Mini-Golf Scope Softening
The great Margate mini-golf war is settled, declares the Inquirer. Changes included lowering the course’s “cave structure” and softening “the project’s overall scope”, according to Margate businessman Ed Blumenthal who brokered the deal.
Soccer
Atlantic City’s only pro-sports team is gearing up for its debut – we caught up with players and the team’s development director yesterday. Read our story and watch the video here.
Garces
The top chef behind restaurants in the Atlantic City Tropicana is being sued in Philadelphia by investors who want to remove him from having managerial control of three restaurants (Amada, Village Whiskey, and Tinto), the Inquirer reports. Garces has said his financial problems go back to the shuttering of the Revel casino, while a food distributor and others say he misappropriated millions of dollars.
Searching For Employees
Hard Rock casino is taking its search for employees to the drug court, Lynda Cohen reports. We’ll be writing more about this next week, but it is a challenge to fill open positions at Ocean Resort Casino and Hard Rock. Many people have left Atlantic County in the last five years, according to census data, and immigrant work visas are also under pressure. Students home for the summer can only fill some of the necessary gaps. Where are these employees going to come from?
In the rest of the day’s news, the excessive force lawsuit against an Atlantic City police officer was settled before trial, summer is finally on its way, Maroon 5 is coming to the Hard Rock casino, LGBTQ seniors are looking for welcoming places to live (Kevin Riordan column), and can a bike share program help Camden?
For everything else, see below:
Engineer Father Who Funded Singh’s Guv Campaign Donated $1K To Murphy–Owner of a business with millions in federal government contracts and potential contract awards in the billions, government contract engineer Tribuvan Singh almost single-handedly bankrolled his son’s failed $1 million gubernatorial campaign with a $950,000 loan, a year before the younger Singh made a comeback as an establishment-backed conservative congressional candidate intent on the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2). www.insidernj.com
Football: Camden Catholic Coach Nick Strom Terminated–Camden Catholic High School football coach Nick Strom says he thinks officials are trying to force him out of his job because he has too many black players on his team. The stunning allegation comes after school President Mary Whipkey and Principal Heather Crisci told him Friday afternoon that his contract as a history teacher would not be renewed for next year. www.courierpostonline.com
Here Are The Towns With The Highest Property Taxes In Each Of NJ’s 21 Counties–So which towns in your county have the highest property taxes? And, for that matter, where are the biggest bills in all 21 counties? We are continuing to mine the state's annual property tax report, which shows New Jersey hit a new high of $8,690 per homeowner last year, once again tops in the nation. www.nj.com
Men Who Robbed 7-Elevens, Paralyzed Worker, Plead Guilty–Charles Walls and Anthony Ervin developed a method to terrorize eight 7-Eleven stores across Camden, Burlington and Mercer counties, prosecutors said Monday. www.nj.com
Middle Township Raid Nets Bazooka, Drugs, Shotguns, Police Say–Two men are facing several charges after police raided their home and found drugs, paraphernalia, guns and a bazooka, township police said Monday. The two men living at the Laivita Drive home, Craig Byrd, 40, and Matthew Lindholm, 40, were arrested and charged with second-, third-, and fourth-degree offenses, police said. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Excessive Force Lawsuit Against AC Police Officer Settled Before Trial–An excessive force lawsuit involving Atlantic City police officer Franco Sydnor was settled on Friday, attorneys for both parties confirmed Monday. Sydnor, an officer since 2003, was being sued in federal civil court by Anthony Moore, 41, of Pennsylvania, for alleged use of excessive force during a 2012 incident at Bally’s Atlantic City. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Pleasantville High School Students Get A Chance At Graduating With A College Degree–Joining a growing list of school districts in the region, Pleasantville next year will offer high school students a chance at graduating with a college degree. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Community Gathers At Baseball Field To Honor Hammonton 9-Year-Old–Just before sunset Monday night where Christopher Sacco would normally play a Little League baseball game, people from throughout the community gathered to honor him with a moment of silence. The crowd — with many in jerseys, baseball and sports uniforms — stood around Boys Majors Field at Hammonton Lake Park to honor the 9-year-old boy who brought joy to life and all the sports he played. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Galloway Township Board of Education Adopted The District’s 2018-19 School Budget–The Board of Education adopted its 2018-19 budget Monday night by a vote of 7-0. Two school board members - Rosemary Goldberg and Dr. Sherri Parmenter - were absent. www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Spring Fling Helps Get Atlantic City Police The Things Budget Cannot–The Atlantic City Police Foundation will hold its Spring Fling in June. The event at the LandShark Bar & Grill benefits the nonprofit foundation that helps pay for things the Police Department’s budget can’t afford. breakingac.com
Event Will Let Residents Clear Up Atlantic, Cape Warrants–Residents looking to clear up some outstanding criminal warrants will get a chance in May. The “Put Your Life Back on Track” event will be held from 8 am to 4 pm May 12 at the All Wars Memorial Building in Atlantic City. breakingac.com
Atlantic City Councilman Charged With Domestic Assault–An Atlantic City councilman has been charged with domestic assault. Jeffree Fauntleroy II, 33, assaulted the woman inside his home Sunday, Sgt. Kevin Fair said she told police Monday. breakingac.com
LGBTQ Seniors In New Jersey Seek Welcoming Places To Live–The Cape May County home that Vince Grimm and his husband, Will Kratz, designed and built is full of memorabilia and memories of their 56 years together. But there also are far too many stairs even for an active, energetic senior to continue navigating safely while living alone. www.philly.com
Willingboro Woman Pleads Guilty To Beating Her Husband To Death–A Willingboro woman pleaded guilty Monday in Superior Court to fatally beating her husband with a fire extinguisher last year, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said. Laciana Tinsley, 43, will serve 24 years in New Jersey state prison for aggravated manslaughter in the death of Douglas Tinsley, 74, as part of an agreement with the prosecutor’s office. www.philly.com
Delay Sought On Hearing For Controversial Camden Billboard–A South Jersey company that wants to build a billboard at the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden has asked the city to postpone a hearing with the zoning board to seek approval for the proposal, officials said Monday. Drew Katz, CEO of Interstate Outdoor Advertising, said the Cherry Hill-based firm sought a delay partly for more time “to allow for dialogue with the community” before moving ahead with the proposal to erect a 167-foot-high billboard in North Camden near the Delaware River waterfront. www.philly.com