Nor’easter cost borough $426,000

LITTLE FALLS — April’s nor’easter and the flooding that followed cost the township more than $426,000, according to records submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Overtime and equipment for the police and fire departments cost more than $52,000. Repairing damaged roads, storm water sewers, Zuchorsky Park and catch basins accounted for another $39,000.

Fred Batelli, the township’s Office of Emergency Management coordinator, said although FEMA didn’t reimburse Little Falls for its flood in April 2005, the federal agency would do so for this one.

“We were lucky this time,” Batelli said Wednesday. “We haven’t received anything yet. It should be coming within the next month or so.”

April’s nor’easter caused the Passaic River to overflow its banks, sending waist-deep water onto township streets, and affected some 400 homes.

In Totowa, Allen Del Vecchio, the borough’s Office of Emergency Management coordinator, said its tally on municipal flood costs wouldn’t be ready until early next week.

Last week, Steve Wielkotz, West Paterson’s borough auditor, said April’s floods cost the town $255,000 — about half of which had been reimbursed by FEMA.

Reach Jennifer H. Cunningham at 973-569-7162 or Cunningham@northjersey.com.

Empty building featured in ads

PASSAIC — A new advertising campaign on NJ Transit buses portrays the city’s Main Avenue shopping district as a mecca with “over 100 stores” and a low 3.5 percent sales tax.

“Everybody knows that this building, there’s not a company in it,” Ahmed Ebid, the store manager of Home-N-Furniture, said Tuesday. “People they are going to take it as not the truth.”

Redevelopment Director Glenn Carter said the city’s nonprofit Urban Enterprise Zone paid $8,000 for the latest advertising campaign on 20 buses to bolster the city’s image. In past years, city officials had used bus billboards and television commercials.

“We obviously knew it was vacant,” he said. “It was decided to be the most prominent building in Passaic, and we do look at it as a hope for the future.”

Local business owners complain that the 88,575-square-foot, 11-story behemoth known as the Bank Tower, at 663 Main Ave., projects a negative image with broken windows and garbage scattered on windowsills.

“Glass breaks when the wind blows … it’s a dangerous building,” said Kenneth Lulo, an attorney with a law office on nearby Prospect Street.

The art deco-style building has sat dilapidated and vacant for more than a decade after medical offices, lawyers and professional services moved out. The owners opted to shutter the building instead of making mandatory fire-code upgrades.

Carter said the city is in the process of filing a condemnation complaint against the building’s owner, New York City-based 460 Park Associates.

In April, the city hired an appraiser who estimated the value of the building to be $1.86 million.

Telephone calls for comment on the Bank Tower building to The Moinian Group, a New York City-based property management company representing the owners, were not returned Tuesday.

In 1994, to reinvigorate the city’s ailing downtown business district, the state designated Passaic as an Urban Enterprise Zone, making it one of 33 places in New Jersey to receive special tax benefits and incentives. Passaic and Paterson are the only cities in Passaic County to enjoy the special status. Businesses can get a 100 percent sales tax rebate on business-related purchases.

UEZ Chairman Cliff Lindholm said the advertising campaign’s main goal has less to do with the symbolic building and more to do with attracting retail shoppers to the downtown business district.

“How much time do you spend looking at a bus?” Lindholm questioned. “What you really want to get across is the 3 percent sales tax.”

Lindholm, who owns Passaic-based Falstrom Co., an aerospace manufacturer, said the UEZ has not only helped shoppers, but the 250 business-owners who are members of the UEZ. Revenue from the city’s sales tax goes directly into the city’s coffers to pay for improvements to streets in the business district.

The bus depots boast new lighting, landscaping, paving and other improvements. The UEZ also has helped finance several of the city’s redevelopment projects.

Reach Meredith Mandell at mandell@northjersey.com.

New York, NY – Laptop with Personal Data of 280,000 People Stolen from Consultant to the City

New York, NY – A laptop with personal data of as many as 280,000 city retirees, belonging to a private consultant to the city Financial Information Services Agency, was stolen from a midtown restaurant, said City Hall spokesman Jason Post.
“The consultant [had] access to personal information of members of the city’s various pension systems,” Post said.

It was not immediately clear how many retirees’ personal information files – possibly including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and pension amounts – could have been on the computer.
Therefore, all retirees whose privacy might have been compromised as a result of the theft will be contacted, Post said.

