A second Stockton student has come forward to allege in court she was raped by a graduate and that the school did not do enough to prevent the sexual assaults. The suit names a fraternity that was “unrecognized” by the school but still held parties off campus. It also named a 25-year-old who spiked, allegedly, a student’s drink, then assaulted her and posted videos of the assault online. The suit alleges Stockton did not investigate that alleged sexual assault. Stockton said it was not permitted to comment but looked forward doing so, when permitted. Read more from Lynda Cohen.
Elinor talked to some small South Jersey business owners who are hustling hard – there’s a lot going on in the shadows of the reopened casinos.
Thousands of New Jersey properties are regularly flooded, as in by floodwaters, then rebuilt, only to be flooded and rebuilt again and again–sometimes twenty or more times, according to this great story by Carla Astudillo, based on a report from the Houston Chronicle. The repairs are subsidized by the National Flood Insurance Program that covers 250,000 or so property owners in New Jersey. It’s a real shame when you think about it, how many affluent beach-house owners have become dependent on the government. They need to take the training-wheels off.
New Jersey’s muni courts system collected $400 million in fines and fees last year, S.P. Sullivan reports, under a system that contains “unnecessary conflicts of interest” because judges are hired by towns and have their performance evaluated on the revenue they collect. That story’s based on a report commissioned by the state Supreme Court that found residents get dinged for low-level offenses then shaken down with threats of jail time or license suspensions, etc. end up getting charged with contempt, piling up additional fines, under a system that sometimes had “more to do with generating revenue than the fair administration of justice.”
To recap, if you’re rich and whine about your taxes for a living they’ll rebuild your beach-house or give you $6 million for site improvements to your moldering casino, but if you’re poor and get dinged for marijuana possession you can end up paying $1,000 in fines by the time they’ve held you upside down by the ankles and shaken you for six months. #justice
For more feats of journalism from across your region:
Stray Bullet Fatally Strikes Bridgeton 9-Year-Old Asleep In Her Bed–A 9-year-old girl died early Tuesday morning when a stray bullet struck her as she slept in her bed. Jennifer Trejo was pronounced dead after her family rushed her to Inspira Hospital after a bullet from a shooting a block away from her Bridgeton home went through a wall of her home and hit her. breakingac.com
Witness: Vineland Police Shot And Killed Unarmed Black Man ‘Like He Wasn’t Human’–Residents of Vineland, New Jersey are demanding answers from authorities after police shot and killed an unarmed black man over the weekend in an encounter witnesses are calling a senseless tragedy. On Saturday, before noon, police in Vineland were dispatched to a quiet residential street, where 37-year-old Rashaun Washington, of Bridgeton, New Jersey, had been sitting on a porch. whyy.org
Lucy The Elephant, Oldest Roadside Attraction In US, Gets Birthday Bash–Lucy the Elephant, a National Historic Landmark since 1976, and the oldest surviving roadside attraction in the United States, will be celebrating her 137th birthday this Saturday, July 21. “This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and everything that is raised during the day goes back toward Lucy’s preservation,” said Richard Helfant, executive director and CEO of Lucy the Elephant. nj1015.com
These NJ Properties Flood Over And Over Again, Costing Taxpayers Like You Millions–More than 3,300 homes and business in New Jersey have been repeatedly flooded and rebuilt at taxpayer expense — some as many as 20 or more times — since the 1970s, raising questions about whether the government should force more people to elevate or relocate. Repairs to the properties — covered under the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides low-cost flood insurance to a quarter-million New Jersey property owners — cost a total of about $700 million, according to new data published this month. www.nj.com
NJ, Other States File Suit To Quash Federal Curbing Of SALT Deduction–New Jersey and three other high-tax blue states are fighting the capping of so-called SALT deductions in a new federal lawsuit that seeks to invalidate a portion of last year’s federal-tax overhaul. The suit argues a $10,000 limit that was placed on the deduction violates the U.S. Constitution, and it uses the words of the federal policy’s own Republican architects to make its case. www.njspotlight.com
I Went To Scores In Atlantic City, The Strip Club That Hard Rock Wishes Didn’t Exist–I went to the strip club with Fetty Wap last week. Or, I should say, the famous N.J.-native rapper showed up with an entourage while I just so happened to be at Scores Atlantic City, aka the pastie-palace that the new Hard Rock Casino & Hotel never wanted. (More on that in a minute.) www.nj.com
I Went To Scores In Atlantic City, The Strip Club That Hard Rock Wishes Didn’t Exist–I went to the strip club with Fetty Wap last week. Or, I should say, the famous N.J.-native rapper showed up with an entourage while I just so happened to be at Scores Atlantic City, aka the pastie-palace that the new Hard Rock Casino & Hotel never wanted. (More on that in a minute.) www.nj.com
Can New Jersey’s Dying Malls Be Saved?–It’s lunchtime on a Tuesday, and there are no shoppers in sight at the Phillipsburg Mall. Just outside the entrance, a guy is smoking weed. Inside, the loudest sound is the echo of my own footsteps. In the distance, I detect the hum of the mall’s HVAC system. njmonthly.com
Chuck‘s 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament Retires This Weekend–What has become a multi-generational summer tradition at the Jersey Shore will have its last hurrah this weekend at the Ventnor Educational Community Complex. The Chuck’s 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, which has been held in Ventnor for the last 30 years, will hold its final tournament Saturday and Sunday, July 21-22. downbeachpilot.com