be some sort of divisional classification so as not to frighten the children. If there is interest from teams who would like to come to this, but who have heard ATTACK, let me know, and I will likely be able to get my hands on an additional set.
Sunday (beginning around 10am or so; lasting until about 6-7pm) – edited for clarity @ 2:55pm on 6/14
Ridgewood Summer Set – this is being written as we speak. I will edit everything non-science. If anyone would like to help with science editing, please let me know. This set will be power marked and be of moderate high school difficulty. Teams will be done by high school and/or college affiliation; graduating seniors can play with either their high school or college. Those who are beyond graduating senior in age, though, have to play with their college affiliation (either undergrad or grad). The college division can also have teams that consist of alumni, however, these would be classified under a different set of teams from all undergrad. Provided there is enough interest to run a college division here, I will edit the version of the set that division uses to be somewhat more difficult.
Rough Distribution for this (will have exact by June 25, but this is an RMP/Fine Arts heavy set, given the tastes of Ridgewood QB)
4/4 Lit
4/4 History
4/4 Science
3/3 Fine Arts
1/1 Social Science
2.5/2.5 RMP
1.5/1.5 Geo,Trash,Current Events
Advocates concerned about potential problems, fraud with Obama’s new deportation policy
Published: Sunday, June 17, 2012, 7:00 AM
By Stephen Stirling/The Star-Ledger
David Nachman is swamped.The immigration law attorney called his Ridgewood office to check next week’s schedule, only hours after President Barack Obama unveiled his plan to ease immigration laws for undocumented youth Friday.
“I’m booked solid,” he said. “Every single day, I don’t have anything left.”
Obama’s announcement that he would cease deportation prosecutions against an estimated 1.4 million young undocumented immigrants and offer them temporary work permits has sent state attorneys and service groups scrambling to understand its implications. Meanwhile, they’re bracing for a deluge of state residents without Social Security cards, desperate for any form of legitimacy.
L.A. teachers approve deal that reduces pay, shortens school year
June 16, 2012 | 8:06 pm
Members of United Teachers Los Angeles have approved a one-year labor contract that would shorten the school year and reduce pay in exchange for the preservation of more than 4,000 jobs, the union announced Saturday.
The vote tally was 58% in favor of the contract and 42% opposed. Roughly two-thirds of all union members cast ballots. UTLA represents nurses, librarians, counselors, psychologists and psychiatric social workers in addition to classroom instructors.
The school board approved the one-year pact last Tuesday. Under the agreement, teachers would forfeit up to 10 days of pay and the 2012-13 school year could be reduced from 180 days to 175. It would be the fourth straight academic year shortened because of budget cutbacks. More than 1,300 UTLA members still would lose their jobs because of declining enrollment, reduced state and federal funding and program cuts.
Ridgewood PD forced to park on the top of Maple do to flooding at the Village Hall
Reauthorize and Reform the Flood Insurance Program
By David John
June 11, 2012
Congress should reauthorize and reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The failure of Congress to pass a longer term reauthorization since the last one expired in September 2008 has delayed necessary reforms. In addition, since there are no private providers of general flood insurance coverage in the United States, all such policies come through the NFIP. The lack of reauthorization is increasing risk to both flood-prone properties and the NFIP itself.
One of the goals of the pending reauthorization is to ensure that all owners pay the appropriate actuarial premium rather than subsidized rates. This would be a first step toward encouraging private insurance companies to enter the market and would set the stage for an eventual move of the entire program to the private sector.
A Housing Market Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Effect on the Homeownership Rate
By Nahid Anaraki
June 11, 2012
Executive Summary:
For decades, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac followed securitization policies that enabled Americans to make a low down payment when they purchased a house. This study analyzes the impact of affordable lending efforts by government-sponsored entities (GSEs) on national homeownership rate, by race, ethnic group, and census region. The results of this study suggest that despite GSE interventions in the housing market, the homeownership gap among races and ethnic groups persists because economic fundamentals and sociodemographic features, not interest rates, drive homeownership rates.