A police source said the laptop was lifted from Kang Suh, a Korean restaurant at 1250 Broadway.
The potential good news for retirees, the source added, is that sensitive information on the computer may have been encrypted, although that’s still under investigation.
The Official Directory of the City of New York describes FISA as a “state-of-the-art information technology services center” that “provides secure access” to data on the city’s finances and payroll. [nydailynews]

Designer Succahs

For people who appreciate something unique and creative, Designer Succas offer a new way to make this beautiful mitzvah still more beautiful – and to double this mitzvah as well. That is because proceeds from the succahs, available exclusively through Oorah, will help the kiruv organization make sure that every Jewish family has a succah of its own.The Mehadrin structure of the ‘Designer Succa’ satisfies all the halachic requirements of succah, while adding a brand new design dimension. There are three models to choose from: Classic, which features a formal, elegant cream-on-beige design; Kotel, which evokes the beloved holy site of the Beis Hamikdash; and Rich Embroidery, a patchwork of Judaic motifs in rich earth and jewel tones. All of the interiors feature a subtle print of the exterior design, offset by interior window flaps and all-around valances in full color.Not only is the Designer Succa unique and kosher, but it is also constructed for simple assembly and disassembly – no tools required. The lightweight, compact components can be stored anywhere.Oorah has been supplying and assembling succahs for its kiruv families for decades. Designer Succas create a new way to fund this growing, high-impact program, and they bring the Jewish community an exciting new way to add a little extra simcha to  z’man simchaseinu.For more information please click HERE to visit our website at or call 1-877-2-SUCCAH.

Hide Your Electronics In The Car

Thieves are targeting cars with visible valuables such as laptops and GPS systems. Investigators urge residents to keep valuables out of sight and always lock your car.

Clifton Gas Station Robbed at Gunpoint

Heather Haddon – NorthJersey.com

Clifton, NJ – Police continued to hunt for a roving band of robbers Thursday who hit two gas stations in two counties in the space of about an hour.

At around 11 p.m. Wednesday, an unidentified man approached the attendant at the Sunoco station, 870 Route 3 west, and asked for a pack of cigarettes. The robber then pulled out a handgun and punched the clerk in the face, according to Clifton police Capt. Robert Rowan.

The thief stole wads of money from the attendant’s shirt and pants pockets, then fled in a silver sport utility vehicle with a female driver and male passenger, Rowan said.

Managers at the Sunoco station were still calculating how much was stolen Thursday, Rowan said. The 32-year-old attendant from Passaic, whose name was not released, was treated at the scene for injuries to his face. No shots were fired.

Just after midnight on Thursday, the robbers allegedly struck again along Route 22 in Union Township, according to Lt. Joseph Dilginias, of the Union Police Department.

Again, three individuals in a silver SUV stole from a gas station with a handgun, Dilginias said.

Anyone with information about the crime is urged to contact Detective Hank Tkach of the Clifton Police Department at 973-470-5900.

Victory In Passaic for Taxpayers

Press Release from 36th District Assembly Republican candidate Carmen Pio Costa

Double-Dipping Schaer Forced to Pass A “Save My Job(s)” Resolution, Yet State Still Suffers From His Budget-Busting Spending Plans

Nutley, NJ – In a press release issued Thursday, 36th District Assembly Republican candidate Carmen Pio Costa congratulated the citizens of Passaic for forcing a vote by the City Council to rescind its recent self-serving grab for publicly funded health benefits. The council, led by dual-office holder Assemblyman Gary Schaer, had tried to give themselves lifetime health benefits for their part-time jobs 10 years earlier than the city’s 700 other employees.

Widespread opposition from angry voters, the local papers, and Pio Costa, who is challenging Schaer’s Assembly seat this fall, forced Schaer to call a special meeting this morning to rescind the perk-grabbing resolution. Pio Costa personally attended the Passaic council’s meeting to make sure the will of the taxpayers was carried out.

Pio Costa today also called attention to Schaer’s contribution to bankrupting the state through his work on the Assembly Budget Committee, where in just two years he has supported an increase in state spending by $5.6 billion.

“If residents of this district want to know why their taxes are so high, Assemblyman Schaer provides a textbook example of the problem in Trenton,” said Pio Costa, a businessman from Nutley. “While he votes to recklessly increase state spending from his position on the powerful budget committee, he boosts the cost of local government through his votes as a dual office-holder on the Passaic City Council.”

Schaer has served on the budget committee since 2006 and approved both of Governor Corzine’s spending plans that hiked state spending from $27.9 billion in FY2006 to $33.5 billion in FY2008.

The Legislature’s special session on property tax reform last summer identified the ballooning cost of public employee benefits as a major underlying factor driving up property taxes in New Jersey. Passaic homeowners saw a 9% increase in their taxes, yet that did not stop Schaer from voting to boost his benefits before the public caught him with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Property taxes have soared on average by 36 percent in the past five years and state taxes have been increased 94 times,” Pio Costa said. “This is too much for New Jersey taxpayers to take, and as long as individuals like Assemblyman Schaer view government as a piggy bank this problem will continue. It is time we elected candidates who will be good stewards of taxpayer dollars – not those seeking to enhance their own benefits.”

The views expressed here are those of 36th District Assembly Republican candidate Carmen Pio Costa, and do not necessarily reflect the views of PCJN. His website: http://piocostaforassembly.com/

Passaic City Councilmember Jackson Apologizes

MEREDITH MANDELL – HERALD NEWS

Passaic, NJ – Marcellus Jackson on Thursday became the latest elected official to issue a public apology for trying to give the city’s eight elected officials retirement benefits beyond those offered to hundreds of other city employees.

