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>Penn Jillette, "Big" John McCarthy and Jermaine Jackson @ BOOKENDS

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GodNo theridgewoodblog.net

Penn Jillette Thursday, September 15th @ 7:00pm
From Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette, will sign his new book:  God, No!  Books available Sept. 1st

LetsGetItOn theridgewoodblog.net

“Big” John McCarthy Friday,September 16th @ 7:00pm
Legendary UFC Referee, “Big John McCarthy will sign his new book: Let’s Get On It Books available Sept. 1st

JermaineJackson theridgewoodblog.net

Jermaine Jackson Saturday, September 17  @ 1:00pm
World Famous Singer, Jermaine Jackson, will sign his new book:  You are Not Alone Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes Books available Sept. 13th

Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.Please call the store for details.

Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ   07450   201-445-0726

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>DONNA PEDERSEN IS ASHBY AWARD WINNER

>DONNA PEDERSEN IS ASHBY AWARD WINNER

The 2011 winner of the coveted Ashby Award is Donna Pedersen, First Grade Teacher at Ridge Elementary School. Donna has been with the Ridgewood Public Schools since January 1, 1983, when she first entered the teaching profession.  Donna received a B.S. in Elementary Education and Rehabilitation from Springfield College, and an M.S. in Special Education from C. W. Post. Congratulations, Donna!

Click here to read Dr. Fishbein’s remarks at the Ashby Award presentation at Convocation on September 1 : https://tinyurl.com/3gq69gf

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>I’d much rather have teachers than astroturf and lights in a flood zone.

>I’d much rather have teachers than astroturf and lights in a flood zone. 

If the people charged with spending this money had used their heads, we would not have a result that will require endless, expensive repairs.

If the firm installing it won’t even guarantee it… then why was such a decision ever made? This is what we pay higher than other towns for?

When I went to school here (K-12) it was the baby boom and nearly all classes had 30 or more kids. The field use was very high too, and we didn’t need astroturf nor lights despite many more in schools than today.

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>RHS students named as National Merit semifinalists

>RHS students named as National Merit semifinalists

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2011
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Four students from Ridgewood High School have been named as semifinalists in the 57th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million.

The Ridgewood students are Chongsuh Chun, Junyoung Kim, Elizabeth A. Mattson and Lan Wang.

About 90 percent of the nation’s semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/129806153_RHS_students_named_as_National_Merit_semifinalists.html

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>Cell Tower Hearing Postponed until January 24, 2012!

>Cell Tower Hearing Postponed until January 24, 2012!

RIDGEWOOD – NJ) Bruce Whitaker, the Zoning Board Attorney, has received a request from T-Mobile to postpone their application before the Board until after the New Year.  The Village is looking to a January 24th hearing date. Announcement will be forth coming  on September 27th.


https://tinyurl.com/3u9cvfn

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>Fine Print: New Jersey’s SAT profile, 2011

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Fine Print: New Jersey’s SAT profile, 2011

What it is: The College Board each year releases the mean SAT scores and other data for millions of college-bound students, broken down both nationally and state by state. The SAT scores are the most closely monitored, but the report also provides extensive data on courses and grades.

Why it matters: This year, much of the attention is on the sudden drop in the mean scores across the country, on every test, with reading scores the lowest on record. In New Jersey, the overall math score rose slightly, up two points, while reading and writing stayed the same. But the state’s public school numbers were not as promising, falling an overall 11 points on all three tests.

The numbers everyone cares about: New Jersey saw no change in its overall mean scores in reading (495) and writing (497), and the slight rise in math (516), each of them out of a maximum of 800. The reading score remains a little below the national mean (497), but the state slightly topped the national norm in both math (514) and writing (489). Still, New Jersey’s public school numbers were more troubling, falling three or four points in each of the tests, to 492 in reading, 516 in math and 494 in writing.  (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0915/0129/
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>NJ Transit promises Port Authority toll increases will not mean higher fares

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NJ Transit promises Port Authority toll increases will not mean higher fares

NJ Transit officials said they have no plans to increase bus fares, even though the toll that the agency will pay for buses to cross the Hudson River will increase by $6 per bus starting Sunday.

Executive Director James Weinstein said Wednesday that the increased cost, estimated at an $4.6 million, would be absorbed by the agency by putting off doing “other things.”

