Legislature Moves To Stop Taj Reopening Under Icahn
New Jersey’s state legislators on Monday voted to punish billionaire investor Carl Icahn for closing the Taj Mahal casino, by preventing him from reopening it for five years. The bill would apply to any casino owner who closed a casino after Jan. 2016 but right now that’s just Icahn. It’s not clear, however, whether Gov. Christie – who has the say on the plan – will approve it. Read the AP story here.
AC Overseer Pick Shows Why Trump Was Wise To Spurn Christie
The Star Ledger’s Paul Mulshine has a column out today that will probably prompt a lot of buzz around here – he looks at how much the Atlantic City overseer, Jeff Chiesa, will be paid ($400 an hour, plus a lot of compensation for travel time to the South Jersey boondocks) and concludes that this is an example of the appointments Gov. Christie has made for his lawyer friends and why President-Elect Donald Trump was wise not to give Christie a position on his team. You can read the full piece here.
Atlantic City Boxing Sked Looks Up In Jan
More boxing will be coming to Atlantic City in January with two shows scheduled for back-to-back weekends, The Press of Atlantic City reports. That’s a sign of a turnaround for the city, which used to attract big-name fights, but has struggled to book shows in the last year.
If you read nothing else today, read how snowy owls are migrating to NJ beaches from the Canadian tundra.
The rest of today’s headlines (below) include news on Dem. governor candidate Phil Murphy’s tax return (the man of the people owns houses in Berlin and Italy), a Vineland bus crash, a Brigantine police officer going to jail and a development boost to a neighborhood in Camden.
Why Camden’s Parkside Neighborhood has a Spring in its Step–"It's better. It's cleaner," says Womack, a retired nurse who raised six children in the Camden neighborhood. "A lot of the abandoned houses are gone," the Park Boulevard resident says. "They're doing a lot of renovation, and it really looks nice." Philly.com
Phil Murphy Releases Returns Showing He Paid $2.4M In Income Tax in 2015–Phil Murphy, the former Goldman Sachs executive running for governor of New Jersey, released his 2015 tax returns last week, showing he paid $2.4 million dollars in state and U.S. income taxes on $7.3 million dollars in income. Murphy also paid $202,000 in property taxes on his house in Middletown and thousands more on houses he owns in Italy and Berlin. www.njspotlight.com
Amendment to Boost Minimum Wage Not Likely on 2017 Ballot–Workers in low-paying jobs holding out hope of seeing a constitutional amendment on the ballot next year boosting the state’s minimum wage will likely have to hold out at least until 2018 — when Gov. Chris Christie is out of office. But the governor isn’t the only obstacle in this case. www.njspotlight.com
Constitutional Amendment Coming on Natural-Resources Damages–The Legislature yesterday took a step toward allowing voters next fall to require funds from environmental lawsuits be used to restore natural resources damaged by polluters. With little or no debate, both houses easily approved a resolution that would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to prevent money from pollution cases being diverted to plug holes in the state budget, as has been done in the past. www.njspotlight.com
Leading Democratic Lawmakers Derail Fast-Track Bills Favored by Christie–The governor’s not going to get his book deal, and government websites won’t cut into the revenue newspapers earn from publishing official legal notices. www.njspotlight.com
$250,000 Lottery Ticket Sold At Pleasantville Wawa–A winning scratch-off lottery ticket worth $250,000 was sold at the Wawa on West Delilah Road, according to the New Jersey Lottery. Press of Atlantic City
Former Brigantine Officer Gets Five Years For Sex With Teen–A former Brigantine police officer who admitted to using his job to exploit a teenager for sex was sentenced to five years in prison. Ralph Pereira, 46, previously admitted to sexual relations with the then-16-year-old girl. BreakingAC
5 Children, 3 Adults Taken To Hospital After Vineland Bus Crash–Five children and three adults were taken to a hospital Monday after a Max Leuchter Elementary School bus and a car collided. Press of Atlantic City
Three Guns, Ammunition Stolen From Vineland Home–Three handguns and an unknown amount of ammunition was stolen from a Vineland home Sunday night. The suspect or suspects broke a rear bathroom window on the north side of the home on the 700 block of East Chestnut Avenue, police said. BreakingAC