At an early-morning meeting called especially for the purpose, six of the city’s seven council members voted to rescind a resolution they approved in May. Councilman Gerardo Fernandez was absent from the meeting called for 8:45 a.m. at council chambers. Fewer than 10 members of the public were present.

The vote capped several weeks of intense public scrutiny over the council’s approval of the resolution that extended medical benefits to elected officials who retire after 15 years of service instead of the requisite 25 years of service for the city’s nearly 700 employees. The resolution covered the seven council members and the mayor.

Before the vote, Jackson read a public apology. He was the only council member to comment.

“I want to say to the citizens of Passaic, I apologize for this mistake that was made,” he said. “I take full responsibility for it … This will never happen again.”

Pressure Does Work; Passaic Councilmembers Rescind Benefits.

MEREDITH MANDELL – HERALD NEWS

Passaic, NJ – The Passaic City Council finally mustered enough votes Thursday to rescind a resolution that gives themselves and the mayor post-retirement medical benefits after 15 years of service instead of the requisite 25 years for the city’s nearly 700 employees.

The unanimous vote by six council members at a special meeting called at 8:45 a.m., capped what had been several weeks of intense public scrutiny over the council’s original passage of the resolution in May. Councilman Gerardo Fernandez was absent from the meeting.

Today’s Herald News Editorial Says Passaic City Council Members Act Like “Children on the Playground,” & says they were “Not Thinking of Interests of the Taxpayers”

Herald News Editorial

Today the Passaic City Council gets a second chance to reverse a May resolution that granted the members city-paid health benefits after 15 years of service, a decade before hundreds of city employees would become eligible for similar benefits. You’d have to be 62 years old or more to get the health benefits.

The measure, which would benefit Mayor Samuel Rivera, who is 60 and has 18 years of service, must be viewed against the backdrop of the state providing the city $1.5 million in distressed cities funds in 2006. It must also be viewed against the council’s January approval of a $72.8 million budget, which includes a 9 percent property tax increase. Clearly, now is not the time for Passaic and its taxpayers to take on additional financial burdens.

Nevertheless, in May, council members approved a resolution that potentially helps themselves at the expense of the taxpayers.

Earlier this month, after the May resolution came to light, Passaic residents howled in protest. Council President Gary S. Schaer, who had supported what he now calls an “egregious mistake.” He promised the resolution would be rescinded during the Aug. 7 meeting. It wasn’t.

Instead, the 3-3 tie vote with one abstention let the measure stand. Schaer and Councilmen Chaim Munk and Daniel Schwartz voted to rescind the resolution. Voting to keep it in place were Councilmen Gerardo Fernandez, Jose Garcia and Marcellus Jackson. Jackson has said he has voted to sustain the measure because he hopes the benefit would be extended to all city workers. That means he supports keeping in place a benefit the city can’t afford in the hope of extending it to still more people. That’s hardly a compelling argument. Maritza Colon Montanez abstained since she was not a member of the council when the measure was enacted.

On Aug. 9, Schaer called a special meeting for this morning in a second attempt to rescind the health-coverage resolution. His request comes on the heels of an outpouring of outrage from city taxpayers and biting attacks from the Democratic assemblyman’s (36th District) political foes.

Still, even if the council reverses its spring course of action today, which it should, Passaic residents should not forget: the council members, who serve part-time, were not thinking of interests of the taxpayers when they voted themselves retirement health benefits after only 15 years of service.

Further, like the aborted effort by the city’s library board to sell the Reid Memorial Library, the public and the press had to force the council to reconsider an egregious mistake wiser heads never would have made.

The “do-over” can be a useful way to resolve conflict among children on the playground. But in adult civic affairs, the council’s second and much needed “do-over” today casts doubts on its judgment, motives and competence.

Passaic’s Jewish Community Targeted in Ticket Blitz

Reader Submitted Article

Passaic, NJ – The Jewish community is being targeted with frivolous tickets.

Why the Jewish community? Because they know we’re easy to ticket. We don’t put up much of a fuss, we just politely take our undeserved ticket and go about our business. We are the city’s cash cow.

This morning, a Passaic police officer, #318, was seen circling the area in front of Kosher Konnection on Main Avenue only! He would drive down the strip of Main in front of Kosher Konnection, turn around at the Kosher Konnection Parking lot, and then turn around on Van Houten and go back. When he wasn’t driving, he kept his car parked in front of the kosher bagel shop right next door to Kosher Konnection.

This officer, #318 was observed ticketing 4 orthodox Jews in a row this morning! Is this racial profiling?

