The Morning Briefing - April 20, 2016
EAST BRUNSWICK – Recycling goes to the nth degree in East Brunswick this morning, as Stop & Shop donates benches at town hall. These are no typical benches; they are built somehow using 12,000 plastic bags, underscoring that, yes, there is a practical use to plastic bags other than carrying out your wheat bread, bananas and Chips Ahoy.
SALEM – Is seven freeholders too many for New Jersey's least-populated county? That's a question local union workers want voters to answer. So, the Fraternal Order of Police is trying to scrounge up 2,000 petition signatures for a Nov. 8 referendum that would slash the number of freeholders to five, and lower salaries for those who remain. Hmm, what could be the motive here? Oh wait, here it is: All county workers' contracts just happen to be up for renegotiation. And, freeholders are talking about hiring freezes, privatizing jobs, and asking employees to make a bunch of budget-balancing givebacks.
PATERSON – Who knows? Maybe candidates who can't account for their own campaign cash would be a good fit in a City Hall known for bungling its finances. Two-thirds of the 19 candidates for six ward seats on the City Council didn't bother submitting mandatory campaign finance statements to the N.J. Election Law Enforcement Commission, the Paterson Press says. The forms detail how much money candidates raised from donors and what it got spent it on. Four incumbent city councilmen are among the 13 candidates, running in the May 10 elections, who missed the first-round of state filing deadlines. Maybe, their campaign platform should be: “Vote for me! I’ll follow the rules….eventually.”
NEWARK – Newark’s Unity Slate, the combination of pro- and anti-charter school board candidates supported by the pro-charter PC2E and the anti-charter Mayor Ras Baraka, swept the school board elections on Tuesday. The top vote getter, Kim Gaddy, earned 5,804 votes, 2,000 more than the highest vote getter in last year’s school board election, demonstrating the strength of the GOTV efforts. All that work for a position that comes with no real power, at least not yet.
LAKE COMO – Want to get even for that speeding ticket? Just disband your police department. That’s the surprising power you have as a voter, at least in a 175-acre town like Lake Como, where they decided yesterday to stop funding the 10-member department. To keep the LCPD, taxpayers would have had to spend about $700 more apiece, or about $2.4 million annually, the Asbury Park Press reports. Instead, the borough's 1,750 residents are going to hire neighboring Belmar cops to patrol their streets for the bargain price of $914,000. All good, except if Belmar sends over those summer rent-a-cops who want to ticket you for walking on grass.
HOBOKEN – Sure, there is the typical cat stuck in a tree. But firefighters in Hoboken have their own set of challenges, as apartment buildings have long ago replaced those leafy strips of oak. A local dog was able to break through a screen yesterday morning and was stuck clinging to a third-floor ledge, the Jersey Journal reports. Firefighters sprung to action, saving “Skippy.”
TRENTON – The idea of a gas tax to replenish the state’s Transportation Trust Fund continues to bounce around the Statehouse. Politico reports that Democrats want a $2 billion plan that would stabilize the fund. But to create a 14.5-cent gas tax, Politico reports, some Democrats wants to see tax cuts: an elimination of the estate tax, an exemption for charitable contributions and a break on retirement income. Perhaps with such sweeteners, Republicans may pay attention.
TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie has been hanging in Jersey these days, but keeping a low profile. But you can see him surface at 8:30 p.m. tonight, when he answers your questions on New Jersey 101.5's "Ask the Governor."
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
MODESTO, CA. – These nuts aren't roasted, they're just hot. Tons of almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios and other nuts – worth millions – are vanishing into a seamy black market. Federal and state authorities told the Los Angeles Times that more than 30 large-scale nut heists last year robbed California's nut industry of nearly $10 million in revenue. Shipments aren't being hijacked. Instead, high-tech thieves hack databases, falsify shipping manifests and use bogus truckers to trick processing plants out of huge cargoes. Finding stolen nuts isn't easy, says one fraud specialist: “Nuts don't have serial numbers; nuts don't have to be activated over the Internet; you can't ping a nut … and the evidence is easily consumed.” Just ask any chipmunk or squirrel.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
The next time you squeeze into a half-broken seat in Fenway Park, remind yourself the stadium opened on this day in 1912.
WORD OF THE DAY
Delectation (dee-lek-TAY-shen) — noun
Definition: Delight; enjoyment; pleasure.
Example: I take much delight in the scent of Justin Bieber’s new cologne.