RBSA- Welcome Home – Celebration for U-14 – Monday, August 24th
The RBSA will hold a victory celebration for the U14 Ridgewood Junior League All Star team, winners of the Junior Little League East Region Championship. The team is competing the week of August 16-23 in the Junior League Baseball World Series in Taylor, Michigan. There will be a welcome home celebration taking place on Monday, August 24 between 2-4pm at Van Neste Park in the Village of Ridgewood. The team will have a police escort down East Ridgewood Avenue to the park, where they will be greeted by Mayor Paul Aronsohn, the Town Council and town residents to commemorate their accomplishments.
There will be food and music. Please come out to line the streets in celebration as we welcome home our U14 East Region champions.
Stocks aren’t quite as immune to financial disruption in the middle of 2015 as they had been previously. The last major, comprehensive selloff was also in tandem with “dollar” disorder back last October 15. This time, the motion was more erosion than “event”; at least until the past week. Just like crude oil, stocks lost their momentum back in early May (and broader index price indications dating back to last July and the first “dollar” rumble) and had more or less been stuck like the yuan doing nothing until the open break recently.
“Savage Speed” – A Look Inside Market Crash Statistics
Submitted by Salil Mehta via Statistical Ideas blog,
It was surely a frightening week in global financial markets. The largest 500 American stocks (S&P) dropped 6%. China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) doubled this risk, as it dropped 12%. Now there is an overall fear in the markets that we have not seen in years. While these perilous risk statistics should not be something new, thesurprising jolt this week provides a renewed opportunity to review crash measures within a broader context, to boldly target your portfolio.
Let’s look at the worst weekly loss for the S&P, in each month from 2007 through August 14 (or right up until last week). Geometrically approximated for symmetry. We see in blue that the distribution of this monthly “worst weekly loss” has generally been similar to the same ranked values from the past couple of years (2103/2014). Now towards the bottom of the chart we can better ascertain that the more severe “worst weekly losses”, were even worse in the years earlier than this (so 2007 through 2012).
We’ll prove out these numerical measurements here, but if you are dispassionate about the mathematics then don’t fear. Please just skim what is immediately below -and head straight to the first illustration afterwards- to continue reading. In October 2008, the worst weekly risk was -20% (this makes October the 24th worst month for “worst weekly loss” of 24 months in 2007/2008). Hence it is plotted in red ~98 percentile at the bottom of the vertical axis below. Not perfectly the 100th percentile (0% rank) due to probability math. Also in the same 2007/2008 series, the next worst month for the “worst weekly loss” statistic was the following month of November. That month saw a -9% change and being 2nd worst out of 24 means being ranked about 4% higher on the vertical axis, from where the -20% data is shown:
Global Trade In Freefall: Container Freight Rates From Asia To Europe Crash 60% In Three Weeks
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/23/2015 12:42 -0400
Three weeks ago, when we last looked at the collapse in trade along what may be the most trafficked route involving China, i.e., from Asia to Northern Europe, we noted that while that particular shipping freight rate Europe had crashed some 23% on just one week, there was some good news: at least the Baltic Dry index was still inexplicably rising, and at last check it was hovering just above 1,100.
That is no longer the case, and just as with everything else in recent months, the Baltic Dry dead cat bounce is now over, with the BDIY topping out just above 1200 on August 4, and now back in triple digit territory, rapidly sliding back to the reality of recent record lows which a few months ago we suggested hinted that much more is wrong with global trade, and the global economy, than artificially manipulated stock markets would admit.
Debt Is Good: For Funding The Greatest Participation Trophy Ever Created
Submitted by Mark St.Cyr,
As the capital markets from Shanghai to New York were melting down in ways hearkening back to the early days of the prior financial crisis – a period of time many would like to forget (or act) as if it never happened – the Nobel Laureate economist Paul Krugman decided it was time once again to weigh in with what will surely be viewed by the so-called “smart crowd” as a brilliant perspective on what ails the world: Not enough debt.
