MAY 4, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015, 10:57 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
An early start to the school calendar, a late Sept. 7 date for Labor Day and the return of many teachers on the last day of August has caused a quirk in the schedule for Graydon Pool this year.
The pool is currently scheduled to cease weekday operations on Aug. 31.
During a work session last Wednesday, the Village Council discussed potential ways to make up for the lost days of available swimming, including the possibility of opening earlier during the pre-season.
This fall, students will return to school on Sept. 2 with teachers arriving on Aug. 31, which impacts the village’s ability to properly staff Graydon Pool during that final week before Labor Day.
Councilman Michael Sedon floated the idea of opening the pool to residents during the morning in June. Beginning on June 6, Graydon is scheduled to open at noon and close at 7:30 p.m. on weekdays while opening at 10 a.m. on weekends. Sedon proposed to have Graydon open at 10 a.m. on all days until regular season hours commence on June 19.
“I thought maybe a compromise might be opening it up in the pre-season earlier for an additional two hours,” Sedon said. “You would already have staff there, you would already have everybody doing what they would do at the pool, you would just have to do it two hours earlier for, I believe, nine days in the pre-season and there is a cost associated with that.”
Posted: May 03, 2015 11:37 AM EDTUpdated: May 03, 2015 11:38 AM EDT
By DAVID PORTER and MEGHAN BARR
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – The indictments against two former allies of Gov. Chris Christie and the guilty plea of a third, all stemming from the George Washington Bridge lane closing scandal, and the still-looming investigation involving the former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have underlined the need for reform at the agency.
David Samson wasn’t mentioned in the indictment that charged a former Port Authority official and a former Christie aide with several wire fraud and conspiracy counts on Friday, meaning the separate investigation stemming from his time as chairman could yield further embarrassment for the bistate authority.
But despite the scandals, its leadership is optimistic about the future.
Port Authority Chairman John Degnan, who is leading the agency through the turmoil, said there’s an opportunity to learn from the indictments, “if there’s anything we missed that we should do.”
“In the seeds of disaster were the potential for reform. I view the indictments as another step in the healing process, reformation process,” Degnan, who was appointed by Christie last year after Samson resigned, told The Associated Press last week.
After the release of the indictments Friday and the guilty plea of David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official and Christie ally who said he orchestrated the lane closings with the help of former Port Authority official Bill Baroni and former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly, Degnan stressed that the agency’s new whistleblower policy is “one of the most aggressive in the country.”
Degnan said it supports employees who come forward if they see any potential violations, a policy he said could have avoided the lane-closing scandal since some employees likely were afraid to report the actions of superiors.
Degnan also said he understands the public’s frustration with the fact that both governors vetoed reform bills in their respective states in late December in favor of adopting a lengthy internal reform proposal. But he questioned the necessity of the reform legislation.
The map issued by the Pentagon to prove that Isis had lost territory shows how false optimism dominates the actions of the outside powers towards the Middle East.
A graphic illustration of Western wishful thinking about the decline of Islamic State (IS) is a well-publicised map issued by the Pentagon to prove that the self-declared caliphate has lost 25 per cent of its territory since its big advances last year.
Unfortunately for the Pentagon, sharp-eyed American journalists soon noticed something strange about its map identifying areas of IS strength. While it shows towns and villages where IS fighters have lost control around Baghdad, it simply omits western Syria where they have been advancing in and around Damascus.
The Pentagon displayed some embarrassment about its dodgy map, but it largely succeeded in its purpose of convincing people that IS is in retreat. Many news outlets across the world republished the map as evidence of the success of air strikes by the United States and its allies in support of the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria. The capture of Tikrit after a month-long siege is cited as a further sign that a re-energised Iraqi state is winning and one day in the not too distant future will be able to recapture Mosul in the north and Anbar province in the west.
MAY 3 2015, 10:32 AM ET
by KATIE KRAMER and NBC NEWS
A passion for exploration is the fuel to an innovative economy, says astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
In an interview with CNBC’s On the Money, the host of the new National Geographic Channel show StarTalk — based on Tyson’s podcast and Sirius XM radio show of the same name — described the dynamic implications of scientific discovery.
