News Round-up for Thursday, June 1

by: Sharon GR

Thu Jun 01, 2006 at 09:32:50 AM EDT

• The Jersey City-Newark area will recieve a total $34.3 million in homeland security funds for FY2006. The area is included in a list of 46 areas across the country at a high risk of terrorist attack. The municipalities will have to decide how to divide up all that money- so let the arguing begin! Overall, Our Fair State will recieve $51.92 million in homeland security grants, down from $56 million last year.
• The corruption trial of former Middletown Township Committeeman Raymond O'Grady began yesterday, complete with bribes, secret videotapes, undercover FBI agents and a plea deal. Just what anyone who watches the Sopranos would expect.
• Serious planning is the best medicine to prepare for a flu pandemic, according to health and law enforcement officials who met yesterday at a summit organized by Gov. Corzine. Upwards of 8,000 residents of Our Fair State could perish in such an outbreak. Authorities are attempting to plan for worst-case scenerios by laying concrete outlines of shortcomings in the system.
• Investigations continue into a small plane crash in a densely wooded area of Stafford Wednesday. All four occupants, two from Manalapan and two from Bernards,  were killed.
• More budget wars: The "National Taxpayers Union" has set up a video spearing Gov. Corzine's tax proposals. (I'm not linking to it. I took one for the team and watched it- trust me, it's not funny and not worth your valuable time.) Meanwhile, actual unions such as Communication Workers of America, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the New Jersey Education Association have planned a rally on June 19th in support of the budget, which they praise as ending the gimmicks and tricks used in the past.
• Just what you didn't want to see right at the start of air conditioning season- higher electric bills! PSE&G, Atlantic Electric, JCP&L and Rockland will all raise their rates between 12-13.7% effective today. Boy, that solar option is looking more and more attractive, isn't it?
• Also just in time for summer, new boating rules go into effect today. If you were born in 1969 and after, you must pass a boater safety class before operating a powerboat.
• Republican State Senators have put forward a plan for revising the public pension system, including studying 401K-type plans, banning pensions for contractors, limiting pension calculations to one position. Sound familiar? That's because most of the ideas were proposed by a task force created during Gov. Codey's tenure.
• A cougar has been repeatedly spotted in Greenwich Township, and the state is calling in big game trackers and motion-sensitive cameras to confirm the sightings and find the animal, which is most likely a pet that was set free.
• Gov. Corzine flew to Ohio earlier this week to take his routine physical. You'd think there should be someone closer who would've accepted his insurance.