It has been eleven years since the fateful Tuesday morning that changed the lives of every American forever. This September 11th, our country will once again join together to mourn that tragic day, comfort survivors, support friends and family and remember how fortunate we are to live in a free country.
The wounds we endured that day, both physical and mental, will never fully heal. The images of airplanes hitting the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93 crashing in Pennsylvania are now woven into the tapestry of American life. Here in New Jersey, we can all tell personal stories of loved ones, friends, colleagues and neighbors who never made it home. Everything changed that day, but our spirit survived.
Firefighters, police officers and EMTs and every day citizens jumped into action, motivated by the spirit to serve and protect their fellow man. With their own lives on the line, they ran into the buildings, toward the fire and flames. Many of them paid the ultimate sacrifice for their bravery and we are eternally grateful to them.
In the days, weeks and months after the attacks, our men and women in the armed forces embarked on a campaign to eliminate terrorist forces and bring our enemies to justice. Eleven years later, after taking down the mastermind of the operation and many of his cohorts, American troops continue to fight for our way of life.
As President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” The forces of evil that tried to fill our hearts with vulnerability and fear underestimated our resiliency. Americans are free people and as free people we will live and prosper.
My thoughts and prayers are with all those who mourn the loss of loved ones on September 11th. May God bless their memory and may God bless the United States of America. Sincerely,
PSE&G rate payer subsidies for solar energy hits home
September 9,2012
the staff of theRidgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ ,A month ago when Governor Chris Christie signed into law S1925/A2966. This law directs the electric utilities in the state like PSE&G to increase the amount of electricity they supply to their customers from solar panel generation. By signing this law the Governor basically created a solar subsidy.
Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) runs a program known as Solar 4 AllTM Program. This is the program that gave the state those controversial telephone pole solar panels that have been so hotly debated on this blog .PSE&G also uses this program to fund solar panel farms
which the Governor spoke at a groundbreaking event celebrating the start of construction at the PSE&G Solar Farm in Hackensack, July of this year.
Like may of you I’ve been waiting for the punch line and wondering ,sounds great but how is PSE&G going to fund more projects like these? The answer it seems is a simple one PSE&G simply asked for rate increases from the Board of Public Utilities (BPU).
In the rate increase announcement, PSE&G emphasized, like the Governor did before that the jobs that this $800 million plus rate increase would create.According to the company the number of jobs is 300 which translates into each job costing $2,943,333.00 to create.That still better than n the first phase of Solar 4 All, when the company spent about $550 million and created 175 jobs.at $3,142,857.00 per job.( www.https://conservativenewjersey.com)
Screwing the rate payer in New Jersey is hardly a news worthy item now a days but the best part is that other politicians will also be paying the price. Many local elected officials have come to realized that any increase in utility rates will affect town budgets with the 2% cap on budgets, the increases could further pressure many towns and municipalities.
Westwood Mayor John Birkner: “We’ve got a serious mandate to maintain our budgets, and unfortunately increases coming from utilities are over 2 percent,” Birkner said.
From the town council in Glen Rock: “The Borough of Glen Rock finds it disingenuous that now PSE&G will raise the rates of its residents to subsidize the cost of installing those same solar panels that are supposed to, by their own admission, bring monetized value to their customers,” the resolution reads.
The Borough of Hillsdale had this to say: WHEREAS, the Borough of Hillsdale finds it abhorrent that PSE&G is expecting its residential customers to finance a loan program for its business customers;
North Arlington weighs in with this: If it’s true that the rate increase is due to the solar panel programs, the initial pitch for Solar 4 All as being a cost-saving measure was misleading, North Arlington officials claimed.
And from Fair Lawn this one comes from a councilwoman who isn’t the brightest blub on the string: “I just feel as much as I support solar energy,” said Councilwoman Lisa Swain at the council work session on Aug. 14, “taxpayers should not pay.” (https://conservativenewjersey.com)
So are some elected officials actually waking up and realizing just what a farce these programs are? One would hope so but could other forces be at work against the small town politicians.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has scheduled another National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day which will take place on Saturday, September 29, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The Ridgewood Police Department will be the drop off site.
This is a great opportunity for those who missed the previous events, or who have subsequently accumulated unwanted, unused prescription drugs, to safely dispose of those medications.
