Atlantic County officials expect to announce shortly the signing of a lease at the soon-to-open National Aviation Research & Technology Park in Egg Harbor Township.
What Are Your Priorities For The Next NJ Governor? Help Us Build The “People’s Agenda”
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As part of Voting Block, a collaborative reporting project on the governor’s race involving 25 news organizations and dozens of neighbors, we want to know what your priorities are for the next governor. We’re creating a “people’s agenda” to send whoever wins the election on Nov. 7. And we need your help to build it. Tell us what you want the next governor to focus on during the first 100 days in office.
More about: Government, #VotingBlockNJ
Fix The Bulkhead On Your Way Out: Atlantic City’s Bungalow Park Addresses Next Governor
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The first thing the next governor of New Jersey should do is get out of Atlantic City, a group of city residents agreed at a recent dinner in Bungalow Park. The almost one-year-old takeover of the city, which came after years of state oversight failed to avert a fiscal crisis in the gambling resort, is deeply unpopular with residents. Not one of the 13 guests at our Voting Block gathering at the Back Bay Ale House thought the state should continue its oversight. Neighbors from Bungalow Park, a bayfront enclave of homeowners that has withstood Superstorm Sandy and AtlanticheCity’s many cycles of urban renewal and urban neglect, fear rising property taxes are threatening their community. And with the state in charge of the city government, they have even less of a platform from which to raise that issue – and others – than ever before.
More about: Government, #VotingBlockNJ, Bungalow Park, Kim Guadagno, New Jersey election 2017, Phil Murphy, Voting Block
Voting Block Pleasantville: We’re Looking For A Leader
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New Jersey needs a leader in its next governor, someone who can help influence national politics and change rhetoric around major issues facing the state, agreed a group of Atlantic County residents last week.
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More about: Government
Atlantic City’s Tourism District Sees High Number Of Overdoses
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Most Atlantic City overdoses this year occurred in the Tourism District, according to an exclusive Route 40 analysis of the city’s 911 call data.
More about: Government, Rebuilding Atlantic City
One-Sided Debate
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Colin Bell, the candidate for the Second Legislative District in the New Jersey State Senate, stood by himself on the stage last night at what was supposed to be a debate at Dante Hall in Atlantic City, after his opponent, Chris Brown, cancelled yesterday morning.
More about: Government
CRDA To Auction $15 Million Of Banked Atlantic City Real Estate
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The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority is preparing to sell off some of its Atlantic City real estate holdings, according to documents filed on its website.
“The CRDA seeks an experienced professional firm to market and auction surplus real property owned by the Authority and no longer necessary for its operations,” says the request for proposal. The real estate to be auctioned off ranges from a half-block package in the Inlet with a valuation of $6 million, to a $300 non-buildable alley on North Massachusetts Ave.
More about: Government, Rebuilding Atlantic City, Watchdog Journalism, Atlantic City, casino reinvestment development authority, CRDA, land banking, real estate auction
Atlantic City’s Tourism District Has A Needle Problem. It Can Be Fixed.
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Atlantic City’s tourism district is home to New Jersey’s biggest needle exchange. The Oasis Drop In Center on Tennessee Avenue gives out thousands more needles than are returned each week.
More about: Government, Rebuilding Atlantic City, Atlantic City, atlanticare, drug users, injection drug users, john brooks, John Schultz
Atlantic County School Enrollment Still Falling
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School enrollment across New Jersey has recovered from lows reached after the recession, but in parts of South Jersey including Atlantic County, enrollment is still falling. Enrollment in Atlantic County dipped to a new low of 43,515 in the last school year, with small districts such as Margate and Ventnor as well as larger districts including Buena Regional leading the declines. The area more broadly has been experiencing a population decline – but the school enrollment numbers show that it is not just older people and childless millennials who are moving away. Families are moving too. In districts such as Margate and Ventnor the decline in school enrollment has been compounded as the communities become dominated by second-home owners.
More about: Government
Mapping New Jersey’s Shrinking School Districts
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More than half of New Jersey’s school districts have shrunk in the last six years, reflecting wider population moves toward urban areas as well as net migration from the state. School districts are shrinking at a rapid rate in the Northwest of the state, as well as in Southern shore communities such as Avalon, Margate and Ventnor.
More about: Data Journalism, Government, high school, municipal mergers, new jersey schools, rowan university, school district mergers, Stockton University
Food & Water Watch Worried By Renewed Atlantic City Water Talks
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A push to renew talks about combining Atlantic City’s water authority with the Atlantic County Utilities Authority has worried community organizers who just two days ago won a commitment from the city council to hold a public vote on any plans to sell or lease the city’s water.