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If you’re one of the 78% of full-time workers who live paycheck-to-paycheck but still want to read stories about the “economic outlook” like you’re going to go out and buy some soybean futures, here you go.
Ram’s Head
Vincent Jackson at the AC Press reports the Ram’s Head is closing, indefinitely, due to a faulty sprinkler system they don’t know how much will cost to repair. They employ 12 – 15 full-time and 20 part-time staff this time of year.
Marijuana Roadmap
State Senator Nicholas Scutari ponders a valuable question: What lessons from gambling legalization in Atlantic City can be applied to marijuana legalization statewide?
Well, anecdotally, we’re 40-years in and we have a 35%+ poverty rate, a ring of angry suburbanites in pickup trucks and there’s a bankrupt casino impresario currently doing standup and setting the Constitution on fire in the White House every night.
Maybe we should try a different model.
Everyone Loves the Skate Zone!
Mayor Gilliam made some perishing comments about the Flyers Skate Zone (the ice-skating rink at Bader Field) at last month’s CRDA meeting, and City Council turned into a 15-minute love fest for ice-skating in general, and ice hockey in particular, Wednesday night.
Councilman Tibbitt was especially exercised that Gilliam’s comments (“Hockey is not a sport this urban area is fans of”) should have appeared in the paper a year to the day after the death of Art Dorrington, an African-American hockey player (“the Jackie Robinson of ice hockey”) who came from Atlantic City.
Councilman Mo Delgado said he grew up playing hockey (surely street hockey?) at Pete Pallitto field. Charles Goodman said he learned to ice skate at Convention Hall when they used to host the Ice Capades. Councilman Kurtz used to work at the Skate Zone and said it was a great, inclusive, Atlantic City venue and far more civil than the rinks in the suburbs (now shut-down). They all agreed you can’t get ice time at the Zone (it’s so busy) and Kurtz urged skeptics to stop by to see for themselves.
CRDA Chief Matt Doherty was given a pass (by Tibbitt) for his failure to grasp the enthusiasm locals share for ice skating, but Gilliam was told (by Tibbitt, I think) to go back to San Francisco.
Anyhoo.
Here’s the original story that caused the fuss.
Sports
In sporting news, Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) pretended to be a reporter from Pirates of the Caribbean Magazine and asked Joel Embiid his favorite ‘Pirates’ movie, to moderately comic effect.
Comedian Jeff Garlin from “Curb Your Enthusiam” crashes Joel Embiid’s scrum, identifies himself as a reporter for “Pirates of the Caribbean Magazine” and cracks up when the Sixers center has no idea what he’s talking about pic.twitter.com/wu3ywGYgO8
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) January 2, 2019
And Mainland swimming won its 49th straight match. Bonkers.
Mainland swimming handles Vineland; Mustangs boys score 49th straight victory
Force Report
The City Council also offered its full-throated endorsement of Police Chief Henry White following the latest stories from NJ.com on the city’s statistically anomalous force rate–including one op-ed that called for a full “housecleaning.”
Council President Marty Small called the reporting “salacious” which, whatever, you’re welcome to think what you want about law enforcement trends and the fitness of the crooked media to report on them, but “salacious” is when the paper runs a topless picture of the minister’s wife. When 12 reporters spend 16 months putting together a database it’s something else.
More to the point, the reporters at NJ.com only had to do this work because the people who were supposed to be doing it–internal affairs officers, county prosecutors, the state A.G., etc.–were not doing it, because, shocker! It’s politically unpopular. So when public officials knock reporters for doing an unpopular job they kind of make the point for them.
Atlantic City Council Backs Police Chief After Use-of-Force Report
For more feats of journalism…
State exerting full control of Atlantic City–The state of New Jersey has taken full operational control of the city, City Council President Marty Small Sr. said Wednesday. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Longport considers options in anticipation of municipal engineer’s retirement–LONGPORT – Richard Carter has been the borough’s engineer for more than 30 years. He wants to wind down his career with the borough and has proposed an option for the governing body to consider. www.downbeach.com
Vintage photos of street scenes in N.J.–Asphalt is a naturally occurring building material found in both asphalt lakes and in rock asphalt (a mixture of sand, limestone, and asphalt). www.nj.com
TASK FORCE TAKES AIM AT PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFIT-PLAN MANAGERS–New Jersey should revise how it contracts with health-benefit managers to expand public workers’ access to care, improve quality and clinical outcomes, and better identify opportunities for cost containment and innovation, according to a report from Gov. Phil Murphy’s office. www.njspotlight.com
Egg Harbor Township names new mayor–For the first time in more than two decades, the year began with someone other than James “Sonny” McCullough at the helm of the township’s governing body. www.pressofatlanticcity.com