The Morning Briefing - December 4, 2015
TRENTON - There are high hopes the Democrats will muster the votes in their ongoing effort to override Gov. Chris Christie's veto of a gun control bill. It seemed they may have been able to twist some arms during yesterday's legislative session, but still fell three votes shy to make it more difficult for people with mental health records to get a gun permit in the state. (Insert "sigh" here.) Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto will be back at it on December 17, hoping more Republicans see the light. NJ.com offers a fun fact: Democrats have tried 52 times since Christie took office to override a veto. No luck so far. We bet this bill breaks the streak.
NEW BRUNSWICK - Temporary workers in the Hub City may get paid sick leave in 2016 along with full-time and part-time employees. The City Council is mulling an ordinance that would give full-time workers 40 hours of annual paid sick leave and part-time employees 24 hours per year, New Brunswick Today reported. If approved, New Brunswick's ordinance would be the first (we think) in New Jersey to also require at least some paid sick leave to "temporary workers," like those working in the city's many restaurants and stores.
UP IN THE SKY - We never considered the New Jersey National Guard to be a bunch of narcs, but they ended up leading local cops to a thriving pot farm. The Bucks County Courier Times reports the Guard spotted the marijuana while zipping by in a chopper, prompting the arrest of a local man and the seizure of 117 plants worth $90,000. The Guard: "There, and Ready."
NEWARK - Yesterday we told you that a teacher at North Star Academy College Preparatory High School in Newark was going to be surprised by being awarded the prestigious Milken Educator Award. Today, we can tell you the teacher who won the honor was Allison Cuttler, an AP Computer Science teacher. What makes Cuttler so special? In only her second year teaching the challenging AP Computer Science course, 100 percent of her students passed the exam. What makes it even more astounding is that there were just 39 African-Americans who passed the AP Computer Science exam in New Jersey - 10 of whom were from Cuttler's class.
SCOTCH PLAINS - Presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) did not exactly wow local Republicans yesterday, canceling a press conference in Rahway and his appearance at a fundraiser at Shackamaxon Country Club in Scotch Plains. Why? TapInto reports he needed to be in Washington to vote "no" on legislation that would deny people on a federal terrorism watch list the ability to purchase guns. "You don't get rid of the bad guys by getting rid of our guns. You get rid of the bad guys by using our guns," Cruz said. Meanwhile, the country club fundraiser went on as planned - just without a headliner.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
ALL OVER - Remember that Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle that Ralphie pined for? Well, Black Friday's sales stats are in - and Ralphie was a trendsetter. This year's biggest seller was guns. Real guns. USA Today reports that more Americans had their backgrounds checked while buying guns on Black Friday than any single day ever. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System processed 185,345 requests on Nov. 27th. Since 2012, Black Friday has been the big gun-buying day. Because nothing says "Season's Greetings" like a new Glock.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1993 that Olympian Dan Jansen shattered the world record in 500-meter speed skating. And, now, a shameless plug for a client - the New Jersey Association of Health Underwriters - which will have Jansen as the keynote speaker at their conference on May 10. Exciting sponsorships still available at njahu.org!
WORD OF THE DAY
Pleonasm - (PLEE-ah-naz-em) - noun
Definition: The use of more words than are required to express an idea.
Example: Does it seem like I am a culprit of pleonasm as I write about pleonasm and things related to it, that being pleonasm, and such?