Hamilton Gun Range Construction Destroys Watershed
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST

photograph taken at the entrance of Hamilton Gun Range on Electronics Drive

 

 

In April 2015, Duffy's Cultural Couture, reported on the presence of a gun range in Hamilton Township, NJ, Mercer County. Since then we took steps to OPRA information from the township as it pertains to this gun range. We wanted to see what was spent on the range, why it was built, and who was involved with the decision. There are already ranges available in the county and the township for the police to utilize, we found it an an abuse of taxpayers dollars to build another range.

 

 

see link to original story in April 2015: http://www.tammyduffy.com/ARTFASHION/index.blog?entry_id=2353287

 

 

Imagine our surprise when the Hamilton Township Municipal clerks office responded with," There is no gun range located on Electronics Drive."   This is a completely false statement by the township. What are they hiding? Let me share what we found.

 

If one goes to the Township web site you can see past meeting minutes from the Hamilton council. On April 7, 2015 the minutes demonstrate in Section 3b the following:

 

"Resolution Authorizing And Approving The Execution Of A Use And Hold Harmless Agreement Between The Township Of Hamilton And The Township Of Robbinsville For The Use Of The Hamilton Township Police Division Firing Range."

 

 

But the township is standing their ground and continues to say that there is no gun range on Electronics Drive.  But their own minutes clearly demonstrate (which are taken by the municipal clerk)  the presence of the range. This is extremely concerning.  Why are they stating on an OPRA request that the gun range does not exist? There are also several signs that are posted on the property clearly demonstrating the presence of the range, not to mention the gun fire. During the summer months this year, there were numerous township vehicles driving through the neighborhood. When we asked the township employees what they were working on, they responded with," We are building a nice park for the police in the gun range area, also paving the road."

 

 

 

 

This gun range is extremely close to the North East Corridor train tracks at the Hamilton train station. Due to this fact and the townships denial of the existence of the gun range, we then reached out to Joseph Boardman, CEO of Amtrak.   We wrote him an email informing him of the OPRA request and the townships denial of the presence of the gun range. In the content of the email we also included : Photos on Electronics Dr that clearly mark there is a range,  the townships DEP registration for the property, (They have to register the gun range due to the lead contamination that can happen), a google earth photo that shows where the range is an its vicinity to the Amtrak tracks. (Which is disturbing as well), agenda from a Hamilton Twp meeting in April 2015 highlighting the collaboration of Robbinsville and Hamilton townships at the firing range and the letter from Twp denying the presence of the firing, gun range.

 

 

We shared with Mr. Boardman that one can hear the gun fire in the American Metro Way area. It sounds like we are living in a conflict zone. The firing range is outside. You can hear the gunfire at the passenger stands at the Hamilton station, in the neighborhood and on the tracks when you are on the train. 

 

Our concern with the position the township has taken is in direct conflict to the public's safety. A stray bullet could easily find its way to the tracks. As a resident we cannot walk back there to investigate this. The signage states you will be prosecuted if you try.

 

 

Within ten minutes of sending this email to the CEO, he responded. He then swiftly had Amtrak's Chief of Police and legal team spring into action. He was very appreciative of this information. Amtrak was never contacted by the township about any development of a gun range near the train tracks.

 

Here is what he learned and did.  "We have found that this is not on Amtrak property. We have found that the angle is away from the rails. We have found that they have high earthen barriers as back stops. We are going to have our law department counsel their law folks. Thank you for bringing it to our attention." said Mr Boardman, CEO of AMTRAK. Clearly, the township built this firing range without taking this into consideration or involving Amtrak.

 

We also went to the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) and OPRA'd information on land use, enforcement site visits, inspections of the site, maps of the site, permits any violations at the site. DEP contacted us that there were 250 documents available to review.

 

Here is what we learned from those documents. Evidently, the township began construction of this gun range prior to Sept 17, 2010. A Compliance Evaluation summary performed by then DEP inspector, Raymond Smellin (now retired from DEP) was done on Sept. 17, 2010 at 1pm in the afternoon.

 

The inspection by Smellin found the site to already be under construction with mostly advanced earth moving work and concrete slab construction well under way. This construction should not have been going on prior to the inspection by Smellin. It should have commenced after the DEP inspected the site to ensure the plan the township submitted would work.

