Greetings Roundup-ers! It’s day two of the Murphy Administration, and if you’re sick of reading about every twist and turn of the Dr. James Kauffman case, this is the website for you.
In realer news, Amazon announced the 20 finalists for its second headquarters (“HQ2”) and Atlantic City didn’t make the cut, but Philadelphia did and so did Newark.
Does anyone else think it’s a little gross–this spectacle of great American cities falling all over themselves to see who can give the biggest handouts to a multi-national corporation with a market cap of $622 billion?
In fact, critics of corporate bidding wars have called the process of playing states and cities off each other a “race to the bottom” but did you know there were legal attempts to re-level the playing field? In 2004, the Sixth Circuit Court of U.S.Appeals in Cincinnati ruled “investment tax credits” were unconstitutional, but DaimlerChrysler and its clients patrons co-defendants, the State of Ohio, appealed to the Supreme Court which dismissed the case for the lame-o reason that plaintiffs lacked standing.
Meanwhile, your property taxes go up and up and up and everyone’s telling you we’re broke.
Anyhow. CityLab has a nice summary of the legal case against tax credits here.
The ISIS Commander Next Door
Last week The Atlantic magazine published an in-depth profile of an American who has risen to become a “senior commander of the Islamic State and one of the faces of the group’s recruitment efforts” referring to him as “the son of an Albanian-American pizza-shop owner from New Jersey,” and this week Ted Greenberg at NBC tells us where in New Jersey the guy’s from. Zulfi Hoxha–shown “beheading Kurdish soldiers” in ISIS propaganda videos–is from Margate. Crazy.
The Old Golden Nugget
Yesterday, Route 40 published a neat little story on pieces of The Atlantic Club falling off the side of the building and landing on Pacific Avenue, etc. and city inspections director Dale Finch said he’d send someone over. Yay us!
Fun fact: The Golden Nugget (the old name for The Atlantic Club) was the collateral–or whatever you call it–for Michael Milken’s first major junk bond deal, according to David Cay Johnston’s book Temples of Chance (1992), which we’re currently reading.
DCJ says Steve Wynn borrowed the money to build “an elegant fantasy vision of Victoriana on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.” But the Nugget was a great success and Ballys eventually offered Wynn $440 million to buy the place, essentially as a way of blocking a hostile takeover by Donald Trump, who was then just an innocent greenmailer and not President of the United States at all.
It all happened here.
MURPHY ADMINISTRATION TO RECONSIDER ADDICTION ADS FEATURING CHRISTIE–Former Gov. Chris Christie may have solidified his legacy through efforts to expand treatment and reduce the stigma of drug addiction, but his image is unlikely to remain a part of New Jersey’s nearly $43 million public outreach campaign to address the opioid epidemic. www.njspotlight.com
Murphy’s First Executive Order Targets Gender Pay Gap–In his first official action after being sworn into office, Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order on Tuesday to promote equal pay for women. observer.com
Audubon FD Receives Pet Respirator Donation–Thanks to a donation of specialized oxygen masks, the Audubon Fire Department will be able to revive animals overwhelmed by smoke inhalation in house fires and similar emergencies. www.njpen.com
Port Republic teacher jailed in child sex assault hired through no-bid contract–PORT REPUBLIC — A school choir director charged with sexually assaulting a student for nearly four years was hired through an $8,000 public contract without going out to bid, records show. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Jeffries Tower residents still out of homes and losing temporary hotel housing–ATLANTIC CITY — While electrical crews continue to work on restoring power to the Charles P. Jeffries Tower Senior Apartments, the Housing Authority faces new issues with residents overstaying their welcome at area hotels. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Ventnor honors ‘passerby’ for lifesaving actions–In police and fire reports he is known only as an unidentified passerby, but Wojciech Adam Dudek of Ventnor Heights is a hero in the eyes of many. www.shorenewstoday.com
2 DACA recipients: Here’s what N.J. can do to help us despite impasse in D.C. | Opinion–Like the 800,000 DREAMers across the U.S., New Jersey's more than 17,000 DACA recipients await the decision of lawmakers in Congress about our future. www.nj.com
N.J. lawmakers must stop schools from ‘passing the trash,’ groups say–A coalition of 18 organizations is asking state lawmakers to pass a bill that would better prevent teachers accused of sexual misconduct from easily moving to new jobs. www.nj.com