>Morris & Essex, Gladstone and Montclair rail service suspended. RVL service suspended between Union & Newark, buses provided. Northeast Corridor & North Jersey Coast Line service subject to 30-min. delays in/out of NY. Northern NJ buses subject to 30-min. delays. System wide cross honoring in effect.
>Apoco Snowstorm 2011
>
Apoco Snowstorm 2011
Peter Coti
Well, I think this storm deserves its own name due to its destruction so far and I think “Apoco Snowstorm 2011” describes perfectly! Attached is a picture of power lines right next to my driveway under a pile of branches, somehow I still have power in my house. I will have better pictures tomorrow but it was snowing outside and I have only had this phone for 7 hours and I didn’t want to destroy it will snow damage the first day.
Power out throughout all of town, firetrucks roaming around the streets looking for dangers. My dad even saw a branch in a cars windshield. In my backyard there are 3 sizable tree branches and 2 large branches on top of my power lines and while writing this I have been waiting for PSE&G on the phone for 45 minutes when they said it would be 10 minutes to connect to an operator.
Stay safe. Remind people to stay in doors and break out the board games.
>Valley Renewal : the answer should still be NO
>Valley Renewal : the answer should still be NO
VALLEY HAS BECOME A DISGRACE… in what they continue to try and do to the town of Ridgewood. The FACT is this plan has been voted down for many years and many councils before. So the answer should still be NO. This parcel of land has not grown any over the years and that H-Zone was put in place to protect Ridgewood! STOP this nonsense.
I can’t believe it’s gotten this far and continues to waste so much time and the Ridgewood taxpayer’s money.
Valley Hospital should be ashamed at what they are asking for!
They are so hypocritial in their comments and efforts to stop Pascack Valley Hospital from re-opening it basically states that they don’t need to expand! WE agree! Renew from within your existing structure! NO external expansion, if region (Pascack Valley) doesn’t need it, then you are already claiming that you don’t need it!
I hope Pascack valley gets the okay so you will stop this McMansion of a hospital in a community…Next to a school! Shame on you Valley Hospital for trying!! MT
>Judge fighting Christie’s pension, health benefits asks N.J. Supreme Court to review case
>Judge fighting Christie’s pension, health benefits asks N.J. Supreme Court to review case
The attorney for the Superior Court judge who succeeded in getting Gov. Chris Christie’s pension and health benefits changes declared unconstitutional for jurists is asking the state Supreme Court to take up the issue to resolve it as soon as possible.
Judge Paul DePascale filed his request today, a day after Superior Court Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg said she wouldn’t stop her decision barring increased contributions from the jurists from going into effect while the state appeals.
Last week Feinberg said Christie’s changes to the pension and health benefits plan is unconstitutional as it applies to Superior Court judges and Supreme Court justices because of a state Constitution prohibition against the diminution of their salaries while they are in office. (Spoto, The Star-Ledger)
>Association: N.J.’s hospitals engineer $18.6B in economic activity
>
Association: N.J.’s hospitals engineer $18.6B in economic activity
Garden State hospitals are working to keep patients healthy, but in doing so, they’re also providing first aid to the state’s economy, according to a report issued today by the New Jersey Hospital Association.
The state’s hospitals contributed $18.6 billion in economic activity in 2010, according to the report, which also shows hospitals employ 140,000, including 114,000 full-time employees. The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development reports health care and social assistance accounts for nearly 500,000 jobs here. (Caliendo, NJBIZ)
>Geotechnical expert testifies at Valley Hospital hearing
>Geotechnical expert testifies at Valley Hospital hearing
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2011
BY KELLY EBBELS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Gives project ‘yellow light’
A geotechnical expert testified before Village Council on Monday night that any construction below The Valley Hospital would involve pumping voluminous amounts of groundwater, trucking out tons of soil and removing bedrock from the land below the facility, which he cautioned would be complicated and potentially stressful on the neighboring community.
Laurence Keller, of Whitestone Associates, told the council at the latest special public meeting on The Valley Hospital expansion proposal that he would give the project a “yellow light,” not a green light or a red light, based on concerns raised in his studies.
The hospital’s plan for “Renewal” proposes to build two stories below ground under its North Building to accommodate procedure rooms, a kitchen and other services. Once Phase I of construction is complete, about 317,000 square feet, or one-third of the hospital campus size proposed in that first phase, would be underground.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/132762613_Geotechnical_expert_testifies.html
State Sen. Kevin O’Toole, R-Wayne, toured several back yards on Burnside Place
>State Sen. Kevin O’Toole, R-Wayne, toured several back yards on Burnside Place that abut the brook
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011
BY EVONNE COUTROS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD – Village residents turned to their state senator on Wednesday for answers on how to address years of flooding issues caused by the overflow of the Hohokus Brook.