The case for liberating physicians from the dictates of third-party payers
Of all the people in the healthcare system, none is more central than the physician. As I explain in my book Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis, fundamental reform that lowers costs, raises quality, and improves access to care is almost inconceivable without physicians leading and directing the changes. Yet of all the actors in modern healthcare, none are more trapped than our nation’s doctors. Let’s consider just a few of the ways your doctor is constrained, unlike any other professional.[1]
Sometime in the early part of the last century, all the other professionals in our society—lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, and so on—discovered the telephone. It’s a handy device. Ideal for communicating with clients. Yet, telephone consultations are not on Medicare’s list of about 7,500 tasks it pays physicians to perform. (At least, it’s not there in a way that makes telephone consultations practical.) Private insurance tends to pay the way Medicare pays. So do most employers.
Sometime toward the end of the last century, all the other professionals discovered email. In some ways, it’s even better than the phone. But reading and responding to emails doesn’t make Medicare’s list in a practical way, either.[2]
At a time when doctors feel that third-party payers are squeezing their fees from every direction, most are going to try to minimize their non-billable time. Because patients cannot conveniently use modern media to consult with physicians, they make unnecessary office visits. The result is more rationing by waiting at the doctor’s office, which imposes disproportionate costs on chronic patients who need more contact with physicians. This might be one reason why so many are not getting what they most need from primary care physicians and what is most likely to prevent more costly problems later on: prescription drugs.[3]
The ability to consult with doctors by phone or email could be a boon to chronic care. Face-to-face meetings with physicians would be less frequent, especially if patients learned how to monitor their own conditions and manage their own care.
PSEG Has Over 150 Open Positions Posted On New Jersey’s New Job Search Tool
OnRamp is a free job search tool that finds candidates based on specific skill sets
(August 31, 2012 – Newark, NJ) – Despite the sputtering economy, PSEG currently has over 150 positions posted on New Jersey’s new job search tool Jobs4Jersey.com.
Nearly 100 employers and business association leaders recently gathered at PSEG’s corporate headquarters for Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno’s unveiling of OnRamp, a new Internet tool designed to help employers effectively find qualified workers. The Lt. Governor was joined by PSEG chairman, president and CEO Ralph Izzo, and Labor Commissioner Harold J. Wirths.
“Many people continue to seek jobs, but many employers are also struggling to find skilled workers for key positions,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno. “While state training programs have helped many workers upgrade their skills for these positions, today New Jersey is making it easier for employers to find and put qualified New Jerseyans to work.”
OnRamp is a free service for both employers and job seekers. A state-owned site, Jobs4Jersey.com, uses cutting edge technology that not only allows employers to search for candidates based on specific skills instead of job titles, but also has a unique feature that allows employers to “clone” the resume of a highly qualified worker. This means that employers can take the resume of a skilled employee, feed it into the OnRamp system, and the tool will retrieve other candidates with similar skill sets.
As PSEG continues to make significant investments in transmission and renewable energy infrastructure, it is the human resource demand that will continue to increase. The company sees OnRamp as an opportunity to help meet those demands.
“We have an ongoing need for people with a good grounding in science, technology, engineering and math,” said Izzo. “We cannot afford to miss anyone with the right combination of skills we need for our workforce. The state’s new website will help us to find people with the required expertise. Our HR people have put this new tool to the test and it has the potential to be incredibly valuable in supporting our workforce recruitment efforts.”
Headquartered in New Jersey, PSEG is one of the state’s oldest companies and largest employers. The company employs about 10,000 people, the bulk of whom live and work in the Garden State.
“We thank the Christie administration for developing this new tool and for making it available to job seekers and employers,” said Izzo. “We hope everyone who wants a job takes full advantage of this resource.”
Severe thunderstorms with Freak Tornado Warnings Wreck Havoc in North Jersey
September 9 2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ ,Rare tornado warnings were issued yesterday after severe weather hit the tri-state area on Saturday knocking down trees ,creating flooding and damaging power lines.
Tornado watches in this part of the country are fairly uncommon, but a tornado warning coupled with a more urgent advisory to seek shelter because of existing tornadic weather conditions is very unusual. There were no actual tornados reported in Northern Jersey, although several were reported elsewhere in the New York tri-state region.
Overcast sky’s , damaging rains and heavy winds were all in play here for much of the day and the fast moving line of storms packed a punch, though fortunately less than originally feared.
Over 10,000 PSE&G customers in New Jersey were left without power, with a concentration in Passaic, Essex and Bergen counties with the Village of Ridgewood among areas that sustained the most damage, with trees and wires down in a dozen locations.
NJ Transit reported that two trains were delayed just after 6 p.m. when a tree branch fell across a track in Glen Rock, with a handful of passengers on both east- and west-bound trains disembarking and boarded trains on an another track while workers spent about 45 minutes clearing away the tree.
The quick-changing weather also affected many outdoor events, forcing a storm delay in a college football game at MetLife Stadium and delaying the men’s semifinals and causing the women’s singles finals to be rescheduled for today at the U.S.
