The Morning Briefing - March 3, 2015
STATEWIDE – For any Girl Scout looking to break the standing record of 18,107 boxes sold, Forbes has the answer: reporting on the richest Americans. The Daddy Warbucks of the Garden State is David Tepper of Livingston, with a tidy $10.4 billion burning holes in his pockets. Then you have Donald Newhouse, laughing uproariously as he rolls around in his $8.3 billion, as well as Leon G. Cooperman of Short Hills, with a disappointing $3.8 billion, making him just the 462nd wealthiest person on Earth. Ma Cooperman must be so disappointed.
SOMEWHERE IN ILLINOIS – New Jersey can be proud of one fact: it is not Illinois, which has a state pension mess that is actually far worse than the Garden State’s. Yet that glaring fact did little to shut the mouth of the new Republican governor of that state, Bruce Rauner, telling the Illinois Farm Bureau conference that New Jersey was “lost.” “They’re going down the drain, and they ain’t turning it around,” Rauner said of New Jersey. Not a nice thing to say, especially as Rauner was one of the many Republicans for whom Gov. Chris Christie crisscrossed the nation last year to help elect and drop $2.5 million into his campaign, CBS reports. Where’s the gratitude, pal?
TRENTON – It seems all the competing polls in New Jersey are having a friendly little competition: trying to see who can record the lowest ratings of the governor. It looks like Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind has the edge, reporting its lowest level ever recorded. Today’s poll has Christie at a 51 percent disapproval rating, compared with only 35 percent who think he is doing well. Pollsters posed their questions following the governor’s budget address and his master plan to address the state pension mess.
HIGHTSTOWN – You would wonder why anyone would want to work for a town and all the petty politics that’s involved. The alleged “illegal” raise of $9,900 to the town administrator has prompted plenty of public debate and media coverage, with the municipal attorney weighing in that nothing was done wrong, despite claims of political opponents, NJ.com reports. The whole issue was a topic of intense conversation, as Borough Administrator Henry Underhill’s one-year contract for $79,900 was of enormous interest. While we don’t know Mr. Underhill, we assume he would happily entertain work in the private sector, where there is some degree of discretion.
BLOOMFIELD – As any payer of a college bill knows, all those mysterious fees do a great job hiding tuition hikes. And so our hats are off to Bloomfield College, which, as NJ.com reports, is going to initiate a single price to attend the school beginning in the fall. There will just be one rate - $27,800 – that covers all the course fees, technology fees, toilet paper fees, etc. We would say something about the high cost to attend this school, but anything shy of $40,000 these days seems a downright bargain.
CAMDEN – Can a basketball player attempt a trick shot off the deck of Battleship New Jersey, with the ball miraculously landing in a passing tugboat? We think the answer may be “yes,” but you will have to see for yourself at 11 a.m., when the Harlem Globetrotters promote their upcoming games in Camden and some unnamed, irrelevant city across the Delaware River. We’re not known to gamble, but our money is on the “Washington Generals” to go on a winning run. They are due, after 6,743 consecutive losses.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
LINCOLN, Neb. – Amazing the cops figured this one out. After all, the sour cream container holding all the marijuana had the words "Not Weed" clearly marked across the top. But, as The Lincoln Journal Star reports, one of the Lancaster County deputies threw caution to the wind and peeked inside the container during a traffic stop Saturday night. Wasn’t he surprised! There was plenty of pot inside, prompting cops to ship the guy “Not to Jail.”
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2011 that the United Nations released a report that showed world food prices were at their highest point in 20 years. Concurrently, McDonald’s reported struggles with its promotion of 99-cent fish sandwiches –clearly too cheap to be considered actual food.
AND INTRODUCING…THE WORD OF THE DAY
Abibliophobia (noun) - The fear of running out of something to read.
Example: “I am suffering from abibliophobia. Oh, please, for all that is good and holy, do not let the Morning Briefing end!”
(Sorry)