It appears that the fines are not a strong enough deterrent for these operators to comply to vehicle and public safety standards.
Suspension of operating licences might help.

An image to the article - Travel south on Marin Blvd and you will see it at the Marina.

This 'win' by McCann might not have occurred if voting was compulsory. One can only surmise that politicians expect and hope for poor voter turnouts to scheme a legal, but unethical way of winning such an important role in education.
I credit McCann on his first achievement - He has taught all the voting residents of Jersey City the importance of voting and how to manipulate the system for their own gain.

With his criminal record, it is obvious that his character trait of being deceptive and opportunistic will never change. I strongly believe and agree with a few others, that a person with a criminal record (felony offenses) be void from applying for any public office.

After 20 years of law enforcement and countless criminology courses, these are the reason why I would recommend forfeiture of assets after conviction.

1. Reimburse the State for the increasing costs to fight crime ? especially gang and organized crime.
2. Compensate society for the enormous harm and human misery caused by crime ? especially drug related offenses.
3. Prevent crime by reducing the capacity of offenders to finance future criminal activities.
4. A clear remedy to prevent the unjust enrichment of criminals who profit from societies expenses.
5. Discourage and deter crime by reducing actual and expected profitability.

It sounds like 'teething problems' for users and residents, which will sort it's self out in the long run.

This was the article about children's medicines - see below.
Thank-you for the post about 'Avent' Althea. I like how the English newspapers forgot to include 'Avent' on that list I saw. (Avent is made in England)

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Cocktail of additives found in child medicines

Dan Bell
Saturday March 10, 2007
The Guardian

Children's medicines contain a cocktail of additives which are banned in food and drink aimed at under-threes, says a report out today from the Food Commission.
Dyes, preservatives, and sweeteners were found in cough syrups, paracetamol tablets and teething gels. One product contained eight E numbers.

The campaign group looked at 41 medicines for children under three. Only one, Superdrug children's dry cough syrup, was totally free of colourings and preservatives. Some of the additives can lead to asthma or act as mild laxatives, and most are banned from food and drink for under-threes, even though they are allowed in medicines aimed at young children.

Across the medicines analysed, there were four synthetic colourings or azo dyes, 10 preservatives, and six sweeteners. Some 31 out of 41 products contained preservatives, the most common being benzoates - E numbers E210 to E219; reactions can include skin rashes or wheezing. Only some of the medicines displayed warnings of additives' possible side effects.
Buttercup infant cough syrup had two E number dyes, while Calpol paracetamol, Anbesol teething gel, Sudafed children's syrup, and Superdrug children's chesty cough syrup, contained one azo dye apiece. Tixylix night cough syrup, sold for children over one year old, contained both benzoate and sulphite preservatives. Some medicines contained sweeteners sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol, which can have a laxative effect in high doses.

A Food Commission spokesman, Ian Tokelove, said additives were usually listed in the fine print inside the product packs. "If you are a concerned parent, you are often not going to know what is in medicine until you get it home."

The commission is lobbying the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to ensure child medicines are additive-free. The agency said drug manufacturers were required to justify any additives before getting a licence to market a product; some needed preservatives to maintain their shelf-life.

"Many also have a very unpleasant taste, and require sweeteners and other flavours to help ensure palatability, especially for children," it said. "Some people, including children, have to take multiple medicines and easy identification by colour and other means helps ensure they take the right medicine at the right time."

The report said natural colourings were an alternative to synthetic azo dyes.

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Not wanting to create a new 'subject' thread and since this related to education and children, I have added this here.
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Winter and children's cold go hand in hand, so when I came across this article in the newspaper I thought some parents might be interested.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,2030851,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1

There was an article some days back that highlighted a number of baby bottles that were evaluated as being unsafe due to the plastics used to manufacture them. I do recall the name of 'gerber' and other brands. We use 'avent' for our little man, and it was not on the list.

I just can't understand how these pharmaceutical companys and baby product manufacturers, put profit or cut corners with children's health.

Some inexpensive personal safety devises. It is not the solution, however it could help.

