The Morning Briefing - September 18, 2015
TRENTON – It’s no surprise that New Jersey has the worst state debt in the nation. A new study is out – which is always fun – and this one says that each state taxpayer would have to cough up $52,300 to pay the state’s tab. That includes the nagging pension and health care benefits of retirees, reports Truth in Accounting, a Chicago think tank. More alarming is the debt per New Jersey taxpayer increased by $16,300 in just the past year. How is this possible? And why isn’t anyone screaming about it? If this is not the centerpiece of the next gubernatorial campaign, New Jersey will be forcibly removed from the union and cast out into the Atlantic Ocean.
PATERSON – The state gained 13,600 jobs in August, and there’s now a not-too-shabby unemployment rate of 5.7 percent. And that, somehow, is bad news for the Paterson school system, desperate to find eager teachers to work there. The Paterson Press reports the district laid off 300 people earlier this year, citing a budget mess. But then, there was an unexpected enrollment increase of 700 students (whoops), prompting the superintendent to scramble for living, breathing teachers. In the mean time, classes are either being taught by substitutes or school officials are just jamming the existing classes with more desks. So, the “Help Wanted” sign is waving in the wind. But, with the recovering economy, who is applying?
ATLANTIC CITY – Always happy to report on new investments in Atlantic City, which feels a lot better to write than all those “circling the drain” stories. The Golden Nugget is about to spend $4.5 million to convert a vacant restaurant into two fancy villas with views of the marina, the Press of AC reports. These villas seem to be the perfect hospitality suites for super high rollers and others who selected the Golden Nugget for very expensive conferences. In another win for our gaming mecca, a state appeals court has ruled the well-known “Borgata Babes” are perfectly legal, with the Borgata dictating what they weigh and how they look. Atlantic City is on a roll!
LOGAN TOWNSHIP – Stop whining, it is wine week! It all begins today, as the Garden State Wine Growers Association and state officials carefully observe the “grape harvesting” at the Cedarvale Winery in Logan Township. (Translation: sitting in the shade and sipping the 2012 Villard Blanc, with its golden color and distinct aroma.) Click here for events all over the state, and, hey, bottom’s up.
http://www.newjerseywines.com/wine-week/
CHERRY HILL – While that can of SpaghettiOs may be an embarrassing reminder of last night’s unheated dinner, artists see it as a piece of art. The Cherry Hill Mall will serve today as the backdrop for sculptures made solely from cans of food, with one special sculpture depicting a cheese steak with onions, comprising 10,000 cans of food. At the end of the display, on Oct. 4, all the cans will be donated to the Food Bank of South Jersey for distribution.
NORTH BERGEN – Billed as a birthday bash for Assemblyman Jamel Holley, last night’s event also served as a $35,000 fundraiser for the fall legislative campaign. Gubernatorial hopefuls were plentiful, including Sen. Raymond Lesniak, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, former Ambassador Phil Murphy, and Senate President Steven Sweeney. With Lesniak diving into the campaign and vowing to give up his long-held senate seat, is this all about his protégé, Holley,showing he has the muscle to be the next senator for the 20th district?
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
BROOKSVILLE, FL. — A “house of horrors,” chock full of 3,714 swords, machetes, hatches and knives, is what sheriff's deputies discovered in a local woman's home. Swords and knives created walls of weapons in every room; others were hung from ceiling fans, hidden inside the floors and used as booby-traps, The Tampa Bay Times reports. During a five-hour standoff, deputies shot the woman twice with nonlethal beanbags before entering her home and subduing her with a stun gun after she swung at them with one of her many machetes. Five duties were injured – not during the standoff or scuffle – but just from extricating all these really sharp weapons from the house.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2009 that the soap opera “Guiding Light” went off the air, after a 72-year run. No clue how it ended, but we assume the main character had a sex change, married himself, cheated on himself, killed himself, reincarnated himself and then enrolled in law school.
http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/screenshots/casa_de_mi_padre_20.png
WORD OF THE DAY
Floccinaucinihilipilification (FLOX-uh-nauce-y-NYE-hill-uh-pill-uh-fuh-KAY-shun) – noun
Definition: Estimating something as worthless.
Example: “What?? You bought a Rolex in Times Square from a guy dressed as Spiderman?? I am filled with floccinaucinihilipilification.”