The Morning Briefing - June 22, 2015
TRENTON — Sure, we all love our zombies. Just don’t have them drive on the Turnpike. More often than you'd think, our state Motor Vehicles Commission sends driver's licenses to the dearly departed (more than 300 times in March alone). Now, a Mercer County assemblyman wants the MVC to get monthly updates on the freshly deceased from the Social Security Administration. One hitch: The SSA isn’t always sure who's alive or not, mistakenly declaring about 9,000 living people to be dead each year, and lists millions (yep, that's millions) of dead Americans as still among us. Of note: Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo's bill doesn't include any “stiff” penalties for those driving while dead.
BAYONNE – What’s with those rust-colored flakes in the hair of some Bayonne residents? Nope, it's not toxic dandruff. But apparently it is the lead-based paint that's been flaking off the Bayonne Bridge during a two-year rehab. One nearby resident tells the Jersey Journal the Port Authority quickly responded to his repeated complaints. He's right to ask what-the-heck else is floating in the air. The Port Authority says it does regular testing; there's no cause for concern, and of course we believe them.
TRENTON – New Jersey – like everywhere else – needs more voters. And that’s why a bill being heard today before the Assembly Appropriations Committee makes sense. New Jerseyans could be automatically registered to vote when they get a driver’s license or can register online. The bill also allows for early voting and preregistering 17-year-olds eager to cast ballots. This is a Democrat-fueled bill that's raised some good old-fashioned Republican skepticism, and there’s plenty of politics mixed in the motives. Putting that all aside, the census says New Jersey ranks 39th in the nation in the number of eligible registered voters, tied with Oklahoma. Aren’t we better than that?
ATLANTIC CITY – While it appears every North Jersey town now wants to open its own casino, it’s interesting to see what Atlantic City thinks of this modern-day golf rush. Mayor Don Guardian tells the AP that a North Jersey casino would “cannibalize” at least two of the city’s remaining casinos and certainly pull customers from the ever-decreasing list of gasping survivors. And then there are the plans for more casinos in New York just over the border. A macro question for rational minds: Are there really enough gamblers to bankroll all these places?
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —Sen. Ted Cruz fired off several poorly timed gun control jokes in the wake of the shooting tragedy at a Charleston, S.C. church. “You know the great thing about the State of Iowa, I'm pretty sure y'all define gun-control the same way we do in Texas – hitting what you aim at," Cruz said at Town Hall-style meeting in Red Oak, Iowa. The Huffington Post says the Republican presidential hopeful then dashed off to a photo-op at a gun range where he emptied the magazine from a semi-automatic assault rifle. Cringing yet? Well, here’s more from Cruz: "My wife, Heidi, who is a petite, 5'2 California blonde, she was standing at the tripod unloading the full machine gun with a pink baseball cap that said 'armed and fabulous.'"
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – While most of the media have used Donald Trump’s grand announcement as just another reason to mock his doo, the Daily News is actually considering him a candidate and doing some research. And the newspaper learned that the Presidential candidate ignored five jury duty summonses from the Manhattan County Clerk in the past nine years. The annoyed court ordered him to show up on March 6 on charges of chronically ditching jury duty. He was a no-show, of course, getting a $250 fine. As a Presidential candidate, you can’t comb that over. (sorry)
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
For Mets fans, memories of pitcher Anthony Young still bring shudders, as he tied the Major League record on this day in 1993 with 23 consecutive losses. (The streak mercifully ended July 24, 1993 with his 27th loss.)
WORD OF THE DAY
Slangwhanger – noun
Definition: A loud, abusive or obnoxious writer
Example: What the heck did that slangwhanger write in the Morning Briefing???