The Morning Briefing - October 17, 2016
HOBOKEN – Some welcome news for commuters this morning, who will finally arrive at work on time. NJ Transit says it has fully restored service to the Hoboken station this morning, following the Sept. 29 crash. Pretty amazing it only took three weeks to get the station up and running, as it looked as if it would be out of commission for months. Meanwhile, train engineers are now ordered to approach the station at 5 mph, rather than 10 mph, because of the, er, “lesson learned.”
NEWARK – Let’s just assume the Internet will eventually dominate every aspect of our lives. But the future is much, much closer than we think, especially in Newark. Today, the New Jersey Innovation Institute will be talking about the city’s role in the national “Smart City” initiative, which will create high-speed, hot-spot, wi-fi neighborhoods. There will soon be kiosks cropping up around Newark, in which residents, visitors and anyone else can soon have immediate access to pretty much anything they could possibly want to know about Newark, from traffic patterns, to local history to business promotions, etc., etc.
BRIDGEGATE – It’s Monday morning, not much thrilling going on, so, ok, fine, let’s write about Bridgegate. Today is promising to be another “big day,” as Bill Baroni, a former executive with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is expected to testify, as this trial drags into its fifth week. Baroni is looking at 20 years of prison, so Democrats are praying he will spill some beans linking Gov. Chris Christie to all this. Baroni contends the GWB lane closures were part of the infamous “traffic study.”
BURLINGTON COUNTY – Are you a litterer? A speeder? You may luck out – if you happen to be one of the 150 defendants prosecuted in one of five Burlington County towns during three days in September. You see, the part-time municipal prosecutor was ineligible to practice law, the Courier Post says. Attorney Andrew Smith’s law licenses was suspended from Sept.12-14 for not paying state-required fees, a technicality jeopardizing the outcomes of adjudicated cases in Evesham, Florence, Lumberton, Southampton and Shamong. Affected defendants are being notified and Smith has promised to pay all the court costs of retrying those cases. The bad news: You’ll probably have to drag back to municipal court.
CINCINNATI - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy gave an indication over the weekend of how he would handle the contentious issue of charter school expansion. NewarkInc's Mark Bonamo reported that Murphy, who is a voting member of the NAACP national board, tried to open a dialog about charter school expansion at their meeting this weekend. His fellow board members were in no mood to discuss the issue and voted to approve a resolution calling for a moratorium on charter growth. But the former German ambassador convinced the board to form a task force to study the issue. When in doubt, a task force is always the best route.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
HANOVER, N.H. – Some students at Dartmouth College think, apparently, that we just can’t get enough of our lovable Presidential candidates. And so they have created an app called “HillaryDonald Go,” which mimics “Pokemon Go.” So, instead of chasing Pokemon in other people’s backyards, now we can go find the nearest Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump "booth" and send them "good vibes" to show support. In return, each booth will recite soundbites from the candidates. This game can be played in nearly 1 million locations, like parks, libraries, monuments, and cafes, as well as U.S. embassies around the world. The good news: the game only matters until Nov. 8.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Trump to SNL: “You’re fired!” That’s right, the touchy (and some say touchy-feely) GOP presidential nominee took to Twitter early Sunday to say “Saturday Night Live” should be canceled. Donald Trump, still smarting from a week of sexual misconduct accusations, called last weekend’s debate skit a “hit job,” saying it’s “time to retire” the show, which is “boring and unfunny.” Daily Beast columnist, attorney Dean Obeidallah, said Trump’s “unhinged tweet … should concern every American,” suggesting “President Trump” just may be thin-skinned enough to use the Federal Communications Commission to intimidate comedians or media outlets that mock him – even with the endless material. Watch here.
Happy Mulligan Day. Let’s say that again. Happy Mulligan Day.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1990 that comedian Jackie Mason opens "Jackie Mason - Brand New" at the Neil Simon Theater in New York. It lasted 216 performances, ending with “Jackie Mason – Not New at All.”
WORD OF THE DAY
Empyreal [em-pye-REE-ul] – adjective
Definition: of or relating to the heavens; celestial
Example: Night after night, Melania’s jewels shine brightly against the empyreal tapestry of the sky.
WEATHER IN A WORD
80!