State Sen. Kevin O’Toole, R-Wayne, toured several back yards on Burnside Place that abut the brook. Some of the houses along the winding road and neighboring streets sustained extensive flood damage during Hurricane Irene in August and in earlier storms, such as Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999.
“I want the … sandbars and rocks out of the Hohokus Brook that have gathered since Floyd,” said Leslie Cimino, whose Burnside Place home sits on less than half an acre abutting the brook and the narrow Zabriskie ditch that is a catch-basin of sorts for water overflow. “I want Ridgewood to take responsibility for cleaning the Zabriskie ditch. The ditch and the brook no longer function the way they are supposed to function. It’s a major concern.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/132677568_Residents_seek_lawmaker_s_aid.html
>TAXI SERVICES IN RIDGEWOOD – SENIOR CITIZEN COUPONS
>TAXI SERVICES IN RIDGEWOOD – SENIOR CITIZEN COUPONS
The Village of Ridgewood has issued a taxi license to Village Taxi, 28 N. Broad Street, Ridgewood. This taxi will provide 24/7 local and airport transportation services. Their contact number is 201/494-4444.
VILLAGE TAXI IS THE ONLY TAXI THAT WILL ACCEPT SENIOR CITIZEN TAXI COUPONS.
>Concerned Citizens of Ridgewood encourages residents to attend Valley meeting
>Letter: CRR encourages residents to attend Valley meeting
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2011
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
CRR encourages residents to attend meetings
To the editor:
It’s been five long years since this odyssey began, and we need you to come to the next one or two meetings to show the Village Council what Ridgewood thinks of Valley’s massive expansion. The next meeting is Thursday, Nov. 3 and they need to see you there. If you haven’t been able to attend the meetings, let me catch you up.
The Village Council is hearing from the same experts as the Planning Board, but they are asking their own questions. The Village Planner told us he didn’t know if the size of the property was a factor in the hospital expert’s views that Renewal is right-sized. The traffic engineer said the road system around Valley fails today, and this isn’t the right location for the hospital’s existing operations. The hospital expert the Planning Board hired doesn’t routinely work for municipalities and his clients have primarily been hospitals looking to advance their “master plans.” The geo-technical expert said the removal of 500,000 gallons of groundwater per day from the construction site “will stress the aquifer” and that 22,000 truck loads of bedrock and soil would need to be removed to allow construction. All this subterranean activity is despite a towering 94 foot building height. This indicates we have already reached the proverbial “tipping point” the planning board hearings determined would be obvious to all “once reached.”
>Winter Storm Warning
>Winter Storm Warning
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE…UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
709 AM EDT SAT OCT 29 2011
…A HISTORIC EARLY SEASON SNOWSTORM FOR INTERIOR SECTIONS OF THE
LOWER HUDSON VALLEY…SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT AND NORTHEAST NEW
JERSEY…
NORTHERN FAIRFIELD-EASTERN PASSAIC-WESTERN BERGEN-ROCKLAND-
NORTHERN WESTCHESTER-
709 AM EDT SAT OCT 29 2011
…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EDT SUNDAY…
* LOCATIONS…INTERIOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY…THE
LOWER HUDSON VALLEY AND SOUTHWEST CONNECTICUT…MAINLY ALONG
AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 287 AND THE MERRITT PARKWAY.
* HAZARD TYPES…HEAVY WET SNOW AND STRONG WINDS.
* ACCUMULATIONS…8 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW.
* WINDS…NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH.
* TEMPERATURES…IN THE MID 30S.
* VISIBILITIES…ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.
* TIMING…IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS…PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE
NEARLY ALL SNOW…POSSIBLY BEGINNING AS OR MIXING WITH RAIN AT
THE START. ELSEWHERE…A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW TODAY SHOULD
CHANGE TO ALL SNOW FROM WEST TO EAST FROM MID AFTERNOON INTO
EARLY EVENING…AND THE SNOW COULD BE HEAVY AT TIMES. SNOW
SHOULD GRADUALLY TAPER OFF IN INTENSITY LATE TONIGHT.
* IMPACTS…WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS DUE TO SNOW
COVERED ROADS AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES. STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY
WET SNOW WILL RESULT IN DOWNED TREES…TREE LIMBS AND POWER
LINES. THE DAMAGE COULD BE QUITE EXTENSIVE WITH THE POTENTIAL
FOR AN AREA OF WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW AND
STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS
OR IMPOSSIBLE. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL…
KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT…FOOD…AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN
CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.
