The Jaffe Briefing - January 7, 2019
STATEWIDE - Property taxes across New Jersey jumped by another $639 million in 2018, reaching nearly $30 billion. Consider yourself damn lucky; this is apparently "good news." The average tax bill went up just $77, the lowest annual increase that anyone can remember, giving the "average taxpayer" - whoever that may be - a tax bill in 2018 of $8,767. This is the eighth year in a row the tax levy increased by less than 2.6 percent, thanks to state-mandated caps. NJ 101.5 explains the state has also been able to steadily build its ratable base by the largest amounts in a decade, offsetting the cost to beleaguered, beaten and broke taxpayers. So, um, time to celebrate?
STATEWIDE - No ifs, ands, or butts. In just over a week, you won't be able to smoke cigarettes - or cigars, pipes or anything else - in public parks, forests, historic sites and at any other state-owned property in New Jersey. That includes beaches and boardwalks. And, no, vaping is not exempt. All butts and butt-pretenders will be off limits. On January 16, the state will initiate one of the toughest anti-tobacco laws in the country, NJ Spotlight reports, And the fines will be sufficient to burn holes in your pockets; starting at $250 for a first offense, and then up to $1,000. One puzzler: It's not yet clear who will enforce the ban. Click here to read more.
NEWARK - In the latest effort to make our local airport a friendlier, happier place, filled with joy and laughter for travelers of all ages, the Transportation Security Administration is playing its part. No longer will there be growling German shepherds sniffing out all the international drug smugglers. Rather, finding all that cocaine will now be the job of floppy-eared dogs, like golden and Labrador retrievers. TSA officials say there is much more "passenger acceptance" for the floppy-eared pooch that will perhaps lick your face and wag its tail before it detects your stash and sends you away for 20 to life.
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS - Rowdy and chaotic is the only way to describea wild five-hour reorganization meeting that turned a national media spotlight on this borough. The 5-1 Democrat-controlled Council fired the borough administrator; refused to reappoint a borough attorney claiming her legal advice is "too biased," and spurned Mayor Mario Kranjac's list of board appointments. The Record says when Kranjac was unable to get a word in edgewise due to repeated audience outbursts, he hit a "panic button" under the dais, causing cops to swarm into the council chamber. Finding no threat - just a boisterous meeting - a police captain scolded the mayor: "That button is for an emergency. You've been told numerous times."
WAYNE - "Casper" wasn't such a friendly ghost when he jumped over the reception desk at a Route 46 hotel, pried open a cash drawer and vanished with a few hundred bucks. Cops weren't spooked for very long, arresting a 59-year-old guest at the Ramada Inn hours after the Dec. 29 robbery. Police tell The Record the culprit, who lives in town, tried "to conceal his identity wearing a ghost-style bed sheet with holes cut out" for his eyes. He's now haunting the guest accommodations at the Passaic County Jail on burglary and theft charges.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
PORTLAND, OR - Picking up something for dinner has a whole new meaning in Oregon, where you are now permitted to scoop up roadkill and eat it. You just need to secure yourself a "Roadkill Salvage Permit." The new law also stipulates that motorists are not permitted to intentionally aim their cars at passing deer or elk; they are only allowed free access to previously-dead animals. While the law is certainly new in Oregon, in states like Washington and Pennsylvania, many locals have been enjoying the culinary fare discovered on the local interstate for the past couple of years, the Washington Post reports. State officials do note they are absolved from any responsibility if the discovered meat turns out to be stomach-turning.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1990 that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed off to the public because of some excessive, super-duper leaning.
WORD OF THE DAY
Dystopia - [dis-TOH-pee-ə] - noun
Definition: Opposite of utopia; an imaginary place or state in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror.
Example: President Trump: supreme ruler of a White House of dystopia?
WIT OF THE DAY
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"Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember: the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you."
- Zig Ziglar
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WEATHER IN A WORD
Chilly
THE NEW 60
A Jaffe Briefing exclusive
by Andy Landorf & John Colquhoun