Tue Sep 12, 2006 at 05:22:24 PM EDT
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(We're still looking for more Blue Journalist county correspondants to do things like this. - promoted by jmelli)
This is a news roundup from the papers. If I get a chance to talk to any freeholders, I'll try some real reporting. Once again, the top source for Salem County is the local paper, Today's Sunbeam. I did find some news on our local congressional race, but I think it deserves its own diary. |
| Hopeful :: Salem County News Roundup |
| Farms
The Courier Post has a nice article on innovative methods in New Jersey farms. As we've discussed on this site lately, local farmers face many challenges. Neptune Farm in Salem County raises animals on an organic diet with no antibiotics. Local, fresh food is an advantage for the farmers.
Labor
The disputed unionization vote for nurses at South Jersey Healthcare is going before the National Labor Review Board. The employer accuses the union of unethical practices, and the 67 votes are also disputed. The initial tally was 299-279 in favor of unionization.
Penns Grove and Carney's Point teachers agreed to a contract. Woodstown-Pilesgrove and the Salem County Vocational-Technical School Districts still have no teacher contracts. Mediation is the next step for those districts.
Development
Penns Grove is building a Riverwalk that will include restaurants, shops, and entertainment. However, there have been some flooding problems and the borough is discussing how to make the property owners deal with it.
Women's Rights
Salem County does not have a nurse who specializes in rape cases -- victims have to go to neighboring counties if they want to see a specialist. We also do not have enough rape counselors.
Robin Weinstein, spokesman for the Salem County Prosecutor's Office, which oversees the program, said the Sexual Assault Response Team still functions. If victims don't want to go out of county to see a specialized nurse trained to collect DNA evidence, they can be examined by an emergency room physician, he said.
"Three years ago, the nurse we had said she couldn't keep doing this," Weinstein said. "The Prosecutor's Office is looking at ways that we can get a certified nurse here. But right now, we don't have a certified nurse here, so this is our best alternative."
Nuclear Power
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has plans to end the stepped up oversight begun in late 2004 after various safety problems came to light. (Incidentally, that incident was the only time one of Rep. LoBiondo's staff ever returned a phone call to me -- just giving credit where it's due.) The paper has a quote from an anti-nuclear activist:
"We would prefer that the NRC continue their oversight and not slack off," said Norm Cohen, who directs UNPLUG Salem, a group opposed to nuclear power. "This is not a surprise. I have my doubts. This is a pattern that's happened before. PSEG would have problems, they'd patch it together and a few months later, more problems."
This is the website for UNPLUG Salem. The NRC is having a public meeting at the Pennsville Hampton Inn on Sept 14 at 6PM, so if you have concerns, this is the place to go. Their charming description of the meeting is
Discuss process for closing substantive cross-cutting issue in Safety Conscious Work Environment at Salem and Hope Creek and returning plants to normal level of NRC oversight consistent with Reactor Oversight Process.
Politics
The Republican minority is complaining that the Clerk of the Board got a raise by vote of a committee of three Democrats than a vote of the entire freeholder board. It all seems like a mini version of a dispute in Congress.
Charity
The Ranch Hope administration building burned down. There's been an outpouring of support across the county for the charity, which is a Christian group thats works with troubled youth. |
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