The Morning Briefing - January 6, 2015
ROCKAWAY – Likely the most popular guy at Morris Hills High School was a 26-year-old alleged loser, who apparently made thousands of dollars by hanging around liquor stores and selling booze to high schoolers and anyone else with a crumpled $20 mom gave for lunch money. NJ.com reports the cops found him in a ShopRite parking lot wheeling and dealing, and believe he has done at least 100 deals for likely the cheapest vodka and beer allowable by law. Teens found this guy on social media or through word of mouth in, say, algebra class. Apparently, New Year’s Eve was to be tremendously lucrative, with at least a dozen orders in the queue.
MONTVALE – While the state’s czar for business retention and growth – Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno – has four public appearances today – none of which has anything to do with business retention and growth – Mercedes Benz is expected to announce today it is taking 1,000 jobs to Atlanta. Channel 2 Action News reports New Jersey officials have been throwing plenty of incentives at the fleeing luxury carmaker, but Guadagno’s busy schedule elsewhere may indicate a lost cause. Mercedes has had its U.S. headquarters in Montvale since 1972, making this a real hit.
GREEN BAY - There’s no doubt Gov. Chris Christie is the worldwide master at stealing the limelight, but who knew he could somehow be part of the storyline for an NFL playoff game? Pundits are, uh, punditing about Christie’s bromance with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, clearly relishing all this attention from our governor and all the media who write about him. Jones, a GOP donor (of course), sent a private jet for Christie and his family to see his team beat the Lions and now Christie looks forward to some star treatment this Sunday when the Cowboys head to Green Bay. That’ll create a whole new round of unwarranted attention; pleased to see the Packers are 6.5-point favorites.
NOT IN NEW JERSEY - Faster than a private jet from New Jersey to Dallas, New Jerseyans are fleeing the state in droves. The United trucking company reports a brisk business of people packing up and leaving the state, the highest rate in the country. NJ.com reports there were 4,003 moves out of New Jersey last year, compared with 2,169 moves in. Florida is a top destination, as well as California, Texas and North Carolina. Expect Georgia to climb up the list next year, with the planned Mercedes move.
SAYREVILLE – If you happen to see two guys walking around town in hooded sweatshirts and carrying a baby Jesus, assume they are the ones caught on a surveillance video stealing the statue from St. Stanislaus Church over the weekend. If police can’t locate the pair, maybe a higher authority can.
ATLANTIC CITY – The trials and tribulations of New Jersey’s most well-known $2.4 billion failure – the Revel – is entering yet another chapter of challenge. The twice-bankrupt casino is now dealing with its second buyer – after the first fled for the hills. This buyer is being handed the mammoth structure for pennies on the dollar, $95.4 million, but is now objecting in court to its own sale. The Polo North Country Club wants an even deeper discount, to $87 million, but a bankruptcy judge thinks the deal is plenty generous.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
DETROIT – Consider it a war of words. Two Michigan universities are releasing their own lists of words that should either be in the dictionary or removed. Wayne State University wants to save some words from annihilation, such as “knavery,” “caterwaul,” and “rapscallion.” Meanwhile, Lake Superior State University wants to see some overused words banned, like "bae," ''foodie," and "hack." To us, this is all just a bunch of "flapdoodle" (Nonsense).
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day one year ago that a new generation of Americans was introduced to the “polar vortex,” when super cold weather forced more than 2,500 flights to be cancelled, as a tunnel of art air headed eastward throughout the week.