White House to miss deadline for report on ‘fiscal cliff’ budget cuts
By Erik Wasson – 09/07/12 01:37 PM ET
The White House on Friday said it will miss the legal deadline for delivering a report to Congress on the spending cuts from sequestration that are scheduled to take effect in 2013.
Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Air Force One that the report will be coming next week.
Under the terms of the Sequestration Transparency Act signed in August, President Obama was to tell Congress by Friday how the administration plans to implement the $109 billion in automatic cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act.
The Office of Management and Budget has repeatedly failed to make legal deadlines. It delivered its presidential budget proposals and mid-session updates late both this year and last year.
YWCA Before and After School Programs operate each day during the school year at Hawes, Orchard, Somerville, Ridge, Somerville, and Willard
Schools. Children enjoy healthy snacks, participate in games, art projects and outdoor play, and are given time do homework. The YWCA staffs each school with a Site Supervisor and Recreation Counselors who are ready and waiting before the dismissal bell rings. Children may enroll at any time during the school year. Financial assistance is available to income-eligible families.
YWCA Before and After School Programs are licensed by the State of New Jersey, Department of Children & Families. Before School Program hours: 7:15 a.m. – first bell of school After School Program hours: dismissal time until 7 p.m. Onsite programs offered at: For information call 201-444-5600, ext. 352, or for a registration form visit www.ywcabergencounty.org.
The Ridgewood Soccer Association (RSA) is now registering for Fall Kinderkickers
The Ridgewood Soccer Association (RSA) is now registering for Fall Kinderkickers, open to boys and girls who are 4-5 years old in preschool and kindergarten. Registration takes place through the RSA website at www.ridgewoodsoccer.org.
RSA late-fee registration for fall soccer is still in progress. Programs include in-town for Grades 1-4 and travel for Grades 5-12 (players in Grades 9-12 are eligible to play on a co-ed Division 2 team). Also available are a special needs program for 6-14 year-olds
and Fall Kinderkickers for 4 and 5 year-olds in preschool and kindergarten. For full details and access to the online registration system, visit www.ridgewoodsoccer.org. Address questions to [email protected]. Visit the new RSA store at www.fieldhouse.com/rsa for official
RSA attire; all purchases help support the Ridgewood Soccer Association.
Bethlehem Lutheran Celebrates Music
Sunday September 30 3:00pm
The members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church invite everyone to an organ concert on Sunday,
September 30 at 3:00PM. 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 of our 100th anniversary celebration.
This musical celebration will feature organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn,
Jean Langlais, Jan Bender, Ron Boud, and Michael Burkhardt. Two piano and organ duets,
arranged by Tedd Smith and Don Hustad, will be performed, in addition to a solo piano
arrangement of the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” There also will be congregational singing
of several traditional hymns, including “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” and “Now Thank We
All Our God.” The concert will be performed by Bethlehem’s current organist, Elena Crudge,
and their former music director, Mark Meyer.
The organ at Bethlehem Lutheran Church was built in 1959 by the Schantz Organ Company
of Orville, Ohio. Pastor Ewald Mueller did much of the work on specifications and voicing.
The Swell division is located in the front of the church, to the right of the chancel area. The
Great, Choir and Pedal divisions are located to the left of the chancel area. The organ has three
manuals, and 54 ranks of pipes. There are 66 stops (draw knob units). Each stop produces a
different quality of sound, like a musical instrument. The list of stops includes a wide range of
both Baroque and Romantic character to allow playing all styles of music.
The organ was renovated in 2003. The renovation eliminated all electro-pneumatic actions from
the console itself, which no longer needs air pressure for its operation. One of the improvements
was a multi level combination unit (preset system) plus solid state switching equipment. Before
the renovation our organ had 7 presets. Each preset allows the organist to set a combination of
sounds to be stored in the organ’s memory. A single musical piece can involve several presets.
Since the renovation, we have 99 levels of memory with 7 presents on each level, giving almost
700 combinations.
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).
Mark Meyer was the Director of Music at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Ridgewood, NJ, from
1979 until 1991. During that time he served as organist and directed Bethlehem’s Chancel,
Youth, Children’s, and Handbell Choirs, as well as assisting with the Christian Education
program at Bethlehem. From 1996 until 2009, Mark Meyer was Administrative Assistant for
The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada while the headquarters was located at Boston
University. Since 2005 he has been Music Director at historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in
Newburyport, MA.
His undergraduate studies were at Concordia College, Bronxville, NY and at Concordia
University, Chicago. He received a Master of Church Music degree from Concordia, Chicago.
Admission is free, however a free will offering will be welcome. Refreshments will be served
following the performance.
