Friday Morning News Roundup
By Jon Whiten • Jul 3rd, 2009 • Category: Blog- Florida officials say that Ward C Councilwoman Nidia R. Lopez could owe that state $5,700 for claiming a property tax exemption, if it’s determined she filed for it improperly.
- A computer glitch in Trenton has kept about 2,800 Hudson County residents from being able to file for public assistance for the past two weeks.
- The Jersey City Museum has been designated a Major Arts Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. It’s the council’s most prestigious mark of distinction.
- When Rising Tide Capital founder Alfa Demmellash visited the White House this week, President Barack Obama, after speaking her name, double-checked with her that he’d pronounced it right. As Politico reports, that wasn’t just an isolated incident, as pronunciations are something that Obama takes “quite seriously.”
- Former St. Peter’s Prep hockey star Kyle Palmieri was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the recent NHL Draft.
- The Jersey Journal almost had to face some real competition to run the city of Hoboken’s legal ads. Councilwoman Beth Mason argued that bidding on legal ads should be opened up to websites like Hoboken411.com, but the rest of the council apparently did not agree. And so the Journal will continue to stay fat with the legal ads — at least until the proposed state legislation opening up the legal ad process to news websites passes.
In statewide news:
- State officials broke ground yesterday on the $2.7 billion project to widen one of the most congested areas of the New Jersey Turnpike. The state Sierra Club chapter is criticizing the administration for not “looking at other alternatives” and says the project will only encourage more drivers.
- A judge in Freehold has ruled that a blogger is not covered by shield laws that protect newspaper reporters and can thus be sued for defamation. He said judges have had to distinguish between people who are engaged in the true dissemination of information and those who are expressing opinions; he ruled in this case that the blogger was the latter.
- A coalition of affordable housing and environmental activists are urging Gov. Corzine to conditionally veto legislation described as an economic stimulus bill that was approved by the Legislature on Monday.
- Federal immigration officials are notifying more than 600 businesses nationwide, including 20 in New Jersey, that agents will be inspecting their hiring records to determine whether they have employed undocumented immigrants.
- Gov. Corzine has formally joined the legal effort to overturn a federal ban on sports betting in New Jersey and 45 other states.
- The governor has signed a bill that allows developers to challenge towns over the age-restricted status of pending developments.
- The George Washington Bridge has become the first bridge of its kind in the metropolitan region to have a full strand of energy-efficient LED lighting.
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Jon Whiten is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent.
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