“If we make the difficult decisions now and do the difficult things, there is no limit to Atlantic City’s future,” Governor Chris Christie told radio host Harry Hurley yesterday, when discussing his appointment of Jeff Chiesa as Atlantic City’s new man in charge amid the state takeover. It remains to be seen what difficult things the state will actually do. One nice tidbit from this Press of Atlantic City piece on Chiesa is that he and his staff now have an office in City Hall – and they are squeezed in with their government colleague, the state monitor of the city. Which goes some way to illustrating how big a change this iteration of Atlantic City’s state takeover really is.
The $1 billion gas pipeline project that investors – including South Jersey Gas – say will bring cheaper gas to South Jersey has been slammed by a state official. A state consumer advocate on utilities prices said the companies behind the pipeline had failed to show why it was necessary and how it would bring down prices for consumers, according to NJ Spotlight.
The rest of what we’re reading today includes a second report of assault at Rowan, poaching rule changes and an op-ed on impeaching Christie. The headlines are below.
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Rowan U. Reports Second Sexual Assault In Newest Dormitory–For the second time in a month Rowan University's newest dormitory has been the scene of an alleged sexual assault, according to authorities. A female student reported Tuesday she was sexually assaulted early Sunday morning in a room in Holly Pointe Commons, according to an e-mail the university sent out to the Rowan community. NJ.com
Opinion: Impeaching Christie — A Bad Idea Whose Time Hasn’t Come–Despite the apparently serious demands of its supporters, impeaching Governor Christie over his involvement in or knowledge of the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal is wishful thinking. The response ranged from unenthusiastic to outright opposition to the proposal by Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) for the Assembly to begin impeachment proceedings based on testimony offered during the seven-week federal trial of two former Christie administration officials charged with orchestrating the access-lane closures in Fort Lee in September 2013. www.njspotlight.com
Autism Grants Help New Jersey Families Coordinate Care–Autism rates are rising by double digits in New Jersey, but state-funded grants have provided some measure of hope and help to many hundreds of individuals with the developmental disorder and their families, who often struggle to provide adequate care. These efforts received the latest boost last week when the Governor’s Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism distributed $3.2 million in grant funding for eight separate projects focused on understanding, diagnosing, treating, and living with autism-spectrum disorder. www.njspotlight.com
Proposed Wildlife Agreement Prevents Poachers From Repeat Violations–A new bill under consideration in Trenton on Monday will help prevent poachers from violating state laws. Poachers with a record of violations from another state could be denied a New Jersey license to fish, hunt, or trap under the introduced measure. www.snjtoday.com