The Jaffe Briefing - February 11, 2019
STATEWIDE - Baby boomers: Your days are numbered. At some point this year - at a moment no one will notice - the amount of millennials will quietly surpass the number of baby boomers, the Pew Research Center reports. It will be a quiet handing of the torch, leaving a fresh new generation to deal with our overburdened infrastructure, drowning pension obligations and, alas, lest we forget, rising sea levels. We expect plenty of solutions from our brilliant millennials, just as soon as they pay off college debt and put actual money, not bitcoin, into savings accounts. According to the all-knowing Pew, the boomers peaked in 1999, and most are now more interested in early-bird menus than solving New Jersey's problems, Millennials, born between 1981-1996, and never masters of the rotary phone, are running the roost. And what about Generation X, born from 1965-1980? Yep, their numbers are dwindling, too.
TRENTON - All that's needed for New Jerseyans to have a more robustpaid family leave program - and expanded temporary disability program - is Gov. Phil Murphy's signature. Democrats in the Legislature have sent the governor a bill that would double the time workers could take off, pay them more while they're off, and make more workers eligible. Advocates have been pushing this for years, NJ Spotlight points out, but have dealt with an immovable roadblock, former Gov. Chris Christie. And, even though some believe the current bill is far from perfect, Democrats still want Murphy to sign it. NJ Spotlight reports.
STATEWIDE - You'd think prison inmates would have lots of priorities,like getting out in one piece. But a Rutgers study shows that, for many, there is a surprising focus: Trying to kick the smoking habit, NJ 101.5 reports. The Rutgers School of Public Health says 169 inmates in three state correctional facilities want to stop smoking out in the yard, but smoking cessation programs aren't exactly a priority for wardens with plenty of pressing issues. Even though prisoners are no longer allowed to smoke indoors, Rutgers researchers note they aren't getting treatment like patches, the gum and lozenges, as well as individual and group-based counseling. Neither are many other smokers who reside out of prison and can't afford such services.
HARRISON - Coffee too weak? Sandwiches too stale? No one knows exactly why a distraught QuickChek customer went berserk, sweeping items off store shelves and chucking beverages from coolers. Her bizarre rampage at the Bergen Street convenience store on Friday morning stunned customers including Mayor Jim Fife. Video shows the woman approaching a cashier with a can of Pringles and Vitamin Water, then flinging candy bars over her shoulder before leaving. Police continue to look for the woman, but Mayor Fife tells ABC News: "I hope she's feeling better. I hope she gets help because, I mean it's not normal behavior."
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
NEW YORK - Nuttiness is not just a Jersey thing, as another customer went crazy for absolutely no logical reason. This time, it was a baseball bat to two windows at a local hamburger joint, after the customer learned the place ran out of her favorite patties. NYPD released video on Saturday of the Jan. 15 incident, showing the woman - lets call her "Batty Patty" - using an aluminum Louisville Slugger to smash the window at the Back Home restaurant in the Bronx. No bologna in this story.
MAPLE GLEN, PA. - 7,000 shares. 188 comments. That's the amount of web traffic on a NJ.com story, so far, about a house for sale that features a sex room. The listing Realtor couldn't get more viral PR in her dreams, as she tries to get lots of offers for this stately $750,000 colonial in the Philly suburbs. With its fully-furnished "pleasure room," the house is now dubbed "50 Shades of Maple Glen," honoring the erotic romance books and movies. The home's fifth bedroom is listed as the pleasure room, but, according to the real estate listing, it could easily be "converted back to a typical suburban basement." It could also be marketed as a room with a view.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
You always thought Joey Tribbiani was somewhat of an idiot. But he and the other five "Friends" were able to score $24 million apiece from NBC for the ninth and final season of the sitcom, on this day in 2002.
WORD OF THE DAY
Wiseacre - [WYZ-ay-kər] - noun
Definition: A smart-aleck; one who pretends to knowledge or cleverness, not always sincerely
Example: When Joey spoke in public, was he more a wiseacre or a crackpot?
WIT OF THE DAY
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"It is surprising what a man can do when he has to, and how little most men will do when they don't have to."
- Walter Linn
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WEATHER IN A WORD
Sad
THE NEW 60
A Jaffe Briefing exclusive
by Andy Landorf & John Colquhoun
