The Morning Briefing - July 29, 2015
STATEWIDE – State Police troopers might be friendlier – if that's even possible – when they pull you over for driving 90 mph in a school parking lot. That’s because all troopers in the field will soon be wearing body cameras to record their interactions with the public, the Record reports. We’re talking 1,000 troopers, with the recommendation that local cops also embrace this technology when dealing with searches, traffic stops, frisks, donut runs, etc.
WEST LONG BRANCH – If you are looking forward to a nice, quiet day at the beach on Sunday, avoid Exit 105 at all costs. An estimated 80,000 people or so are expected to descend on Monmouth Park to catch a glimpse of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. To prepare for the throng attending Sunday's $1 million Haskell Invitational, NJ Transit is adding trains to the Summer Shore Express, hoping that more people take mass transit. And cops will be all over Route 36 trying to manage the traffic. It will also be interesting to see how Monmouth Park accommodates parking, as the racetrack can barely handle the crowds at its Memorial Day grease truck festival.
LITTLE EGG HARBOR – And for the horsey set that can’t get enough news about our Triple Crown winner, here is another nugget: American Pharoah makes his descent into New Jersey this afternoon, landing at Atlantic City International Airport and then traveling up the Parkway with a full police escort. Amazing how a horse gets white-glove treatment while business travelers scuffle over the last can of diet root beer.
HOBOKEN – As Uber slowly takes over the world with one pick up at a time, the company has now found a permanent home in New Jersey. The company has opened its “partner support center” in Hoboken to give company support to 9,000 or so “driver partners.” Uber says the center offers “best in class” customer service, although we think Uber should have picked an easily-accessible location to all major roads – say Woodbridge or Edison – as opposed to one of the planet's most traffic-clogged cities.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sure, we all love our winning football coaches. But we must wonder if Ohio State fans have gone too far, as a life-sized butter sculpture of coach Urban Meyer is unveiled today at the Ohio State Fair. The Meyer sculpture joins other life-sized sculptures of a cow and calf in an elaborate, climate-controlled American Dairy Association display. There is even a national championship trophy and Buckeyes football helmets made of butter. All told, about 2,000 pounds – roughly the same amount used each morning at the local Waffle House.
BURLINGTON, VT — Hey dude, maybe we oughta call Vermont the Tie-Dye State. Flower power is alive and well in the Green Mountains. Based on a study by the real estate blog Estately, Vermont exceeds all other states in its number of active communes (24); its number of co-ops (16) per capita; and its number of stores selling tie-dye clothes, patchouli and hemp. And, it has the largest percentage of Facebook fans of peace, cannabis, Phish, the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan. The Garden State, on the other hand, ranked No. 48 on the hippie-meter, but peace, love and joy has never really been our thing.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2013 that desperate Hollywood screenwriters discovered a new plot, as someone steals nearly 103 million euros worth of diamonds and other jewels from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel diamond show in Cannes, France.
WORD OF THE DAY
Gabelle – noun
Definition: a tax on salt
Example: My food is so bland because I can’t afford the gabelle!