Academy Bus officials notified customers Tuesday that a fare increase could be in the works because of the increase in Hudson River crossing tolls at Port Authority facilities. The toll for commuter buses is set to increase from $4 to $10 per bus on Sept. 18, the same date that all Port Authority tolls and PATH fares are scheduled to rise.

Some commuter advocates called on the Port Authority to waive the toll increase for commuter buses. A Port Authority spokesman said they’ve received no requests for a waiver so far.  (Higgs, Gannett)

https://www.app.com/article/20110914/NJNEWS/309140075/NJ-Transit-promises-Port-Authority-toll-increase-will-not-mean-higher-fares?odyssey=nav|head
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>NJ Public Schools: parents and other visitors here may soon have to pass background checks

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NJ Public Schools: parents and other visitors here may soon have to pass background checks

Staff members may not be the only ones who have to submit to background checks in Marlboro Public Schools – parents and other visitors here may soon have to pass them, too.

The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded the township a $37,500 Community Oriented Policing Services-Secure Our Schools grant, district officials and legislators said. The approval came on the heels of recent board talks about purchasing a security system that would check visitor backgrounds at all eight district schools.

Marlboro was one of seven communities, including Bayonne and Berkeley Heights Township, to apply for and receive the federal funds, which totaled $530,000. The funds may be used for metal detectors, locks, security systems and other safety measures.

“New Jersey’s students and teachers should never have to worry about their safety in our schools,” said U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), a member of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the grant program.  (Williams Boyd, Gannett)

https://www.app.com/article/20110914/NJNEWS/309140099/District-may-require-c
hecks-for-parents
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>Taking the first steps toward a New Jersey healthcare exchange

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Taking the first steps toward a New Jersey healthcare exchange

The law — at least on this point– is clear. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that healthcare insurance exchanges — virtual marketplaces that let individuals and small businesses comparison shop for health coverage — must be established in all states by January 2014.

Defining the details of an exchange, however, is left up to individual states. That task brought analysts, advocates and researchers to Trenton yesterday, to a stakeholder forum co-hosted by NJ for Health Care and the NJ Citizen Action Education Fund.

Discussion among panelists and findings from a report released by Rutgers University last month reveal that there is general agreement that New Jersey should create its own exchange — streamlined and simple to use.
Panelist Ray Castro, senior policy analyst with research organization New Jersey Policy Perspective, said that while New Jersey is already ahead of other states in terms of health policies, “by having our own exchange we’re going to be able to tailor the exchange to meet the needs in our state.  (Roman, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0915/0115/
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>With Rising Property Taxes, Should Non-Profits Now Pay Their “Fair Share”?

>With Rising Property Taxes, Should Non-Profits Now Pay Their “Fair Share”?
( its a little old  but it still seemed very relevant, the staff of the Ridgewood blog ) 
Posted by Matthew Brian Hersh on August 4, 2008

It’s tight here in New Jersey.

And it’s because it’s crowded. With 8.7 million people, we are 11th in the country in population, but first in population density in the Union with over 1,100 people per square mile. We’re also wealthy—2nd in the country—but you wouldn’t necessarily know it by looking at those areas that make us the most densely-populated state in the country.

The Garden State, as it so happens, also as the highest imbalance of any state in the country in terms of what it gives and receives to and from the federal government. According the the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, the Garden State gets back just less than two-thirds of every dollar it sends to Washington.

So there are demands here. There are spatial demands, housing demands, demands for resources, infrastructure, you name it. As such, New Jersey is often at the vanguard in dealing with all kinds of issues facing the nation. The state hits a major stumbling block, however, when it comes to property taxes.

In New Jersey, where we rely on a property-tax-based system to largely fund our public schools and governments, rising municipal costs are taxing people out of towns. The state has mandated a four percent cap on municipal budget increases, and as home values are reassessed and towns are revaluated, property tax rates will adjust—either up or down. But obviously the worst-case scenario is an increase, so that’s what we’ll examine.

https://www.rooflines.org/1061/with_rising_property_taxes_should_non_profits_now_pay_their_fair_share/

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>VOTE for the Best Pizza in Ridgewood 2011

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ridgewood+01252006+013

VOTE for the Best Pizza in Ridgewood 2011 

Due to the hotly contested nature of the contest and technical problems with the voting in the past there is a limit of 1 vote per IP . This year we are adding 5 secret reviewers who will taste a slice of pizza from each participant .We will then compare their selection with the Votes and see if they come to the same conclusions.  PJ will do a special taste test to break any ties should they occur . 