 

Two days ago, CBS TV exposed (http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_225220548.html) [PCNJ Note: as reported here] that the NYPD was giving out frivolous tickets in order to make their quotas. This seems to be what is happening in Passaic. As much as cities deny quotas, the article states that NYC actually admitted to having quotas in 2006.

A letter to the editor printed in the Herald two days ago (click here to view) called The City of Passaic a “Police State,” and wrote that “The city of Passaic, in my opinion, gives out tickets and prosecutes cases to raise money for the city coffers, not to punish wrongdoers, or obtain justice.”

Recently there were uproars in Passaic’s Jewish community, when Police officers ticketed and tried to tow a Jewish volunteer ambulance service’s ambulance (click here for that article in The Herald), and when police officers ticketed a Jewish woman in front of Kosher Konnection for trying to help her friend with an emergency (click here for that article on PCJN).

 

The real question is, who hires the Police? Who runs the city?

We have 3 Jewish councilmen and one councilwoman who works for a Jewish councilman, giving the Jewish officials a clear majority on the council, and therefore, almost absolute control of the city.

Why do they not stop these abuses against the Jewish community, and against citizens of the city in general?

Passaic City School Board Wastes Your Money Too!

THE RECORD EDITORIAL

TWO YEARS AGO, Passaic city school officials misguided the state Schools Construction Corp. into paying the family of an accused mob associate more than $4 million for a proposed elementary school site.

In return, the agency got a piece of property that is patently unsuitable for an elementary school. And yet it seems that this egregious misdeed — for which no one has been punished — has not finished soaking the state’s taxpayers.

The most immediate of the myriad problems presented by the property is its proximity to an inappropriate movie theater and a cut-rate hotel with a history of drug arrests, both of which sit across Henry Street from the school site. The schools corporation’s successor agency, the Schools Development Authority, is now moving toward making offers on those properties to make way for a preschool and administrative offices, a spokesman told the Herald News last week. With offers being made to five property owners, at least one of whom might resist the overture, the Henry Street fiasco could get a lot more expensive than it already is.

NYPD’s Bogus Little Secret: Parking Ticket Quotas

CBS

NEW YORK - Parking tickets are a cash cow for New York City, raking in close to $600 million a year.

But could that orange violation on your windshield be an illegal ticket for a legal spot?

The sign reads no parking 8 to 8:30 am, for street cleaning, but any time after that it’s a legal spot to park on Westchester Avenue in the Bronx.

However, CBS 2 HD undercover cameras captured images of a driver chasing away a traffic officer trying to write her a bogus ticket.

“She says it’s not a bus stop, I’m parked legitimate,” Bronx resident Melvin Simon said.

The video was shot by Simon, who found out the hard way: Park here at your own peril.

“I got a ticket for parking in a legitimate spot,” Simon said.

For $115.

“(The police officer) says, ‘you’re in a bus stop,’” Simon said. “I said, ‘look up at the sign up there, I’m behind the sign,’ so he apologized to me, but he already wrote the ticket.”

NYPD Says Home-grown Terrorists a Big Threat.

AP / VosIzNeias

New York, NY – Average citizens who quietly band together and adopt radical ways — not just established overseas terrorist groups like al-Qaida — pose a serious threat to American security, a new police analysis has concluded.

The New York Police Department report, to be released later today, describes a radicalization process in which young Muslim immigrants, frustrated with their lives in their adopted country, slowly adopt a philosophy that puts them on the path to jihad. The men meet and share ideas not only in mosques, but in bookstores and over the Internet, it says.

Police officials say the report warns that that potential terrorists are difficult for law enforcement to detect because they blend in well with society.

The study, titled “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat” is based on an analysis of the security risks exposed in criminal cases Lackawanna, N.Y., Portland, Ore. and Virginia, as well as plots in Hamburg, Madrid and Toronto.

The findings were to be presented at a briefing at police headquarters for private security executives.

Kosher Hot Food Vending Machines at Hackensack University Medical Center!

New York Times / VosIzNeias

New York, NY – Earlier this month, the nation’s first glatt kosher vending machine that can shoot out a hot knish was installed at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. The machine also crisps up kosher mozzarella sticks, cheese pizza and onion rings. And in a few weeks, freshly grilled hot dogs in warm buns will be for sale there, too. Not from the same machine, of course. That wouldn’t be kosher.

The vending machines are called Hot Nosh 24/6. “To make it a little Jewish sounding we called it nosh, and we added the 24/6 to give a little cuteness to it,” said Doron Fetman, who with his partner, Alan Cohnen, created Kosher Vending Industries.

Although Orthodox and some Conservative Jews do not use electric devices during Sabbath, the creators of Hot Nosh 24/6 will leave that choice to the customer. Despite their name, the machines will be ready to serve 24/7

Their business plan calls for 2,000 machines in the next two years in ballparks, malls, airports, military bases — pretty much anywhere people might be willing to pop in a few dollars for something hot and kosher.

