The Jaffe Briefing - June 8, 2022

STATEWIDE – If you can’t trust a for-profit cosmetology school, who can you trust? The state is suing the clearly prestigious CAPRI Institute for “defrauding students” and engaging in “substandard business practices that financially harmed students.” The school suddenly shuttered last December with little notice, leaving students out on the curb, with not a hair to spray. There were no offers of tuition refunds or a release of official transcripts for students transferring to other cosmetology schools of higher learning. Not stopping there, the Attorney General filed a complaint against the state Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling, calling for immediate suspension of the school’s licenses at its four leafy campuses in Paramus, Clifton, Kenilworth and Brick. “When for-profit schools fail to deliver on their promise to provide students with the education and training to build successful careers in their chosen professions, we will hold them accountable,”  the AG states. No response from the “institute,” likely flipping a wig.

BRIEFING BREATHER

It’s impossible to tickle yourself. Go ahead and try.

ATLANTIC CITY – A statewide association that helps seniors and people with disabilities live healthier lives wants to ensure they can continue smoking in Atlantic City casinos. Yes, at first brush, that makes zero sense.  But, as NJ Spotlight reports, it’s all about the money. The New Jersey Association of Area Agencies on Aging, or NJ4A, is warning that eliminating tobacco use at casinos would have a “devastating impact” on programs for vulnerable state residents. Why? Because the state collects $425 million or so in taxes, directed to support programs for low-income seniors and those with disabilities. Sen. Joe Vitale, fighting to end smoking in casinos since 2006, called it a “bizarre-world” argument from elder advocates, adding “I feel like I’m living in an alternate universe.”

JERSEY CITY – There’s a gem of a park with glorious views of NYC, yet many don’t visit. Sen. Brian Stack thinks Liberty State Park needs a quarter billion dollars as part of a complete redesign. Politico reports his proposed bill would also create a 17-member task force charged with devising a new plan to "improve recreational activities and maintain and upgrade scenic and wildlife habits and areas.” Some environmentalists are ringing alarm bells, as billionaires have been steadily urging for the super-exclusive, ultra-expensive Liberty National Golf Course to be expanded into Liberty State Park. So the big question will be if Stack is pushing for private development that would certainly rake in wheelbarrows of cash, but pull the island away from being a public treasure.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

ALBANY — There were plenty of cockroaches in the Albany City courthouse on Tuesday. And, no, we’re not talking about the lawyers.  (Sorry, that joke was a layup.) Instead, hundreds of real-life cockroaches infiltrated the building, courtesy of a wacko attending an arraignment.  A clash broke out during proceedings for four people arrested at the state Capitol, when one defendant started to film courtroom proceedings and was ordered to stop. Then, someone who somehow snuck plastic containers of cockroaches into the building released all the bugs.  Court was quickly adjourned for the day, as exterminators were called in for a full fumigation. Meanwhile, potential jurors had a great excuse for getting out of jury duty.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1869 that Ives McGaffey patented a carpet sweeping machine, the very device that cleaned rugs, to the direct relief of the housekeeper

WORD OF THE DAY

Gawsy – [gaw-see] – adjective

Definition: Well-dressed and cheerful appearance

Example: My kid mastered a gawsy look at the prom

WIT OF THE DAY

“No one was elected to Congress because he or she promised to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.”

-Jimmy Hoffa

BIDEN BLURB

“Social Security's not the hard one to solve. Medicare, that is the gorilla in the room, and you've got to put all of it on the table.”

-Joe Biden

WEATHER IN A WORD

Steamy