Pay Cut News
Atlantic City Fire Fighters won a stay on an 11.3% pay cut that was supposed to begin December 22 when Judge Mendez ordered the state to show cause, THE Lynda Cohen reports. Arguments are set for January 10.
A New AG
Max Pizarro, citing a “source with knowledge of Governor-elect Phil Murphy’s thinking” said Gurbir Grewal would be named attorney general. Then Matt Arco followed it up. There’s supposed to be an announcement this morning. As the Politico Playbook notes, “Fun fact: Grewal’s office refused to bring official misconduct charges against Christie over Bridgegate despite Bill Brennan’s complaint and a judge’s ruling that there was probably cause. (Grewal, who was nominated by Christie, recused himself.)”
Know Your Rights: Pee-Break Edition
NJ.com explores the question of when–and under what exact conditions–you’re allowed to use the bathroom at a Wawa that doesn’t have a public bathroom. I love all Wawa stories, but even to me this seemed a little in-depth. On the other hand, I can definitely relate to the phrase “urgent going.”
Anyhow. Print out a few copies of this one for your loved ones with small bladders.
Cannibal Casinos
Over on the Twitter Box, Jim Kennedy notes that if Hard Rock and the Revel open next year, they may bring in new summer business, “But, there’s absolutely no evidence that there is additional customer base to prevent an extreme cannibalization of the existent market long-term, Expect lower casino profits & closings.”
He’s referring to a report from Moody’s (as in the debt-rating agency) last week that alleged the Revel was “expected to reopen” in Q2 of 2018. Kennedy (“the best CRDA guy we ever had” according to the Jitney Guy) Tweeted mortgage docs from Deutsche Bank (first reported on by Route 40’s Elinor Comlay) and noted “It actually looks like a real deal.”
That’s a Lotta Poo! (Goose Pond Edition)
Press of AC reporter Jack Tomczuk has the details on a “$500,000 project to remove goose excrement from the bottom of three ponds at the Cape May County Park and Zoo.”
‘Wasting Resources and Terrorizing Communities’
Matt Katz reports on the “surging” number of arrests by ICE agents at courthouses, citing a survey by an immigration nonprofit.
Do people see why it might be a controversial idea to have ICE staking out a courthouse? The Chief of the NJ Supreme Court lat year sent a letter to Homeland Security, saying courts were “‘sensitive locations,’ since immigration agents’ presence in courthouses means criminal witnesses, victims, and defendants may not show up to testify in cases,” as Katz elegantly summarizes it.
“Death & Dysfunction”
NJ.com is finishing up a project on the state’s system of medical examiners, posing the question: “What if New Jersey’s entire system for investigating sudden and suspicious deaths was a national disgrace?” Stephen “I Write about the Weather for the Clicks” Stirling and S.P. “I’ll be Hiding in the Desert” Sullivan have been working on this for a long time.
If you appreciate investigative journalism, those two are about the best we have.
Side Note: Have you noticed everything is broken? It’s almost like someone declared government is the problem and then set about making sure that was the case.
In a related story, Christian Hetrick reports on a bill to set up uniform standards for conducting autopsies on drug overdose victims.
Find Out How Much Your Favorite Snowflake Monitors Get Paid
The head of Rider University makes $800,000 a year, and other fun facts in this listicle on New Jersey’s “8 highest-paid private college presidents.”
Elsewhere in local news:
OPINION: SUPERSIZE DEDUCTIONS TO COPE WITH HIGHER MINIMUM WAGE–Only the details remain. Now that progressive Democrats will control the governor’s office as well as both houses of the state Legislature in January, the question is not whether but how the New Jersey minimum wage will increase to $15 an hour. www.njspotlight.com
IMPOSING STRONGER PENALTIES ON EMPLOYERS FOR WAGE THEFT — IT’S CHRISTIE’S CALL–Known as wage theft, it’s already illegal in New Jersey for an employer to shortchange a worker’s paycheck or to not compensate them for putting in overtime. But lawmakers who’ve compared the practice to robbing a bank are now looking to Gov. Chris Christie to sign off on legislation that would increase the state’s wage-theft penalties and make it easier for workers to be made whole. www.njspotlight.com
Local company’s 820-ton boat lift could boost Cumberland town’s economy–A hulking apparatus recently assembled on the banks of the Maurice River could spur economic development in this large, rural township. www.pressofatlanticcity.com