The title of his Op-Ed in the New York Times™ seemed to borrow directly from one of Wall Street’s most celebrated fictional characters Gordon Gekko when he delivered the now immortal line “Greed, for lack of a better word: Is good.” For Mr. Krugman however, there was no need of a “better word” qualifier. He came out blazing with what seems the only bullet in his arsenal as a cure-all for what ever the ailment might be (e.g., debt.) as he argues this view in his latest: Debt Is Good.
As I read, I found myself repeatedly either laughing, or with my head in my hands. What seemed lost on Mr. Krugman was the irony of not only his timing, but also the glaring front-of-mind examples real people, with real issues, currently have that are entirely interchangeable as to replace his call for action; and replace it with the actions they are currently living through. All of which are both suggested as well as endorsed by him and his ilk.
Ridgewood NJ, The Valley Hospital was recently awarded gold-level recognition from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the hospital’s efforts in promoting organ donation. The hospital was recognized as part of the national Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign, sponsored by HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration.
The Valley Hospital’s awareness and registry campaigns educated staff, patients, visitors, and community members on the critical need for organ, eye, and tissue donors and thereby increased the number of potential donors on the state’s donor registry.
“Organ donation is such an important issue,” said Bettyann Kempin, Assistant Vice President for Medical and Surgical Services at Valley. “We’re proud to partner with the NJ Sharing Network to be a part of this national campaign to increase awareness about the importance of organ donation.”
Of the 1,856 hospitals and transplants centers enrolled in the campaign, 736 were awarded gold, silver or bronze recognition for effort to promote organ donation during Phase IV of the campaign, between August 1, 2014 and April 30, 2015.
AUGUST 22, 2015, 6:03 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015, 12:29 AM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG AND MARINA VILLENEUVE
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
One day after authorities say Fort Lee resident Kevin Downing shot a security guard and then himself inside a federal building in Manhattan, a contradictory image emerged Saturday of Downing as a man by turns warm, sad, distant and obsessed, an Army veteran whose once-bright future gradually dimmed in a series of personal setbacks.
In the late 1990s, Downing was fired after working briefly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, instigating a 16-year campaign in which he accused the agency of retaliating against him for acting as a whistle-blower. The agency has offices in the same building where the shooting occurred, leading many to believe the attackwas related to Downing’s long-simmering complaints.
The FBI, New York Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security have released little information about the investigation. All the agencies declined to comment Saturday on motives or details in the case.
AUGUST 23, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015, 12:36 AM
BY MIKE KELLY
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD
On an otherwise ordinary Wednesday morning in April, my phone rang.
Kevin Downing of Fort Lee was on the line with a cry for help and a story of hardship — a story I had no idea would take a deadly turn four months later.
Without any apparent warning, Downing, 68, walked into a federal office building in lower Manhattan on Friday, and fatally shot a security guard. Moments later, Downing turned his gun on himself.
This is every journalist’s nightmare — an out-of-the blue phone call from someone who seems entirely rational at the time, yet is harboring a deep and hidden pain that could one day explode into violence.
It is the kind of nightmare that many others face, too — from parents, coaches and teachers to cops, clergy, health care professionals and even mayors and lawmakers. In short, anyone whose job involves listening to someone with a problem.
AUGUST 22, 2015, 5:50 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2015, 5:54 PM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Approximately 300 protesters crowded the sidewalks on both sides of Main Street in Hackensack on Saturday for a two-hour anti-abortion demonstration outside the offices of Planned Parenthood, one of hundreds that were to take place around the country, including four in New Jersey
The protests were in response to undercover videos released by anti-abortion groups that advocates say show that Planned Parenthood is profiting off the sale of aborted fetuses for medical research. Planned Parenthood has denied that, saying payments they’ve received for fetal tissue merely reimburse their costs and that the statements of the Planned Parenthood officials captured on the videos were taken out of context.
