The Morning Briefing - February 4, 2015
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL — The three-day London trip had the high hopes of a Presidential contender building his international resume. It ended with Gov. Chris Christie ducking reporters, quickly tired of the firestorm he generated by saying measles vaccinations should be a parental option. Amazing to see “no comments” from the Christie camp, which had originally planned endless opportunity for the world to view their candidate. The Record noted one reporter dared ask Christie if he had discussed the ISIS threat with British officials, prompting this response: “Is there something you don’t understand about no questions?” Ah, that’s our guy.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – The New York Times did no favors for the Governor on his big trip, dropping a bomb about a 2012 trade mission to Israel. There was a private plane, lent by Sheldon G. Adelson, the billionaire casino owner, to Christie, his family and staff. King Abdullah of Jordan picked up the tab for the weekend, in which they partied with Bono, the lead singer of U2, at three festivities, two at the king’s residence, the other at a Champagne reception in the desert. Just the rooms in luxurious hotels cost about $30,000. Christie, reports the newspaper, “shot to national prominence as a cheese-steak-on-the-boardwalk Everyman who bluntly preached transparency and austerity as the antidote to bloated state budgets. But throughout his career in public service, Mr. Christie has indulged a taste that runs more toward Champagne at the Four Seasons.”
TRENTON – While the governor is not talking to reporters, and does not appear to be on any schedule today, there will be plenty of mayors and state legislators at the Statehouse, eager to provide a few pearls of wisdom to a grateful press corps. They will be participating in the 23rd annual Mayors’ Legislative Day, in which local lawmakers can get up close and personal with state lawmakers. The featured event will be a panel discussion with state lawmakers, moderated by 101.5’s Kevin McArdle, perhaps talking this morning about The Star-Ledger’s front-page spread about escalating property taxes.
STATEWIDE – Want to be the next reality star from New Jersey? A Los Angeles casting company contacted us - of all people - in search of good-looking rich folks for what appears to be the “Real Housewives of New Jersey.” According to the press release, the casting director wants (pardon her caps) the most “GLAMOROUS FAMILIES AND FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESSES” from one of New Jersey’s “most EXCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES” for this “FANTASTIC” opportunity. This could be “a PLATFORM FOR FUTURE PROJECTS,” airing on “a MAJOR CABLE NETWORK.” Contact us if you are interested. After we peel ourselves off the floor from LAUGHTER, we will forward you the information from the VERY EXCITED casting girl.
NEW BRUNSWICK – If money was not an issue, Rutgers University officials envision a whole new campus in the next two decades, featuring boardwalks along the Raritan River, a footbridge over the river into Piscataway and the demolition of such iconic buildings as Brower Commons and the Rutgers Student Center. The wish list also features a 300-acre ecological preserve on Livingston, a high-tech research park in Piscataway and a faculty housing complex on Cook. University officials say this dream – which took $2 million to concoct – can be realized. Yet no talk of a state-of-the-art complex to accommodate grease trucks.
EAST ORANGE – If you are going to risk years in prison for robbery, you want to aim high, right? So, in a real head scratcher, State Police are trying to find who robbed a toll taker on the Garden State Parkway yesterday in East Orange. NJ.com said it is unclear how much loot was taken. But in this era of EZPass, we would figure the big heist was just a mix of quarters and dimes, as well as some hold-over Parkway tokens from the 1980s.
ATLANTIC CITY – Caesars somehow lost two of its slot machines and the Golden Nugget forgot to shuffle the cards. And that’s why state regulators have slapped them with fines, first reported by the AP, and now appearing in newspapers nationwide. Caesars was hit with $5,000 for losing two slot machines, yet filing monthly reports that they were accounted for. (The machines are still at-large, if you happen to see them.) Meanwhile the Golden Nugget needs to cough up $4,000 for using unshuffled cards in four blackjack games in August. The pit boss realized the mistake and handed a gambler who lost $1,600 a stack of chips to cover the losses. That’s a boo-boo, says state regulators.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1998 that someone threw a pie in Bill Gates’ face while he was visiting Brussels, Belgium. Gates scraped off the custard and sold it for $14.5 million. (OK, that part may not be true.)