The Morning Briefing - August 10, 2015
ON THE RAILS – Everyone is talking about our mass transit crisis, with the Record noting that taxpayers have already spent $1.2 billion to expand rail access under the Hudson. Of course, nothing has been built, and there are no concrete plans to build anything. Even though hundreds of millions have been lost on consultants, designs, and environmental studies, the Record does note we did get a fleet of new NJ Transit trains, as well as property rights for land that could be used at some point for the construction of a new tunnel. But with all the lost money, it’s as if all this stuff was bought with a 500 percent mark-up. Maybe another $1 billion will pay for a hole in the ground.
TRENTON – Get the latest on the desperate need for more rail tunnels, as an Amtrak executive appears before the state Senate this morning to talk about the desperate need for money to pay for tunnel maintenance on the Northeast Corridor. Expect plenty of shrugging shoulders and dismayed looks, as the solution is the need for billions of dollars. New Jersey doesn’t have it, New York doesn’t want to spend it and the federal government is interested in discussing many exciting “cost share” options that somehow involve local taxpayers.
BRANCHBURG – Even a 12-year-old junior police academy grad could have cracked this case: A man accidentally dialed 911 on his cell phone while talking about his plan to burglarize a home. Dispatchers intently listened and police were ready. The Courier News reports the pocket-dialed call came on July 27, and the 42-year-old Elizabeth man was arrested as soon as he entered a Stafford Township home last Wednesday. From the suspect's car, police also confiscated cash, jewelry, electronics, a .38 caliber handgun, $11,000 in U.S. Savings bonds and burglar tools. Cops have also linked him to break-ins in Branchburg and Berkeley Heights.
NEWARK – With some of the most crowded air space in the world, it is amazing that drones can be permitted to fly anywhere in the friendly Jersey skies. The FAA says pilots on four flights saw a drone as they planned to land at Newark Liberty International Airport yesterday. The FAA says anyone flying a drone anywhere near an airplane can be slapped with heavy fines and criminal charges. But it seems like there needs to be even more regulation, as there appears to be no extra space to accommodate drones.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
ON YOUR COUCH — More affluent. More fun choices. More competition. Those are the top three reasons a Northeastern University labor economist says more teens aren’t getting summer jobs. Employment among those ages 16-19 is at the lowest point since World War II, Bloomberg reports. Labor economists say more families have enough money so their kids don't need to work. Instead, they are at expensive tech camps, sports camps, or just heading down the Shore. But, the #1 reason – with the number of jobless Americans at 97.7 million people in July – teens have stiffer competition from unemployed adults. So it's far more likely the person offering to slap cheese on your Whopper is your former high school gym teacher.
THURMONT, Md. – Can I get a Big Mac, but hold the grenade? A local McDonald’s was evacuated on Saturday when landscapers found an active explosive lodged in the pavement outside the restaurant. The Frederick News-Post reports the grenade was likely from a local military base located in Thurmont and buried decades ago. The discovery shut down all local roads – even the drive-thru – as the bomb squad responded.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Under the “better late than never” category, it was this day in 2012 that America finally agreed to help clean up some of the 12 million gallons of dioxin-laced Agent Orange it dumped on Vietnam during the war.
WORD OF THE DAY
Ulotrichous – adjective
Definition: have wooly or crispy hair
Example: Telling that special someone their new hairstyle is positively ulotrichous may sound like a compliment…