Photo credit: njt4148 via Flickr

NEWARK— NJ Transit will offer “early getaway” rail and bus service on Friday, Sept. 3, for the benefit of customers leaving work early for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

On Friday, Sept. 3, extra outbound trains will operate on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast, Raritan Valley, Morris & Essex, Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines starting at approximately 1 p.m.  Extra buses will operate from the Port Authority Bus Terminal on more than two dozen bus routes starting around noon.  Visit njtransit.com for details.

On Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6, trains will operate on a weekend/major holiday schedule on all lines.  Hudson-Bergen Light Rail will operate on a weekend schedule; Newark Light Rail and River Line will operate on a Sunday schedule.  Bus schedules vary by route—customers are advised to check their timetables or visit njtransit.com for schedule information.

Every weekend, families riding NJ Transit can save with the Family Super Saver Fare, which allows two children 11 and younger to travel free with each fare-paying adult.  For the Labor Day holiday weekend, the program will be in effect from 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3 until 6 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7.

“Back-to-school is an exciting time for children.  Unfortunately, children are unpredictable and not always mindful of traffic safety.  Children may have difficulty gauging the distance and speed of an approaching car, and may struggle to recognize and react to potentially hazardous situations,” commented Kenneth Chrusz, traffic safety manager, Mid-Atlantic Foundation for Safety and Education.

“Motorists are reminded to be extra alert, slow down and observe lower speed limits in school zones and residential areas, as children gather at neighborhood bus stops or are walking to and from school.  Parents and caregivers are also reminded to instruct their children in traffic rules and safety.”

AAA’s School’s Open – Drive Carefully campaign encourages drivers to be alert, paying special attention during the morning and afternoon hours while children are going to and heading home from school.  School-age children are vulnerable in areas with heavy traffic volume, street-parked vehicles, higher posted speed limits and few pedestrian-control devices.

To increase safety for school children, drivers should follow these tips from AAA:

• Slow down in or near school and residential areas, paying particular attention during the morning and afternoon hours; come to a complete stop in all intersections. Studies show that more than one-third of motorists in school zones or neighborhoods just “roll through” intersections with a stop sign.
• Drive with your headlights on – even during the day – so children and other drivers can see you.
• Look for clues: AAA School Safety Patrol™ members, crossing guards, bicycles, playgrounds.
• Scan between parked cars for children that might dart into the road.
• Use extra caution in poor weather conditions.
• Always stop for school buses that are loading and unloading students.

The Mid-Atlantic Foundation for Safety and Education also urges parents and caregivers to instruct children in the “A-B-Cs” of traffic safety:

A – Always obey school crossing guards and AAA school safety patrols.

B – Look both ways every time you cross the street.

C – Use crosswalks and corners to cross the roads even when cars are not around.

D – Don’t run or rush, and do remember that drivers can’t always see you.

E – Even and especially when it is raining, snowing, or cold, follow the safety rules.

F – Face it: you are no match for a car. They are faster and bigger, and they can be a danger to kids, so watch out!

Aon Consulting projected that healthcare costs for retirees under age 65 will grow between 8.5 and 9.5 percent per year for medical coverage, and 10.5 percent for prescription benefits. Costs for retirees over the age of 65, who are covered under the Medicare Part B program, are expected to increase five percent annually.

In the current budget, New Jersey taxpayers are spending $1.27 billion to fund the healthcare benefits. That figure is expected to reach $2.75 billion by 2019. Because the healthcare benefits are funded on a “pay-as-you-go” basis, the state has no option to defer payments as it has done with the pension system.

Gov. Chris Christie is expected to seek higher co-pays for healthcare benefits when current union contracts expire next year, but legal precedent likely precludes any reductions in benefits for already-vested employees.

Ed Potosnak

EDISON – At a campaign stop at J.P. Stevens High School in Edison on Thursday, Democratic Congressional candidate Ed Potosnak criticized New Jersey Republicans on education issues.

“I know that when politicians undermine our children’s schools, they undermine our future. Here in New Jersey, our future has been undermined by some for their personal political ambitions,” said Potosnak, referencing Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to cut $800 million in state education aid earlier this year.

