Dates, Trials, Mea Culpa – Thursday’s Roundup
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For reasons related to my being even lazier than usual yesterday, we included in our roundup old data on the projected reopening date for AC-Philly rail line as if it were kind of new.
Brian Rose’s ‘Atlantic City’
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The photographer Brian Rose drove to Atlantic City in a Zip car from New York in November 2016, not long after the election. He started taking pictures around town with a Wanderlust Travelwide 4×5 camera to which he’d attached a 90mm Linhof lens, second-hand.
On an early visit, in the winter of 2017, he estimates, he set up in the South Inlet in the vicinity of Rhode Island Avenue and pointed his camera at the Revel casino.
Buy this Masonic Temple
The old Masonic Temple on Hartford Avenue in Chelsea is for sale, and has been for a while, per the big sign on the side of it.
In the 90s, the building was used as headquarters for the Atlantic City Police Department, when it was known as the “Temple of Doom.”
Camden and Atlantic City Ate the Cake
Projects in South Jersey got a disproportionate chunk of the money awarded under tax incentive programs that are now under scrutiny by lawmakers and the state comptroller.
EDA, PSE&G, Train Date – Wednesday’s Roundup
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Ted Sherman at NJ.com reports that Phil Murphy has requested resignations from at least five EDA board members, all Christie appointees. Chairman Laurence Downes has announced his resignation.
Subsidies! Mannequins! Pickleball Courts and More – Tuesday’s Roundup
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A group of notorious rabble-rousers including the AARP of New Jersey sent letters to the governor and BPU asking why an independent report has not yet been made public when a decision on the handsome subsides for PSE&G’s power plants could be made as early as Thursday.
Caesars, FEMA, Schools – Monday’s Roundup
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The Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that Tony Rodio will probably be named CEO of Caesars Entertainment, “due to his association with corporate raider Carl Icahn. ” (h/t to David Danzis)
Autism Rates, Recovery Coaches, Wrongful Convictions – Friday’s Roundup
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Autism Rates A report published by the Centers for Disease Control said one out of every 23 4-year-old boys in New Jersey is diagnosed with autism, and New Jersey preschool children have the highest autism rates ever recorded in the U.S . The study looked at autism rates across seven states. Recovery Coaches The Press has a cool story about a group of recovery coaches who are working to “fill in the gaps of substance abuse treatment and outreach” in Atlantic City, as Colt Shaw puts it. The Recovery Force of Atlantic County is looking to get office space above St. Mike’s Church.
Casino Workers, Wawa Day – Thursday’s Roundup
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Local 54 head Bob McDevitt went before the Casino Control Commission yesterday to talk about the hedge funds and private equity funds that have been buying up big stakes in casino companies, and every other company in god’s green America for that matter, and the threat they pose to local wage-earners.
Unpopular Politicians, Bike Paths etc. – Wednesday’s Roundup
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Matt Friedman at Politico has an amazing story on “phantom candidates” in Camden County, an old practice where people who aren’t interested in holding office filed to run for election just to make the ballot more confusing and protect incumbents, in this case the Norcross Dem machine.
Bruce Deifik, George Gilmore, Greyhound Tickets – Tuesday’s Roundup
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Everybody reports the news that Bruce Deifik, the former owner of the casino formerly known as the Revel, died in a car crash in Denver on Sunday.
Deifik bought the casino in early 2018 but lost it to a hedge fund this year. He was scheduled to go before casino regulators tomorrow over allegations of sexual harassment from employees at the casino, Amy Rosenberg reports.
Here’s How to get Discounted Greyhound Tickets – For Now
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It is still possible to buy discounted tickets to Atlantic City from the Port Authority bus terminal in New York. But you have to know where to look. Greyhound ended its discounted first-come, first-served policy for the Atlantic City-New York route on April 1. Now tourists and commuters using Greyhound buses have to buy tickets for specific departure times and dates, and the minimum cost of a round trip between the Port Authority and the Atlantic City bus terminal is $26. It is, however, still possible to get a discounted ticket if you select a specific casino to travel to and from.
Marijuana Robots, Opioid Taxes, Hate-Crimes Reporting and More – Monday’s Roundup
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In realer news, politicians in lab coats were photographed touring a marijuana factory in Nevada because New Jersey hasn’t even legalized marijuana yet and already robots are coming for the marijuana jobs. #innovation.
Stockton, Speed Limits, Space Team! – Wednesday’s Roundup
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Claire Lowe at the Press has fun details on Stockton’s expansion plans in Atlantic City, which include converting the old Eldridge building into dorms to create a true university feel.
I live in the neighborhood and it doesn’t feel too university-ish now, for what it’s worth. I mean I’ve yet to see a professor in a bow-tie, or a flying Model T go warbling and gurgling overhead, which is what I’d been trained to expect university life to look like from the movies. But it’s early days.
Opioids, Beachfront Housing and the City of Tomorrow – Tuesday’s Roundup
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The state Medicaid program removed prior-authorization requirements for “medication-assisted treatment” for opioid addiction, everyone reports. “When someone with an opioid addiction is ready for treatment, we shouldn’t be losing them to care while they wait for approval,” the Human Services Commissioner, Carole Johnson, said.
Health-Care $$$, Fire in the Pines – Monday’s Roundup
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Steve Sweeney told a conference of school principals and supervisors he wants to move New Jersey school teachers off the School Employees Health Benefits Plan to the State Health Benefits Plan and that doing so would save $300 million annually, the valuable Spotlight reports.
EDA, ACPD and Put Down Your Telephone – Friday’s Roundup
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A high-ranking official at the tax-prep firm Jackson Hewitt said, in testimony before a task force on the EDA, that a top executive at the company lied to get a $2.7 million tax incentive to keep them from moving to Florida or New York even though they already had a deal for a site in Jersey City, the Spotlight reports.
PSE&G, DuPont, Greyhound ‘Schedule’ – Thursday’s Roundup
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The Division of Rate Counsel said it opposed PSE&G’s petition to spend $2.78 billion on energy-efficient upgrades, which they do before passing those costs on to customers. Rate Counsel “experts argued the utility overstated how cost effective the proposed six-year program would be,” the valuable Spotlight reports.