48 Blocks
Atlantic City is 48 blocks long and on Saturday its streets will be covered with art, as the AC Arts Foundation joins forces with Stockton University to bring a new festival to town. There will be live music, ballet, free yoga, performance art, poetry on a jitney and an AC memory-sharing project (among other things). The festival will run from 10 am and at 6 pm there will be a celebration at the Noyes Arts Garage where you’ll be able to try Little Water Distillery’s 48 Blocks vodka (50 cents from the purchase of each bottle goes back to the Arts Foundation) and the ’48’, a signature pizza made by Tony Baloney’s.
Here’s the map of art and activities for Saturday and you can read more about the project via AC Weekly:
Early Retirement Bill
Democratic Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo has proposed a bill that would reinstate an early retirement program for Atlantic City police and firefighters. An early retirement initiative was included in the state legislation that allowed it to take over Atlantic City and make changes to police and fire employment contracts, but the state’s lawyers moved to force pay cuts and other changes without offering any package. “Atlantic City’s Police and Fire Departments have made significant cuts over the past few years to bring themselves in line with the needs of the community. Additional restructuring can happen through early retirement incentives, which is why I worked to include that as a cornerstone of the intervention legislation,” said Mazzeo. More here via The Press of Atlantic City.
Need a distraction? Check out this video and piece on a fawn that likes to swim in a family pool in Freehold.
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In the rest of the news from the last 24 hours, Reuters has a long-read dig into shady online transactions that are often tied to gaming in states where internet gambling is illegal, there’s a plan afoot to boost NJ library funding with a bond issue, and nobody is tracking New Jersey’s unspent funds and maybe something should be done about it. All that and more below:
Detention Hearings Held for Two of Three Alleged Drug-Traffickers–One of three men who allegedly brought more than $1 million worth of street drugs to Atlantic City will be held pending trial. Steven Torres, Steven Rodriguez and Edwin Gomez are accused of being part of a drug-trafficking ring that brought large quantities of drugs from Mexico to New York and then to Atlantic City. BreakingAC
Two Atlantic City Men Arrested With 628 Bags of Heroin–Atlantic City police arrested two men and seized 628 bags of heroin after residents’ complaints. Special Investigations Section Sgts. Richard Andrews and Daniel Corcoran initiated a surveillance operation in the south block of Iowa Avenue, after complaints about narcotic activity. BreakingAC
Christie Renews Push to Tap Horizon Blue Cross funds–Governor Christie on Wednesday renewed his push to tap the reserve funds of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, nine days before the state budget deadline. He has proposed using the money for drug treatment of the poor and uninsured. Philly.com
Wildwood Summer Beach Concert Schedule Reportedly Held Up By ’90-90 rule’–Summer starts Wednesday, but Wildwood still hasn't announced bands or lineups to fulfill the shore town's ambitious plans to hold multiple beach concerts this year, according to a report. Mayor Ernie Troiano told PressofAtlanticCity.com that Wildwood's announcement has been delayed because of the so-called "90-90 rule" imposed by Live Nation, which promotes concerts in Atlantic City. NJ.com
Drone Tests Portable Cell Site For Emergency Communications in Cape May County–First responders in Cape May have tested out smart phones provided by Verizon to see if they could get a wireless signal, connect to the internet or make a call via a drone carrying a "flying cell site". The aircraft communications were connected back to the State Police command center in Trenton and the Cape May County emergency management center. Press of Atlantic City
Renovated Brown’s Park in Atlantic City Open for Summer–Atlantic City officials gathered to reveal the summer schedule of activities to formally usher in their newly renovated community park. On Wednesday, June 21st, Atlantic City Councilman Kaleem Shabazz (D), representative of the city's Third Ward, announced the full list of fun activities the city has planned at the revamped Brown's Memorial Park. www.snjtoday.com
Things Will be Popping Up All Over AC at 48 Blocks–“Somebody told me that Atlantic City was 48 blocks long,” recalls Lisa Honaker, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Stockton University. “I thought that’d be an excellent name for something.” Press of Atlantic City
O.C. POPS Brings In A Heavy Hitter — Vanessa Williams — For Opening Show–When Ocean City wants to pull out all the stops for the opening of its famed POPS series, they really pull out all the stops. Television, movie and recording star — not to mention the most famous Miss America ever — Vanessa Williams will open the season for the Ocean City POPS 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 25, at the Ocean City Music Pier. Press of Atlantic City
The Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven Reopens its Doors After Closing in 2015–For years the Surflight Theatre and Show Place Ice Cream Parlour in Beach Haven was an artistic hub for South Jersey. That all ended in 2015 when the theatre shuttered, a result of financial woes and damage caused by a fire and Hurricane Sandy. Press of Atlantic City