 

Also stated in his report, "Isolated freshwater wetland areas along Princeton Ave appear to have been impacted by the construction by the township.  The first, isolated freshwater area (E) on the plans, near the corner of Princeton Ave and Bucknell Ave were impacted by site grading. There was a straight line of vegetation along the Princeton Ave fence line destroyed.  A second isolated wetland is Isolated Wetland Area (G)  was also shown on the approved plans was undisturbed.  This area is also along the Princeton Ave border, immediately south of Amherst Ave. This wetland area was totally impacted by the construction activity. "

 

The report went on to say, "The permit included a Transition area waiver. Waiver condition number 3 required the township sign a Department approved conservation restriction addressing all wetlands and transition areas on the site. The file has no copy of the deed restriction. " 

 

Performing construction prior to and inspection by DEP and not having the appropriate permits is a violation of the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act.  During construction all excavation must be adequately monitored for presence of acid-producing deposits. If any deposits are encountered, the mitigation and disposal standards are outlined by DEP.

 

Let's all remember how poorly the American Metro Way site was monitored and PCB's were flying around during a dust storm during that construction. There was an executive order by Mayor Gilmore with specific tasks that he ordered to contain the contamination. The documents on the follow up after the executive order are no where to be found in the files at the township. There are no digital files available for any topic prior to July 2010. All digital files and emails have been destroyed according to the Municipal Clerk.

 

 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) states that floods are the most common and widespread of all natural disasters—except fire. Most communities in the United States have experienced some kind of flooding. FEMA encourages the use of wetlands for stormwater detention in lieu of, or in conjunction with, traditional structural flood control measures.

 

The effectiveness of wetlands for flood abatement may vary, depending on the size of the area, type and condition of vegetation, slope, location of the wetland in the flood path and the saturation of wetland soils before flooding. A one-acre wetland can typically store about three-acre feet of water, or one million gallons. An acre-foot is one acre of land, about three-quarters the size of a football field, covered one foot deep in water. Three acre-feet describes the same area of land covered by three feet of water. Trees and other wetland vegetation help slow the speed of flood waters. This action, combined with water storage, can actually lower flood heights and reduce the water’s destructive potential.

 

 

Preserving and reconstructing coastal marshes can help reduce storm damage. Coastal wetlands serve as storm surge protectors when hurricanes or tropical storms come ashore. in the Gulf coast area, barrier islands, shoals, marshes, forested wetlands and other features of the coastal landscape can provide a significant and potentially sustainable buffer from wind wave action and storm surge generated by tropical storms and hurricanes. Unfortunately, with the construction of the gun range by the township and their destruction of the wetlands, the homes in the area were negatively impacted during the hurricane.

 

 

In the summer of 2011, Hamilton Township experienced Hurricane Irene. There were multiple homes destroyed and severe property damage along the Princeton Ave, Amherst Rd, Bucknell Ave areas of Hamilton township.  The residents in some the these homes had 5 feet of water in their homes. The statue of limitations for property damage is 6 years. Do the residents of this area have a case against the township officials who allowed the watershed to be destroyed with the construction of this gun range? Only an environmental lawyer can answer that question with full authority. Can the leaders and council members during this timeframe be held accountable. 

 

There definately is a pattern of behavior that exisits with past, recent and future development in Hamilton. It's a pattern that is quite concerning for the residents,business owners and taxpayers in the township. As residents we must stay vigilant and hold the leadership accountable.

 

It should also be noted that sources at a Bensalem gun range shared with us that Hamilton police who frequent the PA range have stated," The township is considering turning this range into a public range so that the township residents can help pay for its upkeep."

 

This is interesting, for did we as residents not already pay for the range and for its upkeep? 

 

*We are awaiting addition documents from DEP. When we receive them we will update this report.  

 

Mafalda's: The King's of Mercer County Catering
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST

 

By Tammy Duffy

 

 

 

 

The King of Mercer County Catering, Mafalda's has just signed an exclusive catering contract with Cedar Gardens in Hamilton, NJ, Mercer County. Cedar Gardens, located on Rte 33 in Hamilton has four 4 halls which are able to accommodate 1000 guests. The Bordentown Elks can accommodate 150 upstairs and 350 down located Park Ave in Bordentown. They are awaiting final approval on other venues as well in the Bordentown and the Hamilton area. (Valley of Central Jersey , AASR in Bordentown Higher level of Masons Group. These venues can hold 250 in their main hall and their auditorium holds 350 if floor seats are utilized)

 

Mafalda’s is a family owned and managed restaurant and catering company who has now become the largest caterer in Mercer county.  This family owned business pride themselves on a reputation for quality home-style foods with eye appealing presentation. They are the King's of Mercer County catering.