City of Passaic is a “Police State” According to a Letter in Today’s Herald

Herald News Letter to the Editor – Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Some reasons Passaic has a court backlog

One of the reasons for the huge court backlog in Passaic is that the city, and the court, are dealing with cases they have no business handling such as parking tickets for overtime parking that were given to disabled individuals who have a legal right to park overtime at a meter (see N.J.S.A. 39:4-207). Or perhaps prosecuting municipal disorderly person cases, when the New Jersey courts have ruled that municipal disorderly person ordinances are unenforceable. Or giving out tickets to ambulances, as was reported in the Herald News.

The city of Passaic, in my opinion, gives out tickets and prosecutes cases to raise money for the city coffers, not to punish wrongdoers, or obtain justice. The city relies on the fact that a great majority of the people who appear in the court cannot afford an attorney and don’t know what their rights are.

This allows the city to gain an unfair advantage over the uneducated and poor of the community.

And, since under New Jersey law you’re not entitled to have an attorney appointed for free if the fine is less than $750 and doesn’t involve jail time, there is no one to protect the rights of most who come into the Passaic courtroom.

In my opinion, Passaic has become a “police state,” with the court rubber-stamping everything the police do. And there’s no one to protect the rights of the accused.

–Saul Jaffe, Passaic

HUD Funds For City of Passaic.

MEREDITH MANDELL – HERALD NEWS

PASSAIC, NJ – The city will receive more than $2.1 million in federal funding to fix city streets, aid the homeless and elderly, renovate old buildings, and help first-time home buyers.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the annual Community Development Block Grant and Home Investment Partnerships awards Tuesday. Passaic received $1.2 million and an additional $929,929, respectively.

The awards represent at least four years of steady decline in federal funding for the city’s two largest grant programs. The CDBG award reflects a $200,000 decrease over that time. In 2004, the city received $1.4 million, compared with this year’s $1.2 million. HOME funding decreased this year by $2,320.

City Community Development Director Ron Van Rensalier said that because of cuts over the past four years, the city has denied many applicants for the grant money.

“The city has been creative with regard to allocating these funds because we have been receiving cuts, coupled with an increase in requests,” he said.

A large chunk of the federal grant, $659,631 will be spent on street and sewer improvements on Howe and Lincoln avenues. Another $233,094 will go toward the city’s administration of the programs.

The rest of the funding was divvied up among city departments and city-based agencies. Some of those include:

North Jersey G.O.P. Making a Comeback?

GEORGE AJJAN – The Record

WITH THE ELECTION of Rob Ortiz as chairman of the Republican Party in Bergen County, the trend of electing young, reform-oriented leaders in North Jersey continues. Of course, the ascension to the corresponding post in Passaic County of Scott Rumana, who has rightly pledged to resign as mayor of Wayne if elected to the Assembly this November as is expected, was another milestone.

Each of these leaders won convincing victories as GOP party chairman with the confidence of the Republican county committee by communicating a plan to break clean from the bumbling ineptitude of the previous administration. Without rehashing the less-than-glorious recent past, suffice it to say that both Passaic and Bergen have seen a nearly complete reversal of their fortunes over the past decade, having gone from just about 100 percent control of the county to almost zero.

While it would be hard to sink much lower, reversing the trend will not happen overnight. Raising enough money to compete with the Democrats in either county is a tall order when Republicans have lately been outspent by more than 10-1 in recent county races. Nevertheless, there are some key activities and administrative changes that should be instituted promptly, which will cost pennies by comparison.

First and foremost, as I continue to advocate, is the embrace of technology. While Democrats at the national level have been more effective than Republicans at attracting new voters and channeling the efforts of supporters both for activities and fund raising, Democrats at the local level still win elections by a combination of dumb luck and the brute force best symbolized by Bergen County Democratic Chariman Joe Ferriero’s operation.

With a few small exceptions, Democrats are just as new to the technology game as are local Republicans. Thus the GOP has a golden opportunity to take advantage of high Internet penetration rates in the suburbs to get out its “cut spending/downsize government” message in innovative ways to crucial areas where its margins have slipped.

On the Internet

While emerging tools like YouTube, Facebook and MySpace remain largely intimidating concepts, the Passaic County GOP at least managed to launch a Web site last year (www.pcrro.org), much like the recently re-launched Bergen County GOP site (www.bergengop.org). One of the highlights of the Passaic site, which Bergen certainly ought to duplicate, was the publication of the official organization bylaws that explicitly delineate how the county chairman was elected, what powers he did or did not have, and most importantly how candidates were selected.

IDT’s Net2Phone Offers 3 Months of Free VOIP Service for Switching to them.

MARTHA McKAY – STAFF WRITER

Internet phone provider Net2Phone Inc. said Monday that customers who use other companies’ Voice over Internet Protocol service will get three months of service free if they switch to Net2Phone.

The offer from Net2Phone, a subsidiary of Newark’s IDT Corp., comes on the heels of last month’s flameout of SunRocket. The Vienna, Va.-based VoIP provider abruptly shut down, owing millions of dollars to creditors and leaving 200,000 phone customers without service.

