Christie administration may cut free rides for nonunion NJ Transit workers
The Christie administration wants to eliminate free rides for NJ Transit employees.
Making nonunion workers and retirees pay for their commutes and other trips could generate $1.6 million a year, NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said Monday.
The proposal, which is expected to be approved by the NJT board Monday, would not affect the agency’s union workers, whose free rides are part of their labor contracts. But contracts for all 28 NJT bargaining units have expired, Snyder said, and Gov. Christie has made it clear he wants free rides eliminated.
Operation Take Back New Jersey – Collection of Prescription Drugs – Saturday, Sept. 29
The Ridgewood Police Department will collect prescription drugs on Saturday, September 29th from 10AM to 2PM at Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood.
The Ridgewood Police Department, will be hosting an Operation Take Back New Jersey local collection site as part of the Operation Take Back NJ medicine disposal day. The event will take place at the front lobby of the Ridgewood Police Department located on the second floor of Village Hall, 131 N. Maple Ave. Ridgewood NJ 07450 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 29, 2012. This initiative, open to all residents, was organized to encourage local community residents to properly dispose of their unused, unwanted and expired medicine.
The Ridgewood Police Department would like to encourage the residents of Ridgewood to take this opportunity to safely discard their expired and/or unused prescription medications. This program helps to reduce the opportunity for prescription drug abuse and provides an environmentally safe method for the disposal of these drugs.
This statewide effort, with the majority of New Jersey police departments participating, is being spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Jersey Division, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, the NY/NJ HIDTA, and the New Jersey National Guard. Ridgewood residents looking for information on the program and local collection sites should visit www.operationtakebacknj.com.
State Board of Education : Christie administration launching new turnaround strategies for low-performing schools
What they are doing: For the first week of school in most New Jersey districts, the State Board of Education takes up a host of major policy issues, including a crowded session of public testimony. On the agenda are charter schools, teacher quality, and interdistrict school choice. With the Christie administration launching new turnaround strategies for low-performing schools, its new staffing and other programs for these schools may also come up. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Similarity breeds frustration for some in Ridgewood
THURSDAY AUGUST 23, 2012, 3:37 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Anyone who knows Ridgewood’s downtown knows two things: There used to be a lot of banks, and now there are a lot of restaurants.
Gus Lainis, owner of the Daily Treat, said for ‘every new restaurant that opens, you lose three or four customers.’
However, it wasn’t always this way. Longtime residents and seasoned Ridgewood shoppers recall the days when the Central Business District (CBD) featured a larger variety of stores, including many retail shops selling unique goods.
While banks have been on the wane in the village since the global financial crisis, some current residents, while saying they enjoy the restaurants, have expressed dissatisfaction with the village’s high percentage of eateries. They argue that besides the village’s notoriously high rent and parking issues, the downtown’s saturation with certain services may be driving retailers away.
Gene Callaghan, a longtime Ridgewood resident, operated Irish Eyes Imports in Ridgewood for more than 20 years before moving his shop to its current Westwood location about two years ago. He called the move to Westwood, where he pays about 40 percent less in rent, a no-brainer from a business standpoint.
“My landlord was upping the rent,” Callaghan said. “From a business point of view, I had to move. It was one of those offers I couldn’t refuse.”
N.J. investigating 27 possible security breaches in administration of standardized tests
FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2012, 12:42 AM
BY LESLIE BRODY
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
At a time when test scores are poised to play a more significant role in evaluating teachers, New Jersey education officials are reviewing reports of 27 security breaches from the administration of state tests this spring.
While that number involves a small share of the roughly 850,000 standardized tests that New Jersey public school students take each year, testing experts say the state Department of Education is right to take the breaches seriously.
John Fremer, president of Caveon Consulting Services, which advises states on preventing cheating, said it would be impossible to have no irregularities, and a couple of dozen incidents is a small number for an entire state. Even so, he said, there is cause for concern.