Among the protestors in Hackensack on Saturday was Marjorie Cox, 71, who said she had never before demonstrated or spoken up about her anti-abortion beliefs until she watched the videos.
“I can’t believe this is happening anywhere in the world, let alone in the United States. It’s barbaric,” said Cox, of Maywood. “This is my first time to a protest. Now I’m going to get involved.”
The videos were created by the Center for Medical Progress, an organization founded in 2013 three long-time anti-abortion activists, according to a filing with the California Attorney General.
So far the group has released eight videos. The latest, released Friday, is two minutes long and has been described as a “teaser,” indicating that more videos may be released in the future. The first recording was released in July. Edited down to nine minutes, it shows a secret recording from a two-hour lunch between Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, and two people pretending to be buyers of fetal tissue.
“What would you expect for intact tissue?” asked one of the people posing as buyers.
AUGUST 21, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Village should give more attention to King’s Pond Park
To the Editor:
It was reported last week that two truckloads of construction debris were dumped in the rear of the village’s composting site at the end of Lakeview Drive sometime in the prior two months. The village manager’s response is that the police are attempting to track down culprit. This effort seems like a worthy effort. However, the result of this dumping, although wrong, is inconsequential as it is not visible from any walk paths, does not impede access to anything and actually blends into the landscape of that area.
How the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection was able to discover and react to this violation is to be applauded. However, the DEP and the village administration have failed to recognize the very visible dumping by Mother Nature on King’s Pond Park, the largest wildscape in Ridgewood. Here, we have a dangerous, partially collapsed dam, a pond full of debris, and a shoreline overgrown with vegetation that denies access. All of this is in plain view but remains ignored. It is a disgrace that this wildscape has been allowed to deteriorate without any action by current or previous village mangers or the DEP. After 15 years of neglect, the current village budget is devoid of any funding to address this situation.
From my standpoint, if you want to clean up a mess, let’s put our efforts into restoring a popular fishing area in a very visible park setting to its intended use. The village’s 2006 master plan showed, in detail, how that could be accomplished. It’s way past the time when it should be implemented.
I fully support using this structure for affordable housing. But it points out the problems with the spot zoning created by the planning board’s decision to open up downtown ridgewood to developers.. More and more property owners are going to seek to build apartments in downtown Ridgewood. If i owned a one story structure for which I got one rent from one tennant, i would be a fool not to want to build a four story structure and bring in 50 tenants like the developers have now been given the green light to do. This is the floodgate that the planning board foolishly or intentionally opened. While Gail Price said it wasn’t spot zoning, she was wrong on that issue as she has been on so many of her irrational decisions pro-development, pro-hospital rulings over the past four or five years.
Ridgewood NJ, for the Second time in as many weeks the Ridgewood police report that on Tuesday, August 18, 2015 the owner of a business in the central business district reported that a customer passed a counterfeit $100 bill at the store.
Earlier in the month on Thursday August 6, 2015 Stop & Shop store security reported a male actor attempted to purchase gift cards valued at $300. utilizing counterfeit $100. bills on August 4 at 11:57 am. When the cashier discovered that the bills were counterfeit the actor fled the store. The actor who was described as a black male in his early to mid 30’s wearing a New York Islanders baseball cap left the area in a silver two door vehicle (unknown New York registration) accompanied by a black female in her late 20’s wearing dark glasses and a kerchief on her head. Both matters are under investigation by the detective bureau.
Recently its been reported that counterfeiters apparently used a technique that involves bleaching legitimate money and altering the bills to look like $100 notes,giving them the feel of real bills . Many businesses use special pens to detect counterfeit currency, however the pens cannot give a definitive confirmation about suspected altered currency, and they are not sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury.
Small business owners need to be aware of the many ways to detect counterfeit money. The Secret Service offers the below methods to detect counterfeit bills:
Hold a bill up to a light and look for a holograph of the face image on the bill. Both images should match. If the $100 bill has been bleached, the hologram will display an image of Abraham Lincoln, who appears on the $5 bills, instead of Benjamin Franklin.
