The Morning Briefing - October 8, 2015
NEWARK – You can hear the drumbeat from here, as Newark has yet another reason to demand the return of local control to the city schools. That’s because the state will be fully handing Jersey City back its school district by 2016, after 26 years of control. Meanwhile, Gov. Chris Christie has agreed with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka to create a task force to seek a transition to local control. Expect Baraka and his supporters to ratchet up the heat, as Newark voters have been demanding those schools back, progress or not.
NEW BRUNSWICK – At first glance, a local football fan has a great point: How come tickets to the Super Bowl are impossible for any typical fan to buy? He complains it costs $2,000 a ticket or so through scalpers, while sponsors and other friends of the NFL are showered with tickets at face value. The New Brunswick-based fan is taking the issue to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia today, claiming this all violates consumer protection laws. Our take: the NFL is a private business fueled by sponsors. Like it or not, this is an issue of supply and demand. Meanwhile, for the New Brunswick guy, there are plenty of good seats still available for Saturday’s Rutgers v. Michigan State game. Face value.
LIVINGSTON – Think what you want about Gov. Chris Christie, but he had one bitchin’ ride as a senior at Livingston High School. Christie appears on a video produced by Jay Leno, revealing his first car was a glorious 1971 Chevy Camaro, burnt orange with a black vinyl roof, with only 110,000 miles. If you can score us a photo of Christie cruising in his ride, his golden hair blowing in the breeze, we’ll rename the Morning Briefing in your honor.
PORTLAND – Under the category of “so what?” the state Election Law Enforcement Commission has hit former gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono with a $1,600 fine in her failed attempt to unseat Gov. Chris Christie in 2013. She was also “reprimanded” for using her state Senate campaign fund for the statewide run, Politico reports. As Buono now lives in Oregon and has changed her cell phone number, the ELEC notice was about as highly regarded as a coupon for new roof gutters.
EAST BRUNSWICK— The Middlesex County Federation of Democratic Women held its annual “Swing by the Barn” event last night to promote female politicians. The affair also drew a few notable men, namely, those trying to succeed Gov. Chris Christie. As Lizette Delgado-Polanco, vice chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, offered an impassioned defense of Planned Parenthood as well as levied some not-so-well wishes upon the governor, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, both county natives, looked on, likely wondering how this crowd jibes with the “Reagan Democrats” who handed the county twice to the sitting governor.
NEWARK – There are countless do-gooders who descend on the city to offer help. Here’s one we particularly like: This morning, in observance of “World Sight Day,” Helen Keller International's "Child Sight" program will be at the Ridge Street Elementary School to provide free vision screenings and free eyeglasses for the kids. “You can’t succeed in school if you can’t see the blackboard,” according to every second-grade teacher on the planet.
ATLANTIC CITY — We are all led to believe the Miss America pageant is a great coup for Atlantic City and we are so blessed to have it. But it seems the pageant has some of the same financial struggles as our gaming resort, as the city has been socked with a $65,000 bill to cover security. The Press of AC has shown some intrepid reporting, also noting the pageant spent $882,278 more than it took in during 2013. It’s also apparently getting a $7.3 million subsidy from New Jersey through 2015. Wise investment here?
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
STORRS, Conn. – For the rest of his life, a University of Connecticut student will be known as the drunk who demanded macaroni and cheese with bacon and jalepeno peppers. A nine-minute video of his blurry demands at the dining hall has gone viral, as he faces criminal charges over his asinine antics. There are plenty of obscenities, as well as pushing and shoving, as the 19-year-old kid was denied service because he was carrying an open can of beer. He questioned why in America he can't have beer in the building. He used a gay slur against the food court manager and repeatedly demanded, "Just give me some (expletive) bacon-jalapeno mac and cheese." He was ultimately tackled by another employee and arrested, and then spit at the manager, who exercised amazing calm and restraint in dealing with this idiot.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2001 that Rush Limbaugh announced he was totally deaf in his left ear and had only partial hearing in his right ear. Luckily, he no longer had to hear himself.
If Rush wore a wig…
WORD OF THE DAY
Rattoner – noun
Definition: For those embarrassed about the need to call an exterminator to deal with rat infestation, a special word has been created. Just dial the rattoner, taken from the Old French word raton and the Medieval Latin word ratonis.
Example: Eek! Call the rattoner!