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Ridgewood school board estimates Irene’s cleanup costs at $118K
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Ridgewood school board estimates Irene’s cleanup costs at $118K
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Cleaning and repair costs to Ridgewood High School (RHS) fields following the damage that occurred during Hurricane Irene will total around $118,000, Superintendent Daniel Fishbein reported at Monday’s Board of Education (BOE) meeting
The figures will be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the hopes of receiving disaster assistance funds to alleviate the cost to the district.
During his “opening of school” report, Fishbein outlined the various damages at school facilities during the late August storm, including folds, tears and sediment deposits on the turf surfaces on Stadium and Stevens fields, which both spent the better part of the storm submerged under the overflowing waters of the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook.
Fishbein estimated the cost of cleaning and repair to Stadium Field – involving the removal of debris, correction of the folds and repair of the tears – would be about $58,175. The corresponding cost to neighboring Stevens Field is about $32,585, he said. In addition, about $16,300 will need to be spent on landscaping repairs to the areas surrounding the fields.
>NJ’s participation in common academic core standards sees early test
>NJ’s participation in common academic core standards sees early test
As New Jersey and dozens of other states join a national effort to redefine academic standards for public schools, Cherry Hill’s Joseph D. Sharp Elementary School is a good place to see those new standards taking shape.
>Gov. Christie goes off to school to highlight state’s new math standards
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>AT&T Expands Mobile Broadband Wireless Capacity in Bergen and Essex Counties
>AT&T Expands Mobile Broadband Wireless Capacity in Bergen and Essex Counties
Additional Spectrum Expected to Improve Connectivity and Performance of Mobile Broadband Data and Voice Connectivity
MAHWAH, N.J. and NEWARK, N.J., Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Customers in Bergen and Essex Counties are expected to experience improved mobile broadband coverage and voice performance as a result of continued investment and innovation by AT&T*. The company announced today that it has completed another key initiative in its ongoing efforts to enhance the wireless capacity and performance of its mobile broadband network.
New areas of enhanced network capacity in Bergen County include Allendale, Bergenfield, Emerson, Fairlawn, Franklin Lakes, Glen Rock, Mahwah, Midland Park, Oakland, Old Tappan, Park Ridge, Ramsey, Ridgewood, River Edge, Tenafly, Upper Saddle River and Westwood and also along the Garden State Parkway, Routes 287, 17, 208, and Franklin Turnpike.
New areas of expanded capacity in Essex County include Belleville, Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Harrison, Irvington, Maplewood, Montclair, Newark, Nutley, and the Oranges. The network was also enhanced in these areas along the Garden State Parkway, Routes 280 and 21, and Springfield Avenue.
AT&T invested more than $400 million in its New Jersey wireless and wireline networks in the first half of 2011.
“Delivering dependable wireless coverage for consumers and businesses needing to stay connected is our ultimate objective,” said J. Michael Schweder, AT&T President New Jersey. “In addition, our recently announced agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA will strengthen and expand our network across New Jersey. If approved, this deal means that we’ll be able to expand the next generation of mobile broadband – 4G LTE – from our current plan of 80 percent of the U.S. population to more than 97 percent.”
The network enhancement adds new layers of frequency, also known as “carriers,” to 124 cell sites in Bergen and Essex Counties to more efficiently manage available spectrum and increase mobile broadband capacity. The expansion helps manage ever-growing demand for mobile broadband services by allocating more network resources for AT&T’s mobile broadband network.
“Our goal is for our customers across the Garden State to have an extraordinary experience. As part of the communities in Bergen and Essex Counties, we’re always looking for new opportunities to provide an enhanced customer experience and our investment in the local wireless network is just one way we’re accomplishing that,” said Tom DeVito, vice president and general manager for AT&T in New Jersey and New York.
AT&T’s mobile broadband network is based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies that includes GSM and UMTS, the most widely used wireless network platforms in the world. AT&T has the best international coverage of any U.S. wireless provider, providing access to voice service in more than 220 countries and data service in more than 200 countries.
AT&T also operates the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network** with nearly 27,000 hotspots in the U.S. and provides access to nearly 190,000 hotspots globally through roaming agreements. Most AT&T smartphone customers get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network at no additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn’t count against customers’ monthly wireless data plans.
For more information about AT&T’s coverage in New Jersey or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer.
