The Jaffe Briefing - November 3, 2017
OUR TAKE ON THE NEWS IN NEW JERSEY
BASKING RIDGE - Nothing is more titillating than writing about home insurance, so here we go: Basking Ridge apparently is the second cheapest town in the entire nation for home insurance, at just $485 a year, NJ 101.5 reports. That's because all those underwriters look at a bunch of factors, like construction costs, amount of claims, credit scores, crime, etc. On the flip side, and of no great surprise to anyone, Atlantic City has the most expensive insurance rates in the state, at an average of $1,431 per year - more than $200 above the national average. One factor is because shore towns have a greater chance of storm exposure. Another unproven theory: thieves could burglarize your home and then swim to England with the bounty.
ATLANTIC CITY - Trump Plaza, a ruin of a bygone era of America's Playground, is now slated for demolition within the next few months, NJ.com reports. City officials will bid a full-throated good riddance to the building, which brandished the president's name until it shuttered in 2014. It's been a main-strip eyesore as the city desperately tries to regain its economic footing. Hopefully, it is not replaced with another hulking mass that blocks people from the glorious water - the only type of wall that Trump has been able to build.
AT THE SOLSTICE - It's hard to imagine Old Man Winter rearing his ugly head when it's downright balmy in November. Some forecasters think we should keep wearing those Bermuda shorts through winter, as NJ.com reports that the weather pattern La Niña could result in a warm, snowless winter. Good news for cash-starved municipalities who don't need to pay for salt, right? Well, like any forecaster, the prognosticators remain maddeningly noncommittal, declaring that we also have equal chances of getting clobbered with snow, hardly any snow or average amounts of snow. Maybe we should just stick with that five-day forecast, 'kay?
TOMS RIVER - We were interested to hear what Yelp has to say about the Red Carpet Inn, which has prompted more than 750 calls to police in less than three years in business. NJ.com reports the cops have carved out a beaten path to the motel on complaints for drugs, theft, fraud, fights and medical calls. Cops are rightfully annoyed, saying the hotel owner has no control over the place. That guy isn't talking to the media, but would likely be eager to note the property is a convenient 10-minute drive to the Ocean County Mall and offers free Wi-Fi.
IN THE MEDIA
IN PRINT - Last week we reported that Millennials are responsible for an uptick in print magazine subscriptions, breathing new life in an industry on life support. With The New York Times reporting that a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl is doing hard-hitting investigative work, it appears that this appreciation for real news is being passed on to the next generation, as well. Hilde Lysiak, the home-schooled reporter who first broke a story last year about a local homicide, is now the subject of the "Hilde Cracks the Case" series published by Scholastic. The books, which dramatize Hilde's experience for burgeoning readers, were met with some early skepticism from neighbors in her native Selinsgrove, Pa. because of her youth. Hilde's response? "It makes me think I'm a good journalist." Sounds like she's got the right stuff. Send her to D.C.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
WASHINGTON, DC - Energy Secretary Rick Perry thinks fossil fuels can prevent sexual assault, reportedly telling an audience at an NBC News-sponsored energy policy event that keeping the lights on can prevent violent acts. (Let that sink in for a moment.) OK, it's no surprise that an oil man credits black gold as the salve that cures all that ails, but let's pause for a moment and remember that this is the genius who is in charge of maintaining and securing America's nuclear arsenal.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
WORD OF THE DAY
Tin-pot - [TIN-POHT] - adjective
Definition: Cheap or trivial of its kind: petty, small-time, two-bit
Example: The political candidate was eager to make baseless, tin-pot allegations, with only days to go until the election.
WEATHER IN A WORD
Balmy