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. Please join us
at 155 Linwood Avenue, Ridgewood.
Red Tape Report released, will Department of Education start cutting?
The Christie administration finally released its report yesterday on ways to ease red tape and regulations that put New Jersey’s public school districts in a bind — from what kinds of paper districts must use to teacher professional development and licensing.
Covering more than 450 recommendations in all, much of the 239-page Education Transformation Task Force report ordered by Gov. Chris Christie more than a year ago addressed mundane issues such as paperwork and procedures.
Red tape reviews are common to nearly every administration. But this project went a step further in several regards, down to proposing language for new administrative code in several major areas and a schedule for seeing them passed. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of a New School Year
Amy PayneSeptember 4, 2012
As of today, the vast majority of American students have begun a new school year. As lunches are packed and carpool lines grow, Heritage reviews the good, bad, and ugly in education.
The Good
Support for school choice is at an all-time high. In a poll released in August, school choice favorability jumped 10 percentage points since last year, a sign that the proliferation of options such as vouchers, education savings accounts, and online learning is creating a welcome choice for families across the country.
Options like the education savings accounts implemented in Arizona, statewide vouchers in effect in Louisiana, and tuition tax credits benefitting children in Florida provide families with greater control over education—something more and more parents are expressing they want.
Social promotion is becoming less popular. In North Carolina, legislators approved a measure to end social promotion. Rather than automatically passing students on to the next grade, all third-grade students will be required to read at grade level before advancing to the fourth grade. Other states that have implemented this policy suggest that it is helpful in boosting student achievement.
Online, customized learning is on the rise. Individualized online learning options allow more emphasis on areas where students are struggling, without holding back their peers who may be ready for the next level.
Teachers union membership is declining. The National Education Association is projecting a loss of 308,000 members since 2010. One of the union’s top officials, treasurer Becky Pringle, blames “stupid” education reform: “We’re living with a recession that just won’t end, political attacks that have turned brutal, and societal changes that are impacting us—from stupid education ‘reform’ to an explosion of technology—all coming together to impact us in ways that we had never anticipated.”
The Bad
The Administration is singling out minority students for government “help” instead of raising them up through increased options. Over the summer, President Obama signed an executive order to form the new White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. According to the White House, the new initiative, which will work across federal agencies, “aims to ensure that all African American students receive an education that fully prepares them for high school graduation, college completion, and productive careers.”
Parents and taxpayers would be correct to be skeptical of a new Washington initiative to improve student outcomes. A new evaluation by Matthew Chingos of the Brookings Institution and Paul Peterson of Harvard shows a far more promising route to improving academic opportunity for the students the President’s initiative aims to help: school vouchers. The study of low-income students in New York City found a 24 percent increase in college enrollment among African-American students who were awarded and used vouchers to attend private schools.
This success has already proven the vital role of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Students who have used vouchers to attend private schools in the nation’s capital have a 91 percent graduation rate, while graduation rates in D.C. public schools hover around 60 percent.
The Ugly
Average per-pupil spending in public schools is reaching historic highs. Nationally, average per-pupil spending exceeds $11,400 this year, meaning a child entering kindergarten today can expect to have no less than $148,000 spent on his or her education by the time the child graduates high school. In all, more than $570 billion will be spent on public K-12 education this year.
Continual increases in the money spent per child and in overall spending haven’t led to increases in academic achievement. Heritage’s Lindsey Burke notes:
We continue to fund institutions—sending that money to schools—instead of actually funding children. Imagine if a child could put those dollars in a funding “backpack” and take that $11,400 to any school—public, private, or virtual. As in every other sector of American life, we would likely see outcomes improve as a result of competitive pressure placed on the government school system.
Despite the successes of more individualized learning and school choice, the Obama Administration wants to further centralize education in Washington through national standards and tests. It has been trying to entice states with waivers from the onerous No Child Left Behind law, which it gives to states that agree to adopt the Administration’s standards instead.
Implementing Washington-controlled education standards means that states, local school boards, and ultimately parents will have less say in their children’s education. This year’s homework assignment for conservatives: continue the fight for increased parental control, individualized options for students, and decreased government interference in education.
Maybe its time for an apology to Ken Gabbert
September 5,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , So what ever happened to all the negative attacks on the Village manager . That is the questions the puzzles many of our readers. Well before the recent Village Council campaign we seem to remember the Village manager was accused of everything from playing favorites to Union busting by the current administration ., the Patch and the Ridgewood News ?