Looking at the bill through a light will also reveal a thin vertical strip containing text that spells out the bill’s denomination.
I’d also like to pass on some tips from the U.S. Treasury:
Color-shifting ink: If you hold the new series bill (except the $5 note) and tilt it back and forth, please observe the numeral in the lower right hand corner as its color shifts from green to black and back.
Watermark: Hold the bill up to a light to view the watermark in an unprinted space to the right of the portrait. The watermark can be seen from both sides of the bill since it is not printed on the bill but is imbedded in the paper.
Security Thread: Hold he bill a light to view the security thread. You will see a thin imbedded strip running from top to bottom on the face of a banknote. In the $10 and $50 the security strip is located to the right of the portrait, and in the $5, $20 and $100, it is located just to the left of the portrait.
Ultraviolet Glow: If the bill is held up to an ultraviolet light, the $5 bill glows blue; the $10 bill glows orange, the $20 bill glows green, the $50 bill glows yellow, and the $100 bill glows red – if they are authentic!
Microprinting: There are minute microprinting on the security threads: the $5 bill has “USA FIVE” written on the thread; the $10 bill has “USA TEN” written on the thread; the $20 bill has “USA TWENTY” written on the thread; the $50 bill has “USA 50” written on the thread; and the $100 bill has the words “USA 100” written on the security thread. Microprinting can be found around the portrait as well as on the security threads.
Fine Line Printing Patterns: Very fine lines have been added behind the portrait and on the reverse side scene to make it harder to reproduce.
Comparison: Compare the feel and texture of the paper with other bills you know are authentic.
If you believe you have received a counterfeit bill, the U.S. Treasury advises you to do the following:
Do not put yourself in danger.
Do not return the bill to the passer.
Delay the passer with some excuse, if possible.
Observe the passer’s description – and their companions’ descriptions – and write down their vehicle license plate numbers if you can.
Contact your local police department or call your local Secret Service office.
Write your initials and date in the white border area of the suspected counterfeit note.
Do not handle the counterfeit note. Place it inside a protective cover, a plastic bag, or envelope to protect it until you place it in the hands of an identified Secret Service Special Agent. You can also mail it to your nearest Secret Service office.
Remember, if you are passed a counterfeit bill, you own it. So when accepting cash, it pays to be knowledgeable about the crime of counterfeiting.
U.S. stocks closed deep in the red on Friday as global growth concerns accelerated selling pressure to push the Dow into correction territory. (Tweet This )
The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 500 points, into correction territory for the first time since 2011 as all blue chips declined. In the last five years, the index has only had four instances with closing losses of more than 400 points.
“For investors the momentum and the drive of the market is now lower (than) it used to be because there’s no place to hide,” said Lance Roberts, general partner at STA Wealth Management. “Every time we hit the major technical points we kept selling.”
A traders noted that investors stopped looking at techincals and were plowing through them.
“It’s an expiration day and it looks like they’re to have for sale on the close maybe as much as a billion dollars,” said Art Cashin, director of floor trading for UBS.
The Nasdaq Composite lost more than 3 percent, also closing in correction territory and joining the other major averages in negative territory for the year.
Ridgewood Nj, Ridgewood Police report that on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 Patrolman Michael McDermott stopped a motor vehicle bearing Maryland registration on South Broad Street after observing several motor vehicle violations.
Subsequent to the stop the operator, Santos German Vasquez (37) of Ridgewood was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, 2C:39-5d as well as several motor vehicle summons. Mr. Vasquez was released on $2000 bail pending a court appearance.
All defendants are considered to be innocent until found guilty by a court of law.
AUGUST 21, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY PETER J. SAMPSON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Two attorneys who were arrested and charged with simple assault in April after a heated dispute turned into a fistfight at the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack have persuaded a judge to dismiss the charges, a lawyer for one of the men said Thursday.
