The Morning Briefing - April 12, 2016
FORT LEE – Why does New Jersey always attract the whackjobs? The latest to arrive in the Garden State is a Connecticut man who is accused of blowing up a pizzeria on December 18 because of a “bad experience.” He was missing for three months until a Fort Lee cop saw him walking a bicycle and “acting suspiciously,” whatever that means. When the cop approached, the suspect ran into the woods. The cop waited, perhaps tapping a foot. The guy reemerged and told the officer he was “Bruce Wayne” or maybe “Christopher Reeve” before cops were able to identify him through fingerprints. The suspect has a history of mental problems, Fox61.com reports, of no surprise to anyone.
PATERSON – The “Jones for Congress” campaign has come to a quick end, after former Paterson Mayor Jeffery Jones was forced yesterday to end his primary bit against titan incumbent Bill Pascrell. An administrative law judge in Newark disqualified 40 of Jones’s 239 petition signatures, putting him below the minimum of 200 he needed to be a candidate. Jones’ campaign manager claims Pascrell’s team coordinated the petition challenge because they felt threatened… by a challenger who couldn’t even amass 200 signatures throughout the entire Ninth Congressional District.
STATEWIDE – Plan to keep your kids home from school for Lammas Day? Or the Feast of Epiphany? How about L. Ron Hubbard's birthday? Well, those dates are all on the state Board of Education's latest list of more than 100 holidays for which schools must allow excused absences. The list itself is actually quite a tribute to New Jersey's cultural and religious diversity. Along with Christian, Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, Islamic, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist holy days are religious observances for Jainism, Zoroastrianism, the Bahá'í faith, Scientology and Wicca. The state requires schools to let students who miss school on these holidays to make up classwork and tests. See the official list here. Noticeably absent, once again, from the official list is Festivus … a holiday for the rest of us!
LAKEWOOD – Did New Jersey violate the separation between church and state when it doled out millions of dollars in grants to nine religiously-affiliated colleges and universities? A state Appellate Court began hearing arguments yesterday from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Wall Street Journal says. The ACLU's case only targets grants given in 2013 to the 6,800-student Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood and the 675-student Princeton Theological Seminary. Forty-six public and private colleges and universities received shares of the $1.3 billion in state money to promote business and job opportunities. Beth Medrash Govoha, for example, got $10.6 million to build a new library and improve aging educational facilities. Apparently, that’s bad.
BEDMINSTER – Eleven Democratic presidential debates just aren't enough so local Democrats are holding a mock debate of their own on Thursday evening with younger and maybe even more articulate stand-ins for the real candidates. Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle is set to channel Secretary Hillary Clinton; Assembly Speaker John Wisniewski will pinch hit for Bernie Sanders, and moderator Charlie Zavalick, editor of The Bernardsville News, will just be himself. The 6 p.m. event at the Pottersville Firehouse is free and open to the public, but Bedminster Democrats would, of course, welcome contributions.
IN THE MEDIA
News coverage in Central New Jersey has taken yet another hit with two recent departures. Brian Amaral, N.J. Advance Media's supervising reporter in Middlesex County, just landed a reporting job with Boston-based Law360, a subscription news service for the legal industry. Meanwhile, Sergio Bichao, veteran investigative reporter for the Home News-Tribune and Courier News, recently departed MyCentralJersey.com after seven years to join Townsquare Media as deputy digital editor for NJ 101.5.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
DETROIT – When the Detroit Tigers fan caught a foul ball yesterday during batting practice, he felt great. Then, by the second inning, he somehow was able to catch four foul balls, stirring up the crowd that found more interest in his luck than watching the Tigers blow one to the Pirates. By the time he grabbed his fifth foul ball in the eighth inning, he was a local celebrity, bathing in applause, taking selfies with other fans, signing autographs, talking with media and handing out his caught balls to the kiddies. Tigers lost 7-4. But, hey, who came to watch baseball?
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1865 that disinfectant was used for the first time by a surgeon named Joseph Lister. May we go on a limb and say this was the birth of Listerine?
WORD OF THE DAY
Fungible – (FUN-ji-ble) — adjective
Definition: Interchangeable.
Example: My wife describes my wardrobe of tan shirts and tan pants as “positively fungible.” Is that a compliment?