Christie administration awards $3M in grants for law enforcement to write more speeding tickets
The Christie administration today awarded $3 million in grants to bolster law enforcement on the state’s most dangerous highways and to pay for new bike paths.
A total of 53 municipalities will share in $2 million to crack down on speeding and other driving infractions on 14 10-mile segments of highway determined to be the most prone to accidents, the state Department of Transportation said. (Baxter, The Star-Ledger)
Rationing Begins: States Limiting Drug Prescriptions for Medicaid Patients
By Melanie Hunter
July 30, 2012
(CNSNews.com) – Sixteen states have set a limit on the number of prescription drugs they will cover for Medicaid patients, according to Kaiser Health News.
Seven of those states, according to Kaiser Health News, have enacted or tightened those limits in just the last two years.
Medicaid is a federal program that is carried out in partnership with state governments. It forms an important element of President Barack Obama’s health-care plan because under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act–AKA Obamcare–a larger number of people will be covered by Medicaid, as the income cap is raised for the program
The Christie administration is moving ahead with new regulations for charter schools
Cerf goes his own way on proposed charter regulations
The Christie administration is moving ahead with new regulations for charter schools, jumping ahead of the Legislature and its plans to take up the issue — and maybe a whole new law — in the fall.
The state Board of Education will hear on Wednesday the latest version of the administration’s proposed regulations that have come under criticism for expanding the size and scope of charters in the state.
The proposal had been going before the board last month and was delayed for further review. In that time, the new version released yesterday does make changes that appeared to address some of the criticism. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
UM Study: Sexting May Be Normal Dating Behavior For Internet Generation
ANN ARBOR — For young adults today who were weaned on iPods and the Internet, the practice of “sexting,” or sending sexually explicit photos or messages through phones, may be just another normal, healthy component of modern dating.
University of Michigan researchers looked at the sexting behavior of 3,447 men and women ages 18-24 and found that while sexting is very common, sexting isn’t associated with sexually risky behaviors or with psychological problems.
The findings contradict the public perception of sexting, which is often portrayed in the media and elsewhere as unsavory, deviant or even criminal behavior, said Jose Bauermeister, an assistant professor at the UM School of Public Health and co-principal investigator of the study.
Donovan Administration Consolidates Properties and Combines Operations
Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan announced that her administration has begun implementing a facilities consolidation plan that will save taxpayers money on unneeded buildings, return properties to the municipal tax rolls and will create a new home for the county police at a savings of $46 million over what the previous county administration had proposed for the law enforcement agency.
The Donovan administration is moving the police department from its current home on Zabriskie Street in Hackensack to what was formerly the county health department building on East Ridgewood Avenue in Paramus.
According to county administrator Ed Trawinski, the Zabriskie Street property will be sold to developers and put back on the city’s tax rolls. The county public works building, which is behind the county police headquarters, will be moved to the mosquito control department building, also in Paramus. The health department is being relocated to the county administration building.
Trawinski said a facilities survey by the Donovan administration demonstrated that the county administration building was using about only 70 percent of its available space. “Relocating the health department and some other personnel to the county administration building makes financial sense,” said the administrator.
Trawinski said the moves are the result of plan implemented by the Donovan administration last year in which an inventory of county buildings was taken and a determination was made on how best to use the county’s properties.
“What we found was that the county had too many building and too much space and that we could consolidate operations and save money,” said Trawinski.
Moving the county police and the DPW out of Zabriskie Street has been a long sought goal of past administrations. The area floods often, but because of its proximity to Route 4, it is a desirable redevelopment location. The County actively worked with Hackensack City officials, who in turn rezoned the property for mixed use development.
PREVIOUS $47 MILLION PLAN
In 2005 the administration of former County Executive Dennis McNerney backed a plan to buy the former Goldberg Slipper Factory near East Broadway in Hackensack, raze the building and build a new police headquarters on the site. At the time, that plan was estimated to cost at least $47 million.
