The Jaffe Briefing - May 16, 2019
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It is Convention Time! The Jaffe Briefing will be on hiatus beginning Monday, May 20, returning Tuesday, May 28
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EAST RUTHERFORD - We only learned three hours ago about the existence of a Korean pop band called "BTS," and now we are concerned. Not about the ongoing destruction of decent music as we know it, but by the fact that this really popular band, apparently, will be performing in the Meadowlands this Saturday and Sunday. You may recall that NJ Transit hasn't exactly perfected how to get crowds out of the Meadowlands after a concert. You may also recall what happened when WrestleMania 35 came to town on April 7, jamming trains and prompting hours of furious waiting. NJ Transit is offering back-up trains and buses in preparation this weekend, but already is priming fans for two-hour waits. Makes sense; BTS only announced on Feb. 19 about this tour stop, giving NJ Transit only three months to plan. What can you really expect?
TEANECK - Assume local soccer players - dealing with game cancellations throughout this wet spring - are relieved for some sunny weather. And then some small, federally-protected bird decided to make its home on their soccer field. ABC News is reporting how a bird known as a "killdeer," protected under the American Migratory Bird Treaty, is nesting on artificial turf near the south goal of a Teaneck youth soccer field at Votee Park. That means it would take 30 to 60 days for the state Department of Environmental Protection and federal officials to fully investigate the situation and issue a permit. So, rather go through that and completely destroy the season, everyone is eagerly awaiting for eggs to hatch. It takes a month for birds to hatch and another month for the little ones to leave the nest. So, Teaneck officials have cordoned off 30 feet around the nest and soccer games have been moved elsewhere. Nature, for this fleeting moment, is trumping soccer.
TRENTON - Could property tax relief really be coming to New Jersey towns? Don't get all excited yet, but NJ Spotlight is reporting on a bill moving through the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee that would cost the state $331 million annually to provide more state aid to towns. The objective is to restore all the reductions in municipal aid that were made during the Great Recession, as government on all levels seems to be going broke. NJ Spotlight notes this would be the first increase to towns in more than a decade, which is great. But it would also be great if the extra aid was tied to awarding municipalities for a reduction in their costs through more shared services, consolidations, etc. A very big carrot, and a gentle little stick, could hopefully reduce the cost of local government, maximizing any state aid increases. NJ Spotlight tells it all.
PENNSAUKEN - Let's assume it is a very, very quiet dinner table at the home of the Mayor of Pennsauken. So quiet, in fact, that no one is daring to mention that teeny-tiny fender-bender committed by his daughter, apparently. Camden County prosecutors say the First Daughter of the fair Township of Pennsauken got herself nice and pickled, jumped behind the wheel of her Nissan SUV and smashed into a pizza joint on Park Avenue on May 3. Besides thoroughly destroying the front of "Flying Crust Pizza," this drunken boo-boo also injured three men inside the pizzeria. Not only is the driver the daughter of the township's mayor (and director of operations of the Pennsauken Board of Education,) she is also the sister of a township cop and a fifth-grade teacher in the local district, NJPEN.com reports. Oof. The daughter is charged with a whole bunch of stuff, leading with drunken driving in a school zone and third-degree assault by auto, NJ 101.5 reports. Yes. A very, very quiet dinner table. Shhh...
NEWARK - Newark Liberty International Airport is our airport, so we love it. But apparently the rest of the world likens it to the airports they visit in third-world countries, rife with poverty, starvation and disease. AirHelp, a company specializing in air passenger rights, has ranked Newark 116th in an international study, mostly because of our famously chronic weather-related delays. It is the lowest-ranked American airport and is only 16 spots shy of being the worst airport in the world, based on on-time performance, service quality, and food and shops. Really, how could that be?
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN - There's no question that Apple AirPods are durable. Case in point: A local Navy recruiter fell asleep listening to music and somehow, in slumber, swallowed one of his AirPods. When he awoke, and couldn't find it, he used his iPhone tracking feature and was surprised to hear music coming from his stomach, the Daily Mail reports. He headed to the hospital where he was given a laxative. The very next day, at an emergency pit stop at a local rail station, the AirPod suddenly plopped into the toilet. The man scooped it up, washed it off, dried it thoroughly and (for some reason) put it back into his ear. Still worked! And the battery was holding steady at 41%.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1902 when baseball showed it had zero interest in being politically correct. One "deaf-mute" nicknamed "Dummy" Hoy led off for the Reds, against pitcher "Dummy" Taylor, another "deaf-mute" of the Giants. Baseball called it the first time two "deaf-mutes" faced each other, as the Reds win, 5-3. Ballplayers who couldn't hear were considered a prime reason for the signals in the game still in use.
WORD OF THE DAY
Wabbit - [WAB-ət] - adjective
Definition: Nothing to do with anything "wascally" - just a Scottish word for "exhausted."
Example: After days of intensive gardening between all the rain showers, I am positively wabbit.
WIT OF THE DAY
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"When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion."
- Abraham Lincoln
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WEATHER IN A WORD
Pleasant
THE NEW 60
A Jaffe Briefing Exclusive
by Andy Landorf & John Colquhoun