 

Mafalda’s restaurant is located at 3681 Nottingham Way in Hamilton. The same food you get at the restaurant is the same food you can expect at all of their catering events.  

 

Mafalda’s  specializes in full-service catering. They offer a multitude of venues from small to large. Their list of venues has continued to expand since they started catering in 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From social to corporate, these kings of catering, Mafaldas, can do weddings, cocktail parties, corporate meetings, and sit down plated meals, etc.  You name it, they can do it. They are a one-stop shop operation working within any budget. They have several options to choose from as it pertains to packages.  They have their basic packages, their tray packages, and platinum packages. You can visit their website (  http://www.mafaldasofhamilton.com/#!catering-packages/c5ar  ) to see the breadth of packages. Donna Severino, who has over 30 years of experience in the food industry, is the catering manager at Mafalda’s. She can be reached at 609-915-6131. 

 

 

Mafalda's local venues (and growing) include:

 

 

Sayen House and Gardens

155 Hughes Dr.

Hamilton, NJ 08690

(609) 890-3630

Nottingham Ballroom

200 Mercer St, Hamilton, NJ 08690,

(609)-890-9834 and press 1

 

Hamilton Elks Lodge

1580 Kuser Rd, Trenton, NJ 08619
(609) 585-9610

 

Bordentown Elks

11 Amboy Rd, Bordentown, NJ 08505
(609) 298-2085

 

Knights of Columbus

1451 Klockner Rd, Trenton, NJ 08619

(609) 890-6213

 

Hamilton VFW

77 Christine Ave, Mercerville, NJ 08619
(609) 890-9809

 

Whitehorse Fire House

19 Locust Ave, Trenton, NJ 08610

(609) 585-1836

 

Mercerville Fire House

2711 Nottingham Way, Mercerville, NJ 08619
(609) 586-1112

 

Hibernian Club

2419 Kuser Rd, Hamilton Square, NJ 08690
(609) 586-5982

 

Mason Hall

3682 Nottingham Way,Trenton, NJ 08690

(609) 587-5057

 

Cedar Gardens: MAFALDA'S is the EXCLUSIVE CATERER!!!

661 Rt 33 , Hamilton, NJ 08619

(609) 587-0930

 

 

 

Organizing a party can get really stressful. Other than guest invitation and RSVP, you also need to clean and decorate your establishment or home. With so much tasks on hand,  you should  leave the heavy duty cooking and set up to the professionals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether you need a catered meal served for 1,000 guests or a bowl of their homemade potato salad for the company potluck........you can call to them to take care of all your entertaining needs.  They will even let you do a taste test of their food if you would like. 

 

They will also be in attendance this weekend at the Italian American Festival in Mercer County Park.  The catering King of Mercer County, Mafalda's will be on hand at the festival allowing attendees to sample their homemade foods.

 

 The next major event at Mafalda's restaurant in Hamiltonwill be starring Johnny T with Sounds of Legends.  This will be held at the Nottingham Ballroom Friday 10/16 from 6PM to 10PM.  Tickets are $50.00 per person and you can expect a high end buffet with a cash bar.   

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Adverse reactions to drugs costs the United States $135 Billion annually.  There are over two million people effected by adverse reactions annually.  According to the FDA on average only 50% of drugs are 100% effective. As it pertains to cancer drugs, they only are 20% effective according to the FDA. So, how does one optimize these percentages?  The Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden, NJ is helping do just that.

 

Many Americans are familiar with the drug Clopidogrel (Plavix).  This is a medication commonly prescribed to prevent blood clots particularly after cardiac events, is a medication metabolised by the gene cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19).

 

The manufacturers of Plavix, Bristol – Myers Squibb and Sanofi, are being sued by the attorneys general of five US States: Hawaii; California; Louisiana; Mississippi; and West Virginia.

