Remember when we wrote about the trampoline park coming to the Hamilton Mall area? It’s opening today!
Campaign $$$
The Inquirer’s Amy Rosenberg rode along with some private investigators hired by Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian’s campaign to look into the use of messenger ballots by Democrats in the city. The investigators found at least one person received $30 for signing for a messenger ballot in the name of a stranger and – instead of handing the ballot over to the named stranger (as required by law) – the person handed it over to Atlantic City Democratic activist Craig Callaway. You might remember that the Atlantic City Dem. primary was narrowly won by Frank Gilliam, with the difference in votes coming down to vote-by-mail and provisional ballots (the other candidate, Marty Small, won the most votes-by-machine). As Callaway says in Rosenberg’s article, money being exchanged for so-called “get out the vote” activities is not illegal in itself. But the Guardian campaign wants the messenger votes to be set aside until they can be investigated by either the Board of Elections or law enforcement.
Photo by Joyce Foy (@lakesgirljf on Instagram)
Hard Rock $$$
The Hard Rock Atlantic City project got a $400 million loan from its Seminole tribe parent, which makes it seem more real, somehow – read the Route 40 exclusive here. There’s still no word on the details of how Hard Rock and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority will arrange the “Entertainment Retail District” for the project, however.
Pipeline State
Pinelands-born journalist Kim Kelly has written an in-depth piece looking at New Jersey’s push for pipelines through the Pine Barrens. “The national news media may not care that much about what’s happening out in the woods, but the people who consider it home certainly do,” Kelly writes – read more here.
In the rest of the day’s news, Camden’s needle exchange has closed while officials try and find it a new permanent location, New Jersey is suing opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid crisis, NJ pharmacies can now dispense overdose-antidote Narcan without a prescription, and Atlantic City’s Iron Room won NJ Monthly’s best whisky bar poll. All that and more below:
Dozen Atlantic City Police Officers Retire–Atlantic City lost a dozen police officers to retirement Tuesday. All have served at least a quarter-century on the force, Sgt. Kevin Fair said. breakingac.com
Admitted Bank Robber Sentenced To 87 Months In Prison–A Virginia man was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison Tuesday for a 2016 bank robbery spree that included banks in Atlantic and Ocean cities. Bruce Wayne Higgins, 43, of Herndon, Virginia, previously pleaded guilty in Camden Federal Court to robbing four banks in less than a week. breakingac.com
In A City Ravaged By Heroin, A Needle Exchange Stalls–As she pressed down on the plunger of an empty syringe, a drop of blood oozed from the crooked tip of its needle —a test, Denise Brown said, that she uses on unpackaged syringes she now buys on the street. www.philly.com