>Pascack Valley residents to state: ‘We need our hospital’
>Pascack Valley residents to state: ‘We need our hospital’
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011
BY JASON BRAFF
MANAGING EDITOR
PASCACK VALLEY COMMUNITY LIFE
Township of Washington – The 1,000 plus Pascack Valley residents in attendance at the state Health Planning Board’s public hearing to reopen the old Pascack Valley Hospital were loud and clear: they want their hospital back.
“The bottom-line is that this a matter of need and a matter of life and death,” said Emerson Mayor Carlos Colina, one of many that testified to the board on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at Westwood Regional High School.
Politicians, emergency technicians, physicians and residents presented their case for a new hospital in Westwood and shared varying personal stories.
The hearing was held as part of the board’s process to make a recommendation to the state health commissioner to determine whether or not a certificate of need should be granted to Hackensack University Medical Center to reopen the hospital as a 128-bed acute-care facility.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/132675813_We_need_our_hospital.html
>Valley Renewal : Residents of Ridgewood, we have a right to expect that the best interests of Ridgewood as a whole must be the determinant
>Valley Renewal : Residents of Ridgewood, we have a right to expect that the best interests of Ridgewood as a whole must be the determinant
Residents of Ridgewood, we have a right to expect that the best interests of Ridgewood as a whole must be the determinant.
If it is objectively and demonstrably in the best interests of Ridgewood that Valley receive approval for its expansion plans, then the Village Council should vote accordingly. They will obviously need to be prepared to defend their vote to those of us who disagree with it, but if they can do so with a straight face, then that is all we have a right to ask for as taxpayers and residents.
On the other hand, if it is not objectively and demonstrably in the best interests of Ridgewood as a whole that Valley receive approval for its expansion plans, then the Village Council should vote it down.
This is the single largest expansion plan of any business entity in village history, involving major changes to the village Master Plan. The onus is and must continue to be on Valley to demonstrate that Ridgewood’s best interests are being served. If a Ridgewood Council Member makes a decision in his or her political capacity to vote no on such a plan, he or she should not be placed in fear of any lawsuit.
>Push for Pascack hospital is political
>Push for Pascack hospital is political
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011
By SAM PASSOW
COLUMNIST
To say the movement to open a new hospital on the site of the closed Pascack Valley Hospital is not about politics is naïve.
Not that the residents who packed Westwood Regional High School’s two auditoriums last week for a hearing with the state health planning board were there with a political agenda. Wearing green shirts provided by Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), which runs the satellite emergency room at the Pascack site and plans to open a new hospital with the help of a for-profit company, their pleas for a new hospital after their old one closed were made with a genuine concern for their quality of life.
The residents want a full-service hospital close to them. Who wouldn’t? But they weren’t the only ones to speak at the hearing. They were treated to a parade of state and local officials. A common refrain that night was that the residents are in overwhelming support of getting their hospital back. Again, that’s obvious. Why would anyone in the community say no to that?
But a representative from Valley Hospital in Ridgewood asked everyone to look outside of the region. Pascack Valley wasn’t the only hospital to close recently. At least a handful in New Jersey shut their doors in just the last five years. When residents in Paterson and Plainfield lost their hospitals they held rallies pushing for new ones, but the Pascack Valley effort is different.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/132674118_Push_for_hospital_is_indeed_political.html
Great Quality Dress-up Items Now at Harding Pharmacy
>Great Quality Dress-up Items Now at Harding Pharmacy
Harding Pharmacy located at 305 E Ridgewood Ave in Ridgewood, NJ, invites you to shop for great quality dress up items that can be used for Halloween or pretend play all year long. We have fairy costumes, wings, princess capes, musical chicken dance skirts, wands, tiaras, spiderman cape and knight costumes! Also, our cards are ALWAYS just 99 cents! Please, stop by! Parking is conveniently located in our own lot next to the store.
>Ridgewood school board interviews six candidates for open seat
>Ridgewood school board interviews six candidates for open seat
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Board of Education (BOE) interviewed six candidates this week for the seat left vacant by trustee Charles Reilly’s departure last month.
Six candidates applied and were each questioned by board members on Monday night regarding their professional backgrounds, reasons for applying for the position, and goals as a potential BOE trustee. The decision on Reilly’s replacement will be announced at a public meeting on Nov. 7.
Among the candidates – James Morgan, Gwen Sullivan, B. Vincent Loncto, Janice Willet, Rei Shinozuka and Eric Gross – several themes were consistent across the six interviews. All expressed a desire to contribute to the reputation of the Ridgewood school district, which was a primary reason behind moving to the village for many of the candidates.