“You have to innovate,” said Tyson, arguably the most famous astrophysicist in America. When “an engineer comes out with a new patent to take you to a place — intellectually, physically … that has never been reached before, those become the engines of tomorrow’s economy.”
When it comes to space innovation, many of the headlines about exploration beyond Earth have been generated by private enterprises like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, tech giant Google and even Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Separately, Sir Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures, companies that offer tourism opportunities for non-scientists.
MAY 4, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Restoration work will soon begin on an 80-year-old Gaetano Federici sculpture that was discovered last year in the woods behind the village’s water treatment plant.
It will take about three weeks for a restorer to clean and refurbish the renowned Paterson artist’s cast stone statue, said Ridgewood Councilwoman Susan Knudsen.
“It is a rather stately piece that everyone can appreciate,” Knudsen said.
The sculpture depicts an earlier version of New Jersey’s state seal. The 1927 piece features two female figures — Liberty and Ceres — with three plows, representing agriculture’s importance to the state. As with the state seal, the head of a horse — New Jersey’s official animal — tops the statue.
Until last week, the statue had remained in the same spot it occupied for the four decades before it was unearthed: atop two old tires, covered with a tarp.
But last Friday, Ridgewood workers gingerly moved the sculpture onto a wooden pallet. A forklift was then brought in to transport it to a safer location, Knudsen said.
The statue now sits on a table specifically constructed for it, awaiting fine-art restorer and Ridgewood resident Ornella Muth’s magic touch, Knudsen said.
05/05/15 7:30PM Planning Board Public Meeting – Village Hall Court Room
Please join us on Tuesday, May 5th at Village Hall at 7:30 pm
Agenda: Public Hearing on the Revised Amendment to the Master Plan that was put forth on April 21st
We need your attendance at the next Planning Board meeting on Tuesday. We are close to the end, but we must still attend the meetings and continue to urge our Planning Board to act cautiously when altering our Master Plan.
At the last Planning Board meeting on April 21st, the Village Planner, Blais Brancheau, presented a NEW Amendment that takes a one-size-fits-all approach to increasing density — a risky approach that we do not support. In our opinion, Mr. Brancheau continues to plan for profit, not for the people of Ridgewood. The revised amendment is VERY different from the amendment that was proposed in November of 2013 and in our opinion, is looking more and more like spot zoning. (The revised amendment is attached.)
Thoughts:
Blais Brancheau, the Village planner, stated that the zones he identified as suitable for high-density housing in the first amendment were being considered because housing at these locations would be beneficial to the public at large. Why then, in the 11th hour, did the planner eliminate several properties (West Bergen Mental Healthcare and neighboring properties) that have been in consideration for more than two years? We never, not even once, heard any Planning Board member suggest this change. Yet this was one of the biggest changes in the revised amendment. We don’t get it.
In another significant change, the much larger Ken Smith property has been lumped into the same zone as the smaller Enclave (Sealfon’s) site. This move makes a bold statement. By combining these two sites into one zone, the Village planner has thrown all of the initial criteria he specified when identifying zones for high-density housing out the window. These are two very unique properties and their zoning benefits should differ. By lumping them together and labeling them as one in the same, Mr. Brancheau has basically set up every property in between these two sites to argue for the same zoning benefits. In our opinion, this is a reckless approach.
The new Amendment allows for up to 35 units an acre, with affordable for rent units included. While this is indeed an improvement from the 40-50 units put forth in the initial Amendment, in our opinion, this is still too big of a jump from the 12 units per acre that is permitted now and the 22 units per acre average that currently exists in our down town. Instead of establishing a maximum density up to 35 units per acre, why not raise the minimum and allow our village to examine each new development on a case by case basis? We recommend raising the baseline density to 24 units an acre, doubling the permitted allowance. Our Planning Board could then work to establish criteria that would allow for density bonuses, beyond the baseline. For example, if developers can provide for more parking, affordable housing units, open space, greater set backs, green building practices, etc… they would be allowed a bonus of more units per acre than the baseline. This cautious approach would be preferable to a one size fits all zoning change that could have irreversible repercussions.
Mr. Brancheau is capable of crafting this amendment differently, yet he continues to offer the same benefits across the board to all zones, regardless of the context or the surrounding location. We don’t understand why. From our vantage point, many Planning Board members seemed flustered by the changes to the Amendment and some even expressed question or concern. The only Planning Board member who seemed to embrace these changes was Mayor Aronsohn. He seems very eager to move forward and get this done.
