The Morning Briefing - May 5, 2016
WEEHAWKIN – A gunpoint hold-up at a strip club? Not exactly the crime of the century. Yet, police told the Jersey Journal they pulled out all the stops cracking the year-old Squeeze Lounge robbery. Two gunmen and their getaway driver are now in jail for threatening three gentleman's club dancers and stealing their “house mom's” cash-filled purse of $2,500. Cops had a State Police crime lab test the saliva from one gunman's mask for DNA and got backup from the FBI's violent crimes task force. And, we're just guessing, maybe they used snitches, bloodhounds, even surveillance drones to nab a 50-year-old East Orange man and his two neighbors, now facing a raft of felonies. With such tenacious police work, one might assume the next round of lap dances are on the house.
BERGENFIELD – After 30 schools in Newark were discovered with high concentrations of lead in their drinking water, there’s now a race across the state to test for lead. And it’s scary what’s being discovered. Bergenfield announced yesterday that six of its seven schools have high levels of lead, prompting school officials to shut off the drinking fountains and distribute water bottles to thirsty kids. Gov. Chris Christie ordered all 3,000 public schools to test for lead exposure; this is a story that will only get bigger over the next few months. Meanwhile, soon-to-be-rich lawyers are googling “how to file class-action suits.”
BARNEGAT – If you just busted out of prison, where’s the first place you’d go? Visit a sweetie? Grab a beer? Take the first southbound train? Apparently, the guy who broke out of Bayside State Prison in Hammonton early Tuesday decided to hit up a CVS, with security footage showing him entering the pharmacy in Barnegat. Perhaps he was looking for suntan lotion, dark sunglasses and bargain flip-flops. The inmate, Arthur Buckel, was set to be paroled later this month. Local schools were on lockdown yesterday, but set to open this morning. Staff should be on the lookout for a guy in dark glasses, flip-flops and perhaps smelling like coconut.
EATONTOWN - For anyone who thinks shooting ranges just aren't macho enough, head on down to Stumpy's Hatchet House in Eatontown - the nation's first, and so far only, hatchet-throwing range. For $40, you and a hot date can experience a two-hour throwing session at one of Stumpy's 12-foot hatchet pits. Owner Stuart Josberger says: "Some people, when you show them how to do it, they're apprehensive - but after a couple hours, you can see people are smiling and having a good time." One reason they might be smiling: the facility is BYOB. Seems ideal for corporate events and Bar Mitzvahs.
RED BANK – It might be more expensive to park in Red Bank. Business owners and residents quibbled long and loud with the Borough Council over a higher parking fee proposal, fearing it will dampen tourism and inhibit shoppers, the Red Bank Hub reports. Parking fees may rise 50 cents to $1 per hour in lots and to $1.50 an hour at street meters. Monthly permits would rise $45 to $180; up $75 to $200 for three months; and up $100 to $500 for six months. One business owner called the increases “a disaster” and “another insult to the customers we try to bring to town.” The council votes May 11 on the hikes – just in time for summer visitors and all their loose change.
PEAPACK-GLADSTONE – Another itty-bitty police force may be on the endangered list. A study says the town could save half its $932,000 police budget and get better protection by disbanding its 10-officer force and paying neighboring Bedminster to patrol, The Bernardsville News reports. Small towns like Stillwater and Interlaken have already dismantled their police departments to save money. Hightstown has flirted with the idea since 2010. And, next week Lake Como cuts loose its five remaining cops to pay nearby Belmar for police coverage. Coincidentally, it was Belmar's police chief who conducted Peapack-Gladstone's four-month cost-cutting study.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Damn the Eighth Commandment. At least that is the thought of two men caught on surveillance video stealing nearly $500 worth of Bibles from a Christian store in Massachusetts on April 23. The Republican newspaper now has images of the men making off with eight Bibles from the Morning Star Christian Store in West Springfield. These guys likely don’t know you can easily lift a Bible from a Motel 6. (Or so we have been told.)
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Another sign that summer may eventually come: It was this day in 1866 that Memorial Day was first celebrated – in the tiny hamlet of Waterloo, NY.
WORD OF THE DAY
Logomachy (lah-GOM-ah-kee) - noun
Definition: An argument about words.
Example: There’s plenty of logomachy about our “Word of the Day.”
WEATHER IN A WORD
Raw.