News Round-up and Open Thread for Tuesday, January 16, 2007

by: Sharon GR

Tue Jan 16, 2007 at 08:03:54 AM EST

• Assembly Speaker Roberts has introduced a bill in the Assembly (and Sen. Nia Gill intro'ed the one in the Senate) to cease the selling off of municipalities' affordable housing responsibilities. He called the deals, called Regional Contribution Agreements, "veiled racism." Mayors who need the cash praise the program; the New Jersey State League of Municipalities also opposed the bill.
• The federal monitor who is investigating UMDNJ reported yesterday that he still has about 30 open cases out of the 51 he opened, but plans (hopes?) to finish this year. The latest: The UMDNJ emergency medivac helicopters don't seem to have all the proper federal certifications.
• A small plane heading for Essex County Airport in Fairfield crashed into a driveway in Wayne last night. The pilot was killed; no one on the ground was hurt.
• Teen driving rules often aren't followed and aren't enforced.  After the recent accident in Freehold where a teenager was driving and four people were killed, the Star-Ledger found that convictions for violations are rare at best and teenagers simply ignore their licence restrictions.
• Today is the last day for occasional drivers on the Atlantic City Expressway to see a toll discount on their EZ Pass bills. Frequent users (35 or more trips a month) will continue to see their discount but less frequent users will have to pay the full fare as of tomorrow. The South Jersey Transportation Authority plans to use the increased revenue for widening projects and EZ Pass express lanes.
• Everyone's reporting that it's going to be cold today. The pathetic thing is that it's actually news that it's cold in January.  There might even be a few snow flurries tonight!
• A couple of reminders: have you made plans to attend the huge rally tomorrow night in Paramas? Have you pledged here?

Open Thread: What say you, Blue Jersey?