Diaper Dumper
So this guy, William Friedman, has been dumping loads of dirty diapers around intersections across Franklin Township for the last ten months or so, but the police caught him Sunday after one of their number, a certain Officer Moretti, noticed a pattern and decided to stake out Route 40 and Route 47 on Sunday morning.
A lot of questions remain, like where’d he get the diapers? He’s saying they’re his grandson’s. Also, why in the hell would you drop diapers in the street at 3a.m.? “The motive in the case seems to be nothing else than this gentleman thinking this was funny, which it’s not,” Lt. Matthew DeCesari of the Franklin Township PD reportedly said.
Anyway. I think we can all agree Garrett Moretti should be the next FBI director.
Rent Burden
The valuable Spotlight’s Daily Number is 62%, as in, “Roughly 62 percent of households earning less than $20,000 paid more than half of their income on rent in 2017,” the Coalition on Human Needs reported.
Half their income on rent. If you pay one third that’s considered rent burdened.
1401 Memorial
The City is shutting down 1401 Memorial, a rooming house just behind St. Nick’s Church. Licensing and Inspection Director Dale Finch confirmed they’re in litigation. Moreover, this is a pattern. CRDA’s working with the city to buy other rooming houses around town, Finch said.
Bargaintown Hillbillies
This slideshow on vintage Halloween photos is great. Admittedly, I have a thing for Halloween, and for Halloween-related photos, but this is fascinating. The “Bargaintown Hillbillies” were at the Vineland Halloween parade in 1967. These dudes dressed as babies and played saxaphones in the Clifton Halloween parade in 1985. There’s even one of 100-lb pumpkins from Atlantic City from 1966.
1774
While, we’re here, history lovers will enjoy this story from our friend Matt Skoufalos at NJ Pen about a rare copy of The Pennsylvania Journal from 1774 that turned up at a goodwill (processing center) in Bellmawr. “Now its current custodians are looking for the best way to pass along the 244-year-old artifact,” The Skouf reports.
More DO AC Magnets
This law gives 1.25% of some of the sums, or something, from sports betting to CRDA “for marketing and promotion of the City of Atlantic City.” Thank you Jim Kennedy for pointing that out.
The Needle Exchange
Lastly, City Council debated the fate of the Oasis Drop-In Center on Tennessee Ave., right around the corner from 1401 Memorial! Carol Harney, of the South Jersey Aids Alliance, which runs the site, was there to discuss. You can watch video from the meeting here. After a lot of public comment, council voted unanimously in favor of the needle exchange becoming mobile-only, with restrictions on where and how frequently it can operate. The ordinance has not become law yet, and CRDA will be part of the implementation effort of the mobile unit, Councilman Jesse Kurtz (who presented the ordinance) said. Read the ordinance here.
For more feats of journalism from around your region, see below:
Can Atlantic City’s ‘dead zone’ be transformed into a millennial hotspot?–ATLANTIC CITY — When Sara Bisher moved to a Tennessee Avenue inn on one of the city’s struggling blocks, she didn’t plan to stay there long. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
NJ OFFICIALS INVESTIGATING DEADLY VIRAL OUTBREAK AT REHAB HOSPITAL–New Jersey health officials have launched an investigation — with assistance from federal partners — into the origin and spread of a viral outbreak that has killed seven young patients and infected 11 others at a specialty hospital in Passaic County. www.njspotlight.com
Old school barber killed in crash helped others ‘at their lowest point’–Just an ordinary guy that did extraordinary things. That’s how Nynell Langford described her father, William "Sonny" Lea, approximately an hour before a vigil was held in front of his barbershop on Kentucky Avenue in Atlantic City Tuesday evening. www.nj.com
VIC’S SUBS COVER STORY: BIG-TIME TURNAROUND HAPPENING WITH MAINLAND FOOTBALL PROGRAM–This fall, Mainland Regional head football coach Chuck Smith doesn’t mind stopping at Wawa for his morning coffee. Mustangs fans greet him with a smile and a slap on the back, as his squad headed into its Oct. 19 bye week sporting a 5-2 record with an opportunity to make the state playoffs and also win the West Jersey Football League’s Independence Division, if it could beat Ocean City and Egg Harbor Township in its final two regular-season games. glorydaysonline.com