CBR wants this process resolved as well, but we want it done RIGHT. We don’t want the Planning Board to rush to a decision. We just received a copy of the new Amendmenton Friday, and the Public Hearing is TUESDAY! We live here and we care about the future of our town. Long after politicians are out of office and eager developers have reaped their profits, we will still be left here, living with the consequences. Please join us on TUESDAY, May 5th at Village Hall at 7:30 pm. Let’s continue to urge our Planning Board to get it right!
Here are two links to Letters to the Editor that provide more detail about our position:
U.S. Split Along Racial Lines on Backlash Against Police, Poll Finds
By JANET HOOK
Americans are bracing for a summer of racial disturbances around the country, such as those that have wracked Baltimore, with African Americans and whites deeply divided about why the urban violence has occurred, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found.
A resounding 96% of adults surveyed said it was likely there would be additional racial disturbances this summer, a signal that Americans believe Baltimore’s recent problems aren’t a local phenomenon but instead are symptomatic of broader national problems.
When asked to explain recent events in Baltimore and other cities that have seen confrontations between police and members of the African-American community, blacks and whites viewed the situation differently.
Asked to choose between two possible explanations for recent events, 60% of blacks said they reflected “long-standing frustrations about police mistreatment of African Americans.” Some 27% of black respondents said the disturbances were caused by people who used protests over an African American man dying in police custody “as an excused to engage in looting and violence.”
But among whites, the balance of opinion flipped: 58% said people were seizing an excuse to loot, while 32% said the events reflected long-standing frustrations with police.
While most people in the survey predicted further racial disturbances this summer, a smaller share expected them to hit close to home. The poll found that 53% of whites and 46% of African Americans said it was likely there would be a racial disturbance in the metropolitan area nearest to them.
Full results of the new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, including public opinion of the 2016 presidential contenders, will be released on Monday evening.
Garrett Calls on DOT and OMB to Finalize Hazardous Materials Rule for DOT-111 Tank Cars
Apr 29, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) yesterday called on Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and OMB Director Shaun Donovan to complete their final review of a rule regarding DOT-111 tank cars by their May 2015 deadline. This rule could protect New Jersey from a potential hazardous materials disaster by ensuring freight cars have adequate safety standards.
Since 2011, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has been working on a proposed rule, the Enhanced Tank Car Standards and Operational Controls for High-Hazard Flammable Trains, to determine the safety of DOT-111 tanks cars. DOT-111 tank cars are used for the transportation of hazardous materials, including crude oil and ethanol. They have been identified by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as having design elements that pose a clear, demonstrated risk that hazardous materials could be released during a rail accident.
“The American public entrusts the DOT with the responsibility of ensuring that hazardous materials are transported safely by rail, making any further delays of this proposed rule completely unacceptable,” said Garrett. “A timely review of the DOT’s final rule will allow the rail industry to begin to make the necessary changes to their existing rail cars, budget for new costs, and protect New Jersey from a potential disaster. My constituents need assurance that adequate protections are in place when hazardous materials are being transported through our communities.”
In 2013, nearly half a million carloads of crude oil were transported by rail in the United States. In New Jersey alone, there are approximately 2,400 miles of rail freight lines. Reps. Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02), Chris Smith (NJ-04), Leonard Lance (NJ-07), and Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) signed Rep. Garrett’s letter.
We are so excited to announce our 4th annual Mary Therese Rose Run. It will be held on Saturday May 9, 2015 at the beautiful Darlington County Park in Mahwah NJ. This will be a morning of family fun activities, 5K, prizes, and food. Online registration is available at
From Ferguson to Baltimore, the nation’s first black president is encountering the limits of his power when it comes to healing the nation’s racial wounds.
A series of racially-charged police killings, most recently in Baltimore, are quickly becoming a part of President Obama’s second-term legacy, defying predictions that his election to the White House would help bridge the country’s oldest divide.
Obama appears increasingly frustrated by the situation, this week lashing out at people rioting in Baltimore as “thugs” and “criminals.”
The president has also brushed off critics who say his administration should be taking a more forceful approach toward police misconduct.
