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>NJEA accepts evaluation program

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NJEA accepts evaluation program

It may be too early to call it détente, but the state’s largest teacher union has told local chapters to cooperate with a state pilot program that will help create a new evaluation system for teachers.

The New Jersey Education Association said Monday that it wants its teachers involved in helping to craft the job reviews, which Gov. Chris Christie wants to use to help award or take away tenure and determine raises.
“We’re glad they’re doing it as a pilot program; we want it to be successful,” NJEA spokesman Steve Baker said. “We want it to get good data as to how it’s working, whether it’s going to work.”

Newly appointed state Deputy Education Commissioner Andrew Smarick also talked about collaboration Monday in a presentation to the state Senate Education Committee.  (Method, Gannett)

https://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20110919/NJNEWS10/309190040/Teachers-union-accepts-evaluation-program
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>It’s not just millionaires who’d pay more under President Barack Obama’s latest plan to combat the deficit.

> It’s not just millionaires who’d pay more under President Barack Obama’s latest plan to combat the deficit.


New government fees pepper Obama deficit plan
More than $130B in new government fees pepper Obama deficit plan

Andrew Taylor, Associated Press, On Monday September 19, 2011, 3:37 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not just millionaires who’d pay more under President Barack Obama’s latest plan to combat the deficit.

Air travelers, federal workers, military retirees, wealthier Medicare beneficiaries and people taking out new mortgages are among those who would pay more than $130 billion in new government revenues raised through new or increased fees. These fees are advertised as “savings” in administration budget documents.

Airline passengers, for instance, would see their federal security fees double from $5 to $10 for a nonstop round-trip and triple to $15 by 2017, raising $25 billion over the coming decade. Federal employees would contribute $21 billion more to their pensions over the same period. Military retirees would pay a $200 fee upon turning 65 to have the government pay their out-of-pocket Medicare expenses. They’d also pay more for non-generic prescription drugs.

And it’ll cost corporate jet owners a new $100 fee for each flight.

The fees aren’t taxes. They’re charged to people who use government services or receive benefits like taxpayer-subsidized health care, and the fees typically defray the government’s cost of providing a service. The fee on corporate jets and other private passenger planes, for example, would raise about $1 billion a year to help finance the cost of air traffic control. Recreational flyers won’t have to pay.

Many of Obama’s proposals are retreads from earlier budget proposals, including those submitted by his predecessors. They’re rejected year after year. Some ideas, like requiring wealthier veterans to pay more for their health care, whip up opposition from powerful interest groups. Others, like the bigger security fee for flyers, seems too close to a ticket tax increase.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/New-government-fees-pepper-apf-4120540659.html?x=0&.v=2

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>Ridgewood Wildscape Association : CLEANUP OF GYPSY POND October 2nd

>Ridgewood Wildscape Association

COME ENJOY OUR WILDSCAPES!

CLEANUP OF GYPSY POND

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2011

1PM-3PM

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Sunday, October 2; 1 – 3pm Carpool from Temple Israel 12:45 or meet at Gypsy Pond. Wear old clothes, all equipment provided by the Village of Ridgewood

keep tuned for more information, but please mark your calendars for this great event in cooperation with the interreligious community, Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Committee, AM Rotary, and others

Information: [email protected]

show?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=56753

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>NJ Transit Train Service : Main/Bergen County Line Service Adjustments due to Ongoing Disruption of the Port Jervis Line – Effective Monday, September 19 Until Further Notice

>Main/Bergen County Line Service Adjustments due to Ongoing Disruption of the Port Jervis Line – Effective Monday, September 19 Until Further Notice
September 16, 2011

Limited rail service is restored between Port Jervis and Harriman. Customers utilizing rail service will be transported by bus between Harriman and Ramsey-Route 17 stations.  For details on this service and additional options provided by Metro North, visit mta.info/pj and click on the Alternate Travel Options link.

To address overcrowdingthatresulted from the suspension of Port Jervis Line service, peak-period schedules are revised between Suffern and Hoboken.

Additional New Jersey schedules are temporary and subject to change concurrent with restoration of train service between Port Jervis and Harriman.
Click here for a complete morning peak period schedule.
Click here for a complete afternoon/evening peak period schedule.

Service changes are summarized below.  Please refer to pdf peak period schedules for times at specific stations and connecting train times.