“[Christie] chose to put political ideology above the interests of children when he threw out the original ‘Race to the Top’ application because teachers had collaborated in the process,” said Potosnak, who was joined by Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) “In a cynical move calculated to score political points for his national political ambitions, Christie chose to go it alone and submit a hastily crafted application written in one weekend without consultation from educators. New Jersey’s students have lost out, twice now this year, to the tune of $1.2 billion.”

Potosnak also criticized his Republican opponent, Rep. Leonard Lance, for voting against a bill that would provide $268 million to save New Jersey teachers’ jobs. “Times are tough and we all have to make sacrifices,” he said. “But time and again, Republicans like Governor Christie and Congressman Lance expect students to sacrifice their future to pay for adult mistakes.”

“When I go to Congress, I can promise you that I won’t make students pay for the financial gambles of adults. I’ll work to protect our schools and improve them and fight any attempt to cut vital education funding,” concluded Potosnak, a former teacher. “When we make our students a priority, America wins. That’s how we will get our edge back.”

Adene Sanon, 22,  faces up to 20 years when he is sentenced, according to Assistant Prosecutor Peter L. Benza who prosecuted the case.

According to the investigation, on Sept. 19, 2008, Sanon sold cocaine to an undercover Elizabeth Police Department officer near Jefferson Park in Elizabeth. After making the sale, officers learned that Sanon was storing a larger quantity of drugs next to nearby vacant house. Sanon was arrested a short time later at a nearby deli, said Benza.

The jury took less than 30 minutes of deliberation to convict Sanon on all charges.

He was found guilty of:

• 2nd Degree Controlled Dangerous Substance with Intent to Distrubute in or within 500 feet of a public park
• 2nd Degree Distribution of Controlled Dangerous Substance in or within 500 feet of a public park
• 3rd Degree Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance
• 3rd Degree Possession of Controlled Dangerous Substance with Intent to Distribute
• 3rd Degree Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance.

Corrections officer Alvin White filed the complaint in January, alleging that he was wrongfully indicted as the result of an “incomplete and slipshod bogus” internal affairs investigation.

According to the complaint, White was working at the Union County Jail on July 15, 2008 when an inmate, Edwin Reyes, “caused/was caused to create a disturbance.” White, along with other corrections officers, used reasonable and legally permissible force to bring the situation under control, the complaint said.

White’s complaint alleged that Union County Department of Corrections, unidentified employees and “certain others” agreed to wrongfully blame him for an alleged injury to Reyes. According to the complaint, White was never given the opportunity to explain his version of the events.

The National Resource Inventory is a report released by United States Agriculture Department and Natural Resource Conservation Service.  Based on this data, the status of New Jersey’s rural land is bleak, according to the Sierra Club. From 1982-2007, New Jersey has experienced a more than 20 percent reduction in rural land.

“Rural land, in terms of cropland and forestland, is slipping from the grips of nature and into the hands of developers,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

Based on the report, which was released earlier this year, 40.7 percent of New Jersey’s land is developed and 59.3 percent is rural land. This is from 2007 data. The percentages of developed and rural land become closer and closer each year. In 1982, New Jersey consisted of 26 percent developed lands and 74 percent rural lands. The goal of the NJDEP should be to keep those percentages from getting to 50-50, according to the Sierra Club.

The data shows that between 1982 and 2007, developed land has increased by six percent in New Jersey. Land previously used for public recreation and wildlife preservation is being developed, leading to sprawl and negative impacts on our environment, according to the Sierra Club.

A 40 percent reduction in crop land has led to a significant decline in the number of farms producing fresh, local food, according to the Sierra Club analysis. New Jersey now has to import more produce from other states, increasing truck transport and air pollution.

“New Jersey will continue to loose its farmland at an alarming rate as long as we make it easier to grow houses on farm fields than crops. In 1950, New Jersey had more than two million acres of farmland and now we are trying to hang onto 600,000 acres,” Tittel said. “The current system is broken and leading to the paving over of our farmlands as fast as possible.”

