The Morning Briefing - February 23, 2016
NEWARK – Licensed taxi and limo drivers are breathing fire, following the city’s decision to back down in what was becoming a highly publicized battle against Uber. Newark decided to suspend its planned crackdown of Uber drivers who freely operate around Penn Station and the airport, grabbing fares from licensed drivers who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in medallions to do business in Newark. The Record reports the mayor hasn’t commented yet about the city’s public about-face; many would love to hear his position.
STATEWIDE – Banks do it. Businesses do it. Now the “Christie for President” campaign did it too. Email lists of Christie's donors and supporters got sold to Sen. Marco Rubio, the second-place GOP presidential hopeful, who didn't waste a minute before firing off a first round of weekend emails. Rubio picked up a dozen congressional and gubernatorial endorsements since Friday, but a Christie campaign spokeswoman told N.J. Advance Media selling the email lists should not be mistaken as one of them. After all, anyone can buy those lists. Plus, it's really tough to let bygones be bygones after Christie's blistering assault on Rubio just last month in the final New Hampshire debate, calling him inexperienced automaton who has never made a real executive decision. While the “Christie for President” campaign is no more, it was immortalized at the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C., as part of a piece of art marking the 2016 primaries.
PATERSON – Going up against a powerhouse like Rep. Bill Pascrell is political suicide. But that does not seem to be deterring former Paterson Mayor Jeffrey Jones, who apparently is going to announce a primary run in June against his political foe. A source tells PolitickerNJ the announcement will be made Thursday at a press conference. Jones, of course, has an uphill battle. But perhaps he just wants to drain the congressman’s coffers and energy by forcing a primary.
ELIZABETH – Maybe more money can now be used to teach kids? It was learned the school district shelled out $5.98 million for in-house lawyers and outside legal help during the 2014-15 school year alone. WPIX11 reported the district paid more to attorneys than it spent on heat, electricity and textbooks for its 30 school buildings. Whopping legal bills came to light after new, reform-minded board members – backed by Mayor J. Christian Bollwage and state Sen. Raymond Lesniak – gained a 6-3 majority on the school board in January. The first thing they did: Hired a forensic auditor to look for wasteful spending. Let's see what else they find.
MORRISTOWN – Looks like Morris County Sheriff Edward V. Rochford will go out swinging. Facing a tough June primary, Rochford, 71, has opted to retire rather than seek a ninth term, ending 23 years in office. His last few were marred by budget battles and legal feuds with freeholders, who finally yanked the county jail out from his control. So after announcing his Dec. 31 departure, the Daily Record says, Rochford publicly endorsed a former Bloomfield cop as his successor, over a freeholder-favored candidate. And Rochford openly bashed the freeholders: “I'm not impressed with this group. They fight with each other and are more concerned with themselves than our employees or our residents.”
STATEWIDE – There are, of course, many benefits to living in New Jersey. Here is another one: Only New Jerseyans are allowed to file Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests to get public documents. A judge ruled that OPRA is specially reserved for residents who pay tax taxes here, vote here and live here. The judge made the ruling after a guy from Concord, N.C., with an “over-sized interest” in Cape May, filed more than 100 OPRA requests with the city.
TRENTON - It looks like Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll may be cornering the vote of under-aged drinkers, as he pushes legislation that would lower the state's legal drinking age to 18. Never mind that every other state has 21 as the legal drinking age. The Republican assemblyman wants to send a message that if a teen-ager can defend our country in the military, he or she should be able to order a drink. The bill will go absolutely nowhere, but, hey, message received.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
PORTLAND, Ore. – What is that god-damned noise? That is what the people of a Portland suburb keep asking, plagued with this unexplained, steady high-pitched tone that has kept them awake for a week. Cops have no idea what it is, neither do the utilities. The noise, which sounds like a flute, only goes on at night when good people are trying to sleep. Theories abound, such as the release of compressed air or natural gas. But no one can pinpoint it, or stop it.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1896 that generations of dentists universally celebrate: the invention of the Tootsie Roll.
WORD OF THE DAY
Chimerical (ki-MER-i-kel) — adjective
Definition: Given to unrealistic fantasies
Example: A chimerical man from North Carolina had wild dreams of bathing himself in public records from Cape May.