Needles, Class, Science & PR – Wednesday’s Roundup

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Last fall we did a story on the problem of discarded hypodermic needles across the Tourism District, and now one City Councilman says he has considered a proposal to pull the rules allowing the needle exchange on Tennessee Avenue.

For the record, it’s the editorial position of Route 40 that well-run needle exchanges are humane, save lives and save money. But we also think if the state uses “unsafe” and “unclean” conditions as an occasion to take over local government functions, it should
acknowledge the needle exchange is in the Tourism District that it administers.

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Narcan, Sales Tax, Did Everyone Move To Florida – Friday’s Roundup

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A couple of Narcan stories in the news, since that’s so depressingly timely. Matt Skoufalos at NJ Pen has a piece on Camden County health systems teaming up to buy the opioid antidote in bulk, which could reduce costs on the list price by 50%. Meanwhile Assemblyman Herb Conaway said prison inmates who are addicted to opioids should be given Narcan when they get out of jail, since they’re often very susceptible then to OD-ing. Phil Murphy proposed raising the state sales tax, and Fitch Ratings called that idea a “positive step.” Never forget bond traders run the world.

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Not Crazy Or Extreme – Thursday’s Roundup

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The blogger formerly known as Wally Edge has an informative thing on the Republican contest to replace Frank LoBiondo, calling that process a “train wreck.” He says a deal was struck to get Hirsh Singh to run for Congress so he’d get out of the race for state senate. But the R establishment hasn’t gotten behind Singh and instead the race for the LD2 nomination has splintered. It’s kind of fascinating to read about the Republican contenders and count how many spent their careers in the public sector, or made their money as defense contractors or whatever. That’s how you know they’re the party of small government.

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Labor Committee, Walking The Walk, Self-Serving Promos – Tuesday’s Roundup

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The state assembly’s Labor Committee had a busy day yesterday, advancing two bills, the first a piece of equal pay legislation that would require women be paid the same as men when they do “substantially similar work.” Naturally that would be a calamity for the Republic. The Labor Committee also advanced the Workplace Democracy Enhancement Act that ensures “union representatives” have “greater access to the public employees they represent” including by talking to them on their breaks.

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Lockdowns, Walkouts and the Process Matters – Thursday’s Roundup!

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School children took to the streets yesterday to press for legislation that might make it marginally harder for deranged persons to murder them by the dozen with high-powered military equipment, a situation the school children have been forced into because the adults have all lost their goddamned minds. You can read about the walkouts in New Jersey here and here if you like. At Atlantic City High, the school day was interrupted by reports of a weapon outside the school. Turned out it was unfounded. Elsewhere in system-checks, new Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said he would “not stand in the way of rapidly advancing legislation that would strip his office of authority over the state’s troubled medical examiner system and move it to the health department,” S.P. Sullivan reports.

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