AM Peak

Train 1142 will now depart Suffern two minutes earlier, at 5:15 a.m., and add a stop at Ramsey-Route 17 at 5:19 AM.
Train 1192 will depart Suffern at 6:56 a.m. and make all stops to Allendale, then operate express to Secaucus and Hoboken.
Train 1194 will depart Suffern at 7:32 a.m. and make all stops to Ramsey, then operate express to Broadway station, Secaucus and Hoboken.
To alleviate overcrowding conditions for Broadway customers using Train 1154, Train 1194 will stop at 7:57 AM, replacing Train 1154 at 7:50 AM.  Train 1154 will no longer stopat Broadway station.
Train 1198 will depart Suffern at 8:21 a.m.and make all stops to Allendale, then operate express to Secaucus and Hoboken.
PM Peak

Train 1195 will depart Hoboken at 5:40 p.m., Secaucus at 5:50 p.m., and operate express to Ramsey, Ramsey-Route 17, Mahwah and Suffern.
Train 1197 will depart Hoboken at 6:11 p.m., Secaucus at 6:21 p.m., and operate express to Allendale, then make all remaining stops to Suffern.
With the added express service, Train 1169 will resume its previous schedule and no longer stop at Ramsey-Route 17.
PM Trains 1209 and 1355:

Train 1209, the 4:15 p.m. departure from Hoboken, will terminate at Ridgewood and be renumbered as Train 1311.
Train 1355, the 4:29 p.m. departure from Hoboken, is extended to serve Ho-Ho-Kus and Waldwick. It will be renumbered as Train 1267.
Main Line Customers using Train 1209 for local trips Ho-Ho-Kus and Waldwick may transfer at Ridgewood to Train 1267.
Midday

Former weekday Port Jervis Line trains that continue to operate between Suffern and Hoboken only have been renumbered as follows.  No schedule times have been changed.
Train 62, the 12:54 p.m. Suffern departure, is renumbered 1136.
Train 66, the 4:39 p.m. Ridgewood departure, is renumbered 1292.
Train 68, the 10:53 p.m. Suffern departure, is renumbered 1182.
Train 45, the 9:47 a.m. Hoboken departure, is renumbered 1153.
Train 67, the 9:58 p.m. Hoboken departure, is renumbered 1179.
Train 41, the 12:40 a.m. Hoboken departure, is renumbered 1141.
Weekends
Connecting bus service will continue to operate between Port Jervis Line stations and Ramsey Route 17, until further notice.

Former weekend Port Jervis Line trains that continue to operate between Suffern and Hoboken only have been renumbered as follows.  No schedule times have been changed.

Train 70, the 6:12 AM Suffern departure, is renumbered 1702
Train 74, the 10:12 AM Suffern departure, is renumbered 1710
Train 76, the 12:12 PM Suffern departure, is renumbered 1714
Train 78, the 4:35 PM Suffern departure, is renumbered 1772
Train 82, the 10:12 PM Suffern departure, is renumbered 1734
Train 75, the 1:25 PM Hoboken departure, is renumbered 1769
Train 81, the 9:30 PM Hoboken departure, is renumbered 1785
Train 69, the 12:40 AM Hoboken departure, is renumbered 1791

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>Valley’s latest full-page (s)ad

>Valley’s latest full-page (s)ad

Occupying the entire back page of the first section of the September 16 issue of the Ridgewood News (and maybe other publications? don’t know) is an ad from Valley Hospital, stating that it was paid for by the group of people co-opted by Valley Hospital and listing “625 registered supporters–and counting!” who favor the Valley Occupation.

With each family member listed separately, including matching lists of non-Smith, non-Jones surnames totaling up to six per name, the total may be something of an exaggeration; but let’s say every individual resident matters and every spouse or child truly and deeply agrees with the prevailing spouse or parent regarding Valley’s hopes and dreams. Among signers listing their degrees, 21 are MDs, three are dentists, one is a podiatrist, and one is a psychologist. (This is not counting their listed family members.) Fine; it’s not surprising that health care professionals want the hospital to expand.

Here’s the trouble with such lists and expensive ads: this issue is never going to referendum. The number of residents who want things to go one way or the other is not relevant. Those in charge must do hard research, reread their notes, and base their decisions on their findings and their own best judgment. Feeding that judgment will be facts, if they can be discerned in such an overwrought environment, and the leaders’ vision of how changes such as those proposed by Valley might affect the immediate and distant face and future of the Village.

If one Friday we should open our copies of the paper to find that the entire issue had been bought by Valley and was bursting with a list of 24,000 residents of the Village, ages one day to 110 years, it should have no effect on what the right decision regarding the proposed expansion would be. Even if every resident of the town wanted Valley’s petition to succeed or fail, we are only the residents of today. We are not talking, say, about how to celebrate next July 4, whose effects would end after the cleanup on July 5, and in which current residents’ opinions would be of interest. We are talking about how permitting the erection of a gigantic edifice in a residential neighborhood surrounded by schools and with endless traffic would affect the residents of tomorrow and beyond, from Phase One to Phase 101 or however many Phases were required to get the Taj Mahal in gear.

