The Morning Briefing - November 18, 2016
** The Morning Briefing will return Monday, November 28. A Happy Thanksgiving for All!
PASSAIC – Note to newly elected politicians who will take the oath in January: If a real estate developer wants to hand you cash, say “No.” Unbelievable we have to write that, yet New Jersey politicians continue to take these bribes, and continue to get caught. Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco joins the long line of disgraced politicians who embrace the deep New Jersey tradition. He admitted to accepting $110,000 from two developers in exchange for directing federal cash to a failed low-income housing project. He is resigning in disgrace, of course, and going to prison, after succeeding Mayor Samuel Rivera, who resigned and was sentenced to 21 months in prison in 2008. Why? For accepting bribes.
MORRISTOWN – Man’s best friend should not also be man’s best teaching tool, as Morristown Medical Center will no longer use live dogs to help train ER surgeons, NJ 101.5 reports. There were howls of protest from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which claimed residents were cutting into dogs, inserting tubes into the chest cavity, cracking open the breastbone to access the heart and drilling in a needle, before killing Snoopy. After a billboard was posted in Morristown reading “Don’t kill man’s best friend for medical testing,” the hospital announced “the use of animals is not essential for training.”
STATEWIDE – Gov. Chris Christie pledges he will be sticking around New Jersey for the rest of his term, ending in January 2018. No idea how he could make such a blanket statement, as everyone knows the Trump Administration envisions him having a role and could call at any minute. But, as Christie made that bizarre remark yesterday at the League of Municipalities conference in front of 14 news cameras, one must wonder if he was addressing the polite audience of local officials or sending a direct message to the Trumps. Perhaps Christie wants to be wooed from the warm bosom of Trenton, where he reigns as one of the most unpopular governors in state history.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – While Gov. Chris Christie is vowing to work late into the night in the governor’s office, likely the last one to leave the Statehouse on the eve of the inauguration of the next governor in 2018, and probably turning off all the lights, we can’t help but recognize someone will follow him. And, with only two gubernatorial elections in the U.S. in 2017, expect plenty of star power. On the Democratic side, the holy grail is a Bernie Sanders’s endorsement. It seems the nod would go to John Wisniewski, who was Sanders’ campaign chair in NJ, and Sanders says he “may very well" support him. So assume a Sanders endorsement would be a prime goal of the Phil Murphy campaign. Who will ultimately Feel the Bern… or be burned?
GARFIELD – The next mayor's first official act: Visiting Sherwin Williams. Why? With provisional ballots from the Nov. 8th election finally tallied, it's official that Mayor Gaetana (Tana) Raymond has lost by 79 votes. Raymond's first act when she became this city's first female mayor in its 99 year history was to paint her office pink to symbolize the historic significance, the Record reports. Raymond was first elected to the city council in 2008 and was first chosen as mayor in 2014. The five-person city council will select a new mayor from among its members at its reorganization meeting in January.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
DUBOIS, Pa. – Sometimes, it is downright brutal to be a school superintendent, as you deal with every silly issue. Case in point: a Pennsylvania school leader is being forced to talk with media about Monday’s photo of an over-cooked hamburger that a kid posted on Facebook. That photo, of course, went viral. Assume there was a deep, weary sigh before Superintendent Luke Lansberry explained that his cafeteria workers must cook meat to at least 155 degrees, but a time-consuming internal investigation revealed this particular hamburger was cooked at 170 degrees. It was the superintendent’s hope the kid would have just quietly returned it for a new one. But, alas, no.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
November 18 is a great day for our sports teams. It was this day in 1990 the Giants beat the Lions to go 10-0 on the season; it was this day in 1985 that Dwight Gooden won the Cy Young; it was this day in 1984 the Devils shut out the Rangers 6-0; and – for our South Jersey friends – it was this day in 1981 that Mike Schmidt won his second consecutive MVP.
(Also, Happy Birthday to Mickey Mouse.)
WORD OF THE DAY
Lambent [LAM-bunt] - adjective
Definition: Softly radiant
Example: As I sat at the Thanksgiving table, and looked around at friends and family, the feast gently glowed in lambent light.
WEATHER IN A WORD
Thankful