The billionaire businessman and reality TV star cemented his standing as the GOP frontrunner in August, kicking off the month with a feisty and unapologetic debate performance and closing it out with direct attacks to Jeb Bush.
He heads into the fall with momentum after having orchestrated what Republicans are describing as a months-long clinic in the race for the presidential nomination.
Trump is leading in the polls; blanketing the airwaves; relishing the role of attack dog against his opponents and the media, and forcing the other candidates to adapt to a race that’s being run on his terms.
He has perfected a style and message that resonates with the conservative base’s long-simmering frustration with party leadership. And he’s owned the hot-button issue of immigration, successfully driving the policy discussion to the right.
While Trump finished the month of July atop the polls nationally, few political watchers took his rise seriously.
The 25 mph speed limit is more dangerous than 35mph.
The rate of travel is so slow that your mind wanders.
You are lulled by the slow rate of speed to think you are able to safely perform other tasks – like texting – you feel confident in your ability to perform these tasks due to the slow rate of travel.
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A 35mph (or even 30mph) speed limit is inherently safer since it requires more concentration by the driver but is still well within the capabilities of virtually every driver (unlike say a 100mph speed limit which requires even more concentration, knowledge and reactions but is beyond the capabilities of many drivers).
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The village wide 25mph edict is another wrong headed politically correct decision that has the reverse results of its intent – making our streets more dangerous rather than safer
The hot weather and limited rainfall has led to a big increase in water use for irrigating. At the same time, the rainfall and groundwater status as monitored by NJDEP has recently been downgraded from “near normal” to “moderately dry.” Stage I restrictions have not moderated the water demand enough to maintain reserves for firefighting and other emergencies, so Ridgewood Water is implementing Stage II restrictions. Stage II limits the use of water for irrigation to two days per week. If your street address is an odd number, you may irrigate on Tuesdays and Saturdays only. If your street address is an even number, you may irrigate on Wednesdays and Sundays only. A hand held hose may be used at any time. No irrigation is allowed on Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays except for a hand held hose.
We appreciate your cooperation in conserving this vital, shared resource.
*Please DISREGARD the notice published in the Village Calendar about Water restrictions ending in September. Stage II Water Restrictions remain until further notice.
Three-fourths of NJ sheriffs double-dip, led by 25-year ‘retiree’
By Mark Lagerkvist / August 30, 2015 / 6 Comments
For the past quarter century, Armando Fontoura has been looting a New Jersey state pension fund. But it won’t do any good to call the cops.
Fontoura is sheriff of Essex County. A dean among double-dippers, he draws $207,289 a year from public coffers – $144,896 in salary plus $62,393 from pension as a retiree of his own office.
Today is the 25th anniversary of Fontoura’s faux retirement. So far, he has collected $1.35 million in retirement cash without ever giving up his full-time county paycheck
On Friday, Aug. 31, 1990, Fontoura retired as county undersheriff at age 47. The following Monday, he returned to work at Essex County with the same salary and duties, but a different title – sheriff’s officer chief. One year later, he took charge as sheriff, a post he’s held ever since.
“Does it look bad? Yes,” admitted Fontoura. “No question about it, it looks bad. Was it legal? Yes.”
Worse for taxpayers, three-fourths of New Jersey’s county sheriffs – plus hundreds of other public officials – are taking advantage of pension loopholes to collect dual incomes.
A continuing New Jersey Watchdog investigation found the sheriffs in 16 of the state’s 21 counties are double-dippers. In addition, the sheriffs also employ 37 undersheriffs who returned to work after retiring as local, county or state law enforcement officials at relatively young ages.
In total, the 53 officers collect nearly $10 million a year from public coffers – $5.7 million in salaries plus $4.1 million in retirement pay – according to payroll and pension records.
