Route 40 (https://rtforty.com/author/sprouseb/page/32/)
The Republicans are passing their tax bill, which is still polling in the low 30s, owing to the recalcitrance of the liberal media, though to be fair lots of other groups have spoken out against the bill as well. Among the locals in Congress it only has Tom MacArthur’s support. LoBiondo called it “detrimental.” Etc.
Adam Clark and Jessica Remo at NJ.com have a great story on school teachers in New Jersey accused of sexual misconduct–as in, against their own students–and how they keep getting jobs even though: are you kidding me?
“It’s called ‘passing the trash,'” Clark and Remo report, “a reckless cycle enabled by school administrators who fear litigation and shy away from controversy.” It echoes the situation with the Catholic Church or the Boy Scouts.
The chairman of a hospital in New Jersey has resigned amid revelations he’d promoted a friend to serve as his assistant in a “‘low-show’ six-figure job,” Susan Livio reports. That chairman was: former New Jersey Governor Donald DiFrancesco! The job went to his friend, Jill Cooperman. Altogether, her hiring cost the “struggling” hospital $500,000, and Livio has a nice breakdown of how that cost was divided:
A bill that would “give some elected officials bigger pensions” moved briskly through a senate panel yesterday, with zero debate and “in roughly one minute” of elapsed time, Christian Hetrick reports. The “pension padding” bill comes “at a time when public workers who are not politically connected have seen cutbacks.” Camden Mayor Dana Redd is singled out as a beneficiary of this happy legislation.
A guy who voted twice to put pipelines through your Pine Barrens–that national treasure–was not living where he was supposed to be living when he cast those votes on the Pinelands Commission, according to an environmentalist who just dropped a bunch of documents demonstrating the fact pretty convincingly, Michelle Brunnetti Post reports in the must-read story of the day.
Jeffrey “Boardwalk Emperor” Chiesa and his gang of avid money-savers hired a private investigator to “track” Atlantic City firefighters who are fighting–in addition to the fires–the state’s efforts to cut their salaries, the firefighters allege in court documents, the indispensable Amy Rosenberg reports.
Someone noticed a car lurking and called the police who ran the plates.
NJ.com explores the question of when–and under what exact conditions–you’re allowed to use the bathroom at a Wawa that doesn’t have a public bathroom. I love all Wawa stories, but even to me this seemed a little in-depth. On the other hand, I can definitely relate to the phrase “urgent going.”
Captain Carl Wants a Parking Lot
Buried in the middle of the Press of AC’s story on why redevelopment of the Trump Plaza is “critical” to the future of Atlantic City, comes an announcement from Nick Talvacchia on plans for the vacant lot that will be created when the casino is torn down. Nicky T. is serving as attorney for billionaire Carl (“Friend of Donald”) Icahn who wants his $5.6 million back, so he can do site work on his moldering casino. He should get that money, the Press of AC reports, citing “industry watchers” who note that while Captain Carl may be unpopular, knocking down the Plaza is in the best interest of the city. So what’s Carl going to build on the old Plaza? 160-space parking lot! I’m told Millennials love parking lots.
Bridgetonians Deported
Longtime Bridgeton residents Oscar and Humberta Campos are being deported after last-minute appeal efforts failed. They’ve lived here almost 30 years, have a house and a small biz, The Courier-Post reported. They also have three kids–ages 24, 22 and 15–who are citizens and will stay. The oldest son is going through the legal process to take care of the 15-year old. Oscar and Humberta had a flight this morning at 5 a.m. out of Newark.
You’re in the Wrong Business
If you’re an insurance broker, you can make a bundle selling plans to “public entities” like school systems or fire departments, which “employ hundreds of thousands of workers across the state.” So it makes sense that you should report your campaign contributions–and the value of those public contracts–to election officials, so we can all calculate your return on investment. But what if you don’t WANT to disclose those payments, because they’ll look funny for your industry, or for the elected officials who are supposed to be not-corrupt? Well turn’s out there’s a loophole that will get you out of that disclosure! Problem solved, citizen, Problem solved.