VoIP is phone service that operates over a broadband Internet connection. Companies that sell VoIP service typically offer a cheap, flat rate, although customers must pay separately for their Internet service. Many of the providers, including Holmdel-based Vonage Holdings Corp., have grown in popularity over the past five years but have struggled financially.

Net2Phone, one of the industry’s pioneers, was swallowed by parent IDT in a 2006 restructuring. Last month, the company offered to honor certain SunRocket customer contracts.

Other VoIP providers have made overtures to SunRocket customers. Vonage, for example, is offering two months free with no activation fee and free shipping with a $24.99 per-month charge after that period.

Net2Phone’s latest offer targets any VoIP customer at any provider, and plays on the concerns customers may have in the wake of the SunRocket fiasco.

“After recent events in the VoIP industry, customers of other VoIP services may be questioning the long-term viability of their providers,” the company said Monday in a release.

Details of Net2Phone’s offer, which includes a $30 activation fee as well as a $10 shipping fee, are available at net2phone.com/3free.

Buddhists May Have Disturbed the Passaic River’s Ecosystem, by Releasing Hundreds of Reptiles into it.

SAMANTHA HENRY – HERALD NEWS

In Paterson’s West Side Park Sunday, followers of a New York Amitabha Buddhist sect took part in a ritual in which live reptiles were released into the Passaic River. Environmental officials in two states are trying to track down the group.

Ancient ritual met with modern consequence Monday, as state environmental authorities said they were searching for a religious group that released hundreds of live reptiles into the Passaic River on Sunday as part of a Buddhist rite.Members from a New York sect of Amitabha Buddhists — devout vegetarians who believe in the sanctity of all living creatures — said Sunday they had purchased the creatures in New York’s Chinatown for the purpose of setting them free. Ann Chin, a member of the group, said on Sunday they chose the Passaic River because it was the nearest body of freshwater to New York City, where the eels, frogs and turtles they let go had the best chance of surviving and realizing their full karmic potential.

RELATED LINKS Monday, Aug. 13, 2007 Buddhists release creatures into Passaic

State officials said Monday that the practice was illegal and that they were working with New York authorities to track down the group. Jim Cussen, a captain in the law enforcement arm of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish & Wildlife, said Monday there were no permits on file for the group and that the illegal stocking of fish or other species was a civil offense punishable by fines of up to $1,000.He added that the NJDEP would also try to determine the origin of the reptiles, to gauge their potential impact on the river.Mark Boriek, a biologist with the NJDEP, said species introduction permits are issued only in limited and controlled circumstances — such as stocking a private pond with fish — and probably would not have been issued to the group had it applied.”We’re dead-set against it,” Boriek said. “It’s even illegal to stock any kind of carp or goldfish in New Jersey in a place with an inlet or outlet (from a body of water).”Boriek said Sunday’s incident brought to mind several recent cases around the country of non-native invasive species, such as snakehead fish, that have disrupted ecosystems.

Assembly Candidate Says He Would Refuse Rertirement Compensation.

Nutley, NJ – In a press release released last week, Candidate Carmen Pio Costa announced that he would refuse retirement compensation as a New Jersey State Assemblyman. Citing the need for state legislators to take drastic steps of leadership in these difficult fiscal times, the 36th District candidate called for a bill to remove state lawmakers from Gov. Corzine’s new 401k retirement system for future elected and appointed officials.

“The state legislature is a part-time job that does not deserve perks denied to most full-time workers in the real world,” said Pio Costa, a Nutley resident and President of Pio Costa Enterprises. “Especially now, with the state’s fiscal crisis, elected leaders need to lead by example and take a hit, just as our taxpayers do with every tax-increasing year. It is not enough to just change the way benefits are received. Trenton needs to show the public it is serious about government reform by forsaking retirement perks altogether.”

Pio Costa’s announcement comes on the heels of a controversial resolution passed by the Passaic City Council allowing members to grab city-paid health insurance coverage even more easily than before. Instead of having to give 25 years of service, council members now need only put in 15 years of part-time work to receive life-time health benefits.

“What happened in Passaic is a perfect example of politicians feeling entitled to perks rather than feeling obligated to serve the taxpayers,” said Pio Costa. “That is why Trenton needs to demonstrate that a public job is not a path to a cushy retirement. It is a public trust given to citizen legislators that are to act as servants, not career politicians.”

His website: http://piocostaforassembly.com/

Prospect Park Council Candidate Campaigning to Prohibit Elected Officials From Receiving Health Benefits.

PAUL BRUBAKER – HERALD NEWS

PROPSECT PARK, NJ – Thomas F.X. Magura, a lifelong borough resident, school board member and perennial political candidate, is on a new campaign to prohibit elected officials from receiving health benefits.