For those who are afraid of dogs OFF lead. This could come in handy for joggers and children? Supervision and common sense would need to be applied.

http://www.highdesertdefense.com/dogchaser.htm

Personal alarms for delivery workers or individuals that need to walk the streets at night.
Employers could make a tax claim if they were to purchase similar devises for staff.

http://www.highdesertdefense.com/alarm.htm


This devise could also be used for your dog.

http://www.highdesertdefense.com/childguard.htm

I hope these items help. It could be an idea for someone to purchase them and display them at neighborhood watch meetings. It would be a better idea if the Community Policing Unit of JCPD was to present them or similar, as a positive way of improving public relations.

I would have thought that the next logical step would be to obtain a warrant to search Mr Flood's home, regardless with whom he resides with.

I have to admit, there are some good 'detectives' or inquisitive minds on JClist.

Didn't the City Council just establish a new internal ethical standards committee?
Could this be the results of that unit / committee at work?

This might help your argument or discussion with Police and City Hall.

http://www.walkinginfo.org/pedsafe/casestudy.cfm?CS_NUM=58

Running 'stop' signs is not exclusive to downtown, as it happens often in the Paulus Hook area, especially at the Lighthorse intersection.

As my son, dog and I enjoy an evening walk, I have resorted to placing a strobe light (Like the one used on bicycles) on the stroller and a collar light for the dog. (Purchased from Canis Minor)
There never seems to be enough street lighting and I have found this bike light on the stroller very effective and draws the attention of the motorist.

This idea might help some when walking in the evening with your children or family pet.

There is a 'raised intersection' speed reducing mound that can be built. It is similar to an extended 4 way speed bump, especially designed for neighborhood intersections.
They are the cheapest form of speed restriction and once built are basically maintenance free.

I'd email all the neighborhood groups in JC with your concerns and arrange a rep. from each to attend a discussion group and lobby the Council. My understanding is that you have a 'mechanism' that does that already.

If you google 'raised intersection' you will see what I mean. PS, Good luck with your endeavor!

I think the FAB guy is leading in the right direction. Policing is very much a ?brotherhood? environment with a culture that promotes positive and negative behavior within their ranks.
What has transpired in recent weeks is a negative aspect, which highlights a culture of drinking that isn?t so uncommon in any police department.
The problem here it appears, is that officers are only getting caught for drink-driving as a result of an accident where third parties are involved other then fellow officers namely the public!
A good percentage of Police are know to socialize with fellow officers after hours, which beckons me to think that on some occasions fellow officers are allowing their own, to get behind the wheel of a car.
It would be interesting to see how many officers a caught for drink-driving during random stops or check points within the City and jurisdiction boundary.
Officers should rally around each other and change this negative aspect of their ?brotherhood?. They should promote and look-out for each other with a positive culture of intervening when they can to prevent these tragic incidents and bad public relation issues.

Like always, my comments are only speculative.

This would be the job I'd love to do. Challenging, but if done right would be 'profitable' with a social conscious and public approval.
One of the first things would be to mandate that parking officers have a 'social' duty to report any crime they witness, by being the eyes and ears for all emergency services - no involvement other then being a witness and reporting.
Empathy given to 'green' posted signs with clear guidelines for when infringements can be deemed 'void' when motorists write in and zero tolerance for 'red' signs.
I would also have legislation in place (if not already) for infringements to be posted when necessary - safety for officers.
Establish clear KPI's for all staff (policies and procedures)and incentives for officers on the road.

This new guy would have a 'clean slate' to do some great work for the community - I wish him well.

I agree Alan, Liberty Marina is a gold mine - actually anything alongside the light rail especially near the Marina.

If I didn't have assets in Australia, I'd have a serious look at property or land south of Grand St from Paulus Hook right around that follows the light rail to Liberty Park Station (Light-rail). I think the Marina area is under-rated and once the Hotel is built between the Marina and the light rail station at Marin Blvd it will create another 'spike' in prices for the area.

I do understand the soil in those parts is toxic, but the way development is happening here (with all the cranes overhead) I would take the gamble so long as new 'toxic' proof piping was installed for water. People will always live anywhere if the conditions suit them.

This immediate area also has a relatively new hospital and primary school which has its benefits for investors and from what I see, these new buildings going up will be nothing like the highrise 'pigeon hole' apartments of Newport.
(I have little doubt that the developers will include a dog run for the area also)

With the limited information given, I can speculate and suggest she might have been an informant.

Relating to bicycles.