 

The Hawaiian case is based on the fact that the manufacturers knew in 1998 that certain genetic variations would put patients at risk of further cardiac problems. For these patients, the medication would be ineffective or partially effective. By failing to disclose this information approximately 38%-79% of the population of Pacific Islanders and 40%-50% of East Asians in Hawaii are at risk. It is estimated that 48.6% of Hawaiians taking Plavix are at risk and significant damages are being sought to compensate the State and individuals that have been affected by the manufacturers’ lack of disclosure.

 

Patients with variations in CYP2C19 who are at risk according to their gene variant, should either be given a different dose of Plavix, or a different medication altogether as the normal dose is not sufficient. Some Patients, who could take a normal dose of Plavix because of their genetic makeup, need to be cautioned on taking other medications that are dependent on CYP2C19 for metabolism (e.g. certain heartburn medications and some psychiatric drugs). These normal (extensive) metabolisers may not get the full benefit of Plavix either.

 

In 2010 the FDA added a boxed warning for Plavix. The FDA states: “People who have reduced functioning of their CYP2C19 liver enzyme cannot effectively convert Plavix to its active form. As a result, Plavix may be less effective in altering platelet activity in those people. These “poor metabolizers” may not receive the full benefit of Plavix treatment and may remain at risk for heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death.” (2)

The FDA warning recommended that doctors should gene test patients for variations in CYP2C19 to identify variations that would make Plavix ineffective, but to date this has not been widespread practice amongst medical practitioners in the United States.

 

Launched in 2007, the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (part of the Coriell Medical Institute for Medical Research) is a long-term research study exploring the usefulness of genetic information in clinical decision-making and health management. A true collaboration, the study – often called the CPMC – is a multiparty effort of volunteer study participants, physicians, scientists, ethicists, genetic counselors, pharmacists, information technologists, and hospital and academic partners. It has nearly 8,500 individuals enrolled and provides personalized reports to participants revealing their genetic and non-genetic risks for complex disease, like heart disease and diabetes, and for likely reactions to medications, such as blood thinners. Study participants are enrolled through partnerships with respected research centers across the nation, including Stanford University, Boston University, and University of Pennsylvania. The study has also been engaged by the United States Air Force to bring personalized medicine to U.S. service members.

 

This link below is how one can enroll their patients or a patient can enroll themselves if they meet the criteria.

 

https://cpmc.coriell.org/how-to-enroll/overview

 

In addition to seeking to understand the utility of personal genome information in the delivery of patient care, the CPMC study team is also committed to educating patients, medical professionals, and the public on genomics and personalized medicine. The study also aims to contribute to the evidence-based research required to inform policies and regulations, e.g., third-party payer practices; encourage the development of companion diagnostics; identify new genetic associations; integrate genomic data into both electronic medical records and clinical decision-support tools; and establish recommendations for best practices.

 

They ultimately believe that the success of personalized medicine depends on its ability to demonstrate its value to the healthcare system, to the industries that develop its products, and to patients. The CPMC research study is striving to be a model for the ethical, legal, and responsible implementation of best practices in personalized medicine. 

 

 

The Coriell Institute for Medical Research, was founded in 1953 and based in Camden, New Jersey.  It is an independent non-profit research center dedicated to the study of the human genome. Expert staff and pioneering programs in the fields of personalized medicine, cell biology, cytogenetics, genotyping, and biobanking drive their mission.

 

Dr Lewis Coriell's pioneering techniques for characterizing, freezing, and storing cell cultures in liquid nitrogen constitute one of the greatest contributions to modern human research. Today, the Coriell Biobank is regarded as the most diverse collection of cell lines and DNA available to the international research community. In addition to these high-quality biospecimens, Coriell also maintains tissue, plasma, serum, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid. They essentially are the Amazon.com of stem cells.

 

Few organizations have the history of innovations in repository science that have been developed and implemented at Coriell. For more than 60 years, Coriell has set the standard in biobanking services, including the experimental design, collection, processing, distribution, cryogenic preservation, and information management of human biomaterials used in research. By developing and maintaining biorepositories as national and international resources for the study of human diseases, aging, and neurological disease, Coriell is committed to providing the scientific community with well-characterized cell cultures, lines and DNA preparations annotated with rich phenotypic data.

