The Morning Briefing - February 26, 2015
ON THE RAILS – NJ Transit is gently throwing out the idea that potentially, there could possibly be a proposal of potentially considering fare hikes to cover budget gaps. NJ Transit tells NJ.com that fare and service adjustments are being carefully considered, as it faces escalating health insurance premiums and other rising costs. The agency is quick to note it hasn’t raised fares in five years after a 25 percent bump, so potentially, possibly, perhaps there should be an increase, it has been suggested.
ASBURY PARK – Maybe the stuffed animals were particularly dusty. There had to be something that tipped off school officials that a janitor was not working at the Little Tots II pre-school. NJ.com reports the owner of the day care center is now looking at five years in jail after billing the school district for janitorial services from 2010-2012, after the guy just showed up one night in 2010, quit and never received a paycheck. But the Asbury Park schools forked over $40,000 in fictional reimbursement for the fictional janitor.
AT THE DRIVE-THRU – When you order your next value meal at KFC, why just settle on fried chicken, all the sides, the buttered biscuit and a bucket of soda? Now, the fast-food chain has unveiled an edible coffee cup, in which New Jerseyans will soon find even more calories to consume as they munch a drumstick, talk on the phone, fiddle with satellite radio and, oh, hurl their SUVs down the Turnpike at 90 mph. The coffee cup, now only available in the UK, is heat-resistant white chocolate wrapped in sugar paper. KFC says the latest innovation is all about “simplifying life.”
MILLVILLE – Maybe there is a little corner of hell reserved for school aides who steal from kids. There’s one from Millville who apparently stole the lunch money from 30 kids, ages 3 to 5, in her care, in January and February, Fox News reports. A surveillance tape shows the aide rifling through all the kids’ backpacks on the bus, making off with a total of about $400.
PERTH AMBOY – Edna Dorothy Carty-Daniel, known for decades of community service to the waterfront city, as well as her nearly 40 years of service to the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, will be honored at noon tomorrow with the “Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Award” from PRAHD, as part of its second-annual celebration of African American History Month. Jaffe Communications is honored to sponsor the event at PRAHD headquarters on First Street.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
SEOUL – Word that South Korea's highest court has struck down a decades-old law banning adultery has triggered an unexpected victor: condom manufacturers. As the court deemed it unconstitutional to legally pursue those enjoying pleasures beyond the marital bounds, shares in Unidus Corp., makers of latex products, soared 15 percent. Meanwhile, Hyundai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a maker of morning-after birth control pills and pregnancy tests, ended up 9.7 percent on the day.
IN THE MEDIA
HOBOKEN – No need for Carlo’s Bake Shop to buy advertising on NJ.com, after the news website gushed all over the re-opening of the bakery following renovations that – gasp! – took an entire week. The reporter covered all the drama of baker Buddy Valastro apparently baking something, as well as detailed the new light-up display shelves for cakes and a now visible baking area. A camera crew from “Cake Boss” was there to film the action and excitement, as a small group stood outside hoping, per chance, to get an unobstructed view of a cupcake. At one point, a Valastro relative brought out hot chocolate, quickly deemed by NJ.com as “news.”
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1991 that Asanka Gurusinha scores twin Test Cricket tons vs. New Zealand (119 and 102). No, we have no idea what this means, either.