Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Former Congressman has filed paperwork to run against the Republican incumbent.
It sure seems like former Congressman Andy Maguire is looking to reclaim his old seat. The Democrat from Ridgewood is making the rounds and raising a warchest to take on well-funded, name-brand conservative incumbent, Scott Garrett. While Maguire – who was a congressman from 1974-1980 before Marge Roukema ousted him – claims the campaign is still "exploratory" at this point, his spokesman told northjersey.com that the 5th district seat is "certainly winnable." Maguire, 75, has been at party events in recent months, most recently introducing two Democratic Glen Rock council candidates. Politickernj.com reported he has filed the paperwork to take on Garrett in 2014. While the 5th district still favors Republicans, new voting lines now bring …
Sunday, May 19, 2013
HUMC-Pascack Valley CEO Chad Melton wants the hospital to increase bed counts within the next few years, according to northjersey.com. Melton said he doesn't think Bergen competitors will "lose volume" as a result.
With Valley Hospital struggling to modernize its own facilities through a controversial expansion project, a major competitor announced it too has visions of expansion – and it's not even open for business yet. According to a Sunday report on northjersey.com, Hackensack University Medical Center at Pascack Valley is optimistic its new facility will drum up enough business to quickly expand. Pascack Valley Hospital declared bankrupcy in 2007 and has been dormant since. “If we truly have the volume here and the support we think, within the next three years we’ll be looking to add inpatient rooms,” Chad Melton, chief executive of the 128-bed hospital, told the news website. HUMC-Pascack Valley, scheduled to open June 1, is the first for-…
Saturday, May 18, 2013
"The nightmare is not over for many affected by Sandy," says Ridgewood resident Frank Del Vecchio. The Fairview police chief will be running from Moonachie to the Jersey Shore to raise funds and awareness.
Seven months after Super Storm Sandy's winds ripped homes from their foundations, dunked rollercoasters into the Atlantic, and left scores facing a harrowing road to rebuilding, there's a fear the victims will be forgotten. It hasn't escaped Frank Del Vecchio's memory. The Ridgewood resident and Fairview police chief is strapping on his running shoes for perhaps his most ambitious excursion yet – he'll be running 106 miles non-stop from flood-scarred Moonachie to Staten Island and then down the Jersey Shore to aid victims. "Right after Sandy hit, I had a conversation with the mayor of Little Ferry (Mauro Raguseo) and he told me how devastated the town was and how a lot of people were helping," Del Vecchio said. "But then he said something …
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Ridgewood police, New Jersey state troopers named in federal lawsuit
A former Fairleigh Dickinson University professor linked to a neo-Nazi group has filed a civil rights lawsuit alleging he and his wife were victims of police brutality during a 2011 raid of his Ridgewood apartment. Jacques Pluss, an ex-adjunct history and politics professor at FDU's Teaneck campus, claimed in the suit that state troopers and Ridgewood police burned him with a cigarette, dragged him, and threw him into a pile of ice and snow during his arrest for threats authorities say he made against an Anti-Defamation League official. Then-girlfriend Jessica Stephens, who has since married Pluss, was "thrown into the cement walkway to be tightly zip tied and handcuffed which caused injury to her wrists and shoulders," the lawsuit …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Ridgewood mayor – who lost to Congressman Scott Garrett in his 2006 congressional run – said Garrett needs to reverse his position and support President Obama's request for a $60 billion federal aid package.
Rep. Scott Garrett (R-5th) is failing the citizens of New Jersey by putting ideology over the needs of people still suffering through the devastation of Super Storm Sandy, Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn wrote in a scatching op-ed in The Record. The Ridgewood mayor, who lost to Garrett in a race for the 5th district Congressional seat in 2006, hammered the conservative from Wantage for not supporting the $60 billion federal Sandy aid package request. Garrett is the only federal lawmaker in the Garden State to not support the bundle of infrastructure upgrade requests made to Congress, expressing skepticism that accountability would be present or that the money would be spent effectively. Garrett is nothing if not consistent. The conservative …
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Six months since a study recommended sweeping changes to Bergen County Police Department, none have come.
