The Morning Briefing January 25, 2012

NEWARK - Typically, it is a love-fest between Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker. But on the issue of gay marriage, they are going their separate ways. Booker blasted the Governor's position that voters - not Trenton lawmakers - should decide if gay marriage should be allowed in New Jersey. "I shudder to think what would have happened if the civil rights gains, heroically established by courageous lawmakers in the 1960s, were instead conveniently left up to popular votes in our 50 states," Booker said.

ON THE RAILS - The number of PATH riders has reached an all-time high, with 76.6 million riders willing to take the harrowing, underground journey into New York in 2011. With all these new customers, will the Port Authority consider scaling back those rate hikes last year? Naaah.

PASCRELL v. ROTHMAN - Kudos to PolitickerNJ for not missing a beat in the heated primary battle for the 9th Congressional District. At the State of the Union address last night, in which it is customary for congress members to beat the heck out of each other to be first to shake the President's hand, Rothman was perched nearest the chamber entry, so Obama would have absolutely no choice but to shake his hand on national television, PolitickerNJ reported. Then, it was Pascrell, who jabbed his hand out to the President and whispered something that was apparently hilarious, causing Obama to crack up. While Rothman got their first, we give this one to Pascrell.

PLEASANTVILLE - It hasn't been very pleasant here lately, as police are investigating three murders in five days. The latest was the slaying of a 20-year-old Somers Point man, who looks like he was beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed in front of a local restaurant. For now, maybe the town should just be called "ville."

EAST RUTHERFORD - Sometimes it is really good to be a Mara. Just take the last few days in the life of Chris Mara: His Giants are in the Super Bowl - which will generate him yet another pile of cash - and now his daughter, Rooney Mara, has been nominated for an Oscar as best actress in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." The perfect trifecta? If the Jets move to Kansas.

DAYTON - With the way the U.S. Postal Service has been struggling to survive in recent years, you can't blame postal workers for seeking extra income - unless you are the 52-year-old Dayton man who was caught selling the addresses of people on his postal route in a scheme to file false tax returns and divert refund checks. If convicted, he could spend the next 30 years in prison - where they are always looking for people to deliver the mail.

RAMSEY - In a perfect example of winning the battle but losing the war, New Jersey has lost its "Superintendent of the Year," who has landed a job in New York that pays far beyond New Jersey's spending cap for school superintendents. Roy Montesano, the superintendent of Ramsey schools, is heading to Hastings, NY, right over the Tappan Zee Bridge, where he will receive a much-deserved $235,000 a year. Montesano now makes $226,000, but under the new salary caps, his pay would be slashed to $167,500 in 2014, under state rules. Interesting to see what other talent will head across the Hudson to circumvent the salary cap. And, more interestingly, what breed of superintendents will then be attracted to New Jersey?

ATLANTIC CITY - While the Army Corps of Engineers wages its never-ending battle to shore up New Jersey's shoreline, authorities are closing off a half-mile stretch of the beach, from Pennsylvania to Rhode Island avenues, because erosion has created cliffs as high as 18 feet, the Press of AC reports. Local authorities are concerned that someone strolling the beach, at night, in freezing temperatures, in the dead of winter, could fall off the cliffs. In Atlantic City, that probability is pretty high.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was on Jan. 25, 1987 that the Giants defeated the Broncos, 39-20, to win Super Bowl XXI, with Phil Simms named MVP. For a kid growing up in New Jersey - with the Mets winning the World Series just a few months prior, life was perfect.