Teacher Layoffs
Here’s a look via NJ.com at the school districts that are likely to lay off staff next year – none are in Atlantic County, but some of South Jersey’s bigger districts are featured. If you’re interested, you might want to revisit our interactive map that showed how immigration is propping up school enrollment in New Jersey, as the wider population exodus from the state continues.
Atlantic City sunset via @acsnapshots on Instagram.
PILOT
Tea Party-affiliated activist group Liberty & Prosperity is suing New Jersey over its PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreements with Atlantic City casinos and other big businesses. Lawyer Seth Grossman, who leads the group, likes to call the PILOT peanuts in lieu of taxes. He says the arrangement helps the casinos avoid tax increases in the future, putting the burden on homeowners and small businesses around the county. Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez will hear arguments in July, the Press of Atlantic City reports.
Brown’s Park
“This is literally the greatest thing I’ve seen in Atlantic City in my lifetime,” Ricardo Belgrave, an Atlantic City elementary school teacher, said about the face lift recently given to Brown’s Memorial Park near his home. The park had become synonymous with the worst of Atlantic City’s crime and poverty. The recent revitalization came about thanks to the vision of Councilman Kaleem Shabazz, the skill and determination of former planning director Elizabeth Terenik and the financial support of ACDevCo. Read more via The Philadelphia Inquirer.
After Memorial Day, read about a 93-year-old veteran who recently received a quilt of valor and piloted a flight over Atlantic City – within the last year. It’s a Kevin Riordan piece for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
PSA: Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City opened its cigar patio this weekend. It looks great (hello, outdoor fun) even for those of us who have less than zero interest in cigars. Take a look.
In the rest of the news from the long weekend and this morning, read this amazing feature (written by another soon-to-depart Press reporter) on Atlantic City’s first woman police officer (from 1923), the latest look at the endangered red knot‘s migration to the Delaware Bay beaches, and will any of the gubernatorial hopeful’s transportation spending plans mean investment in South Jersey? All that and more below.
6 Months of Construction Set on Cumberland County Bridge–A six-month project to make repairs to the Maurice River Bridge is scheduled to begin this week, officials said. The bridge carries Cumberland County Road 670 over the Maurice River on the border of Commercial and Maurice River townships. NJ.com
ATM With $4K Stolen From Court House Diner, Police Say–Burglars stole an ATM from Court House Diner in Middle Township this weekend, police said. The ATM in the diner’s lobby was broken into and dragged out of the building some time between 11 p.m. Friday and 6:45 a.m. Saturday, police said in a news release. Press of Atlantic City
Atlantic City Police Union Endorses Small, Guardian in Mayoral Primaries–Atlantic City’s police union endorsed Democratic City Council President Marty Small and Republican Mayor Don Guardian in the mayoral primary elections. Small is facing Councilman Frank Gilliam, substitute teacher Fareed Abdullah and U.S. Navy veteran Jimmy Whitehead in the June 6 primary. Press of Atlantic City
Mike Trout Out For Weeks; May Need Surgery–The player the Los Angeles Angels can least afford to lose to injury will be out for at least a month and possibly more after star center fielder Mike Trout was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb Monday. Press of Atlantic City
Motor Home Catches Fire in West Atlantic City–A motor home parked in a vacant Egg Harbor Township lot caught fire Monday and firefighters quickly put it out. Press of Atlantic City
Bellmawr Council Approves Attorney for Landfill Closure & Independent Investigator–Bellmawr Boro Council approved an attorney for the Creek Road landfill closure and also approved an independent investigator relating to an alleged dispute. South Jersey Observer