By order of annual incomes, the double-dipping posse includes:
Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino (R), $267,987 – $138,000 salary + $129,987 pension as an Emerson Borough police retiree
Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik (D), $253,957 – $151,887 salary + $102,070 pension as a Clifton police retiree
Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy (R), $231,315 – $107,250 salary + $124,065 pension as a Toms River Township police retiree
Mercer County Sheriff John Kemler (D), $227,330 – $142,499 salary + $84,831 pension as a Mercer County sheriff’s office retiree
Camden County Sheriff Charles J. Billingham (D), $219,232 – $144,753 salary + $74,479 pension as a Washington Township police retiree
Somerset County Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano (R), $208,576 – $132,555 salary + $76,021 pension as Bridgewater Township police retiree
Warren County Sheriff David P. Gallant (R), $208,432 – $125,945 salary + $82,487 pension as a State Police retiree
Morris County Sheriff Edward V. Rochford (R), $200,838 – $139,203 salary + $61,545 pension as a Morris Township police retiree
Middlesex County Sheriff Mildred S. Scott (D), $200,796 – $139,455 salary + $61,341 pension as a retiree of the Middlesex County sheriff’s office
Hunterdon County Sheriff Frederick W. Brown (R), $197,796 – $115,868 salary + $81,928 pension as a retiree of Raritan Township police
Salem County Sheriff Charles M. Miller, $195,452 (R) – $119,386 salary + $76,066 pension as a retiree of the Salem County prosecutor’s office
Gloucester County Sheriff Carmel M. Morina (D), $191,996 – $128,547 salary + $63,449 pension as a Greenwich Township police retiree
Sussex County Sheriff Michael Strada (R), $170,124 – $121,212 salary + $46,973 pension as Mount Olive Township police retiree
Cumberland County Sheriff Robert Austino (D), $166,938 – $107,250 salary + $59,688 pension as a Vineland police retiree
Cape May County Sheriff Gary Schaffer (R), $161,654 – $107,500 salary + $54,154 pension as an Ocean City police retiree.
Click here for the complete list of sheriffs and undersheriffs who collect pensions plus salaries.
New Jersey Watchdog began tracking double-dipping by sheriffs in 2011. The initial report found 16 sheriffs and 28 undersheriffs collecting a total of $8 million a year – $3.25 million from pensions plus $4.75 million in salaries.
Four years later, the tally has increased by nine undersheriffs and $1.8 million a year in total pay.
The investigative news site has also reported extensively on double-dipping by state legislators, administration officials, school superintendents, state police and the staffs of the attorney general and county prosecutors.
RELATED: ‘Seven deadly sins’ of New Jersey pensions
The millions being drained from retirement funds through double-dipping epitomize the woes of a pension system that faces $170 billion in underfunding – a point noted earlier this year by Gov. Christie’s blue-ribbon, bi-partisan Pension and Health Benefit Study Commission.
“It has great symbolic importance…as the double-dippers have become the ‘face’ of a dysfunctional public pension system,” the study concluded, citing New Jersey Watchdog’s reporting. “For this reason, the task force should consider ways to further limit this practice.”
Yet Gov. Chris Christie and the State Legislature have done little to halt the abuses that have profited well-connected Democrats and Republicans over the years.
One of the bigger beneficiaries is Sen. Fred Madden, D-Washington, a triple-dipper who receives nearly a quarter-million dollars a year – $85,272 from his state police pension, $113,810 as dean of law and justice of Rowan College at Gloucester County and $49,000 as a part-time state legislator.
“Obviously I don’t have a problem with people doing it,” Madden said in an interview with New Jersey Watchdog three years ago. “I’ve accepted that in my own personal life. I don’t have a problem with it at all.”
A bill co-sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Red Bank, would stop most double-dipping. It would suspend pension payments to retirees who return to public jobs paying more than $15,000 a year. The retirement benefits would resume when they permanently leave public employment.
“The pension system is intended to support you at a time you are no longer working,” said Beck. “So when you are an active employee, you should not be able to tap into both.”
The reform proposal has gone nowhere since it was first introduced in 2011 by Beck and Sen. Steven Oroho, R-Sparta. Its current incarnations – S-883 and A-114 – are trapped in legislative committees, unable to get enough support to reach the Senate or Assembly floors for votes.
Meanwhile, Fontoura is a heavy favorite to win re-election as sheriff in a Democratic stronghold that includes Newark. A victory would enable him to continue his double-dipping ways in Essex County for at least three more years.
“I retired, I collect my pension, and I am your sheriff,” Fontoura told NBC 4 New York, which partnered with New Jersey Watchdog for a report in 2012.