“The challenge for us as the federal government is, is that we don’t run these police forces,” he said Tuesday during a Rose Garden press conference. “I can’t federalize every police force in the country and force them to retrain.”
The president has struggled to find the right balance between backing law enforcement and criticizing their questionable practices when police-related deaths of black men occur.
MAY 1, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Stop planning for profit
To the Editor:
Ridgewood is facing significant zoning changes that will forever change the character of our village. An amendment to the master plan that would significantly increase permitted housing density in downtown Ridgewood seems imminent. Public hearings have continued for more than two years, and more than 100 residents have gone on record to advocate for a cautious approach and to express concern about the size, scale and density of the proposed housing developments.
However, it was obvious at the last meeting on April 21 that the Planning Board is proceeding without any regard to public opinion and is tailoring our master plan to suit the needs of the developers. We expected Village Planner Blais Brancheau to come to the meeting with answers to questions and options for moving forward. Instead, Mr. Brancheau sat with his back to the residents, provided no handouts or visuals to help the public follow along and presented a revised amendment that appears to be a gift to the developers.
The revised amendment once again offers a “one size fits all” approach to housing that defies principles of sound planning and haphazardly groups parcels of land together in order to push through high-density housing. Mr. Brancheau has yet to provide any analysis or evidence as to why we need to increase the density from the 18 to 24 units per acre average that currently exists in our downtown. As far as we can see, the new amendment increases the number of units allowed per acre to 30 to 35 (still almost tripling what is currently permitted), realigns the zones (combining the Ken Smith property with the Sealfons building) and removes three properties on Chestnut Street from consideration as a means to cap development.
Mayor Paul Aronsohn said that the revised amendment “strikes that balance between everything we have been talking about.” There is something very wrong with this picture. The amendment is looking more and more like spot zoning and our Planning Board is forging ahead.
Why must density be the same for every zone? What exactly are the unique qualities of a property that would warrant residential versus commercial use? Why combine two very different properties? Why remove properties from consideration? Where is the guarantee that other property owners in town won’t argue for these same zoning benefits? Who is driving this process?
It is unconscionable that residents who deserve responsible planning have spent over $100,000 in legal representation and still have no voice in the process. Ridgewood deserves the best solution, and we are hoping wise minds prevail. We urge the Planning Board to please stop planning for profit and start planning for the people.
Please join us at the public hearing at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5 at Village Hall as we seek answers to the many questions regarding the changes to the amendment.
Millennial workers have had it rough in recent years, coming of age during the Great Recession and experiencing higher levels of unemployment and underemployment than older generations.
A new study finds that Millennials, who will dominate the U.S. labor market for the next 50 years, may face another problem: They’re less prepared for today’s job market than many of their international peers, putting them (and the country) at a distinct disadvantage in an increasingly global economy.
A recent report by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) examined data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC), which showed that American millennials are badly lagging behind in numeracy, literacy and problem-solving skills. Experts can only speculate on the reason for the skills gap, but the report warns that the consequences of such relatively low scores could be serious for American competiveness and could have an impact on the U.S. both socially and politically.
The study shows that even our top-performing millennials are not measuring up to their counterparts overseas. Further, the gap between America’s highest- and lowest-performing workers is among the largest. The study suggests that such a disparity can lead to dire consequences, including “mistrust in government, decreased civic engagement, increased rates of incarceration, poor health, obesity, addiction and more”
“We did not do well across the board in all three of the skills that we looked into, particularly in numeracy,” said Madeline Goodman, director of research at the ETS and one of the study’s co-authors, adding that the report presents troubling implications for the future of American competiveness.
Nearly two-thirds of millennials scored below the minimum standard in math. “If these individuals are going to be trained for jobs that have remuneration … then they need to have basic skill level” she said.
Among the 22 participating countries, U.S millennials 18 to 34 years old ranked 21st in numeracy — only Spanish millennials had lower scores. In literacy, half scored below the minimum proficiency level, ahead of only Spain and Italy. For problem solving in technology-rich environments, 56 percent of American millennials met the minimum standards, behind every other nation.
That’s a problem for U.S. employers, more than two-thirds of whom look for communication, problem-solving and quantitative skills in their new hires, according to a report last year by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Even so, employers expect to hire more new college grads this year than they did last year, according to a NACE report released earlier this month.