Costantino Fragale, 42, and Jeffrey Mandel, 43, were taking a deposition in a civil suit on April 29 when the dispute erupted in a fourth-floor jury deliberation room that doubles as an attorney conference room.
More than a dozen sheriff’s officers quickly responded and broke up the fight, authorities said.
“We worked it out,” Fragale’s attorney, Miles Feinstein, said Thursday.
Both parties agreed to drop their respective complaints, and Judge Louis Denise of the Central Municipal Court in Hackensack granted their request to dismiss the charges, Feinstein said.
“They are attorneys, and it is the best result for them to not have anything on their record,” he said.
Mandel was questioning Fragale’s client when “it got very heated,” Feinstein said. Mandel threw the first punch and bloodied Fragale’s face and, when his client tried to ward off further blows, sheriff’s officers came in and stopped the fight, Feinstein said.
AUGUST 21, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Fate of Schedler property requires compromise
To the Editor:
“Oh what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive” is a Shakespeare quote from the 16th century. This aptly describes current activities of the Village Council regarding the Schedler property.
Friends of Schedler were charged to find a use for the historic Zabriskie-Schedler house and to secure funding for its maintenance. This was accomplished and their report was given at the Aug. 5 council meeting in the form of a resolution request. The mayor appeared so flummoxed that all he could think of to stop the proceedings was to introduce another resolution to be voted on the following week that would in effect disregard the Friends of Schedler’s resolution. No discussion or vote was taken. If this sounds confusing that is because it is! On Aug. 12, the council voted 3-2 to accept a resolution that would move forward on the controversial 90-foot baseball diamond at the property in question leaving many people dazed and confused. It took a bit of time to realize that the council, in its efforts to dismiss the Schedler plan to save the house, had actually done the opposite. The council left the door open by its own actions, and advocates for Schedler can go for forward with procuring matching grant opportunities to support the house.
Will we trust them again? I think not. The amount of work on the part of many to raise funds and to advocate for a balanced plan for the property that would save the house, eliminate the need to remove four acres of trees and allow for a smaller field is huge. Had the process been more transparent and members of the council more honest in their deliberations with the Schedler group, much emotional upheaval and hours of time invested could have been avoided. Friends of Schedler want the property to be treated as the Habernickel property was treated. Neighbors were part of the process, treated with respect and compromises were made. The end result satisfied the majority, and now Habernickel Park is considered an asset to the village. This can be the future of the Schedler property. How wonderful for everyone if Ridgewood has a nationally recognized historic home used as a library by the Bergen County Historical Society in addition to an appropriate-size grass playing field and the trees that are so important to the environment.
We are running out of open space at the local, state and national levels. We must make good use of what we have left. Compromise is not a dirty word, it is how we best meet the needs of a diverse constituency. It is how a civil society operates when we are not dictated by emergencies.
AUGUST 20, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY LYNN BRUGGEMANN
CORRESPONDENT |
MIDLAND PARK SUBURBAN NEWS
MIDLAND PARK — The Borough Council flooded officials of Ridgewood Water with questions about the high level of lead in water supplied to the community but was left parched by its steps to remediate the situation.
Richard Calbi, the company’s new director of operations, and its business manager David Scheibner were asked to appear at the council’s Aug. 13 meeting to explain information contained in a brochure the company sent to residents and businesses about the contamination.
The brochure states that routine monitoring in June 2012 found that some drinking water samples had lead levels above the “EPA action level” of 15 parts per billion (ppb) or 0.015 milligrams of lead per liter (mg/L).
The representatives explained that samples were taken at addresses identified as “high-risk” or known to have lead pipes.
Scheibner said results at “six homes triggered treating the whole system.”
Mayor Patrick “Bud” O’Hagan asked whether any of the “high-risk” addresses were in the borough.
The representatives said three residences, all known to have lead service lines, located on Godwin Avenue, Erie Avenue and Van Blarcom Avenue, were used in the sampling and showed lead contaminants.