 

The Coriell Biobank has allowed both Coriell scientists, and research investigators around the world, to advance research programs in genetics and cell biology. Since the first repository – a National Institutes of Health collection – was established at Coriell in 1964, millions of cell lines and DNA samples have been distributed to researchers in 66 countries and more than 7,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published citing over 12,000 biospecimens from the Coriell Biobank. Coriell's repositories provided support to the Human Genome Project, a worldwide program to map the entire human genome, and to the International HapMap Project, a project providing an efficient tool to identify disease-causing genes.

 

 

The emerging field of personalized medicine draws upon a person’s genomic information to tailor treatments and prescription drug dosing to optimize health outcomes. The Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC) research study is seeking to understand the usefulness of genetic risk and pharmacogenomics in clinical decision-making and healthcare management.

 

Coriell has a distinguished history in cell biology. They are building upon this expertise by playing an important role in induced pluripotent stem (iPs) cell research. Somatic cells can be reprogrammed into the embryonic state. This enormous scientific discovery was performed by Dr Shinya Yamanaka. He won the Noble Prize in 2012 for his discovery.

 

Induced pluripotent stem cells are powerful cells which can be made from skin or blood cells, and they are revolutionizing the way human disease is studied and how drugs are developed. Skin cells from a patient diagnosed with heart disease are being genetically reprogrammed into stem cells, and then transformed into beating cardiac cells.

 

Researchers can now examine the heart-diseased cells to better understand the progression of heart disease and develop treatments and cures. Drug efficacy and safety can also be tested in this laboratory environment, providing an efficient model of drug discovery that delivers drugs to patients sooner. This technology, called "disease in a dish," offers researchers the potential to study the myriad of human diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy, and diabetes.

 

The mission of the Stem Cell Biobank (SCB) at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research is to provide scientists with the opportunity to bank their pluripotent stem cell lines at the SCB, and to develop in-house induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines for distribution to researchers. Established in 2008, the SCB has developed core capabilities to maintain, characterize, bank, and distribute important stem cell resources. The SCB performs extensive identification and characterization testing for all submitted human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) and mouse embryonic stem cell (mES) lines. The identification and quality control measures include karyotype analysis, microsatellite analysis for parental cell line identity matching, sterility testing, and assessment of viability after cryopreservation. Pluripotency characterizations performed by SCB vary depending upon the distributing repository.

 

Each characterized human iPSC line and mES line released for distribution is provided with a Certificate of Analysis, which includes information regarding characterization and quality of the line, images and links to original publications.  As the debate on the use of fetal embryos was occurring, this science leap frogged that drama.  The human iPSCs distributed by Coriell are strictly for research purposes and cannot be used in human subjects.

 

In addition to pioneering cutting-edge research initiatives, Coriell offers custom research services – including cell culture, cytogenetic analyses, and molecular biology – to the scientific community. Furthermore, Coriell’s Genotyping and Microarray Center is one of the nation’s largest centers, with high-throughput DNA analysis, CLIA-certified genotyping platforms systems from Illumina and Affymetrix.

 

Essential to the Institute’s support of international scientific research is the Coriell Biobank. From this renowned cell bank, they manage and distribute the world’s most diverse collection of cell lines, DNA, and other biological resources. The Coriell Biobank provided support to the Human Genome Project, a worldwide program to map the entire human genome, and to the International HapMap Project, a project providing an efficient tool to identify disease-causing genes. They have recently partnered with IBM to analyze genomes.

 

The promise of stem cell research applies to understanding the progression of human disease and the ability to cure disease, reverse injury and better target therapies to optimize our health outcomes. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology has the ability to revolutionize the way human disease is studied. Creating iPS cell lines from various rare and common disease states, as well as from various populations, will open the doors for pre-clinical research studies. By understanding how a drug will effect a patient (and the other drugs they are on as well), before they take it, will decrease medical costs in the United States significantly.  The risk reporting algorithm that the Coriell Institute has developed has the ability to analyze the risk associated with a drug based on a patients personal genetics. A simple swab of ones mouth will give the information needed to safeguard a patients reaction to a drug. It will tell a physician what the risk associated with that drug is before they give it to the patient. If the risk is high, the algorithm has the ability to recommend alternative solutions for the physician. It looks are all the drugs the patient is on as well and analyzes what reaction can happen with those as well. This is the direction that medicine is taking, cutting edge with a focus on positive patient outcomes.

