Our Montville

Teens and Sleep

Sleep is food for the brain. During sleep, important body functions and brain activity occur. Skipping sleep can be harmful — even deadly, particularly if you are behind the wheel. You can look bad, you may feel moody, and you perform poorly. Sleepiness can make it hard to get along with your family and friends and hurt your scores on school exams, on the court or on the field. Remember: A brain that is hungry for sleep will get it, even when you don’t expect it. For example, drowsiness and falling asleep at the wheel cause more than 100,000 car crashes every year. When you do not get enough sleep, you are more likely to have an accident, injury and/or illness.  Continue Reading National Sleep Foundation.

Schools see benefit of uniforms

Janine Walker Caffrey has seen the benefits of school uniforms first-hand.

The superintendent of the Perth Amboy public school system, Caffrey has previously worked at schools in New York City, Florida and Chicago, and she says schools in the Windy City “saw a huge positive impact” after implimenting a uniform policy.

“Particularly in urban settings, it’s clear that a uniform policy decreases discipline referrals and increases the seriousness of education,” said Caffrey, who has been at the Perth Amboy district since July. “What happens when you put uniforms in plalce is that the distractions of clothing are minimized and disciplinary referrals tend to be minimized. That’s what the research tells us about it and that has been my experience as well.”  Continue reading Daily Record.

Letter to the Editor - Sal LoBiondo

Enough is Enough! Montville Deserves a Fourth Choice   

I am personally sick and tired of all the misleading and negative campaign material put out by the Daughtry and Sandham campaign.  I believe it’s an embarrassment to our community and to members of the Republican Party.  I was supporting Jim up until this past weekend.  The straw that broke the camel’s back for me is when I learned that a piece of campaign material that to me was misleading and negative was mailed to many of the households in Montville using an unauthorized image of my home; a picture that I believe could only have been taken by trespassing at least 700 feet onto my property.  I see this as an invasion of my home and privacy.  Both candidates and most of their campaign team have been to my home many many times, so they should be well aware of that the fact that the picture they used could not have been taken from public property and was not obtained with my permission.  I have already reported this trespassing to the Montville police.  I plan to hold those involved accountable.

 

Senator Joe Pennacchio News Update

 

In The News:  Sentator Pennacchio is promoting "Transparency in Government".

Much like the man himself, Senator Joseph Pennacchio’s office on Changebridge Road in Montville is bright, organized and comfortable. Sitting behind his desk in the inner office Pennacchio talks candidly about himself and the issues about which he’s the most passionate. One of them is money.

"I’m the cheapest state senator in New Jersey when it comes to taxes," he said.

Two watchdog groups the New Jersey Taxpayers Alliance and Taxpayers for Prosperity have recognized Pennacchio for his efforts.

Continue Reading NorthJersey.Com

 

Why It's Time for a Tea Party

This fact marks our political age: The pendulum is swinging faster and in shorter arcs than it ever has in our lifetimes. Few foresaw the earthquake of 2008 in 2006. No board-certified political professional predicted, on Election Day 2008, what happened in 2009-10 (New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts) and has been happening, and will happen, since then. It all moves so quickly now, it all turns on a dime.

But at this moment we are witnessing a shift that will likely have some enduring political impact. Another way of saying that: The past few years, a lot of people in politics have wondered about the possibility of a third party. Would it be possible to organize one? While they were wondering, a virtual third party was being born. And nobody organized it.
Continue reading The Wall Street Journal

Under the lilac, a lasting lesson in patriotism

by Jared Silverman - Published in the New Jersey Jewish News on July 7, 2010

I like to distinguish the Fourth of July and Independence Day. The former is a holiday which generates a day off; the latter is a commemoration which has profound political overtones.

When Congress in its wisdom decided to change the federal holiday calendar to create three-day weekends, it did the nation a disservice by undermining the historical reasons for the holidays in the first place.

The one exception to the three-day weekends created by the Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 was Independence Day, which kept its historical, and historic, day of July 4. However, this year, because Independence Day was on a Sunday, the employee holiday was given on Monday, July 5, making Independence Day a three-day weekend.

Letter: Montville workers sacrificed for each other, town

LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE CITIZEN NEWSPAPER:

I would personally like to thank the employees of Montville Township for their unselfish devotion to our town and its citizens.

All four of our municipal unions along with our non-union employees and management team have provided concessions to assist in weathering the current financial storm.

Collectively we found ways to remove the obstacles to cooperation and success! By working together we have all shared a little pain but have avoided significant layoffs and a resulting decline in service levels.

This allowed for reduced spending and a reasonable municipal tax rate increase of just 1.7 percent, despite losing over three percent in state funding. You are all to be commended for placing our citizens and your fellow employees ahead of personal interests.

Unfortunately, although both the Township Committee and board of education extended similar invitations we did not experience that same level of cooperation from school employee unions. Therefore, both boards had to make reductions - the brunt of which were borne by 25 young, enthusiastic teachers, over 30 other employees and lastly, the evening custodial staff.

The ultimate loss is to our students. Many school employees have individually voiced a willingness to be part of the solution, but have not been given that opportunity on a collective basis. Their leaders pointed to obstacles instead of seeking solutions.

So here’s one alternative - make an individual voluntary contribution back to the school system. And if you are looking for a source of funding, consider what you pay in union dues. If every school employee contributed the equivalent of their union dues it would total over $300,000, enough to potentially save up to 10 employees.

A final thought - all lessons are not learned in the classroom. Some of the most valuable life lessons are learned in the community by watching the altruistic actions of others!

JIM SANDHAM
Mayor
Montville Township

Renewable Energy for America's Security

Friday Editorial - The Growing Need for Nuclear Energy

The energy debates continue to rage inside the beltway. Experts regularly weigh in with conflicting reports on the benefits and pitfalls of oil, coal, wind, and other energy sources. Yet, we already have an energy source so powerful that it is able to meet bulk-energy demands. We have abundant reserves of it, and minimal land is required to support it. Moreover, this energy source meets our needs without emissions of potentially harmful pollutants (like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides), and particulate matter, and without emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Indeed, we can meet much of America's growing energy needs with a reliable, affordable, low-emission energy source. That source is nuclear energy.

Continue reading: The Growing Need for Nuclear Energy

Saving the Planet Through High Priced Gas

For the first time in decades, Memorial Day weekend showed a decrease in travel. Although the numbers aren't in yet, the FTA announced that road travel in March was down by 11 billion miles, which is the worst decline since these statistics were first reported in 1942. Obviously, the culprit is the price of fuel, which is currently hovering around the $4.00 per gallon mark, depending on the grade you use.

There’s a new term for the homebound holiday; "the Staycation," which consists of locally based frivolities such as going to a nearby amusement park, movie theatre, or just not leaving the house at all. This phenomenon is not only the "next" thing–it is actually happening right now.   See New Jersey & Company.

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