County personnel records show the retiring and rehiring of Fontoura had been plotted in advance. Then-sheriff Thomas D’Alessio approved the move on Aug. 7, 1990, more than three weeks before the switch.
“I said, as long as I can do this legally without breaking any law – and I can collect my pension and augment it with a salary — that’s fine, I will do this,” Fontoura recalled.
The sheriff’s office did not respond to a new request from New Jersey Watchdog for additional comment
AUGUST 31, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015, 8:52 AM
BY KARA YORIO
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
North Jersey parents have always looked forward to a child’s first birthday. Not only is it a great milestone and cause for celebration, it was the point where the law allowed car seats to be flipped from rear-facing to forward-facing. As of Tuesday, that changes.
New Jersey law is falling in line with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations, which have said that children should remain rear-facing until at least 2 years old or weighing more than 30 pounds.
“The science and studies are quite clear,” said Howard Mazin, an Englewood Hospital and Medical Center attending pediatrician, who has always urged his patients to keep their children rear-facing until age 2. “I know all parents want what’s safest for their kids.”
The other big change in the law is that kids should be in a booster seat until age 8 or 57 inches. Previously it was until 8 or 80 pounds. Children younger than 4 years old or under 40 pounds must be in a seat with a five-point harness (ideally rear-facing until hitting the limits set by the seat manufacturer) not a booster seat using the regular seat belt. The fines have also been raised from a minimum of $10 and maximum of $25 to a minimum of $50 and maximum of $75.
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Saturday that if he were elected president he would combat illegal immigration by creating a system to track foreign visitors the way FedEx tracks packages.
Mr. Christie, who is far back in the pack of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, said at a campaign event in New Hampshire that he would ask the chief executive of FedEx, Frederick W. Smith, to devise the tracking system.
Immigration has become a top issue in the Republican campaign, with the front-runner, Donald J. Trump, having vowed to deport the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country and to build a wall along the United States’ southern border.
“At any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is. It’s on the truck. It’s at the station. It’s on the airplane,” Mr. Christie told the crowd in Laconia, N.H. “Yet we let people come to this country with visas, and the minute they come in, we lose track of them.”
He added: “We need to have a system that tracks you from the moment you come in.”
He said 40 percent of illegal immigrants are allowed into the United States legally with a visa and then stay longer than their visa allows.
Ridgewood NJ, The Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT) is undergoing gate changes in an effort to further improve access and service to all bus customers – those of NJ TRANSIT as well as the independent carriers. This reorganization builds upon the ongoing cooperative efforts of the Port Authority of NY & NJ, NJ TRANSIT and the independent carriers to improve operations, efficiency and the overall customer experience at the terminal.
Building upon our previous initiatives, such as the addition of WiFi service, expansion of MyTix, and the improved reliability of service and reduced wait times during the PM peak commuting hours, further operational improvements are necessary to address congestion in the terminal that often occurs due to multiple carriers sharing common areas of the platform queues.
To enhance operation and control within PABT, carriers will be consolidated into specific areas of the terminal, which will make it easier for customers to find their specific carrier, minimize traffic conflicts and improve flow to alleviate customer congestion on platforms. This will offer a more streamlined experience since most routes and personnel within a given area are from the same carrier.
The reorganization of gates at PABT will further improve on-time performance, resulting in shorter customer queues and wait times in the terminal. It will also offer greater operational flexibility and faster recovery time when delays and disruptions do occur. Please refer to the charts included here to find your new gate assignments.
NJ TRANSIT gate changes effective 9/8/15.
Bus Departures
For information on the Port Authority Bus Terminal and a terminal map, go to https://www.panynj.gov/bus-terminals/pabt-terminal-guide.html
By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on August 29, 2015 at 8:30 AM, updated August 29, 2015 at 9:34 AM
TRENTON — New Jersey’s faltering public-sector retirement system would be swamped by new pension liabilities if the state Supreme Court strikes down cuts to retirees’ pension benefits, the state Senate president said this week.
Those cuts were a critical piece of a 2011 overhaul of government worker benefits expected to save tens of billions of dollars over the coming decades. A group of retired state workers brought a lawsuit against the state challenging a freeze on cost-of-living adjustments in their pension payouts.