One of the central paradoxes of the ETS study is that the millennial generation is our most educated, and the study’s authors make the case that many post-secondary institutions are not adequately providing students with the skills necessary to be successful in the job market. The financial loan burden to pay for this education can also be crippling.
“These results are suggesting that a significant chunk of Americans will have trouble moving up in the labor market and getting out of lower-wage jobs,” says Harry Holzer, professor of public policy at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.
The skills gap may be having an impact on productivity and growth, and federal educational programs such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have not produced the needed results, Holzer says.
Holzer adds that Americans may need to revaluate the way they obtain these skills, and suggests that post-secondary education should not mean only a bachelor’s or associate’s degree. Upgrading America’s technical education schooling, including certificate programs in such high-demand fields as IT and health tech, may give young people entrée to high demand middle class jobs. He compares American millennials to Germans, where many high school graduates can already solve complex technical problems.
Mark Schneider, vice-president and Institute Fellow at The American Institutes for Research, is also critical of American universities, many of which he believes don’t equip students with the skills they need to function in the workplace or the wider community. He calls most college educations “too long, too expensive” and says the liberal arts skills that they provide are not marketable.
NASA ‘Warp Drive’ Could Take Spaceship to Mars in 70 Days
Friday, 01 May 2015 07:18 AM
By Clyde Hughes
NASA has successfully tested a type of “warp drive” popularized in the science fiction franchise “Star Trek” that could allow spaceships to travel at near light speed without using rocket fuel.
NASA announced on Wednesday that a team working at the Johnson Space Center tested the electromagnetic propulsion drive in a vacuum.
“Thrust measurements of the EM Drive defy classical physics’ expectations that such a closed (microwave) cavity should be unusable for space propulsion because of the law of conservation of momentum,” wrote José Rodal, Jeremiah Mullikin and Noel Munson forNASA Spaceflight.com.
“The concept of an EM Drive as put forth by (Satellite Propulsion Research Ltd.) was that electromagnetic microwave cavities might provide for the direct conversion of electrical energy to thrust without the need to expel any propellant,” they wrote.
NASA scientists said the warp drive would allow man-made spaceships to reach Mars in 70 days, noted the website.
“A 90 metric ton, 2 MegaWatt nuclear electric propulsion mission to Mars (would have) considerable reduction in transit times due to having a thrust-to-mass ratio greater than the gravitational acceleration of the sun,” Harold “Sonny” White of the Johnson Space Center told NASA Spaceflight.com.
Scientists stressed, according to The Verge’s Jacob Kastrenakes, that testing is just at the beginning stage but without the need for rocket fuel in space, it could reduce the volume that NASA and other space providers need to initially launch out of Earth’s orbit.
Boyd LovingDoes anyone know if the Village of Ridgewood (VOR) is exempt from NJ State Department of Motor Vehicle regulations as they pertain to motor vehicle inspection?
On Thursday, 04/30, two (2) VOR owned vehicles were observed with expired inspection stickers (Parks Department pickup truck and marked police car) and another VOR vehicle without an inspection sticker (looked like a fleet maintenance truck).
Considering that the inspection stickers are expired (or non-existent), it is possible that the vehicle registrations may be expired as well.
So are we above the law/exempt from the law, or is it just gross incompetence on the part of whomever is supposed to keep track of these things?
APRIL 29, 2015, 5:13 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015, 5:13 PM
BY KIBRET MARKOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Two attorneys were arrested and charged with simple assault on Wednesday after they got into a heated dispute that turned into a fist fight at the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, authorities and witnesses said.
Costantino Fragale, 42, and Jeffrey Mandel, 43, were in a deposition in a room on the fourth floor about 1 p.m. when the dispute erupted, said Anthony Cureton, spokesman for the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, which is in charge of security at the courthouse.
“There were verbal arguments, and there was a fight,” Cureton said. He said he did not know what caused the dispute.
Witnesses said they heard a commotion in a jury-deliberation room that doubles as an attorney conference room, and later saw one of the attorneys had a bloodied face. More than a dozen sheriff’s officers showed up at the scene and broke up the fight, they said.
Fragale and Mandel were later released without bail.
