The Morning Briefing - August 20, 2015
*** The Morning Briefing will be off from Monday August 24 through Labor Day
RUNNEMEDE – From the grave, a woman is making a public plea: Don't vote for Hillary. Elaine Fydrych, a 63-year-old Democrat, included that message in her obituary, apparently rankled over the fall-out from the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi and how Clinton handled it as Secretary of State. The last line of her obituary reads: "Elaine requests, 'In lieu of flowers, please do not vote for Hillary Clinton.'"
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Perhaps a merciful end to the “Christie for President” campaign will come with the next GOP Presidential debate, set for Sept. 16. The governor has not been able to move the needle on his poll numbers. It looks like he has fallen to 11th place among the gaggle of Republican candidates, so that means he won’t be getting another six-minutes on stage next time. Perhaps it will be the “aha” moment when Christie realizes it’s not so bad being governor of New Jersey and that there's still time to salvage his legacy – if he starts showing up for work.
NEWARK — Homeless people can sleep wherever they want, at least according to a U.S. Dept. of Justice opinion. The DOJ says it's unconstitutional for cities and towns to ban homeless people from sleeping on the street or in public places like parks, the Washington Post reports. The DOJ says municipal prohibitions amount to cruel and unusual punishment since sleep is an "unavoidable consequence of being human." Local bans “criminalize people for being homeless” and arresting them makes it harder for the homeless to find jobs or housing in the future. The DOJ's opinion came after homeless people filed a class action lawsuit against Boise, ID over its local ban. Let's see which New Jersey cities take this opinion lying down.
MIDDLESEX COUNTY — Beware of sleepy bats. State health officials are reporting an uptick in the number of bats with rabies in Middlesex County. There are now four cases in the county this year, the Home News-Tribune reports. State health officials say it’s all part of a growing trend of bat rabies. We don’t expect you to be running up to bats to play with them, but make an extra effort to stay away from the sluggish ones.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
NEW YORK – First, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo doesn’t want to share the cost of constructing that second Hudson tunnel into Manhattan. And now he doesn’t want women posing nearly naked for photos in Times Square, claiming the activity is interfering with “legitimate” businesses. What could possibly be next?
GOTHAM CITY — The actress who'd smitten many-a-Baby Boomer in puberty – 1960s superhero Batgirl – has lost a two-year battle with breast cancer. It was a real “Bam-Kapow!” to learn Yvonne Craig, 78, died Monday at her home in Pacific Palisades, CA. Producers of the campy Batman series hired the curvaceous ingénue as “Batgirl” – to the delight of pubescent boys and their dads – in a last-ditch effort to salvage the show's sagging ratings in its final 1967 season. Craig's other most-memorable TV role was the green-skinned, half-clad Orion slave girl in the original Star Trek series. A trained ballet dancer and one-time Elvis Presley love interest, Craig guest starred in more than 70 TV shows and movies from the 1950-90s. Robin is now relieved to have Batman’s full attention.
IN THE MEDIA
New Jersey is losing a great reporter – Kate Zernike – who has been reassigned at The New York Times. She will now cover the national education beat.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2013 that dozens of fans of Sen. Ted Cruz got all excited when he announced plans to renounce his Canadian citizenship – a key indicator he will run for President (of the U.S.)
WORD OF THE DAY
Snollygoster – noun
Definition: A politician who will say anything to promote his or her personal advancement.
Example: The candidate for President [insert any name you feel like] is a real snollygoster.