New Jersey NEWS Round-Up Friday, March 16

by: DBK

reprinted with permission of Blue Jersey

Hello, New Jersey. My name is DBK and I\’ll be your server this morning. Can I start you off with a cup of coffee?

  • We open with a weather rap. After a couple of cloudy but warm days, winter returned to shake a little dandruff on the Garden State. Please be careful out there and if you must drive today, use a car or truck (the good jokes never get old). A list of school closings and delayed openings can be found here at NJ 101.5. When I was a kid it took a blizzard to close a school. And yes, I really did walk 3 miles each way to School 26 in Paterson. Anyone else out there who graduated from School 26 in 1972?
  • The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is at odds with the Department of Homeland Security over a program involving new technologies to secure cargo entering and leaving the ports. Speaking for the PA, Marc La Vorgna said:

    It appears (the program has) fallen into a bureaucratic black hole. With all the attention that is finally being paid to port security, it\’s really unconscionable this program isn\’t being followed up on. We\’ve reached out to (DHS) repeatedly and we\’ve gotten no answer.

    DHS representative Russ Knocke says that isn\’t true and that the program is active, with a meeting scheduled for March 29 in DC. The PA claims that the March 29 meeting is news to them, but now that they have heard of it, they\’ll attend. Sounds like someone needs a lesson in using Outlook, but it isn\’t clear who.

  • Governor Corzine signed three property tax relief measures into law yesterday, including a bill creating an Office of State Comptroller. He says he\’ll sign the final portion of the property tax relief legislation soon. The position of comptroller is an appointed rather than an elected position in the bill and is a weakened version of the original. In addition, the governor signed a weakened version of the bill that would have consolidated school districts. What do you think? Is this half a loaf?
  • Joseph M. McNulty and Sam K. John, who own the Friendly Maintenance Group, pled guilty to giving more than $60,000 in bribes to William Walker, the director of New Brunswick\’s neighborhood preservation program, and to paying $500 every four to six weeks to Richard P. Kaplan, New Brunswick\’s rehabilitation program construction inspector. Their company received over $1.3 million in rehabilitation contracts with the city. The two business owners claim that it was the only way they could get work for the company because of pay-to-play and that they delivered good services at a fair price.
  • The State Senate passed two anti-corruption bills yesterday by a vote of 37-0. The bills punish public officials who take bribes.
  • The Oceanport Borough Council voted 4-2 to introduce its 2007 municipal budget Thursday night. The two Democrats on the council opposed the budget, which increases the municipal tax rate. Their main objection is to the appropriation of funding for a borough administrator.
  • The State Senate passed laws yesterday that prohibit convicted sex offenders from using the Internet and on-line dating services. Similar measures have been passed in Florida and Nevada.

    • Can I bring you anything else? Thanks for stopping by and please come again when you have more time and money.

    This post was imported from a legacy archive. Please excuse any formatting inconsistencies.

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