Sonny Lea RIP And More – Wednesday’s Roundup
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Sonny Lea, an Atlantic City Legend, died after a car crash Monday. He was 83. Lynda Cohen has the story.
CRDA To Fund Search For An Atlantic City Grocery Store
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A not-for-profit consulting company will get a $157,500 contract to find Atlantic City a grocery store, if all goes to plan at Tuesday’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority board meeting.
Atlantic City in some respects is a poster child for urban food desert: more than a third of the 38,000 residents lives in poverty and there is not a single major supermarket in the city.
What Is The Atlantic Club’s Owner Up To?
The Atlantic Club is still up for sale and its owners just modified a $10 million mortgage on their other Atlantic City Boardwalk property, The Claridge. These things are not related, Dale Schooley, director of acquisitions for the owners, TJM, told me yesterday. TJM paid cash for the Atlantic Club, Schooley added.
“We’re going to continue to market the property…the Atlantic Club. The Claridge is not for sale,” Schooley said.
Celeste Fernandez Is Trying To Talk About The Economy
Celeste Fernandez, candidate for freeholder at-large in Atlantic County, said she made her decision to run for office on November 9, 2016, which makes it easy to count her among the millions of women moved to action by the ascension of a reality TV star who boasted of sexual assault to the office of President of the United States.
Talking To Trees
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“We’re gonna talk to them!” says Robert Preston, Atlantic City’s interim planning director, when I ask him how the city is going to make sure 45 young trees survive planting in Uptown Park. One of the side effects of being a city that is constantly in the cross hairs of some or other developer is that the city is a sort of mausoleum to dying and dead landscaping. The buildings go up, the trees go in, the ribbon is cut, and then everyone forgets about watering the plants. There’s probably a metaphor there somewhere.
Supermarkets, Sandy and #MeToo – Tuesday’s Roundup
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The sexual assault scandal in the Phil Murphy administration is spiraling quickly, seemingly. “Furious, disgusted,” said Sen. Teresa Ruiz, “and then empowered to have read the story of a survivor that lends her name and her face to how the system appears to have let her down in a very dramatic way.”
Worker Safety In Hotels
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Assemblymen Mazzeo (Vince) and Armato (John) are sponsoring a bill requiring hotels with at least 25 rooms to provide portable emergency contact devices or “panic buttons” to employees (i.e. housekeeping) to protect against inappropriate conduct by guests that make work conditions unsafe.
Golf Tourney Remembers EHT’s Tommy Mac
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Friends of Tommy McLaughlin, an Egg Harbor Township native, who died in June after a long battle with addiction, held a golf tournament Sunday at McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links.
Assault Allegation, Wind Project and Send us your Goats! – Monday’s Roundup
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A volunteer for the Phil Murphy campaign has accused a member of the governor’s administration of sexual assault, alleging, the chief of staff for the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, Al Alvarez, raped her in April 2017.
Did A Congressional Candidate Say ICE Should Stake Out Emergency Rooms?
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Seth Grossman, the Republican candidate for Congress in the second district, seemed to suggest that immigration enforcement agents should stake out hospital emergency rooms to detain undocumented immigrants, during his debate with Jeff Van Drew at Stockton Wednesday night.
Excessive Force, Opioids, Dead Malls – Friday’s Roundup
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An Atlantic City police officer, Sterling Wheaten, was indicted for civil rights violations and filing a false report over the 2013 incident in which Wheaten put his K9 dog on David Castellani after Castellani had four other police on him and one hand in a handcuff, per the indictment.
The city has already paid $3 million over this incident.
CRDA, Noah, Norcs and the Atlantic Club – Thursday’s Roundup
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Cory Booker’s former chief of staff, Modia Butler, is joining the CRDA board.
Butler’s also a partner at Mercury, the terrifying public relations firm. Super.
Let It Not Collect Dust – Wednesday’s Roundup
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Everyone reports on the NJ Transit audit, which Governor Murphy released yesterday at a train station in Metuchen. The system’s a mess, but “fixable” Murphy said, while pledging not to let the report collect dust. It’s like he read our minds.
Prosecutors, Courts, Layoffs – Tuesday’s Roundup
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The Press of AC and Breaking AC have stories on Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner, specifically that three employees (one current, two former) have accused Tyner of futzing with evidence in the April Kauffman murder case, hiring unqualified relatives and committing mortgage fraud.
Lucy Had a Credit Card? – Friday’s Roundup!
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Phil Murphy who used to work for Goldman Sachs talked a lot about forming a state-run bank when he was campaigning for Governor, but hasn’t talked about it much since, the valuable Spotlight reports, apropos a report by the Citizen Action Education Fund, which you can read here.
Apologies, Unreasonable Anger and More – Thursday’s Roundup
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Apologies for no roundup Wednesday! Some days I have ragestroke and am unable to function. Also, some of us were traveling (side note – it’s possible to get from Atlantic City to La Guardia on public transit in three hours and fifteen minutes and for under $50).
A Plan, A Poll, A Raise – Tuesday’s Roundup
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Everyone covers Phil Murphy’s speech on his plan, or something, for the economy, in which he proposed a $500 million venture capital fund, to replace the tax-incentive programs which are up for renewal next year.
Kim v. MacArthur, Opioids, Fireworks – Monday’s Roundup
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The indefatigable Amy Rosenberg has a fun story on the race between Tom MacArthur and Andy Kim for the 3rd Congressional District, which has entered the Twilight Zone, with MacArthur simultaneously calling Kim a “Washington insider” (!) and “Not one of us” (Kim’s a second-generation American).