Since election day the critics of Village Manager: Ken Gabbert have been silent . Some would suggest this bears out the criticism leveled against the current regimen the Ridgewood blog post , “Make no mistake about it Paul Aronsohn thinly vain attempts to discredit the Village Manager has its roots in politics” https://theridgewoodblog.net/make-no-mistake-about-it-paul-aronsohn-thinly-vain-attempts-to-discredit-the-village-manager-has-its-roots-in-politics/
In this post the author went into detail claiming Paul Aronsohn’s soul purpose for discrediting the Village Manger is purely personal gain. It is all about the fact that Aronsohn is a “Jim” McGreevey Democrat and Gabbert a Republican .
So at this point it looks like some members of the community were just blowing smoke with all their attacks on Ken Gabbert ,ie…his “pay raise” ,the fake “7% budget increase” and so on and so on . Maybe its time for an apology.
Concussion Management Program Set for September 10
ImPACT Baseline Testing For Kids Playing Sports
August 29, 2012 — The Valley Hospital Sports Institute is providing this valuable service for local youth sports participants. Football, hockey, girls’ and boys’ soccer, and lacrosse are contact sports with a high risk of head injury – including concussions.
ImPACT (Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) is an innovative computerized evaluation system that assesses the effects and severity of a concussion and helps determine when it is safe for an athlete to return to contact sports following a concussion.
Baseline testing is suitable for athletes ages 10 and older. Testing includes a battery of computerized neurocognitive evaluations, including measures of verbal and visual memory, attention span, brain processing speed, and reaction time. If an athlete experiences a concussion, he or she is re-tested and the baseline data is compared to the post-concussion data to monitor recovery and to help determine when it is safe for the player to return to active sports.
Get your child tested BEFORE he or she has a head injury. Testing takes place on Monday, September 10 at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Valley’s Kraft Center, 15 Essex Road in Paramus.
Registration is required and the fee is $25. Space is limited. For more information, please call 201-447-8133.
Yesterday, the U.S. national debt passed $16 trillion. On President Barack Obama’s watch, the debt has increased by 50 percent, as campaign promise after campaign promise has drowned in a sea of federal spending.
When he was running for President, Obama condemned George W. Bush for adding $4 trillion to the national debt over eight years, calling it “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic.” Now—in less than four years—Obama’s Administration has already added almost $6 trillion to the debt. That means he is on track to triple Bush’s debt increase over eight years.
It is important to understand the magnitude of this debt increase and what it means for the country. Several terms are often used to describe the debt, but they are not interchangeable. Here is a quick guide to the U.S. debt.
National debt or “gross debt,” which just passed $16 trillion: This includes what we think of as federal debt plus intergovernmental debt—money the U.S. government has loaned itself from one part of the budget to another. An example of intergovernmental debt is transfers from the general fund to Social Security.
The “debt ceiling” applies to this measure of the debt. At this rate, it will hit the ceiling again—meaning Congress will have to act and will likely raise the limit again—perhaps as early as November of this year.
At $16 trillion, this number has passed total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), the measure of all that is produced in the economy.
Since Obama took office, the national debt has increased from about $10.6 trillion to more than $16 trillion—a 50 percent increase.
Debt per taxpayer: $111,414 and counting
Publicly held debt or “debt held by the public,” which stands at about $11.3 trillion: The debt held by the public is publicly traded debt, so it can be bought and sold in the credit markets. It does not include the intergovernmental loans mentioned above.
Since Obama took office, publicly held debt has increased from about $6.3 trillion to about $11.3 trillion—a nearly 80 percent increase.
This total—and the 80 percent increase—is actually more significant, because President Obama has added more to the publicly held debt than any previous President.
The federal budget deficit, which is on track to top $1 trillion for the fourth straight year: The deficit shows how much government spending has exceeded revenue in a given year, or the money the government is taking in from taxes. In contrast, the publicly held debt is the total of all past deficits and surpluses. The U.S. government spends more than it takes in. To cover the deficit and continue spending, government bonds and notes—essentially IOUs—must be issued.
President Obama vowed to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term.
Instead, Obama has averaged deficits nearly three times that of his predecessor.
These numbers are staggering. In just a few years, the U.S. will be spending more on just the interest on the national debt than on our entire national defense budget. As Heritage’s Romina Boccia explains:
Countries like Greece and Italy demonstrate the economic pains that result from procrastinating on solving a nation’s major spending and debt challenges. Only Congress can decide whether to make the prudent and intentional decisions to ward off a fiscal crisis, or whether to stand idle until forced to act by unnecessarily painful events that could have been avoided.
As it is, children born in the United States today—who won’t pay taxes for years yet—are saddled with a more than $50,000 share of the national debt. If Congress and the President refuse to rein in spending, these children may grow up in the new Greece.
