Bill to decriminalize small amount of marijuana gets N.J. Assembly committee hearing
Getting caught with a small amount of marijuana would be akin to getting a traffic ticket under a bill that is up for consideration by an Assembly panel on Monday.
The measure before the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which has bipartisan sponsorship, would replace criminal penalties with fines for those caught with less than 15 grams of marijuana — or enough for more than 30 joints.
Too far out there? According to Roseanne Scotti, state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. it’s the furthest a bill to decriminalize marijuana has ever gotten in the New Jersey Legislature. (Friedman, The Star-Ledger)
Three towns sue Ridgewood over consecutive water rate hikes
THURSDAY MAY 17, 2012, 12:16 PM
BY JODI WEINBERGER
STAFF WRITER
WYCKOFF SUBURBAN NEWS
Glen Rock, Midland Park and Wyckoff are seeking a refund of more than $3 million in a class-action lawsuit filed against the Village of Ridgewood after an investigation into its water utility’s finances showed a 26 percent rate hike imposed on its customers was unjustified, said the attorney representing the municipalities.
Attorney Joseph Fiorenzo held a press conference at Wyckoff Town Hall on Wednesday, May 16, to reveal the findings of an eight-month investigation which he said showed that the deficit the utility reported to justify a 21 percent increase in 2010 and another 5 percent hike in 2011 was a “complete and utter sham.”
“[The deficit] doesn’t exist and never existed,” Fiorenzo said. “Over a period of years the Village [of Ridgewood] was dumping expenses into the budget of the water utility.”
Legislation aims to stop teachers who bully kids
Cherry Hill case spurs state lawmakers to act
TRENTON — Secret school recordings posted on YouTube by a Cherry Hill father of an adult being caught calling the man’s 10-year-old autistic son “a bastard” may have helped spur an effort to speed the disciplinary process for teachers and other school employees who bully students.
State Sen. Diane Allen, a Burlington County Republican, introduced a bill Thursday to expand anti-bullying laws to cover incidents where teachers are the aggressors.
FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
An ordinance up for council vote on June 13 will change the speed limit of one of Ridgewood’s main streets and approve a uniform 25 miles per hour maximum for all roadways under village jurisdiction.
The Citizens Safety Advisory Committee recommended changes to Monroe Street’s current speed limits, which in some areas is as high as 35 mph, Village Manager Ken Gabbert said at a recent council meeting.
“[Monroe Street] is the last of our main arteries that has speed above 25 miles per hour. The committee recommends that all streets be the same,” Gabbert said.
The Politicization of Gay Marriage
May 17,2012
By Ian Linker
President Obama recently announced in an interview on ABC that he personally supports gay marriage. It’s really no surprise, is it? Obama’s actions as President have left no doubt about his views on the subject. Since he has been President, the Department of Justice has stopped enforcing the Clinton-era-Defense-of-Marriage law and Obama has ended the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. Then why the sudden urge to publicly announce his “personal” views? Well, the Vice President’s recent statement announcing his comfort with gay marriage before the President’s announcement may have forced the President’s hand from a timing perspective. But – as 67% of Americans in a new CBS poll agree -this was a deeply political calculation in an election year, albeit one Obama probably would have liked to make closer to the election – thank you, Mr. Biden. Some pundits in the mainstream media are calling Obama’s announcement risky. They say it could potentially energize his base, which given Obama’s recent fundraising may have happened, and youths, but alienate more conservative Democrats in swing states such as North Carolina, which the day before the President’s announcement voted to ban gay marriage, and were so crucial to the President’s victory in 2008.
But there is something else that motivated Obama. By talking social policy, the President forced his Republican opponent, Governor Mitt Romney, and Republicans running in races around the country to do the same. (Indeed, Governor Romney felt compelled following the President’s announcement to remind the American people that he is unequivocally against gay marriage and, taking the issue one step further, is against civil unions that give the same benefits as marriage.)
