Flooding
After a beautiful day yesterday and a sunny start to the week, it’s easy to forget the torrential rain we experienced on Saturday. If you live on Absecon Island, though, what is your personal limit for those days? Those days when you are either directly housebound because of flooding on your street, or you know that if you need to drive anywhere you’ll be risking your car through brackish water somewhere along the road. The Atlantic City marina saw some of the state’s highest rainfall on Friday. In just one day, the island saw almost the entirety of May’s average monthly rain.
Atlantic City, via @kclaire732 on Instagram. The photo was taken as part of the NJ Mega Meet of photographers on Friday May 12.
We live in Ventnor, a block from the bay, and our street and sidewalk flood every time it rains at high tide. If you’re interested in the topic of flooding, you should read this article via PBS and Climate Central, which discusses some of the repercussions of investing in house raises versus community-wide flood defenses. And this piece, via Bloomberg, on The nightmare scenario for Florida’s Coastal Homeowners is also worth reading.
Mazzeo’s Tax Plan
With 21 out of 23 municipalities seeing Atlantic County tax hikes this year, NJ 101.5 has some more details on Vince Mazzeo’s plan for a county-wide tax assessor which he says would streamline county tax assessments. Democratic Assemblyman Mazzeo has proposed legislation that would move assessment appeals from April to January, helping municipalities to better prepare their budgets. The plan would eliminate local tax assessors and also keep assessments at 100 percent of their market value. Mazzeo says he’s optimistic there will be support for the bill in Trenton, since it would help Atlantic City. The Queen of Resorts has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of tax appeals by casinos and others in recent years. That has hurt the budgets of both the city and the county.
Meet Omar, Omar the Great. And get in touch with more suggestions for our #humansofAtlanticCity featurettes.
It’s been almost a year since we wrote about Glenn Straub’s to-do list for reopening the Revel (that was so long ago it was before the property became TEN.) The Press’s Christian Hetrick pointed out on Twitter that the city has a new checklist for Straub.
In the rest of the news from the weekend and this morning, Ocean City’s Martin Mollusk predicts an early summer, a man was shot and killed in Atlantic City on Mother’s Day, and here’s a long-form look at what went down at that Tom MacArthur town hall last week, when the 3rd District congressman faced residents over his work on the American Health Care bill. All that and more below:
Another man dies in alleged South Jersey drag race–An alleged drag-racing accident in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, claimed a second life over the weekend. Philly.com
Wildwood’s bigger better dog beach: Two paws up–More of Wildwood’s beachfront will be going to the dogs this summer. Philly.com
Constitutional Amendment to Stop Diverting Clean Energy Funds?–Environmentalists urged legislators yesterday to stop raiding clean energy funds to solve state budgetary problems, a tactic that has resulted in up to $1.5 billion in diversions over the past seven years. www.njspotlight.com
Mother of 3 and wife of Josh Vadell shows ‘resilience and strength’–EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Laura Vadell remembers a night last September sitting with her husband on her front porch, talking about their baby on the way. Press of Atlantic City
See the faces of recovery from addiction in South Jersey–Addiction is a primary, chronic disease. Press of Atlantic City
A.C. Rescue Mission needs $500,000 for ovens–ATLANTIC CITY — Atlantic City Rescue Mission officials would like admirers of their organization to show “some lovin’ for our ovens” — and the entire kitchen operation — this spring and summer. Press of Atlantic City