“Borough employees have to work at least 30 hours a week to get them,” Magura said. “We’re a small town. If you need medical benefits, get a job that provides them. You shouldn’t take them off the taxpayers’ money.”

Magura, a Republican candidate for council, is circulating a petition to put a question on the ballot in November that would ask whether health benefits should be eliminated for the mayor, the Borough Council’s six members, as well as part-time and appointed employees, such as the director of recreation. To hold the special referendum, 10 percent of the borough’s registered voters are required to sign Magura’s petition. On Saturday, Magura did not have a tally of just how many people had signed.

Magura said he has seen modifications made to health benefits in neighboring communities.

In Hawthorne, the Borough Council passed a resolution in 2005 eliminating benefits for elected officials, part-time employees and attorneys for the borough, Planning Board and Board of Adjustment, said Hawthorne Councilman Richard S. Goldberg. Those who were already receiving benefits were able to have their coverage continue to be paid, while newly elected officials and new employees have the option to purchase coverage, Goldberg said.

Goldberg believes that Magura’s petition is striking at the “sexy issue” of health benefits costs. “It’s become the norm now to begin to take them away,” he said.

There could be significant savings from eliminating benefits for elected officials, Goldberg said.

“If there were eight elected officials receiving benefits, you could be looking at well over a tax point in the budget,” said Goldberg.

However, Goldberg said there are limitations to the savings. Not every elected official opts to take the state health plan’s coverage. Some officials have benefits from full-time jobs or are included on spouse’s coverage, Goldberg said.

In Passaic, officials went in the opposite direction of the trend of imposing cost-cutting measures on their local budget. The mayor and council voted to grant themselves city-paid post-retirement health benefits after 15 years of service, instead of the 25 years required of municipal employees. Public objection has forced a special meeting of the Passaic City Council, and the council president hopes the benefit will be rescinded.

Vintage Vehicles in Passaic Park Yesterday

SAMANTHA HENRY – HERALD NEWS

PASSAIC NJ, – Tom Witte reached into the front seat of his friend Jack Struller’s car and pulled out a relic from their teenage years.

“Look, he’s still got his vest,” Witte, 51, said, holding up a 1970s sleeveless denim jacket emblazoned on the back with the logo “United Street Racers — Passaic.”

The vest isn’t the only thing Struller, 53, still has from his teenage years. He also has his 1970 Plymouth Road Runner, restored to its original glory.

It was just one of the many vintage cars, classic hot rods and tricked-out wheels on display Sunday at a custom car show to benefit the Passaic Police Athletic League.

The show, held in Passaic’s Third Ward Park, was also a homecoming for many, like Struller, who remembered the heyday of street racing in once-secret locations across New Jersey.

Billboard Promotes Hezbolla — In Canada?

Windsor Star / VosIzNeias

Windsor, Canada – A billboard that appears to promote Hezbollah — an organization the Canadian government has ruled to be terrorist — has raised the hackles of a number of Windsor community groups. However, one of the people responsible for the sign said it was put up to honor their freedom-fighter families in Lebanon — and it’s their Canadian right to do so.

“In Canada, we want peace,” said Hussein Dabaja, a Lebanese-born Hezbollah supporter. “We’re not trying to offend anybody. We have freedom of speech. It’s a free country. Every Lebanese in Canada has somebody that died in Lebanon. Who is Hezbollah? Our brothers, our family, our parents, our friends. We came to Canada and they stayed there to fight.”

The billboard went up Friday and immediately drew fire from the Windsor Jewish Community Centre, the Lebanese Christian political group Kataeb and other groups.

The sign prominently depicts Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Hezbollah and carries English and Arabic text.

In English it reads: “Lebanese and Arab communities in Windsor city congratulate the Lebanese people for their steadfastness and endeavour to establish peace in Lebanon.

PLO Confirms Arafat Had AIDS

Ezra HaLevi – IsraelNN.com

Arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat’s doctor has confirmed the long-circulating rumors that the PLO chairman had AIDS – though the doctor insists Israel poisoned Arafat as well, causing his death.

Rumors have long circulated in both Israel and the Palestinian Authority that Arafat’s symptoms prior to his death were caused by AIDS. Within the PA, Israel has always been accused of poisoning the PLO chairman.
Now, Arafat’s private doctor has joined other PLO officials in acknowledging that Arafat had the HIV virus, but is holding on to the claim that Israel was responsible for his ultimate demise, in a French hospital.

Dr. Ashraf al-Kurdi told the Jordanian Amman News Agency that Arafat did, in fact, have AIDS – but insisted that the HIV virus was injected into the chairman’s bloodstream, and not the result of illicit sexual activity.

Al-Jazeera interrupted an interview with al-Kurdi due to his mention of Arafat’s having had AIDS.

French doctors who treated Arafat insisted after his death that he had died of a massive stroke after suffering intestinal inflammation, jaundice and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), a blood condition.

