The Jaffe Briefing - March 12, 2018
OUR TAKE ON THE NEWS IN NEW JERSEY
ATLANTIC CITY - The PR folks ginning up excitement this spring in the state's gaming mecca want to remind us about all the great sports competitions in Atlantic City over the years. There were minor league ball clubs around 1900, and the first indoor football game was played in AC in 1931. And who could forget the forgettable "Card Sharks," the professional indoor football team that folded after one year? And what about Trump's WrestleMania IV in 1988? It all builds to the announcement of big-time sporting events in 2018, from beach soccer, to boxing, to triathlons, to basketball to bull riding. So, c'mon down!
SHAKEDOWN STREET - It's no secret that President Trump's policies are particularly hard on New Jersey, prompting more lawmakers to publicly seethe over the lack of support for the Gateway Tunnel project. "What we're watching is somebody making government decisions based on a political payback," Rep. Donald Norcross told NJ.com. Trump's cap on state and local tax deductions disproportionately affects Blue states, leading most objective observers to conclude that New Jersey is on the tail end of the whip. This is no surprise to residents, accustomed to being snubbed by the feds. Not like it would matter, but someone should remind Trump that, on a per person basis, New Jersey sends $3,000 more (or so) to Washington in taxes than it gets back in federal spending - more than any other state. Too late to secede?
STATEWIDE - This time of year, of course, everyone is Irish. But where exactly are the true Irish? In New Jersey, there are about 1.27 million New Jerseyans who say they are Irish - even after the final puddle of Guinness dries on the bar floor on March 18. New Jersey has 170 towns with at least a quarter of the population described as "Irish-Americans," NJ 101.5 reports. As is evident from the steady stream of St. Patrick's Day parades, there are strong pockets of Irish in Avalon, North Wildwood and Spring Lake, all with nearly 50 percent of their populations always after me Lucky Charms.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
TAMPA - Hamburger Mary's restaurant may need to cough up $1.5 million to a customer, who claims she was injured by a drag queen's fake breast. OK, so here we go: The customer was eating her meal, celebrating a friend's birthday in May 2015, when the restaurant's performer grabbed her by the head and "wiggled her breast against the plaintiff's face and head eight times, "according to court papers. Then, the queen violently "pounded" the woman's face in her fake boob another nine times. Unclear who was counting all these alleged attacks, but the woman then said she needed to go to the ER, suffering from intense headaches from the boom, boom, boom.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1963 that the Beatles were a trio; John Lennon had a bad cold.
WORD OF THE DAY
Croesus - [KREE-sus] - noun
Definition: A very rich man
Example: You may be a Croesus, but that doesn't mean you will get power restored to your house any sooner.
WEATHER IN A WORD
Wintery