1. “Is it snowing?”
Yes.
2. “Should I go outside?”
Absolutely not.
Bonus Round: “Why is it COMING DOWN SIDEWAYS?”
Happy Thursday! Hope you’re enjoying our state of emergency.
In realer news, there’s an update on the $300 million PSE&G subsidy bill. It’s on pause after Speaker Vince Prieto in the Assembly declined to “post” it or something, the valuable NJ Spotlight reports. The bill will be back “in a much different form in the next legislative term, featuring new incentives to boost renewable energy and other clean-energy programs in New Jersey,” they say. Meanwhile the Joint Legislative Task Force on Drinking Water Infrastructure recommended issuing $400 million in bonds to fund repairs to our “aging water infrastructure.” And while we’re at it, a judge declined to block a $380 million bond sale to build those Millennial friendly super buildings in Trenton no one wants. So that’s likely to happen.
If you’re keeping score that’s: $400M + $380M ± $300M = You tell me.
DON’T SPEND THAT $1 BILLION IN DRUG MONEY YET!
Look I don’t want this to become a marijuana publication, but drugs are an important and affect a wide swath of society. The A.P. is reporting that Attorney General Jeff Sessions will rescind the policy that basically let individual states legalize marijuana and will instead let federal prosecutors decide how aggressively to enforce federal laws around the drug, and NJ.com was there to report the move “raises questions” about legalization in New Jersey. They don’t really say what questions it raises, though “Uh, oh. What do we do now?” springs to mind.
We’d been counting the tax revenue legal drugs would generate already.
Sessions has long been on the record saying marijuana is a dangerous drug–unlike the stuff your doctor gives out–but others in Trumpland had been more pro liberalization. Trump adviser (and actual garbage human) Roger Stone has said a crackdown would be a mistake but who knows where he’s been hiding. I seem to remember one Trump advisor saying legalization would be a great move to enhance the love between Trump and his base, but that was moons ago and I can’t find the reference now. The hillbillies I went to high school with loved their sticky and did not much care for Federal Government overreach, but what do I know.
Does it bug you that this angry little elf from the 1950s gets so much influence over your life? Bugs me and I don’t even smoke drugs.
Sports! Sports! Sports!
J.J. Conrad at NJ.com has the very controversial details on a pair of bills that could/would/should dramatically reshape high school sports in New Jersey. Under the bills, which could pass as early as next week, high schools in the same district could “merge teams at the varsity level without any oversight or review by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.”
Proponents say this will allow school districts that currently can’t field teams to combine resources and offer more programs. Opponents say it could let some unscrupulous districts create super-teams. Proponents say this “super-team” talk is nonsense. Opponents say the NJSIAA is desperate to stay relevant. The NJSIAA says this is unprecedented and an intrusion into their rulemaking, which has worked ok for a hundred years. Etc. To reiterate, there are details and they are controversial. Yet none of that seems to have been reflected in committees in the senate and assembly, where the bills passed 30-0 and 11-0 respectively.
Does it bug you when you hear about decisions like this after they’ve basically made already? Wonder if there’s anything you can do about it? Support your local newshound.
Lastly, Joe Russell at South Jerseyist pens a love letter to our historic rail lines. “[I]t’s easy to see the appeal of kicking back and relaxing on your way down the shore. It’s the way generations before us got to the beach…”
For more South Jersey news, see our peevish Route 40 Roundup.
‘It’s about dignity,’ says leaders of growing non-profit–Joanie Balderstone calls 2017 the year of the celebrity for Distributing Dignity, a nonprofit dedicated to providing indigent women in 19 states and 56 cities with new bras and feminine hygiene products. www.nj.com
NJ Mortgage Company To Pay $45 Million In Multi-State Settlement–A mortgage company that improperly serviced loans for four years will pay New Jersey borrowers nearly three-quarters of a million dollars, under a settlement announced by Attorney General Christopher Porrino. breakingac.com