Good Police public relations exercise that relates to cyclists.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/nationa ... /10/02/1159641249697.html

To those who still believe that this sort of initiative (rewarding motorists or now cyclists) doesn't exist or is a waste of time -

This was an issue in Melbourne and seems to be a problem worldwide.

What is annoying is that Police have also been abusing this offence that if identified, should highlighted on their personel file for fraudulent behavior.

http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Put_that_anywhere/4800.html

I like the council only carpark on the empty lot on York near Grove - with parking such a 'drama' here, you would hope that all parking areas are available to all.

However Council owned vehicles should have a private contained area for security only.

I'd have to agree with GB on the wage / employment issue, but disagree with the aggressive nature in your messages.

The 'gutter talk' lets you down.

Why not erect 'speed humps' in neighborhoods roads?

It would force speeding vehicles to slow down when approaching intersections - these could be installed in neighborhood areas where the minimum speed is required and not on major or secondary roadways.

You might want to have a look at the range of 'Montague' folding bike.
It is a 'full' size mountain bike and they make a model called the 'Hummer' and 'Paratrooper' (or similar name)

I have noticed a number of residential lots used as city hall staff carparks.

These carparks are located near and around cityhall that state they are for staff only.

As these staff carparks are owned by the City using taxes, shouldn't staff pay for parking instead of it being free and those carparks be available to everyone?

City owned vehicles need to have somewhere for them to be parked, but staff and their personal vehicles should have to go through the same drama as us in either paying for parking or moving their vehicles at lunch time and during their breaks.

It seems a little unfair that they get parking for free in 'private' carparks that the community paid for.

I wonder where the Police and JC Parking Authority staff park their private vehicles and who owns the land if its an exclusive carpark?

I am curious on what people think on this subject?

Well done Chief, lucky for the Chief there wasn't a foot pursuit.

Maybe the Chief can teach some (NOT ALL) of the Officers on the basic skill of observation in detecting a crime in progress.

Nevertheless credit it due to the Chief, as most would sit behind a desk and rarely venture on the 'front line' of policing.

Latest on Water Taxi:

Water Taxi is stopping the Paulus Hook - Wall St. route all together on October 1 (They are not going out of business - just that route is cancelled)

NY Waterways will re-introduce the route with their ferries as of October 2.

Oneway to Wall St will be $5.50 and monthly tickets will be $182.50

I wonder how the Goldman Sachs staff will get across for free during off peak periods, as they did with Water Taxi?

If the Police or the 911 operator couldn't contact the caller, your next step is to trace the call and go to the address - it should be standard practise / procedure. (As I mentioned earlier)

What if it was the victim telling the 911 operator that I've just been shot, then passes out without giving an address?

The Police / 911 operator I hope would trace the call for an address - this should be done on both occasions.

Another scenario is the Police getting a call for help but it turns out to be a set-up and Officers are killed - would they trace the call for the address then?

911 calls should ALL be treated as an emergency regardless of the outcome and false calls should have a huge penalty.

If thats your taste in music, you might like 'Midnight Oil' especially the album '10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10,_9,_8,_7,_6,_5,_4,_3,_2,_1

Note some of the song titles in the album!

This Australia band did very well and the singer is now in politics representing the 'Green' party I think.

He has a similar viewpoint as Black 47.

The marquee is up for the boat show and its the length of a football field.

Its going to be some show, by the amount of prep work going on.

What is also interesting is the Lady Liberty Taxi (At the end of Warren St.) has just acquired a new ferry that is twice as big as the existing one. (Maybe they will offer a run to Wall St?)

She is all painted up and ready to go - at the moment she is sitting and 'tucked away' at the very end of the Marina.

$4.75 is what NY Waterways is charging for a 1-way trip to Wall St. from the Marina @ Marin Blvd. (A little cheaper with a monthly ticket)

My wife works on Water St. Downtown Manhattan and we both don't feel comfortable with her traveling on the PATH at night if she is working late.

I have doubts that the new Water Taxi prices from Paulus Hook can last long. Passengers will boycott them and this will force them to 'close shop' and Goldman will have no ferry service for staff.

This topic is interesting because I posted something similar a few weeks ago about price increases and was told by the staff at Water Taxi that it was due to fuel / oil costs.