Note: This story was published on Dec. 4, 2011 Six months after a study called for sweeping changes to the Bergen County Police Department, none of the study's central recommendations have been implemented as the fight over the future of the agency continues, a fight that has seemingly chilled the relationship of two county leaders who were allies this time last year. Bergen County officials are currently waiting for a second report on the county police that’s supposed to be completed early next year, this one by a committee created by County Executive Kathleen Donovan. Critics - most notably Sheriff Michael Saudino, who swept into office with Donovan last November - argue the panel is composed primarily of political appointees rather …
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Ravi was convicted of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy charges related to spying on Tyler Clementi
In an exclusive interview with The Newark Star-Ledger, Dharun Ravi publicly addressed his recent conviction and the tension that existed during the last days his Rutgers roommate Tyler Clementi was alive. Ravi, 20, of Plainsboro, was convicted on 15 counts related to a webcam spying incident of Clementi, who a jury found was targeted by Ravi because he was gay. Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge shortly after discovering Ravi had spied on him and invited others to watch. The death of Clementi, of Ridgewood, became a rallying cry in the gay community to address bullying and the danger of technology. In the interview with columnist Mark Di Ionno, Ravi claimed – as his defense team did at trial – that he had no …
Friday, March 16, 2012
Dharun Ravi targeted roommate Tyler Clementi because he was gay, jury finds.
A Middlesex County jury found Dharun Ravi guilty Friday in the Rutgers webcam spying case that may have led to the suicide of Ridgewood native Tyler Clementi in fall of 2010. Ravi, 20, was convicted on the most serious charges of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy and faces a possible ten year prison sentence. He could also be deported to India after serving time in prison. The jury agreed with prosecutors that Ravi targeted Clementi, his 18-year-old roommate, because Clementi was gay. Ravi showed little emotion after hearing the jury determine his fate, ultimately convicting him on 24 of 35 charges contained in 15 counts. Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge days after discovering Ravi attempted to view …
Monday, February 6, 2012
New Jersey to gain $63M in federal transit funding should a Senate bill pass, the senator said at the Ridgewood Train Station Monday morning
Standing in front of the newly-renovated Ridgewood Train Station, Sen. Robert Menendez on Monday touted the impact a new federal bill would have for New Jersey commuters in clearing congestion and cutting red tape to initiate transit development while preserving and creating jobs. Surrounded by local elected officials and armed transit police, the Democratic senator said New Jersey could reap rewards should the Federal Transportation Act of 2012 be passed by the legislature. "We are here today to announce that New Jersey stands to get $519 million in federal transit funding from the Federal Transportation Act that came out of the Banking Committee without any increase in federal spending," Menendez said. "We have cut waste and eliminated …
Monday, January 30, 2012
About 20 performed street theater showing Friday outside the Congressman's office, saying the conservative Republican has been accepting big donations from oil interests instead of protecting the earth
Had Rep. Scott Garrett been at his Glen Rock congressional office on Friday, he would have been treated to a performance of street theater, though it's unlikely he would have enjoyed the show. Environmentalists from several area groups crammed into the hallway in front of the conservative Republican's office protesting his environmental record, claiming the Wantage legislator has been gobbling up big checks written by oil interests and subsequently voting in their favor. "We're all his constituents, we don't need a response, we know where Garrett stands and we know he's not going to change," 350.org organizer Matt Smith, of Wyckoff, said to a lone Garrett staffer in the office. "We're telling you here today we don't stand behind it and …
Marcia Strean
4:06 pm on Thursday, May 23, 2013
Well, I wouldn't get educated by the name-calling, cutesy hostility. People who support Mr. Garrett could help his cause by outlining his votes and stands on issues, or at least be proud of themselves for their knowledge. more ›