The Morning Briefing - March 27, 2015
JACKSON - Six Flags Great Adventure is going green. And to accomplish that, it needs to mow down 18,000 trees. The Asbury Park Press says the amusement park is taking an axe to a forest to build what will become the largest solar farm in the state. Once completed, the facility is supposed to power 3,100 homes, while also easily handling all the energy needs in the park. OK, but tree huggers may want to know the deal about those fallen trees. No problemo, says Six Flags, vowing to plant 25,000 trees in seven years.
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Remember Gov. Chris Christie? Well, he is still pounding away with that whole unannounced Presidential candidate thing. Today, he is somewhere in suburban Detroit, speaking to the Macomb County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Dinner. (Editor's Note: If not for Lincoln, how would Republicans be able to name their dinners?) The fundraiser only costs $60 to attend - quite reasonable with the price of rubber chicken these days. But if you want Christie to sign your photo of Lincoln, expect a surcharge.
GLASSBORO - If no one gets lost, more than 110 students will be at Rowan University today for the "National Geographic Bee" finals. This is a big deal, with a whopping $100 prize to the winner, as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to the 27th annual national championship in Washington, kicking off May 11. With such a paltry prize, expect the winner to be booked in the Econo Lodge off New York Avenue where they surcharge for a second roll of toilet paper.
ROSELLE - Assemblyman Jamel Holley finishes his first full month in the state Legislature, spending every waking moment visiting every part of the 20th district and chronicling his travels on Facebook. You can catch Holley at swimming pools, matzo factories, churches, talk shows, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Through it all, he has also managed to sponsor 15 bills in Trenton. PolitickerNJ calls him "Mr. Finesse" in its "40 under 40" column, but he sounds a bit more like "Mr. Aggressive."
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
SWEDEN - Not to be outdone by Burger King and its new fragrance called "Flame," McDonald's is out today with its own accessories that have nothing to do with food. The mega-chain is unveiling its own Big Mac-patterned thermal underwear, bed linen, wallpaper, a dog coat and a raincoat. An actual, on-the-record quote from McDonald's reads like this: "Now you can stretch, run and ski together with the hamburger of hamburgers."
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1988 that Trump Plaza was somehow the center of the pseudo sports world, as tens of thousands flocked to Atlantic City for "Wrestlemania IV" and to watch "Macho Man" Savage pin Ted DiBiase.
WORD OF THE DAY
Donnybrook - noun
Definition: A melee, a riot
Example: "Hey did you head down to Trump Plaza to see Hulk Hogan smash a chair over that nun, as a gaggle of choir girls put a sleeper hold on Andre the Giant? Wow, what a donnybrook!"
FRIDAY FACEBOOK FEATURE - A MOMENT WITH MATT
"I, for one, like those Matthew McConaughey Lincoln ads. As someone who spends a lot of time in his car, I understand it's where one gets his or her best thinking done. I even keep my Dictaphone handy to document my mostly throwaway thoughts, pointless reveries, but, hey, sometimes there's treasure.
Also, if Lincoln wants to be real, they will show a series of McConaughey ads of him singing and air drumming, 'cause that's the other miracle of driving.'