President Obama has a good reason for shifting the focus to social issues. Polls show Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy and believe Governor Romney would do a better job handling the economy. Why? There’s no great mystery there. The federal government has incurred more debt in the first three and a quarter years of the Obama administration than the first 232 years of our nation’s history combined. The economy is growing at a barely mediocre 2.2% annualized rate. Unemployment remains higher at 8.1% than Obama said it ever would be if Congress passed his nearly $800 billion so-called stimulus initiative and millions more have simply left the job market. Gas prices are too high, though they have dropped in recent weeks. Social Security and Medicare are in worse trouble than previously realized. And, “it is George Bush’s fault” is simply not resonating with voters like it did when Obama ran in 2008.
Governor Romney is ahead of the President in some polls and has run a so-far successful general election campaign critical of the President’s economic stewardship. Romney is making this a close race because he has so far managed to keep to the issue most important to the American people, especially independent voters – the economy. If Obama knocks Romney off message and the media, complicit in the plot, pepper the Governor with questions about gay marriage, and other social issues, Romney loses focus and Obama increases his re-election odds.
Romney and other Republicans must resist the urge, however, to debate social issues. As important as they are, social issues will not win this election. “It’s the economy stupid” is as true today as it was when Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign effectively used those words so many years ago. Republicans must constantly emphasize to the American people that they have a proven plan to cut and control spending, balance the budget, and grow the economy and create jobs through tax and regulatory reform. They also must emphasize to the American people that they have a plan to save the entitlement programs for future generations and that they have the courage to push their plans regardless of the political costs. This is the message Republicans must send if they want to keep the President on the defensive throughout the campaign and retake the White House this November.
Obama’s political decision to announce he is for gay marriage must not distract us. There is far too much at stake.
Ian Linker is an attorney and a former Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from New Jersey.
The Vetting – Exclusive – Obama’s Literary Agent in 1991 Booklet: ‘Born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii’
Note from Senior Management:
Andrew Breitbart was never a “Birther,” and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of “Birtherism.” In fact, Andrew believed, as we do, that President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961.
Yet Andrew also believed that the complicit mainstream media had refused to examine President Obama’s ideological past, or the carefully crafted persona he and his advisers had constructed for him.
It is for that reason that we launched “The Vetting,” an ongoing series in which we explore the ideological background of President Obama (and other presidential candidates)–not to re-litigate 2008, but because ideas and actions have consequences.
It is also in that spirit that we discovered, and now present, the booklet described below–one that includes a marketing pitch for a forthcoming book by a then-young, otherwise unknown former president of the Harvard Law Review.
It is evidence–not of the President’s foreign origin, but that Barack Obama’s public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times.
Route 17 North & South Clogged By Simultaneous Rush Hour Accidents
May 17,2012
Boyd A. Loving
6:34 PM
Ridgewood NJ Three (3) separate motor vehicle crashes slowed Route 17 northbound and southbound through Ridgewood to a crawl during a portion of Thursday evening’s rush hour.
Two (2) of the crashes occurred southbound near Franklin Turnpike; no injuries were reported in either and all vehicles were able to leave the scene on their own.
The northbound accident happened just south of West Saddle River Road. Although there were no injuries in that accident either, one (1) vehicle was towed from the scene.
Responding were Ridgewood PD, Bergen County PD, and HoHoKus PD
Does a business in Ridgewood get a bill if the the police respond to a theft at the business? What do you mean “thank God it is free for them”?
Valley doesn’t pay Real Estate Taxes!!!! Any business in town does. I think I’ll go pound my head against a wall now realizing how stupid many residents still are in this case.
Our police are constantly at Valley dealing with assaults, stolen rings, purses, computers, equipment. You name it and they don’t pay us a red cent for the services they use in town. If you don’t believe me just go and read the police blotters for the past few years.
Denying unemployment to seasonal workers at Jersey shore
Some of the lifeguards, bartenders, and boardwalk barkers who cater to the Shore’s summer visitors could face a long, cold winter if Trenton acts on legislation to eliminate unemployment benefits for seasonal employees.
Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Belford) and Assemblymen Sean Kean (R-Wall Twp.) and Anthony Bucco (R-Randolph) have introduced a bill that would require the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to identify specific seasonal jobs, define their length to any period less than 36 weeks, and deny workers who fill those jobs the opportunity to collect unemployment in the off-season. (Nurin, NJ Spotlight)
Camden opens new chapter in Christie’s education reform agenda
What with its size and Facebook fortune, Newark gets all the press. But Camden is quickly becoming ground zero south for the Christie administration’s push for education reform.