The Sierra Club believes there are fixes to help protect New Jersey farmland:

• The farmland assessment program needs to change. Under the current program, if you convert a farm to development, you only pay a three-year rollback on property taxes. That rollback should be extended 10 more years and the profits should go to preserve farmland. Under Farmland Assessment Act, a farmer pays 90 percent less tax on his farmland than he would if it was something else. If you convert it to a development, there is only a three-year penalty. We need to increase that penalty.
• We need a stable source of open space funding to preserve open space and protect farmland.
• We need to expand and simplify transfer of development rights so the program can be more effectively used.
• Instead of developing rural land, we must reinvest in our urban centers and keep urbanizing infrastructure, like sewers, out of farmland. Developed buildings and abandoned lots should be refurbished rather than taking valued rural land. A focus on urban redevelopment and growth near public transit will replace the need for completely new development on rural lands.
• We should be zoning farms for agriculture and have agriculture zoning.  Currently most farms are also zoned for subdivisions and office parks. Agriculture zoning was upheld by the New Jersey Supreme Court. We don’t zone housing for industrial park uses, we should not zone farmland for housing or office parks. Doing so undermines the whole purpose of protecting agriculture.
• New Jersey needs to have growth boundaries similar to Oregon so that farmland is protected. Lands outside growth bound in preservation areas would be zoned for agriculture. Farmers would be able to sell their land for open space, sell development credits, or transfer development credits.

“New Jersey is the garden state but at the rate we’re going, if children in New Jersey want to see a farm or a cow, they’ll have to go to other states. Instead of the Garden State we’ll be sprawl state,” Tittel said.

This effort is in partnership with the Citizens Campaign’s Jersey Call to Service, a statewide campaign to inspire citizens to participate in the leadership of their community.

The resolution creates an annual New Brunswick Call to Service Summit for residents to learn about service opportunities in the city, particularly on New Brunswick’s volunteer boards and commissions.

“The New Brunswick Call to Service is a call to residents to the service of the City,” said Citizens’ Campaign State Campaign Director Lauren Skowronski. “Our goal is to cultivate a larger network of community of leaders – people who want to make the New Brunswick, Middlesex County, and our State a better place and provide them with the tools to take the first step.”

The first annual New Brunswick Call to Service Summit is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 19 at the Middlesex County Administration building in New Brunswick at 6:30 p.m.

In addition to free training on how to serve on boards and commissions, the Summit will also educate residents on how to make constructive proposals to the City Council, how to serve on the political party committees, and opportunities to report on community news.

The Citizens’ Campaign launched the Jersey Call to Service so that municipalities and counties can all develop a leadership culture. The Call to Service focuses primarily on three identified Paths to Service, they are:  1) Serving on an appointed board or commission; 2) Becoming a citizen legislator by devising a constructive common-interest proposal and presenting it to a relevant government body; 3) Serving as a neighborhood-level party committeeperson; and 4) Becoming a “citizen journalist” to help spread the word on important government news.

The Citizens’ Campaign, a non-partisan community of private citizens with experience in politics, law and government, devises innovative constructive government solutions and recruits and educates citizen leaders.

Anthony Feleciano was arrested in Elizabeth on Tuesday. He allegedly shot a 20-year-old Totowa man in the back during a fight that broke out at a party held in Woodland Park. The victim was treated for the gunshot wound and released from a hospital.

Feleciano was being held in Passaic County Jail in lieu of $350,000 bail.

The personnel cuts will be through attrition, so they could take two to three school years to be implemented, according to a notice sent to parents by Police Chief John Rodger.

The following posts are slated for elimination:
1.      West Inman/Madison
2.      East Hazelwood/Stockton
3.      West Inman/Jefferson
4.      Linden/Whittier
5.      Bryant/Stanton
6.      West Hazelwood/Bryant
7.      East Grand/Paterson
8.      West Scott/Whittier
9.      Jefferson/Maple
10.     Central/Jefferson

Additional posts may be eliminated after further review, according to the notice.

Parents can contact the Rahway Police Department Traffic Bureau at 1-732-827-2073 with any questions or concerns.