Ridgewood NJ, An unoccupied van owned by Village Taxi of Ridgewood was completely destroyed by fire on Friday morning, 08/17. Ridgewood Fire Department Engine Company #35 extinguished the South Broad Street, Ridgewood blaze after responding to multiple 911 phone calls reporting the conflagration. Several other vehicles parked next to the van were damaged by flames, intense heat, and heavy black smoke.
Washington DC, Since the repeal of “net neutrality” took effect on June 11, the U.S. internet speed has gone from 12th to 6th fastest in the world. Critics claimed repealing net neutrality would cause the apocalypse. When FCC chairman Ajit Pai announced late last year that he would be repealing the Obama-era internet regulations known as “net neutrality.” Following this announcement, the internet went into an absolute frenzy.
Paramus NJ, The Northern Trust, August 21-26, 2018 at Ridgewood Country Club. Tickets for The Northern Trust are now on sale! Get your tickets today at: www.thenortherntrust.com .
photo courtesy of the Ridgewood Chamber Facebook page
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors meeting hosted a platform for Village Manager, Heather Mailander, Councilwoman, Bernadette Walsh and Detective Captain Forest Lyons, to discuss new parking meter initiative effective Sept. 4th.
Union City NJ, New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti today strongly urged motorists who take Route 495 to the Lincoln Tunnel to adjust their travel plans to avoid severe traffic congestion expected for the next two-and-a-half years, as necessary lane closures begin to rehabilitate the Route 495 Bridge over Route 1&9 and Paterson Plank Road in North Bergen.
Paterson NJ, If you can’t will and argument yell “racism” . Representatives Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09), Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Donald Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), Albio Sires (NJ-08), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) wrote a letter to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Ronald Vitiello, siding with terrorist demanding the removal of New Jersey ICE office spokesperson Emilio Karim Dabul after what they claim are disturbing news reports surfaced of Dabul’s connections to “Islamophobic groups”.
Summer is quickly coming to an end and the opening day of school, September 5th, is nearly here. We have all been working hard to ensure that our buildings and programs are ready for the first day of school.
Newark NJ, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division today announced the formation of the Newark/Philadelphia Regional Medicare Fraud Strike Force (Regional Strike Force), a joint law enforcement effort that brings together the resources and expertise of the Health Care Fraud Unit in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Section (HCF Unit), the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of New Jersey and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as well as law enforcement partners at the FBI, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Newark NJ, Essex County Executive Democrat Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. today called upon Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin to work together and re-enact the 2 percent on annual salary increases for police officers and firefighters that are awarded through arbitration. First adopted at the behest of Governor Chris Christie in 2011 and renewed in 2014, it sunset on December 31, 2017.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Health Department and the New Jersey Department of Health remind you that your need for immunization doesn’t end when you become an adult. Get vaccinated to protect yourself and your loved ones from serious diseases.
August represents New Jersey’s Adult Vaccine Preventable Disease Awareness and Improvement Month, which coincides with the National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), a national annual observance to raise awareness about the important role vaccines play in preventing serious, sometimes deadly, diseases. Continue reading Vaccines are not just for kids
Ridgewood NJ, The NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors today adopted a Fiscal Year 2019 (FY 2019) operating budget and capital program that supports continued investments in personnel, infrastructure and equipment to maintain the system in a state-of-good repair, and enhance the overall customer experience.
“These budgets are the result of the firm commitment from Governor Murphy to investing in and improving public transportation and infrastructure,” said New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors Chairperson Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti.
Ridgewood NJ, Effective September 4, 2018, the following changes will be in effect for all parking meters in the Central Business District, both on the streets and in the parking lots:
Meter Times: Monday through Friday – 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday – 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Meter Rates for All Meters: 75 cents per hour (including the Cottage Place CBD Employee Parking Spaces)
Duration of Meters: 3 hours for all parking meters, except the Cottage Place parking lot, which will be 11 hours.
CBD Employee Parking Spaces: These spaces require a CBD Employee Parking Permit and are located in the Walnut Street parking lot and the Cottage Place parking lot, and are delineated by signage. CBD Employee Parking Permits and monthly hang tags for CBD Employee parking may be purchased at the Reception Desk in Village Hall or daily parking may be paid for through Parkmobile or in Cottage Place, at the parking kiosks.