Readers say Graydon Pool is a wonderful facility. Poor/incompetent management is the facility’s major problem.
Wasn’t there an instance many years ago in which Graydon either opened a week early, or closed a week later due to a major heat wave? Now, the management just doesn’t seem to give a damn about satisfying the public. By the way, what ever happen to the Wibit?
I love Graydon; have been going for many years; Wibit is too large’ crowds out swimming room. Since you can no longer swim past ropes; the swimming area is too small now in deep end. It used to be fun swimming from one area to another.
In Allendale you can still cross sections.
Graydon should have swimmers and guests sign swimming level when they first come in and have green dot on badge to show permission to swim in deep area and cross over to other sections
Excuses, excuses, excuses; nothing but lame excuses. The lifeguard issue could be easily resolved if management wanted it resolved. Memorial Pool in Fair Lawn is a sand bottom pool – same issue with lifeguard training & staffing. Look at their posted hours of operation:
Open Thursday, June 25 to Monday, September 7, 2014
10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (7 Days a Week) (weather permitting)
NOTE: The Pool will be temporarily closed from Monday, August 31 to Friday, September 4
All pools have to manage the schedules of young lifeguards. This is not unique to Ridgewood. Have other towns cut hours or os ot just a Ridgewood problem?
Who is the person from Parks n Rec responsible for staffing? Someone has some ‘explaining to do.
I have been there three times this week and there were plenty of patrons, including at 7:20 one evening.
Crestwood Lake in Allendale, also a sand bottom. Open 1/2 hour longer than Graydon.
Crestwood Lake Hours
Early Season
May 23 through June 19
Monday – Friday 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Weekends/Holidays: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Regular Season
June 20 through August 14
Monday – Friday 11:00am – 8:00pm
Weekends/Holidays: 10:00am – 8:00pm
Late Season*
August 15 through September 7
Monday – Friday 11:00am – 7:00pm
Weekends/Holidays: 10:00am – 7:00pm
It is “empty” because a 12 noon start time is not good for parents of children who are up early and ready to nap by 1 PM. Check out Glen Rock’s hours:
AUGUST 19, 2015, 11:57 AM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015, 11:57 AM
BY JOE MALINCONICO
PATERSON PRESS
PATERSON — The city is running about a month late in issuing the first property tax bills under the new assessments set in the recent revaluation, officials said.
The bills will be far from routine because they will provide Paterson property owners their first tangible information on what their individual taxes will be under the revaluation, officials said. The city has issued notices on what the individual properties’ new values will be, but it has not yet disclosed what the new tax rate or tax bills will be, official said.
City Council Finance Committee Chairman Kenneth Morris said many homeowners whose properties received lower assessments under the revaluation will be expecting to pay lower taxes. “Some of them are going to find out that it’s going to have a different outcome than they expected,” he warned.
The revaluation was a lot-by-lot revision of the assessed values of all Paterson properties. It lowered Paterson’s tax base from $8.2 billion to $5.8 billion, according to data released by the city earlier this year. The numbers showed that the values on residential properties generally went down far more than they did on commercial land.
To offset the drop in ratables, the city’s tax rate will rise, officials said. The amount of the increase in the rate will determine whether property owners will pay more or less taxes as a result of the revaluation, officials said.
Normally, the city issues tax bills for the first quarter of the new fiscal year, which starts on July 1, at the end of the July and the taxes are due at the end of August, officials said. But the administration has not yet asked the City Council for the approvals needed to issue the bills.
Morris said administration officials have told him they will ask for those approvals next week, which would allow the bills to go out at the end of August and be due at the end of September.
Morris said no one has explained to him why the city is late in issuing the bills. Mayor Jose “Joey” Torres on Monday referred questions about the timing of the tax bills to his business administrator, Nellie Pou, and acting finance director, James Ten Hoeve. Neither Pou nor Ten Hoeve has responded to phone messages left for them this week.