Past Winners include :


Pizza fusion (2010 Winner)

A Mano (2009 Winner)

Puzo’s (2008 Winner)


the POLL : https://micropoll.com/t/KEiOrZCVrV

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>White House pressed on $500 million loan to solar company now under investigation

>White House pressed on $500 million loan to solar company now under investigation

By Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, Published: September 13

The Obama White House tried to rush federal reviewers for a decision on a nearly half-billion-dollar loan to the solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra so Vice President Biden could announce the approval at a September 2009 groundbreaking for the company’s factory, newly obtained e-mails show.

The Silicon Valley company, a centerpiece in President Obama’s initiative to develop clean energy technologies, had been tentatively approved for the loan by the Energy Department but was awaiting a final financial review by the Office of Management and Budget.

The August 2009 e-mails, released to The Washington Post, show White House officials repeatedly asking OMB reviewers when they would be able to decide on the federal loan and noting a looming press event at which they planned to announce the deal. In response, OMB officials expressed concern that they were being rushed to approve the company’s project without adequate time to assess the risk to taxpayers, according to information provided by Republican congressional investigators.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-pushed-500-million-loan-to-solar-company-now-under-investigation/2011/09/13/gIQAr3WbQK_print.html

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>Valley Renewal : building a new facility, not renewal

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Valley Renewal : building a new facility, not renewal 

I didn’t realize that the current building is about 540,000 square feet and that the proposed “renewal” is somewhere between 1.1 and 1.44 million square feet. I think this doesn’t qualify as a renewal, renovation or even an expansion.

When you increase something from it’s current size to twice or maybe 2.67 times it’s size i’d say you are building a new facility. Imagine if you went down to the building department in Ridgewood and wanted to put in a giant underground parking garage, expand your house to the boundaries, raise the height of your home substantially, and tell them construction will at best last 10 years. After they finished laughing, they would politely throw you out.

This project is way beyond the scope of a renewal. Imagine Paramus Park Mall on that property. I’m sure Valley can come up with revised plans with lower room counts, a smaller footprint, less digging, less height, better setbacks so it keeps more within our community. p.s. i don’t live anywhere near Valley.

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>A Sign of things to come :Credit ratings agency downgrades Collingswood to junk status

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A Sign of things to come : Credit ratings agency downgrades Collingswood to junk status

The credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded the borough of Collingswood to junk status, a drop tied to taxpayer underwriting of the LumberYard development on Haddon Avenue.

Collingswood dropped six notches, from A1 to Ba1. By contrast, the state of New Jersey was downgraded one notch by three credit ratings agencies this year.

Alan Schankel, managing director of Philadelphia-based Janney Capital Markets, called the downgrade “huge.”

As a practical matter, it’s a real black spot on their image and could make it difficult for them to borrow,” Schankel said. “I don’t think they’re necessarily going to default, but I can’t see a clear path to how they’re going to pay off their debt.”

According to the Moody’s assessment, the borough is a guarantor for a 2006, $8.5 million loan by LumberYard Redevelopment LLC, the residential and business development located off Haddon Avenue.  (Roh, Gannett)

https://www.courierpostonline.com/article/BZ/20110913/NEWS01/110913020/Credit-ratings-agency-downgrades-Collingswood-junk-status?odyssey=nav|head
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>Ridgewood-based record label steps it up

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Ridgewood-based record label steps it up

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011  
BY KELLY EBBELS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

An ardent music scene around the Ridgewood area has long flourished, with the ascent of musicians from basement shows to Internet notoriety and world tours.

Alongside the emergence of the area’s indie musicians has been a local record label that has nourished that talent and allowed a springboard to release their music.

Underwater Peoples, the record label created by Ridgewood resident Evan Brody and three of his college friends from George Washington University, had gained already significant clout from the Internet’s music communities. Their mainstream recognition is now slowly growing, this time from Billboard, which last month named Underwater Peoples the eighth-best indie music label on a list of 50. It’s a recognition Brody says he is humbled by, if a little unsure what to do with.

https://www.northjersey.com/community/129509568_Local_record_label_steps_it_up_Underwater_Peoples_named_near_top_of_Billboard_ranking.html