The Morning Briefing - August 12, 2016

EAST RUTHERFORD - Ever dream of performing your music in a 19,000-seat arena? It can happen, just don't expect anyone to show up. The former Izod Center, currently rotting away in the Meadowlands, will be getting some new life as a rehearsal space for musicians preparing for gigs, the Record reports. Bands can now pay to practice before they hit the road. Sure, the seats will be empty - maintaining the feel of a Nets game in, say, 2009. 

EDISON - Donald Trump touts his vast property holdings across the state, but apparently he no longer has a "Trump for President" campaign HQ here. Politico reports Trump's command post in an office building here was hastily abandoned sometime in July, after opening with great fanfare on May 3. There does not appear to be anywhere else where Trump volunteers are mobilizing the GOP base in New Jersey. Apparently, even the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster doesn't have any space for them. Perhaps Massage Room 6B would have made for a nice makeshift base for the potential leader of the free world. But Sylvia has her standing appointment at 2 p.m. each day. A non-starter. 

TRENTON - OK, so you kill someone. And say you are sentenced to 40 years of hard time. What is the fair penalty if you decide to throw a steaming bucket of pee and poop on two jail guards? Tough to answer. But for one inmate at Trenton State Prison, it cost 1,275 days of administrative segregation, 30 days of disciplinary detention, 90 days' loss of TV, phone and radio privileges and 60 days' loss of recreation, NJ.com. An appellate court ruled yesterday that the penalty was a wee bit excessive, yet the court isn't giving this killer any break. Oh well. But the court says there needs to be more "fair and equitable" treatment. So score one for warehoused murderers.

TRENTON - Keeping our governor safe as he gallivants the country has cost taxpayers more than $2 million since 2010. That's just the price for Gov. Chris Christie's State Police protection on trips. More may have been spent on food, lodging, transportation, and incidentals for him and his entourage during six years of out-of-state glad-handing. And, the Record reports Christie has no intention of repaying a dime. Expect to shell out even more as Christie flees the Garden State to prop up his pal Donald Trump on the campaign trail. Meanwhile, stay-at-home Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno is probably sick of making the rounds on the rubber-chicken circuit and snipping ribbons at "cutting-edge" nail salons. But at least the expenses are minimal. 

PATERSON - The school board needs to redirect its attention from that steamy, pot-hazed music video that hip hop star Fetty Wap's filmed inside his alma mater, Eastside High School. At the risk of looking petty or silly, board members are now wringing their hands over an investigator's "voluminous report" into how the fiasco unfolded, the Paterson Press says. Board members already gave Eastside's principal Zatiti Moody a paid vacation ... er, a paid suspension, from his $117,000 job over the fiasco. Fetty Wap publicly apologized. Hundreds of parents protested, saying the board should just embrace his success. So, what's the flap now? Were permission forms properly filled out? Did Fetty pay a few hundred bucks to use the high school? Whatever; let it go. Focus on filling the 90 teaching vacancies before school opens next month. 

HAMILTON - Tough to say "no frills" in the same breath as $54 million worth of new school upgrades, but that's what the interim superintendent here is telling taxpayers. In fairness, district officials did whittle down the initial $227 million school upgrade wish list. The final bond package, which the state and voters must approve, includes security camera systems and automated lock-down systems; new school roofs, windows, and ceilings; structural and drainage repairs and asbestos removal. Reasonable enough? Cost to each taxpayer? About an average of $53 per year. Superintendent Thomas Ficarra tells N.J. Advance Media: "It's not a pie-in-the-sky thing we're going after ... this is a no frills attempt to keep this district safe."

WOODBRIDGE - Come Sunday, this town gets its first Indian councilman. Businessman Virbhadra "Viru" Patel is to be sworn in after the India Day Parade. The Township Council appointed Patel to replace 11-year Councilman James Major, stepping down from his 4th Ward seat to avoid potential conflicts-of-interest with his new job at the Middlesex County Utilities Authority, the Home News-Tribune says. The 4th Ward includes Menlo Park and Iselin, home to the town's vibrant and growing Indian enclave. Patel will serve until the Nov. 8th election, when Major's one-year unexpired term goes on the ballot. He may face challengers, but we bet Patel gets to stick around.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS 

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL - Just for laughs, watch "King Trump." It's the latest political parody from the warped comedic minds of retired Seattle "Morning Zoo" radio host Bob Rivers and his on-air sidekick Spike O'Neill. Ripping off Saturday Night Live's classic 1979 "King Tut" skit, they poke fun at one of the most off-the-wall Presidential candidate since Sen. Strom Thurmond, running on a pro-segregation platform in 1948 that somehow carried four states and 39 electoral votes. Anyway, enjoy the video. 

THIS DAY IN HISTORY 

It was this day in 1986 that Don Baylor set a baseball record, hit by a pitch for the 25th time in one season. When asked to comment, a battered Baylor wiped off some drool and said, "Uh, Mmm?"

WORD OF THE DAY

Whilom [WYE-lum] –  adjective 

Definition: Former

Example: Why say whilom when you can just say former?

WEATHER IN A WORD

Frying.