We vote people into positions of authority and power because we trust them to do the right and best thing, not the popular thing–not that we really know precisely to how the town is split on this issue. But it doesn’t matter. Even the popular thing, and even when its supporters are worthy people or many people or medical people, may be the wrong thing for the Village at large.

Most heartbreaking is the absurd waste of funds–and it will probably get worse as the hearings proceed–on publicity and marketing, surveys, attorneys’ fees, and other attempts to sell us the hospital’s requests. Those millions ought to have gone to patient care, or indigent care, or reasonable hospital upgrades–or taxes.

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>Celebrating Constitution Day

>Celebrating Constitution Day

As Chairman of the Congressional Constitution Caucus, I am proud to celebrate Constitution Day this Saturday, September 17.  On this day in 1787, after years of painstaking debate, 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia signed the greatest protection of life, liberty and property the world has ever seen.

Many often forget that the ideas of liberty and freedom our Founding Fathers committed to in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 took eleven years to manifest.  Victories on battlefields during the Revolutionary War paved the way for freedom, but a great deal of work was yet to be done.

As I wrote in my op-ed in today’s Washington Times, understanding that the natural tendency of government is the perpetual growth of power at the expense of personal freedom, the Founding Fathers sought to provide our republic with a set of laws expressly written “to secure the blessings of liberty.”

We are now faced with the same question that has been asked of every American before us: How will you protect it?  We cannot simply enjoy the liberties and freedoms the Constitution provides; it is every American’s duty to protect and secure those liberties and freedoms for future generations.

When Benjamin Franklin exited the Constitutional Convention, he was approached by a woman who asked, “Well, Doctor, what we have got – a republic or a monarchy?”  To which Benjamin Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
And keep it we must.

God bless the Constitution and God bless the United States of America.
Sincerely,

Scott Garrett

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>Ridgewood Train Station becomes fully accessible on Monday

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ridgewoodtrainstation theridgewoodblog



Ridgewood Train Station becomes fully accessible on Monday

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The center island platform and two passenger elevators at the Ridgewood Train Station will be in operation beginning Monday, officially making the station fully handicapped accessible, according to the village’s website.

Track number 3, the existing low-level outbound platform, will now be permanently closed, according to the statement, and a black fence will be erected along the track.

Signage will be placed throughout the facility informing commuters of the stations’ configuration and pedestrian paths of travel, the website stated.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/129973473_Ridgewood_Station_becomes_fully_accessible_on_Monday.html

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>Fight brews over New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing overhaul by Christie

>Fight brews over New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing overhaul by Christie
By Matt Katz
Inquirer Trenton Bureau

The Christie administration, providing details Thursday of its decision to eliminate the state’s controversial affordable-housing agency, said the move would end a regulatory nightmare, but advocates called it an illegal giveaway to political allies.
In late June, while Trenton was focused on approving a new budget, Gov. Christie announced several state-government reorganization plans. Those included the elimination of the independent Council on Affordable Housing and the transfer of its functions to the Department of Community Affairs.

The changes would allow Christie to give towns more control over the construction of affordable housing, long a heated issue in a densely populated state where housing costs are high and poverty is concentrated.

New Jersey courts have ruled that towns are obligated to permit the construction of housing for low-income residents. The housing council was the independent agency that determined each town’s obligation

https://www.philly.com/philly/news/20110916_Fight_brews_over_New_Jersey_Council_on_Affordable_Housing_overhaul_by_Christie.html

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>NJ town praised for renewal gets rating downgrade

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NJ town praised for renewal gets rating downgrade

With well-regarded restaurants, a walkable main street dotted with yoga studios and rail service that zips commuters to jobs in downtown Philadelphia, this town of 14,000 is held high as a national model of smart growth.

But Moody’s Investors Service this week said the town was unwise about how it financed one of its highly praised revitalization projects.

Moody’s lowered the borough’s bond rating from investment grade to junk status — something that has happened to only a handful of the 18,000 public entities that the firm evaluates.

The downgrade is an admonishment of the very approach that boosters say made Collingswood indisputably one of Philadelphia’s hippest suburbs. It could also be a warning to other towns: Be careful how you pay for renewal.