>In Major Upset Republican wins former Anthony Weiner’s New York House seat
>In Major Upset Republican wins former Anthony Weiner’s New York House seat
By Paul Kane, Wednesday, September 14, 12:22 AM
With the outcome of his own reelection effort 14 difficult months away, President Obama suffered a sharp rebuke Tuesday when voters in New York elected a conservative Republican to represent a Democratic district that has not been in GOP hands since the 1920s.
Bob Turner, the winner, cast the election as a referendum on Obama’s stewardship of the economy and, in the state’s Ninth Congressional District, which has a large population of Orthodox Jewish voters, the president’s position on Israel.
With 75 percent of the precincts reporting at press time, Turner had a commanding lead, with 53 percent of the vote, compared with 47 percent for Weprin.
Turner, 70, a retired cable TV executive who has never served in elective office, defeated Democratic State Assemblyman David Weprin, 55, who has two decades of experience in public service, to fill the seat left vacant when Anthony Weiner (D) resigned in disgrace in June after more than 12 years in the House.
The defeat came as Republicans trounced Democrats in another special House election Tuesday, in northern Nevada, where Republican Mark Amodei led Democrat Kate Marshall, 56 percent to 39 percent almost from the start.
>Big Brother is Watching
>Big Brother is Watching
Obama unveils “AttackWatch.com”
https://my.barackobama.com/page/signup/o2012-attackwatch-report-an-attack
>Village Council Special Public Meetings Concerning Proposed Valley Expansion : This is how you hold a Public Meeting
>Village Council Special Public Meetings Concerning Proposed Valley Expansion : This is how you hold a Public Meeting
the Staff of the Ridgewood Blog
(RIDGEWOOD -NJ) It seems like we have been here so many times before , once again Valley made a decent case for the need to modernize ,but I am not sure the same can be said for the enormous increase in size ,that case simply was not made .
The fact is that the new Valley would be the same size as Paramus Park leads us once again to the old argument that a 30 archer project is being shoehorned into 15 archers.
Another interesting detail was that the Planning Board has for some time considered Valley to be a “Regional Hospital ” and not a “Community Hospital” as we have been so often told.
Although I am still left with the feeling that Valley is being far from forward with their real motivations for the the proposed “Renewal” ,all and all the meeting was respectful with out much of the acrimony of the last couple of years ,well run by the Council and very informative leaving me with one question why weren’t some of these questions asked before ?
>Watching Village meetings online at last
>Watching Village meetings online at last
After years of waiting, the Village website is undergoing an overhaul. One benefit is that it is finally possible to watch certain Village proceedings, such as tonight’s Valley Hospital hearings (right now!), from home or wherever internet access is available, without Cablevision.
Go to the Village website, www.ridgewoodnj.net. Click on PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNEL, the fifth gray tab from the left across the top of the screen under the band containing the name of the Village. You will reach USTREAM.
Considering the large number of advertisements and extraneous material that this must be a free service. Even in the middle of the live program, advertisements, with sound, suddenly fill the screen. The program being watched then disappears until the commercial is over.
Currently, only a limited number of people can watch at the time time. As word gets out, more and more people may wish to watch at once. If paying something, or paying more, would enable more people to watch, that would be good, although the site itself is so unacceptably distracting and “commercial” that it would be better to replace the current service with a less commercial one.
With any luck, the town will be able to pay soon for a less disruptive, less commercial service that is available to more people at once.
However, this is an important first step.
Totalitarian Program ‘Agenda 21′ Now in Effect!
>Totalitarian Program ‘Agenda 21′ Now in Effect!
Written on September 13, 2011 by ralphbarker
Effective execution of Agenda 21 will require a profound reorientation of all human society, unlike anything the world has ever experienced a major shift in the priorities of both governments and individuals and an unprecedented redeployment of human and financial resources. This shift will demand that a concern for the environmental consequences of every human action be integrated into individual and collective decision-making at every level.
– George H. Bush
Agenda 21 isn’t coming. It is here. Most don’t know about it. They’ve never heard of it, but it is creeping in the back door right now. So, look behind you. It may already be in your backyard.
What is Agenda 21? It is a United Nation’s program presented and approved in Rio in 1992. At that time American conservatives laughed it off. “This is too crazy,” they said. “Impossible. It will never happen. Not here!” Well, it is happening. It is happening here and it is happening now. Agenda 21 is a totalitarian comprehensive environmental program that, when fully implemented, will direct where you live, how much water you can use, and how and where you can travel.
Agenda 21 is being marketed as a worldwide effort to ensure that all human beings will have access to adequate housing, health care, water and food. Of course this will require a massive redistribution of wealth from prosperous countries to poorer countries. Predictably, capitalistic countries, like the United States, will suffer lower standards of living.