Donovan said the current plan to renovate the health department building will cost about $1 million and that the sale of the Zabriskie Street property will bring in an additional $6 million to $7 million in revenue to the county.
“We are accomplishing the same goal as the previous administration tried to achieve, but we are doing it for $46 million less,” said the County Executive Donovan.
Donovan said the overall concept of taking inventory of county buildings and matching it to space needs is a simple business approach to county government.
“We are applying basic business principles to running county government: what we don’t need, we will sell and the result will be a more efficient operation because more personnel and more departments will be centralized,” added Donovan, “And the sold properties will be added to the tax rolls in the communities.”
“The bottom line is that we are delivering the same services for less money and relieving the tax burden on county residents”
GETTING DPW OUT OF A FLOOD PLAN
County Public Works Department Director Joseph Crifasi said moving the public works garage out of a flood zone Hackensack to Paramus will help save equipment and allow the DPW to respond more easily to needs throughout the county.
“The Public Works department needs to be able to respond in times of emergency, we can’t do that very easily if the department’s yard is flooded,” said Crifasi. “Secondly, Paramus offers us a more centralized location from which to operate, and we are relocating to land the County already owns.”
In other news, the County announced that it recently sold $33.3 million worth of bond anticipation notes at an interest rate of less than two-tenths of one percent.
Donovan said the incredibly low interest rate on the bonds is testament to county’s fiscal strength. “The county has a triple A bond rating and two straight years of without a budget increase. That is an impressive record in these economic times when many government entities are facing financial crises.”
Work funded by the bond includes improvements to the county jail, the vocational high school, the community college and various parks and golf courses.
Tax cuts’ expiration would have outsized negative impact on N.J., economist says
While high-income earners represent less than 6 percent of New Jersey taxpayers, they account for nearly 57 percent of all federal personal income taxes paid from the state, compared to less than 50 percent nationally, according to a study by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
That means if President Barack Obama allows the George Bush-era tax cuts to expire for those earning more than $200,000 a year, high earners in the state will see their tax burden increase disproportionately compared to the rest of the country, taking more consumer buying power out of the state and hurting New Jersey’s economy, a tax expert said. (Eder, NJBIZ)
Washington state to become first to offer voter registration on Facebook
Posted byCNN’s Justin Lear and Katelyn Petroka
(CNN) – Washington will become the first state to offer voter registration via Facebook with a new application to be launched as soon as next week, according to a state election official.
Once online, the app will be accessible on the secretary of state’s Facebook page, said Shane Hamlin, co-director of elections for the state.
Washington, which has approximately 3.7 million registered voters, conducts elections entirely by mail and enacted online registration in 2008. Since online registration started, Hamlin said close to 500,000 voter registrations or address changes have been processed.
Facebook, Washington state and Microsoft have teamed up to create an app that allows users to register on the social media site through the state’s new “MyVote” app. The effort came about last fall when Microsoft approached Washington state after Facebook contacted the software giant with the idea.
Undercover driver sting operations in full force in Central business District in Ridgewood
July 6,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , In an effort to head off more pedestrian accidents the Ridgewood Police Department was out in force all Friday afternoon in an effort to enforce traffic laws in the Central business District or CBD . The Ridgewood Police are looking to make the CBD more pedestrian safe this summer .
NJ law requires cars to stop for a pedestrians in the crosswalk and has been in effect since April. Violations carry a potential for a hefty fine for drivers who do not obey ,yet a rash pedestrian instances the last 3 years raise questions as to whether drivers or pedestrians are paying any attention.
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Bring your family and friends – Ridgewood’s July 4th Celebration on Wednesday, July 4th. Buy your tickets for the Fireworks in advance and save! Local Stores are selling tickets now or buy on line www.ridgewoodjuly4th.org
Schedule of Activities
9 AM – Flag Raising at Wilsey Square (near train station)
10 AM – Parade (Rain or Shine)
6 PM – Gates open for Fireworks – musical entertainment, twirlers, skydivers and FIREWORKS at dark.
