The Morning Briefing - July 8, 2016
TRENTON – Perhaps this is the summer when our lawmakers officially lose their collective minds, allowing thousands of jobs to go on hiatus for a week as they try to hammer out a new funding plan. Outrageous? Careless? Expensive? Perhaps all those words are applicable, as state-funded road, bridge and rail construction will cease at 11:59 p.m. today for at least seven days. There are endless ripple effects for transportation laborers, engineers and suppliers, and, of course, New Jerseyans are likely stuck with tens of millions of dollars in extra costs as 900 state, county and local road projects are iced. Unless, somehow, sanity returns, a gas tax is passed and we can move on to other impending catastrophes.
NEWARK – It has become known as the most famous cell phone in New Jersey and it has finally been found. That phone is considered the smoking gun in the ongoing Bridgegate case, and that phone is the property of Gov. Chris Christie. The New York Times reports that the governor’s lawyer is in possession of the phone, which may have damning text messages regarding the infamous closure of the GWB, the beginning to the end of the governor’s aspirations for the Presidency. Now, Democrats are salivating for any evidence gleaned from this phone to be used in court. Could this be the “gotcha” that many hope for, or just Chapter 236 in the ongoing saga?
CLIFTON – Keep track of those old lottery tickets. That's the lesson a local woman learned while shuffling through payroll stubs, bills and receipts as she prepared to do her taxes this spring. Yokasta Boyer came across an old Jersey Cash 5 ticket from April 14, 2015. When she checked the numbers, Boyer realized she had actually won $472,271. N.J. Advance Media says Boyer filed her claim with the state Lottery Commission just in a nick of time to collect her winnings. Begs the question: What’s in your wallet?
NEWARK – How about a fresh, tasty salad grown in an Ironbound warehouse? No, seriously. Leafy greens like lettuce, red romaine, arugula, kale and watercress are growing right now in tall metal towers without soil or sunlight inside the 69,000-square-foot Rome Street facility. AeroFarms executives tell Reuters the building hosts the world's largest indoor vertical farm, designed to produce 2 million pounds of delicious greens annually. The process uses less water and fertilizer than traditional farming, all done without any pesticides, herbicide, fungicides or any other cides you can come up with. The company is eyeing high-yield produce in 25 other similar indoor farms across the U.S. and abroad over the next five years. Say goodbye to the traditional farmer and that beautiful daughter of his.
THE IVY TOWER – Forbes is out with its latest ranking of colleges, focusing on return on investment. Of course, Princeton University is among the best of the best, ranked at a not-too-shabby Number Three. But then there is a free-fall for New Jersey schools, with Rutgers showing up at 141 and College of New Jersey appearing at 179. Then, it gets downright ugly. Stevens at 248, Drew at 274, Seton Hall at 299 and so on. Other schools fared much worse. Sure, there are many complicated, impressive and incomprehensible metrics at play here, but when the likes of Montclair State or NJIT don’t crack the Top 350, well, we begin to get a wee bit skeptical of such a list.
ATLANTIC CITY – Today, the Showboat reopens on the Boardwalk – with the hopes that not having gambling will somehow bring in more people and excitement than rolling the dice. Hmm. You decide if the former casino, which went out of business two years ago, now has the chops to get you excited. There will be 852 oceanfront rooms – a nice feature – plus balcony suites and “super suites,” as well as a bar, coffeehouse and full-service restaurant. Ok, great. We wish them well, but can an oceanfront Holiday Inn compete in the city’s cutthroat battle for customers?
PERTH AMBOY – Congrats to our pals at the Puerto Rican Association for Human Development, awarded “full accreditation” from the Commission on Accreditation for Home Health Care (CAHC), which promotes the highest quality and safety standards in the New Jersey home care service industry. This accreditation is a big deal for a hard-working non-profit that stretches far beyond the boundaries of Perth Amboy.
IN THE MEDIA
NEWARK – If you happen to run a city like Newark, and a video crew wants to do a documentary on your police force, the correct answer is a polite “no, thank you.” That’s because the video crew wants to tell a gritty, bare, compelling story, not highlighting all your wonderful reform and celebrating your tremendous leadership. Of no surprise, Mayor Ras Baraka is not pleased with PBS’s FRONTLINE, granted exclusive inside access to the police department for an hour-long documentary that focuses on how the city is handling a federally mandated overhaul. Baraka says “PBS viewers across America are left with the misimpression (of) our strategy," adding, “Worse, viewers are left with vivid images of police officers behaving violently without countervailing images of the many residents and police officers who are working together to create a culture of cooperation and collaboration.” Yup. See it here.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
TIMMONSVILLE, SC – They'll have no saggy jeans or droopy drawers in this southern town. Officials in this 139,000-person community say “sagging” – a god-awful fashion style made popular by 1990s hip-hop artists – is a community eyesore. Town fathers have enacted a strict ordinance against it and, at the same time, are also prohibiting public nudity. And, while at it, no porn can be displayed where kids can see it, and no more flashing bare butts from moving vehicles (or anywhere else). Yep, a fond farewell for “shooting the moon.” First-time offenders get a stern tongue lashing; second-time offenders get a written warning and have their names placed in a town registry; third-time offenders can be fined up to $600. Sounds like the plot line from “Footloose.”
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Checking the baseball standings on this day in 1973, the Mets were stuck 12 games back. And we all know what happened then…You Gotta Believe.
WORD OF THE DAY
Qua (KWAH) - preposition
Definition: In the capacity or character of
Example: Why the heck does this word exist? See proof below:
"Sure, there have been other big pop music phenomena over the years … but the Beatles qua phenomenon was due to a confluence of forces that defined a historical moment." — Candy Leonard, The Huffington Post, 18 Dec. 2014
WEATHER IN A WORD
Sticky.