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) told The Star-Ledger’s editorial board Thursday that a victory for the retirees and the restoration of COLAs would bankrupt the pension system, but he predicts the state will prevail.
“I don’t think they win it, to be honest with you. And I think it would cause the bankruptcy of the pension system,” he said.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says he is leading the GOP race because he represents Americans who have had it with their nation coming up short.
“People in this country are smart,” he told listeners at the National Federation of Republican Assemblies’ 2015 conference in Nashville on Saturday.
“We’re tired of being the patsies for everyone,” Trump said.
“There is a big, big, growing-by-leaps-and-bounds silent majority out there. [The 2016 race] is going to be an election based on competence.”
Trump argued he is surging in national polls because he represents the Tea Party supporters ignored by Democrats and betrayed by Republicans.
“I love the Tea Party,” Trump said. “You people have not been treated fairly. These are people who work hard and love their country, and then get beat up by the media. It’s disgusting.”
“At least I have a microphone and can fight back,” the outspoken billionaire added.
AUGUST 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2015, 6:51 AM
BY MELANIE ANZIDEI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Beth Blum of Paramus thought renovating her kitchen in the spring of 2014 would be a simple way to keep her mind off things.
“I had just become widowed and I wanted to do something for myself,” said Blum. “I didn’t look into it.”
Blum took the word of an old friend, who recommended ABC Construction for the job. She didn’t do any research on the contractor, and didn’t hesitate when the contractor asked for $6,000 before work began.
What she got was a kitchen that did not pass municipal inspections, cabinets that were left in boxes, water lines that were disconnected and a contractor who wouldn’t answer the phone. She later found other dissatisfied customers through a simple online search.
“I didn’t check anything, but once I did, then I got scared,” she said.
Top tips : Before hiring a home improvement contractor:
Get written estimates from at least three contractors.
Investigate financing options for your project.
Do not pay for the entire project upfront and do not pay with cash.
Obtain a written contract.
Ask for a lien waiver.
Asks for more than a third of the total payment before work begins.
Demands cash.
Tells you there is no need for a written contract.
Only has a PO Box as business address.
Does not have a Division of Consumer Affairs registration number.
Approaches you first.
AUGUST 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2015, 6:55 AM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
At Ped-Agree Shoes in Wyckoff, owners Catherine Mattei and Luanne Rush were busy last week helping parents outfit their children with new shoes for school.
In Westwood, at the Ginger Kids clothing store, owner Sue Bahng said she loves back-to-school season. “This is when the kids come in with renewed eagerness for the fresh new year.”
But Ped-Agree Shoes, Ginger Kids and other retailers in North Jersey and around the country are seeing a shift in the rhythms of this annual ritual. A Labor Day that falls late this year, on Sept. 7, compared to Sept. 1 last year, and changing shopping habits are pushing a lot of back-to-school shopping into September, after kids are already back at school.
Retail research firm The NPD Group this summer admonished retailers that they need to rethink their marketing to respond to a changing back-to-school season. A survey by the firm showed that a majority of shoppers don’t get serious about back-to-school shopping until August, with much of the spending occurring in September and even October.
A look at where the money goes
$68 billion: Total Americans will spend on back-to-school and back-to-college purchases this year
$630: average amount parents will spend for children in Grades K-12
$217.82: Average amount for clothes, K-12
$197.24: Average amount for electronics, K-12
$117.56: Average amount for shoes, K-12
$97.74: Average amount for school supplies, K-12
$899: Average amount parents will spend on college students
$126: Average amount for dorm or college apartment furnishings
29%: Portion of parents who plan to spend more for back to school this year.
30%: Parents who waited to start shopping until one to two weeks before school starts
42%: Amount that average back-to-school spending has risen over the past 10 years
Source: National Retail Federation
“When so many consumers are planning to do their back-to-school shopping in the months not traditionally considered part of the season by retailers, it’s time to break with tradition and change the way we market and measure this shopping season,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for NPD, in reporting the findings.
AUGUST 29, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY LINH TAT
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
FORT LEE – A school trustee in the midst of his third term resigned this week, creating a vacancy on the board that, by law, must be filled before the end of October.
