The Jaffe Briefing - February 21, 2019
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS - The mayor is taking heat for panicking too much, apparently unable to take the heat at council meetings. Shouting matches and bickering have prompted Mayor Mario Kranjac to hit a secret "panic button" under the council dais eight or nine times over the past year, The Record reports. It certainly irks police brass, who must yank cops off patrol to head back to town hall and calm boisterous audiences. Kranjac claims a police captain was "insubordinate" for publicly criticizing him last month for misusing the panic button. But, the mayor says it's his duty to "keep good order... I'm not going to come off the dais to get control of a crowd. I'll have a police officer come in."
HAMILTON - And the mayor here is under fire for using town cops as her bodyguards. Mayor Kelly Yaede's fellow Republicans on the Township Council say she blew $4,600 last year for undercover police to join her on trips to conferences in D.C., Boston and Atlantic City. The Trentonian says Yaede is also criticized for never disclosing how much money her security detail has cost taxpayers since 2012, when Yaede - once the target of a stalker (which is frightening) - became mayor. GOP Councilwoman Ileana Schirmer says it's irresponsible to pay for police to escort Yaede when she travels to places where she "is not well-known, [she] is not that popular... unless she feels scared of being by herself." A little harsh there. But taxpayers should at least know what this security detail costs.
TRENTON - It's a bit discouraging to consider: if not for the ongoing spat between the governor and the Senate leader, New Jersey's efforts to rid dark money from politics would have a lot less bite. But now the recharged bill is going before the upper house today - prohibiting elected officials from starting or managing dark-money groups and requiring independent groups to disclose their funders. It is of enormous interest to Senate President Steve Sweeney, right after a group with ties to Gov. Phil Murphy reneged on its promise to disclose its donors. Read more in today's NJ Spotlight.
NEW BRUNSWICK - Coming off a disastrous football season, with just one measly win, how can Rutgers win back the hearts and minds of fans? Apparently, get them drunk, reports TAPInto New Brunswick. RU fans can drown their sorrows during time-outs, halftime, and heck, whenever else they can, as the stadium will be selling beer and wine when the 2019 season kicks off this fall. For the past few years, alcohol was only available to the wealthy fans who plunk down the big bucks to sit in the Audi Club and cry in their beers. Now, anyone in any general seating area who really, truly needs a drink will be able to get one. Booze sales will also be extended to other RU sports venues, where it won't be nearly as necessary as it is at football games.
NEWARK - With the unemployment rate at a super-low 4 percent, one would assume school bus companies are having a near-impossible time recruiting responsible people with the ability to (a.) show up and (b.) pass the state's Commercial Driver License test. And that could be why this school year has been filled with stories of terrible school bus drivers. There was - let's see - the guy watching porn on a bus, a woman in an expletive-filled shouting match with a pre-teen and the age-old story of foreign-speaking drivers hopelessly lost in cul-de-sacs. The latest head-shaker occurred yesterday in Newark, as a driver high on heroin slowly drove a bus of a dozen special-needs children into a tree, WABC reports. She was found passed out behind the wheel, surrounded by drug paraphernalia, requiring a dose of the opioid antidote Narcan to stay alive. The children, ages 5-13, were fine, thankfully. But a closer look at this drugged-out driver shows her license had previously been suspended for 10 years. Yes, kids need a ride to school. But who the heck are screening these people?
TRENTON - Hey, lottery winner: You just won $10 million! What are you going to do now? Uh, likely hide. That's the message from many of Jersey's lottery winners, who are often trotted out in public, handed a big check among balloons and confetti, and smile in front of the flashing cameras. But, with the onslaught of moochers, scammers and distant, thrice-removed relatives knocking, some state lawmakers think these lottery winners should get some degree of privacy. There's now a bill that would allow New Jersey Lottery winners to remain secret, a certain blow for the marketing folks at the lottery. But winners do, at least. deserve a choice to become a spectacle. Or not.
IN THE MEDIA
ISELIN - Enrique Lavin, The Star-Ledger/NJ.com Opinion editor for the past few years, has an offer for faithful Jaffe Briefing readers. He is moving on to become editor of NJ Cannabis Insider, NJ.com's subscriber-only industry trade briefing. Published weekly in digital format, the trade magazine covers all things marijuana, all the time. To mark Lavin's big move, he is offering our readers a 20 percent discount on annual subscriptions - just enter the code JAFFE at checkout. Here's a free sample. You are welcome.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
HANOI, Vietnam - A local barbershop has seen a tremendous uptick in business, as the city prepares to host the megalomaniac meeting next week between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Apparently, this back alley barber shop is filled with customers pining for the ridiculous haircuts of these two leaders, both of whom have what could be the strangest hairdos on the planet. The barber, Le Tuan Duong, has been offering free Trump or Kim hairstyles to about a dozen customers, to date. Hai, a motorcycle taxi driver, went with Trump's orange flop. Meanwhile, 9-year-old To Gia Huy emerged with Un's wacky hairstyle. So far, no one has asked for "The Hillary."
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2015 that a Canadian legislator fled in the middle of a vote because his cheap, new underwear was too tight. Pat Martin bolted from the House of Commons when he was to rise to vote, saying he made an unwise purchase at a local discount store. "They had men's underwear on for half price and I bought a bunch that was clearly too small for me," he explained to the chamber, amidst guffaws.
WORD OF THE DAY
Apotheosis - [ə-pah-thee-OH-səs] - noun
Definition: The highest or best part of something; peak
Example: Rambo is the apotheosis of 1980s badass.
WIT OF THE DAY
"It's absolutely stupid that we live without an ozone layer. We have men, we've got rockets, we've got saran wrap - FIX IT!" - Lewis Black
WEATHER IN A WORD
Melting
THE NEW 60
A Jaffe Briefing exclusive by Andy Landorf & John Colquhoun
