The Morning Briefing - January 26, 2015
STATEWIDE - After all those years of meteorologists trying to hype a slight snow dusting for "potential slippery conditions," they finally have a storm to get all excited about. We've heard talk of 10 inches or snow, or three feet of snow, with the general disclaimer of "depending where you live." Our suggestion: Stay home, sip your favorite beverage and enjoy some of your favorite back issues of the Morning Briefing. They get better with time.
STATEWIDE - With a dusting of snow already on New Jersey roadways, it's not too early to already deem this a historic blizzard of proportions that hasn't been seen since Reconstruction. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, adding to the "snowmaggedon" frenzy, whipped out a piece of paper showing the top 10 snowstorms of all time - including the 27 inches that dumped on the tri-state in 2006. "Prepare for the worst," the mayor forewarned.
SECAUCUS - Even with the snow just beginning to fall, the Record reports the first casualty: a local parking deck. A snowplow operator was clearing snow on Saturday when the top deck collapsed onto a poor, innocent sports utility vehicle. No one was injured, thankfully, although the plow operator was pretty spooked. Frightening to know what would have happened if "snowmaggedon" had already fallen and the deck was full of cars.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL - For anyone on the planet who thinks Gov. Chris Christie is still carefully mulling over a Presidential bid, hunkered down with his family while they continue to debate the pros and cons, as they have done since 2010, here is another indicator that a long-awaited announcement is forthcoming: Christie has set up a political action committee. "Yeah, so?," you may say. Well, a PAC makes a great slush fund to pay for travel and other campaign activities, especially to places like Iowa and New Hampshire - the current home for unannounced Presidential candidates.
TRENTON - As Gov. Chris Christie tries to appeal to the middle class of Republican primary voters, a new study shows the super rich are getting even super richer in the governor's home state. In 2012, the state's top 1 percent of wage earners took home 27 times more money than the bottom 99 percent, reports the Economic Policy Institute, as per the New Jersey Policy Perspective. Income inequality is not special to New Jersey. But state politicians are having a particularly hard time finding an ever-shrinking middle class to woo, forcing them to head to the drive thru and say: "Two Cokes, value fries and, ask: "Hey, would you happen to be a member of the middle class?"
IN OTHER IMPORTANT
NEWS ROCHESTER, N.H. - Speaking of drive-thrus, a New Hampshire woman apparently had it her way when she was handed a bagful of cash at the local Burger King on Friday. She ordered sweet tea and the junior spicy chicken. But she soon discovered there was no chicken or tea - just a wad of bills totaling $2,631. (And no damn napkins!) Foster's Daily Democrat said there was a little soul-searching before she headed back with the cash, which was the BK's bank deposit. Some genius figured it made perfect sense to stuff the money in a Burger King bag and place it near the drive-thru window. We blame the 19-year-old assistant night manager.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It wasn't exactly a vote of confidence on this day in 1960, when it took 23 ballots for owners to settle on Pete Rozelle as NFL commissioner.