The Morning Briefing - November 11, 2015
TOMS RIVER - A great Veterans Day story out of Ocean County, where the family of a World War II veteran has been reunited with his medals. Another veteran, Nicholas Del Prete of Toms River, found them at a flea market and contacted the Purple Hearts Reunited organization to find Army Maj. Anthony Sordill, who earned the nation's third-highest decoration for valor, the Silver Star, in North Africa in 1943. The medals were returned to the family during a ceremony on Tuesday. This is great exposure for Purple Hearts Reunited, which says it has returned medals and artifacts to more than 150 families or museums.
PATERSON - A special tribute is planned this morning for Army Specialist Kevin Rodriguez of Paterson, who was fatally shot last month during a training exercise at Fort Campbell, KY. A memorial monument will be unveiled at Veterans Memorial Park at Hayden Heights Hill of Heroes to commemorate his years of service with the 101st Airborne Division. Sen. Bob Menendez will be in attendance, as part of his Veterans Day tour that includes the GI Go Fund's annual tribute in Newark tonight.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL - If you were so inclined to watch the undercard GOP debate last night, you would have seen a feisty Gov. Chris Christie acting as if he was on the main stage, a leader in the polls, blasting the leading Democrat, Hillary Clinton. He offered plenty of warnings about a Clinton White House, Part II. "Hillary Clinton's coming for your wallet everybody...She will drown us in debt. She is the real adversary tonight." Christie said he was the best candidate on the stage to beat Clinton. On that stage, stuck with second-tier schleps like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, we wholeheartedly agree.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL - New Jersey's Republicans are a fickle bunch. In 2012, they were proudly marching in line behind Gov. Chris Christie, as our triumphant governor was taking his rightful place as the lead contender for the Oval Office. Now, a Quinnipiac University poll has just 8 percent of these Republicans on the "Christie for President" bandwagon, with 31 percent actually giving the nod to professional egomaniac Donald J. Trump. Meanwhile, 61 percent of the New Jersey GOP believes Christie should just get out of the race, perhaps even show up for his day job. Political scientists will be scratching their heads for years to figure out this free-fall.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - Hey, nuns can drink too. But there are plenty of "Hail Mary" and "Our Father" prayers in the future for one nun, busted for DWI when she backed into a Turnersville business over the weekend, Fox29 reports, with smirks. The nun was driving a Ford F150 truck - an odd vehicle choice for the nunnery - when she smacked it into a Meineke auto shop. Witnesses contacted police, who discovered the plastered nun, apparently the victim of too much holy water.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
TAMPA - Being a true football fan comes with plenty of frustration and heartache; many of us Jets fans just sit in a darkened room and whimper. But one Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan went a little overboard on Sunday night, after his team lost to the Giants through a dizzying array of fumbles and penalties. He set fire to a massive, $26,000 Bucs flag in front of the team's corporate offices. The flag was flame retardant, perhaps someone figured a fan would ultimately try to torch it. In any case, the fan was arrested for criminal mischief, as well as busted for some pot he was carrying - likely to ease all the pain.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
World War I - known at the time as "The Great War" - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. But the fighting actually stopped 11 months earlier - on this day in 1918 - between the Allied nations and Germany: the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. November 11, 1918 is generally regarded as the wishful end of "the war to end all wars." "Armistice Day" became a federal holiday to honor and remember veterans, with parades, public meetings and a brief suspension of business at 11 a.m.
WORD OF THE DAY
Anacoluthon - noun
Definition: An abrupt change within a sentence to a second construction, with no clear connection to the first.
Example: "If I had a dollar for every - who did you say was leading in the presidential race in Iowa?"