By Anne Forline

Gloucester City NEWS

All of the school district principals recently presented the Spring 2012 assessment results for the HSPA and the NJ-ASK tests to the Gloucester City Board of Education (BOE).

Gloucester City High School (GHS) Principal Dr. Jack Don said the HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment) test was administered to juniors.

For the Class of 2012, there were a total of 136 participants. Of those participants, 104 were general education students and 32 were special education students.

Dr. Don said that in Language Arts, the total population demonstrated 87.5 percent proficiency, with the general education students scoring 99 percent and the special education students scoring 50 percent.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Tuesday that employers issued 1,316 \”mass layoff actions\” (affecting 50 workers or more) in September; more than 122,000 workers were affected overall. USA Today financial reporter Matt Krantz wrote that \”(m)uch of the recent layoff activity is connected to what\’s been the slowest period of earnings growth since the third quarter of 2009.\” Some necessary restructuring is underway in response to the stagnant European economy. But more and more U.S. businesses are putting the blame — bravely and squarely — right where it belongs: on the obstructionist policies and regulatory schemes of the blame-shifter-in-chief.

Last week, Ohio-based auto parts manufacturer Dana Holding Corp. warned employees of potential layoffs amid \”looming concern\” about the economy. President and CEO Roger Wood specifically mentioned the walloping burden of \”increasing taxes on small businesses\” and the need to \”offset increased costs that are placed on us through new laws and regulations.\”

Case in point: Obamacare. The mandate will cost Dana Holding Corp., which employs some 24,500 workers, \”approximately $24 million over the next six years in additional U.S. health care expenses.\” As Ohio Watchdog blogger Maggie Thurber reported, the firm\’s Toledo area corporate offices laid off seven white-collar employees last Friday; company insiders told her more were on the way. They are not alone.

On Tuesday, Consol Energy issued a federally mandated layoff disclosure announcing its \”intent to idle its Miller Creek surface operations near Naugatuck, W.Va.\” The move will affect the company\’s Wiley Surface Mine, Wiley Creek Surface Mine, Minway Surface Mine, Minway Preparation Plant and Miller Creek Administration Group, all in Mingo County, W.Va. Despite state approval, cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and myriad other agencies, and a stellar safety record, Obama\’s EPA dragged its feet on the permit approval process. The impasse has forced layoffs of 145 Consol Energy employees that will hit at the end of the year. They are not alone.

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Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, 2008 US presidential candidate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Trenton, NJ – Several New Jersey municipalities have issued boil water advisories to ensure the public health and safety of state residents as a result of the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

Health Commissioner Mary O’Dowd said state, county and local officials are monitoring water quality carefully. Listen to and follow public announcements that will advise residents if and when water is safe to drink or use.

Twelve municipalities/water companies have instituted boil water advisories for all or parts of their communities:

 Several of the 30 fully adorned Halloween characters that wait for visitors at the Bryan\’s house. photos by Anne Forline

October 31, 2012

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Jeffrey Zients its October 2012 Porker of the Month for promising to pay the legal fees of federal contractors who, under Department of Labor (DOL) orders, do not issue layoff notices to employees whose jobs could be in danger due to looming spending cuts. Large employers are obligated under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) to issue layoff notices 60 days in advance of a \”reasonably foreseeable\” event, such as the automatic spending cuts, or sequestration, triggered by the Budget Control Act of 2011. Instead, contractors who follow OMB’s instructions have been promised that any litigation fees that arise from layoffs without prior notice will be covered by taxpayers.

Regularly Scheduled Clinics Run through December

(Woodbury, NJ) – Gloucester County Freeholder Director Robert M. Damminger and Freeholder Lyman Barnes announced today that the Gloucester County Department of Health will be rescheduling two flu shot clinics that had been scheduled for early in the week but were cancelled due to Sandy.

The flu shot clinic originally scheduled for Monday, October 29 from 6 – 8 pm at Chestnut Ridge Middle School, 641 Hurffville-Crosskeys Rd., Sewell has been rescheduled for Monday, November 19 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.