Nucky Would Be Proud
If you read one review of the Atlantic City and County election campaign shenanigans this season, make it this one by The Inquirer’s Amy Rosenberg: Why Atlantic City-area elections this year would make Nucky Johnson Proud. (Separately, we’re following up our weekend look at financial contributions to the NJ 2nd district’s campaigns with a look at expenditures and in-kind contributions. Stay tuned.)
Photo from Mays Landing by Tim McGlynn – find more of his photos on his site and @timmcglynn on Instagram.
Voter Turnout
Patrick Murray, who runs the Monmouth University Polling Institute, told WNYC he is expecting record low turnout across New Jersey tomorrow. That jives with what we heard at our Voting Block events, that South Jersey residents feel the gubernatorial campaigns haven’t really connected around here. Most people that we talked to about the race expressed apathy.
CHIP (and Community Clinics)
A plan to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and community clinics was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday and will now go to the Senate. Rep. Frank LoBiondo supported the bill, which would provide health insurance to some 112,000 kids in New Jersey (including our two, so we care about the outcome of this…) and community clinics that provide low-cost care around the state and elsewhere. The problem, as NJSpotlight reports, is that the plan proposes funding the programs with money taken from cuts to the Affordable Care Act and it is not backed by the Democrats. It is not clear whether it will pass the Senate. Without the federal funding, New Jersey only has enough funds to pay for CHIP through the spring.
In the rest of the headlines from the weekend and this morning, check out the NJSpotlight election site for profiles and data on all the candidates, the South Jersey Transportation Authority is putting up bat houses along the Expressway to help area bats (there’s a joke here but it’s eluding me), Friday’s Pinelands Commission meeting was strangely quiet, and winery dogs are now a thing in New Jersey. All that and more below:
AC Clothing Line Features Transgender Cover Girl, Prepping For Shows–Marcia Arnsparger Santiago and Keith Garland are busy most days traveling back and forth between Santiago’s Barnegat home and Garland’s Atlantic City apartment, usually transporting different outfits for fitting or sewing. Santiago is the founder of Kloset Slayer, a South Jersey-based clothing company that is growing in popularity both because of its clothes and the models who wear them. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Ventnor Program Looks To Bring Community Action To Drug Epidemic Fight–Doug Biagi began Ventnor’s DARE program decades ago. But while Drug Abuse Resistance Education meant well — and the now-police chief was one of its biggest supporters — he admits it wasn’t enough. breakingac.com
Couple With Alleged Outlaw Ties Arrested With Meth, Loaded Revolver–A Galloway Township couple with alleged ties to a motorcycle gang were arrested with more than 5 ounces of methamphetamine and a loaded revolver, the Atlantic County prosecutor said. Louis Hilton, 50, and Julie Naia, 49, were arrested last week as part of a multi-agency investigation that included the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Unit, FBI and local police. breakingac.com
Plan To Fund Healthcare For Children, Community Clinics Comes At A Cost–Congress advanced a proposal to continue federal funding for children’s healthcare and community clinics — two popular bipartisan programs that lost critical support this fall — using dollars now committed to other national healthcare programs. The Republican-led plan, approved by the US House of Representatives Friday along partisan lines, would provide some $100 billion over five years for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which covers some 9 million kids nationwide, including 112,000 in New Jersey. www.njspotlight.com
Iconic Domes, Spires Removed From Ex-Trump Taj Mahal Casino–Donald Trump's name was stripped from the facade weeks after he became president. Now his Indian-inspired architectural flourishes are coming down, too, from one of the Atlantic City casinos he used to own. www.njherald.com