“I don’t think any of us would be here if the current administration hadn’t done some really cool stuff,” said Beth Filla, a Collingswood native, homeowner, owner of the Yogawood yoga studio, and the wife of the town library director.  (Mulvihill, Associated Press)

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/15/business/AP-US-Revived-Towns-Debt-Burden.html?scp=16&sq=jersey&st=nyt
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>New 9/11 curriculum available for schools

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New 9/11 curriculum available for schools

The start of the 2011-2012 school year coincides with a focal event in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan region: the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Just in time for the commemoration of this dark event in our nation’s history, a new 9/11 curriculum is now available to the Garden State students and educators trying to make sense of the events and issues linked to that fateful day.

The 4 Action Initiative, a collaborative effort involving Families of September 11, the Liberty Science Center, and the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, created the new curriculum, entitled “Learning from the Challenges of Our Times: Global Security, Terrorism and 9/11 in the Classroom.”

The more than 50 lessons contained in this curriculum, which is divided into elementary, middle and high school lesson plans and themes, were developed, piloted in more than 60 New Jersey school districts, revised and refined by curriculum developers and the 4 Action Initiative team, according to the curriculum’s introductory letter.  (Bonamo, The Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/129935943_New_9_11_curriculum_available_for_schools_.html
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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.

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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

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>Ridgewood Knights of Columbus Take to the Streets Again for Second Annual Stickball Tournament.

>(UPDATE 1): Ridgewood Knights of Columbus Take to the Streets Again for Second Annual Stickball Tournament.

Ridgewood-NJ-September, 2011: The Ridgewood Knights of Columbus Council #1736 is once again proud to be hosting their annual stickball tournament, to be held on Saturday September 24th beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Passaic Street in Ridgewood. The entrance fee is $100 for a team of four. There will be trophies for first, second, and third place. Refreshments, hotdogs, and hamburgers will be served. There is also a 50/50 raffle. Benefit proceeds will go to the Social Service Association of Ridgewood.

“Last year’s inaugural event was a huge success, and we expect this year to be just as lively”, said event coordinator Joseph Hernandez Jr.  “Last year the Knights went head-to-head with Ridgewood’s Finest and Bravest. We encourage other local organizations sign up and join in the activities this year.”

Registration is open to all. “We anticipate a good turn-out, and even if you do not wish to play, you can still come out and enjoy the event”, said Rich Paliotta, co-organizer of the event.

For an application or questions, email:
[email protected] or [email protected] 

Media Contact: Ridgewood Knights of Columbus – Richard Hrvatin (201) 410-3041.

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>Education commissioner refines rules for charter schools

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Education commissioner refines rules for charter schools

With the administration expected to announce a new class of charters in the coming weeks, acting education commissioner Chris Cerf has detailed steps that are intended to improve the oversight of new and existing schools.

But questions remain about the capacity of the state to meet its promises. And the announcement stops short of some of the measures that Democratic legislators have asked for to amp up accountability even more.
Cerf released a letter sent to all charter school heads on Friday. It starts with praise for the opportunities and education that the experimental schools have provided students.
But it continues in a more critical tone:

“Not all charter schools are serving students at the levels they deserve,” Cerf wrote, mentioning that the state closed two charters last year. “At the department, we take the exchange of autonomy for accountability very seriously.”  (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0911/2138/

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>The Cato Institute: Abolish the Department of Homeland Security

>The Cato Institute: Abolish the Department of Homeland Security

Ben Franklin said, “Those who give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither.” 

A decade after 9/11, it’s time we got our civil liberties back. We should start by abolishing the TSA and DHS, and end the increasingly Orwellian assaults on individual liberty and the Constitution by Secretary Janet Napolitano and the Obama Administration. In memory of this anniversary of 9/11, let’s reaffirm our patriotism by taking back our rights.

Abolish the Department of Homeland Security
by David Rittgers
David Rittgers is a legal policy analyst with the Cato Institute.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an umbrella organization that would oversee 22 preexisting federal agencies. The idea was to improve the coordination of the federal government’s counterterrorism effort, but the result has been an ever-expanding bureaucracy.

DHS has too many subdivisions in too many disparate fields to operate effectively. Agencies with responsibilities for counterfeiting investigations, border security, disaster preparedness, federal law enforcement training, biological warfare defense, and computer incident response find themselves under the same cabinet official. This arrangement has not enhanced the government’s competence. Americans are not safer because the head of DHS is simultaneously responsible for airport security and governmental efforts to counter potential flu epidemics.

National defense is a key governmental responsibility, but focusing too many resources on trying to defend every potential terrorist target is a recipe for wasteful spending. Our limited resources are better spent on investigating and arresting aspiring terrorists. DHS responsibilities for aviation security, domestic surveillance, and port security have made it too easy for politicians to disguise pork barrel spending in red, white, and blue. Politicians want to bring money home to their districts, and as a result, DHS appropriations too often differ from what ought to be DHS priorities.

https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13650