Dear readers…
We are going to be taking a break from the daily Roundup for two weeks (back on Monday July 9). We’re hoping this will give us a bit of time to work on some articles that we’ve been planning for the website, as well as catching up with other bits and pieces like the featured images review (find that over on our Instagram page). We also have a bunch of personal and professional commitments to take care of… We’ll miss the daily Roundup and interacting with readers though, so feel free to get in touch via email.
In the meantime, it’s official: South Jersey is the epicenter of the opioid epidemic. You should also read this story about Burlington City’s efforts to redevelop its waterfront, and how a balloon-ensnared osprey – at a height of 35 feet- was rescued (did you know a group of Absecon Island residents are helping lead the charge for New Jersey-wide legislation that would ban balloon releases?) Remember at election time when Steve Sweeney and the NJEA had a big fight? A Gloucester county teacher is now suing because she says she doesn’t want to be forced to subsidize the union. And the new Hard Rock failed to spell rhythm correctly on its giant guitar (whoever did this – those of us who make frequent embarrassing proof-reading errors thank you for making us feel a little better).
All that and more below:
Rutgers Scientist Helps ID New Cancer-Causing Agent In Tobacco Smoke–When it comes to cancer caused by cigarette smoke, experts may have misplaced the bulk of the blame. According to a new study, scientists at NYU School of Medicine and Rutgers University have found that chemicals called aldehydes — present in tobacco smoke in high quantities — are the primary cause of damage to DNA and suppress its ability to repair damage. www.njspotlight.com
Mays Landing Woman Uses Billboard For Kidney Transplant–Adella Gigliotti sat at her kitchen table in her home with a cup of tea in hand and a bulky folder in the other. The folder read “Penn Transplant Institute.” www.pressofatlanticcity.com
NJ Lawmakers OK 5-Cent Fee On Plastic/Paper Carry-Out Bags–By the slimmest of margins, lawmakers yesterday voted to impose a nickel fee on plastic and paper bags, a strategy intended to reduce the use of single-use carryout bags. The bill (A-3267) aims to tackle the mounting problem of coping with the millions of bags that end up in garbage dumps and waterways and littering roads and landscape across the state. www.njspotlight.com
Push Comes To Shove: Legislature Sends Its 2019 Spending Bill To Murphy–A day of high-level negotiations and a surprise court ruling momentarily brightened hopes for a budget deal in Trenton yesterday, but in the end the talks failed to produce agreement. That led lawmakers to follow through on their promise to send Governor Phil Murphy a legislative spending bill, one that he’s already promised to veto. www.njspotlight.com
Hard Rock May Have Spent $500M, But Its Really Big Guitar Has A Really Bad Mistake–The 30-foot-tall Gibson Les Paul model was installed Thursday morning at the corner of Absecon Boulevard and North Virginia Avenue in Atlantic City. NJ Advance Media photographer Tim Hawk was there, and captured a pretty major misspelling. www.nj.com
I Want Nothing To Do With The NJEA, So Stop Taking My Money, Teacher’s Lawsuit Says–A South Jersey teacher who doesn't want anything to do with the state's largest teachers' union has filed suit saying she shouldn't be forced to "subsidize" the New Jersey Education Association and its activities. Filed in U.S. District Court in Camden, Ann Smith claims her constitutional rights are being violated by forcing her to pay 'representation fees' as a condition of her employment as a public school teacher -- "even though Ms. Smith refused to join the teachers' union and does not wish to subsidize the union's activities." www.nj.com
Think Before Releasing Balloons: Osprey Tangled 35-feet Up Rescued At Shore–Ben Wurst was at a meeting on Sedge Island, just off Island Beach Park on Barnegat Bay, on Tuesday when a coworker walked in and said a young osprey was ensnared in a ribbon that was attached to a balloon. Soon, Wurst would find himself 35 feet in the air trying to save the bird. www.philly.com
While Ocean Resort Revels In Its Sportsbook, The Hard Rock Is Silent–Two new casinos are opening up in Atlantic City next week. At the Ocean Resort, where the Revel used to be, they are crowing about sportsbook. It’s going to be in the middle of the casino floor. www.philly.com
Facebook Warning Likely Prevented More Bloodshed At Trenton Festival Shooting–A warning posted on Facebook by a schoolteacher hours before Sunday’s early-morning shooting at a Trenton arts festival that left 22 people injured and one man dead prompted an increased police presence at the popular event and likely saved lives, the Mercer County prosecutor said Thursday in a reversal of his prior criticism of the teacher for not going directly to the police. www.philly.com
Burlington City’s Waterfront To Sparkle Decades After Land Was Cleared Of Rowhouses, Factories–Claudine Conaway vividly remembers growing up and raising a family in a Burlington City rowhouse by the Delaware River, only to be forced out with her neighbors — more than 100 African American families — to make way for urban renewal more than 40 years ago. “We were the last house standing,” said Conaway, recalling how the city initially offered $10,000 for their three-story, four-bedroom house. www.philly.com
‘It’s Surreal.’ Ivan Kane Revs Up His Royal Jelly Burlesque Club As Revel Comes Back As Ocean Resort–When the dancers and bartenders from Ivan Kane’s Royal Jelly Burlesque Nightclub were last seen inside the doomed Revel resort, it was nearly dawn, and the crew was holding court over a dizzy, boozy, occasionally teary, increasingly surreal exercise in futility: the shutdown of a perfectly nice casino. At Revel, a lot of people and businesses — though not the casino itself — made money before it closed on Sept. 2, 2014, still a toddler at two years, five months. www.philly.com
South Jersey Man Pleads Guilty In Connection With April Kauffman Slaying–A Cape May County man pleaded guilty Thursday to a racketeering charge in connection with the shooting death of April Kauffman, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner said. Joseph Mulholland, 52, of Villas, pleaded to the second-degree charge before Superior Court Presiding Judge Bernard DeLury. www.philly.com