The Morning Briefing - April 29, 2015
STATEWIDE – London Bridge may be falling down, but it has nothing on New Jersey, where authorities are reporting another 200 state-owned bridges could soon be falling down. The Record reports there are nearly 500 bridges in total that will become structurally deficient in the next five years. With an aging infrastructure and no money for all this work, it seems as if the state’s transportation team is a bunch of four-year-old soccer players, just running from one place to another and getting little accomplished.
STATEWIDE – It is hard to imagine life in Tunica County, Mississippi, where the average tax bill is just $216. We envision dirt roads, bad schools and the General Lee speeding by twice a day, as someone shouts “Yee-Haw!” In complete contrast, as Zillow reports, New Jersey is home to seven of the 10 most expensive counties in the United States when it comes to property taxes. Bergen County has the third highest tax rate, followed by Essex in fourth. The top 10 list then puts Passaic in sixth, followed by Union, Morris, Hudson and Hunterdon. Don’t like it? Well, we bet Tunica County has a trailer with your name on it.
STATEWIDE – Being that we pay all these high property taxes, we must be a bunch of millionaires, right? That’s what Senate President Steve Sweeney is banking on, as he is still trying to wrangle New Jersey out of this state pension mess. He is proposing, yet again, a millionaire’s tax, claiming the number of millionaires has grown by 38 percent since 2009. And they are ripe for taxin’! Meanwhile, the governor’s office questions the logic, wondering how you can improve the state’s economy by increasing taxes. Plus, any New Jersey “millionaire” could easily flee to Tunica County, string together 10 double-wide trailers and own the biggest “estate” in the land.
AT THE STORE – The next time it costs about $10 for a pack of light bulbs at Home Depot, here may be one of the reasons: A Bloomfield man has been sentenced to three years probation for a basic scheme to scam that hardware giant out of nearly $500,000, NJ.com reports. Over three years, this guy and friends would hit a string of Home Depots, pile the cart with stuff, pay in cash and leave. They would then return, collect the exact same stuff and then use the initial receipt to get past the crack “security” at the door to prove it was all paid for. Then, they would return all the stuff at another Home Depot, pocketing the cash proceeds. This happened hundreds of times, authorities said, with total refunds and store credits of $470,511.
NEW BRUNSWICK – New Jersey media must be excited today, as Gov. Chris Christie will be granting his first media availability for local press since November. In shocking news, the governor’s schedule calls for an actual “press availability” after he signs bills this afternoon in New Brunswick in an effort to help prevent prescription drug abuse. With such rare opportunity, we hope the opening question is not wasted on something like, “Uh, so when will you announce you are running for President?”
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
GALVESTON, TX – A professor at Texas A&M University has given up on his strategic management class, telling all 30 students that they flunked and are not worthy of graduating to become an “Aggie.” The professor says the students cheated on tests, circulated online rumors about him and seemed to be a real bunch of awful people. “You do not in any way embody the honor that the university holds graduates should have within their personal character," the professor wrote in an email, Reuters reported. School officials are taking over the class and figuring out if anyone actually deserved to pass. It seems the university is siding with the students here – another reason why the professor lost it.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was one year ago the hype began on the upcoming “Star Wars” movie, with Disney announcing the eagerly-awaited return of Luke, Han and Leia. There’s been a bunch of short trailers since to fan the flames, as we all wait for the December 18 release to see fat old Luke squeeze into an X-wing fighter.
WORD OF THE DAY
Gazump – verb
Definition – To raise the price of your house after informally accepting a lower offer.
Example – “Man, I got gazumped on that nice split-level on Academy Street.”