We are extending our Parking Kiosk Pilot Program. In addition to the Chestnut Street parking lot, parking kiosks will be placed in the following locations:
Cottage Place parking lot
Cottage Place Annex parking lot (between The Gap and Gilsenan & Co. Real Estate)
Both sides of North Broad Street, between Franklin Avenue and East Ridgewood Avenue
The parking kiosks will accept coins, dollar bills, and credit cards (Visa, Master Card and American Express). Parkmobile is also available to pay for parking, by downloading the Parkmobile app to your Smartphone.
Effective September 25, 2018, the new meter times for the train station parking lot and the Park and Ride parking lot will be:
Monday through Friday – 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (14-hour meter duration)
Saturday – 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (8-hour meter duration)
Overnight parking is available in select parking lots for residents living in the CBD. Permits for overnight parking may be purchased at the Reception Desk in Village Hall. Other than the overnight parking lots, parking is prohibited in all other parking lots, including the train station lot and the Park and Ride lot, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Trenton NJ, The blue ribbon panel created by the Legislature to develop reforms that address the state’s most challenging fiscal problems issued a series of far-reaching recommendations today that will help to avert crisis conditions, maintain fiscal stability, reduce the costs of government and allow the state to support vital needs and services.
Established under the direction of legislative leaders, the 25-member Economic and Fiscal Policy Workgroup devoted seven months of focused work that produced the recommended ways to address soaring pension and benefit costs, hold down property taxes, make school districts and government more efficient, assess the equity of the tax structure, and ameliorate the negative impact of the federal tax law, among other needs.
“New Jersey faces a series of fiscal and economic challenges that threaten to undermine our ability to address the needs of our residents and invest in the programs and services that will move the state forward,” said Senator Sweeney, (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland). “It’s no secret that New Jersey continues to struggle with inefficiencies at all levels of government that result in higher costs and reduced services. We confront an unsustainable legacy pension and benefit costs that will make it all but impossible to meet our priorities, including full funding of public schools, expanding preschool and making New Jersey more affordable for families, senior citizens, and businesses. We have to be willing to take the actions needed to maintain fiscal stability and promote economic responsibility.”
Working under the bipartisan leadership of Senate Budget Chair Paul Sarlo, Senator Steve Oroho and Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald, the group of economists, tax experts and fiscal experts from academia and the public and private sectors, the workgroup’s suggestions cover five categories:
Pension & Benefit Reform
Education Reform at the Administrative Level
County & Municipal Government Reform and Shared Services
State and Local Government Tax Structure
Leveraging Assets to Stabilize the Pension System
“We assembled a group of prominent and accomplished experts who devoted their hard work in developing a series of serious recommendations that are intended to address the state’s fiscal challenges,” said Senator Sarlo (D-Bergen). “The report provides a blueprint of ideas that are intended to be thought provoking. They will be the subject of further discussions, debate and consideration. We will work to determine which ones will best serve the needs of the state and which ones we will follow through on. I thank the members for their important contributions.”
The workgroup reassessed the fairness, adequacy, efficiency and affordability of the state’s current revenue structure across all levels of government and reexamined the delivery of government services to develop its findings and recommendations.
“The problems that New Jersey faces today with unfunded pension liabilities and growing healthcare costs for public employees are no surprise to anyone, with our state’s challenges clearly highlighted by both the Benefits Review Task Force that Phil Murphy chaired in 2005 and by the Byrne/Healey Commission in 2015,” said Sen. Steven Oroho (R-24). “Unfortunately, the modest reforms enacted to date have only slowed the pace of our downward spiral, and we soon face the additional burden of a massive Cadillac tax under the ACA if we do nothing to reduce health benefit costs further. It’s our responsibility to both taxpayers and public employees to address this situation honestly and with political fortitude. It’s clear that bold reforms are necessary to fix the structural deficiencies that threaten the financial future of every New Jerseyan.”
The report’s recommendations, in their entirety, represent the consensus of the assembled experts.
“These recommendations create a path to make New Jersey fiscally responsible,” said former Senator Raymond Lesniak, who served on the panel. “The fiscal crisis facing the state requires a full court press to move forward on the recommendations which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government.”