Another Arafat aide, Bassam Abu Sharif, accused former French President Jacques Chirac of withholding knowledge that Israel killed Arafat with a substance that destroys red blood cells.

Even before Arafat died, US author and intelligence expert John Loftus said on the John Batchelor Show on WABC radio on October 26 that it was widely known in CIA circles that Arafat was dying from AIDS. Loftus further said that was the reason the US kept preventing Israel from killing Arafat – to allow him to be discredited by the ailment.

Full article at IsraelNN.com

UN Website Hacked; Displays Anti-Israel & Anti-USA Message

stuff.co.nz

The United Nations’ official website appears to have been hacked, with the normal content replaced with material protesting US and Israeli policies in the Middle East.

Agence France-Presse reported that a section of the site used to post statements by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was altered with a message that read: “Hacked by kerem125 MOsted and Gsy That is CyberProtest Hey Ysrail and Usa dont kill children and other people Peace for ever No war.”

The message has now been replaced with normal content.

The hackers behind the attack also claim to have hacked prominent universities and corporations, such as Toyota and Coca Cola.

Flipped Over Car in Passaic Park.

PCNJ Staff

Passaic, NJ – A woman suffered only minor injuries after her car rolled over on Pennington Ave. and Paulison Ave., after crashing into a parked car at about 2 AM, on Aug. 11.

A resident who heard the crash said, “I was upstairs and I heard this horrific noise, and I looked out the window and I saw this car had completely flipped over. I ran to my phone and I called 911.”

Passaic police, fire and EMS, Hackensack Paramedics, and Hatzolah all responded to the call. The patient was transported by Passaic EMS to Saint Mary’s Hospital.

Troopers searching for armed men find soldiers

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — State police responding to a report of a school bus driving down the New Jersey Turnpike with armed men found out the report was correct - sort of.

“The bus turned out to be a military transport with about 20 soldiers,” said New Jersey Turnpike Authority spokesman Joe Orlando.

A motorist on the Turnpike called law enforcement at about 10 a.m. on Saturday to report a bus, with men armed with firearms inside, driving south down the Turnpike in the Edison area.

The Turnpike Authority started searching camera feeds on the highway to try and locate the bus. State police positioned troopers to intercept the bus.

When state police finally pulled over the yellow bus in South Brunswick near Interchange 8A about a half an hour after the initial report, they found soldiers en route to Fort Dix.

The original caller, according to Orlando, had seemed serious in making the report, even giving authorities descriptions of where the bus was until the bus was no longer in sight.

“It’s just that the person wasn’t observant and didn’t take the whole picture into account,” Orlando said.

“We want people to call these things in,” Orlando added.

Full Hackensack hospital diverts ambulance arrivals

Hackensack University Medical Center was accepting all ambulances Friday evening after diverting some of them to other hospitals over the previous 24 hours due to high patient volume, officials said.

Hackensack had to turn away ambulances with critical-care patients between 8 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Friday, because all 58 beds in the hospital’s intensive-care unit were occupied, said Patricia Ahearn, vice president of capacity management at Hackensack.

“For us to be on critical care [ambulance] bypass is exceedingly rare,” Ahearn said Friday.

“It’s unpredictable,” she said. “But it’s extremely unusual at this time of year. This is usually one of our slowest months.”

The hospital also diverted ambulances with trauma patients and regular-care patients with non-life-threatening injuries for several hours on Thursday, because beds were not available, Ahearn said.

The actions were taken “in the interest of patient safety, and to maintain quality of care,” she said.

Physicians at Hackensack couldn’t explain why the hospital has had such an influx of patients and occupied beds.

There does not appear to be any one cause for the emergency-case glut, said Dr. Joseph Feldman, chairman of the emergency trauma department.

“It’s a whole variety of stuff, from bad infections to heart attacks to traumas,” Feldman said. “It’s nothing specific, not the wet weather, or heat emergencies.”    [Northjersey.com]

NYPD Halts Precautions After Dirty Bomb Scare.

New York, NY – Hundreds of New York City police officers searched vehicles at checkpoints around Lower Manhattan on Friday night and through yesterday morning in response to an unverified “dirty” bomb threat, officials said.

Officers opened van doors, scanned trucks, and searched trunks at checkpoints on Canal Street and Bowery, in the financial district, and near the Holland Tunnel and other entry points. Police also deployed extra radiological sensors and increased helicopter and boat patrols, officials said.

The increased security measures were halted shortly before before noon Saturday, and police reported no terror-related arrests or discoveries.

The notice of a threat was posted on the Web site debka.com, which stated that ‘chatter’ on al-Qaida-run Internet sites Thursday pointed to a possible attack “by means of trucks loaded with radioactive material against America’s biggest city and financial nerve center.”

Debka.com is based in Jerusalem and is believed to have sources in the Israeli military.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne called the security measures “strictly precautionary” and noted that the city’s terror threat level at orange, one step below the highest level of red was unchanged [ap,Vosizneias]