The Morning Briefing - December 21, 2015
*** The final 2015 issue of the Morning Briefing will be Wednesday, returning Jan. 4, 2016. Happy Holidays to all! ***
TRENTON - Hard to believe, but schools apparently need a state law requiring recess. Our lawmakers can't get on the same page about gun safety, domestic violence or casinos - but requiring 20 minutes of daily recess (outdoors, preferably) for grades K-5 is a unanimous no-brainer, NorthJersey.com reports. Recess has obvious benefits, our leaders want us to know. Remember kids: some of those geeky classmates you never pick for dodgeball could end up being your state lawmakers.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL - Whatever you have seen or heard about the Republican race for President, forget it all. Gov. Chris Christie wants us all to know that things are getting real. And they are getting real, really fast. As he rolls around New Hampshire on his four-day bus tour, Christie has declared it to be "game time." He says: "Show time is over. It's time to pick a president. We're not picking a legislator-in-chief. We're not picking an entertainer-in-chief. We're not casting a TV show. This is real." All right, governor, we're ready!
OUT OF THE WOODS -The state's extended bear hunt is finally over with 510 killed, far fewer than 700 wildlife officials had hoped. The most bears - 312 - were bagged in Sussex County and the least, just two, in Bergen County. Yogi got more clever than hunters during the extra four days, with only 38 bruins killed. Maybe it's time to pay more attention to the animal-rights activists: Tie-down trash can lids, put unused barbecue grills back in the garage, and take in bird-feeders at night. Otherwise, expect visitors.
NEW BRUNSWICK - It's expensive and unpopular, but a property revaluation is coming anyway. The Hub City hasn't seen a total revaluation since 1990, but New Brunswick Today says officials are ready to spend $1.2 million reassessing properties over the next year. This comes just two weeks after the state Treasury Department began arm-twisting Jersey City, Elizabeth and tiny Dunellen to do the same, and naming 29 other towns, mostly in Hudson, Union and Middlesex counties, that haven't reassessed their properties for more than two decades. Politicians don't win with a reval; voters who see their taxes go up are quick to seek revenge at the polls.
HAMILTON - Bingo! You're under arrest! The ladies' auxiliary president at the Colonial Volunteer Fire Co. has been charged with siphoning $23,000 from twice-weekly bingo games over the past year, police told NJAdvanceMedia. The theft meant that the auxiliary couldn't award its usual scholarships and make charitable donations. The 58-year-old president ran the bingo games for 17 years - sipping from Styrofoam coffee cups while trying not to pass out from the wafting cigarette smoke - and was set to retire this week from her 33-year secretarial job at Thomas Edison State College. Curious if they have bingo in the Mercer County lock-up.
NEWARK - Legendary boxing promoter Don King was famous for promoting the "Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila." Today he'll be taking part in the "Smorgasbord in the Central Ward," at The Prince Hall Masonic Temple on Irvine Turner Blvd., where he will be joined by Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins, Mayor Ras Baraka, former Mayor Ken Gibson and other elected officials and community leaders to distribute hundreds of turkeys and spread holiday cheer.
IN THE MEDIA
STATEWIDE - Those who picked up the Sunday Star-Ledger got their money's worth and more, as the newspaper published a special section called "Herointown," reporting on the chilling heroin epidemic in New Jersey. It was a powerful premise to illustrate the problem, reporting that the state's 128,000 addicts would comprise the fourth largest municipality in the state. The scariest part about this piece is the impossibility of turning the tide, when a highly-addictive, plentiful and cheap drug can be bought almost anywhere. If you have not had a chance to read what is certainly award-winning journalism, read it here.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
BERLIN - If you've been wondering this morning how many testicles Adolph Hitler had, researchers can now confirm the answer: One. A medical document confirms the popular British song that says the dictator had "only got one ball." Reuters is all over this story, reporting about a 1923 medical record when Hitler was jailed after the failed Munich beer hall putsch. It showed this nutcase suffered from "right-side cryptorchidism" -a highly technical term that means one nut didn't drop in the sack. If this record got out, expect furor from a furious Fuhrer.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Apparently, there were no reliable calendars in England in 1620. No other explanation for why the Mayflower would leave in September and land on Plymouth Rock on this day in 1620, just in time for three brutal months of winter, with disease and lack of shelter killing 45 of the 102 passengers.
WORD OF THE DAY
Xanthippe -(zan-THIP-ee) - noun
Definition: Perhaps one of the best Scrabble words. It means a quarrelsome, scolding, shrewish nagging wife.
Example: "So, I was playing Scrabble with Agatha. I got stuck with an `X' and couldn't come up with a word. Boy, she ripped into me. What a xanthippe."