 

Recognized as one of the world's leading sources for research-grade iPS cell lines, Coriell has fortified that position by embarking on an ambitious initiative with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), a foremost proponent of stem cell science. As part of a $10M research grant award by CIRM, Coriell launched a satellite biobank facility on the West Coast in early 2014 to store, manage and distribute biosamples from 3,000 individuals, that will then be used to create 9,000 well-characterized iPS cell lines. Coriell California processes samples from subjects enrolled at several different research and academic centers, including Stanford University and UCLA, and will oversee international distribution through the Coriell Biorepositories catalog.

 

In addition to the collections of human induced pluripotent stem cells, Coriell also banks mouse embryonic stem cells which were created to study transcription factors and their effects in the context of gene regulatory networks. Coriell began banking stem cells for research use in 2006, with funding from the state of New Jersey. Following the advent of new stem cell technologies, the Stem Cell Biobank at Coriell has been contracted by multiple agencies, including National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Aging, as well as academic scientists to perform in-house human induced pluripotent stem cells and mouse embryonic stem cells generation and characterization. In addition, the Stem Cell Biobank has cryopreserved hematopoietic progenitor cells and mononuclear cells from umbilical cord blood are available as custom service orders.

 

Lord and Taylor To Host Cancer Charity Event
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST

 

 

 

Lord and Taylor Hosts Fashion Event for Launch of New Plus Size Lines
Topic: FASHION NEWS

 

 

These two new lines are designed specifically for the Plus-size woman who love fashion and appreciates a good value.  Two by Vince Camuto and JunaRose are sure to turn heads.

 

Arriving just last month, these feature stylish basics along with trend-driven statement pieces, no doubt women will love. The price points for both of these lines range from $40 to $125.  You’ll be hard pressed to buy just one piece.

 

Lord and Taylor is synonymous with bringing great design to their customers. With the launch of Two by Vince Camuto and JunaRose, they are stepping up their fashion game for their Plus-size guests.  Garth Simpson, General Manager of Lord and Taylor said, "We are expanding our plus size space in the store. We offer modern, classic and contemporary lines, to fit the needs of all of our customers tastes. Lord and Taylor prides themselves in offering a better assortment of clothing in all categories. The plus sized woman is a very important focus for Lord and Taylor. "

 

 

Duffy interviewed a shopper, Janet Kreisman, during the event. Duffy asked her, "What is most important thing to you when you are buying new clothes?" Ms. Kreisman, replied," I like things to fit loose and be super comfortable. The first thing I look at is the cut of the clothing. The second thing I look at is the color. I stick to black and blues. Although some brands have pretty bright colors they are not what I like to wear. They draw too much attention. From a fabric perspective I do not like polyester. It makes me sweat and is uncomfortable. I prefer cotton, silk and natural blends. In the summer, I prefer linens."  She then grabbed the new Vince Camuto blouse and inspected it thoroughly.

 

In speaking to other shopper as well as the sales team at Lord and Taylor, everyone is quite pleased with the response these two new lines are having with their customers. There are over 15 new looks in the Two by Vince Camuto and over 25 looks with the JunaRose line.  

 

From stylish original prints to the attention to detail and fit, these lines are meant to impress. Beautiful capes, faux fur vests, jeans, blouses, dresses, dress pants, skirts and much more encompass these two new lines. The sales team at Lord and Taylor shared with Duffy that they are selling more of the JunaRose due to the additional available selection with the line at the store. These new lines bring the perfect looks for fall, fulfilling all the new fashion trends.

 

During today's event, Lord and Taylor invited blogger Tammy Duffy (www.tammyduffy.com/artfashion) , Hair Stylist, Ashley Porter of Great Looks Hair Salon, a multicultural salon,  in Lawrenceville, NJ  (www.nj-hair-salon.com/home) and Stylist, Denise Frederickson.  Ms. Frederickson attending workshops at FIT in NYC that focused on fashion styling.  She was an executive assistant at Goldman Sachs in the past. Currently, she currently works as a personal shopper.  

 

These trend-setting ladies had a chance to offer their stylish advice on makeup, what colors to wear and how to glam up ones look. The staff from Laura Mercier and NARS were also on hand to give tips on makeup and creating that new look, all women strive for.

