The Morning Briefing - September 22, 2015
PATERSON – Whoa, how about this? Our governor will be making his very first public appearance in New Jersey in nearly two months today, as he marks the one-year anniversary of the “Facing Addiction Task Force” at the Barnert Medical Arts Complex at 4 p.m. Yet, he will not be taking questions from local, news-starved reporters, allowing them only the privilege of taking his photo. Sheesh, how do you get away with this?
EAST RUTHERFORD – The Nets will be acting today as if they did not flee New Jersey for Brooklyn in 2012, holding a press conference at their practice facility at 1 p.m. to chat up reporters about Jersey’s alleged basketball team. Nets PR people are proud to note their cell phone numbers even feature 201 and 908 area codes.
TRENTON – Perhaps Gov. Chris Christie still has the vCard for the doctor who performed his stomach banding surgery in 2013, as he is now ordering the leader of the state’s National Guard to lose some tonnage. The girth of Air Force Brig. Gen. Michael Cunniff is making news today, as Christie has given him 90 days to slim down and take those physical-fitness tests he has been dodging. The National Guard says Cunniff will step up, committed to visiting the mess hall only six times a day.
STATEWIDE – State officials say the minimum wage in New Jersey will be $8.38 an hour in 2016, as it is linked to the inflation rate. It is still higher than the federal rate of $7.25 an hour, which, we guess, is a good thing. But it is still unfathomable to think anyone can live anywhere and afford anything in this state by earning such a low wage. Jack the price of a hamburger to $1.09 and make it possible for people to earn a living.
STATEWIDE – Minimum-wage workers can at least be assured that no one else seems to be making more money either. NJ.com reports new census data, showing the median household income in the state has remained stagnant from 2013 to 2014, with the average income of $71,919. But the more telling stat points to the median income in 2005, showing New Jerseyans are now earning about 3 percent less in the past 10 years, after adjusting for inflation. Meanwhile, for fun, compare your property tax bill from 2005 to 2014.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Perhaps it was a bad omen for the Colorado State University football team, learning its mascot died shortly before kick-off in its narrow loss to the Colorado Buffaloes. Someone had to go find a substitute sheep for Saturday’s game, after the six-year-old mascot went kaput. The Fort Collins Coloradoan notes the dead sheep is the 24th mascot in the history of the team, as they keep dropping like flies. Perhaps Colorado State needs a new mascot that has some staying power – like “Sammy the Banana Slug” of the University of California-Santa Cruz or “Artie the Fighting Artichoke” of Scottsdale Community College or – our personal favorite – Dartmouth’s “Keggy the Keg.”
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Building trust with the next generation of Americans, President Nixon requests that 1,000 more FBI agents be dispatched to college campuses on this day in 1970.
WORD OF THE DAY
Blatherskite – noun
Definition: A person who talks a great length without making much sense.
Example: We probably should have waited until the next Presidential debate to use blatherskite as an example.