It’s noteworthy that Presidents George H. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, through Executive Orders, have signed onto Agenda 21. Hundreds more governors, mayors, and county commissioners have also signed on.
Agenda 21 and related programs will eliminate many things we hold dear. These have been declared “unsustainable” and will be abolished. Here are some of them:
All private property rights (property ownership)
All forms of irrigation, pesticides & commercial fertilizer
Livestock production and most meat consumption
Privately owned vehicles and personal travel
Use of fossil fuels for power generation or mechanized travel
Single family homes
Most forms of mineral extraction and timber harvesting
Human population must be reduced to fewer than 1 billion people
https://patriotupdate.com/articles/totalitarian-program-agenda-21-now-in-effect
>Valley uses a lot of Village resources like police, fire and many other services.
>Valley uses a lot of Village resources like police, fire and many other services.
There’s another aspect to this, whether you support or oppose “renewal”. Valley uses a lot of Village resources like police, fire and many other services.
Obviously their financial condition is extremely good. They pay no taxes as a “non-profit”, and wow, some of the salaries are pretty “upscale” indeed.
But what about requiring them to make PILOT payments.. it’s done elsewhere (payments in lieu of taxes).
These could be assessed based on some percentage of how residential property is taxed in the Village.
Maybe a square foot basis, maybe a negotiated flat sum that indexes as costs increase.
Obviously school taxes don’t apply, but certainly a payment for all the rest should apply. That way, Valley continues as a resource to Ridgewood, and Ridgewood as a resource to Valley, “renewed” or not.
Clearly the hospital already uses loads of Village resources, and whatever plan is decided upon, it will use more. Asking them to pay their share seems only fair. The rest of us sure have to.
Our tax burden is already much too high, and making PILOT payments would sure help. We are routinely told there is no money for fixing sidewalks, curbs and plenty of other things here. (seems to be money for mgr raises though…)
Why hasn’t the VC ever considered the PILOT topic? I wonder if they even are aware how it’s used plenty of other places? I hope someone will bring it up….. especially now at a crucial juncture in all this, when there is leverage to be had.
Cannot be there tonight but if not a total mob scene will try to get to some of the hearings. Those that do go… please bring this up!
I’m sure plenty of other things will be brought up.. but this one should be too.
>Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme
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Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission defines a Ponzi as:A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors.Does Social Security constitute a Ponzi based on that definition? Bruce Krasting thinks it does.
>ANNUAL RIDGEWOOD STREET FAIR, September 18th
>ANNUAL RIDGEWOOD STREET FAIR, September 18th
Ridgewood Parks and Recreation will again sponsor this seasonal outdoor market on Sunday, September 18th, 12 noon to 5 pm, on East Ridgewood Avenue (rain or shine). There is no fee to attend.
Vendor wares will include arts and crafts, jewelry, holiday ornaments, novelties of many sorts, home goods, and clothing and accessories. Children’s events will include pony rides, sand art, a petting zoo, inflatables and more. The food court offers a wide variety of refreshments.
>Village Council Special Public Meetings Concerning Proposed Valley Expansion
>Village Council Special Public Meetings Concerning Proposed Valley Expansion
The Ridgewood Village Council will be holding Special Public Meetings concerning the proposed Valley Hospital expansion in the Ridgewood High School Campus Center, 627 East Ridgewood Avenue, on the following dates: September 13, September 19, October 13, October 24, November 3, November 22, and November 29, 2011.
The meetings will begin at 7:00 p.m. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. The meetings will also be televised on Cablevision Channel 77 and through computer video streaming at ustream.tv. Agendas for each meeting will be posted on the Village’s website prior to the meeting.
>Poverty in U.S. Climbed to 17-Year High in 2010, Income Fell
>Poverty in U.S. Climbed to 17-Year High in 2010, Income Fell
By Catherine Dodge – Sep 13, 2011 10:21 AM ET
The U.S. poverty rate rose to the highest level in almost two decades and household income fell in 2010, underscoring the lingering impact of the worst economic slump in seven decades.
Data released by the Census Bureau today showed the proportion of people living in poverty climbed to 15.1 percent last year from 14.3 percent in 2009 and median household income declined 2.3 percent. The 46.2 million Americans living in poverty was the highest since the Census Bureau began counting the number 52 years ago. Those figures may have worsened in recent months as the economy weakened.