This week, the district will be the first to seek proposals from nonprofit organizations — with potential for-profit partners — to build and run new schools in the city under the recently enacted Urban Hope Act. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Ridgewood principal: Student brings replica gun to school
Wednesday May 16, 2012, 4:16 PM
The Ridgewood News
Officials at George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood discovered on Tuesday morning that a student came to school with a replica firearm.
The replica gun shoots plastic pellets, and is “designed to be non-lethal but they can look realistic,” according to a letter from GWMS Principal Katie Kashmanian sent to parents on Tuesday.
Bethlehem Lutheran Church Celebrates Music Saturday May 26
The members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church invite everyone to an organ and brass concert on Saturday, May 26 at 7:00PM. Please join us for this free performance in our sanctuary located at 155 Linwood Ave. in Ridgewood, NJ. We will be celebrating the important part music has played at Bethlehem. This concert is a part our 100th anniversary celebration.
The concert will feature classic and contemporary music as well as a Hymn Sing and patriotic music. The NJ Brass Quintet is a fabulous ensemble. Their sound will fill the sanctuary with celebration. They will be joined by Bethlehem’s Elena Crudge on organ and piano. The members of Bethlehem are eager to share her talents with our community.
The New Jersey Brass Quintet is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the cultural enrichment of the community in which it serves. The musical ensemble’s programs include educationally oriented children’s concerts, park concerts in a “Village Brass Band” setting, and special concerts for various occasions in addition to traditional chamber music concerts. Its repertoire ranges from earliest madrigals to the most contemporary compositions available.
The dedicated professional musicians that compose the NJBQ bring a high degree of talent and creativity to the ensemble. Each member of the quintet is an experienced educator as well as an accomplished performer.
Elena Crudge, organist and pianist, is a native of Russia. She graduated from the Moscow State Music College “Gnesini” and the Voronezh State Institute of Arts with honors. She majored in piano and qualified as a teacher, accompanist and soloist of the Chamber Ensemble.
After graduation, Moscow Region Music College employed Elena for 10 years as accompanist for chorus and individual instruments. She performed in public concerts arranged by the college.
Elena has been the organist at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Ridgewood since 1994. She is a member of American Guild of Organists (AGO).
Admission is free, however a free will offering will be welcome.
The members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Ridgewood want you to know that God has a plan for you and he loves you. Our faith is in Christ. Our guide is in the Bible. Our love is for all. Come celebrate with us. We offer 2 Sunday services: Contemporary Praise Service at 8:45am and Traditional Worship at 11am with Sunday School and Bible Class at 10am. Our summer worship schedule of one service at 9:30 begins on Sunday June 10 and runs through Sunday September 9. Please join us at 155 Linwood Avenue, Ridgewood.
Wall Street goes bearish on US stocks
By Vivianne Rodrigues and Arash Massoudi in New York
Wall Street strategists are expressing their most bearish views on US equities in nearly three years as investor worries mount over the threat of a eurozone break-up and the outlook for the global economy.
The bearish outlook comes even as stocks enjoyed their best first quarter since 1997. However, since stocks peaked in March, the S&P 500 has shed more than half its prior gains for the year.
Big Wall Street companies have cut their asset allocation to equities to its lowest level since May 2009, according to a Bloomberg index that measures average allocation for stocks. Asset allocation to equities has declined to 52 per cent from 62 per cent in January.
Others stated that such a degree of bearishness at big Wall Street groups actually provided a contrarian sign.
Now that’s Stimulus :Stimulus Dollars Fund Studies into Sexual History and Erectile Dysfunction
By Tony Kovaleski, Liza Meak, and Felipe Escamilla
| Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The NBC Investigative Unit has raised questions about two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million dollars distributed to the University of California San Francisco. The money was part of the federal stimulus program and went to studies into the erectile dysfunction of overweight middle aged men and the accurate reporting of someone’s sexual history.
This is part of our ongoing series of investigations by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit into who got federal stimulus dollars, and why some projects did not break ground more than two years after receiving the grant.
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_riaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 165
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_inhaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 166
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_mastodonIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 177