 

 

Ashley Porter from Great Looks Salon doing a hair consultation 

 

Great Looks Salon, is located at 3371 Brunswick Pike, Mercer Mall & Route 1, Lawrence Township, NJ is on the cutting edge of the first true Multicultural hair salon in the area that offers traditional and express services to cater to "all walks of life.  They want to welcome you to an environment and experience that makes you feel warmth, friendship and an authentic appreciation for your patronage. Their goal is to uncover your inner beauty and allow that beauty to be as unique as you are and we welcome the diversity that is a part of your beauty and core. You will be treated like a client that is valued from the minute you walk in until you walk out. 

 

 

Click this link below to see images from the event

 

 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.502947893201119.1073741848.359697407526169&type=3&uploaded=26

 

 

 

 

 

New Exhibition Highlights Work of Sally Spofford, Artist and Longtime Museum Contributor
Topic: ART NEWS

 

Contemporary Photography Exhibition To Open at Hunterdon Art Museum
Topic: ART NEWS

 

New HAM Show Features ‘Explorer’ Artists Who Reveal the Infinite and Infinitesimal
Topic: ART NEWS

Fraud Alert: Criminals Test Stolen Credit-Card Numbers on Charity Websites
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST

 

 

Fraud Alert: Criminals Test Stolen Credit-Card Numbers on Charity Websites

 

 

 Criminals are using poorly protected charity websites to test the validity of stolen credit-card numbers, cybersecurity experts said this week, costing some groups thousands of dollars. Simplified online donation pages make it easy for people to give — but also serve as prime testing ground for credit-card thieves.

 

"There’s a giant target painted on the industry’s back that is very advantageous for credit-card thieves," said Kevin Conroy, chief product officer at GlobalGiving.

 

Although not a new problem, it is now "near universal," said Matt Holford, chief technology officer at DoSomething.org.

 

Easy Target

 

Stolen credit-card numbers aren’t worth much on the underground market until verified, so thieves use online payment websites to test whether the numbers work. Some thieves pay criminal services groups to do the confirmation work using a bot, — a software application that rapidly enters the numbers into payment websites, said Don Jackson, director of threat intelligence at PhishLabs. If the payment goes through, the criminal-services group reports back to the thief that the credit-card number is valid and will work for making larger fraudulent purchases.

 

Fraudsters also use for-profit retailers to verify stolen numbers. But businesses are often well protected, requiring multiple steps to make purchases such as setting up an account and providing personal information linked to the credit card.

 

Many nonprofits forgo such requirements to reduce obstacles to making donations.

 

That simple design is ideal for a thief or a bot trying to test many numbers quickly.

 

"I think the reason charities and nonprofits are targeted is they want to set it up with as few bars to funding as possible," Mr. Jackson said.

 

Nonprofits are also vulnerable because online donations are not tied to geography, Mr. Conroy said. If someone uses her credit card to buy coffee in her town of residence on the same day a thief uses her credit-card number to buy a television three states away, that may raise a red flag with the credit-card company. A small, fraudulent online donation is unlikely to trigger that detection system.

Costs Soar

The financial costs of these attacks on nonprofits can be significant. Credit-card companies categorize online donations as "card-not-present" transactions and place the burden for recouping fraudulent charges entirely on nonprofits.

 

That means nonprofits have to return fraudulent donations that people report to their credit-card companies. In May 2013, Irish charity the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation announced that it received and refunded about $170,000 in donations made via stolen credit cards. Most of the donations were less than $7.

 

For each fraudulent charge, charities also have to pay credit-card companies "charge-back" fees, which can be as high as $25. When thieves targeted DonorsChoose.org about three years ago, it had to pay $10 to $20 in charge-back fees for each of more than 100 fraudulent donations, said Jeana Takahashi, the nonprofit’s integrity assurance manager and technical writer.

And once a nonprofit has surpassed a certain charge-back rate threshold — often 1 percent of all transactions in a month — credit card companies may put it on probation and charge it several thousand dollars a month in fines. If the nonprofit can’t lower its charge-back rate, credit-card companies may shut off its merchant account, rendering it unable to accept any donations made with that card brand. Vendors may also temporarily block nonprofits’ ability to process transactions if fraud attempts spike, said Clam Lorenz, PayPal’s general manager of social innovation for North America.

