The Morning Briefing - March 11, 2016
ON THE RAILS – If you are a commuter, you may be reading Monday’s issue of the Morning Briefing from the back of an Uber, on a packed ferry or hitchhiking across Route 3. That’s because there is still a huge threat of a NJ Transit strike at 12:01 a.m. Sunday – the first to hit the region since 1983. People are already crunching the numbers of the sweeping effect. Here is a handy stat: The economic impact to New York is estimated at nearly $6 million for every hour of strike, says the Partnership for New York City. The biggest wallop? The financial services industry, at nearly $2 million lost per hour.
OCEAN CITY – While many can argue that a $15-an-hour wage in New Jersey is just and right, the Press of Atlantic City raises the question of how it would hit the tourism industry. Figure you have all these businesses that need to make their money in just three months, praying for decent weather, cheap wholesalers, reasonable rent and workers who are willing to show up on a semi-regular basis. But then, if you need to throw a $15 an hour wage to some zit-faced kid to serve up soft-serve, you have to wonder how to eke out a profit. And, really, how many tourists would be willing to spend $6 for a small vanilla with sprinkles? Voters will be deciding on a constitutional amendment to gradually increase the hourly wage to $15 over the next eight years.
TRENTON – Maybe you can't fight City Hall, but “NJ Weedman” is certainly going to try. New Jersey’s biggest pothead, Ed Forchion, a.k.a. NJ Weedman, is ready to light it up, filing a federal lawsuit that alleges city police are trampling his religious freedom by enforcing an 11 p.m. curfew at his “cannabis temple.” That's his self-styled sanctuary where he hosts "midnight mass" for faithful followers to worship weed on weekends. According to the Star-Ledger the police are just enforcing city ordinances that limit hours for certain businesses. Fochion's temple happens to be next door to his restaurant, “NJWeedman's Joint,” and directly across State Street from City Hall. Forchion says cops should crack down on raucous city bars instead because “potheads are peaceful … not a bunch of drunken hooligans.”
EDISON – Looking for the next Mark Zuckerberg? Look no further than J.P. Stevens High School for America's next billionaire entrepreneur. The latest Success Magazine says this suburban public school has somehow become “an incubator for blue-chip business leaders,” citing graduates Chieh Huang (Class of '99), Matt Salzberg ('01) and Ken Chen ('01) – each of whom have launched companies now valued at over $2 billion. Huang serves as CEO of Boxed, an e-commerce rival to big-box shoppers’ clubs; Salzberg is CEO of Blue Apron, which delivers farm-fresh cooking ingredients to household chefs; and Chen is co-founder of NatureBox, a healthy-snack business. Other captains of business who hail from Stevens include Hemang Gadhia ('93), co-founder of two big data software start-ups; and Yuval Braverman ('75) co-founder and CEO of diamond wholesaler, J&J Zaidman, Inc. Among many, many others.
MORRISTOWN – Say what? A candidate won't be just another “double-dipper” if he gets elected Morris County sheriff. After all, 16 of New Jersey's 21 county sheriffs double-dip, taking their paychecks plus state pensions from their prior law enforcement careers. Well, not candidate Jim Gannon. He told the SaveJersey blog, if he's ultimately elected sheriff, he will voluntarily freeze his $78,160 pension and just collect his salary. The current Morris County sheriff now earns $139,300 (and, yep, takes a $61,500 pension too). Gannon, who is running in the June GOP primary, retired in 2008 after 25 years with the Boonton Township police and the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.
STATEWIDE – Nicer weather means “Shredding Days” are back! (Insert “Yay!” here). Little else offers the spine-tingling conspiratorial thrill than shredding your old, boring household paperwork. Most counties offer monthly “Shredding Days,” hauling truck-size mobile shredders from town to town. This year's earliest is tomorrow in Old Bridge. Sure, shredding has gotten a bad rap thanks to notorious scandal-shredders like Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy and Iran-Contra Affair's Ollie North. But, the typical New Jerseyan can see it as a great way to outwit all those nosy warrant-waiving Feds – who may or may not care that your Fios bill says you rented “Howard the Duck” yet again. Check your public works offices for local shredding days.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
DeBARY, FL. – Floating from Cuba to Key West, alone on a makeshift raft, is how the daredevil mayor of this Florida town hopes to better understand Cuban refugees. Mayor Clint Johnson told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that he and his wife are flying to Havana in April. While there, he'll assemble a raft from lumber and steel drums, and float 90 miles to the U.S. For authenticity, he refuses to be unaccompanied by a boat. The Coast Guard warned Johnson his solo voyage in such treacherous waters may have “grave consequences.” (translation: A stupid idea.) The mayor, self-described as an “entrepreneur, adventurer (and) contrarian thinker,” is undaunted.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was a day that shook Popsicle-eating world to the point of brain freeze. For on this day, in 1986, it was announced the traditional twin-stick frozen treat was being phased out for the one-stick model. That solo-grip model remains today.
WORD OF THE DAY
Poppysmic: (po-PIZ-mik) - adjective
Definition: the sound of lips smacking together
Example: As a delirious Mayor Clint Johnson is stuck in his makeshift raft, floating aimlessly somewhere near Cuba, with no water, his lips cracked and bleeding, expect to hear plenty of poppysmicing.