Yusang “Jimmy” Park, the only Asian-American ever to serve as school board president in Fort Lee, said he and his family are moving to a house they purchased in Ridgewood, leaving him no choice but to resign. Trustees are required to live in the town in which they hold office.
Park was the top vote-getter when he was elected in 2007, outperforming the three incumbents in that race. Fellow board members nominated him as president in 2012 after former trustee Arthur Levine resigned.
“Looking back, I ask myself, ‘Are we in a better place than we were seven years ago when I started?’ I would say yes,” Park said, reflecting on the state of the district.
When he was first elected, Park noted, the district was reeling from the fallout of a superintendent who plagiarized a speech delivered to honors students. That was followed in 2009 by a grade-altering scandal when officials found that a high school counselor had tampered with college transcripts, and widespread frustration in the community over an absentee superintendent during the 2012-13 school year. That superintendent eventually parted ways with the district.
Now, Park said, the district has voter-approved funding to build and expand classroom space, has adopted new campus security measures and has hired a new permanent superintendent
If there’s one phrase that can inspire patriotism, it’s the American Dream. That concept was defined by James Truslow Adams as being the “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” The pursuit of this dream has driven the American people for generations, and recently, it has driven them directly into ABC’s Shark Tank.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Business in America has changed drastically in recent years. At a time when business idols are college drop outs who built companies from their garagesand Silicon Valley is a household name (and a tv show!), the goal of entrepreneurship has trumped all. The idea of rising through the ranks of your company has been surpassed by fast-paced success stories about startups improving and conquering old industries in record amounts of time (looking at you, Uber). This shifting business environment paired with the underlying hope to be the next overnight million-dollar company is what makes Shark Tank so interesting.
AUGUST 28, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY GREG TARTAGLIA
SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD — Charlie Ponkop and a five-line blurb in The Ridgewood News started it all.
The Ridgewood U14 Raiders’ recent trip to the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Mich. — and welcome home celebration staged on Monday — marks the latest chapter in the village’s longtime devotion to youth baseball.
A glance at the archives of The Ridgewood Herald-News (as it was then called) revealed an entry in then sports editor Bob Curley’s column, “Curley Cues”, on June 16, 1949 that extended an invitation to youngsters seeking a summer activity:
“Boys in the eight, nine and ten year old age group, who are not playing baseball, should contact Charlie Ponkop at the Ridgewood YMCA … Should interest warrant, Ponkop will organize a league for you fellas [sic].”
One year earlier, former Ridgewood High School athletics coach Minous Cannon had helped launch the town’s Midget, Junior and Young Mens’ Baseball Leagues, according to the July 11, 1948 News.
It was Ponkop, however, who initiated the Ridgewood Small Fry Baseball League that produced the village’s first “Little World Series” qualifiers.
Ridgewood NJ, On August 27, 2015 at about 9:30am, the Ridgewood Police Department was called to a house on Olivia Street for a report of a potential burglary as there was a man in the house yelling.
Upon arrival, the residents of the home were evacuated and the house was searched, but no one was located. While checking the area, officers heard someone in the street yelling and observed a large naked man, later identified as Craig Andrews (age 48 from Ridgewood) walking quickly down the street towards the incident location while he was holding a glass bottle of beer in one hand and a small bag in the other.
Mr.Andrews did not listen to officers repeated commands to stop and proceeded to aggressively approach Officer A. Mormino and the residents from the initial call causing Officers to be very concerned for the safety of Officer Mormino and the safety of the residents. Mr. Andrews closed in on Officer A. Mormino even after being repeatedly commanded to stop forcing Officer A. Mormino to deploy the Conducted Energy Device.
Mr. Andrews was then safely taken into custody with the assistance of several Ridgewood Police officers. A short time after as the officers were speaking with Mr. Andrews, he suffered a medical emergency and was transported to the Valley Hospital for evaluation and treatment.
Mr. Andrews was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, lewdness, possession of marijuana under 50 grams, possession of controlled dangerous substance paraphernalia and obstruction of the administration of law. Mr. Andrews has been released on $40,000 bail pending his court appearance.
All defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