 

Harder to measure but still significant are the costs to a nonprofit’s reputation when people discover that donations were made without their consent.

 

"When you start to have fraud activities associated with you, it damages the name of your charity," Mr. Jackson said.

Tighter Controls

There’s only one way to stop this kind of fraud, Mr. Conroy said: monitoring all online donations.

 

Nonprofits should look out for small donations (some bots randomly generate donations that are not whole numbers, such as $1.32), or a burst of donation activity during a short period of time. They should also look for donations made on a device whose IP address is different from the cardholder’s billing address or is linked to multiple transactions from different cardholders.

To thwart thieves, nonprofits also need to improve online donation forms, said Steven Mac­Laughlin, director of analytics at Blackbaud. He recommends setting a minimum online donation amount of $15. Charities should only accept donations in set increments, ask for credit-card expiration dates and security codes, and turn on address-verification services. PhishLabs recommends requiring donors to provide an email address to which nonprofits mail a donation-verification message and using URLs using URLs for the transaction page that change every time someone makes a donation.

 

Both Mr. Conroy and Mr. MacLaughlin advise against installing Captcha programs — quizzes that require users to interpret a string of misshapen numbers and letters to thwart bots. It’s quick and easy for criminals to get through such screens manually or pay low-skilled workers to do it. As a result, captcha tests can frustrate more real donors than fraudulent ones.

"It’s a speed bump on the way to robbing you," Mr. MacLaughlin said.

Getting Help

Payment-processing vendors also have a role to play, and some vendors are more susceptible to fraud than others, Mr. Jackson said. He mentioned one that has a "relatively sizable share of the charitable-organization market" as being weak because it accepts credit cards from all over world and doesn’t examine payment velocity. He declined to name it.

Mr. Conroy recommends that nonprofits research how prospective vendors prevent and handle fraudulent activity before signing a contract.

"It would be unwise to go solely for the lowest cost option," he said.

Mr. Lorenz advises nonprofits to familiarize themselves with the charge-back reports their payment-processing vendors send. He also says nonprofits should talk to their vendors about available anti-fraud tools and good ways to deter thieves.

Nonprofits may need to buy more sophisticated services from payment processors or hire fraud-detection firms, such as Sift Science, which use the same machine-learning principles as email spam filters, and ThreatMetrix, which uses identification fingerprinting technology. Both of these companies charge per transaction: Sift Science charges 3 to 7 cents for each, although discounts are available for nonprofits, while Donors­Choose.org now budgets about $20,000 a year to pay ThreatMetrix, Ms. Takahashi said.

There is one downside to the system, Ms. Takahashi said: the rate of "false positives," legitimate donations flagged as potentially fraudulent, has risen. DonorsChoose now flags about 3 percent of transactions for extra screening.

But it’s not a big problem, Ms. Takahashi said, and she thinks the extra protection justifies the false-positive risk and the cost.

"We don’t want to make it easy for the bad guys out there," she said.

Charities that have the resources and tech talent may be able to develop internal anti-fraud protections. GlobalGiving created a system to monitor donations as they come in and to assess them later. The system is largely automated, although one employee runs frequent audits, and catches dozens to hundreds of attempted fraudulent donations every week. The nonprofit proactively reverses donations it suspects to be fraudulent to avoid paying charge-back fees later and now makes fewer than 10 charge-back fees each month.

Mr. Conroy declined to share how the system works, calling the fight against fraudsters an "arms race."

"We have to keep some secrets so we can still combat them," he said.

Joining Forces

CTOs for Good, a group of chief technology officers at nonprofits that include DonorsChoose, GlobalGiving, Wikimedia Foundation, Mozilla, Charity: Water, VolunteerMatch, Crisis Text Line, and Global Poverty Project, will discuss this problem at its meeting in October and perhaps produce a paper to share with the public, Mr. Holford said.

"Developing a unified solution is tough because our stacks, payment flows, and payment processors are all different," he said in an email. "But some member groups have come up with smart logic to apply and lessons learned."

Experts agree that each nonprofit has a role to play in helping charities fight back against credit-card verification fraud.

"We should work together and share best practices, look at ways we can share code to do that, and share referrals to off-the-shelf systems that are available," Mr. Conroy said. "We’re only as strong as our weakest link."

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