This paper uses three series of regression models to gain insight into the determinants of home ownership rates. The first regression model analyzes aggregate national-level data for 1980–2010. The second regression model analyzes factors that influence the homeownership rate by race/ethnic group for 1994–2010, where historical data are available. Finally, the third model analyzes homeownership by census region for 1992–2010, where regional homeownership data are available. The results of ordinary least square (OLS) models with robustness tests indicate:
Even his critics will admit that by all accounts President Obama is a very attentive father
The History of Father’s Day
In June of every year, we honor fathers. The first Mother’s Day was celebrated in 1914, but a holiday honoring fathers did not become official until 1966, when President Lyndon Johnson declared that the third Sunday in June would be Father’s Day. President Richard Nixon made this proclamation permanent in 1972. But this doesn’t mean that the holiday was not celebrated before this time.
The idea for Father’s Day is attributed to Sonora Dodd, who was raised by her father after her mother’s death during childbirth. While listening to a sermon at church on Mother’s Day, she thought about all her father had done for her and her siblings and decided fathers should have a day, too. Because Dodd’s father was born in June, she encouraged churches in her area, Spokane, Wash., to honor fathers that month. The first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane in 1910.
Over the years, the idea spread, and people lobbied Congress to establish the holiday. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson, who had signed a proclamation establishing Mother’s Day, approved the idea, but never signed a proclamation for it. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to “establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations.”
First-floor repair work at Ridgewood Village Hall on schedule
THURSDAY JUNE 14, 2012, 12:01 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Work to refurbish Village Hall’s flood-damaged first floor is progressing according to schedule and should be completed by September, Ridgewood officials said.
Concrete blocks were installed last week as part of a repair project to the first floor of Village Hall, which was damage by flooding during last year’s Hurricane Irene.
New concrete blocks were installed by contractors and settled into place last week, marking the first step of the construction phase to protect the interior of the municipal building from future water damage. The first level of the five-story complex, which is located in the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook floodplain, was decimated last year by several feet of flood water that rushed inside as a result of Hurricane Irene.
The bill for the clean-up effort alone was approximately $90,000. Ridgefield-based contractor Adamo Brothers won the construction portion of the job with a $275,000 bid in March and will complete the interior work, according to Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser.
Housing market recovery depends on job growth, report says
THURSDAY JUNE 14, 2012, 4:52 PM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
The housing market is beginning to recover, but could stall if the U.S. doesn’t have sustained job growth, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University said Thursday.
And despite more affordable home prices, millions of households in the U.S. – mostly renters – struggle with monthly housing costs, the center said in its annual State of the Nation’s Housing report.
“Almost one-fifth of households report spending more than half of their income on housing,” said Eric Belsky, managing director of the center. “That’s not only a housing crisis; it means there’s that much less to spend on everything else.”
“The housing sector is turning a corner, but we need to think about what to do to serve everybody,” said George McCarthy, an executive with the Ford Foundation, one of the report’s sponsors, at a press conference in New York.
Rental construction is the liveliest sector of the real estate market, pushed up by demand from people who have lost their homes or held off on buying. The number of renters jumped 5.1 million in the 2000s, the largest decade-long increase since World War II, the report said.
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoons Baleine salt
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons paprika
2 tablepoons cayenne pepper
Preparation:
Rub seasoning heavily over the ribs making sure to flip them over and get both sides and in between .I use more because I like them nice and hot.
Cover and let sit in the refrigerator over night .
Let them warm up to room temperature before you place on the grill.
Warm the grill up and them lower to a very low heat around 200 degrees .
Put on grill in single layer away from direct heat source. cook slowly turning from time to time for 1 to 2 hours on low heat depending on your grill. After cooking let them rest covered for 30 min. this makes for very tender ribs.
This seasoning mixture will keep in sealed jar in the refrigerator.
Obama’s Hispanic gamble
By Jordy Yager – 06/16/12 06:00 AM ET
President Obama laid his chips down in a major election-year gamble this week that could help make or break his re-election bid for the White House.
In a dead heat with Republican Mitt Romney, Obama has struggled in recent weeks, suffering a number of setbacks, and losing much of the news cycle momentum that carried him to Pennsylvania Ave. more than three years ago.
The president’s been plagued by poor job report numbers, a public speaking gaffe in which he said the private sector was doing “fine,” a failed voter recall election of Wisconsin’s Republican governor, and a relentless amount of political fire aimed at his attorney general on two fronts from GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
But with Friday’s announcement that his administration would not deport certain young people who are in the country illegally, Obama threw down his chips, partially fulfilling a campaign promise he made to Latinos in his bid to be president, and putting Romney and Republican congressional hopefuls in a bind.
PNC Bank Special Promotion: Earn $150!
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Time: 12:00 AM
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